[0:00] Now let's turn in our Bibles to the chapter which we read in the morning, the Gospel of John, chapter 5, but tonight we'll read verses 17 to 36.
[0:19] The Gospel of John, chapter 5, at verse 17. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
[0:38] Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
[0:58] Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.
[1:13] For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these, that you may be saved, that you may marvel.
[1:39] For the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.
[2:04] He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
[2:35] Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
[2:54] For as the Son hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son, so hath he given to the Son, to have life in himself, and hath given him authority, to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.
[3:14] Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves, shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.
[3:28] They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of my own self do nothing.
[3:43] As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
[4:00] There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me, is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bear witness unto the truth.
[4:15] But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
[4:27] He was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
[4:38] But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me.
[4:58] And may God, the Holy Spirit, bless that reading of his own truth. Now we sing once more to God's praise, once more from Psalm 34.
[5:13] Psalm 34, and we sing the last five stanzas, from verse 17 to the end. The righteous cry unto the Lord, he unto them gives ear, and they out of their troubles all, by him delivered are.
[5:31] Down to the last verse. Ill shall the wicked slay. Laid waste shall be who hate the just. The Lord redeems his servants' souls.
[5:46] None perish that him trust. Psalm 34, from verse 17 to the end. The righteous cry unto the Lord, he came to them with the air, and the earth shall be who hate the just.
[6:18] The Lord is ever nigh to them, and the earth shall be who hate the just.
[6:30] The Lord is ever nigh to them, and the earth shall be who hate the just.
[6:43] The Lord is ever nigh to them, and the earth shall be who hate the just. The Lord is ever nigh to them, and the earth shall be who hate the just. The Lord is ever nigh to them, and the earth shall be who hate the just. The Lord is ever nigh to them, and the earth shall be who hate the just.
[7:03] Let love the sorrow bring the trust in one will let me be.
[7:19] But yet I'm angry about them all, the Lord has set them free.
[7:36] Be careful, he is bold, shall be whatever can be done, that not so much as all the land can prove in thee I'm gone.
[8:10] It shall the wicked, silly wits, shall be who hate the just.
[8:27] The Lord redeems this servant's Lord, none perish but in God.
[8:45] Let us turn in our Bibles to the passage of God's Word which we read in the Gospel of John chapter 5.
[9:03] And as God would help me, I would like to concentrate on verse 24. The Gospel of John chapter 5 verse 24.
[9:39] This verse surely, surely must be amongst the most encouraging, the most challenging, and the most powerful words in the whole of the Bible.
[10:09] And you might ask, look, these are the words of Christ. And if every word spoken by Christ is true, why does he need at the beginning of the verse to say verily, verily?
[10:28] Now the words verily, verily simply mean truly, truly, or most reassuringly, I tell you.
[10:40] Why does he need to say that at the beginning of, well, I think it's three statements in this one chapter, three verses in this one chapter, he says it.
[10:52] Why does he need to underline it if everything he says is true? Well, isn't the explanation that what he's about to say, while as true as everything he says, is exceptionally difficult to believe.
[11:10] anyone, anywhere, irrespective of what they've done, who believes in Christ, all is forgiven in one instant.
[11:27] That person, whatever he's done, is on his way to glory, just through believing.
[11:40] That's hard to believe. That's why we need faith. But it saves the soul, and it's a simple, straightforward gospel.
[11:51] Now, isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful to whom these words are addressed? Who were they addressed specifically to at the time?
[12:08] They're addressed to you and me, because they're in the Holy Scripture. But when they were spoken initially, who were they addressed to? Do you know who they were addressed to? Those who were trying to kill him.
[12:23] Verse 18. Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him.
[12:36] Isn't it astonishing? Christ, as we looked at this morning, healed a man who was soiled for 38 years, and they want to kill him.
[12:50] Eh? What would the NHS do today for somebody that could heal people? Eh? The people who met Christ in the flesh wanted to kill him.
[13:06] Don't we learn that sin isn't merely evil. It's downright stupid. What a terrible, evil thing sin is.
[13:21] What a stupid thing it is. But isn't it merciful? Isn't it merciful of the Savior? He preaches this gospel to them.
[13:38] To the very ones wanting to kill them in this chapter. He says these glorious words. I'm assuring you.
