Folks, throughout the centuries, both scholars and skeptics have offered countless attempts at answering the question, who is Jesus Christ? And unbelievers in every generation have attempted to explain away the truth about him, much like our media does today, right, in telling us very little of the truth anymore, but just what we want to hear. Well, even in our Lord's own day, lies were spread about Him. The Jewish religious leaders, motivated by bitter jealousy, accused Him of all sorts of untruth. They accused Him of being demon-possessed. Do you remember that? John 7, 20, and then again in John 8, 52. They accused Him of being born out of wedlock. John 8.41, listen to all these things that they accused him of. They accused him of being a Samaritan, that is half Jew, half Gentile. And back then, those were fighting words, right, in that culture. That was John 8.48. They accused him of being insane. John 10, 20. And even after his many miracles, none of which could be denied or discounted, they even went so far as to accuse him of doing the things that he did through the power of none other than Beelzebul, or Satan. Matthew 12, 24. For the past 2,000 years, liberals and skeptics have then followed suit with their blatant, incessant attacks against our Savior. But ironically, in all the debate, Jesus' own words about who he was, if ever, rarely if ever, are even considered. The question is this, did he claim to be nothing more than a good moral teacher? And if so, did his followers then later invent his claims of being more than just a good guy? or did he always maintain his claims to be the Son of God, the Messiah, that is God in human flesh? And folks, as we work our way through our Life of Christ series, you're going to see time and time again that Jesus not only did the things that only God can do, but he also made unequivocal statements of deity that only God would say. And our text this morning comes right on the heels of Jesus' healing of a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, and we saw that in verses 1 through 16. And as we saw, Jesus did not violate, if you remember back to that sermon a couple weeks ago, Jesus did not violate any one of the Old Testament Sabbath regulations that the Lord had laid down. Rather, he took issue with the man-made rabbinical rules and regulations, their traditions that had been handed on from one rabbi to the other. And it's interesting to note that Jesus did not defend his actions by pointing out the differences between God's law and their own man-made rules. He didn't do that. Rather, he simply maintained that he was equal with God, and as such, he was keeping the Sabbath perfectly. the way that God intended it to be kept. Now today's passage, listen carefully. I don't want any of you to fall asleep on me today, because I'm watching. Today's passage is admittedly a little more complex than we normally encounter in the Gospels. We've been in the Gospels for a bit now. We've traveled through Romans and Timothy and Titus and James and a bunch of other books. And those are a little bit different. We're kind of used to that didactic teaching. But here in the gospels, we've been accustomed to more of storytelling and things like that. So we're not used to it. So I say all that to simply remind you or to tell you, to warn you to please pay attention because what we find in today's passage really are five, I would say, golden nuggets. which clearly show Christ's own claims of equality with God, all right? This is fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. So with that as a little bit of background, let's all stand up for the reading of God's word, and we will get started with John 5, verses 16 through 30, okay? It's our section today. John 5, 16 through 30. John writes this, for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But he answered them, my father is working until now, and I myself am working. For this reason, 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. Verse 19, therefore, Jesus 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. Whatever the father does, these things the son also does in the same way. For the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing, and the father will show him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so the son also gives life to whom he wishes. For not even the father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the son. so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him, verse 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, a time is coming and even now has arrived when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself. And He gave Himself, excuse me, and He gave Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man. Verse 28, do not be amazed at this. For a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment. Now verse 30, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge. My judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. You may be seated. All right, it's a good passage, huh? Let's go back up to verse 16. Let's dig through this verse by verse together. Here it is, John 5, 16. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. John is referring to our Lord's healing of the paralytic on the Sabbath and his subsequent command to get up, pick up your pallet, and walk. How many of you guys were there for that sermon just a couple weeks ago? It's exactly so. We're in the same context. It's exactly what the Jews were talking about. And you'll remember that the Jewish leaders, blind to the wonderful miracle that had just occurred uncaring about the joy of the man who had just been healed for such a long time were incensed that Jesus had violated their man-made rules and regulations by doing what he did on the Sabbath. And as I made mention last time, this was merely the beginning of the storm of opposition launched against Jesus by the religious establishment of the day. So what did Jesus do? How did he respond? Well, look at verse 17. That's what he said. But he answered them, my father is working until now, and I myself am working. Folks, this is an amazing claim. The Gospels are filled with many conversations between Jesus and the religious elite of his time, but this conversation is unique. Most of our English translations begin this verse with the words Jesus said or Jesus answered, but the verb that John used here is actually a very rare Greek word. And it's found only in the context of trials and courtrooms, when a formal defense was being made against alleged charges. So by using this particular Greek word that John used, he was telling us that Jesus was not merely answering a question. Rather, he was making a formal defense before the authorities who were accusing him of doing things that were unlawful to do on the Sabbath. And notice also, that Jesus does not say our Father and thus place himself on par with the Pharisees or even the Jews in general. Rather, he pointedly refers to God as, what does he say here? My Father. And it must have shaken those religious Jews to their core of their being to hear this man speak of God as his Father in the most intimate and absolute of terms. So what was our Lord's defense that day to the scribes and the Pharisees? Folks, it was both brief but profound. Look at verse 17. But he answered them, my Father is working until now, and I myself am working. And perhaps you're even wondering, Pastor, what's so profound about that? It doesn't seem so profound. Well, Jesus was, in effect, reminding the Jewish authorities that Sabbath rest was built, follow me, stay with me, that Sabbath rest was built into creation because God created all things in six days, six literal 24-hour days, and then rested on the seventh day. Genesis chapter one, Genesis chapter two, right? Two, one through three. And not only did God's own example of working six days and resting on one day set the pattern for man's normal work week to work six days and then to rest on one day, but God also gave us the fourth commandment. Exodus 20, eight through 11, where we find the Sabbath commandment. Now there are some good theologians who believe that God is like a great watchmaker. Maybe some of you have even believed like this in the past. In their view, God made all the gears to the watch, right, all the springs, the hands, and the casing. He then wound it all up, right, and then stepped back and allowed the watch to just run on its own. In other words, God formed the universe, established its laws, and then turned it loose, right? Spun it off into space, turned it loose, and has stepped back and just watched. See what humanity would do with itself. But is that really the biblical view of creation? Is that the biblical view of our God? Not at all. God did not merely create the universe and then step out of the picture as some theologians would have us believe. Rather, he continues, and follow me here, he continues to sustain, he continues to maintain and preserve what he has made. Let me put it like this, if God stopped doing all of those things, sustaining, maintaining, and preserving, for just one instant, the whole universe would cease to exist. It would collapse in on itself together, because just as Paul said to the Athenians in Acts 17, he says, in him. We live and move and exist. In other words, without God continually upholding the universe, nothing would continue to be. God is active in our world every single day, allowing your, he knows how many hairs are on your head, folks. Whether you have a lot or a little, he knows. He knows the word that's on the tip of your tongue before you even said it. So when Jesus said, listen, going back to this argument, so when Jesus said, my father's working in town now and I myself am working, he was saying that since God never stops maintaining, sustaining, and doing good in our world and this universe, then neither is he, or neither would he. In essence, Jesus said, since it's permissible, let me put it like this, in just different words, since it's permissible for God to do what God does, again, don't forget where we're at here in the context, on the Sabbath, and since God is my Father, then I am allowed to do certain things on the Sabbath, like healing a man who has been suffering for 38 long years in this condition. And oh, by the way, you scribes and you Pharisees, if you have issue with what I did, don't bring up your argument with me, bring it up with Him. Your argument is with Him, just as much as it would be against me. In short, Jesus was claiming to be God. And I love how J.C. Ryle put it. He said this, it is as though, he said, Though my father rested on the seventh day from his work of creation, he has never rested for a moment from his providential government of the world. And from his merciful work of supplying the daily wants of all his