Who Gave You the Right? - Part 2

[0:00] If you would open up your Bibles to John chapter 5, specifically if you would open up your Bibles to page 1058.! Let me ask you a question, especially the men in the room.

[0:17] What's your favorite musical? I've had the privilege of seeing a number of musicals. I've seen Shrek the musical as part of a streaming.

[0:32] Gentlemen, if you're not used to seeing musicals, that's the place I'd start. The pot of humor is phenomenal. Dear Evan Hansen, seen it. The Notebook, seen it.

[0:46] Newsies, seen it. That changed, that was my opening to musicals. And I'm so glad to have seen Newsies.

[0:57] And then there's Hamilton. Now, before you judge me for being a musical fan, before you judge me, you've got to understand something about Hamilton.

[1:13] Hamilton is set at the time of our country's founding. And one of the reappearing characters is King George, who is hilarious.

[1:25] And what we see unfolding in this musical is our forefathers asking one essential question. Who gave King George the right to govern us?

[1:43] To rule us? To tax us? To determine our future as a nation? To hold out to us either life or death?

[1:54] Who gave King George the right? Who gave him the right to judge us? Our forefathers rose up against this mere man, King George, and threw off the yoke of his tyranny, and we're going to be celebrating that this summer, 250 years ago.

[2:18] This morning in John 5, 19 through 20, we see another king. Not a tyrannical King George. Not a mere man.

[2:30] Totally God. Totally man. The Son of God. The Son of Man. Jesus Christ. And he's been given all authority, not just to give life as our Savior, but to judge all people everywhere as the judge.

[2:52] So let me just get something, a question in your mind. What will you say to him on the day you stand before him? Could you imagine this?

[3:06] Some person standing before the risen and reigning all-glorious Christ on Judgment Day. Jesus, who gave you the right to judge me? Who gave you the right to judge me?

[3:20] Sounds crazy, doesn't it? We are not to rise up and throw off the authority of Jesus. It's quite the opposite. We are to humble ourselves and come under his life-giving authority.

[3:39] He is both our Savior and Judge. And at great cost to himself, he was condemned in our place so that we could pass from death to life.

[3:51] And so let me read John 5, 19 through 29. You can read along with me. Listen as I read God's Word. So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.

[4:11] For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel.

[4:24] For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

[4:38] Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

[4:50] He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

[5:04] 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 execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.

[5:17] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

[5:32] Who gives Jesus the right to judge us? Jesus, what gives you the right to judge me? So I want to help you see three aspects of the authority of Jesus to judge this morning.

[5:48] The nature of his authority, the effect of his authority, and the scope of his authority. John 5, in its entirety, is about the authority of Jesus.

[6:04] Last week, we saw his authority to heal on the Sabbath. And this week, it's his authority to judge. So, let's look at the nature of his authority.

[6:17] It's in verses 19 through 23. And the first thing you need to see here is a little phrase Jesus likes to use. Truly, truly, I say to you. It's a little phrase that Jesus alone uses.

[6:33] Truly, truly, I say to you. What he's saying is literally, amen, amen. So be it. So be it. Here's what he's doing.

[6:45] He's saying, listen carefully. Truly. Because what I am about to do you, tell you, explain to you, is something of life importance.

[6:57] And in our passage, there are three truly, trulies. I'd also like you to notice who he's talking to. In verse 19, it says, Jesus said to them.

[7:10] And then later in verse, I think it's 20, when he says, so that you may marvel, it's a y'all, he's not talking to his disciples here. He's talking to the very people who want to kill him, to his opponents, to those who are judging him for blasphemy.

[7:30] He's speaking to them. And so remember, in verse 19, that Jesus has just been charged with blasphemy. These people, these religious leaders, want to kill him.

[7:43] And now he's saying to them, truly, truly, I say to you, and let's pick it up there. What's the foundation for this authority to judge? The first thing I want you to notice, it's a shared authority.

[7:57] It's a shared right. Throughout these verses, verses 19 through 23, we have this little coupling of two names, son, father, son, father, son, father.

[8:09] And what that's getting at is the father and son of God. We are now wading into the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

[8:22] And you can summarize the Trinity with three statements. God has eternally existed as three distinct persons. Each person's fully God. There is one God. You hold those together, you're orthodox.

[8:32] And so what we have here is a statement Jesus is making about the nature of the Trinity. It's the foundation for his authority.

[8:44] But if you notice, the father and son, well, they share divine essence. Jesus will say in John 10, 30, I and the father are one.

[8:55] But there's also this distinction. There's the son and the father. It's a specific kind of relationship. They have the same essence of godness, yet there's a distinction when it comes to role.

