← Back to sermon library

You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to John's Gospel. We're in John chapter 5. John chapter 5, our focus this 
morning will be verses 27 to 30 that I'll pick up reading 
in John 5 at verse 16. For this reason the Jews persecuted 
Jesus and sought to kill him, because he had done these things 
on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father 
has been working until now, and I have been working. Therefore 
the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he 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 word and believes 
in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into 
judgment, but is 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 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. I can of myself 
do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment 
is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will 
of the Father who sent me. If I bear witness of myself, 
my witness is not true. There is another who bears witness 
of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. 
You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 
Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things 
that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining 
lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 
But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which 
the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do, bear 
witness of me, that the Father has sent me. And the Father himself 
who sent me has testified of me. You've neither heard his 
voice at any time, nor seen his form. But you do not have his 
word abiding in you, because whom he sent, him you do not 
believe. You search the scriptures, for 
in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which 
testify of me. But you are not willing to come 
to me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men, 
but I know you that you do not have the love of God in you. 
I have come in my father's name and you do not receive me. If 
another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can 
you believe who receive honor from one another and do not seek 
the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I 
shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, 
Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you 
would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe 
his writings, how will you believe my words? Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father, again, we thank you 
for the written word of the living and true God. We acknowledge 
that it's given by inspiration of you, that it's the infallible 
and inerrant word of God, and that it's profitable to us for 
doctrine, for reproof, and for correction and instruction and 
righteousness. So guide us now by the presence and the power 
of the Holy Spirit. Forgive us again for all of our 
sin and unrighteousness. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, in John's gospel, 
we see not only a testimony from John the author concerning Jesus 
as the second person of the Trinity in John 1, verses 1 to 18. John 
the apostle, John the writer of this particular book, goes 
behind the scenes of our salvation to show us who the Savior is. 
he starts off his gospel presentation with verse one. In the beginning 
was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. So 
he tells us that Jesus, the one who is identified later in 129 
as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he 
is co-eternal with the father. He is distinct from the father 
and he is consubstantial with the father. He has the same nature. We have one true and living God 
who exists eternally as father, son, and Holy Spirit. But we 
not only see that in John's theological presentation in the prologue, 
we see it in Jesus' earthly ministry. And here specifically, that's 
what's going on in John 5. Remember that Jesus heals this 
man at the pool of Bethesda. He was a paralyzed man. He had 
been in a wretched condition for about 38 years. He had nobody 
to help him to get into the water. When that water was stirred up, 
they thought that if you got in there first, you could receive 
a healing. But that man had been in that 
accursed condition for all those years. And then Jesus comes along 
and he doesn't save everybody there. He doesn't heal everybody 
there. Rather, he comes to the one man. And with reference to 
that one man, he heals him. He gets up immediately. He takes 
his mat and he walks. Now that draws from the Jews' 
opposition. First to the man, why are you 
carrying your mat on the Sabbath day? The man easily deflected 
that and said, the man who healed me said I was supposed to pick 
up my mat. So they turned their enmity against 
Jesus as the one who had healed him. And they thought that Jesus 
was commanding Sabbath breaking. So when we look specifically 
at chapter 5, at verse 16, that's the context. For this reason, 
the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he 
had done these things on the Sabbath. So Jesus' response was 
to show his equality with the Father, to show his consubstantiality 
with the Father. He says in verse 17, My Father 
has been working until now, and I have been working. So the Father 
creates the world, and then Sabbaths, according to Genesis 2, 1 to 
3. But that wasn't a cessation from everything, because God 
the Father is active in Providence. And so Jesus parallels the work 
of the father with the work of the son here on earth. Now that 
incensed them or outraged them even more, because not only is 
he guilty of Sabbath breaking, but now he's guilty of blasphemy, 
both of which were capital crimes. So notice in verse 18, therefore, 
the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only 
broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making 
himself equal with God. Now, of course, we wonder, how 
does Jesus respond to that? Well, we've seen thus far that 
He affirms it, that He confirms it, that in verses 19 to 23, 
He shows His relation to the Father. He has the same nature. He's not the Son by creation, 
He's not the Son by adoption, but He's the Son by nature. And 
therefore, what is true of the Father is true of the Son. And 
then in verses 24 to 30, Jesus takes two of the greatest works 
that are said concerning God and says that he has the prerogative 
over them. In other words, life that he 
mentions in 521 is amplified in 524 and following. But as well, judgment that is 
mentioned in verse 22 is amplified in verses 27 to 30. So that's 
the passage that we're considering right now. Christ is showing 
his authority as the Son. He is showing his equality with 
the Father by saying that he has the divine prerogatives to 
give life, both spiritual and physical, and that he has the 
divine prerogative of being the judge of all mankind. As Van Maastricht said, the one 
to whom all divine things belong is undoubtedly the true God from 
eternity and consubstantial with the Father. As Cyril says, by 
these two God-befitting deeds, Jesus demonstrates that He is 
in fact, as He answers their charge in verse 18, equal with 
the Father. So last week we saw the declaration 
of His authority in eternal life, in verses 24 and 25. Secondly, 
the rationale for his authority in eternal generation in verses 
26 and 27. It is the fact that he is the 
eternally begotten son of the father. He's come from the father 
and thus he has this nature. Now this morning we're going 
to look at the promise of his authority on the day of judgment 
in verses 27 to 29. And then finally the affirmation 
once more by him of His equality with the Father or His consubstantiality 
with the Father. So let's look at the promise 
of His authority on the Day of Judgment in verses 27 to 29. Notice in the first place the 
declaration of His role in the coming judgment. In other words, 
there is a coming judgment. I know people today don't always 
believe that or affirm that or confirm that, but Christ is the 
way, the truth, and the life. And when Christ speaks about 
a judgment to come, you can take that word to the bank. It is 
most certain. Notice in verse 24, most assuredly 
I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who 
sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment 
but is passed from death unto life. He gives life in a spiritual 
sense in such a way that the person saved now does not come 
into judgment. There the word is being used 
in terms of condemnation, a judgment to destruction. but there is 
this general judgment that all of us will stand before Christ 
on, on that day. And that's what Jesus is gonna 
direct our attention to in verses 27 to 29. The execution of judgment, 
according to verse 27, underscores again, His authority with the 
Father, His equality rather, with the Father. The one who 
has the ability to give life and the one who has the ability 
to orchestrate judgment, That one is, in fact, God Most High, 
and that's what Jesus is asserting about Him as this One. And then notice, with reference 
to the affirmation in verse 28, He says, Do not marvel at this, 
for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will 
hear His voice. He uses similar language in verse 
25, but notice the obvious differences. Verse 24, he talks about conferring 
eternal life on everyone who believes the gospel. Verse 25, 
he underscores what we call regeneration, or being born again, or being 
born of God. And in verse 25, he says, most 
assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and then notice, 
and now is. That means that in the ministry 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He stands before sinners and 
He calls them to come to Him, all that are weary and heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest, that's what He's referring to. 