creatures, were he to rest from such work, the whole frame of nature would stand still. And I also work works of mercy on the Sabbath day. I do not break the fourth commandment when I heal the sick any more than my father breaks it when he causes the sun to rise and the grass to grow on the Sabbath. Do you understand the argument? All I can say is amen. That's what he was saying. That's what he's saying. God's never stopped working. He's working every single day and he has to. Jesus' reply was so plain, it was so straightforward that these religious leaders could not, and as we read in verse 18, did not miss it. They clearly understood the implications of what Jesus was saying. Look at verse 18 now. Look what he said. For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also is calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. And I want you to think about this with me for just a minute. All those who claim that Jesus never called himself God must reject this whole chapter, and really, John's entire gospel is a piece of fabrication. If Jesus hadn't meant what the Jews understood him to mean, then he should have, he could have, and he would have made that correction, but he didn't. Instead, he accepts this as being his intended meaning. They understood him correctly, and he wasn't about to correct them. And he does this not once, but he does it again and again and again, all throughout his public ministry. Now let me make something clear here. For a mere man, to claim to be God at any time in any culture is a clear act of, what's the biblical word for that? Blasphemy, that's right. And this was true during our Lord's time and it remains true in our day. Thus had the Jews misunderstood Jesus' claims, he certainly would have corrected their misunderstanding and would have denied ever making such a claim. But instead, Jesus, does what Jesus did best. He doubled down and became even more forceful with the next two verses as they clearly show. Look at verses 19 and 20. This is the doubling down of our Lord. Verses 19 and 20. Therefore Jesus 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. For the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing. And the father will show him greater works than these so that you will marvel. Jesus began his second line of defense with the words, truly, truly, I say to you. Now this comes from the Greek phrase, actually it's the Greek word, amen and amen. That's the Greek word, amen and amen, which solemnly affirms the veracity of what follows. We say what? Amen. It's the same thing. All it is is a transliteration of that Greek word. Amen and amen. In the strongest possible terms, Jesus, by beginning this next line of defense, he assured his hearers that what he was about to say to them was true. Truly, truly. Thus, he further defended his healing on the Sabbath by tying his activities directly to God's activities. Jesus was one with the Father, all right, in all the Father's actions. So everything that he did was in perfect harmony with the Father's work and will. And look what he says here in verse 19. First he said it negatively. You really need to slow down and break this apart, otherwise it's gonna be hard to understand. And honestly, this sermon probably took me a couple weeks to put together, just because I was like, I'm not quite sure how I wanna do this. First, Jesus said it negative. Look at the first part of verse 19. He said, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing. So he can do nothing of himself unless he sees the father. Then he says it positively. And he says this in the last part of verse 19, for whatever the father does, these things the son also does in like manner. Negative, positive, same thing though. Identity of action with God the Father was one of Jesus' great claims of deity. To say that everything that the Father does, Jesus does, is undeniable claim of deity. Think if you had a friend who said it. Everything God does, I do. You'd think like, hmm, what'd you say? Say again, where's my stone? Obviously, only someone equal with God the Father could do everything that God does. Thus, Jesus was once again declaring his own divinity. In verse 20, Jesus described the oneness of the Father and the Son as a union of love. Look at verse 20. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing. And the Father will show him greater works than these. so that you will marvel. Jesus' healing of a crippled man that day had no doubt amazed the crowds. But Jesus predicted that he would perform deeds that were even, what does he say here? Greater and even more spectacular, including the raising of the dead in verse 21, and judging of all people, and we'll see that in verse 22. And his hearers would Marvel, they would marvel at the works that he was doing. Now Jesus further claimed that he had the ability to give life, and this is the third golden nugget. Look at verse 21, and then we'll skip to verses 24 through 26. So verse 21 first, for just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he wishes. All right, clear, now go down to verse 24. We'll come back to verses 23, 22 and 23. Now go back up to verse 21, where I believe that Jesus is making an appeal to Old Testament truths that any knowledgeable Jew would have known. Folks, listen, if you know your Old Testament, and as Bible-believing Christians, you should know your Old Testament, because that is the foundation