[9:12] And the son is very clear on what his role is. In verse 19, he says, I can do nothing. The son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing.

[9:26] And what he's saying there is, hey, I have not come. The father has not sent me for me to do whatever I want. I have come in submission to my father's will to accomplish his plan.

[9:40] And so what we see in verse 19 is that the son sees what his father is doing and he submits himself to the father's will. He's not going to do anything except what the will of his father is.

[9:54] Shared essence, full Godhead, distinction of roles. So what this means is the father and the son are in lockstep together to accomplish the purposes of the father.

[10:07] And it would apply to the Holy Spirit as well. They're here to accomplish what God the father has ordained. And so I just want to say, help you to see right here that what establishes his authority to judge is his shared essence as being God.

[10:30] But it's also part of a shared plan. In verses 19 through 20, you can see it. There's this repeated do and doing. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees his father doing.

[10:49] For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. For the father loved the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. All of this doing is getting at a plan.

[11:05] Shared essence, shared plan. And it's the plan of God the father that was established before the foundation of the world, a plan for the fullness of time.

[11:18] I preached a sermon on this a few months ago on Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 14, talking about this plan this triune plan. It is a big plan.

[11:30] It's a Christocentric plan. It's a people-moving plan. And it's a glory plan. It's the plan of salvation. And what we have going on here is what the son sees his father doing, the son is doing likewise.

[11:48] And do you know what that is? The plan of salvation. That's what they are doing. Another area that establishes Jesus' authority is shared power.

[12:03] 21 and 22. Power is the ability to accomplish something. I need power to mow my lawn.

[12:17] But in this case, it's power to accomplish a plan. And what kind of power are we talking about? Would you just look at verse 21? For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will.

[12:32] That is an interesting kind of power. power. That's resurrection power. That's raising people from the dead power. Now that's power.

[12:43] That's God power. This past week, your pastor was minding his own business in his office. Kelly Schneeberger comes by and she says, hey, can you help me with something?

[12:54] I said, of course, because I'm a servant. Of course. And then she said something about a bat. A bat. She led me to an undisclosed room in this building. And she pointed up to an HVAC unit and said, bat.

[13:11] And right next to the HVAC unit was this little dark thing. Now, I have experience with bats, believe it or not. So I took an extended, lengthy item, poked it, nothing happened.

[13:25] I ascended into a very, it was very dangerous, folks. I ascended upon high and I had gloves on and I reached up to that bat and I grabbed it and it crumpled.

[13:44] And so I pulled it down and I spoke, live bat, live! Do you know what happened? It just crumpled more. No life.

[13:54] I don't have the power to give life to the dead. Anybody in the room? This is unique God power. And this power to give life is also the power to condemn forever.

[14:13] If you look at verse 22, for the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. this is a judgment.

[14:23] If we're talking about eternal life and raising from the dead on one side, this kind of judgment is, has to do with eternal death. Judgment, being cast out into darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[14:37] And what we have here is the Son has not just been given the authority, the power to be able to give life, He has the power to condemn for eternity.

[14:48] shared essence, shared plan, shared power, and the last thing I want you to see is shared honor.

[15:01] in verse 20, we read, in greater works than these will He show Him.

[15:12] Will the Father show the Son? And just think of John 11's coming where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Greater works.

[15:26] And then He says, so that you may marvel. Remember who He's speaking to. He's speaking to His enemies. Greater works are coming, guys, so that you will marvel. So that you will be amazed and that you will give me the honor due me and the Father will be honored as well.

[15:47] Look down now at verse 23, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

[15:58] this honoring is reverencing. It's being in awe of. It's deep respect.

[16:11] It's acknowledging that Jesus is the judge of all and that He was given that responsibility by the Father and He's to be honored as well.

[16:24] which for His enemies, the Jews hearing this, this is what that means. If you don't honor the Son, even though you say you're honoring the Father, you're not. This is the kind of honor and marveling that results in submission to the one who has the authority.

[16:48] Recognizing that this one has eternal life and can condemn to eternal death. He has the right to judge. Jesus, what gives you the right to judge me?

[17:03] You're God. You're executing God's plan. You are going to honor God in all that we do.

[17:18] And you have God power. So, when we're talking about the nature of the Son's authority, it starts with Him being fully God.

[17:31] shared essence. The second aspect of the authority of the Son I want you to see is the effect of His authority.

[17:44] And we see that in verse 24. And it's queued up with another truly, truly. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my voice and believes Him who sent me has eternal life.

[17:59] He does not come into judgment, but He has passed from death to life. What Jesus is providing for us here is the major criteria for His judging us at the end of the age.

