This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the broadcast ministry of Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews, where we seek to glorify God by making him known and guiding others towards their true purpose in life. No one is here by chance. God put us here for a reason. And the most important thing we can do is Discover his plan for us and commit ourselves to it.
Keep listening as we learn from the Bible how to live wisely in God's world. which is the first step towards finding your purpose. All right, so I've entitled tonight's message, More Than a Carpenter. We're going to be looking at John chapter 5, verses 31 through 47. I know some of you guys.
Or joining us for the first time, so I hope you'll find the time to go back and read chapters 1 through 5 just to catch up. But in the book More Than a Carpenter, that was written by Josh McDowell. By the way, I heard him speak at Duke University. Gosh, Chris and I had just gotten married, and at this time he was going around the world as an apologist on college campuses defending the Christian faith. And he would challenge atheists to debates.
So I went over to Duke to hear one of those debates. But you need to hear a story.
So in this book, More Than a Carpenter, he quotes Thomas Aquinas, who said, There is within every soul a thirst. For happiness and meaning. And isn't that true? And this statement characterized Josh McDowell's early life. He just wanted to be happy and to find the reason why he existed.
So he started out He tried religion. But he said for him, then he felt worse inside a church than he did outside the church.
So he didn't find the answer there.
So then he enrolled in a university. But that didn't help either. He said, You can't find a lot of things in the university, but enrolling there, excuse me, you can find a lot of things in the university, but enrolling there to find truth and meaning in life is virtually a lost cause.
So, since religion and education did not give him the answer, he just decided to do the same thing I decided to do when I was at Carolina. Party the night away. Live for the weekends. But it was around this time that he met a group of students that he He couldn't uh he just noticed that they seemed to be different. He said they had conviction.
He noticed they had a quality about them. They enjoyed being with each other. And so when he, as he got to know them, he finally got around to asking them what made them different. and he heard something that he did not want to hear. They said, well, we're Christians.
He said, well, Christianity is for weaklings, not intellectuals. But deep down inside, he was envious of them. He wanted what they had.
So one day, Josh asked one of the girls, he said, Tell me, what changed your life? Why are you so different from the other students? And she looked Josh straight in the eyes and said two words that he never expected to hear in an intelligent discussion on a university campus. Jesus Christ. Because you changed my life.
And he said, Don't give me that garbage. I'm fed up with religion, the Bible, and the church. And she shot back at him. She said, I didn't say religion, I said Jesus Christ.
So this group of students challenged Josh. To examine intellectually the claim that Jesus really is God's Son. He thought it was a joke. But day after day, they kept challenging him until finally he became so irritated. That he accepted their challenge, not to prove them right, but to refute them.
He actually was so possessed by this desire to prove that Christianity he was an atheist. He just wanted to disprove Christianity.
So he actually dropped out of the university and he spent the next two years traveling all around the world, visiting the major libraries to try to prove that Christianity was a sham. And near the end of this two-year period, one day he was sitting in a library in London. And he sensed a voice within him saying, Josh, You don't have a leg to stand on. And he immediately, like so many people do with the truth, he suppressed it. But the more he researched, the more he heard the voice.
You don't have a leg to stand on. Finally, he came to the realization that he was being intellectually dishonest because of the overwhelming evidence that proved that those students were correct. He said, My mind told me that the claims of Christ were indeed true, but my will was being pulled in another direction.
So one night And he had also begun to read the Bible. His eyes came upon Revelation 3:20, in which Jesus says, I tell you the truth. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him. And he with me.
That night in 1959, 20-year-old Josh McDonald came to understand that Jesus really is more than a carpenter, and he surrendered his life to him. Today, I went online to check. Josh is 86 years old, and he's still actively involved in ministry defending the Christian faith.
So here's the big question. I want us all to think about tonight. Is Jesus really God. in the flesh. Did you know a lot of ministers don't believe that?
He was a great teacher. He was a great moralist. He's a great example. But you really believe he's God? Come on.
Who believes that? Would Jesus In John chapter 5, he is basically put on trial in front of his enemies, the Jewish leaders. And I want you to listen to his defense. Here's what he says. Look at verse 31.
Jesus says, if I test, and again, he's standing before these Jewish religious leaders who have challenged him on the fact that he healed a paralytic. On the Sabbath, broken one of their laws. And so he's going to try them now. He says, if I testify about myself, My testimony is not valid. There's another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.
You have sent to John, talking about John the Baptist. And he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony, but I mention I mentioned um It that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. Verse 36, I have testimony weightier than that of John.
For the very work that the Father's given me to finish and which I'm doing testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice, nor seen his form, nor doth his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me. But if someone else comes in his own name, You will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
Now keep in mind he's talking to religious leaders. Verse forty-five. But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
But since you do not believe what he wrote, How are you going to believe what I say?
