I Am Come in My Father's Name

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
14 October 2006

John 5: 31-44: “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?”

“Testify: (Gk. martureo) Strong’s #3140: This word means ‘to bear witness.’ According to Jewish law, a testimony to oneself is no testimony at all. Truth or validity had to be established by two or three witnesses (Deut. 17: 7; 19: 15). Therefore, Jesus’ witness to Himself would not validate His claims; He needed the witness of another. That other witness was not John the Baptist, but Jesus’ Father. In the following verses, Jesus called upon several witnesses to affirm His claims, but actually He needs only one witness, His Father’s.”

--The Nelson Study Bible, New King James Version

“If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.”
“But I receive not testimony from man.”
“But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.”
“And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.”
“But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not.”

Testimony. Testify. To bear witness. To perceive in your spirit. Spiritual things are spiritually perceived. The carnal mind cannot perceive spiritual things or spiritual work. Even if a man is not a Christian, but is hungering for the things of God, he will eventually gravitate towards Jesus, because Jesus (His life, his work) will bear witness with his spirit that Jesus really has something to offer—not just lip-service, namby pamby, lollypop churchianity.

When a man walks towards a burning fire in the middle of the night, he knows there is a fire there because it is giving off light and heat. I don’t have to tell him that there is fire there—he already knows. When hitchhiking, I really don’t have to press the issue of the Gospel (cram it down someone’s throat), because they are already predisposed to hearing the Gospel or they are not. If people reject the work that I do or the life that I lead, they are not rejecting me, but Christ within me.

I can speak words (witness) and say, “I am doing the will of my heavenly Father” or “the Lord told me to hitchhike.” The other witness is my life: either I am abiding in Christ or I am not—I really don’t have to give two or three scriptures on why I am doing this work. People can hear Bible verses till the cows come home, but it won’t really matter. I am not trying to convince them in their head (to make an intellectual argument), I am trying to show them my life—either it will bear witness with them or it will not. Clever words really can do nothing, but a life that is truly submitted to Christ can move mountains all over the world.

When you see me you see the Father.