for everything that we believe in the New Testament. So much of the Old Testament is based upon the New Testament, and so you can't just say, oh, I'm a New Testament Christian. Then you're a house without a foundation. Now, the Old Testament clearly taught that only God could give life or raise the dead. I'll give you a couple verses, just a couple. Deuteronomy 32, 39. God said this, see now that I am he and there is no God besides me. It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal and there is no one who can deliver from my hand. Hannah said the following in her prayer of thanksgiving to God in 1 Samuel 2, 6. The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol the grave and raises up. And you remember in the book of 2 Kings when a Syrian king sent a letter to the king of Israel asking his servant Naaman to be healed of leprosy? Do you remember that? And when the king read the letter, this is what he said. He said, am I, he was totally shocked. He thought that this king was just trying to have an excuse to wage war against him. And he said this, he says, am I God to kill and make alive? So all throughout the Bible, we're told that the giving of life, whether physical life, spiritual life, or everlasting life of the resurrection is God's prerogative. But Jesus does not hesitate for one second to claim this power for himself, again declaring his divinity. Healing someone's sick or wounded body so that it was whole and fully functioning again was undoubtedly one facet of Christ's life-giving power. And the miracle that Jesus had just seen showed the truth of Jesus' claims. In the Old Testament, prophets Elijah and Elisha had succeeded in raising the dead through their prayers. You remember that? So in 1 Kings 17, Elijah did that, and then 2 Kings 4. But Jesus was different. He raised the dead by his own will. Once again, listen to what Jesus said here. John 5, 21, don't forget where we're coming from. He's just giving you a couple of Old Testament examples of this. He said, for just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life, what's the next phrase? To whom He wishes. Just like God the Father sovereignly gives life to whomever He wishes, Jesus also sovereignly gives life to whomever He wishes. A little later in John's gospel, we're gonna read about Jesus's raising of his friend, Lazarus. Which, by the way, was the last of Jesus's miracles recorded by John until after the resurrection. But you remember that Lazarus had laid dead in the tomb for four days before Jesus arrived. And there, standing before the tomb, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Lazarus, come forth. No mention is made of Jesus praying and asking God to raise him. Jesus is prerogative by himself. Just minutes earlier, Jesus had told Martha this in verse 25 and 26. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. But Jesus doesn't just grant life to those who are physically dead, he grants life to those who are spiritually dead. And praise God, because that was each and every one of us when we were born on the day of our birth. We were born physically alive but spiritually dead. One commentator put it like this, just as the Father takes dead bodies and raises them to new life, so the Son takes people who, though their bodies are alive and yet in a state of death, and raises them to spiritual life. Now skip down to verses 24. Imagine what it must have been like to receive this teaching directly from the lips of God's very own son himself as the scribes and Pharisees did that day. No doubt, most of these men were enraged, right? And we know from John's gospel that most of them wanted to kill him. They wanted to murder him. But how gracious, how merciful it was for Jesus to offer one of the most loving statements in all of Scripture to these men. And I want you to just look at verse 24, and let's just slow down and read this. This is Jesus' response to these guys. He said this, verse 24, and it's very, very rich. He said, truly, truly, amen, amen. I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. Does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life. Reminds me of John 3. John 3, that whole conversation there with Nicodemus. First, there's a couple things that I want you to notice here. First, notice that the salvation of our souls depends on what? Hearing Christ. Hearing Christ, he says this, he who hears my words. Verse 24, remember he said, those who have ears. Those who have eyes, let them see, right? Listen to what J.C. Ryle said about this kind of hearing. Listen carefully to this quote, it's so good. He said, such hearing, of course, is something more than mere listening. Some of you guys are just listening right now. Some of you are hearing. Do you know the difference? Men, ask your wives what the difference is and they will tell you. All right, let's go back. I'll reread this again. Such hearing, of course, is something more than mere listening. It is hearing as a humble scholar, hearing as an obedient disciple, hearing with faith and love, hearing with a heart ready to do Christ's will. This is the hearing that saves. To hear Christ in this way we must never forget is just as needful now as it was 1,800 years ago. It is not enough to hear sermons and to run after preachers, though some people seem to think this makes up the whole of religion. We must go much further than this. We must hear Christ. Folks, do you