If you will stand with me please for the reading of God's word. I'll be reading from Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 through 29 this morning. Colossians 1, 15 through 29. Paul writes, he is the image of the invisible God. the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself. By him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross, in you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled. in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in his sight. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church. of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. To them, God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach. warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. Let's pray. Father, what glorious words you inspired the Apostle Paul to write here. Just in this short section, we have seen the preeminence of Christ in creation. We've seen his preeminence in redemption. We've seen his preeminence in the church. Lord, help us as we come together this morning to worship you, to study your word, to learn from your word. Help us to remember that he is preeminent in all things. Lord, we're so thankful that you have moved upon us, that you have regenerated us, you have given us the ability to see the truth of the gospel, to see not only the truth of the gospel, but to have seen our dire position before you, that we would stand in judgment before you. Yet you brought us to the cross, that you gave us life, and we thank you for that, dear God. And Lord, I pray that if there's any soul in here today who doesn't know you, We just pray that today would be that day that you would move upon their hearts, giving them the ability to see the truth, to bring them to the cross, and that when they go out these doors today, they would also see your preeminence in all things. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. If you will, turn with me to John chapter five. John chapter five, I'll be reading verses 19 through 29 this morning. John writes, then Jesus answered and said to them, I'm sorry, I skipped two verses, didn't I? Verse 17, but Jesus answered them, my father has been working unto now and I have been working. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he had not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was his father making himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the father do. For whatever he does, the son also does in like manner. For the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself does. And he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the son gives life to whom he will. For the father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the son, that all should honor the son just as they honor the father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my words and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but he has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. Last week, We looked at a sign from the Savior. This week, we're going to be looking at the claims of the Savior. I found a quote by J. Oswald Sanders from The Incomparable Christ. He says, if Jesus is not God, then there is no Christianity. and we who worship him are nothing more than idolaters. Conversely, if he is God, those who say he was merely a good man, or even the best of men, are blasphemers. More serious still, if he's not God, then he's a blasphemer in the fullest sense of the word. If he is not God, he's not even good. The message that we, as I said last week, that was the third sign, the third of seven signs or the third of seven miracles which John the Apostle recorded. This sign was the healing of a lame man or a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda. We saw that the man had been in this condition for 38 years and was hanging around the pool with a multitude of people who were in like condition with him. And they did so because there was the belief that when the waters of the pool were stirred, there were healing powers in them. This man was in such a poor state of health that even when the waters moved, he was unable to get into the pool before somebody else stepped in before him. This was important because the belief was that an angel came at times and stirred the waters and that the condition for healing was that you had to be the first to step in. This man had not been able to do so, and when asked by Jesus if he wanted to be healed, he stated that he could not get into the water in time. And Jesus then immediately healed the man, told him to rise, pick up his bed, and walk. And the man did just that, not knowing who had even healed him at that time. The man is stopped later by the Jews or the religious leaders and told that he was violating the Sabbath by carrying his mat, to which he replied, the man who healed me told me to do this. We saw last week that the Jews were not interested in the man's healing, but the supposed violation of the Sabbath law. Again, it was not really a violation, but it was only a violation of their man-made traditions. And as we reached verse 16 last week, we were told that because of this, the Jews were persecuting Jesus. Today, we're gonna be looking at the claims of the Savior again in response to their persecution. They have a reaction to the miracle he's done. Now, there's gonna be a different reaction. We're gonna see Jesus' reaction, his claims. in response to that. Because of the negative response from the Jews, Jesus said, okay, I'll stop doing these things on the Sabbath. No, absolutely not. That's not what he said. Jesus, in a sense, doubles down. Instead, Jesus will give some reasons why he has the authority to do these things, and then later on in the chapter, will provide witnesses to that authority. multiple witnesses as was required by the Old Testament law. Today Jesus' purpose in this section in verses 17 through 29 is to proclaim his deity, to declare that he is God. Folks, this is one of the top tier doctrines or the Doctrines that are one of