So I want you to I want you to take each one of these Sources of evidence that he puts forth. Four testimonies, and we want to examine each one. And so here's the first one that he points to: the testimony of John the Baptist.
So, right here in verse 31, Jesus declares that his testimony about himself was not valid.
Now the reason being that his testimony is not valid is that according to Jewish law, the accused could not testify on his own behalf. And I think that's still the case around the world in courts. You can't testify on your own behalf. There needed to be two or three other credible witnesses.
However, man, the truth was that Jesus' testimony was not only valid. But it carried the greatest weight. Jesus, because of his divinity, knew the heart of every man. In John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25, It talks about how the people believed in him, but what they really believed in were the miracles. They didn't really believe in him.
And he says in verse 24, this is John chapter 2. But Jesus will not entrust himself to them. Don't y'all find that interesting? In fact, I got to turn there real quick. In John chapter 2.
Um 19 it says, now this is John chapter 2, verse 23.
Now while he was In Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. Did y'all hear that? But Jesus will not entrust himself to them. For he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Mm-hmm. See, you can say that you believe, but it's not genuine belief. And you cannot fool God. Jesus knew these religious leaders would not accept his testimony. because they were spiritually blind.
And the vast majority of these religious leaders never did accept his testimony. They've never believed in him. In John 8:14, Jesus says, Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from. And I know where I'm going. And he could have added, by the way, and you're not going to where I'm going.
You see, Jesus came from heaven. And to heaven He returned. In a modern court of law, all you need is one credible witness to prove or disprove that something really happened. John the Baptist was that witness. You'll remember that John the Baptist was sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way.
His sole purpose in life was to point to Jesus and declare. He is the Lamb of God. He's the Messiah, the anointed one that was promised from the Old Testament. He is the Savior of the world. And that's exactly what John the Baptist did: He spent his light out.
He burned his light out on Jesus. Malachi 3:1 says, See, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple.
So Jesus begins by reminding the Jews that they had heard John's testimony. But they did not believe it. You see, if they had believed John, they would have believed Jesus. And in believing, they would have been saved. Do you realize that Jesus here is trying to give his enemies?
An opportunity to believe. He could have just not responded to them. But he's spending time with them and giving them evidence. Evidence upon evidence. It's the same thing he does with the world.
He gives us so much evidence, it's ridiculous. We don't have to have blind faith men. Our faith stands on evidence.
Solid evidence. But since they refused to believe the testimony of John, Jesus gave them more proof. He gave them weightier testimony, he gave them the testimony of his work. In verse 36, Jesus says, I have testimony weightier than that of John, for the very work that the Father has given me to finish and which I'm doing testifies. That the Father has sent me.
You notice he keeps saying, Father has sent me. What does that imply? He always existed. He didn't create Jesus. He sent him down from heaven.
And when he was born, he became the man Jesus, the God-man. Do y'all follow that? He's always existed. See, the work he was referring to included healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, enabling the lame to walk, and raising the dead. These miracles gave great weight to his claim to be the Son of God.
And guess what? This had been prophesied. John the Baptist, as the forerunner, was prophesied.
Now we see that these miracles were prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 35, verses 5 and 6. Isaiah said, talking about the Messiah who is coming. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy. Jesus performed countless miracles right in front of Jews.
Remember. He had just healed a paralytic who'd been there for 38 years, and they saw it. They would later witness the resurrection of Lazarus. Did you know not only do they plot to kill Jesus? We're going to see in one of the at John 11 They're going to plot to heal Lazarus.
Can you believe that? Talk about a depraved heart. These religious leaders were plotting to murder Jesus. When Nicodemus came to see Jesus one night, he said, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who's come from God, for no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him. What did Jesus tell Nicodemus?
Nicodemus, I tell you the truth. Unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. He was telling Nicodemus, who was the master teacher of Israel: unless you're born again, you can't even understand what you're reading.
Okay. Jesus pointed to the very miracles he did as proof that he was who he claimed to be and that he had been sent from heaven to be our Savior. In John 10, 37, Jesus says to these same Jews, Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I'm in the Father. Even when we get to John chapter 10, he's still trying to give them evidence so that they might believe.
What do you call that, men? Starts with a G. Grace. Yeah. long suffering.
God, it says in, I can't remember exactly where it is, it's in the New Testament, that God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to the knowledge of Him. I've butchered that quote, but it's something like that. But they still refused to believe.
So Jesus gave them more evidence. This time he pointed to the testimony of his father. In verse 37, Jesus said to them, And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. In Matthew chapter 3, verses 15 through 17, Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. And it says, As soon as he was baptized, he came up out of the water, and at that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, This is my son whom I love, with him I am well pleased. What would you have done if you'd heard that voice? You know I would have done. I would have looked up. I mean, golly, how can you hear that?