The one who gives the call to come has the ability to give 
the power to enable compliance. But notice that He says the hour 
is coming and now is. When you drop down to verses 
28 and 29, it's not a now is. The now is, is verse 25, the 
first resurrection of Revelation chapter 20. Salvation, regeneration, 
being born again, being born of the power of God. Verses 28 
to 29 point to the future general judgment of all mankind. Every 
single one of us must stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostles' 
Creed confesses it this way, I believe the resurrection of 
the body and the life everlasting, amen. There's a resurrection 
of the body on that last day. The Nicene Creed has, and I look 
for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to 
come. Amen. The Athanasian Creed says, 
from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead, 
at whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, 
and shall give account for their own works, and they that have 
done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have 
done evil into everlasting fire. This has been a common confession 
of God's people throughout our ages. It's that there is a general 
resurrection coming. That's the subject matter in 
verses 28 to 29. Jesus says he is the one that 
will execute this judgment. Jesus says he is the one that 
will stand in judgment and preside over that day. Therefore, Jesus 
is asserting his equality with the Father, his consubstantiality 
with the Father. These are God-befitting deeds, 
the giving of life and the provision of judgment. We can't do that. We couldn't execute that. We 
can't even get out of bed sometimes without accidents, not physically 
that way, but falling over something on the floor. We are not fit, 
wherein Christ is fit. Our own confession speaks concerning 
the general judgment this way. The bodies of men after death 
return to dust and see corruption, but their souls, which neither 
die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return 
to God who gave them. So that's what happens when you 
drop dead today. I'm not prophesying, I'm simply 
suggesting. Theologians call that the intermediate 
state. But then there is the general 
judgment. And we see that the souls of 
the righteous, being made perfect in holiness, are received into 
paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of 
God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their 
bodies. You see, that goes on in our 
confession to underscore the general judgment. This is a fact 
of our existence. This is a reality of being a 
creature of God. See, pagans like a cyclical view 
of history. They like the circle of life 
sort of concept. You just find yourself in this 
continuum. You just sort of do your thing 
and then you fizzle out. The Bible presents what's called 
a linear view of history. God is at the beginning, God 
is in the middle, and God is at the end. And you see, that's 
why I suspect there is this great effort and desire to take God 
out at the beginning. Oh, the world just evolved. It 
was a big bang. It just sort of happened accidentally. 
If we get rid of him at the beginning, we successfully get rid of him 
in the middle, and then we get rid of him at the end. And see, 
I think this is ultimately what paralyzes man, not physically 
and literally, but in terms of the fear of the unknown, the 
reality that we will stand in judgment before the just judge 
of all the earth. The identification of the judgment 
in chapter 5 verses 28 to 29 is the general judgment of all 
mankind. The reference to and now is in 
verse 25 is absent. The use of is coming points to 
a future time. The object of verses 24 and 25 
is the elect, but the object of verses 28 and 29 is all men. Everybody who's in the graves 
will be summoned by the powerful voice of the Son of God. There's 
other passages that highlight Jesus Christ as the just judge 
of all the earth. We looked at one several weeks 
ago in our evening services, Matthew 25, 31 to 47, teaches 
that when the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father with 
all of his holy angels, he will gather the nations before him. 
He will separate the way that a shepherd does, the sheep on 
the right, the goats on the left, and then he will confer upon 
the righteous blessed beatitude and entrance into heaven. But 
on those who have rejected Him, those who have not believed on 
Him, those who have engaged in wickedness, He condemns them 
and consigns them to the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and 
his angels. In the book of Acts, they emphasize this as well, 
the apostolic ministry. Peter in Acts chapter 10 at verse 
42 tells us that Jesus is the just judge of all. In Acts 17 
at verse 31, Paul before the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers 
who liked the cyclical view of history, who did not want the 
Christian worldview, who did not want to understand the reality 
of a creator God that would ultimately judge them. Paul doesn't shrink 
back from declaring that God has appointed a day upon which 
he will judge all mankind. And he will do that through the 
agency of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he has furnished proof of 
this by having raised Jesus from the dead. See, at Easter time, 
there's often the case where people finally come to church. 
