Dwelling Place

Al Pittman: He is the full revelation of God. Therefore, what does that tell me as a believer? That there is no latter-day revelation of Jesus. That any other manifestation of Jesus, or the new and improved Jesus, as every false prophet comes along ever so often with this new Jesus, is a liar and a heretic.

He is the full revelation of God. And to see Jesus, and we see him in the word in the Old Testament and in the New, to see Jesus is to see the Father. To see God.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to the Dwelling Place, a radio ministry from Pastor Al Pittman of Al Pittman Ministries. The purpose of this radio program is to encourage you, strengthen your walk with the Lord and grow. To support this program financially or learn more about the ministry, visit us online at alpittmanministries.com. That's alpittmanministries.com. Thank you for partnering with us. Now here is Pastor Al.

Al Pittman: If you have your Bibles, please turn to John chapter 12 with me. We're going to be looking at verses 37 through 50 in our Bible study today, in this message today. I've entitled the message "To Believe Or Not To Believe." Sounds a little familiar.

We're going to be looking at John chapter 12, verses 37 to 50 today. To believe or not to believe. In Act 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's play *Hamlet*, Hamlet laments over the question of his own mortality. He says those famous words that many of us remember. I know they talked about *Hamlet* when I was in school, but I wouldn't read it. Amen. Wish I had.

But Hamlet was lamenting over his own mortality and he said "To be or not to be, that is the question." But in our text, the Lord reminds us that the more important question is to believe or not to believe. Because the answer to that question is the difference between eternal judgment and eternal life. My hope for us as believers as we listen to this message is that we'll be reminded of what it really means to believe. So I pray that God will bless you in the hearing of his word today and I know he will.

In verse 37, at this point in the earthly ministry of Jesus, he's performed many miracles, not to mention the raising of Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11. But the Bible reads here in verse 37, "But although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him."

A lot of times people will say, "Well, you know, if I could have been back there with Jesus and seen all the miracles and all that, you know, I would believe." No, you wouldn't. We're just that carnal to not believe seeing the very signs of God. Why do I say that? Because we walk out here every day, people walk out every day, they see Pike's Peak, they see the clouds, they see the creation of God and they still do not believe. So just because you would have been there maybe in that day, just like these people who saw the miracles of Jesus, they still didn't believe.

But the Bible says the reason they didn't believe was prophetic. It was prophesied that they would not believe, that they would reject their own Messiah, the Savior of the world. Jesus went to his own but his own, the Bible says, would not receive him. They rejected him.

And so John reminds us. He says they did not believe in him that the word of Isaiah the prophet, verse 38, might be fulfilled which he spoke: Isaiah 53, verse 1, "Lord, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Therefore they could not believe because Isaiah said again: "He," that is God, "has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I," that is God, "should heal them." These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke to him when Isaiah saw the glory of God.

Nevertheless, verse 42, "Even among the rulers many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."

Here we find two reasons why people do not believe in Jesus. Two basic reasons. One is spiritual blindness. Verses 38 to 41 we just read. Isaiah prophesied that they would not receive their own Messiah. They would be spiritually blind. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 10 speaks of that as well.

And thus the arm of the Lord, the power of the Lord, the arm of the Lord was hidden from them. Isaiah said in Isaiah 53, verse 1, he says, "And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" The arm of the Lord. What does that mean? That means the power, the work of the Messiah, the redeemer of the world.

The power of God was hidden from them because they did not believe. A natural consequence of rejecting the truth is blindness, spiritually speaking. Spiritual blindness. They rejected Christ and therefore they were spiritually blind to the truth. People are spiritually blind to the power of God that can deliver them from the bondage of sin and their own self-destructive living. And they're alienated from the power of God. They can't see it. And the reason is because they've rejected Christ. They've rejected the truth and so it was with Israel in the day of Christ.

You know, pride is often the culprit behind such blindness. And by the way, just being really sincere is not justification for being really wrong. A lot of times people feel that way. Some people I've heard people say, "Well, by your belief you're saved. You believe in that whatever you believe in, this podium here, you can believe in that. You can believe in anything as long as you're sincere." No, you could be sincerely wrong.

Now, I got my wife's permission to share this story. You had to ask before. Amen. And we were on vacation at this hotel and I was doing what I do best, which was nothing. Kicking back. Amen. And she wanted to do what she does best, and that's go out and spend my money. Amen. No, I'm kidding. She wanted to go shopping. And so she likes to go shopping and I thought, "I'll just stay back." She said, "That's fine." She didn't take her hotel key so she went out.