the doctrines that are absolutely necessary that we must believe in order to be saved If our Savior is not God as Jay Oswald Sanders says he's no Savior at all If he is merely a good man a good teacher a wise rabbi a Anything less than God, then he is no savior. To be our savior, to be able to pay our sin debt, Christ must be sinless in nature and by his life, or actively and passively. He must be eternal. He must meet every one of the prophetic scriptures that refer to him about his life, about his birth, about his death, about his burial, the locations of all these things. Genealogically, he must be from a very specific Jewish lineage. Jesus is the only man to ever or will ever meet every one of those requirements. And what I just listed is not all. He meets every one of them. So Christ must meet these, and we must believe in the Christ who meets these. Or to put it another way, we must believe in the Christ of the Bible. I repeat this probably every time I'm standing in this pulpit, but it is so important today because so many people have this idol. They have come up with this Jesus in their own mind that does not fit the scriptures. It can't be the Christ someone has formed in their own mind. He must be the God-man, which is what the Jews were doing. They had a preconceived belief about their Messiah, and that did not match what the Old Testament scriptures said about their Messiah. The attack on his deity began here and continued until they reached the cross. As we saw last week, John's gospel records, again, seven signs or seven miracles, and not one time did the Jews say Jesus did not do miracles. They don't say that. They claimed that he was doing them by some other way or some other power than the power of God, or they had merely scoffed and defamed him. In chapter seven and eight, they say Jesus is possessed by demons. In chapter eight, also, he's called a Samaritan. In chapter 10, verse 20, He is accused of having a demon and being insane. In chapter eight, verse 41, they were accusing him of being an illegitimate child. And in Matthew 12, 24, the Pharisees accused him of doing miracles by the power of Satan. They were constantly seeking to kill him also. John tells us this, we've already seen it in the verses. We have just looked at in chapter five, then chapter seven, verse one, chapter seven, verse 19, chapter seven, verse 25. Chapter eight, verse 37, chapter eight, verse 59 and chapter 11, verse 53. They're all in all of these. They're seeking to kill him in one way or another. And obviously they finally succeed in chapter 19. When we get to the cross. But now let's go back to chapter 5, verse 17. Now we had previously been told in verse 16 that because Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath and that he had told the man to rise and pick up his mat and walk and to carry something on the Sabbath, which was not allowed, the Jews were persecuting Jesus. Now some texts say in verse 16 that they were also seeking to kill him in that particular text. It's in some of the Greek texts. It's not in some of them. So let's see what claims Jesus made in response to their reaction. They're ready to kill him now. In verses 17 and 18, though, he tells these Jews something that was earth shattering to them, I'm sure. Verse 17 says, but he answered them, my father is working until now and I myself am working. This was a staggering statement, especially to these Jewish religious leaders. Everything in the rest of the chapter is built upon this statement and is meant to explain and defend this statement. Jesus was not only suggesting that the Father was working with him in all that he'd been doing during his earthly ministry, he's also saying that he and the Father had been working together in all things. all the way back into eternity. We can see this if you look, you go back to the creation account. I have a quote here that came from Ligonier Ministries. I'm not really sure whether R.C. Sproul or one of the other members of the ministry wrote this, but it says, all three persons are the creator. And I quote note that scripture attributes creation to each of the three persons in Genesis one, one and two. For example, we read that the spirit of God, the Holy spirit hovered over the primordial waters at the moment of creation, pointing to his intimate involvement in the seven day process of making the earth and filling it with life. In John one, one through three refers to God, the father and the sir, son, the word. at the beginning of creation, indicating that the Father made all things through the Son and that nothing was created apart from the agency of the Son. It goes on, in many places, Scripture attributes the work of creation particularly to the Father, in Ephesians 3, 9, for instance. However, the references to all three persons of the Holy Trinity and their involvement in creation show us that while the work of creation may reveal the Father in particular, Creation is something all three persons do in common. This must be so. For if God is one, then each person of the Godhead must be involved in everything that God does. When the Father acts, the Son and the Holy Spirit act as well. Father, Son, and Spirit are identical in their attributes. So if the Father exercises omnipotence to create, the Son and the Spirit do so as well. because the omnipotence of the Father is the omnipotence of the Son is the omnipotence of the Spirit. Traditionally, this co-working of the three persons of the Godhead is known as the doctrine of inseparable operations." So Jesus is telling these Jews that he's continually working as the Father is continually working. Now, I know you read a passage like this or you give some explanation like that and you're gonna have some say, well, doesn't the Bible say that God rested on the seventh day? Well, yes, but that don't mean that he stopped working. No, it means that he finished the work of creation and he rested from that work. God is holding this universe together every second of every day. Those