The Authority of God the Son

Transcript

GR 349
2/17/1980
The Authority of God the Son
JOHN 5:19-30
Gil Rugh

John's gospel, chapter 5. Remember in our study last week as we looked through the opening verses of chapter 5 that the 5th chapter of John marks a turning point in John's record in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Through the first four chapters, John has emphasized the response of faith to the work and teachings of Jesus. So with chapter 5, there is a turning point. And from chapter 5 through chapter 12, the rest of the record of the public ministry of Jesus Christ, the emphasis will be on the fact that there is opposition building to the ministry of Jesus Christ. We noted that 3 particular miracles will £and out as provoking this opposition. The healing of the lame man in chapter 5, the healing of the blind man in chapter 9, and the raising of Lazarus in chapter 11. They are not the only miracles that will be recorded but these three miracles become focal point to arouse the Jews in their hatred and opposition and cause them to come to the settled conviction that Jesus Christ must be crucified. He must be executed and removed from the scene.

In our study last week, we looked at the first 18 verses of John 5 which focus attention on the miracle of the healing of the lame man. The man who for 38 years had been unable to walk, and Jesus by speaking the word enabled him to just get up and walk. The conflict comes becomes Jesus told him to take up his bed, a portable cot or bed that he would be laying on, roll it up and walk. And it was the Sabbath Day, and when the Jewish leaders saw this man carrying this cot on the Sabbath Day, they were very provoked and spoke to him regarding the fact he was breaking the Sabbath. Now what he was doing was breaking their traditions. They had certain traditions that they had built up—that they had instituted as law, set down which were necessary for men to obey if they were to be pleasing to God. And the man's response was 'The one who made me well, He is the one who told me to take up my bed and walk.' And the Jewish leaders pick this up. They don’t continue to condemn the man for carrying his bed because they recognized his position. If the man who healed him had that kind of authority, then obviously it was not unusual that this man would obey him and carry his bed. They focused all of their hatred now on Jesus Christ. And so in verse 16 have the authority and right to overrule our religious tradition. I mean, would you not expect a man who could heal a man who had been lame for 38 years maybe also has the authority to override their own religious tradition? But they didn’t consider that. They had things reversed. Rather than evaluating His claims to be the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, and then to recognize His authority over the Sabbath, all they could see was the fact that it goes contrary to our traditions and they never stopped to consider who He really was.