And a couple of hours later she calls, "Hey, I'm about two minutes away." And so I know two minutes for my wife maybe 10 minutes, so but I'm waiting. Amen. I'm here, no problem. I'm waiting, it's about 15 minutes later. And I hear something out in the hallway going (banging). It wasn't on my door but it was somebody banging. And so I get up, open the door, and there my beautiful bride is at somebody else's door pounding on their door. With a look on her face like "What are they doing in there?"

And she'd even gotten the maid there to kind of open the door and the people who were in there, the door was locked on the inside. So I don't know, they're probably still in therapy right now. They're freaking out. They don't know who was trying to break into our hotel room. So when I open the door, my wife goes, "Oh!" and she just runs right into our room. Amen. I got permission to share that story. Amen.

The reason I share this is not to make light of my bride, but the reason I share is because like a lot of people because of pride, they'll keep banging on that door even when they have heard the truth. Now, I open the door and I said, "You're banging on the wrong door. This is the way in." Okay?

And like a lot of people, they will still in pride, it would have been foolish for my wife to continue to bang on the door like "I don't care, I'm sincere about banging here, so I'm just going to keep banging on this door." But I'm standing here saying this is the way. Jesus Christ has opened the tomb and said this is the way. And yet still people will still stand at the door wrong, know they're wrong, but for pride's sake still pounding and they think the harder I pound, the more stubborn I am, the door's going to open. It will not.

He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through him. And yet people continue to knock on the wrong doors. It's pride. Elmer Davis, he's the late director of war information during World War II. He said this, I thought it was a neat quote about pride. He said, "It hurts more to have a belief pulled than to have a tooth pulled, and no intellectual novocaine is available." People rather have you yank their teeth out of their head than admit they're wrong. Pride.

Repentance and the word of God is the only remedy for spiritual blindness. Psalm 19 says the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Oh, I thought I could see before I came to Christ. I thought I was I could see everything. Amen. Young, foolish, thought I had it all figured out. I was going to get the bachelor pad. Amen. And you guys remember the bachelor pad? Didn't happen, did it? Amen.

And you're going to get the bachelor pad, you're going to do all this, I had all these plans. I thought my eyes were open, but when I came to Christ, my eyes were opened and I could see. Eyes of the righteous are enlightened. How? Through the word of the Lord.

The second reason that a lot of people do not believe found here is peer pressure. Verses 42 and 43. Proverbs 29:25 says that the fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. The fear of man brings a snare. Many of the rulers, it tells us in verses 42 and 43, many of the rulers, that is the social elite in Jerusalem, Jerusalem society believed but they would not confess Christ. Would not confess Christ. And I'm sure they had probably some good excuses, but John here puts them on blast. He just says, "Let me tell you why they didn't confess Christ. Because they love the praise of men more than the praise of God." That's why.

Peer pressure. Matthew chapter 10, Jesus says very strong words. He says, "Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven." Strong words.

The word confesses is from the word "homologeo." "Homologeo" it means covenant, it means acknowledgment. It's where we get the word "homosexual." It's being one with Christ, the same with Christ. "Homologeo." To say we believe in Christ while refusing to acknowledge him in public is to deny him.

What does it mean to deny him? Another Greek word, "arneomai." "Arneomai" means to contradict, to disavow or reject. It's a great lesson there for us, and the lesson is this: that the praise of men, if we're not careful, will rob you of the presence of God. The praise of men, if we're not careful, if we love that more, it will rob us of the presence and intimacy that we should have with Christ.

In verses 44 to 50, Jesus makes an announcement. He does so with a loud cry, a loud voice. I don't know, some people probably couldn't tolerate the teachings of Jesus because a lot of times he would just shout things out. Amen. And he makes this loud cry in verses 44 to 50 that there are three benefits, if you will, in believing in him. Read along with me in verse 44.

"Then Jesus cried out and said, 'He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And he who sees me, sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge them, for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his command is everlasting life. Therefore whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.'"

There are three benefits to believing in Christ. Three benefits that Jesus mentions here. The number one is to believe in Jesus is to believe in God. There's not, some people get confused, there are not two objects of faith but one. Sometimes you meet folks say, "I believe in God but I don't believe in Jesus." Well, that's not going to work because Jesus and the Father are one. They are synonymous. They are the same. And to believe in Jesus is to believe in God. To believe in God you must believe in Jesus. You can't have one without the other. In fact, Jesus says so in John chapter 10, verse 30, he said, "I and my Father are one."

