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it's good to be in the house of god on this beautiful lord's day just a couple of announcements we do have wednesday night bible study this week at uh 7 30 and then the saturday morning theology is at 6 30 on saturday morning if you're interested in that let me know and i can include you on the email and then the annual general meeting is february 26th that's the last saturday of february and that will be at 7 00 pm in the fellowship hall well for our call to worship you can turn in your bibles to the book of revelation revelation chapter 5. revelation 5 i'll read beginning in verse 8 to the end of the chapter now when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to god by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our god and we shall reign on the earth then i looked and i heard the voice of many angels around the throne the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb who is slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them i heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever then the four living creatures said amen and the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever amen well please turn in your hymn books to psalm 92 psalm 92 be as in bravo we'll stand and we'll sing together [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh is [Music] yes is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] let us pray our god most high what a privilege it is to gather in your house on your day with your people we acknowledge your glory manifested through the created order we acknowledge your power in the providential order and we acknowledge that grace and mercy and wisdom and goodness displayed in redemption and god it's because of what christ has wrought what he accomplished in his earthly ministry that brings us together today we praise you for the gospel of our salvation for the life and the death and the resurrection of the the only begotten son of god we give praise to you for his current session at your right hand and we know that he always lives to make intercession for us and that he is our advocate with the father and we ask now that you would grant us grace and and promote in our hearts that fear and reverence for god and mingle it with great thanksgiving and joy for having been saved by such a gracious god we ask that you would be pleased to bless this assembly as we gather together may you be enthroned upon the praises here may you dwell in our midst and may you encourage and strengthen our hearts and may we worship you father son and holy spirit and may god be all in all in this place we confess our sin and our transgression now whenever we ponder what scripture says concerning you we are drawn out to consider the righteousness of god the holiness of god the the the moral purity of god and in that light we see our own defection we see our own waywardness we see our own proneness to wander and proneness to leave the god that we love we have been called by you through the apostle to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of our salvation yet we find that that that remaining corruption in our own hearts we find that transgression of your law and that lack of conformity unto it so we confess it now trusting in that precious blood of the lord jesus christ to cleanse us and to wash us and to purify us we know lord god that you have called us unto holiness and we pray that you would not only forgive us but fill us with your spirit give us his presence and power so that we may conduct ourselves in the fear of god as we live in this lower world we pray for any and all who've come here this morning that are dead in their trespasses and sins their problem isn't remaining corruption it's reigning sin we ask god that you would speak to their hearts that you would show them their rebellion against a holy god and show them your provision in the gospel of the the lord jesus christ may that forgiveness of sins and that righteousness that you give be prevalent today may you be merciful to call sinners out of darkness into marvelous light that they may proclaim your excellencies we ask that not only for our gathering together here but we pray that for every church in chilliwack we pray that for every church in canada and to the uttermost parts of the earth we know there is chaos in this generation we know there is lots of things that distress and discourage the souls of men but we know that the primary problem is man's estrangement from the living and true god so lord bless the gospel as it goes forth today we have the sure promise of isaiah that your word does not return unto you void it always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it and we pray that today sinners from every tribe and tongue and people and nation would be believing on the lord jesus christ for salvation and god we don't appeal to them in their free will or their good works or their their good decisions or wisdom but we call upon a sovereign god who is able to remove the stony dead heart and replace it with a fleshly heart and to give the graces of faith and repentance so that sinners may receive with the hand of faith the good things that christ has accomplished in the gospel we ask you to bless our children and our young people we know there are many assaults against them we know there are many temptations in this world and we pray that you would surround them that in their youth they would remember their creator and they would love the lord god most high we ask also that you would bless our church plants our our brothers and sisters and other parts of the world we thank you for the work in surrey we pray for pastor mike that you would continue to uphold and encourage him we pray for the group and vernon and thank you for what you're doing there we ask that you would just continue to watch over that flock continue to watch over our brother as he prepares and studies and lord bless the saints and dryden we ask god in heaven that you would give them wisdom and give them grace and cause them to establish or see established in their midst a solid confessional church we pray for our brother john today that as he preaches in honduras you would own that word you would bless him with the presence of the spirit that he would speak the truth as it is in jesus and it would be for the saving of sinners and for the sanctification of the saints of christ she would be glorified there and god that you would bless pastors carlos and luis and just continue to use these men in that part of the world and god we pray for churches in our community thanking you that there are those men faithfully proclaiming christ and him crucified and we pray for your rich blessing to be upon those brothers and upon those congregations we think of the persecuted church as we are often reminded when we come for prayer meeting we see that people in other parts of the world suffer grievously for the cause of god and truth we know father that communist china is is rough and oppressive and persecutes the children of god we know that the middle east and those nations steeped in islam it is most difficult to confess jesus christ as lord and savior but