[0:00] The others last week, but it's good to be here to meet with one another locally and what an encouragement it is. We gather together to hear the voice of the risen Lord Jesus.
[0:18] John chapter 5, and we're going to read from verse 19 to 30.
[0:30] John 5, starting at verse 19.
[0:41] Verse 19.
[1:00] Jesus gave them, that's the religious leaders, this answer. Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees his Father doing.
[1:13] Because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
[1:27] Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
[1:48] Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son. That all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father.
[2:02] Whoever does not honour the Son, does not honour the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death to life.
[2:25] Very truly, I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
[2:40] For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
[2:59] Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done what is good will rise to live.
[3:16] And those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear.
[3:30] And my judgment is just. For I seek not to please myself, but him who sent me. Well, let us turn to God and ask for his spirit to be at work with us today.
[3:50] Father, thank you for your Son. And we thank you for his word. And we need your help now.
[4:01] The power of your spirit. To breathe life into our lives. So that we may see and know Jesus for who he is.
[4:15] And honour him. As you have called us to. Help us we pray. Amen. I want to start with a question today.
[4:27] Do you like authority? Do you like authority? Well, you see, it depends, doesn't it?
[4:38] If I am in authority, that's one thing. If I'm the one who gets to set the rules and decide what happens. Well then, yes, I'm all for authority.
[4:49] But if I am under authority, it's a different matter. If I have to live under the rules and have to do what others say, well, that's a different matter altogether, isn't it?
[5:04] The truth is, we like to be the ones in authority. We don't like being under authority.
[5:14] Now, in our text this morning, Jesus claims to have authority over our life.
[5:26] Authority to give life and to execute judgment. Look at verse 21. You may have noted that.
[5:37] Verse 21. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son, that's Jesus, gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
[5:54] He gives life on the one hand, and then verse 22. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son.
[6:05] Jesus says, I have authority to give you life, and I also have authority to judge your life.
[6:18] Well, you say, how can Jesus say that? What authority does he have to determine if I receive life or face judgment?
[6:29] What right does Jesus have over my eternal destiny? Well, in the section that we've just read, Jesus claims to be God.
[6:46] We didn't read it, but just have a look at verse 18. For this reason, they, that's the religious leaders who were in opposition to Jesus, tried all the more to kill Jesus.
[7:02] Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
[7:14] That's been the purpose of these opening chapters of John's Gospel, to show us, to prove to us that Jesus is God.
[7:25] That's what we are to see. Jesus is not just a man who can do miracles. He is the very self-revelation of God. Look at Jesus, and we see God.
[7:40] He continues, verse 19. Jesus gave them this answer, very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself.
[7:52] He can do only what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. The work God the Father does, the Son also does.
[8:07] They are one in their purpose. Now that doesn't just simply mean that Jesus represents the Father, or works on behalf of the Father.
[8:18] No, it's much greater than that. The Father acts, and we can say the Son also acts. In other words, what Jesus does, is with the very authority of God.
[8:33] Now the way in which Jesus acts out his authority, is through his word. You may remember, a couple of weeks back, we looked at Jesus, and the healings that he performed.
[8:49] Just go back to chapter 4, verse 49. Do you remember the royal official who came to Jesus? His child was dying?
[9:03] Chapter 4, verse 49. The royal official said, Sir, come down before my child dies. Go, Jesus replied.
[9:15] Your son will live. Or literally, your son lives. Even though he was at a far away distance, by his very words, Jesus enabled the son to live.
[9:32] And then have a look at chapter 5, verse 8. It's the story, the account of the cripple who had been paralysed for 38 years.
[9:44] Verse 8, Jesus said to him, Get up. Pick up your mat and walk. And at once, the man was cured. He picked up his mat and walked.
[9:57] Astonishing, isn't it? Just his words. And life is given, and people are healed. His authority is expressed through his very words, through his voice.
[10:12] And this same Jesus is speaking to us right now. His word has authority over us. So the question we need to ask is, are we today listening to his voice?
[10:28] It's a matter of life and death because Jesus has authority to give life and to execute judgment all at his word.
[10:40] So let's see how Jesus' word has authority over us. Two things.
[10:51] First, Jesus has authority to give life. Look at verse 24. Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
[11:20] Amazing. to hear the word of Jesus and believe is to move from a place of death to a place of life. It's a difference to being wheeled into the morgue and being carried out of the maternity ward.
[11:39] So how do we, how can anyone have this life that Jesus is offering? Well, two things. First, we must accept we are dead.
[11:54] Verse 25. Very truly, I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.
[12:07] Well, who are the dead? Well, it's people. People like you and me. Oh yes, you say, I have physical life, I can move my arms and kick my legs.
[12:20] But inside, we are spiritually dead. In a couple of weeks, I'm sure you will have children knocking on your door looking for sweets dressed up as zombies.
[12:37] Maybe you've never seen any of the programs or films on TV. But zombies are the living dead. They are a walking corpse with no life, devouring everything around them, but yet just spreading death.