Note verse 17. "He answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." Two problems. He broke their Sabbath tradition. And He claimed equality with God. For these two reasons, the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now they should have considered- is He indeed equal with God? If He is, naturally He has authority to overrule our religious traditions. Now what Jesus does through the rest of this chapter is give a discourse on who He really is. The authority that is His. The position He occupies with the Father. And those who witness or testify to the fact He is indeed the person He claims to be.Note verse 19. This is a section that is going to stress in these verses the equality with the Father, even though there is orderly arrangement. Note. "Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. You note in these verses there is a stress on the name Son. It is used repeatedly. It is used twice in verse 19, once in verse 20, once in verse 21, once in verse 22, again in verse 23. Stressing this relationship—the Son, the Son. For the Jews this was jarring. They recognized that as a claim to deity. Now you note. Jesus says 'Truly, truly..' That repeated 'Amen, Amen,'—the word we carry over into English drawing attention to the importance and seriousness of what He is about to say. "The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, these things the Son does also in like manner." Now as you first read that you might think that Jesus is disclaiming equality with God because He says He can do nothing of Himself unless it is something He sees the Father doing. You say doesn't that mean He is inferior to God the Father. He only does what He sees God the Father doing. Well, that statement first of all stresses order within the Godhead. These Jewish leaders were, in effect, claiming that Jesus was going in conflict with God the Father. He was going contrary to God the Father because they thought their religious traditions accurately portrayed the will of God the Father. What Jesus is driving home is that everything I do is in perfect harmony with God the Father. 'I can do nothing unless it is something I see the Father doing.' What is He saying? I just healed this man on the Sabbath. Now I couldn't do that if it wasn't consistent with what the Father does. Know what He's going to be claiming? You not only have a problem with me, you have a problem with the Father. You're not just upset with Me, you're upset with the Father. Your religious traditions are not a reflection of the character of the Father at all. They are a reflection of your own ideas and stubbornness. The last part of the statement stresses the deity of Jesus Christ. "For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner." That 'in like manner' is a word that often is used to denote a correspondence in nature or essence. And Jesus says that I do all things that the Father does in the same way because we are of the same nature or essence. Now that's a claim to deity. If He can claim to do everything that God does, He must be God. You can't make that claim, and I can't make that claim. I can't claim to do everything that God does. I desire to have God work in my life, but only one who is God Himself could do everything that God the Father does. So you see what you have in this verse. You have a balance. Jesus says 'I am submissive to the Father, but I am equal to Him. I obey the Father, but I do everything He does.' You remember the stress we had last week? Submission does not imply inferiority. Equality and submission are not contrary ideas. You can be submissive and still be equal. Jesus is equal to God the Father, but He is submissive to God the Father in the order of things and that's what He is talking about here. Whatever the Father does, these the Son also does in like manner. Going on to show again the consistency in working—there is orderliness—and also the equality. "The Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel." Jesus says ' My work flows out of a love relationship with the Father. The Father loves Me, His Son. He has revealed everything to me.' Now again, what the stress is here is that the Father and Son function in a relationship of complete openness. Remember the issue is what Jesus is doing on the Sabbath. Is it right or wrong? Jesus is stressing, 'Everything I do is in agreement with what the Father does. Everything I do is what the Father does.' There is perfect consistency. So the Father loves the Son. He shows Him everything. In love there is an openness, and Jesus says 'The Father has shown everything to Me. And He will reveal even more that you may marvel.' And that is going to be the subsequent matters of life, resurrection, and judgment. He is going to move into these areas. And He moves into the area of life first of all in verse 21.

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes." Now. You'll note here the equality stressed. The Father raises the dead and gives them life. The Jews had no problem with this. The Old Testament was clear. They could go back to Deuteronomy. They could go back to Samuel. They recognized that God is the author and source of all life. Now Jesus, note, “just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whomever He wishes." Jesus claims to be able to do what God the Father does. 'I can give life just like God the Father does, and I do it sovereignly because I give this life to whomever I want to give it to.' The Son gives life to whomever He wishes. Now that is as strong a claim to deity as you could ask for. That Jesus Christ claims to be able to give life just like God the Father did, and He does it sovereignly. He gives it to whomever He wishes. Now the question is, what kind of life is He talking about here? He could be talking about spiritual life. He could be talking about bodily resurrection. He's going to talk about both of these subjects in the following verses. Spiritual life and resurrection of a dead person back to life. And so both could be included. And both are true—the Son does give life, spiritual life and He will raise back to life the physically dead. I think He's probably talking here about spiritual life, the reason being. It says 'The Son gives life to whomever He wishes.' Not everyone gets the life that He is talking about. But when we get over to verses 28 and 29, we'll find out that every single person is going to get bodily resurrection. Every person who ever lived is going to be raised back to life bodily by the power of Jesus Christ. But here He is selective. There is a certain group He is going to give life to. That fits the spiritual life that He is going to talk about. So that's the first claim here. Evidence of deity— that He gives life to whomever He wants. He'll elaborate on that in a moment.