[13:51] Just believe in me. And you all will be forgiven. Let's look very carefully at this. Because he did imply it was difficult to believe.
[14:03] Therefore, study it carefully. He that heareth my word. Are you hearing his word?
[14:17] Are you hearing it? Don't take that for granted. Not everyone has that blessing. There's millions and millions in this world never heard of Christ.
[14:36] My friend, you're chosen. You are the elect of God elected to hear his word.
[14:48] God, I don't know if you'll believe. I don't know if you'll accept it. I pray you do. But you've been chosen out of the millions and millions and millions in this world who have never heard the gospel.
[15:07] You've been elected to hear it. That's very hopeful. all. But you must believe. You must believe.
[15:20] He that believeth on him that sent me. Note, we have to study it carefully, believe God the Father.
[15:33] You see, the context is in verse 18. The Jews sought to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath by healing a man, according to their laws, but said that God was his Father, making himself equal to God, as we mentioned in the morning.
[15:55] That, to them, they couldn't accept that. The issue at stake, you see, was the deity of Christ. And it's that Christ kept on insisting God sent him.
[16:11] He kept on insisting he was the Son of God, as verse 18 says, by saying that, he made himself equal with God. And there never would have been a threat against Christ's life if he just would give up, if he would just drop that claim to be God.
[16:32] They would never have crucified him. But you and I must rejoice that they did. Because now we can be saved.
[16:43] Now we can be forgiven. Now there's atonement for an innumerable number of sins committed by an innumerable number of people.
[16:57] He that believes. faith. There is such a thing as nominal faith.
[17:10] And as the Bible says in Hebrews, on the other hand, there's a faith which believes to the saving of the soul. That's what you need and that's what I need.
[17:24] That's what we must all have. The faith that saves the soul. a believing that believes to the saving of the soul. And that faith is a faith where it's not a thing to be believed.
[17:45] It's a person to be trusted. Have you got that? It's not so much a thing to be believed. We have to believe everything he mentioned but we have to trust the person who said it.
[18:01] That's the key. The whole thing requires trust and as I'm sure I've mentioned here before, you see, the only two prepositions used in Scripture with regard to saving faith is the preposition in or the preposition on.
[18:21] Believing in Christ or believing on Christ not believing about Christ. And I've I'm sure I've given the example already.
[18:36] There's not a person in here who does not believe about Boris Johnson. But is that the same thing as believing in Boris Johnson?
[18:49] On Boris Johnson? You see the difference? very, very few intelligent people that do not believe about Jesus.
[19:03] But saving faith is trusting him, depending on him. I remember hearing of a black man who asked for membership in his church and the session were interviewing him.
[19:19] And because of language they weren't getting on, they couldn't understand what one was saying. And eventually the black man said, he said, listen, he die, me no die.
[19:36] And they got it. They understood he had the gospel. Christ died and I don't die. That's the gospel. Simple gospel.
[19:46] believing, there's no such thing as believing in Christ, on Christ, and not obeying him.
[20:01] There's a commitment in saving faith. Romans chapter 10 verse 16 says, but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah says.
[20:19] Here's the apostle Paul quoting Isaiah in the Old Testament. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report?
[20:32] But you see, we've got a definition of faith, of believing the report. You've not obeyed the gospel. if we're trusting and depending in Christ, we obey Christ.
[20:47] As he says elsewhere, if you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments.
[21:00] Do you love Christ? The theologians say that faith and love are the inseparable twins. I'm a twin, and I know what it's like to be a twin.
[21:16] But faith and love are inseparable. The two sides of the one coin, one side looking up to Christ, and the other side, love. Faith and one side, love and the other.
[21:29] So if you're not sure if your faith is in Christ, ask this question, do you love Christ? And if you love Christ, your faith's in Christ.
[21:43] If you're not sure, do you love Christ? Tell me, do you believe in him? You can't have one without the other. As you can't believe truly without obeying, so you can't have faith without love.
[22:01] Now, our Bible, the Son of God says with a reassurance, he that believes on him sent me hath everlasting life.
[22:16] Notice the tense. We believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of Scripture. And that theological term simply means you don't just believe the message of the Bible, you don't just believe the sentence in the Bible, you believe every word as well as every meaning and sentence of the Bible.
[22:45] Half everlasting life. Has it present tense? It doesn't say the person who thus believes in Jesus will receive it.