[12:55] Well, these fictional characters are a picture of a spiritual reality. we are born spiritually dead and we continue to choose a life that leads to death.
[13:10] We're separated from God and we don't want to be reconciled to God. We desire an autonomy from God and we reject his authority over us.
[13:22] People all around us in the world today are literally a walking dead. dead. Heading for judgment.
[13:36] Now, the problem with being dead is we can't make ourselves alive. Dead people are dead. One writer put it like this.
[13:50] You can listen. just as the physically dead can't communicate with the living, so the spiritually dead can't communicate with the eternal living God.
[14:05] What we need is nothing less than a spiritual resurrection, a new life. So, not only are we to accept we are dead, we must listen to his voice.
[14:20] You see, we can't change our predicament. People can't change themselves, but Jesus can, verse 25. Very truly I tell you a time is coming and is now come when the dead will hear the voice of God and those who hear his voice will live.
[14:44] Just as that dying official son had no power to give himself life, just as that lame man had no ability to heal himself, so we can't heal ourselves of our deadness.
[15:00] But when Jesus speaks his word, we are raised to new life. We are spiritually healed. You see, when we hear the very word of Jesus, as we are hearing right now, we experience the work of God in our life.
[15:22] Because Jesus acts through his word, his word has power and authority to move people from death into life. It's a spiritual resurrection.
[15:37] This new life is wonderfully illustrated for us in Ezekiel. If you've got your Bibles there, you can turn to Ezekiel. It's on page 868 of your church Bible.
[15:52] 868. Ezekiel chapter 37.
[16:05] Here, the prophet Ezekiel has been given a vision. And God takes Ezekiel the prophet into a valley full of bones, dry bones scattered all around.
[16:28] We'll pick it up in verse 3. Ezekiel chapter 37 verse 3. God asked me, Son of man, can these bones live?
[16:46] I said, Sovereign Lord, you alone know. Then he said to me, Prophesy, speak to these bones and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
[17:05] what's going to happen? Well, look at verse 7. So I prophesied, I spoke and I was, as I was commanded and as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound and the bones came together, bone to bone.
[17:22] I looked and tendons and flesh appeared in them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. then he said to me, prophesy to the breath.
[17:37] Now, breath, the word breath there is also spirit. Prophesy to the breath, to spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to it, this is what the sovereign Lord says, come breath from the four winds and breathe into these slain that they may live.
[17:58] so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them and they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast army of them.
[18:13] Let's go back to John's Gospel. What an amazing vision. Now, what was a vision has become a reality.
[18:26] reality. Jesus is the true prophet who has come to bring life. You see, when we hear the very word of Jesus, the spirit breathes into our life and we begin to experience the very work of God because the word of God by the spirit of God does an almighty work of God.
[18:51] New life is given to the living dead. It's a spiritual resurrection and as we believe in Jesus, so we receive life. A life that now is enabled to surrender our autonomy and submit to his good, kind, loving authority.
[19:13] So hear the word of Jesus, verse 26. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
[19:25] Go to the source of life. Accept that you are dead. Listen to his voice and be absolutely assured that when we believe, we have crossed over from a place of death, never to die again, to life in all its fullness.
[19:48] righteousness. Jesus has authority to give life. And second, he has authority to judge all.
[20:04] I received a message, a text message from my friend and it said this, we believe you and only you should control your body, life and future.
[20:21] You and only you should control your body, life and future. That sums up the spirit of the age, doesn't it? We don't want to be accountable to anyone except ourselves.
[20:34] Nobody can tell me what to do or how I should live. No one's to judge me. But that's not what Jesus says, is it?
[20:45] verse 27. And he, the father, has given him, Jesus, authority to judge because he is the son of man.
[21:01] Well, who's the son of man? Well, the son of man is a title and it carries with it divine authority.
[21:12] another prophet helps us to understand what Jesus means by referring to himself as the son of man. Go with me to Daniel chapter 7.
[21:24] It's just after Ezekiel. I think it's on page 896. Something like that. 896.
[21:35] Daniel chapter 7. And just as Ezekiel had a vision from God, Daniel has been given a vision.
[21:51] And in this vision in chapter 7, there's a picture of different nations, those who stand in opposition to God. And at the end of the vision, we see somebody come forward.
[22:06] Somebody with authority and power, someone to judge. We'll pick it up in verse 9. As I looked, thrones were set in place.
[22:21] And the Ancient of Days, that is God himself, took his seat. So here we are in the control room of heaven, the place of all authority.
[22:33] Now go to the very end of verse 10. The court was seated and the books were opened.
[22:47] The books of judgment. Verse 13, in my vision at night I looked and there before me was one like a son of man, a human being, but coming with the clouds of heaven.
[23:04] And he approached the Ancient of Days. He came to God himself and was led into his presence, into the place of all authority.