god we are greatly encouraged that in the midst of oppression and persecution jesus promise is coming true he will build his church and the gates of haiti shall not prevail against it and we see evidences of that we see the gospel progressing we see more and more people being saved and it does encourage our hearts and we pray that they would be faithful and persevering in the midst of these things and that they may bring glory and honor and praise unto you as well our father the apostle tells us to pray for the civil magistrate for kings and all who are an authority that we may lead peaceable and quiet lives and all godliness it's always been our desire to simply meet as the church unmolested by the civil state and we pray god for these protests we pray they would be peaceful we pray god that you would grant wisdom to our political leaders we pray that they would re remove these things and that people god's people would be gathered able to gather each and every sunday unfettered and unhindered by the civil civil government we pray god in heaven that you would be glorified in the churches of christ in this land we pray that jesus would have dominion from sea to sea and that in all things you would be praised as well our god we ask that you look with favor upon the very real needs in our own congregation we have those who have ongoing chronic illness we just commit them to you and to the word of your grace we pray for our elderly folk we pray for mrs van shayk and mrs bolt we pray for our dear sister bev that you would continue to comfort her as well god we pray for the fabers and we ask that you bless the new felds and the ongoing challenges that they face on a regular and daily basis and god we are as well all affected spiritually there are a whole host of temptations that we face in this world there is a whole host of discouragement there are many things that seek to shipwreck our faith in fact jesus taught us to pray that you would deliver us from the evil one and so we pray that to you even now that we would know your protective hand over us that we would know your smile upon us that we would know that peace that does surpass all understanding that you would fortify us by your spirit and by the holy scripture and may you use this church this day for that end may you help us to understand the word of god and may you help us to find great joy in our understanding of it and may we see jesus christ as altogether lovely and may we see him as chief among ten thousand and men may we as well shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and may you grant us the boldness to hold forth your word of truth and we ask these things in that blessed name that is above every name even jesus christ our lord amen you can turn with me again in your hymn books to hymn number 388 hymn number 388 and we'll stand as we sing together [Music] yes is yes is [Music] foreign foreign [Music] rc oh [Music] is you could turn with me in your bibles to first timothy chapter four first timothy chapter four for our scripture reading this morning last week we saw paul's statement in chapter three at verses 14. and 15. he says these things i write to you and i take it as going to the previous section and to the following section in other words timothy i hope to come to you i hope to see you but if i am delayed i'm writing so that and notice what he says verse 14 i write to you though i hope to come to you shortly but if i am delayed i write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of god now the autism here isn't suggestive it's not you know one way out of many but it's a divine oughtness what god commands you are to implement in the life of the church so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of god which is the church of the living god the pillar and ground of the truth so he writes all that he does prior to that so that timothy would know that and then he writes all that he does after that so that timothy would know that and so that he would apply that in the context of god's church so notice in chapter 4 at verse 1. now the spirit expressly says that in the latter time that in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which god created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth for every creature of god is good and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of god and prayer if you instruct the brethren in these things you will be a good minister of jesus christ nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed but reject profane and old wives fables and exercise yourself toward godliness for bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance for to this end both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living god who is the savior of all men especially of those who believe these things command and teach let no one despise your youth but be an example to the believers in word in conduct in love in spirit in faith in purity till i come give attention to reading to exhortation to doctrine do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all take heed to yourself and to the doctrine continue in them for in doing so or in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you amen so paul starts off here with a warning about devilish doctrine notice in verse 1. now the spirit expressly says that in latter times i think a lot of new testament readers read that phrase or statement and think that it's in our future no the latter times was the time between the first and the second coming of our lord jesus christ so paul is speaking about a current situation that obtained in the church that timothy pastored and that continues even now in the churches that we see today so he says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith notice giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron and then we we might ask the question what devilish things are these people doing what horrifying things are these people doing well he tells us forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which god created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth in other words there will be those kinds of people that say the earth is bad the creature is bad it is only the soul that matters no paul says that god made the world and everything in it and it's good marriage is good it's a blessed state given by our god it's a gift so is good food meats it's to be received with thanksgiving you're not supposed to think that by avoiding marriage or by avoiding certain foods or by avoiding certain practices or by doing certain things that we can somehow commend ourselves to god we're justified freely by his grace we're called upon to think properly concerning the created order and god's gifts paul says it's devilish to forbid good things that god himself has given in the book of deuteronomy the people of god the covenant community of israel are given a list of blessings and curses blessings if they obey while they have tenure in the land and curses if they disobey when they have tenure in the land we know how the story works out they're ultimately cast out of the land but incidentally one of the reasons why god would hold them accountable yes for