But connected with this is judgment. Because there are only two kinds of people. People who receive life and thus will not be judged, and there are people who do not get life and so will not be judged. So, verse 22 says, ’Not even the Father judges any one, but He has given all judgment to the Son.' Remarkable statement. Again, no problem for the Jews. We .look at this and say 'Well, Jesus must not be deity because it says the Father gives judgment to the Son. Does that not mean that Jesus is inferior to the Father?' God the Father gave Him the authority to judge. Therefore, the Father must be superior. No. What it stresses is the orderliness within the Godhead. There is no conflict here. It's not God the Father wants to be judge and God the Son wants to be judge, and God the Spirit wants to be judge. And who is going to resolve the conflict? There is perfect order. So 'not even the Father judges any one.' Now the Jews would recognize God is Judge of all things. Doesn't the Old Testament ask the question 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' Does not the Book of Ecclesiastes close with the reminder that God will call you into judgment for everything you do? There is no question that God is the Judge, but here we are told that He has delegated this responsibility to the Son. Now there are certain prerogatives of deity that can only be delegated to deity. One of these would be giving life. Another of these would be judgment. Since the Old Testament says that God gives life, only God can give life. Since the Old Testament says that only God judges, then only God can be a judge. So it's a statement here of the deity of Jesus Christ. To be said that He could be given this responsibility because it could be given to no one but God. God could not delegate to me the responsibility to be judge of all mankind because that is a prerogative of deity. God cannot delegate that. There are certain things God cannot do. He cannot do those things which are contrary to His nature and character. He can't do that. He could not give to me responsibilities, authority that are only for deity; and judgment of all humanity is one of those prerogatives. It's a clear statement here that Jesus Christ is God.
Because the Father gave to Him the right to judge all mankind. And the Old Testament says that will be done by God Himself. It's a prerogative of deity. All judgment is given to the Son. Why? Verse 23. "In order that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father." You note that. There is order.
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Again, I keep saying this. I've said it so many times you're going to hear it in your sleep! Equality is not sameness. To be equal does not mean you are the same that you have to do the same things or be the same thing. Jesus is equal with the Father. He partakes of the same essence and nature, but within the Godhead there is order. The Father has delegated to the Son certain responsibility. One of these is judgment. Why? The purpose being that "all would honor the Son just like they honor the Son." Now that has to be a statement of deity. If I would say to you this morning you ought to honor me just like you honor God that would be blasphemy. You'd say 'That's terrible. He wants us to honor him like God.' You say you can't do that. Why? You're a human being. I don't deserve that honor. But here we're told that the purpose of God the Father is that Jesus Christ gets the same honor that He gets. That means He must be deity. Only three persons anywhere deserve the same honor— God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and they deserve that because all three are of the essence and nature of deity. Note the claim to the deity here. That Jesus might be honored as God the Father is honored? He 'might be honored because He is God the Son.

Now note here, the other side of it. Verse 23. "He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent Him." You ought to fix that statement in your mind. It answers all your questions about other religions. We talk about religions, and people say 'why are you so hard on this religion or these religions? They are sincere and earnest in their worship of God.' The only question is 'Do they honor Jesus Christ. Do they worship Him as the Bible says He deserves? Do they exalt Him as the Son of God?' No, but they worship God. Well, verse 23 says ’He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father.’ There is not a person, there is not a religion anywhere in the world that honors and worships God that does not honor and worship Jesus Christ. That’s the statement of verse 23. You say, what about these sincere, earnest
people? I remind you who Jesus Christ is talking to. He is talking to Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees—people who are meticulous in their religious activity. They are much more given to detail in their religious functions than you and I ever will be. And yet Jesus said 'You don't honor the Father.’ What do you mean we don't honor the Father? We go through all of these routines and rituals. We go here and there and do this and that and Jesus says ’You don’t honor the Father.’ Why? They don’t honor the Son. You say 'Oh, I don’t know if I can believe that.' Well, maybe you can't, but I want you to understand it's true. Now you may not believe what is true—that's up to you. But it's true because God says it here. He who doesn't honor the Son, doesn't honor the Father. Sometimes I have a hard time with that. I say, Boy, these people seem so earnest and sincere. But I have to come back and say, Gil, the standard is not your evaluation of their earnestness or sincerity. The standard of evaluation is what God says in His Word. Are they honoring Jesus Christ?

Note. This all comes to a head in verse 24. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." You note what is the issue here. The issue is hearing and believing. Those who hear the words of Christ and believe God. You note how He ties the two together. To hear and believe me is to hear and believe God. He who hears my word and believes Him who sent me. Why? The word is what God says is the claim of Christ. This one has (present tense), has as his possession eternal life.