They're CNE Christians. Christmas and Easter, they show 
up at church. Or women will buy bonnets for 
themselves and their children. Never understood why bonnets 
became the thing for Easter, but so it is. And everybody has 
this religiosity on Easter Sunday. Do you know what that empty tomb 
furnishes proof of? Yes, the reality of justification, 
but also the reality of damnation for any and all who are outside 
of Jesus Christ. Because that empty tomb is proof 
positive that God will judge the world in righteousness according 
to Acts 17 and verse 31. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, the 
apostle says, we must all stand before Jesus and give an account 
of deeds done in the body, whether good or evil. Revelation 20, 
verses 11 to 15, that great white throne judgment. It is the reality 
to be sure. Spurgeon on Revelation 20 says, 
found in right, sustained by might and universal in its dominion. Look ye and see the throne on 
which John of old beheld. We will stand before Jesus for 
the believer. That's good news, isn't it? We're 
happy about that. Not because we're great, not 
because we're good, not because we have done well, but because 
our Savior has, because he lived a life of obedience to the Father's 
law, because he went as a substitute and atoning sacrifice to that 
cross, because he was raised again that third day. He is our 
victor. He is our champion. He is our 
Messiah. He is our prophet, priest, and 
king. He is our mediator. He is the surety of a better 
covenant. It is through His blood that we have cleansing. It is 
through His righteousness that we have clothing. And we will 
be able to stand before Him on that great day and marvel at 
the redemption that He wrought for sinners like us. It will 
be magnificent. It will be glorious. And we pray 
with the seer and the book of Revelation, even so come Lord 
Jesus. What could be more awesome than 
to stand in his righteousness on that day and to hear him say, 
well done, good and faithful servant. It's a boon to the Christian 
heart. It gives us the impetus to persevere. It is the stuff of stability 
in this world of chaos and confusion and wretchedness and rebellion 
against our living and true God. So the righteous rejoice in that. 
But what about the unrighteous? If the righteous are cleansed 
in the blood and clothed in the righteousness, we have to admit 
the unrighteous are not. There's no blood to cleanse them 
because they've resisted it and they've rejected it. There's 
no righteousness to clothe them because they've resisted it and 
rejected it. And if you happen to be in that 
position today, you're not a believer, please listen to what the Savior 
says. Please listen and prepare. You know, again, if I were to 
come here this morning and say, you know, we've all got to face 
retirement someday, not here, but in the room, we have to plan 
our estates, we have to plan our investments, we have to plan 
so that we're not eating dog food in our retirement age, or 
we're living under a bridge. Persons would be all over that. 
Persons want preparation. Persons want protection. Persons 
want provision. Persons want stability. Persons 
want to try and take out of their future anything that may produce 
any kind of discomfort. And yet it comes to heaven and 
hell. It comes to Christ or not. It comes to salvation or damnation. It comes to the blessed bliss 
of being in the presence of God Most High or with the devil and 
his angels. No, I can't be bothered with 
that. No, I'm not going to think about 
that. No, I'm just going to act and 
live like that's not even a reality. I'm going to embrace the circle 
of life thing. I'm going to do my little thing and then I'm 
going to fizzle out. I don't care about God, the creator. 
I don't care about God, the governor. I certainly don't care about 
God, the judge. Listen. Whether you care or not 
doesn't change reality. Whether you care or not doesn't 
change the facts. Whether you care or not doesn't 
mean anything in the grand scheme. I am calling upon you to care. Hebrews chapter 9 underscores 
the certainty of this. The author says, and as it is 
appointed for men to die once, but after this what? The judgment. Again, this is something tough 
to teach to Canadians, and to Americans, and to materialists 
all over the earth. If we can't touch it, we can't 
see it, we can't feel it, and we can't taste it, then it mustn't 
exist. Oh, really? Is that the sort 
of rationale that you want to imbibe? Again, wishful thinking 
does not remove the judgment to come. Look at evolution, for 
instance. What a fairy tale. That's wishful 
thinking. That doesn't remove God the Creator. 
Think about persons that don't see any sort of wisdom over this 
mess. They don't see God the governor. 
They don't see providence. Well, again, that doesn't make 
it so. And just for someone to say, 
well, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in the Bible. 
I don't believe in Jesus. So therefore, I'll be okay on 
the day of judgment. What kind of logic is that? What 
kind of folly is that? It's the sinner's logic. It's 
the sinner's folly. And let me assure you that you're 
not alone. A lot of us were in that same 
boat. A lot of us had that same mindset. A lot of us lived as 
if there was no judgment to come. A lot of us thought that all 
we see is all there is. And yet God, in His grace, sent 
His Son. And God, in His grace, sent His 
Son, who said, verse 24, Most assuredly I say to you, He who 
hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting 
life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from 
death into life. We give praise to God for that. 
We give praise that He opened our ears. We give praise that 
He opened our hearts. Or in the language of the prophet 
Ezekiel, that he took out the old stony heart and put in a 
new fleshly heart. He granted us the graces of faith 
and repentance so that we could receive the justification conferred 
by Jesus. We bless him for that. And we 
can all testify that it's available, that it's true, that it's real, 
that it's a fact. In John 6, 37, Jesus is going 
to say, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one 
who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. You have a handful, 
not a huge handful, this isn't a mega church. You've got a handful 
of witnesses here that say, yep, that's true, I by grace came 
to Jesus and he didn't kick me to the curb. I by grace came 
to Jesus and he didn't discard me. I by grace came to Jesus 
and he gave me the gift of forgiveness. Oh, blessed forgiveness, the 
reality that now I can pillow my head at night under that realization 
that should I die, my sins are forgiven by the mercy of Jesus 
Christ. But not just that forgiveness. 