[18:19] It's whether you hear and believe His word. His word. His word about who He is.

[18:30] His word about His Father who sent Him. His word about the reason why He was sent. To save.

[18:41] I know that many of you can say, John 3, 16, from heart, for God so loved the world that He gave His one-of-a-kind Son that whoever believes in Him hears and believes shall not be condemned for eternity apart from God shall not perish but have eternal life.

[19:05] Live. What Jesus is saying is if you believe what He is saying about Himself, about God, about why He came, why He was sent, if you believe that to be true, if you see your need to be rescued, if you see that Jesus is the only solution to your biggest problem the moment you believe you are given eternal life.

[19:34] He's not under judgment. No longer under judgment. The moment you believe you have passed from death to life, you're not under judgment, you're no longer condemned.

[19:46] What Jesus is talking about is your conversion. So let me spell that out for you a little bit. What happens the moment you believe that Jesus is God in the flesh who was sent by the Father to take away our sins?

[20:01] It's immediate life. Immediate eternal life. There's this misconception that those who believe in Jesus that eternal life begins when you die.

[20:13] it begins when you believe. The moment you believe you are given eternal life. I can show you right from the text.

[20:25] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent him has eternal life. That's a present tense verb saying it's now. It's what it means to be born again.

[20:41] To become a new creation. The moment you believe in what Christ has done, that moment you believe. And so the first aspect of this eternal life is that it's immediate.

[20:52] Second aspect of it, it's secure. It's irrevocable. This life that is granted to us, given to us by the Son, it's unsnatchable.

[21:06] You want to flip in your Bibles with me a couple pages to your right to John chapter 10. I can't wait to preach John 10. Man, it's going to be awesome.

[21:17] Not my preaching, the passage is going to be awesome. In John chapter 10, in verse 27, he says, this is Jesus speaking, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

[21:35] I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. So just think about what we just read about who Jesus is. Shared essence, right?

[21:47] Shared power, shared honoring with God. There's another shared something. He has you in his hand. He's given you eternal life.

[22:01] This eternal life that starts immediately is irrevocable. No one can snatch you out of his hand, but it doesn't stop there. Look at verse 29.

[22:13] My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. You're in a double divine vice if you're a believer in Jesus and this eternal life has begun instantaneously that it's irrevocable.

[22:33] You're unsnatchable. that means you can't even pry off the fingers of God that grip you. Secure.

[22:47] I and the Father are one. Here's one that you need to hear. Something about this eternal life. This eternal life that's immediate and unsnatchable from us is experiential.

[23:01] this eternal life which God gives us the moment we believe, it has real effects.

[23:14] Real life-changing effects. It changes the way that we live. It changes us. How, you ask?

[23:26] First and foremost. it changes who you live for. Instead of living for yourself, this eternal life is going to be pushing yourself out to the perimeter and bringing Jesus into the center so that you're living with Jesus Christ as the controlling center of your life.

[23:49] The one who is life ends up ruling your life, controlling your life. life. There's another passage that I want you to turn to.

[23:59] It's John 15. I can't wait to preach John 15. It's awesome. This is where Jesus calls himself the vine and we are the branches. It's an interesting organic relationship.

[24:14] A branch can't bear fruit on its own. It can only bear fruit if it's attached to the vine. And when you're attached to the vine, you bear fruit.

[24:29] In John 15. 5 we read, I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I am. Another way to say it is when Jesus is the controlling center of your life, the all-governing reality of your life, the one consuming passion of your life, the one whom you depend on, when you are trusting in him, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing.

[24:52] Verse 8, by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. And in all of this fruit talk, look at verse 12, this is my command.

[25:04] Here is the principal fruit that I am going to produce in you, that you love one another as I have loved you. You see, eternal life has real effects.

[25:19] it changes the way we, who we live for. We go from living for ourselves to living for Jesus and when we're living for Jesus he begins to bear fruit in us.

[25:32] Fruit in which we're living for Christ, we're living dependent on Christ and we're bearing fruit that is a lot like Christ. One more passage for you to turn to.

[25:45] John 13. And you know what? I can't wait to preach John 13. In John 13, 34, 35, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

[26:01] By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you bite each other and beat each other up. No, if you have love for one another, Christ-like love for one another.

[26:14] You see, here's what happens. You receive eternal life. It's immediate. And then Jesus starts to change you. You stop living for yourself because you're like, that stinks.

[26:24] I don't like that. Jesus doesn't like that. And when you start living for Jesus, you're like, boy, this is really, I enjoy this. And then you start loving people the way that God in Christ has loved you.