works never stop, folks. He's not only the creator, he's the sustainer. If he removes his hand from this universe for a split second, we're done for. Jesus was steering the minds of these Jewish religious leaders back to God's work from the very beginning of creation, I believe, and was claiming to have been part of that too. He's telling these Jews that the healing of the man on the Sabbath was the work of God. God was the one who healed the man on the Sabbath, and it was God who did it. It was beyond, if it was God who did it, it was beyond any criticism, folks. Whatever God does should not and cannot be criticized. Now he's talking to these Jewish religious leaders, these Jews who, if you had asked them, they would say, we're doing the work of the father. We believe in God, the father, and we're doing his work and that would be their thought process. Jesus is trying to explain to them. No, you're not. I'd love to have seen the look on the faces when he made these statements. So there's what the Jews gleaned from what Jesus said here. Jesus was without doubt claiming to be the son of God and therefore God himself. This is one of the most important Christological passages in scripture right here. When Jesus said, my father, this was something the Jew would not have said and they understood what Jesus was claiming when he said it. But did Jesus water down his claims as he gets to the end of his ministry and he's on trial? Let's go to Matthew 26 for just a second. Matthew 26, verses 57 through 68. This is after Jesus' betrayal and arrest. Verse 57 picks up and says, Those who had laid hold of Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard, and he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last, two false witnesses came forward and said, this fellow I'm able to destroy. This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose and said to him, do you answer nothing? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent. The high priest answered and said to him, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God. Jesus said to him, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you hereafter, you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, he has spoken blasphemy. What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard his blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said, he is deserving of death. Then they spat in his face and beat him, and others struck him with the palms of their hands, saying, prophesy to us, Christ, who is the one who struck you? Look back at verse 64. Jesus says, he's just got through at the end of 62 or 63, saying, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us if you are the Christ, the son of the living God. What does Jesus say? It's as you said. He didn't stop there though, did he? He continues on and said, let me tell you that. I'm going to tell you something a little bit more than that. I'm going to tell you this. Hereafter, you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the father. When he makes this statement, people, they know he's referring back to Daniel seven. They know what he's talking about here. He's making that claim to be the Messiah, the son of God. Back to chapter five. And so when we looked at this passage right here, you can't help but see the courage and the steadfastness of Jesus, even to the very end. unlike so many Christians, especially Christian leaders today who tend to drift from the truth at the end of their ministries and at the end of their lives. We've seen Jesus' reaction, now let's go on and see what their reaction is here. Verse 18 says, for this reason, Therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. So if somebody walks up to you and says, Jesus never claimed to be God. No, John chapter five, they understood what he was saying right here. They understood it clearly. They understood it to the point they were ready to kill him for it. Jesus claimed God as his father, thereby claiming deity for himself, and these Jews were livid. In verse 16, the Jews had one charge against Jesus, breaking the Sabbath, but now in verse 18, after he's made a statement, it's breaking the Sabbath and making himself equal with God, which in their minds is blasphemy. Now, we have liberal scholars who will say that Jesus' followers later claimed he was God, but Jesus never said that. No. Jesus was absolutely claiming deity in this section, and that's why they had the reaction they did. They react with murderous intent because this is how they interpret it. And they begin their quest to kill Jesus. By the end of Christ's ministry, these Jews would have witnessed or been told about countless miraculous healings to the point of the dead being raised. Now this should have caused them to stop and to look at the scriptures relating to their Messiah and evaluate whether Jesus met the scriptural requirements as the Messiah. But their hearts are evil. Their hardened hearts just would not allow that. But I was in that state at one point too, and so were you. Have you done that? Have you searched the scriptures and evaluated whether Jesus is the Savior? With an open heart, no. Whether he meets the requirements, have you searched the scriptures to find this out? And I say, go ahead. I urge you to. This book can take it. The Bible has been scrutinized intensely for centuries by some of the finest minds from every angle imaginable. And yet they can't prove it wrong. Folks, if you have not, anybody in here, I urge you to do so. If you have not trusted and surrendered your life to him. Jesus in verse 17 made the claim to be the son of God in his nature or in his essence. But Jesus doesn't stop there. He continues with the claim or explaining the claim. So we have seen he is claiming equality with God in nature. Now we're going to look in verses 19 through 21 at his claim to be equal in power with God. Also, he's going to spell out the relationship between the father and the son. Verse 19 says, Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the