John 5:41

"I do not receive glory from men," but from the Father: below in chapter seventeen: "Father, glorify your Son"; therefore I do not accuse you on account of love of my own glory, but on account of the lack of divine love. It is asked …

The Cure at the Pool of Bethesda. 1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:91%@v1-3

I receive not honour from men.

I receive not honour ... - “I do not say these things because I am desirous of human applause, but to account for the fact that you do not believe on me. The reason is, that you have not the love of God in you.” In this passage we see: 1. That we should not seek for human applause. It is of very little value, and it often keeps men from the approbation of God, Joh 5:44. 2. They who will not believe on Jesus Christ give evidence that they have no love for God.

This passage concludes our Lord Jesus Christ's wondrous defense of His own divine mission. It is a conclusion worthy of the defense, full of heart-searching appeals to the consciences of His enemies, and rich in deep truths. A mighty sermon is followed by a mighty application. Let us mark, in this passage, the reason why many souls are lost. The Lord Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews—"You will not come to me that you might have life." These words are a golden sentence, which ought to be engraved in our memories, and treasured up in our minds.

How touching and gracious are these last words! Observe here (1) The honor which Christ gives to the Scriptures, as a record which all have a right and are bound to search--the reverse of which the Church of Rome teaches; (2) The opposite extreme is, resting in the mere Book without the living Christ, to direct the soul to whom is its main use and chiefest glory.

This passage concludes our Lord Jesus Christ's wondrous defense of His own divine mission. It is a conclusion worthy of the defense, full of heart-searching appeals to the consciences of His enemies, and rich in deep truths. A mighty sermon is followed by a mighty application. Let us mark, in this passage, the reason why many souls are lost. The Lord Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews—"You will not come to me that you might have life." These words are a golden sentence, which ought to be engraved in our memories, and treasured up in our minds. It is lack of will to come to Christ for salvation that will be found, at last, to have shut the many out of heaven. It is not men's sins. All manner of sin may be forgiven. It is not any decree of God. We are not told in the Bible of any whom God has only created to be destroyed. It is not any limit in Christ's work of redemption. He has paid a price sufficient for all mankind. It is something far more than this. It is man's own innate unwillingness to come to Christ, repent, and believe. Either from pride, or laziness, or love of sin, or love of the world, the many have no mind, or wish, or heart, or desire to seek life in Christ. "God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:11.) But men stand still, and will not stir hand or foot to get life. And this is the whole reason why many of the lost are not saved. This is a painful and solemn truth, but one that we can never know too well. It contains a first principle in Christian theology. Thousands, in every age, are constantly laboring to shift the blame of their condition from off themselves. They talk of their inability to change. They tell you complacently, that they cannot help being what they are! They know, undeniably, that they are wrong, but they cannot be different! It will not do.

I receive not honor from men - I do not stand in need of you or your testimony. I act neither through self-interest nor vanity. Your salvation can add nothing to me, nor can your destruction injure me: I speak only through my love for your souls, that ye may be saved.