gross immorality yes for rejection of his of his holy law but because they would find themselves in a land that was filled with milk and honey they would find themselves in a land that had vineyards that they themselves didn't grow that they would have houses that they themselves didn't build but they would not be thankful what's the point guilt grace gratitude god is blessed when we thank him and praise him for the good gifts that he gives us so it is a doctrine of demon to forbid that which god permits and then notice that he gives specific encouragement to timothy as a minister of the gospel he says in verse 6 if you instruct the brethren in these things you will be a good minister of jesus christ nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed this is where the accent lies this is where the the emphasis is in the pastoral epistles first and second timothy and titus the emphasis isn't on tongue speaking it's not on prophesying it's not on healing it's not on exercising demons it's on sound doctrine the church today is about preaching the word of truth the church today is about administrating the sacraments and exercising discipline those are her calling that's what she should be employed with notice that he cautions him again in verse 7 reject profane and old wise fables and exercise exercise yourself toward godliness he says for bodily exercise profits a little he's not denigrating bodily exercise i think we've seen that by our own government they should have promoted bodily health they should have promoted vitamin d update they should have promoted zinc they should have kept the gyms open so that we could be healthy in terms of our immune system to combat covet 19. paul is not denigrating physical fitness look at the comparison verse 8 for bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things now here's why godliness is profitable for all things it has promise of the life that now is which bodily exercise does but it also has promise of the life that which is to come so paul says yes physically exercise but yes spiritual exercise and then one final observation look at the emphasis on corporate worship in verse 13. he says till i come give attention to reading to exhortation to doctrine he's not telling timothy about his private devotional life he's not telling timothy on monday morning and on tuesday morning i want you to read through the robert murray mcshane calendar i want you to read through the bible a couple of times that's not the point the point is on public worship what does the church do when she gathers together she sings the praises of god she prays unto god she engages in the sacraments of the church and she receives the word of god and paul makes that obvious notice till i come give attention to reading again not timothy's own reading but the public reading of scripture they didn't have beautifully bound completed bibles in ephesus in the first century the way they had access to the word of god was through the reading of the word of god in the corporate worship of god that's why it's absolutely crucial and absolutely essential that the church meets together if it is the case that the internet goes down if it is the case that every single bible ends up destroyed except one in the church how do we have access to the written word it's by coming to church and hearing that word read so he says give attention to reading to exhortation that means to explain the word to show its effect upon people how it should impact their lives and then of course to doctrine we hear today that doctrine divides now first corinthians 13 tells us that love rejoices in the truth the truth is the teaching of god's word another word for that is doctrine and then he says do not neglect the gift that is in you and then he says in verse 15 meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all and then notice the the the priority in verse 16 take heed to yourself and to the doctrine continue in them for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you you know when you used to fly and they would give you that sort of statement about if the masks fall out of the overhead thing go ahead and put yours on first and then help those around you that's good counsel you can't help those around you if you're dead and so paul picks up on a biblical emphasis in first timothy 4 16 take heed to yourself and to the doctrine we see that in genesis chapter 4 god had regard for abel and his sacrifice you see it in ezra 7 10 ezra set his heart to study the law of the lord to do it and then to teach those statutes in israel if the man of god is not looking out for him his own self he's not going to be any good publicly in terms of ministry so let us pray our father in heaven help us not only as this local church but the church in general in the 21st century to see the priority of sound doctrine to see the priority of preaching and teaching the word of god and lord we know that this is what equips your people this is what provides that stability and that that's that comfort and encouragement that we need each and every day so lord continue with us and help us to honor you not only in the reading of the word and in the preaching of the word but in the receiving of it so that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ and we pray in his blessed name amen well you could turn with me again in your hymn books to 210 210. audrey [Music] my oh oh is [Music] is is [Music] is oh well you could turn with me in your bibles to john chapter 5 john chapter 5. our focus this morning will be verses 24 to 30 but i want to read beginning in john chapter 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 here 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 life 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 have 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 and 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 father thank you for your word thank you for the the incarnate word even our lord jesus christ and for the earthly ministry that we see here we ask again for the presence and the power of the holy spirit we pray again for the forgiveness of sins and all of its darkening influences and help us to marvel at the son of god who loved us and who gave himself for us and we ask in his blessed name amen well as we have been continuing through through john's gospel we have seen that one of john's emphases is to not only show us the economy of salvation idea uh that means specifically what jesus does in terms of saving his people from their sins but john also wants to show us who jesus is if you go back for just a moment to john 1. in verse 1 he introduces his gospel with what we call the prologue and he says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god that is an amazing declaration concerning the person of our lord jesus christ such that the early church took up pains to defend this and when they defended it they used certain terms outside of the bible that were calculated to protect what we find in terms of doctrine in the bible so for instance in john 1 1. we see in the beginning was the word that underscores jesus co-eternality with his father and then it says that the word was with