father do. For whatever he does, the son also does in like manner. Now, this does not mean that the father and the son are working independently of each other. That's not what this is saying. It's actually saying just the opposite. The father and son are both working on the exact same things to accomplish the exact same goal. Jesus was saying in a sense that he never goes off the reservation. He's saying, I'm always doing what the Father would have me to do. We're always in unison. Unlike sinful human beings. We just can't, even when we agree on the goal, which is not very often, but even if we agree on the goal, we can't agree on how to reach that goal. We're sinners. But that's not the case within the Trinity. Jesus was saying he does nothing independently, but is always working in absolute unison with the Father. Shouldn't that be our goal? to do only what God would have us do? Shouldn't we always seek to be godly in thought, word, and deed? Absolutely. There's a poem written by H.E. Henley, and in that poem it says, I am the master of my fate, I'm the captain of my soul. But is this the way we should think as Christians? No, if we know the scriptures, we know that we are to die to selves and to live for God. And in verse 20, Jesus provides the reason or the motivation for doing all that the father does, his motivation for doing all that the father does. What does he say in verse 20? For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself does. And he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. Now this word love that he uses right here, this is not the agape, agapeo, this is not that word, it is phileo. Agapeo, which is the love of the will, the choice that is used here though is phileo and it's the love of deep feelings such as a father would have for a son. The love of the father for the son is the reason or the motivation for doing the will of God. Shouldn't it be so with us also? We are vile, wretched sinners. John 3.16, you all know, tells us, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And not only that, Romans 5.8 says, but God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still sinners. And because the Father Loves the sun. He's always showing the sun what he's doing so that the sun might do likewise. They're in absolute unity. In all things, folks, we as sinners, we can't agree on choosing the color of the carpet, or what side of the room the piano would be on. I mean, we can't do it. I'm not saying that we don't finally come to an agreement, but we just can't do it. We are not in unison in anything, for the most part, and yet, well, hopefully we are in our love for the Lord, but in things like, no, we just can't do it. And yet the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I get a headache sometimes just sitting trying to figure that one out. They are working in absolute unison. There is never a disagreement in the Trinity. And then at the end of verse 20, Jesus says that the Father will show him greater works than what they'd already seen. and whatever these greater works are, the son will be doing them also. And he says that this will be so that they may marvel, not just at the works, but as Christians, I'm talking, I'm speaking on behalf of Christians, not only, so that they might marvel and admire him, wonder at him, We don't expect the laws to do that. They will marvel. They will throw, how did he do that, that kind of thing, but not in the sense that we can do with awe and respect and praise. In verse 21, Jesus tells us what these greater works are. Verse 21 says, for as the father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the son gives life to whom he will. Now, is this referring to spiritual or physical life? Yes, both. Jesus states it with both in mind at this point. And he will, right after this, as we continue to go on, will tell us that both are true separately. At the end of this verse, we see the sovereignty of God on display, don't we? God gives life to whom he will, physical life or spiritual life. This is God's business. John, in chapter one, verses 12 and 13, it says this, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." So, because the Son is equal to the Father, He has the power to raise the dead. That's only something that God can do, right? Now, there were others throughout the Bible who God used to raise the dead, but these were people that God was working through, such as Elijah, God is the only one who has the ability, the authority, the power to raise the dead spiritually or physically. And you think healing a lame man with something, wait until you see the dead raised and that's coming up short in chapter 11. He's going to do that very thing with Lazarus. Third point. He's equal in nature, he's equal in authority and also, or in power, and also here, equal in authority. Verses 22 through 29. Verse 22 says, well the father judges no one, but he has committed all judgment to the son. Because of the love that the father has for the son, authority has been given to the son to judge, to give spiritual life, to give eternal physical life. Many, and I probably thought the same thing early in my Christian life, many think that the father is going to be doing the judging, but that's not what the scripture says. The Father has committed all judgment to the Son, and because the Father and the Son are in absolute agreement and acting in unison, if the Son makes a judgment, the Father is in perfect agreement with it. 2 Corinthians 5.10 says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. The judgment seat of Christ. Act 1731 says, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained, Jesus Christ. It goes on. He has given assurance to this by all to all by raising him from the dead. Where's 23. Why does he do this? Why does he give him all authority to judge? Well, he tells us right here that all should honor the son as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. That's what these Jews were doing. They thought they were honoring