[26:37] It is such a game changer. It changes the way that you treat people. Here's another way to say it. When you become a Christian and eternal life takes root in you, you go from being seeing people as what can I get to seeing people as how can I give them Jesus?

[27:01] What can I do for them to bring glory to Jesus? It's a radical change. This eternal life business, it's not some kind of add-on when you die.

[27:14] This radically reorients to who you live for. There's one more piece of this, of eternal life, and it's forever.

[27:31] We will be living with Jesus Christ as the controlling center of our lives forever. on this side of Christ's return, our experience of this eternal life is limited because of our sinfulness.

[27:47] We still sin, but when he comes back, we will be unencumbered by our own sinful nature and living in a creation that's been subjected to decay.

[27:59] It's going to be glorious. And just to help you make the connection, this is the effect of the authority of Jesus as both Savior and judge.

[28:12] When you believe his word, Jesus, who gives you the right to judge me? Look what he's able to do. The last area I want you to see about his authority is what he says about his authority, and that's the scope of his authority, and it's the last truly, truly in this passage.

[28:37] In verses 25-29, Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

[28:48] Look down at verse 28. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice. What Jesus is doing here is he's like, hey, let me clue you in on reality.

[29:01] Let me bring you into how things really are, truly, truly, so be it, this is the way it is. And then he talks about the scope of his authority in terms of two different hours.

[29:15] A now hour and a then hour. The now hour is verse 25, the then hour is verse 28, and they're two different hours.

[29:28] hours. So let's look at the now hour, verse 25 to 27. You can also say it's the already hour. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming.

[29:40] There's, let's see, one, two, three, four, four words. Can everybody say those four words together? Let me just set you up again. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here.

[29:53] the hour has already begun. It's this present age we're living in. We're living in the now hour, this present age.

[30:06] And then Jesus starts talking about dead people made alive. When the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live, those who hear will pass from death to life.

[30:22] Jesus is talking, not talking about those who are physically dead. He's talking about those who are spiritually dead, who are living in their sin.

[30:35] When they hear his voice and they believe his word, what he says about himself and about his father who sent him and why he came, when they hear that and they believe that, they pass from death to life.

[30:53] And in verses 26 through 27, Jesus just reiterates that he's been given the authority to live, to give life, 26, he's the Son of God, and he has the authority to execute judgment because he's the Son of Man.

[31:08] These are two huge titles. The Son of God is getting at his godness, and the Son of Man is getting at his executive kingship.

[31:21] It's coming out of Daniel chapter 7, where we have the Son of Man who goes to the Ancient of Days, and the Ancient of Days gives the Son of Man a kingdom that's forever.

[31:31] People from every tribe, tongue, and nation are part of this kingdom, and he will reign over this kingdom. He determines who's in and who's out.

[31:41] God. So what we have in the now hour is Jesus, who is bringing people from death to life by his word.

[32:01] Those, some, he's giving life because he's God. Others, he's condemning to eternal judgment because he's the Son of Man. in other words, Jesus has all authority right now to give eternal life to whoever he sees fit, and to condemn all those who reject him.

[32:27] And it raises a question. How is Jesus speaking now? Well, now he is speaking through his church. When you got a guy like me who is seeking to faithfully proclaim God's word, it's Jesus speaking.

[32:48] Jesus speaking through his word. When you are talking to someone over coffee about who Jesus is, why God the Father sent him, he's speaking his word.

[33:04] Think of the church as God's kingdom embassy. on earth. We are his ambassadors speaking his words on his behalf, and those who believe, he brings them from death to life.

[33:22] And this is all that's happening in the now hour, the already hour. And he is speaking all across the globe right now to every tribe, tongue, and nation, and he's gathering himself a people who all are living with him as the controlling center of their lives.

[33:46] That's the now hour. We're in it. The then hour is in verses 28 and 29, the not yet hour. In verse 28 we read an hour is coming, but there's no qualification to it.

[34:02] there is and is now here. There's none of that. What he's talking about is an hour yet to come, the already hour.

[34:16] In Jesus, in verse 28 and 29, what he's getting at is at the end of time, there is going to be one great judgment of all people.

[34:29] and he starts talking about people who were dead. And now he's talking about people who are physically dead.

[34:42] It's all people from all time who have died and are in the tombs, in the grave. Check this out for power. In one utterance, all who've been dead for all time will be raised from the dead to judgment.

[35:04] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, the voice of the Son of God, the voice of the Son of Man, God incarnate. They will hear his voice and come out of their graves.

[35:21] Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of the dead. And so Jesus, at the end of the age, will call forth a resurrection of all, and all people will be brought to him, before him, and he will not just raise them up, he will then divide them out.