We need a righteousness. We need acceptance with God. 
We need to be able to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. 
Jesus accomplishes that through his life, through his death, 
and through his resurrection. So if you're thinking that I 
don't want to think about this, ask somebody, is it the case 
that Jesus receives sinners? And you'll probably hear, yeah, 
not only sinners, but really bad ones too. Bad ones like me, 
bad ones like this guy, bad ones that were rebels against God 
most high, and nevertheless, they found that the blood of 
Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us From all sin, it's a most 
blessed proposition that is offered in the gospel of our blessed 
Savior. So there is this judgment to come, and Jesus affirms this. 
Verse 28, do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which 
all who are in the graves will hear his voice. and they will 
come forth. Again, whether you believe it 
or not, whether you think it's true or not, when Jesus issues 
that command, guess what's going to happen? You're going to come 
forth. Philippians 2 says the same thing. 
Philippians 2 says that God Most High confers upon Jesus this 
name that is above every name. confers upon Jesus this glory 
and this majesty in his mediatorial reign in Genghis. And he says 
that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. When it says 
every knee there, it doesn't just mean Christian knees that 
have confessed him as Lord. It means non-Christian knees 
that have rejected him as Lord. So confess him as Lord they will, 
and then be cast into hell, which was prepared for the devil and 
his angels. But back to our particular passage, notice what he says 
here. And come forth those who have done good to the resurrection 
of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. We need to unpack that a little 
bit, because it sounds like Christians are just a great group of guys 
and girls that always do what they're supposed to do. No, that's 
not it at all. The ones described in verse 29 
as those who have done good are those described in verse 24. Most assuredly, I say to you, 
he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting 
life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from 
death into life. There's one way of salvation. 
It's by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus 
alone. There is none righteous, no, 
not one. There is none who seeketh after 
God. There is no fear of God before 
the eyes of sinful man. So it's not like we just wake 
up on a Friday and say, hey, you know, I'm going to start 
doing everything I can to please God so that he'll receive me 
into his heavenly kingdom. No, that's a fool's errand. You 
can't do that. If you think that you're going 
to keep the law now until the day you die, and let's just assume, 
for the sake of argument, and this is absolutely a ridiculous 
argument, let's just assume that you're 25 and that you do that 
until you're 55 and you die. Short lifespan, but hey, that's 
the way we're going this morning. You have to have completed or 
obeyed that law exactly. entirely, personally, perpetually. The demands of the covenant of 
works is do this or die. But let's just say, 25 to 55, 
you fulfill that, you do it, you're the one among us all that 
was able to merit at least for those years. But what happens 
to years one to 24? You piled up a lot of sin there. You piled up a lot of wickedness. 
There's a lot of rebellion there. There's a lot of raised fist 
at Yahweh and His Christ. There's a lot of adultery. There's 
a lot of theft. There's a lot of lies. There's 
a lot of idolatry. There's a lot of blasphemy. What 
happens to that? You need blood atonement. You 
need Christ. Either Christ is everything or 
he's nothing. The gospel is glorious. And those 
who by grace believe that gospel pass from death to life. They're 
called out of darkness into marvelous light. They move into that sphere 
of redemptive benefit and eternal life. So dropping down to verse 
29, those who have done good, that is simply functioning as 
the evidence or the fruit of their faith in Christ. We saw 
that when we looked at Matthew chapter 25. Our confession tells 
us that good works are done in obedience to God's commandments 
and are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith. So 
verse 29 isn't saying, these people are like no other people. 
They've just done good. They're that class of people 
that have just always obeyed. No, that's not it. They, by grace, 
believe the gospel according to verse 24. They, by grace, 
lived in such a manner as to have fruit, as to have evidence. as to demonstrate and to validate 
that they were actually believers in Jesus Christ. That's the emphasis 
in verse 29. Our confession as well tells 
us, with reference to justifying faith, it says that faith thus 
receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the 
alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person 
justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces 
and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. Do you see, when you 
understand the relation between justification and sanctification, 
or justification and good works, it helps to keep you from convoluted 
ideas about our entrance into heaven. We're not going to heaven, 
brethren, because we're awesome. We're going to heaven because 
Jesus is awesome. We're not going to heaven because 
our obedience is exact, it's entire, it's perpetual, and it's 
personal. There's only one man who accomplished 
that. When you wanna see righteousness, look at the 33 years of our Lord's 
life. That is righteousness. That's the righteousness that 
was the obligation of Israel in the old covenant. When they 
swore fidelity to God most high, all things that he has commanded 
we will do. They get to chapter 32 from 24 
and they're dancing around a golden calf. But Jesus had that obligation 
laid upon Him. Jesus is the true Israel. Jesus 
is the champion and the Messiah. And so when Jesus swears fidelity 
to the covenant placed upon Him, Jesus carries it out. So we are 
blessed in Him. We are blessed because of Him. 
We are blessed as a result of Him. So it's not our good works 
that are the reason or the cause for our acceptance by God. Rather, 
they are evidences and fruits that we've been justified freely 
by His grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. But He 
doesn't stop there. Verse 29, they'll come forth. 