See, I believe that God the Father spoke audibly, and probably it doesn't. It doesn't say this definitively, but probably some of these very Jews were present and heard his voice. But they still refuse to believe. Why did they continue in unbelief? Because of this stubborn and unrepentant hearts.
They heard with their physical ears. But they did not hear with the ears of their hearts. Do you know what I'm talking about? Often Jesus says, Let him who has ears hear. How many people had ears?
who are listening to Jesus. Everybody.
So why did he say, let him who has ears hear? Which ears was he talking about? He's talking about the eyes and ears of your heart. This is why Jesus says in verse 37, 38, You have never heard his voice, nor seen his form, nor did his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. And this two men was prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 6, verses 9 through 10.
He says, and also Jesus quotes this in Matthew 13. Be ever hearing but never understanding. Be ever seeing but never perceiving. Make the heart of those people calloused. Make their ears dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. In other words, be saved. All these Jews had to do. Was listen with their ears, see with their eyes, and believe with their hearts. But just like so many religious people today, they refused.
Therefore, they remain blind and deaf. How sad that so many today are just like them. They hear, but they do not understand. They see, yet they remain blind. Jesus went on to accuse them of further blindness in verses 39 and 40, when he says, You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.
These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
So man, this is a warning. And I've been saying this for 40 years. I'm tired of hearing myself say it. You can go to church all your life. And still refuse to come to Jesus.
You can attend a Bible study and read the scriptures and still refuse to come to Jesus. You can hear testimonies from your friends about their relationship with God and still refuse to come to Jesus. You can recite the Apostles' Creed until you're blue in the face and still refuse to come to Jesus. You could even say with your mouth, I believe in God, and yet refuse to come to Jesus. James 2.19 says, You believe that there's one God?
Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. Men. You c this is where There's a thin line here. You can know all about this man who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead.
Did they add? and yet not know him. You can recite the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, the only Lord, who has conceived. I mean, you can say all that, and in your mind, believe it.
But see, some have said that the difference between being saved and not being saved is 18 inches, the distance from your mind to your heart.
So you have to believe it in your heart, you have to trust in it. In Matthew, here's a warning, guys. In Matthew 7, 21 through 23, Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and perform many miracles?
Then I will tell them, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. There are gonna be a lot of religious people saying, Lord, Lord. Can you see me going to church? And you see my attendance pins, they were three feet long.
See, here's the real question that needs to be answered by all of us. Do you really know Jesus? Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, there is no greater thing. You see, this is what determines whether or not you will enter heaven. You must know Jesus.
Personally. Did you know that personal knowledge of Jesus is the very definition of eternal life. Did you know that? Do you know what verse? John 17, 3.
You got it in the outline. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God and Jesus Christ. Come and do you have stand.
Come and give me five. Pretty wrist. Good job, Jeff. I knew he would know it. That's why he sits on the front row.
He's an A student. John 17:3 says, Jesus says, Now, this is eternal life. And here's the definition: that you may know. That they may know you, the only true God. Remember, he's praying to his heavenly Father.
This is the long prayer in John 17. And Jesus Christ, in other words, me, here it is again, whom you have sent. That's three times we've heard that he was sent. See, these religious Jews refuse to believe Jesus, and yet, because of his grace, he points to one final, very important testimony. What is that?
The testimony of what? scripture. You see, the Jews pride themselves on their attachment to Moses, who gave them the law. They identified with Moses, he was their leader. And so it totally caught them off guard when Jesus says, your accuser before God is Moses.
Look at verses 45 through 47. Jesus said, But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?
Years ago, I was about 33 years old. I was meeting with a minister of a major church right here in Raleigh about a concern that I had with what the church was teaching. I mean, I was 32, 33 years old. What did I know? I was a stockbroker.
We met for about an hour. And I'll never forget in the millet conversation. You've heard that old expression, it just came out of left field. He brought up something that had nothing to do with our conversation. He said, Russ, you realize that Moses did not write the Pentateuch.
Why did he bring that up? We were talking about abortion. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible. I wish I had known then what I know now. You see, Jesus had a different view of the author of the Pentateuch than this minister.
In fact, when Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24, he said to them, How foolish you are, this is what I should have said to the minister. How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory? And then Beginning with Moses. He's talking about the penalty.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. The Pharisees claimed to believe Moses, but by not believing in Jesus, they were not believing what Moses wrote about Jesus. Thus, Moses' very words were now accusing them.
Now standing in judgment of them. Moses wrote a great portion of the Old Testament. The Old Testament contains about 300 prophecies. about the coming Messiah. And all of these prophets were fulfilled in one man.
A carpenter by the name of Jesus. He was born of a virgin. He was born in Bethlehem. He came from the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. His ministry began in Galilee.