Now let me elaborate on that a little bit. What does He say? He does not come into judgment, but he is passed out of death into life. Explanation in verse 25. "Truly, Truly..." Again, you note the importance of these statements. Verse 24 began with it and verse 25 begins with it. "..I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live." This goes back to verse 21. He gives life to whom He wishes. Some move from death to live, out of judgment into life. Who? Let’s pick up with verse 25. "An hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear shall live." Is He talking about resurrection back to physical life? He's going to talk about that down in verses 28 and 29. Those who are in the grave will be called back to life. Well, I think not for one reason. Note. "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is..." Jesus says this is going on right now. But the dead were not being raised out of the graves—they are still not. That is yet future. BUT, spiritually dead people were receiving spiritual life, and that is what He is talking about. "Those who hear the voice of the Son of God," and it is consistent as John writes. The word ’hear' is used of those who do not just let the words fall on their ears, but those who hear it and believe it. Just like here, there are people in this auditorium who hear the sound of my words, but not everybody who hears the sound of my voice believes what I am saying. Well John uses the word 'hear' for those who hear and receive it, accept it, believe it. Those who hear the voice of the Son of God shall live.

Now, remember the Bible says that the penalty for sin is death. Because of our sin we are spiritually dead. Turn back to the Book of Ephesians, chapter 2. Paul writes to the Ephesians and he begins chapter 2 by saying, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins..." Now obviously he doesn't mean that the Ephesians had been in a grave, having died physically. He says 'C you were dead in the area of sin and trespasses. He says you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air..." In other words, there was a time when these Ephesians had been living in sin and were separated from God. You know in the Bible, death is separation. When you die physically, you as a person will leave your body. We’ll talk about this next week. When you are dead spiritually, you as a person are separated from God. That's what spiritual death is. Because of sin, your relationship with God is nonexistent. That relationship does not exist. You are separated from Him. So the Bible says you are dead. It doesn’t mean you don't exist, it means you have no relationship with God.

Note down in verse 4 of Ephesians 2. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions (our sins) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places.." What happened? These Ephesians were dead in their sins; they had no relationship with God. Someone came and preached to them the gospel of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ, God’s Son died to pay the penalty for their sins, that He was raised from the dead. These Ephesians believed that. They ceased to trust their good works. They ceased to trust their religious activity. They placed their full confidence in Jesus Christ and what He had done, and at that moment their sins were forgiven. They were brought into a person relationship with God which will go on for eternity. So you come back to John 5, and that’s what Jesus is talking about.

Those who hear My proclamation and come to believe in Me. He's telling these religious people, ’If you will quit trusting your religious activity, you will quit trusting your religious traditions and place all of your trust in Me and what I am and what I will do, you will be forgiven your sins. I will give you life.' Now note in verse 24, ’The one who believes HAS eternal life.' He does not come into judgment because he has passed from death into life. So you have death and judgment; you have life. That's the contrast. Some have death, some have life. Those under death will come under judgment. Dead, meaning they have no relationship with God. They haven't received life from Him yet. Doesn't mean they aren’t religious. Doesn’t mean they don’t go to church. Doesn’t mean they haven’t been baptized or confirmed or become members. Doesn't mean they don't come here and hear me preach every Sunday, but you know what? None of those are requirements for going to heaven. "He who believes HAS eternal life." He has passed from death into life and is no longer under judgment.

Note. Verse 26. "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself..." Now again, a clear statement of the deity of Christ. We’ve eluded to this back in verse 21. The Father has life in Himself. He is the source and author of life. But you know what? Here we are told that in the same way, God the Son has life in Himself. He is able to give life to those who believe. Remember in Acts, the opening chapter? The Jews are accused of killing the author of life? Maybe you ought to turn over there.

The 3rd chapter of Acts, as Peter preaches. Acts chapter 3, verse 14, "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life..." That word 'Prince' can mean 'author, originator' as well as prince. The author of life, the prince of life, the 'One whom God raised from the dead." That's who Jesus Christ is.