the father, and yet by rejecting their Messiah, they were doing just the opposite. So Jesus now gives us at least one reason that all judgment has been committed to the son, so that the son will be shown honor. If you're a defendant in a courtroom and the judge's son is in that courtroom audience, will you be honoring the son just because he is present? No, not likely. No, you'll show honor to the one who is going to judge you, the one sitting on that bench up there. Now, if that judge's son is also a judge in that same jurisdiction, and that judge asks his son to preside over the proceedings, now who's gonna get the honor? That's right, the son. So it makes no difference who you are, what religious, spiritual beliefs you may have. If you are not honoring Jesus Christ, then you are dishonoring the Father also. John MacArthur was speaking about one of the times he was on Larry King Live. After the show, he said that he and Larry were backstage and Larry made the comment, John, I think I'm gonna be all right. John says, I'm sorry? Oh, I think I'm gonna be all right. And what he was meaning was that because of his Jewishness, he was going to be accepted by God. No. The Jew who refuses to believe in and to trust and to honor Christ is lost. He will not be okay. I don't know what Larry King's spiritual condition was when he died, but if he did not repent of his unbelief in the Messiah, he went into eternity lost, folks. I don't know how many times Dr. MacArthur was on Larry King Live, but I do know one thing. However many times that was, that's how many times Larry King heard the gospel. In verses 24 through 26, John writes, Most assuredly, or truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life, or everlasting life, however you want, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son to have life in himself. So Jesus now moves from authority to judge to authority to give spiritual life, to raise the spiritually dead, to give them the ability to see spiritual truths and respond to those truths. As Jesus said in 24, we must first hear his word. Obviously, we must hear it through the ear. We must have knowledge of his word. But here Jesus is referring to hearing from the heart. Hearing effectually. The writer of Hebrews He puts it like this in chapter 4, verse 2. He says, For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Now this is in a section where he's been going through Israel, coming out of Egypt and going through the wilderness and all that. And he says, for indeed the gospel is probably better to translate that, the good news. The good news was preached to them. What was the good news to them? He says, look, I'm going to give you rest. I'm going to give you a land flowing with milk and honey. I'm going to give you the land of Canaan. Was there any chance that he was not going to do that, that he had lied to? No. And yet, that whole generation dropped dead in the wilderness. Why? Because they didn't believe what God said. It was not mixed with faith. Spurgeon had a quote about this at this point. He said, it does not appear from our text that everlasting life is communicated by drops of water or in any other ceremonial manner, but the command is, hear and you shall live. Hear, believe God. Getting wet will not save you. Baptism does not save, folks. I have probably more than once fallen in the creek hunting. Not one time did that bring me to salvation. We know what baptism is. It's a picture of something. Now, let me just say, if you've not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, than your dead men walking. But for those who have believed and trusted Christ, you have been transferred from darkness to his marvelous light. When you look at this verse here, the words hears, believes, and has are in the present tense. What does that tell us? He who hears, he who right now is hearing, he who right now is believing in him who sent me. If you are right now hearing his and believing his gospel, then you right now have eternal life. And you shall not come into judgment. And when he says that, he's referring to condemnatory type judgment. Because we know that we are all gonna stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the Bible tells us that. But not to determine our eternal destiny, that has already, before we get to that point, if we die without Christ, then that has been said. If we die in Christ, that has been said. We belong to him. We will be judged. but not for salvation. Verse 25 says the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live. Now some believe that this is referring to, um, the coming in the future. I guess you would say the gospel will be taken all over the world, but it's now being preached to you in that sense. But again, this is being spoken of from a spiritual perspective. Those who hear effectually will, because of God's work in their heart, respond in belief and trust. Some of them also would say, and I think this is John MacArthur's Belief here would be in the sense that they were dead in their sin and then they were made alive together with Christ, raising them up. And then, and yet the time is coming when they will be raised physically in the future in that sense, if that makes sense. But again, I got to ask, have you heard the word of Christ merely with the ear or with the heart? If you're merely hearing it with the ear, you can read these words and be unaffected by them. I've been there many, many times. But if you're now under the hearing of my voice, under the sound of my voice, if you're now seeing and hearing these words from the heart, you'll be convicted of your lost condition and you'll begin to see the truth of the gospel. If that is the case, folks, that is God speaking to you. It won't happen any other way. You can't conjure it up on your own. It comes from God. Verse 26 says, for as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son to have life in himself. This verse is speaking of what is called the aseity of God. We speak of this briefly when we