So all who are in the graves will hear His voice. The end 
of verse 28 and then verse 29. and come forth, those who have 
done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done 
evil to the resurrection of condemnation. Now the doing of evil simply 
manifests no faith in Jesus. The doing of evil simply manifests 
that there's no grace, no faith, no Jesus for their salvation. And so when we consider that, 
it is the righteous condemnation of God against all sin and rebellion. So again, the persons that don't 
like this concept of judgeship, and it's not just the pagans, 
I think some Christians have a problem with this as well. 
The thought of hell, everlasting hell, you know what's really 
popular today? It's trying to argue that hell isn't everlasting 
among Christians. They teach a whole host of theories 
that suspend the notion that eternal life is paralleled by 
eternal destruction. Well, listen to the language 
of our blessed Savior. If we are going to eternal life, 
those who have done evil will go to eternal death, which is 
damnation, which is destruction. It's not the cessation of being, 
it is rather the cessation of well-being, that is in view in 
terms of hell, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. The devil and his angels have 
being, they just don't have well-being. When persons continually reject 
Jesus, when persons continually engage in sin, when they transgress 
the law, what does Paul say in Romans 6? The wages of sin is 
what? It's death. I mean, brethren, 
one of the most disconcerting things that is going on in our 
generation is what appears to be the suspension of due process. 
What appears to be the suspension of any regard for justice. I 
mean, BLM destroyed cities in what they called the summer of 
love. And then you have freedom protesters 
being trampled by horses. That's problematic for a lot 
of people. That's problematic for not just 
believers, but for unbelievers who look upon that sort of thing 
and say, wow, that's unfair, that's unjust, that doesn't seem 
right. It is unfair, it is unjust, and 
it isn't right. But do you know what is fair? 
Do you know what is just? And do you know what will be 
right? It is the judgment at the last day. There's no plea 
bargains. There's no, oh, it wasn't me. There's no evasion. Remember 
Johnny Cochran who got OJ Simpson off? Johnny Cochran went on to 
say, the color of justice in America is green. What does he 
mean by that? If you've got enough money, you 
can buy the best defense. That is a travesty. That should 
concern every single image-bearer that lives in the body politic. 
But when it comes to the just judgment of God Most High, there's 
no mistakes. His eye is too pure to approve 
of any evil, is what the prophet tells us. The Lord Christ will 
judge all mankind and it will be absolutely positively spot 
on. You won't be able to say, well, 
it wasn't me, I wasn't there, I didn't do it. No, Christ knows 
everything. What does Solomon say concerning 
God? The eyes of Yahweh are in every place, beholding the good 
and the evil. When we look at passages like 
these again, encouragement for the people of God. It's a mess 
right now, but it's not gonna be a mess in the New Jerusalem. 
It's not gonna be a mess when we get to that day. But for the 
unbeliever, listen, there's no wiggle room, there's no hiding, 
there's no evasion. But the way to hide now is in 
Christ. The way to seek refuge now is 
in Jesus. The way to avoid this casting 
off into hell, which was prepared for the devil and his angels, 
is to believe on Jesus right now, to look unto him. Listen 
again to verse 24. It couldn't be clearer. He says, 
amen, amen, I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes 
in Him who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into 
judgment, but is passed from death into life." Listen to the 
last few verses in the gospel narrative. And truly, Jesus did 
many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not 
written in this book, but these are written that you may what? 
Try harder, do better, be more, you know, whatever you think 
is going to get you into heaven. Know that you may believe that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you 
may have life in his name. That's the way of salvation. 
That's the way to find that protection on the day of judgment that is 
most certainly coming for each and every one of us. So the ones 
who have done good are those who are believers in Christ, 
washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness. The unbelievers 
described as those who have done evil are those who are not washed 
in His blood and those who are not clothed in His righteousness. 
So what do you think the answer would be if you're an unbeliever 
today? Let's just think about this for a moment. What might 
be the answer? It might just be to believe. 
It might just be to stop resisting, stop rebelling, stop raising 
your fists with the mutiny in Psalm 2 against Yahweh and against 
His Christ and say, we will not have this one to reign over us. 
wave the white flag, believe on him, look to Christ. He's 
altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And as he says in 637, 
the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. That 
is a promise from the Savior that if you look to him in faith, 
he will save you. The apostle tells us that in 
Hebrews chapter seven, it says that Christ is holy, harmless, 
undefiled. He's separate from sinners. His 
fitness to save sinners is there in described. And then the efficacy 
or ability of Christ is set forth by the same apostle. It says 
that he saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through 
him. Do you hear that? He doesn't 
save kind of. He doesn't save partially. He doesn't save a little bit. Brethren, our sin is such that 
we don't need partial. We don't need a little bit. We 
need a great Savior because we're great sinners. We need a Savior 
who saves to the uttermost all who come to God, through his 
mediation. So Christ is the judge of all 
the earth and Christ has authority over life. Therefore, Christ 
answering the charge of these rebel Jews in verse 18, who were 
upset and wanted to destroy him because he being a man made himself 
equal with God, Jesus says, yes, absolutely. I have two God-befitting 
prerogatives or deeds that I will execute on behalf of all mankind. And then he summarizes this with 
his affirmation again of his consubstantiality in verse 30. 
Notice, I can of myself do nothing. This parallels what we find in 
verse 19. Notice what he says in verse 
19. Most assuredly I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself. So verse 30, I can of myself 
do nothing. Now, for people to say, well, 
he's confessing his impotence, he is separating, you know, from 
this charge of equality with the Father. His equality with 
the Father is seen in his statement of verse 30. He doesn't operate 
according to some other will. The one God has, among the three 
persons, one will, one power, one God. One glory. One nature. And that's what Jesus is declaring 
here. So he says, not in the way of 
admitting impotence, but he's admitting omnipotence. I can 
of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment 
is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will 
of the Father who sent me. So like I said, Jehovah's Witnesses 
and the other morons that take this passage and say, oh, he's 
distancing himself from the charge of verse 18. Nothing could be 
further from the truth. He is embracing the charge of 
verse 18 as a true statement concerning his person as the 
second person of the Trinity. He has the nature of God Most 
High. He is consubstantial with Him. I think Cyril will be able to 
explain it in a way that I hope is helpful. He says, Since the 
Son is from the substance of the Father, eternal generation, 
He takes to Himself by nature all the properties of His Begetter. and he ascends essentially to 
one divine nature with him on account of the identity of nature. 
He is in the father and he has the father in himself. That is 
why he often ascribes the power of his works truly and without 
blame to the father. In so doing, he is not placing 
himself outside of that power, but he is assigning all things 
to the activity of one divine nature. There is one divine nature 
in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Christ 
tells them, yes, I am equal with the Father. Just like John tells 
us in John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with 
God and the Word was God. And even after declaring the 
glory of the incarnation in 1.14, the Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth. He ends the prologue 
on verse 18. He says, no one has seen God 
at any time, but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the 
father, he has declared him. So what John tells us in theological 
language in chapter one, Jesus demonstrates in popular language 
to these Jews who wanted to take up stones to execute him. One 
final citation, and then we close with some thoughts in application. 
Second London Confession, Chapter 2, Paragraph 3. In this divine 
and infinite being, there are three subsistences, or persons, 
the Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy Spirit. of one substance, 
power and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet 
the essence undivided. The Father is of none, neither 
begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten 
of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and 
the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one 
God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished 
by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations. 
And then our confession takes a different path, not a different 
path, but it had something that the Westminster didn't. If you 
know anything about the history of our confession, they copied 
large swaths of it from the Presbyterian confession called Westminster. 
They also depended upon the Congregationalist confession called the Savoy Declaration. So all of these men confess the 
same truth concerning in this one divine and infinite being, 
there are three persons. But notice what the Baptists 
add at the end. It says, So hear the words of 
our Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 5. He's not distancing 
himself from this charge. He's not suggesting that they 
are wrong. You've only thought that I made 
myself equal with God. He couldn't make himself equal 
with God in terms of verbal speech more so than he does in this 
section. He is stressing the fact that 
he is co-eternal, that he is distinct from and that he is 
consubstantial with the Father. Now, in conclusion, the first 
thing we ought to appreciate is that affirmation. I don't 
want to keep going over it, but you need to hear it, you need 
to understand. Christ is not inferior, Christ is not subordinate, 
Christ is not somehow a lesser G-God, a little G-God, where 
the Father is the big G-God. No, our confessional statement 
is great. It reflects the history of the 
church in terms of doctrinal precision at the level of the 
triune God. We must not error here. We must 
not falter here. We must not be astray here. We 
must be firm with reference to who God is. Later in the high 
priestly prayer, Jesus is going to pray that this is eternal 
life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom Thou hast sent. Do you understand what Jesus 
is saying? The very essence. When you look 
at eternal life, when you boil it all down, Now John the Apostle 
shows us great things in Revelation. He shows us pearly gates. He 
shows us New Jerusalem coming down like a bride adorned for 
her husband. He shows us the gates. He shows us all the benefit 
and the beatitude of that blessed state. But at essence, what is 
foundational and fundamental is that we know God. and Jesus 
Christ whom thou hast sent. That's the foundation of covenant 
promise with reference to all of God's revelation. I will be 
your God and you shall be my people. You see, that's what 
it's about. That's everything. That's the 
apex and the pinnacle. It's to know our God. It is to 
commune with our God. It is to enjoy God. The Westminster 
Shorter Catechism asks, what is the chief end of man? Man's 
chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. That's 
a blessed chief end, isn't it? That's a wonderful thing that 
we have in our talos, in our future, the purpose for which 
we exist. The redemptive work of Jesus 
Christ rights the wrong of the first Adam, who plunged us all 
into sin. Christ is the last Adam, who 
pulls us out by his grace and for his glory through his blood 
and his righteousness. Secondly, we ought to reflect 
on the theological significance of the general judgment. We did 
this a bit as we went through Exodus. specifically the Exodus, 
the deliverance portion in Exodus chapters one to 19. God oftentimes, 
well, I would say every time, but I haven't taken out the concordance 
to do this, but salvation of God's people necessarily implies 
the damnation of his enemies. The salvation of God's people 
necessarily implies the devastation, the destruction, the decimation 
of his enemies. Turn to one passage. Well, we're 
probably gonna turn to a few more, but look at Joshua, the 
end of Joshua chapter 21. You see this in a temporal setting, 
which I think is helpful, but it's certainly typological of 
the spiritual reality. So Joshua 21, 43 to 45, this 
is the heart and soul of Joshua. I mean, it basically outlines 
the entirety of the book. It summarizes and it certainly 
concludes. I know there's other passages 
that follow other chapters, but it underscores God's faithfulness 
in the conquest. So remember, Israel was told, 
or God said, I'm going to give you this land. You've got to 
go into that land and you've got to conquer the enemies. You've 
got to decimate them. You've got to destroy them. You've 
got to remove them. You've got to get them out of there. You 
can't have religious sort of interaction with them. You can't 
engage in political alliances. You're certainly not to marry 
one another. You're supposed to avoid that. You're to go in, 
engage in holy war, dispossess the land of the Canaanites, and 
take the land. So notice in Joshua 21 at verse 43. So the Lord gave 
to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their 
fathers. And they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord 
gave them rest all around according to all they had sworn to their 
fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. 