So back in John 5, He claims to have life in Himself the same way the Father does. That's a claim to deity. He is God, just like the Father is God, because He has life in Himself. Now, remember. There are 3 issues at stake. There is life, death and judgment--really breaks down into 2—judgment and death go together and life stands by itself. Now. What about the judgment? Well, verse 22 told us that the Son will do all judging. Verse 26, the Son has life in Himself and in verse 27 "He gave Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man." So again, you note the perfect order within the Godhead. It is the plan of God the Father that God the Son will do all judging, so they both could judge. They both could give life. But there is no conflict here—I want to do it, I want to do it. That doesn’t go on. We get that today because we emphasize equality so then we do battle over being able to do the same thing. That’s not the issue. God the Father has delegated authority of judgment to God the Son. Why would He delegate judgment to God the Son? Well, we are told in verse 27, MHe gave Him authority to execute judgment, BECAUSE He IS the Son of Man." Or, a Son of Man. He is Son of Man. Now, that is Jesus Christ’s favorite expression for Himself. He refers to Himself more often as the Son of Man than any other name or title during His earthly ministry. I take it, one of the emphases here is the fact that Jesus Christ Himself is a human being, so judgment of humanity is delegated to Him. God must be the Judge, must execute judgment; BUT, within the Godhead it’s the plan that the One who is not only God but also Man would do the judging of mankind. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; but God the Father did not become a man. God the Holy Spirit did not become a man. God the Son became a man, so He can exercise judgment as God and man alike. So I take it that is involved here. God the Father delegated the authority for judgment to the One who is God the Son, the God-man, Jesus Christ.

There's another reason in the background here. This expression 'Son of Man’ comes out of the Old Testament. It is a title for the Messiah. I think it identifies Him as one who would be Man as well as God. Go back to the Book of Daniel and the 7th chapter. You have here a glorious scene of the coming kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule in righteousness, an earthly kingdom. Verse 9,”1 kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened..." We’re going to be talking about this scene next week in connection with the judgments of Scripture.
Verse 13, "I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him." The Son of Man comes, one like the Son of Man. That’s Jesus’ claim. He says, I can judge Mankind, I am the Son of Man of prophecy. I am the Messiah of Israel. I am God who became a man. In the offertory at the close of the service, they’ll be playing "Love was when God became a Man" and that’s the truth that is veiled in this expression. So as Jesus makes that claim back in John chapter 5, He is Son of Man. He is the One to whom all authority has been delegated. Daniel chapter 7 makes clear that He would have authority over all.

Now you note what it does. In the plan of God the Father, it is that all humanity must deal with His Son, Jesus Christ. They must deal with Him either as the source of life, or they must deal with Him as Judge for sin. But every single human being, whoever lives or ever will live or ever has lived on this earth, will have to deal with Jesus Christ. Either as the One in whom they have received life, or the One in whom they have been judged. And this is the plan that God lays out in Philippians 2, that it was in the plan of God that His Son come to earth, be a man, be crucified so that He might be exalted to the highest, so that every knee might bow before Him, either in acknowledging Him as the source of life or in recognizing Him as the authoritative Judge. Because those who are dead in their sins must be judged for their sins; but those who have been forgiven all their sins, I have no sin to be judged for. You say 'Wait a minute, you’re claiming to be perfect.’ No. I claim to be forgiven. I claim there are 2 kinds of sinners—there are filthy vile sinners like me, there are filthy vile sinners like you—that’s the sameness. We’re all filthy vile sinners. The Bible says all have sinned. There are none righteous, there is none that does good. But you know there is a difference. There are filthy, vile, rotten sinners who have been forgiven their sins, and there are filthy, vile rotten sinners who have not been forgiven their sins. Those are the two kinds of sinners. We can classify everybody as a sinner—the Bible does. But the Bible classifies 2 kinds of sinners—sinners who have been forgiven, and sinners who have not been forgiven. The only question is, Which kind of sinner are you? No question that you are a sinner. No question that I am a sinner! The only question is, Are you a forgiven sinner or not? You say, 'Well, I’m pretty religious. You know I've been baptized and I attend this church regularly, and I’m pretty moral and all those things.' But then we’re back to verse 24. It doesn’t say He who is baptized and He who is religious and He who is moral and He who listens to Gil preach faithfully week after week has eternal life. Does it? No. What's it say? "He who believes HAS eternal life." Know the difference between sinners? Some have come to recognize that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died on a cross to pay the penalty for their sins. They are trusting that alone for their salvation. Then there are sinners who are trusting their church, their religious activities, and their good works, to get them to heaven. There are two kinds of sinners—those trusting Christ alone, and those trusting something else. That’s what it boils down to.