[23:15] And he was given authority, glory, and sovereign power, and all nations and all peoples of every language worshipped him. And his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away.
[23:28] and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. What a vision. A vision of the Son of Man.
[23:40] Let's go back now to John chapter 5. Because here we read that the Father has given to Jesus, the God Man, the position of being the Son of Man.
[23:59] For Jesus comes into this world with absolute power and supreme authority over all the nations and over all people.
[24:10] And he will have the last say. We will be raised for judgment.
[24:23] Look at verse 28. Do not be amazed at this. In other words, don't be shocked, don't be surprised, be ready for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out.
[24:43] What a sobering sight that is. Everyone who has ever lived, all who have been born and have died, at the voice and command of Jesus, will be raised up.
[24:59] A command that we cannot reject or refuse. And no one will be missing. I will be there and you will be there.
[25:11] And every ruler and every leader and every person of every nation, there we will all stand before Jesus, the Son of Man with absolute power and supreme authority, all the evidence will have been heard, seen and known, every word we have spoken, every deed we have done, every thought that we have had, all will be considered and weighed.
[25:40] We will be raised for judgment and we will receive the verdict. Verse 29, those who have done what is good will rise to live and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
[26:09] Well, you say, does that mean Jesus is going to judge us on the basis of what I've done that is good and weigh up the bad that I have done? So as long as all my good outweighs all my bad, is that how it's going to be?
[26:27] Well, no, the good and the evil we do is evidence of how we have responded to Jesus. To help us understand this, just look back to chapter 3.
[26:43] I think this will help clear it up. John chapter 3 and verse 19. follow with me as I read.
[26:58] This is the verdict. The light, speaking of Jesus, has come into the world. But people loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil.
[27:13] Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
[27:35] Back to chapter 5. this is the verdict. If we refuse to come to Jesus and prefer to stay in the darkness and live out our life in secret and do our own thing, we will be condemned.
[27:55] But if we have come to Jesus with our sin and we've come to the light and let him show our hearts and expose who we are, then we find forgiveness.
[28:06] We live. So Jesus will judge according to how we have responded to Jesus. Have we come into the light or have we stayed in the darkness?
[28:22] And let's be clear, those who have come into the light, those who have received spiritual life from Jesus, we do not need to fear this judgment.
[28:33] Do you remember what it said in verse 24? Chapter 5, verse 24? Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, they will not be condemned because they've crossed over from death to life.
[28:59] We can have complete confidence an absolute assurance that we will enjoy eternal life with him. There can be no excuses, no claims of unfairness.
[29:17] Verse 27, sorry, verse 30. Jesus says, by myself I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear and my judgment is just.
[29:35] Jesus has all authority to judge. It will be eternal joy or terrifying condemnation.
[29:47] So what's our response today to the voice of Jesus? Well, it's simply this. Honor Jesus.
[30:01] Did you see there in verse 23? The Father has given Jesus authority to give life and execute judgment. Why? Verse 23, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
[30:19] To honor Jesus is to treat him with the respect and devotion that he deserves. So how are we going to honor him today? Well, very quickly, two things.
[30:36] First, if you are not a believer in Jesus, if you are here today and you do not yet believe in him, the way for you to honor Jesus is to accept his word, that we are spiritually dead and that without him we cannot have life.
[31:01] Verse 21, the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. The Son takes no delight in judging, no delight, but yet it pleases him.
[31:19] he longs to give you life. So honor Jesus, surrender your autonomy and submit to his authority, hear his voice, believe and you will instantly in this very moment of trust in Jesus will move from death to life right now.
[31:41] if you are a believer in Jesus, how are you going to honor him?
[31:54] How will I honor him? Well we honor him as we speak these very life giving words of Jesus. Words that have authority and power, not our own words, but the words about Jesus that bring new life.
[32:14] You see we live in a community full of people with physical life, but they are spiritually dead. People are walking around like zombies, the walking dead, unknown that they are heading for judgment and we have a life giving message, message of Jesus Christ who came into the world to die our death, to give us life through his resurrection, raised to life, conquering death, so that all who trust him may have life for all eternity.
[32:59] Simply put, we are to go and call people to trade in their dead life for his new and eternal life.
[33:14] Do you remember that vision that Ezekiel had? Those dead bones in the valley? You know when we speak the truth of the gospel, the spirit of God takes that word and begins to do a work of God and brings people to life.
[33:34] life. May God give us courage and confidence to speak his life-giving words to those who are dead that they may have life.
[33:50] Let's pray together. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[34:05] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Our Father God, thank you for Jesus. Lord Jesus, thank you for your word, for your life-giving word.
[34:22] Thank you for giving us life today. And thank you that as we go, we can go and bring life to others.
[34:33] we pray for our community we pray for our neighbours for friends and family we pray that they will hear that the spirit will work that new life would be received we praise you for the work that you are doing and we long Lord God that you would do even more we pray this in Jesus name Amen we're going to sing about that life that we can receive what is our hope in life and in death