do the membership process with someone. It means existence originating from and having no source other than itself. God needs absolutely nothing from mankind to exist, to carry out his work, any of that. He existed before the creation and he will exist eternally after the recreation. Folks, these are comforting words though. If I get my spiritual life from God who has life in himself, then mine will be truly eternal too, right? Yes, our God's not dependent on anyone or anything. So, verse 27. Well, I'm back up in verse 26, it says, for as the Father's given or has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, verse 27, and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of Man. Now, why does Jesus repeat this about judgment? We've already heard about the judgment, right? Up in verse 22, all judgment has been committed to the son. Up in verse 21, to the son, the son of God. This is what he had been referring to. I am the son of God. And so that's, he's been given the authority to judge in that sense. And now he repeats it here. What is this about? I believe in verse 22, Jesus was speaking specifically about judging as God. And in this verse, he is speaking about judging as the son of man, the God, the man part. He, he, well, let me just, he can relate to us because he has lived in this body of flesh. Who better to make judgments than somebody who has walked in those shoes and he has absolutely done so. This term son of man goes back to Daniel 7 in verses 13 and 14 and says, Daniel writes, I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed, the son of man. Hebrews 2.18 says, for in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. I think that's the point he's making here. Also in Hebrews 4.15 it says, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Jesus, because he is the son of man, he is God in the flesh, can sympathize with us as far as the experience of living in this flesh. Now obviously he was without sin, Now in verses 28 and 29, it says, do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. So I believe earlier Jesus was, he gave us the I have this power in total, and then he breaks it down here. He begins to talk about giving life spiritually, and now he's talking about giving life in the future, physically, at the resurrection. From the present to the future. Jesus is not saying that salvation is by works. We know better than that. But your works will reveal whether you're saved or not. The person who says I have trusted Christ and yet lives like the devil may not find things so wonderful on the day of judgment. I think Jesus kind of spoke about some of that, didn't he, in Matthew? Chapter seven, I believe. Jesus said, who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. There's not one person who's ever lived who will not hear and come forth to be judged. Not one. Jesus was standing there being judged by these ungodly Jews whom he will later himself judge in righteousness. So we've seen Jesus make a number of claims here, and I simplified the outline. There are more claims in this section by Christ than what I had listed. I mean, obviously, the ones I do have equal in nature, equal in power, equal in authority, but then you could also break it down, equal in honor, equal in judgment, equal in life-giving ability, equal in works, He's equal in every way, he's God. Ladies and gentlemen, this Jesus is the one who you and I will stand before on that great day. And for those who are here and have trusted Christ, truly trusted Christ, may he take his word, this word, and give us a deeper appreciation of who he is. the compassionate, powerful God of the universe and of our lives. If you have not trusted Christ, may this be the day that the spirit gives you life through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back at verse 24 for just a second. most assuredly or truly, truly, I'm telling you the truth right here. Jesus is saying, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life. Have you done that? Are you right now doing that? Are you right now believing? Because that's the test for sure. You know, a lot of times I've had those, Spells of doubt and people will come to you at times, you know, knowing you're a Christian and they may be having some doubts. And so how you, there's a number of ways to answer them. You can send them to first John, but you can also say, when John talks about believing, he's talking about it in the present tense. Are you right now doing this? Are you right now? Trusting your very soul to Jesus Christ. I used to do that at work. You know, you'd have those little gangbangers, and you're talking to them about the gospel, and so, you know, you have a segue here. Look, you may walk out this door and get gunned down on the steps of the courthouse. Are you right now trusting Jesus Christ? I don't care what you tell me you did in the past. Right now, are you believing? That's what you need to do if you're not. If you are, you have everlasting life and you shall not come into judgment, condemnatory judgment. You have passed from death to life. Let's pray. Father, what a wonderful thing it is to open up your word, to see the great truths that we have, to see your compassion, to see your power, all the many things that are on display in your son, Who is God? Lord, we're reminded as Christians that we serve a great and mighty Savior, an eternal Savior. Because he lives forevermore, we know that we also shall live forevermore. Lord, I just pray again that for those of us who belong to you, that we would walk out these doors rejoicing with a refreshed or renewed view, an encouraging view of who you are and who we are in you. And I do pray again that if there's a lost soul in here today, Lord, help them to know that you love them. We also love them, but that you love them in a sense that we can't even begin to. Lord, make that real to them. Help them to see the truth of the gospel. We thank you, we praise you for this opportunity. We pray all of this in Jesus name, amen.