The Gospel of John

The Evidentialists

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels and Sermons

Lesson: 35- 70

Genre:

Track: 035

Dictation Name: RR197U37

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee for Thy sure mercies. They are new every morning. Teach us day by day to take hands of our lives and to commit them into Thy keeping. For Thou hast said it is vain for us to sit up and to eat the bread of sorrows for underneath the experiences of life are Thine everlasting arms. Give us grace to trust, to obey, to walk in faith and to know that in all things Thou wilt never leave us nor forsake us. Our God how great Thou art and we praise Thee. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is John 10:22-30. Our subject: The Evidentialists. John 10:22-30.

“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

30 I and my Father are one.”

The occasion for this incident was the Feast of Dedication also known as the festival of lights. It commemorated the purification and rededication of the temple in 165 B.C. after its defilement by Anticus Epiphanies. We have an account of that of course in first Maccabeus in the Apocrypha. Anticus Epiphanies was like the monarchs of that era was one who believed that he was god on earth. It was common to believe that the incarnation of the powers of the universe, the gods or god, whatever it might be was in the state and in the person of the ruler. So that the ruler was either god or was about to become god. In Rome he was declared to be a god at his death by the senate, however, he assumed that the minute he was made emperor he was in process of becoming a god. When Anticus Epiphanies when he as the ruler of the Syrian empire, then quite extensive conquered Judea and Jerusalem insisted on putting a statue of himself in the holy of holies. This immediately caused not only a riot but it went into a revolution, a fierce and intense battle and it led to the overthrow of the Syrian regime. So every year they celebrated the purification of the temple after it had been defiled by the image of Anticus Epiphanies. It was an eight day festival, in 164 B.C. the profanation of the temple had taken place. In 165 the country was delivered and the temple.

And the deliverance was celebrated annually in mid-December. There was no cessation of work or business but it was all the same after work hours a time of joy and of feasting, of celebrations. It was a remarkable victory and one can say that the sense of victory which they gained in overthrowing Anticus Epiphanies made Judea foolhardy and that’s why they dreamed of victory as against Rome in 66-70 A.D. But the situation was radically different and Rome the far, far greater power. We are told by John that it was winter and Jesus was walking inside the temple in Solomon’s porch or portico where there was protection from the weather and especially the rain because it was the rainy season. We are told in verse twenty four that the Jews, meaning the religious leaders surrounded Jesus to demand ‘how long wilt thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly’. Now our Lord’s language had been very plain. Again and again He had very clearly told them but what they wanted was the most explicit language, language that would hold up in court, because they intended to execute Him. This condemnation and execution was already more or less decided on. What they wanted was language that could be used very, very clearly against Him. Jesus told them I told you and you believed not. Already our Lord had spoken of His sheep and of hirelings, thieves and robbers.

Of Himself and God as one, had called attention to His miracles and made it clear that this was the work of God, not of man. The religious leaders were well aware of what He had said and they knew that He saw them clearly not as sheep nor shepherds but as wolves, strangers to God’s flock and exploiters of it. They refused to believe whatever He says, however, and there is no integrity in them. Both His words and His works plainly revealed Him to be the Messiah so as our Lord says and it probably should be in the present tense, ye believe not. The works that I do in my Father’s name they bear witness of me. They reveal what I am if my words don’t make sense to you. Well the religious leaders were evidentialists. They held that if the evidence were provided them they would believe. They wanted proof for everything but from beginning to end God never anywhere in the Bible tries to prove Himself to us nor does Christ try to prove who He is. It is a revelation of God and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, of all their works of the encounter. Apart from them nothing could exist, to doubt them is madness. But we have many, many church men who are evidentialists, whose attitude is: I believe only because I have found evidence to believe, if I did not find it I would not believe a word of the bible. E.J. Carnell, the consummate evidentialists, said and I quote:

“Bring on your revelations, let them make peace with the law of contradiction and the facts of history and they will deserve a rational man’s assent.” Unquote.

Carnell felt that the bible had to meet the standards of Aristotle’s logic. What insanity. Who created Aristotle and who was responsible for whatever was sensible in Aristotle’s logic? Carnell made rational man whether regenerate or unregenerate judge over God and His word. Now of course this was the attitude of more than a few of the scholastics in the medieval era. Such people are not honest because if they were they would say a man can be saved by reason, by a presentation of the evidence. In fact we had one evidentialist who traveled the length and the breadth of the United States trying to convert people by giving them proofs. Well, Carnell made rational man, whether regenerate or unregenerate judge over God and His word and that is blasphemy. Since Carnell some rationalists, adherence of rationalist apologetics like himself, see themselves as the true rational judges. They implicitly deny truth to any revelation if unapproved by themselves. The implication of all this is that such apologists make themselves gods over God. The religious leaders of our Lord’s day were evidentialists, they were determined that they alone could judge the credentials of Jesus or the prophets, of John the Baptist, anyone who came along. They rejected both Jesus’ words and works and our Lord reminds them of that. They separated our Lord’s works from His person. It could not be His work, it just happened when He was there, this is what they told the man who was blind from birth.