hear Christ today? I'm not talking about audibly a voice in your head or something. You're out walking in the wilderness and you hear this loud, booming thunder. Do you hear Christ talking to you in His Word? That's what I want to know. Because that's how Christ talks to us today, is through his word. He goes on, he says, to submit our hearts to Christ's teaching, to sit humbly at his feet by faith and learn of him, to enter his school as penitents and become his believing scholars, to hear his voice and follow him. This is the way to heaven. Till we know something of these things, there is no life in us. Wow. Well said, J.C. Ryle. By the way, if you can find anything from J.C. Ryle, any sermons, anything written, go get him. Listen to him. Great guy. Second, please notice that it is through Christ's word, that is through his gospel, that we truly believe in God. Listen to this, what he says here. You have to pick it apart piece by piece. He says, truly, truly, right? He says, he who hears my, what? My word. Friend, always keep the gospel the main thing. Because as the Apostle Paul said this, Romans 116, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. So it's hearing God's word, right, the living word. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. The third thing I want you to notice in this verse is that faith in Christ marks the great divide between salvation and condemnation. It's not, listen, it's not whoever's rich, right? It's not whoever's powerful, whoever's intelligent, whoever leads a good, upright, moral life, or even whoever was raised in a Christian home. It is, what does he say here, whoever believes has eternal life. Therefore, faith in Christ is the most precious possession anyone could possibly ever have. Once again, listen to J.C. Ryle. He said, we should mark carefully the strong language of scripture in describing the immense difference between the position of a man who believes and a man who does not believe. It is nothing else than the difference between life and death. And Jesus' words here are also reminiscent of what he said back in chapter three, again, to Nicodemus, who was also a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. And by their unbelief, Jesus' accusers had put themselves under God's judgment, but all they needed to do in order to cross over from death to life was to believe Jesus' word. They needed to believe in what he was saying. And folks, that holds true for all of us here today as well. Only you know in your heart of hearts if you truly believe, amen? Only you know. A lot of people do a good job. I did it for a year and a half. I played church. I played the part of a Christian for a year and a half before God truly showed me that I was not saved and I was just playing church. I had learned to speak like a Christian. By the way, there's a whole language that we Christians speak, and unless we, we gotta remember that sometimes, right? We speak Christianese. This is the most wonderful teaching imaginable. That God in his great love and mercy sent his son into our world to give life to anyone and everyone who would ever believe that who Jesus is and what he did for them and whoever would then place their faith and trust in him for their salvation. My dear friends, please listen to me loud and clear. You may have been raised in a Christian home. You may be being raised in a Christian home right now. You may have grown up on the mission field with famous Christian parents. You may have been baptized in the church. You may have read your Bible one time through, right, a year. You may have all your theological ducks in a row, but without a saving faith that relies on Christ and Christ alone as he's presented in scripture, you are still lost. You still don't know him. And let me plead with you to cross over from death to life by believing in Christ's teachings and surrendering your whole life to him today. We're not guaranteed tomorrow, are we? Not guaranteed tomorrow. Just this past week I've heard of two people going to the hospital. Nobody knows the day or the hour of their final breath here. Now one more thing before we move on from this verse. You may have some heartbreaking struggles in this lifetime, but if you have faith in Christ, then you have immediate, listen carefully, you have immediate and full possession of nothing less than what Jesus Christ promises for us here, and he says eternal life. Does that not bring things back into perspective? No matter what you're going through right now, no matter what trials or temptations you're facing, if you know the Lord, Jesus says you have right now as your possession eternal life. Listen once again to what he says. He says, 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. Jesus has authority over all men and their eternal destinies. He is the giver of salvation, and his salvation has two aspects, both a current aspect and a future aspect. Again, look at verse 25. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Once again, Jesus begins with the emphatic and solemn, truly, truly. and he references both time frames. He says an hour is coming and now is. He is currently giving life to those who are spiritually dead, 2,000 years ago as he was speaking this, but he also said an hour is coming in the sense that the resurrection of their physical bodies is not yet here, it's still future. 