[35:42] This is Matthew 25. When Jesus comes back, he will sit on his glorious throne, and the angels will reap, and all of people will be put in front of him, and he will separate them out as sheep from the goats.

[35:56] Judgment. The first group is those who've done good, and they will be raised to a resurrection of life. Think about the good that they're doing.

[36:07] It's not good to earn their resurrection to life. It is the good that results from Jesus giving them eternal life. These are the folks that have born fruit over time that is pleasing to the Father, and they've been raised up unto the resurrection of eternal life.

[36:27] They will spend eternity with Jesus. The second group are those who've been raised from the dead to the resurrection of judgment because of the evil they have done, because they have not put their trust in Jesus.

[36:40] They will be condemned forever. The scope of Jesus' authority authority is now and then. He has authority over it all.

[36:56] Jesus, what gives you the right to judge me? In these three truly, truly, I say to you statements, Jesus makes clear his nature of his authority, the effect of his authority, the scope of the authority, and here's the point.

[37:20] Jesus is both our Savior and our judge. He's both our Savior and our judge.

[37:31] We need to hold both of those together. So how do we respond? How do we respond to Jesus being both Savior and judge?

[37:42] Well, if you're a non-believer in the room, if you've yet to put your faith in Jesus, if you've yet to submit to him, if you haven't taken his words to heart, you need to understand he is ready to rescue you.

[37:58] He is poised to give you eternal life. He wants to give you eternal life. life. He wants to cause you to go from death to life.

[38:17] How can he do that? Because as God, he died the death that you deserved. And he alone can give you the life you are in such desperate need of.

[38:31] life. He offers you this. This life, this immediate, this secure, this experiential, this forever life in a relationship with him.

[38:47] So if you haven't decided to trust in Jesus, let me urge you to do that. This past week I had a conversation with a young man, and I love this young man, and I asked him, hey, have you put your faith in Jesus yet?

[39:01] Have you become a Christian yet? He says, no, and I'm like, okay, why not? And he goes, I don't think I'm ready. I'm like, well, when do you know you're ready? And he's like, I don't know. So I asked him, well, do you believe this gospel to be true?

[39:14] He said, yeah, I believe it's true. I'm like, and do you see your need for the gospel? Do you see your need to be forgiven of your sin? He says, yes, I do. And then I asked him, are you willing?

[39:28] And what I meant by that is, are you willing to stop living for the things that are the cause of your death and start living for Jesus as the controlling center of your life?

[39:42] He wasn't ready to answer. Do you believe this is true? Do you see the need in yourself?

[39:53] are you willing to come under his authority? That's the question. And when you're ready, when you're willing, at that moment you believe you will pass from death to life.

[40:13] And by the way, if you're a Christian, he is your life. John 15, your vine. So you respond to him as Savior that way, and what about him being our judge?

[40:30] Now if you're a Christian in the room, you might have some sweat on your brow right now. Wait, hold on a second. Hold on a second, hold on a second, hold on a second. Do I need to be afraid of that?

[40:43] Christian, you do not need to be afraid of being condemned. Because Jesus bore all of God's wrath for all of your sin upon the cross.

[40:55] Because your judge is your Savior. That's really good news. But you will still stand before him. 2 Corinthians 5.10, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

[41:13] And let me just urge you in light of that. Let me just compel you in light of the parable of the talents in Matthew 24, to take what God has entrusted to you and to invest it into what matters most.

[41:33] And what matters most is kingdom, is the glory of Jesus. It's marveling at him in the honor due his name. Give yourself to that Christian in light of the judgment to come.

[41:50] You don't need to fear your judge because he's your Savior. But oh, seek to please him now. And if you're a non-Christian in the room, I just have a question for you.

[42:01] Do you really want to stand before the all authoritative judge after you've rejected him as your Savior? Savior? You don't. So let me just urge you to trust him now.

[42:15] This summer, we as a nation will be celebrating 250 years of independence, our forefathers throwing off the yoke of King George's tyranny.

[42:28] What gave you the right King George? We don't throw off the authority of Jesus Christ. He's our Savior and judge.

[42:40] We, by faith, come under his authority and we live. We experience this eternal life that Jesus died to give us.

[42:53] us. We throw off the tyranny of ruling our own lives so that he can rule us for the honor of his name.

[43:07] Let's pray. Lord Jesus, would you have your way in us? Would you cause us by your spirit to experience this life in greater and greater abundance? God, we want to live for you.

[43:21] would you help us to put aside the things that grieve you and live with you more and more as the center of our lives?

[43:32] Because you are worthy of that. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.