But our Lord does not let the matter rest there. But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep as I said unto you. His sheep know their shepherd’s voice. Here was a plain statement of His nature and being. The religious leaders knew that God speaks of Himself as the good shepherd as did Jesus. Could anything point more plainly to Jesus as the Messiah, as God’s anointed one? My sheep hear my voice. We decide in every aspect of life, in terms of what we are, if we are of God then our whole being is on center and we decide intelligently. If we are not, our every decision is false. Good many years ago, at least fifty or more when I was quite young, I recall this missionary who located remote, in a corner of Africa, members of a tribe who had never been reached before. They never had heard the gospel, they had no contact because they had stayed in their area. But he knew the language to a degree because he had worked among a related people so he went there and he preached to them. There were more than a few who turned away from him and his preaching in contempt but he said one older woman began to cry and she turned to another woman next to her and said I told you there had to be a God like this! She had decided in terms of the gift of God’s spirit at that point. Too basic statements have been made.

First our Lord said I am the good shepherd, that is, I am God, the one true shepherd. It was common in antiquity as I pointed out a couple weeks ago for rulers, for emperors to call themselves the shepherd of their people. The shepherd was an image of God and this is why so many of the ancient kings had a shepherd’s staff, an ornate and jeweled staff. I am the good shepherd, I am God, the one true shepherd. Second, He tells them ye are not my sheep. You are reprobate, you are pretenders to the faith. A more blunt annunciation is hard to imagine He is God and He tells them ye are not of God but are against Him. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. They hear and they follow. The religious leaders did neither. They collected evidence to condemn Him to death. Hendrickson called attention to the fact that in verses twenty seven and twenty eight we are told of three things that Christ’s sheep do. First they listen to the shepherd’s voice, second they follow Him and third they shall never perish because of His grace. At the same time Jesus says also of Himself first I know my sheep and second, I give them everlasting life and third no power will ever take them out of my hand.

Despite the strange quibbling of some verses twenty seven and twenty eight plainly tell us of our eternal security in Christ. Neither shall they perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Once saved always saved. Because our salvation depends not on what we do but He has done, no man nor anything in heaven or on earth can take away our salvation. This is even more plainly stated in verse twenty nine. My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. It’s a remarkable fact of man’s persistent egocentricity and self-will that so plainly stated a doctrine over and over again restated is rejected. On occasion non-professionals, that is, men who are not theologians or clergymen have stated their objection to it more honestly. They do not either their salvation or eternal security or perseverance to slip out of their hands. They want to be responsible for it. They want God’s help but not His control and government. As a result they prefer an uncertain salvation to eternal security. There is a double security for us in this text, in verse twenty eight our Lord says neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. In verse twenty nine we are told that no man is able to p luck them out of my Father’s hand. The essential and total power of God the Father and God the Son assure our eternal security. But for the fact of eternal security our salvation would not be worth much. We might be saved then a million years and then lose it all because our security would be dependent on us.

But it does not. It depends on God, God the Father and God the Son. And so we have eternal security. Our Lord tells us plainly I and my Father are one. By using the plural ‘are one’ our Lord distinguishes between the two persons of the Trinity, the Father and the Son. They are one in essence but they are two persons and the Holy Spirit is the third. Those who choose to deny the doctrine of the Trinity simply bypass texts like this which set forth the oneness of essence but a distinction of persons. This discussion had begun with the demand ‘if thou be the Christ tell us plainly’. When He told them they picked up stones to kill Him as verse thirty one tells us. Their evidentialists had simply meant supply us with the evidence to convict you or to kill you. We will never believe you no matter what the evidence is nor however compelling. Men decide not in terms of the evidence but in terms of their character and unless God changes them they are not changed. Let us pray.

Our Father, all glory be to Thee who in Thy word hast declared that our security is an eternal one. We thank Thee that by Thy grace Thou hast made us Thy sheep and conformed us to Thee so that we hear and rejoice in Thy voice. How great Thou art our Father and we praise Thee. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Unintelligible Question]

[Rushdoony] Yes this was the controversy between Van Til and Gordon Clark, Carnell and Carl Henry and others. They all insisted that revelation had to meet the test of their logic. It was a long controversy, it’s still being waged because there are so many who insist that their mind, their reason has to be the ultimate judge. Yes?

[Unintelligible Question] Is the Feast of Lights the same as Hanukkah?

[Rushdoony] Yes. It is still celebrated to this day. And it’s a particular favorite and has been over the centuries because it was a reminder to the Jews of a very great and astonishing victory, an almost unbelievable victory, because logically the Syrian army should have wiped them out but it did not. There was such an overpowering anger on the part of the people at the profanation of the temple that their courage was boundless. They won victories that should have been smashing defeats. The sad fact is that when it was all over they quarreled among themselves and that gave the Romans the opportunity to come in and take over the country which they did.

Are there any other questions or comments? Well if not let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we thank Thee that Thou art our Lord, our shepherd, our redeemer. Give us grace day by day to trust ourselves in Thy hands. Thou knowest oh Lord how often our own management of our lives has led us astray. Teach us to come to Thee constantly, to look unto Thee, to trust in Thee and to rejoice in Thy sure mercies. Bless us our Father in Thy service. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.