[23:01] it's not what our text says. You believe and obey and love the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll not receive eternal life.
[23:14] You have eternal life. That's what the Bible's saying. That's what Jesus is underlined and saying, I assure you, I assure you, it's true, it's real.
[23:27] You have it. a couple of lessons we learn from that. Eternal life actually begins on earth.
[23:38] I used to think eternal life begins at the resurrection. No, no, no, no, no. Eternal life begins down here. Eternal, this is life eternal, Jesus said, to know thee and Jesus Christ whom I have sent.
[24:02] That's eternal life. Knowing Christ, knowing God, it begins down here. We have, I think it's Thomas Watson that says it, we have the bad down here and in heaven you have the flower.
[24:19] we learn also from this, eternal life, the possession of eternal life actually precedes faith.
[24:35] That's why Jesus is saying, now listen very carefully to what I'm saying. Believing God, trusting Christ, obeying the Saviour, loving the loving Father and Son is the result of possessing eternal life.
[24:58] Or we could put it, we say, you believe on Christ, you believe in God the Father, you believe in salvation, you believe Christ died for our sins according to the scripture because Christ has already given you the Holy Spirit.
[25:17] That's what's empowered you, that's what's enabled you. He that believeth hath everlasting life.
[25:30] And he says, they shall not come into condemnation. They shall not, talking about the future day of judgment. You see, there is a sense in which you can say, oh, that person has been saved at their conversion when they first put their faith in Christ.
[25:50] There's a sense in the Bible whether we are being saved in the present sense. We're going through the process of being made unto Christ. You see, I'm sure I've said it before, forgive me if I have, but there's no verse in the Bible that says we're predestined to salvation.
[26:09] There's no verse that says that. What the Bible says is you're predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. And that's a process.
[26:22] That's a process. But it has a beginning. The moment you depend on Christ, the process of making you Christ-like has begun and it will continue till you see Christ in glory, till you awake.
[26:41] We're not free from sin to death. and when I awake, I'll be satisfied with thy likeness when you see him. There's a sense in which we're saved in the great day of judgment.
[26:59] When this passing world is done, when everything will be over, the great judgment will take place. And the whole universe will be assembled before God.
[27:14] And Christ will be on the throne. Devils will appear and humans will be, every moral creature will be present.
[27:27] present. And we are told, we are told in Revelation chapter 12 verse 10, I've got it right, yes, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
[27:50] Day and night. Day and night. night. Every day, every night, the accuser of the brethren, Satan, goes into the courtroom of heaven and he says something like this, see that child of yours?
[28:11] They sinned last night. Why are they not in hell with me? What happens in the courts of heaven every day, every night?
[28:24] What happens in the courts of heaven? To you Christian, what happens when Satan accuses you on the day of judgment? They did the same things as I did. Why are they not in hell with me?
[28:36] What happens? The advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous stands forward and he says, yes, that's true, they did sin, but my blood paid for their sins.
[28:50] let my people go. Let them go. And that's the last word. Christ is the last word, not Satan.
[29:02] Always remember that. Christ, not Satan, has the last word. Blessed be his name.
[29:15] They shall not come into condemnation on that great day of judgment. But, what does our Bible say? But, is passed from death and to life.
[29:31] Again, present tense, is passed. Every word, every syllable is inspired and true and real.
[29:44] That person who's depending on Christ for salvation, loving him and seeking to obey him, is passed from death to life.
[29:57] Not will pass, but is now passed. The literal word could be translated, has already passed from death to life.
[30:11] That's fantastic news. that's the glorious gospel. You've already passed from death to life. If Christ is who you're depending on to take you to heaven.
[30:31] There's no power. It's a power of God. It's a Holy Spirit working within us that makes us depend and trust in Jesus.
[30:44] That's the Holy Spirit's work. He alone can do it. So if you do it however weakly, however freely, however poorly, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are already saved and you have already passed from death to life.
[31:06] He who endures to the end will be saved. That is not saying that eternal life is a reward for persevering to the end. What it's saying is one perseveres to the end because they already possess eternal life.
[31:28] God is the one who gives faith, who bestows. The Holy Spirit is the one who engenders a life within us.
[31:40] Now, already passed from death to life. What is death? What is life? The next verse is again underlined the first two words.