god that shows a distinction between the father and the son and then when it says and the word was god it shows that jesus is consubstantial with the father that means he has the same nature he is co-essential with the father now turn over to john 5. we not only see it in john's prologue but we see it in the life and the ministry of our lord jesus christ specifically here in john 5 the occasion was is that jesus healed a paralyzed man a man who had for 38 years been incapacitated by his by his sickness or disease we see that it was connected to his own sinfulness so jesus not only deals with him physically but he deals with him spiritually well of course he deals with him on the sabbath day and that causes the jews to antagonize him you're not supposed to be working on the sabbath day and then jesus says if you look at 5 17 my father has been working until now and i have been working so the father created the world and all things in it and then he rested in terms of creation the father is active in providence the psalmist says our god is in heaven he does whatever he pleases so he providentially governs all his creatures and all their actions so jesus says my father has been working until now so i am working in other words they didn't break the sabbath he didn't engage in any violation or transgression now 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 he was affirming his consubstantiality with the father he and the father are one he'll say that later in john 10 at verse 30. now of course jesus has to respond to this it's a capital offense blasphemy sabbath-breaking is a capital offense but so is a blasphemy and if jesus makes himself equal with god and he's not equal with god then he deserves to be stoned so they have leveled this charge in verse 18 and so it's very important for us to understand how jesus responds to the charge in verses 19 to 47. how does he respond he affirms it how does he respond he declares it he responds by saying yes i am equal with the father and he points to two specific works he points to his sovereignty or authority over life itself and over judgment imagine if your father was a brain surgeon and somebody came along and said to you are you equal with your father in order to demonstrate that it wouldn't be i'm going to take out the trash it would be i'm going to conduct brain surgery in other words if you're equal with the father you need to have the equal power functions prerogatives all of that sort of thing remember those magicians in the old testament they could duplicate a couple of the plagues but they couldn't do all that yahweh of israel is capable of they don't have the divine nature christ has the divine nature so christ responds to them in verses 19 to 47. so in 19 to 23 what we saw last week is his relation to the father and here specifically in verses 24 to 30 it's divine functions he mentions his authority over life in verse 21 he mentions mentions his authority and judgment in verse 22 but he amplifies that in verses 24 to 30. in other words to demonstrate that he's equal with god he has divine prerogative he has the capability and the competency to engage in divine functions van mastrak said the one to whom all divine things belong here life and judgment undoubtedly is the true god from eternity and consubstantial with the father for not even impudence itself will say that the one to whom all divine things belong is not god so he mentions it generally verses 21 and 22 and then he amplifies in verses 24 to 30. so there's three things we're going to look at this morning in verses 24 to 30. first the declaration of his authority in eternal life in verses 24 and 25. secondly and i'll explain this when we get there the rationale for his authority in eternal generation verses 26 to 27 and then finally the promise of his authority on the day of judgment in verses 28 to 30. so it is a question of authority he being a man has made himself equal with god who is up to the task of asserting that kind of authority unless he is as the nicene creed says very god a very god and that's who we're dealing with in this particular passage so notice in the first place the declaration of his authority in eternal life in verses 24 and 25. the first thing he emphasizes the promise of eternal life in other words he's made himself equal with god at this particular point he's able to save his people from their sins 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 and to life jesus uses judgment in two ways in the passage not completely disconnected but here judgment in verse 24 means a condemnation a a judgment unto separation from god later in verses 28 to 29 when he mentions his task as the judge of all the earth it is to preside over that last day it is to render that final verdict in terms of the righteous and the unrighteous but he asserts here and this is in the context of john's gospel that he comes to bring eternal life if you're not a christian here this morning there's going to be some concepts and words that i mentioned about jesus that you may not get you may not if you were tested afterward understand you know consubstantial consubstantiality co-essential co-eternal all that sort of thing but get verse 24 jesus says most assuredly i say to you he who hears my word and believes in him now everywhere in the new testament we see that jesus is the object of justifying faith but here he says here's my word and i think here means believe it says he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life what's the emphasis there it's similar to verse 23. look at verse 23 he says he who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him so in verse 24 he says if you don't hear my word then you're not believing in him who sent me and this is specifically calculated to produce conviction for these jews they said they loved yahweh of israel they said they love god the father and jesus says unequivocally if you don't hear my word we're flipping it on its head it's a legitimate implication if you don't hear my word and you don't believe in him who sent me then you're going to die in your sin but conversely when you hear my word it is to believe in him who sent me because of the same nature because of the one will because of the one power christ is consubstantial with the father there is one true and living god and notice the emphasis again on faith he who hears my word and believes in him keep that in mind for when we get down to verse 29 and come forth those who have done good jesus doesn't imagine for a moment there's a class of do-gooders out there that can pass the muster of the final judgment the way of salvation is to believe on jesus the way of salvation is to receive the word the way of salvation is to look unto him and live he's already addressed this in john chapter 3. he says just as uh the wilderness was lifted up in the serpent so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him should not have should not perish but have everlasting life it's by grace through faith and when we get to that day of final judgment the good works simply function as evidences or fruits of those who have believed the gospel if you're not a christian here today please don't