1 Corinthians 15, 35 through 54, Philippians 3, 20 through 21. Folks, even those of us who pass on right before the rapture, pass on and who are dead, God promises eternal life to them. And that's a glorious thing, a new body. Jesus will raise the spiritually dead to eternal life because like the Father, he has life in himself. John 5, 26, for just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. No one can give to others what he himself does not possess. No sinful human being can generate for himself eternal life, nor impart it to anyone else. God alone possesses that prerogative, and he grants eternal life through his Son to whomever the Son wills or wishes. Now look at verse 23, where we find really the fourth golden nugget, another ironclad claim of deity. Verse 23, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Now, keep that in mind. Please flip over to Isaiah, all right? Keep a finger in chapter five of John, but flip over to Isaiah chapter 42, and I want you to look at a couple verses in Isaiah 42, which is key for us to understand what Jesus is saying here and what he was claiming. Isaiah 42, eight. God says, I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images. Hmm. Now go up to chapter 48, verse 11. He said this, for my own sake, for my own sake, I will act. For how can my name be profaned? He says this, in my glory, I will not give to another. Do you know where I'm going with this? Here God says in no uncertain terms in a couple of chapters in Isaiah that he will not give his glory or his honor to anyone else. It all belongs to him. And yet in John chapter four, John chapter five, What we just read, he says he gives it to Jesus. Folks, this can mean one thing and one thing only, that Jesus is God. That Jesus is God. And one of the primary purposes of the fathers entrusting all of his works and judgment to Jesus is so that all, look at verse 23, all will honor the son even as they honor the father. Wait a second, we just saw twice in Isaiah that he will give his honor and glory to no one else. Look at what Jesus is saying here. So it's only fitting that Jesus, who is equal to God and is working in his actions, in his ability to give life, and in his judgment, which we're gonna see, that's my last point, would be accorded equal honor. It's also important to note that the Father's honor is not in any way diminished by the honor paid to Christ. On the contrary, it's enhanced. Since the Father and the Son are one, to reject the Son is to reject or to dishonor the Father. And to honor the Son brings glory or honor to the Father. And beloved, I believe this fact is a compelling reminder of the centrality of Jesus to any God-honoring worship. It has become acceptable, listen carefully, it has become acceptable among many professing preachers and teachers to suggest that people who deny Christ might be saved because of the sincerity of their religious views or their moral piety. It's called universalism. You just have to believe. You have to believe very faithfully, very sincerely. The Pope is all about this nowadays. You guys get that? In the past it'd say unless you're Catholic, you're going to hell. Now the Pope says even unbelievers get to go to heaven. You heard that? Go look it up. But God himself rejects such a notion. Knowing this, knowing this, we must prayerfully, humbly, lovingly say, listen carefully, and make it very practical, We must lovingly say, humbly, prayerfully, lovingly, to our Jewish friends, to our Catholic neighbors, our Mormon mechanics, our liberal Protestant coworkers, and so many others that without honoring God the Son, they cannot worship or honor God the Father, but are in actuality dishonoring Him. You have to honor Christ. And without honoring Christ, you're not honoring the Father. Listen to J.C. Ryle once again. He says, whenever therefore anyone through ignorance or pride or unbelief neglects Christ but professes at the same time to honor God, he is committing a mighty error and so far from pleasing God is greatly displeasing Him. Now, you guys ready for the fifth and final golden nugget that Jesus claimed to be God? And that came through his coming judgment. Look at verses 22 and then we'll skip down to verses 27 through 30. Verse 22 says this, for not even the father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the son. Now go to verse 27 through 30. And he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth. "'those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, "'those who committed the evil deeds "'to a resurrection of judgment. "'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.'" Dear friends, God is repeatedly God has repeatedly called the judge of all the earth throughout the Old Testament. Let me just give you a small smattering of the verses, okay? How about this, Genesis 18, 1 Samuel 2, 1 Chronicles 16, Psalm 82, Psalm 94, Psalm 96, Psalm 98. Do you get the idea here? Okay, that God is the judge of all the earth. That's what that says there. All right? So when Jesus claims here in John chapter five to be the one who would actually carry out all judgment, he was once again very clearly claiming to be God. Now compare this to what Jesus said back in John chapter three. Some people might take issue and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Pastor, I know you talked about this a while ago in John chapter three. What would you say to this? So look at John 3.17. It says