The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not 
a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to 
the house of Israel. All came to pass. Do you see 
that? The salvation of Israel. The 
possession of the land was predicated upon the destruction of their 
enemies. In other words, you're not gonna 
live happily ever after in Canaan while there's all these Canaanites 
worshiping Baal and Asherah around you. So in order to bring full 
blessing to his people, there had to be the destruction of 
his non-people or rather his enemies. Now, this isn't just 
an Old Testament concept. Turn to the book of Revelation. 
Revelation chapter 21. After telling us that he sees 
the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned 
for her husband, he gives us this glowing description. I'll 
just pick up in 21.5. Then he who sat on the throne 
said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, write, 
for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, 
it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, 
the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of 
the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes 
shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall 
be my son. That's crucial and key. The letters 
to the churches in Asia Minor in Revelation chapter two and 
three all end on that note of, Blessed is he who overcomes. In other words, John, writing 
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants the early 
church to persevere. He wants the early church to 
go forward. He wants the early church not 
to knuckle under. He wants the early church to 
understand their dependence upon God, to understand the grace 
of God that is available and provided by Him, and to go forward, 
overcome. Do not give in, do not recant, 
do not succumb, do not ever give up. That's John's point in Revelation 
2 and 3 with each of the churches of Asia Minor. Now, if you've 
read Revelation, you'll know they had suffering, they had 
affliction, they had hardship. They had, whoa, they had a political 
beast and a religious beast that was over them. They had a lot 
of opposition in terms of their Christianity in the early Roman 
Empire. So a grand emphasis in the book 
is on overcoming. But then notice verse 28, or 
I'm sorry, verse eight in chapter 21. But the cowardly, and cowardly, 
as I've explained, is not you're afraid of spiders, or you're 
afraid of sharks, or you're afraid of whatever. The cowardly are 
the people that didn't overcome. The cowardly are the people that, 
when there was a bit of pressure, said, okay, we'll stop serving 
Jesus. They're the people that capitulated. 
They're the people that bowed to the beast instead of the king. 
They're the people that bowed to Caesar instead of the king. 
They're the people that did not overcome. That's the cowardly 
in 21-8. But notice, the cowardly, unbelieving, 
abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, 
and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns 
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Why do you 
think he's telling them that? One, to warn them, to be sure, 
you know, watch your heart, press on, persevere, overcome. But 
two, to encourage them. Brethren, if the New Jerusalem 
is filled with abortion, if the New Jerusalem is filled with 
euthanasia, if the New Jerusalem is filled with fentanyl addiction, 
if the New Jerusalem is filled with tyrants who wanna lord things 
over the body politic, the body politic who simply wants to be 
left alone, if that obtains in the New Jerusalem, doesn't sound 
very heavenly, so he's encouraging the people of God. The enemies 
of God will not be there. The enemies of God, like Canaan 
in Joshua chapter 21, were defeated. You don't have to worry about 
them. You get to have this place wherein 
righteousness dwells. Notice in 21-27. But there shall by no means enter 
in anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, 
but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. And 
then again, we see it in chapter 22 at verses 14 and 15. Blessed 
are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right 
to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. 
But outside are dogs and sorcerers. Dogs doesn't mean canines. God's 
not against canines. He's not, you know, opposed to 
dogs. It's pagans. It's probably Judaizers. It's those who reject Jesus. So he says, but outside are dogs 
and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and 
whoever loves and practices a lie. So here's the point, brethren. 
As we move through chaos, we are heading towards cosmos. We're 
heading toward blessing. That is to encourage us along 
the way. That is to put a bit of a leap 
in our step, a bit of bounce in our strut, and it is to steady 
us and to stabilize us along the way. The theological significance 
of the general judgment is the reality that God will divide 
eternally the righteous from the unrighteous. As well, it 
will be the vindication or rather the manifestation of the mercy 
of God according to Paul in Romans 9.23. But it's also a manifestation 
of the justice of God according to Paul in Romans 9. So on that 
day, there will be no question as to His goodness. There will 
be no question concerning His justice. There will be nobody 
that will say, well, you know, that just doesn't seem fair. 
It will be the manifestation of the absolute perfections of 
God Most High, vis-a-vis His mercy to the elect and vis-a-vis 
His justice to the God-hating rebel that continues impenitently 
and resists and rejects the Savior Christ. And then one final observation, 
brethren. It's not wrong to long for this. 