[31:57] Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
[32:14] You see, there's a definition of death there, there's a definition of life there. What is death? Death does not mean the end.
[32:28] the Christian gets all these definitions from the Bible. Apparently, I'm not a scientist, I'm not an educator, I'm not academic, but they tell me in science there's no such thing as annihilation.
[32:48] Something going out of existence. All it does is change its form. You throw something into the fire, well, it turns into gas, into smoke. Death doesn't go out of existence, it changes its form.
[33:01] And as all these things are true in science, so they're true spiritually. There's no annihilation. Death is not the end.
[33:12] That's not what's spoken of here. To die, to be dead, means to be under the condemnation of God. That's death.
[33:24] To be under the condemnation of God. If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're under the condemnation of God.
[33:37] And what is life? Life is union and fellowship with Christ. That's what life is. As Jesus himself said, this is life eternal, that we might know thee.
[33:54] That's life eternal. The apostle says, Christ who is our life. Christ is our life. That's life, knowing Christ, knowing God.
[34:08] Jesus himself said, look, I am the bread of life. Jesus said, except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, what did he say?
[34:21] you have no life in you. Death is being under the condemnation of God. Life is knowing Christ.
[34:37] And salvation is being taken from death to life by hearing the voice of Christ. Isn't that what verse 25 says?
[34:49] The hour is coming and now is. What hour are we living in? This hour that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
[35:02] Are you hearing them? Are you hearing the voice of the Son of God? While they that hear shall live that salvation.
[35:18] Now we close with one question. How do we obtain this faith? This type of faith?
[35:29] This faith that saves the soul? The important thing as we've been saying is the object of faith. It's not how strong your faith is, it's who is your faith in Christ.
[35:44] be obsessed with Christ. That's what faith is, being obsessed with Christ. Well, there's two ways the Bible tells us we can get this faith.
[36:01] Number one, ask God for his Holy Spirit to give you this faith in Christ. my friend, is that too hard to do?
[36:18] Really? Seriously? Come on. Is that too hard to do? To ask God to give you his Holy Spirit to help you believe in Christ, to empower you to believe in Christ.
[36:34] In Luke chapter 11 verse 13 the Saviour said, and sometimes I think this was the verse that converted myself. I'm not sure.
[36:45] There are so many different occasions we could point to. But it says there, if you then being evil, you evil people, if you know how to give good gifts to your children, are you going to give your children Christmas presents?
[37:06] If you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to his children?
[37:26] No, no, no, no, no, no, that's not what it says. That's not the gospel. Oh, that's true, but that's not the gospel. Christ is preaching the gospel here. Luke 11, 13, if you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit?
[37:45] You would expect to say, oh, to their children, to God's children. No, no, he will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, to those evil people who ask.
[38:03] that's the gospel. That's the key to salvation. That's the only way to heaven. But the Bible speaks of something else.
[38:22] It tells us faith comes by hearing. Now, that's in Romans 10, 17. The word translated hearing in the authorised version here is elsewhere in the authorised version translated report.
[38:43] So, it could read, faith comes by a report. Or, if we spell the whole thing out, faith comes by hearing a report.
[38:56] heart. And I'm going to close by quoting two reports of Jesus. You hear them.
[39:10] You hear God. You see Christ speaking to him when you hear this report. word. This man receives sinners.
[39:27] And that word translated receives in the authorised version could be translated this man welcomes sinners.
[39:40] You're a sinner. Whatever you've done, whoever you are, whatever situation you're in, this man, Jesus Christ, welcomes sinners.
[39:58] Are you hearing that report about Jesus? And here's the last report. The last words you sang.
[40:12] We sang here Psalm 34 for a purpose. I love the last line that we sang. Here it is.
[40:24] None perish that him trust. Impossible to be lost if you trust in him.
[40:37] If you depend on him to take you to heaven. It's impossible to perish. You sang it. We all sang it. None perishes that who trust in him.
[40:54] None perish that enters. That's the gospel. That's the report of Jesus. Faith comes by hearing such a report.
[41:09] May God, the Holy Spirit, make his word effectual to every one of us here. Let's pray.
[41:22] Our gracious Father in heaven, please take the things of Christ and make them ours tonight here.
[41:35] help us embrace Christ. Help us love him for all he's done at the place called Calvary. Hear in mercy, answer, peace, for your own glory.
[41:53] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[42:04] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.