take this message and say oh i'm going to go out and try harder and i'm going to do more yeah try harder and do more you'll be a better citizen and probably a better husband and a father and all that sort of thing but don't think for a moment that's going to commend you to god you've got a sin problem you've got a huge sin problem just like everyone in this world in this room and this world has a sin problem the only way to deal with the sin problem is through the blood of our lord jesus christ the only way to deal with that is by belief in him because when by god's grace we believe in him we're forgiven of our sins we're washed in his precious blood but we're then clothed in his precious garments the righteousness of christ is given to us so whatever else you may or may not hear this morning if you're not a believer please focus on verse 24. take it home this afternoon think about it consider it contemplate it ask yourself the question where am i before a just and holy god if the lord was to kill me today if the lord jesus was to come again in glory today what side would i be on would i be on that that side who hasn't passed into judgment but rather passed into life or would i be on the side that hears those cursed words from jesus depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels because it's jesus that you will meet in terms of the judgment day but jesus now calls you to come to him to believe on him and as he says here in verse 24 i say to you he he he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life he shall not come into judgment but is passed from death into life what does jesus assume in verse 24 he assumes what calvinists or reformed people call the doctrine of total depravity he affirms the sinfulness of man he says to you right now if you're not a believer in jesus christ that you're dead now i know experientially that's hard to wrap your mind around because you're breathing you probably had wheaties or some sort of breakfast this morning you've seen the beauty of the day displayed you've no doubt been following the news that is going through canada so sir you're alive yeah you're alive physically but if you're not in christ you're dead and christ assumes that the dead will hear the voice of the son of god so christ not only assumes the doctrine of total depravity but christ endorses the doctrine of effectual calling those who are dead are now able to hear the voice of the son of god and by god's grace they pass from death into life yeah we call that the effectual call we call that god making men willing in the day of his power we call that god dealing with sinners in a way of grace and mercy and loving kindness see we have sinned sufficiently against god to deserve an infinite amount of infinite hell we have transgressed his law not you if you're an unbeliever here all of us we all have that desert of going off to hell forever but again by god's grace and through this power of god he's able to make man willing in the day of his power so that when the gospel goes forth sinners hear the voice of god most high and he awakens that he rises them or raises them rather from the debt and grants them the graces of faith and repentance such that they may come to him peter uses that same convention he says that god calls sinners out of darkness in the marvelous light the apostle in ephesians 2 1-3 tells us that man apart from jesus is hopeless he's lifeless and he's helpless but in 2 4 he says but god who is rich in mercy he made us alive and he seated us with christ in the heavenly places and when sinners hear this they say well you mean it's not up to me praise god it's not because you would never choose for him i saw a little quip from spurgeon the other day he said he must have chosen me before the foundation of the world he must have chosen me before before i was born because he certainly wouldn't have after the fact when he saw what i would become he wouldn't say oh yeah i'm going to bet well actually god's so good he would god obviously knew what he's going to do but spurgeon's making that observation it isn't the good that we do it isn't the works that we accomplish because we don't have any they're marred by our own sinfulness the righteousness of the people of israel at the time of the prophet were like like uh dirty filthy rags in the sight of a holy god and in that instance it was righteous acts it was good things they were actually obeying the old testament at certain points in terms of worship but even those things are like filthy rags in the sight of god if they're not done out of a love for god and out of a love for man so verse 24 whatever else jesus says in this particular passage he underscores his equality with the father at this point as athanasius said if sinners are to be saved then only god himself can save them and jesus shows that it's the voice of the son of god that is able to awaken the dead that is able to bring them life it is able to keep them from a judgment of condemnation so my emphasis my encouragement my pleading with you is to believe on him to look unto him to understand the emphasis in the prophet or in the the book of numbers that that serpent was lifted up you'd have to drag yourself over to the serpent and kiss the bowl you didn't have to suck the venom out spit it out and then go over to the serpent when that serpent was lifted up the way of access the way of health the way of healing and restoration was to look and live what a glorious analogy with reference to faith it's not do more it's not try harder it is rather with the hand of faith receive the benefit that christ has accomplished for needy and guilty sinners believe on him and you will be saved that's his emphasis in verse 24. he confirms this in verse 25 by highlighting effectual calling or regeneration or what it is to be born again turn back to john 1. john 1. we've already seen these emphases jesus brings them out in his earthly ministry john 1 verse 10 he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him he came to his own and his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of god notice to those who believe in his name why did they believe in his name verse 13 who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of god so they're sinners that stand in you know condemnation they're sinners that deserve hell they're sinners that deserve damnation but in the grace and mercy and goodness and power and glory of god he causes some of those sinners to be born of god and those ones born of god believe in him again this isn't the only place turn to john chapter 3. john chapter 3 you see his dealings with nicodemus verses one and two there was a man of the pharisees named nicodemus a ruler of the jews this man came to jesus by night and said to him rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from god for no one can do these signs that you do unless god is with him he comes as an appointee he comes as a designation a designatee he comes on behalf of the sanhedrin to try and figure out what's happening with this jesus of nazareth there is that you know idea that he comes by night because he's afraid of the jews no he comes by night as an agent of the jews to try