It is not wrong to long for this. The Psalms of David and the anathemas 
of the Apostle Paul betray the modern cry against the imprecatory 
Psalms of David and the anathemas of Paul. David prayed that God 
would deal with his enemies, and he prayed it vividly. He prayed it candidly. He prayed 
it openly. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 
16, 22 says, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let 
him be cursed to hell. In some ways, he makes David 
look like a piker, a beginner, a novice. The apostle says that 
if any man distorts the gospel of free grace in Galatians 1, 
let him be damned to hell. The apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 
1 says it's right with God. This is something the church 
is missing today. Now listen. Paul says it's right 
with God to repay with trouble those who trouble you. See, for 
us to pray the imprecatory Psalms of David or to pray the anathemas 
of Paul, it isn't vindictive, it isn't mean-spirited. I'm not 
praying, God, take this man out who just cut me off on Wellington 
Avenue. It's God's enemies. It's the 
butchers of little babies. I just saw a story this morning 
that in, I think, California, I mean, that's typically where 
it all is, but two men, counselors, with the pronouns they and them, 
get to sleep in a cabin with fifth grade girls. The party 
of science has suspended science. Now it is not wrong for us to 
say with Paul, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, 
let him be anathema. Certainly we pray for their salvation. 
Certainly we evangelize them for their salvation. Certainly 
we pray that God restrains them from engaging in the corruption 
that we see all around us. But brethren, there is a rightness 
a legitimacy to long for the coming of Jesus Christ so that 
he can right every wrong, he can vindicate his blessed church, 
and he can stomp the head of his enemies. And if that offends 
you, Genesis 3.15 is programmatic for the rest of the Bible. It 
is the seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent. It is the seed of the woman that 
will decimate the enemies of God most high. One final passage 
and then we close. Revelation 6. Revelation chapter 
6. Look at the souls under the altar 
in heaven and hear how they pray. Revelation 6, 9, when he opened 
the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who 
had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which 
they held. And they cried with a loud voice, 
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and 
avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? These are 
the spirits of just men made perfect. And what are they crying 
out for under the altar? Justice, vengeance. God's destruction of his enemies. Verse 11, then a white robe was 
given to each of them. And it was said to them that 
they should rest a little while longer until both the number 
of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be 
killed as they were, was completed. Paul in Romans 12 tells us not 
to avenge ourselves. I'm not advocating that. I'm 
not suggesting that at all. But Paul goes on to say, but 
give place to wrath. What does he mean? Well, he tells 
us, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Do you mean it's actually legit 
for the people of God to not take vengeance into their own 
hands, but rather give place for wrath by calling upon God 
to visit his enemies? Seems to be the argument. Listen 
to one commentator on this passage in Revelation 6. He says that 
this blunt cry for vengeance strikes us as strange, just shows 
how far our pietistic age has degenerated from the biblical 
worldview. If our churches were more acquainted 
with the foundational hymn book of the church, the Psalms, instead 
of the sugary, syrupy, sweetness and light choruses that characterize 
modern evangelical hymnals, we would understand this much easier. 
But we have fallen under a pagan delusion that it is somehow unchristian 
to pray for God's wrath to be poured out upon the enemies and 
persecutors of the Church. Yet that is what we see God's 
people doing, with God's approval in both Testaments of the Holy 
Scriptures. It is, in fact, a characteristic of the godly man that he despises 
the reprobate. Psalm 15, 4. The Spirit expressed 
in the imprecatory prayers of Scripture is a necessary aspect 
of the Christian's attitude. He says in 2 Timothy 4. Paul 
says, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord 
repay him, is what Paul says. And then this fellow goes on 
to say, much of the impotence of the churches today is directly 
attributable to the fact that they have become emasculated 
and effeminate. Some churches, unable even to 
confront evil, much less overcome it, will eventually be captured 
and dominated by their enemies. Brethren, that might be a bit 
hyperbolic and it might sound a little bit much, but read the 
Psalms of David. Read the New Testament, read 
Paul, read Jesus. Yes, Father, forgive them for 
they know not what they do. Absolutely, positively, Jesus 
says that. But he also says, woe to you, 
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, broods of vipers. There is a 
sense, brethren, where we have to imitate the psalmist in Psalm 
119. He says, rivers of water run 
down from my eyes because men don't keep your law. I hope over 
the last few days when you've been watching some of this footage, 
that's overcome you. It's hard to see such images. 
But you know what else the psalmist says in the same psalm? I know 
it's a big one, but this does reveal something about him. There's 
other instances where he says, indignation takes hold of me 
because men do not keep your law. Disgust is another emotion 
that he relates is real in his own life over men who do not 
respect God's law. It is not wrong to image God 
in a desire for justice. It is not wrong to image God 
in a desire for righteousness. It is not wrong to say with John 
the seer at the end of the book of Revelation, in light of what 
we see in rebelliousness against our blessed Lord, even so come 
Lord Jesus. And that is to bless his elect, 
it is to damn the reprobate. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we come to you now and we acknowledge the glory 
of Jesus Christ. That's the emphasis in John 5. 
But when he emphasizes that, he points us to that general 
judgment of all mankind, and our hearts desire and earnest 
plea is that all here would be clothed in that righteousness, 
cleansed in that blood, and ready to stand to meet the Savior King. 
We ask that you bless our children, bless our young people. God, 
again, have mercy upon this generation, this particular nation. That's 
what we need. We need the gospel of free grace. 
We need the proclamation of the truth as it is in Jesus. We need 
that law to show men their sin and rebellion, and to show them 
their need for the Savior. We need that law to restrain 
the wickedness and the corruption of man. We need that law to inform 
those who are saved on how they ought to live. We need that gospel 
of free grace. We need the reality that Christ 
lived, Christ died, Christ was raised again, and that all who 
look to him in faith will live. God bless and have mercy upon 
us, we pray, and we ask in Jesus' name, amen. We'll close with 
a brief time of meditation.