BUT, life comes through the Son; judgment will also come. Note, verses 28-30 He moves into the subject of before judgment will occur resurrection will occur. Next week I want to spend our time together talking about the resurrections of Scripture, the characteristics of the resurrected body, and the judgments of Scripture. So we’ll go into detail in these verses next week, the resurrections, the judgments, the glorified body or the resurrected body. But just note in an overview—verse 28. "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth..." Note that. Every single person who has ever lived on earth is going to come back to life. Their body is going to be called back into existence. That’s amazing. Not a select few. Every single person—the dead, all who are in the tombs, the graves. Another way of speaking, all who have died, their bodies are called back to life. "Those who did good, to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil, to a resurrection of judgment." Now, we’ll talk about this in our study next week. Those who did good refers to those who believed in Christ and received life in Him. Those who do evil are those who have not come to believe in Him. We’ll see this in some other passages in our study next time.

It's important to note now. Some think this teaches a general resurrection; but as we’ll see, Scripture is very clear. There is an order of resurrections. Each group resurrected in their own time in God's timetable in history. But every single person is going to be resurrected, and in verse 30—"I can do nothing on My own initiative, as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just; because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me." Connected with the resurrection of the body is judgment, and those who have not come to receive life by believing in Christ will be raised to be condemned to an eternity in hell. Those who have come to believe in Him will have their bodies raised to spend eternity in glory in His presence. All hinges around a person's reaction and response to Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting that after 2,000 years the issues have not changed. Men are still not clear as to who Jesus Christ really is. They still want to debate His deity. But the Scripture is clear—Jesus Christ is none other than God in the flesh. God the Son. He is the One, the One alone, to whom men can find life, forgiveness of sins, a personal relationship with God Himself. He and He alone is the One who will stand as
Judge of all humanity. And as verse 30 makes clear, He judges perfectly and in accordance with the Father’s will. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Some people think that when it comes to judgment He’s just going to say ’Well, you did your best, let's forget it.’ But that would not be doing right, that would not be justice.

Now the thing that always amazes me—it is a settled fact, God promises that all men will have to deal with Jesus Christ. I would far rather confront Him as Savior, as the One who died to pay the penalty for my sins, as the One in whom I can trust and have life, as I would to confront Him as Judge. The One who will in righteousness sentence me to an eternity in hell. But that decision must be made in this life. And just as these who were hearing Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago were making a decision, so you who are hearing His Word 2,000 years later make a decision. You make a decision not to hear or to hear. You make a decision to believe or not to believe. All I can do is tell you what God says. He said that His Son is the source of life. He died for you. If you will quit trusting your religious tradition. Quit trusting your religious good works, quit trusting anything else and put your full confidence in the fact that God’s Son died to pay the penalty for you personally; at that instant of time a transaction will occur that I do not understand. That a filthy, dirty, condemned sinner believes that Christ died for Him and in an instant of time, every sin is totally and completely forgiven, put away as far as the east is from the west, and brought into a personal relationship with God which will go on for eternity. I don’t understand that—it amazes me. That all eternity hangs on one single issue—Have you believed that Jesus Christ, God's Son, died for you? You cannot escape Him. You cannot get away from Him. It's God's plan that every single person must confront Him. Either as Savior or as Judge. Let’s pray together

Father, we thank you for the greatness of the truths that are revealed in
your Word. Lord, how easy it is for us to let our minds go lax. Father, to fail to grapple with the seriousness of the subject, to recognize that for all eternity, millions and billions of years from now, our response to the message that is proclaimed will be of utmost importance.

Father, I pray for those who are here. Lord, perhaps they are trusting their coming to this church, trusting being baptized, trusting being good,
Lord you know the condition of their hearts. Lord, they are trusting other things than Jesus Christ. We desire that right now the Spirit might open their ears, open their eyes that they might see and hear and believe that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the One who died for them that they might have life, be passed from death to life. Lord, as those who were under judgment, to those who are destined to glory in His presence, for we pray in Jesus name.