this, for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Ah, there it is, a contradiction in Scripture, right? So how should we understand this apparent contradiction in Scripture? Well, if you know your Bible, you know that during our Lord's first advent, he came to provide a way of salvation. and no judgment was a part of that. But the Bible also repeatedly talks about a second advent, right? A second advent. That is his second coming in which he will come to judge and set up a thousand year kingdom. And that's the time to which Jesus was referring to in John chapter five. Now look at verses 27 through 30 with me once again. He said, a day is coming when everyone is going to be judged. And this is spoken repeatedly all throughout God's word. For example, in the book of Acts, Paul said the following, it's not just in the Old Testament, I gave you that big long list of scripture in the Old Testament. Paul said the same thing in the book of Acts to the men and women of Athens. He said this in chapter 17, verse 30. He said, therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men and all people everywhere, should repent. Because he has fixed the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, who is that man? Jesus, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. Now we know for certain who he is, right? Then in Paul's letter to the Romans, he said this, and this is just a couple verses, Romans 2.16. On the day when according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. Just one more. Couldn't help myself. Second Thessalonians chapter one. Verse seven, last part. The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. All of these verses, including what John said here in chapter five, present three doctrines. Do you get this? Present three doctrines. First, death is not the end of our existence. Would you guys all agree with me there? Death is not the end, it's only the beginning. Second, there are two destinations beyond the grave, one wonderful and one unspeakably horrible. Third, your destination after the grave will be determined by one thing and one thing only, and that is your relationship to Jesus Christ. My dear brothers and sisters, I actually wrote this sermon on Memorial Day. It's been a while. A day in which we set aside to honor our fallen soldiers. But even though a bugler might stand at the edge of Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C. to play Reveille the whole day, nothing would happen. No matter how well or how loudly he played, nothing would happen. Those dead men and women need a far, far greater authority to bring them back to life, and right here we are told in our passage today that that authority is none other than Jesus Christ. It's not going to be, listen carefully, it's not going to be the voice of God the Father. It's not going to be the voice of God the Holy Spirit. It will be the voice of God the Son that will call both believers and unbelievers to a resurrection. My friend, if you don't know him, then please come talk to me or one of the deacons or one of the elders because he is the judge that you will face on that resurrection day, but listen to this. He also wants to be your Savior. He wants to be your Savior. At the end of C.S. Lewis' series, The Chronicles of Narnia, how many of you guys have read that? Okay, if you haven't, you need to. At the end of C.S. Lewis' series, listen carefully, don't put away anything, just stop, listen. In his final book, The Last Battle, Aslan tells Peter, Edmund, and Lucy that there has been a railroad accident and that they are, in fact, dead. Do you remember that? Listen how C.S. Lewis beautifully described what came next. And honestly, every time I go through this, I get teary-eyed and everything else like that because it's so powerful, but listen carefully. And as he, Aslan, spoke, he no longer looked to them like a lion, but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. Here's what I love, but for them. It was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page. Now at last they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever and ever, in which every chapter is better than the one before. Amen. My dear brothers and sisters, the same will be true for each and every one of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their lives, amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that your word is so clear. Jesus Christ is fully God. There's so much evidence for that fact, and just even in our passage today, we see it five different times. And Lord, if there is somebody here who does not know Jesus, has not submitted his life to Christ, and come to the Lord and Savior, who can take away every single one of their sins, and Lord, I pray, I beg you, that they would pass today from death into life, and they would embrace you as the Lord and Savior. Lord, you can do what no man can do, so I pray that you would just open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the hard hearts of those who have stony hearts, and change all of that. Lord, thank you that we have a wonderful future in store. I so look forward to that day, Lord. I just pray until that day, help me to be found faithful, and I pray for my brothers and sisters, help them to be found faithful. We pray these things in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. I pray these things in Jesus' name. All God's people said, amen. Let's stand for our last song.