He performed great miracles. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He was betrayed by a friend. He was sold for 30 pieces of silver. He was forsaken by his disciples.
He was accused by false witnesses. He was silent before his hearers. He was punished for our transgressions. He was spit upon. He was mocked.
His hands and feet were pierced. He was crucified among thieves. He was rejected by his own people. He was hated without cause. Not one bone in his body was broken.
There was darkness over the land. He was buried among the rich. He arose from the dead and he ascended to heaven. And that's not but a part of the 300. All of this was prophesied in the Old Testament, and all of it was fulfilled in Jesus.
The evidence is in. You've heard these four testimonies. The testimony of John the Baptist, the testimony of the miracles, the testimony of God the Father, and the testimony of the scriptures. But did you know there's another testimony that could be the most meaningful to you personally? Do you know what it is?
It's when your life is changed by Jesus. If you listen. If you take God at His Word and surrender to life to Jesus, He will change your life forever. And the only way that you can ever understand this is to take the Bible, take God at His Word, and do what it says. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.
So men. To be in Christ. You must be what? Born again. And the greatest example in the physical realm That is in nature.
Of what it means to become a new creation in Christ is the metamorphosis of a caterpillar. As it changes into a beautiful butterfly. Did you know that a lot of things spiritually are explained physically? God has left his imprint everywhere. Just study the human eye.
Why did God give us a thumb? I mean, one man said, if only for the thumb, I would believe in God. Did you know that the life cycle from the larva to the caterpillar to the cocoon to the butterfly, I'm talking about from the time the eggs are hatched by the butterfly. To the time the butterfly dies is about two months. That's it.
eight to nine weeks. And yet, in these two months, God gives us a picture from His creation of what He wants to do for all of us. You know what He wants to do? Men. He wants to transform our lives into something beautiful.
that reflects his glory. I don't care how ugly you look. He wants, he can bring from your ugly face. Be glory to God. The eggs laid by a butterfly from the larva from which a the excuse me the eggs are laid by a butterfly and that that forms the larva from which a caterpillar emerges.
And each caterpillar eats non-stop for just a few weeks. until it's ready to form what is known as a chrysalis or a cocoon. And then what takes place inside this cocoon can only be described as a miracle of God. In the cocoon. The caterpillar's tissues are digested by its own enzymes into a kind of nutrient soup, while certain structures like parts of its nervous system and special groups of cells remain intact in this soup.
From this material, the butterfly's features are supernaturally constructed. Four wings, compound eyes, antenna, legs, and a redesigned digestive system suited to sipping nectar rather than chewing leaves. As the butterfly squeezes out of its cocoon, its wings go through three key changes. They are crumpled. then inflated, then dried and hardened.
and after it hangs there for about an hour and a half, It begins to fly. Do you want to find that amazing? For any calipter to live a new life, It must be born again. And this is what happens inside the cocoon. In that cocoon, the caterpillar dies to its old way of life.
It no longer has to crawl along the ground chewing dirty plants. Once it is reborn into a beautiful butterfly, it spreads its wings and flutters into the air and begins to drink the sugary nectar of flowers. Talking about a change. That's what God wants to do for you and me. That dramatic.
It may not look like that on the outside, but that's what's going on on the inside. In John 10, 10, Jesus says, the thief comes only to Kill, excuse me, steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it to the full. He's talking about an abundant life. I'm not talking about riches, I'm talking about abundance on the inside.
When you are Becoming a Christian does not mean that all of your problems go away. In fact, they will probably intensify. But what it does mean is that you will have streams of living water flowing from within you. You begin to experience this new life, an abundant life on the inside. It's in your inner being, your soul.
See, salvation is an inside job. You will find rest. For your soul. In this world of stress. and fear and anxiety and depression, you will have rest.
Heaven is a picture of rest, but you can begin to taste that rest now. All of your sins will be forgiven. And I see what happens then. God takes all the guilt away. No more guilt, no more shame, no more condemnation.
And you will not only have peace with God, but you will begin to experience the peace of God. And you will taste a little bit of heaven on earth. That's what it means to be a new creation. Isaiah 41, 29 through 31 says, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.
So man. Don't remain in your cocoon. By faith in Christ and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Spread your wings and fly. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you offer us eternal life on a platter. All we have to do is eat your word. Drink. Look.
Believe, receive. And we will be born again, just like the thief on the cross. Just remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom. And he says, I will. Today you'll live in paradise.
Lord, we love you. We want to know you. I pray that 2026 will be a year when every man in here will grow closer to you, will fall more in love with your word, and want to live lives of holiness that reflect your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews. This broadcast is made possible because of the prayers and financial gifts of listeners like you. If you want to learn more about our ministry or support us as we reach others with God-centered Bible teaching, please visit us at findingpurpose.net.