to disrupt our lord jesus to try to show him to be a fake to try to show him to be something that someone that is not to be trusted thankfully along the way nicodemus gets saved and nicodemus and joseph of arimathea are the ones responsible for burying the body of our lord but in this instance he comes to jesus notice what jesus says in verse 3. most assuredly i say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of god why is that because of sin because of depravity because total depravity is not only us sinning against god but it also implies total inability we don't have a will to come to god we don't want god we do what we do because we want to rebel we want to transgress we want to engage in the lawlessness that is part and parcel of our being the apostle says that the carnal mind is at enmity with god it's not subject to the law of god neither can it be jesus says in john 6 44 no man can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and so that's the emphasis in verse 25 the lord jesus is illustrating his power over life the lord jesus is showing his co or his consubstantiality with the father in that authority over life so in verse 24 he highlights in chapter five what it is to believe on him to pass from death into life verse 25 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 a brethren both father and son have authority and power over the physical life and over the spiritual life and i think it's the spiritual life that is emphasized in verse 25 jesus heals or jesus raises jairus daughter from the dead jesus raises the widow at nain's son from the dead later in john 11 jesus will raise lazarus from the dead nobody's questioning his power in terms of physical resurrection it's his power in terms of the physical resurrection that will call all men out of the graves but verse 25 isn't that verse 25 the emphasis is upon spiritual life it's what's referred to in in john's other writing revelation 20 as the first resurrection i mentioned paul in ephesians chapter two we were dead uh lifeless helpless hopeless but god made us alive together in christ jesus so in order to underscore that yes i'm equal with my father he asserts his authority in the salvation of sinners not just in the nuts and bolts believe on the lord jesus christ verse 24 and you will be saved but in the power behind the scene so verse 25 most assuredly i say to you the hour is coming now notice the next three words and now is there's a contrast between the hour of verse 25 and the hour of verses 28 and 29 the hour of verses 28 and 29 is the general judgment of the resurrection of all men out of the out of the grave and i mean man and woman inclusively but in verse 25 he's talking about regeneration he's talking about salvation he's talking about passing from death unto life not physically but spiritually notice 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 he's not only declaring his equality with the father in response to their charge in verse 18 but again i think he's preaching himself to these people what caused this confrontation he raised a paralytic from the dead he had not paralyzed from the dead but he raised the paralytic from a state of paralysis he has power to do that but he has this power to raise dead sinners such that they pass from death unto life in other words these jews who are confronting him these jews who are at all who are at odds with them these jews who are demonstrating their enmity with him ought to bow to him ought to confess him as the messiah ought to believe on him and know the joy of being found in him christ has authority over life that includes the physical it includes the spiritual and with reference to his argument here he is showing them that yes i'm equal with the father it is a most blessed testimony in the context to stress what they charge him with as a crime so he doesn't back down from this verses 19 to 23 remember he doesn't back down when he says in verse 19 he's not confessing his impotence he's confessing his omnipotence whatever the son sees the father do the son does who among us could say that who among us could actually say whatever i see god do i do that none of us we know immediately that we were full of garbage and that what we were saying was absolutely positively not true the only one who could say such a thing is the one who has the same nature as the father the one who was in the beginning the one who was with god and the one who was god that's who's speaking this truth to these men now let's look secondly at the rationale for his authority in eternal generation you're gonna have to bear with me here if these are new concepts if you don't get it ask me or ask cam afterwards or ask me i'll send you notes or i'll point you to some of the fathers in the church that are very helpful on this subject and as i said to the last in the last hour with reference to our study of the confession we're in chapter 8 of christ the mediator and one of the things that we have seen in recent history is some departure not just from chapter 8 in our confession but from the bible there's some bad theology out there not the catholics not the eastern orthodox not the jehovah's witnesses not the mormons though they all got problems but within protestant churches evangelical protestant churches reformed churches at the point of theology proper in other words who is god father son and holy spirit there's also problems with reference to christology who's jesus how does he relate to the father how does he relate to the son what's the relations between the persons all those things are crucial for us as christians to understand and as i've often said at the saturday morning thing not in terms of an evangelistic appeal if you happen to walk home from church today and you meet a sinner you don't have to get into the council of nicaea and what happened in 325 and then 381 and how the church formulated these creeds and these confessions in order to protect the truth as it is in scripture you don't have to do all that you tell them you're a sinner god is holy he will bring you into judgment but there's a way of salvation and it's in his son that's what you tell sinners but for us as saints for us as christians for us who fall under 2 peter 3 18 grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ but for us in light of john 17 3 when jesus says this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent it is unacceptable to be lazy when it comes to the trinity it is unacceptable to be lazy when it comes to who jesus is and so as we work our way through some of these concepts realize though they may sound strange and foreign to us that's only been within the last hundred years it's been the common vocabulary in the church throughout our history consubstantiality co-eternity or co-eternality distinctiveness between the father and the son these are concepts the church has confessed and that the church today needs to recover so look at verses 26 and 27 i'm going to argue that the rationale for his authority lies in the eternal generation of the son from the father notice in verse 26 for as the father has life in himself so he has granted the son to have life in himself the two views of