The second benefit that Jesus mentions here is to believe in Jesus is to see God. Verses 44 and 45. John tells us early on in the book of John, chapter 1, verse 1, that in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. And then in verse 14, he says in John chapter 1, that the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh. Jesus Christ is the logos, the word of God, manifested in flesh to the world. He's the very express image of God according to Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. He is the full revelation of God. Therefore, what does that tell me as a believer? That there is no latter-day revelation of Jesus. That any other manifestation of Jesus, or the new and improved Jesus, as every false prophet comes along ever so often with this new Jesus, is a liar and a heretic. He is the full revelation of God. And to see Jesus, and we see him in the word in the Old Testament and in the New, to see Jesus is to see the Father. To see God.

To believe in him is to believe in God. To believe in him is to see God. And thirdly, lastly, to believe in him is to no longer abide in darkness. That is the third benefit that Jesus mentions here. No longer abide in darkness. What does the word darkness imply? It can also be translated, the Greek word for darkness can also be translated dimness or obscurity or shadiness or error.

God has not called us to live in darkness. To be in Christ is to be in the light. Walk in the light as he is in the light. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17 and 18, Paul the apostle writes there, he says, "This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart."

The blindness of their heart. We no longer in Christ we come into the light and we no longer have to live in the darkness. Apart from the revelation of Jesus Christ, apart from the word of God, people are just groping through life. They may look like they've got it together, but what they're doing is feeling their way through. And everything that feels good is not good.

But when you come to Christ, you no longer have to grope around in life. He has given us his word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We no longer have to abide or be guided by the dim, shady feelings of the heart. But we're guided by the counsel of his word. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 18 says, "But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter into the perfect day." So true. When I first came to Christ my eyes were open, but the older I get, the brighter the path becomes because soon I'm going to see Jesus. And his word will guide me right into his presence until that perfect day.

However, Jesus warns here as well that if we reject the truth, that same word that will illuminate your path will also condemn you. The word that is meant to bring life to you will end up judging you if you reject the truth. And therefore he says here in verse 47, he says, "I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." That's why he came, not to judge us but to save the world. We judge ourselves by rejecting the truth.

In verse 48 he says, "He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge you in the last day." He talks about the last day. The last day is a reference to the day of judgment recorded for us in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 to 15, where the Bible says that on that day that the books will be opened.

And you want to know what will be in the books? I think in the books there will be the very words of Jesus that were spoken to you in that church service that you rejected, that are now there to condemn you. The small and the great will appear before God in judgment to be judged. Not by God, although Christ will be involved in that judgment, but it will be judged by the very words you have rejected. Amen.

That is what Jesus is referring to here. But look at the heart of God. I want you to see this because all people ever hear is judgment, but that wasn't the command of God. Jesus said, "I speak what he commanded me to speak," and in verse 50 he says, "And I know that his command is everlasting life." That's God's command. In other words, that's God's will for all of us. Not to condemn you but to save you.

His will is not to bring judgment but to give you life. Peter talks about that in 2 Peter chapter 3, where he said the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness. In other words, God's not a slacker. But is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God doesn't will for you to perish. He wills for you to have life through repentance and through faith in Jesus Christ. To believe or not to believe. That is really the most important question of life, but the choice is ours.

Now as we look at the text here, what I want to do in the next few minutes is to talk about its application in our lives as believers. I know I'm speaking to a crowd of believers today and not everyone here believes or has faith in Christ, but I want to take the next few minutes to talk to us as believers. Because Jesus shouted, "He who believes in me," verse 44. And that would be believers, right? He who believes in me. The word believes means more there in verse 44. The word believes means more than just mental acknowledgment.

A lot of people say, "Oh, I believe in God," as if somehow God's going to give them a pass because they believe in God. Well, the Bible basically says "big whoop" that you believe in God. James tells us, James chapter 2, he says, "You believe that there's one God, you do well." In other words, here's your star. But even the demons believe. You know the devil has more faith than you. The demons have more faith than believers.

Guest (Male): Learn more about Pastor Al and his ministry by visiting alpittmanministries.com. Also consider supporting us financially. You can send a check to Al Pittman Ministries at PO Box 5058, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80949 or visit us online. Thank you for your prayers and your support. Your generosity keeps this radio ministry going. Lastly, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing info@alpittmanministries.com. That's info@alpittmanministries.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Again, thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time on the Dwelling Place. God bless.