this text are simple one person see it as christ the mediator christ according to his humanity christ giving or given all of this power and authority by the father for the work of redemption that's certainly a biblical truth but i don't think that's what verse 26 is about remember we've already been shown behind the scenes in the beginning was the word the word was with god and the word was god the uh verse 18 in john 1 no one has seen the father or god at any time but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father has declared him john 1 14 he's referred to as the only begotten son of the father john 3 16 he's referred to as the only begotten son of the father so it's this strategy that he deploys in underscoring the fact that he has authority over life and judgment notice the language in verse 26 for as the father has life in himself so he has granted the son to have life in himself under the bigger charger context he's making himself equal with god he's a son not by creation he's a son not by adoption but he's the son by nature and so verse 26 is the rationale behind the fact that he has authority over life and judgment it's because he's eternally begotten from the father eternal generation simply means that from all eternity the father communicated the one simple undivided essence to the son as i said it's already been spoken of in john's gospel it's the rationale here it's another proof positive that he is the son by nature that he is consubstantial with the father that he is in fact equal with the father it's a most blessed statement for as the father has life in himself so he has granted the son to have life in himself the lord speaks of his eternal generation from the father in response to verse 18. how do we know he's equal with god because he's the only begotten son of god he comes from the father the father communicates the divine essence to him from all eternity now as we've seen generation has an analogy in the created world when i had babies i didn't have them thankfully i've always thought if it were up to men to propagate the race the race would be very small my wife had babies they were my babies they have my dna and like begets white we understand generation we understand what it is to be born of another we have the same nature we have the same sort of features we have the same sort of dna running into our veins well when we go from the creature we need to remember we're dealing with creator and god's not finite like we are god's not made like we are god didn't begin to be and he doesn't have an end date god is from everlasting to everlasting so the generation of the son from the father is eternal now as creatures were want to say well i don't understand that well the bible teaches it and while you may never get to the logistics behind it while you may never ever see the mystery involved the bible teaches it from everlasting the son is from the father from everlasting the spirit proceeds from the father and the son that's trinitarian theology so jesus appeals to that to underscore his authority as they have charged him with now notice he then pivots to judgment verse 27. so verse 26 is the rationale here's why i have authority over life and judgment two god befitting deeds as cyril of alexandria says so he pivots from the life to now the judgment in verse 27 and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of man again christ as mediator it is true that the father has given him that prerogative in terms of judgment at the last day that's a true thing but it's not what the text is teaching it's by virtue of the fact that he's eternally begotten of the father that he has the same will same power same nature as the father that he has authority over the judgment to come so he introduces life and judgment 21-22 he amplifies life and judgment in 24 to 30 to answer the charge that he's making himself equal with god and his ch his answer his defense is yes i am he affirms it over and over and over again you've probably heard consubstantiality more this week and last week than you've heard in your whole life that's because that's the emphasis he's making himself equal with god if they were nicean they'd say he's making himself consubstantial with god he's making himself coessential with god yes that's precisely what he's doing and he wants you to understand that it's because he's from the father he's eternally begotten by the father the divine essence has been communicated to him he has the same will the same power the same nature as the father so the good things that you see him do the god befitting works of life and judgment are because he's divine it is because he has the divine essence it is because he has what is true of god now notice with reference to this statement concerning judgment verse 27 he has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of man beautiful thing son of man goes back to daniel interestingly ezekiel is referred to often as a son of man in terms of his prophetic ministry but when jesus uses son of man is it one of his favorite sort of identifiers for himself in the gospel records he refers to himself as the son of man on several occasions it goes back to daniel 7 13-14 daniel 7 13-14 again true of christ as mediator but in the context christ is stressing that he is god's son excuse me by nature so daniel 7 13 i was watching in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven he came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him now in that figure in that sort of uh analogy or in this vision the ancient of days is god the father okay he comes to the ancient of days now brethren there's a sense we're gonna we're gonna come to the ancient of days because we're saved and we're gonna enter into heaven but that is fundamentally different than how the son of man comes to the ancient of days i picked up reading in revelation 5 probably at the wrong place i should have started at the beginning because in revelation chapter 5 there's this the the scroll in the hand of god most high and john the apostle weeps because there was no one worthy to open that scroll except the son of man he doesn't use that language there he calls him a lamb that was was slaughtered before the foundation of the world but the son of man walks to the father and takes the scroll out of his hand that's not us brethren that's not our prerogative that's not what we have as adopted sons and daughters we have every benefit we've been blessed by by being co-heirs with our wonderful savior but when the son of man comes to the ancient of days we see that he comes with the clouds of heaven he comes to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed so the lord jesus in verse 27 says and has given him authority to execute judgment also again because he's the son by nature consubstantial with the father and then he says because he is the son of man the jews would know what that reference was the jews and the sanhedrin knew what that reference was in matthew 26 when the high priest puts jesus under oath and says are you the son of the living god jesus affirms it he says it is as you say and hereafter you will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven what does the high priest do the high priest rips his garments the high priest says we have no further need of witnesses he has condemned himself he is arrogantly asserted that he is that danielic son of man that can come to the father and exercise absolute authority and judgment that he says it in the context of judgment is most appropriate most of most fitting because that's what the son of man is doing according to 7 14 notice then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed so back to our passage we're going to stop there we'll look at verses 28 to 30 next week but just to foreshadow just to give you something to think about the context again he's making himself equal with god yes positively absolutely affirmatively verses 19 to 23 his relation to the father verses 24 to 30 his divine functions he does two god-befitting tasks or deeds he is sovereign he has authority over life he is sovereign he has authority over death he has sovereignty and authority over judgment he is the the god of heaven and earth he is most high not three gods one god in this divine and infinite being there are three persons the father the word or son and the holy spirit they each have the whole divine essence the essence and the shared is not 33 and a third percent but this is what christ does claim before his men uh before those ones who treat him as an enemy so in conclusion i know that might have been a lot of stuff it was kind of in my gut had to get it out but let's just kind of ponder before we close 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 it's belief in our lord jesus turn back to john 1. look at the prologue look at how john introduces before he gets into the actual nuts and bolts of jesus saving us from our sins he wants to identify jesus he wants to show him as the second person of the trinity but he emphasizes this life that is in him he emphasizes this blessing that is in him notice in verse 4 in him was life and the life was the light of men how do dead men how do dead women how do dead boys and girls find that life the emphasis is upon faith in him again verse 10 he was in the world the world was made through him and the world did not know him he came to his own and his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of god what does it mean to receive jesus you've probably heard that if you're not a christian you visited churches and they say pray to receive jesus into your heart pray to receive the blessings of god into your heart what does it mean to receive him the next statement tells us verse 11 as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of god to those who believe in his name what is most essential for you as a sinner today yeah you have to eat or you're going to die you're going to have to ingest water or you're going to die you're going to have to wear a seatbelt when you drive home or you could die actually bad illustration uh you there there's a whole host of things as a sinner today that you'll no doubt have to do but as a sinner before god what is most crucial belief look to him in faith and people at times say it it's so simple it is so simple faith is the empty hand that receives the finished work of our lord jesus christ see everything in us wants to do everything in us wants to perform everything in us wants to make ourselves right but if we could make ourselves right then christ died in vain the whole point of the gospel the whole point of the life and the death and the resurrection of jesus is that we're not right and that we can't make ourselves right and the only rightness to be had is by grace through faith in our lord jesus the most famous verse in all of the bible emphasizes justification by faith turn over to 316. we all know the text we all understand the text but do we ponder the text if we're not believers for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life listen to the implication of that passage yes god so loved the world yes god demonstrates that love by the sending of the of his son into the world and he says that whoever believes in him should what should not perish what's the implication if i don't believe in him i'm going to perish if i don't look to him i'm going to be judged if i don't look to him i'm going to pass into a condemnation or a judgment of condemnation verses 28 and 29 as we'll see next week are hardcore christ is the just judge of all the earth and it's christ who holds the destinies of every man woman boy and girl in his hand it is christ who says depart from me into hell which was prepared for the devil and his angels or it's christ who says welcome well done good and faithful servant so if you don't believe in him you will perish and by perish it doesn't just simply mean you're gonna die be buried and become worm food no there is an afterlife there is an age to come there is a heaven to be gained by grace or a hell to be received because we're wicked and perverse and vile so i encourage you today to think through what jesus says in john 5 24 and then to think through what john the apostle says in john 20 30 and 31 he says 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 believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing you may have life in his name you don't believe you don't have life in his name you don't honor the son you don't honor the father who sent him you don't receive the son's word you don't receive or believe in the one who sent him again the one divine essence that the three persons have in common if you reject jesus you reject the father that was a powerful statement to these jews it's a powerful statement today in our poly polytheistic pluralistic age where we think that all roads lead to heaven no it's by faith in jesus christ alone look to him and you will be saved well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word and we thank you for the clarity of our lord's teaching and the the the defense that he makes to affirm that he is in fact equal with god we praise you for that reality we praise you that you've opened our eyes and our hearts to the truth as it is in jesus that we have seen him as altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand and we desire that all over the earth today from tribe tongue people and nation and even in our our own meeting place this morning that sinners would look to him in faith and would pass from death to life by your grace and we ask this in the name of our lord jesus christ amen well you can turn in your hymn books to 568 568 will stand as we sing the doxology in praise to our triune god [Music] see [Music] the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all amen father we thank you for your blessed provision of the son of your love as paul said in the fullness of the time god sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law we give praise to you for so great a salvation we give praise to you for that great grace that keeps and preserves us and we ask god that you would go with us now help us to call the sabbath a delight to find rest in our in our hearts in the presence of our blessed god and one with another we pray through jesus christ our lord amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation you