WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819 If you've got a Bible, turn to John 5. 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:07.000 John 5, it's page 890. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.039 I hate board games. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:26.019 It's a great grief to me that in this church there are people that like knights of board games. 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:27.440 I just don't get it. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:32.219 If you want me to come to your house and you have board games, I'm not coming. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:35.760 I've just never liked them. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:46.760 Conquering a new world, or escaping to a new island, or monopolising the London property market, it's excruciating. 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:51.480 And one of many reasons why I don't like them. 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:58.819 But sometimes playing a board game can be three hours of waiting for the inevitable, can't it? 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.000 Simply because the board was set in a certain way. 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:09.679 Right from the start, there's an underlying reality and you've got to go through the rest of the night playing the board game. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.560 There's someone who on the first round or the second round landed on Mayfair and Park Lane. 00:01:15.360 --> 00:01:17.800 Or they got all of Catan's resources. 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:22.460 And so there's an underlying structure to the game. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:27.040 Before you even begin, it's going to shape every moment of the game. 00:01:28.040 --> 00:01:29.140 Right from the start. 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:33.379 Every moment will be shaped by an underlying reality. 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:44.200 And when you come to John 5, John 5 gives to us the underlying structure of all reality. 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:52.799 It takes you as far back as you can go and it gives you the underlying structure, the underlying reality. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:58.859 It takes you and I into the mystery of who God is. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:01.179 Of the Trinity. 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:07.359 And as we confess in the Athanasian Creed and as we look in John 5, 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.579 we'll see that it stretches our hearts and minds to breaking point. 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:17.819 And so from Augustine to Calvin to Carson, minds and hearts have been stretched. 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:21.219 We're grappling this morning. 00:02:21.359 --> 00:02:23.840 What makes God the Father the Father? 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.000 What makes God the Son the Son? 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:37.579 Nowhere does in the Bible do we tiptoe closer to the fact that Jesus is begotten before all time. 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:40.319 He never had a beginning. 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:43.299 Before all worlds, says John. 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:48.500 And yet he doesn't tell you just interesting things about Jesus. 00:02:49.260 --> 00:02:53.460 He tells us this this morning because God wants to offer you Jesus. 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:55.420 To each one of us. 00:02:56.540 --> 00:02:59.540 Jesus has just done and said, doesn't he, something hugely provocative. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:00.540 We saw it last week. 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:07.480 By his sheer sovereign grace, he takes one invalid man out of a whole tragic mass of people. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:09.860 A man who actually wasn't very interested in him. 00:03:09.860 --> 00:03:14.000 A man whose entire lifetime has been spent in despair. 00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:16.720 And miraculously Jesus gives him his life back. 00:03:18.160 --> 00:03:19.740 His physical life at least. 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:24.500 And when Jesus did that, he did it on the Jewish Sabbath. 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:28.860 And the authorities, they are furious that he did it. 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:33.340 And he points out, doesn't he, if you look at verse 17 of John chapter 5, 00:03:33.440 --> 00:03:36.460 that God is working and so he is working. 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:41.180 God is working to give and sustain life every moment of every day. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:44.740 And what God the Father does, he does also. 00:03:45.760 --> 00:03:49.520 And the implication is Jesus saying, I am God the Son. 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:52.680 I am God's absolute equal. 00:03:53.020 --> 00:03:57.780 That claim to be equal with God in verse 18 ultimately cost him his life. 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:07.000 If Jesus had not offered evidence, I would want to say and you would want to say that a human being claiming to be God's equal, 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:13.699 they should be led away, shouldn't they, to some secure institution in the care of a firm but friendly nurse. 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:19.259 But here, do you notice, even the enemies of Jesus, they don't dispute the evidence. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:25.379 They've all seen the evidence and the evidence is what they're so angry about. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:29.159 Jesus has worked a miracle in front of them that is very God-like. 00:04:30.039 --> 00:04:33.699 And he's been making God-like judgment claims with a God-like authority. 00:04:33.699 --> 00:04:39.920 Which puts their rejection of him on far more shaky ground, doesn't it? 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:46.420 And yet in his kindness, Jesus just doesn't drop a truth bomb on them and turn his back. 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:54.639 This astonishing claim that he is God-made flesh, Yahweh incarnate. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:05:00.899 It goes against everything the people around him thought that they knew about the one and only God. 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:07.439 And everything that Jesus says to us today is about allowing these people around him, 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:12.479 who are seething with anger, scheming his death, to climb down from their high horse. 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:14.839 And to receive him. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:25.060 What one thing is true today that was true before all worlds and before all time, 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:30.219 Jesus tells us in verse 20, the great underlying reality of our world. 00:05:30.219 --> 00:05:37.299 There is a Father who exists in eternal, loving communion with his Son. 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.399 There is a Father who shares everything with his Son. 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:45.939 His whole undivided being, all that he wills, all that he does. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.099 That is the ultimate underlying structure of reality. 00:05:49.239 --> 00:05:50.219 A communion of love. 00:05:51.479 --> 00:05:52.599 A God of love. 00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:55.919 Later, John will flesh it out more. 00:05:56.339 --> 00:06:00.539 He will tell us of the Spirit in this relationship of love. 00:06:00.599 --> 00:06:02.239 But we've got little brains, haven't we? 00:06:03.219 --> 00:06:06.739 And for now, it is the Son that people want to destroy. 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:13.300 And so that is the basic structure, the underlying reality at the heart of everything. 00:06:13.780 --> 00:06:17.480 A Father and a Son perfectly at one. 00:06:19.400 --> 00:06:23.480 And that should shape all our experience of life in God's creation. 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:26.460 Jesus makes three headline statements. 00:06:26.660 --> 00:06:28.120 Each begins with truly, truly. 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:33.939 That expression that Jesus likes to use when eternity hangs in the balance. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:40.240 And it is the central truly, truly statement which tells us what all this means for us. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:41.579 This is the reason for the sermon. 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:42.439 Look at verse 24. 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:44.959 Truly, truly, I say to you, 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:53.680 Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.560 If reality is the way it is, 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:02.600 If underlying everything else is this Trinitarian God of love, 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:07.480 Then as we share in God's life and joy through the Son, 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:08.819 He is speaking to us. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:12.060 The voice of the Father is the Son. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:15.780 And God is speaking that voice, 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.399 Holding out His Son right now. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:22.539 Because He wants to draw you and I into this ultimate reality, 00:07:22.679 --> 00:07:23.359 This fellowship, 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:24.659 This communion. 00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:30.079 To get us out of the tragic states that we've fallen into, 00:07:30.159 --> 00:07:31.259 Of sin and despair. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:33.359 And death. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:37.779 To bring you and I into the warmth and life 00:07:37.779 --> 00:07:39.939 That is at the heart of everything. 00:07:41.659 --> 00:07:43.879 And so there are deep truths in this passage, aren't there, 00:07:43.899 --> 00:07:45.899 That stretch our minds. 00:07:45.899 --> 00:07:49.659 Over what kind of Son He is. 00:07:50.739 --> 00:07:52.620 But we wrestle with these truths, 00:07:52.739 --> 00:07:56.779 Because in these truths are joy and life and ultimate reality. 00:07:58.479 --> 00:08:00.919 So that we should finish today honouring Jesus, 00:08:01.359 --> 00:08:02.279 Listening to Jesus, 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:03.620 And marvelling at Jesus. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:05.699 Those are the three points. 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:08.959 First of all, verses 19 to 23, 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:10.899 Listen, honour Jesus. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:13.479 Honour Jesus, 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:15.560 Because of all that He is, 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:17.799 And all that He does. 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:21.339 The Father has loved, 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:23.560 From eternity past. 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:25.439 And the key here, I think, 00:08:25.679 --> 00:08:28.199 Is not to lose sight of the amazing thing that's just happened. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:28.759 Do you remember? 00:08:30.039 --> 00:08:31.899 It's really dense, isn't it, the paragraph. 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:33.059 It's really rich. 00:08:33.699 --> 00:08:35.699 But it's not an abstract discussion, 00:08:35.699 --> 00:08:37.000 About the work of the Son. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.399 It flows from what Jesus has just done, 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:40.519 To that invalid man. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:43.600 He's healed that man, 00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:45.279 Who's severely disabled. 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:48.580 And they've seen this amazing work of love from Jesus. 00:08:48.899 --> 00:08:49.679 But verse 23, 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.379 They have not honoured Him for that. 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:55.480 In fact, quite the opposite. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.139 They've not honoured the Son. 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:58.600 They've attacked, 00:08:58.779 --> 00:08:59.879 And they've criticised, 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:02.039 And dishonoured the Son that God loves. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:04.399 And Jesus says, 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.639 You're actually dishonouring God Himself. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.819 The God that they think that they're defending. 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:12.759 Which is why He says in verse 19, 00:09:12.819 --> 00:09:13.679 It starts with a sow. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:15.339 They are outraged, 00:09:15.719 --> 00:09:20.039 That Jesus has put His work on the same level, 00:09:20.379 --> 00:09:21.199 As God the Father. 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:23.679 In their eyes, 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:27.139 It makes Jesus some kind of rival deity. 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:29.000 Another God. 00:09:31.719 --> 00:09:34.379 But that's not what Jesus' kind of equality, 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:35.279 That He's talking about. 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:37.379 Look at verse 19, 00:09:37.479 --> 00:09:37.899 He says, 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:43.559 The Son can do nothing of His own accord. 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:45.099 Literally, 00:09:45.459 --> 00:09:48.059 He can do nothing from Himself. 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:52.919 As if He were some autonomous rival. 00:09:53.239 --> 00:09:56.399 There's a fromness to God the Son. 00:09:58.259 --> 00:09:59.439 And here, let's think about this. 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.859 This doesn't just apply to Jesus the God-man. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.500 It stretches right back into eternity, 00:10:07.599 --> 00:10:08.539 Before creation. 00:10:10.299 --> 00:10:12.199 And we'll see more of that later, 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:13.500 But there's some sense in which, 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:14.399 His person, 00:10:14.659 --> 00:10:15.719 His Son-ness, 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.019 It comes from God the Father. 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:22.279 We don't have three gods. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:23.639 We confess that, do we? 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:26.459 We have the Trinity, 00:10:26.599 --> 00:10:27.239 A tri-unity. 00:10:27.579 --> 00:10:28.739 The Father and the Son, 00:10:28.839 --> 00:10:30.519 They share one perfect, 00:10:30.859 --> 00:10:32.000 Harmonious will. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.239 It belongs to their one perfectly shared being. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:37.639 So the Son, 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:37.639 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:40.879 Can do only what He sees the Father doing. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.419 God the Son does nothing more, 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:45.560 Than what the Father does. 00:10:45.560 --> 00:10:46.519 Verse 19 and 20. 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:49.860 God the Son does nothing less, 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:51.139 Than what the Father does. 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:52.700 For whatever the Father does, 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:53.639 The Son does likewise. 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:56.100 And then you've got these chain of verses, 00:10:57.220 --> 00:10:58.840 That begin for, 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:01.759 Explaining what He said, 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:02.779 And giving us examples. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:03.980 And verse 20, 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:05.819 Is the explanation, 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:06.799 The grounds of it all. 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:09.539 At the heart of reality, 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.039 For the Father loves the Son. 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.980 You cannot pull them apart, 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:16.579 And the Father shows the Son, 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:17.879 All that He is doing. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:21.599 And so we're two verses in, 00:11:21.699 --> 00:11:22.059 Aren't we? 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:23.120 And we're in water, 00:11:23.219 --> 00:11:23.860 Already above, 00:11:23.939 --> 00:11:24.620 Over our heads. 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:28.459 Human language, 00:11:28.579 --> 00:11:29.879 And the human brain, 00:11:30.459 --> 00:11:32.599 It's so hard to say more. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:36.159 And maybe we hear this, 00:11:36.219 --> 00:11:37.259 We hear Jesus speaking, 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:38.759 And we imagine it like, 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.620 A dad and his boy, 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:42.620 Doing DIY together. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:45.220 And the Father shows, 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:46.620 How it's done first, 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:48.060 And then the Son copies him, 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:48.759 Like an apprentice. 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:51.139 Two separate deeds, 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:52.519 That are very similar. 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:53.759 But we know it can't be like that. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.279 Because John has already told us, 00:11:58.340 --> 00:11:59.759 Right at the start of the Gospel, 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:00.159 He says, 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:01.000 Without the Word, 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:01.940 Without the Son, 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:04.899 There was nothing made, 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:05.799 That was made. 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:09.539 There is nothing the Father did, 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:10.639 Or made, 00:12:10.719 --> 00:12:11.879 Before the Son was involved. 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:15.179 Verse 19, 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:17.919 Let's just push that even further, 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.659 Look at verse 19. 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:21.679 Without Him, 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:23.879 Was not anything done, 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:24.319 That was done. 00:12:26.319 --> 00:12:28.120 Without the Son, 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:30.679 Not anything was said, 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:31.219 That was said. 00:12:31.819 --> 00:12:33.299 Whatever the Father does, 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:34.939 He does through His beloved Son. 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:39.320 And so Jesus is using words here, 00:12:39.380 --> 00:12:39.560 Isn't He? 00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:40.340 Like seeing, 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:41.720 And showing, 00:12:42.880 --> 00:12:44.060 To describe, 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:45.660 An eternal reality, 00:12:46.660 --> 00:12:48.180 In God's being. 00:12:48.680 --> 00:12:49.700 That there is, 00:12:49.780 --> 00:12:50.720 A continual, 00:12:51.280 --> 00:12:52.120 Love, 00:12:52.800 --> 00:12:53.840 Loving communion, 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:55.700 A continual loving fellowship, 00:12:56.160 --> 00:12:57.720 Between Father and Son. 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:00.600 Where the Father shares, 00:13:00.780 --> 00:13:02.960 Everything He is and has, 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:04.820 His whole being with the Son. 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:08.440 Including one, 00:13:08.680 --> 00:13:10.080 Undivided will. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.780 And it's that direction, 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:13.860 Of sharing, 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:15.480 Which makes the Father, 00:13:15.560 --> 00:13:16.400 The Father and the Son, 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:16.800 The Son. 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:20.019 The Son is eternally, 00:13:20.019 --> 00:13:20.860 Begotten. 00:13:21.160 --> 00:13:22.720 The Father shares, 00:13:23.060 --> 00:13:24.580 His Godness. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:26.340 His being, 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:27.620 With Him eternally. 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:30.299 And from that, 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:31.480 Ordering of relationship, 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:32.759 With Himself in eternity, 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:34.080 There flows, 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:34.960 Out from that, 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:36.460 Ordering in God's actions. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:38.779 He works, 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:40.200 Outside Himself, 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:40.860 In time. 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:42.620 Everything God does, 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:43.740 Including the healing, 00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:45.500 Of that one desperate man, 00:13:45.560 --> 00:13:46.279 Sitting by the pool. 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:48.000 Everything that God does, 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:48.960 That Jesus does, 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:50.679 Is appointed by the Father, 00:13:51.460 --> 00:13:52.740 And is accomplished by the Son. 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:56.379 Illustrations, 00:13:56.539 --> 00:13:57.700 Are nearly impossible on this, 00:13:57.759 --> 00:13:58.419 But Augustine, 00:13:58.500 --> 00:13:58.960 The kind of great, 00:13:59.100 --> 00:13:59.960 Saint Augustine, 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:01.320 Compares it to the way, 00:14:01.379 --> 00:14:02.120 That we write. 00:14:04.019 --> 00:14:04.840 And so you think about, 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:05.600 The way you write. 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:08.639 First of all, 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:10.000 You've got to form the letters, 00:14:10.779 --> 00:14:11.940 And word, 00:14:12.060 --> 00:14:13.180 In your heart and head. 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:15.600 And then you have to, 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:16.799 Write them with your hand. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:19.279 But it's the same letter, 00:14:19.379 --> 00:14:19.639 Isn't it? 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:21.779 It's the same letter, 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:22.899 That the heart and the hand, 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:23.539 Are working. 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.480 There's one whole work. 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:29.399 And so when Jesus, 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:31.539 Does this extraordinary work, 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:32.620 Of love in the Gospels, 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:33.980 You are seeing, 00:14:34.139 --> 00:14:36.179 As Jesus heals that invalid man, 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:37.519 The love of the Father. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:40.000 In fact you're seeing, 00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:41.139 The eternal love, 00:14:41.199 --> 00:14:41.779 Of Father, 00:14:41.939 --> 00:14:42.600 Son and Spirit, 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:43.700 Spilling out, 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:44.980 Bursting through time. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:47.620 It means, 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:48.360 For you and I, 00:14:48.419 --> 00:14:49.580 That everything that Jesus does, 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:50.240 Is Father like. 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:53.360 There is nothing, 00:14:53.540 --> 00:14:54.600 In his claim, 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:56.480 To be in equal with God, 00:14:56.560 --> 00:14:57.080 That those, 00:14:57.259 --> 00:14:58.820 Monotheistic Jews, 00:14:59.400 --> 00:15:00.280 Listening to Jesus, 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:01.080 Need to worry about. 00:15:01.379 --> 00:15:02.580 Jesus is showing them, 00:15:02.660 --> 00:15:03.080 The Father. 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:05.180 He is showing them, 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:06.639 The Father's loving works. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:07.920 And it means for us, 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:08.900 That the Father, 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:10.660 Is completely Jesus like. 00:15:12.540 --> 00:15:13.560 There's nothing in God, 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:13.960 The Father, 00:15:14.060 --> 00:15:14.780 There is nothing in the God, 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:15.420 Of the Old Testament, 00:15:15.520 --> 00:15:16.740 That we should ever be ashamed of. 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.340 Not his views on marriage, 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:20.600 Not his views on judgment, 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.360 Or any of the things, 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:23.240 That we might find, 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:24.320 Worrying or embarrassing. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:26.720 Because if we want to know, 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:28.680 Who he is, 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:29.620 If we want to know, 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:31.000 Who God is, 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.960 We only need to look, 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:34.919 At what Jesus does. 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:37.899 Even the cross, 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:39.759 At the end of this book of John, 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:43.019 Is the Father's work of love, 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:44.220 Spilling out onto the page. 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:47.419 It's the biggest window, 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:48.500 Into the Father's heart, 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:49.679 That ever has been, 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:50.419 Or ever will be. 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:52.940 And that's what he's like. 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:55.900 And so according to, 00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:57.060 At the end of verse 20, 00:15:57.260 --> 00:15:59.220 That one little work of love, 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:00.460 That all witnessed, 00:16:00.940 --> 00:16:02.280 Witnessed by the poor, 00:16:03.020 --> 00:16:05.140 That is a foretaste. 00:16:06.660 --> 00:16:07.720 That is a sign, 00:16:07.800 --> 00:16:10.000 Of two great works in particular, 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:11.360 That the Father will do through his son. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:14.040 So verse 21, 00:16:14.180 --> 00:16:15.100 That one miracle, 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:17.660 Is a sign that God gives life, 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:17.980 Isn't it? 00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:21.759 He gives life to whoever he will, 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:23.120 And second in verse 22, 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:24.060 That second sign, 00:16:24.139 --> 00:16:25.039 That God the son, 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.019 Will judge all the earth. 00:16:28.300 --> 00:16:29.259 Don Carson quotes, 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:29.920 A Jewish, 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:32.039 Rabbi writing in the Talmud, 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.060 And he's suggesting, 00:16:33.060 --> 00:16:34.539 That God holds three, 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:36.300 Keys in his hand, 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:38.759 That God will never entrust, 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:39.440 To anyone else. 00:16:41.060 --> 00:16:42.600 First key is the key of raid, 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:44.759 The key of the womb, 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:47.120 And the key of the resurrection, 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:47.659 Of the dead. 00:16:48.680 --> 00:16:49.879 Certain powers, 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:51.539 That only belong to God. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:54.420 Divine prerogatives. 00:16:56.800 --> 00:16:58.039 And there's none more so, 00:16:58.080 --> 00:16:59.399 Than the power to give life, 00:17:00.420 --> 00:17:02.039 And to judge eternal souls. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:05.539 And that is placed, 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:06.519 By God the father, 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.200 Into the hands of God the son. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.319 All because he loves him, 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:12.420 With an eternal love. 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:14.759 And in verse 23, 00:17:14.860 --> 00:17:15.500 He loves him, 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:16.599 So much, 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:18.199 That his ultimate purpose, 00:17:18.259 --> 00:17:18.899 In everything, 00:17:19.159 --> 00:17:20.379 Is for you and I, 00:17:20.439 --> 00:17:21.179 To recognise, 00:17:21.659 --> 00:17:22.359 And honour, 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.259 His son Jesus, 00:17:24.399 --> 00:17:25.019 For whom he is. 00:17:26.899 --> 00:17:28.299 That he is God of God, 00:17:28.419 --> 00:17:29.539 Equal in power, 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:30.879 And glory. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.880 And so to look, 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:34.500 To look on Jesus, 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:35.980 Works of love, 00:17:36.520 --> 00:17:37.800 And the amazing things, 00:17:37.800 --> 00:17:38.700 That Jesus does, 00:17:38.780 --> 00:17:39.240 In his world, 00:17:39.580 --> 00:17:40.620 To look on those, 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:41.660 And reject them, 00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:44.279 Is to reject God the father, 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:46.360 And his work, 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:47.040 And his love, 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:50.120 Even the people, 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:51.580 Sitting there that day, 00:17:52.860 --> 00:17:53.840 Rejecting him, 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:55.180 In the name of monotheism, 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.460 People might claim, 00:17:58.500 --> 00:17:59.880 To worship the God of Abraham, 00:18:00.040 --> 00:18:00.660 Many do today, 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:02.019 But they don't adore, 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:03.200 The Lord Jesus Christ, 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:07.360 And if we don't adore, 00:18:07.360 --> 00:18:07.980 The Lord Jesus, 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:09.380 We dishonour him, 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:11.940 We are worshipping, 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:12.640 A different God, 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.400 And so honour Jesus, 00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:16.480 Because the father, 00:18:17.080 --> 00:18:18.299 Loves him eternally, 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:20.400 Secondly, 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:21.580 Verses 24 to 27, 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:22.460 Listen to Jesus, 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.240 Because through his voice, 00:18:26.620 --> 00:18:27.740 The father is speaking, 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:29.960 Life today, 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:35.200 It's one of the famous, 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:36.380 Strange things that happens, 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:36.680 Isn't it, 00:18:36.700 --> 00:18:37.940 When someone dies, 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.200 How people speak about it, 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:44.519 They don't say to you, 00:18:44.620 --> 00:18:44.980 They don't say, 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:46.759 Well I'm sorry to hear, 00:18:46.860 --> 00:18:48.000 That your father died, 00:18:48.140 --> 00:18:48.519 Do they? 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:51.299 They say something like this, 00:18:51.620 --> 00:18:51.960 They say, 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:52.720 I'm sorry to hear, 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.860 That your dad has, 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:56.279 Has passed, 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:57.539 You heard that? 00:18:58.980 --> 00:18:59.779 As if, 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:01.120 That person took, 00:19:01.180 --> 00:19:02.480 A kind of mortality exam, 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:04.400 And got good grades, 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:04.980 Or as if he was, 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:06.120 Taking a nap, 00:19:06.340 --> 00:19:07.120 We know don't we, 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:08.640 It's hard to talk about, 00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:09.640 Death, 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:12.620 But the next time, 00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:13.340 If you're a Christian, 00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:14.420 I hear you say, 00:19:14.600 --> 00:19:15.299 I'm sorry to hear, 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:16.840 That so and so has passed, 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:19.180 I want to correct you, 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:19.340 Alright, 00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:20.360 Because look at verse 22, 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:23.759 If you are sitting, 00:19:24.120 --> 00:19:24.940 Here this morning, 00:19:25.100 --> 00:19:25.880 And you are a follower, 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:27.039 Of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:19:27.500 --> 00:19:28.160 Can you see, 00:19:28.340 --> 00:19:29.200 You have passed, 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.980 You have passed, 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:34.640 From death to life, 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.319 Some of you will know, 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:38.400 The exact time and date, 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:38.920 Of when you passed, 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:39.640 Some of you might be, 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:41.120 The 1984, 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.160 Billy Graham crusade, 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:42.900 Or something like that, 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:45.220 Or it was a CU mission meeting, 00:19:45.360 --> 00:19:46.120 In wherever you went, 00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:47.140 Or a camp, 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:49.539 Others of you sitting here, 00:19:49.860 --> 00:19:52.220 You never knew a time, 00:19:52.220 --> 00:19:54.339 When, 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:54.360 When, 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:56.319 You didn't love the Lord Jesus, 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:56.799 Wonderfully, 00:19:57.600 --> 00:19:59.360 Either way, 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.660 It's an astonishing claim, 00:20:00.740 --> 00:20:01.360 That Jesus makes, 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:01.640 Isn't it, 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:01.960 Look at, 00:20:02.220 --> 00:20:02.900 In verse 22, 00:20:03.120 --> 00:20:04.279 Whoever hears my word, 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:06.740 And believes him, 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:07.440 Who sent me, 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:08.539 Has passed, 00:20:09.100 --> 00:20:09.740 Already done, 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:11.799 They've passed, 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:12.799 From death to life, 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:13.980 We were dead, 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:16.960 But the moment Jesus, 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:18.360 Spoke to us, 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:21.120 We heard, 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:22.259 And came to life, 00:20:23.259 --> 00:20:28.120 So the question is, 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:28.460 How? 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:31.380 Up in verse 21, 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:31.779 He says, 00:20:31.860 --> 00:20:32.380 That the father, 00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:33.680 Raises the dead, 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:34.599 It was his prerogative, 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.879 But in the same way, 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:39.459 The son gives life, 00:20:39.539 --> 00:20:40.279 To whom ever he will, 00:20:41.659 --> 00:20:42.439 One, 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:43.719 Single, 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:44.339 Perfect, 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:45.559 Harmonious will, 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:49.000 And so what do we see here, 00:20:49.019 --> 00:20:49.679 Verse 25, 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:51.159 It is the son, 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:52.879 Whose words people hear, 00:20:54.139 --> 00:20:55.879 But it is the father, 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:57.019 Who people believe, 00:20:57.079 --> 00:20:57.919 When they hear them, 00:20:58.559 --> 00:20:59.539 And so receive life, 00:21:00.639 --> 00:21:01.919 To put it another way, 00:21:02.199 --> 00:21:02.740 God, 00:21:03.879 --> 00:21:04.500 Is spirit, 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:05.459 Speaking Jesus, 00:21:05.619 --> 00:21:06.279 Into the world, 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:08.679 And he's doing it right now, 00:21:08.719 --> 00:21:09.619 Look at verse 25, 00:21:11.899 --> 00:21:12.240 Truly, 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:12.719 Truly, 00:21:12.899 --> 00:21:13.659 I say to you, 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:15.559 An hour, 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:16.719 Is coming, 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:18.659 And is now here, 00:21:18.719 --> 00:21:19.279 Right now, 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:21.259 When the dead, 00:21:21.459 --> 00:21:22.379 Will hear the voice, 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:24.159 Of the son of God, 00:21:25.219 --> 00:21:27.439 And those who hear, 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:27.899 Will live, 00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:30.539 Right now, 00:21:30.619 --> 00:21:31.240 Right at this moment, 00:21:31.399 --> 00:21:32.179 Jesus is, 00:21:33.099 --> 00:21:34.119 God is speaking, 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:34.539 Giving Jesus, 00:21:34.659 --> 00:21:35.219 To dead people, 00:21:35.679 --> 00:21:37.299 It's happening, 00:21:37.459 --> 00:21:37.879 In this, 00:21:38.379 --> 00:21:39.259 Very room, 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:41.299 People are, 00:21:41.379 --> 00:21:42.179 Passing away, 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:42.779 Backwards, 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.779 From death, 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:45.079 To life, 00:21:45.099 --> 00:21:45.719 That's an astonishing, 00:21:45.879 --> 00:21:46.679 Thing to believe, 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:48.559 Clearly, 00:21:48.679 --> 00:21:49.500 This isn't, 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:50.299 Kind of dead, 00:21:50.419 --> 00:21:50.879 Dead people, 00:21:50.939 --> 00:21:51.579 If I can put it like that, 00:21:51.659 --> 00:21:52.439 We'll come to them in a moment, 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:53.459 I've never seen, 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:53.899 One of them, 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:54.799 Kind of stand up, 00:21:54.879 --> 00:21:55.719 Off the mortuary table, 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:56.399 And come to life, 00:21:56.659 --> 00:21:56.879 No, 00:21:56.939 --> 00:21:57.659 These are the living, 00:21:57.799 --> 00:21:58.299 Dead people, 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:01.839 There are people like you and I, 00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:02.480 This great, 00:22:02.639 --> 00:22:03.419 Lost, 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.859 Horde of humanity, 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:07.839 Lying in our spiritual graves, 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:09.220 Cut off from God, 00:22:10.859 --> 00:22:12.659 Estranged from that reality, 00:22:12.659 --> 00:22:13.419 Of love, 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.599 And light, 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:15.940 And life, 00:22:16.220 --> 00:22:17.119 At the heart of the universe, 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:19.659 But God the Father, 00:22:19.739 --> 00:22:21.119 Has come into this world, 00:22:21.379 --> 00:22:22.379 And he has broken, 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:24.019 Into those rebellious lives, 00:22:25.419 --> 00:22:26.819 And ever and present, 00:22:26.939 --> 00:22:28.579 When he speaks these words, 00:22:28.959 --> 00:22:30.299 They've just seen a little picture, 00:22:30.439 --> 00:22:30.779 Haven't they? 00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:33.399 They've just seen a forties, 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:34.879 Of what it means, 00:22:35.939 --> 00:22:37.500 For the dead to come to life, 00:22:38.419 --> 00:22:40.479 They've seen an apathetic, 00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:41.399 Unbelieving man, 00:22:41.459 --> 00:22:42.519 With nothing going for him, 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:44.500 Restored miraculously to health, 00:22:45.379 --> 00:22:46.799 And that is a sign, 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.940 That points to a greater reality, 00:22:49.059 --> 00:22:50.180 Of what Jesus has come to do, 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:53.059 The hour has now come, 00:22:53.419 --> 00:22:55.480 When the dead hear his voice, 00:22:57.240 --> 00:22:58.460 And if you are somebody, 00:22:58.519 --> 00:22:59.879 Who is trusting the Lord Jesus, 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:00.480 This morning, 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:02.460 And loving the Lord Jesus, 00:23:03.419 --> 00:23:06.000 You are a resurrected person, 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.859 Is there more to come? 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:10.619 Yeah, definitely, 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:11.059 For soon, 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:13.099 We'll get to that, 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:16.720 But as much as we're afraid, 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:17.500 In churches like this, 00:23:17.579 --> 00:23:18.599 Of overplaying, 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:19.599 What it means to be, 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:20.659 A believer in this age, 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:21.980 There's also a danger, 00:23:22.139 --> 00:23:23.220 That we underplay it, 00:23:23.940 --> 00:23:27.039 Jesus' miracles were signs, 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:28.139 Jesus gives, 00:23:28.419 --> 00:23:29.619 Resurrection life, 00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:31.940 He has broken, 00:23:32.180 --> 00:23:33.500 Into this age, 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:34.419 And if you are, 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:35.359 A Christian believer, 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:37.079 He has given that life, 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:37.680 To you, 00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:40.399 And you will always have it, 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:41.059 He's given it, 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:41.899 To you already, 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:44.220 You were spiritually dead, 00:23:44.320 --> 00:23:45.540 You were unresponsive, 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:46.700 There was a flat line, 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:47.519 On the heart monitor, 00:23:48.620 --> 00:23:49.820 The doctors had called it, 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:50.480 There was nothing, 00:23:50.560 --> 00:23:51.500 That could be done for you, 00:23:51.780 --> 00:23:53.220 Nothing you could do to yourself, 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:54.380 To welcome God, 00:23:54.420 --> 00:23:55.060 Into your heart, 00:23:55.059 --> 00:23:58.819 But in Jesus' love, 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:01.940 The life of the age to come, 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.139 Has broken in, 00:24:04.940 --> 00:24:06.079 And our bodies have got, 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:06.859 Some catching up to do, 00:24:06.899 --> 00:24:07.119 Haven't they? 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:09.700 The last four, 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:10.720 Comes in verse 26, 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:11.859 It tells us how he did it, 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:13.000 For as the father, 00:24:13.099 --> 00:24:13.700 Has life in himself, 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:15.079 So he's granted the son, 00:24:15.159 --> 00:24:16.319 To have life in himself, 00:24:17.639 --> 00:24:18.879 God has life, 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:20.299 In an entirely different way, 00:24:20.379 --> 00:24:21.119 Than you and I do, 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.939 God's life, 00:24:24.179 --> 00:24:24.579 Is his, 00:24:24.899 --> 00:24:25.739 All of his own, 00:24:25.859 --> 00:24:26.919 He is self-sufficient, 00:24:27.579 --> 00:24:28.399 Self-sustaining, 00:24:28.679 --> 00:24:29.839 Never depleting life, 00:24:31.679 --> 00:24:32.439 And your life, 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:33.079 Is not like that, 00:24:33.379 --> 00:24:34.059 Neither is mine, 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:37.019 Our lives, 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:38.339 Our lives are like the lights, 00:24:38.339 --> 00:24:39.159 On a Christmas tree, 00:24:40.439 --> 00:24:42.839 You unplug, 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:44.599 You unplug the Christmas lights, 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:45.399 From the tree, 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:48.339 And for a split second, 00:24:48.579 --> 00:24:49.379 The lights keep glowing, 00:24:49.459 --> 00:24:49.719 Don't they? 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:51.660 But inevitably, 00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:52.539 The light dies, 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:55.279 Because those Christmas lights, 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:56.720 They don't have light, 00:24:57.120 --> 00:24:58.140 Life in themselves, 00:24:58.299 --> 00:24:59.120 They are dependent, 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.779 And just as our lives, 00:25:02.860 --> 00:25:03.620 Are dependent, 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:07.000 And so God warned humanity, 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:08.039 Right at the start, 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:09.660 He warned mankind, 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:10.799 That he had made, 00:25:11.140 --> 00:25:13.420 That the day that you turn your back on him, 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:15.339 You would surely die, 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:17.920 The plague would be pulled, 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.340 You'd be cast out, 00:25:20.340 --> 00:25:21.340 From his presence, 00:25:22.300 --> 00:25:23.140 And yes, 00:25:23.180 --> 00:25:23.700 As human beings, 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:25.200 We still glow for a while, 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:26.600 But that moment, 00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:27.420 We are born, 00:25:27.539 --> 00:25:28.440 We begin to fade, 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.759 We are spiritually dead, 00:25:31.820 --> 00:25:32.519 According to the Bible, 00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:35.559 But just as God the Father, 00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:37.139 Has life in himself, 00:25:37.299 --> 00:25:38.559 So he has granted, 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:39.440 That the Son, 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:40.039 The Lord Jesus, 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:41.299 Would have life in himself, 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:44.460 It's that same, 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:45.500 Wonderful mystery, 00:25:45.639 --> 00:25:46.720 That we try to creep up to, 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:47.359 In verse 20, 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:48.400 God the Father, 00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:49.639 Shares his whole, 00:25:50.299 --> 00:25:51.639 Undivided Godness, 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:52.400 With God the Son, 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:55.200 He is God of God, 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.360 And as God the Son, 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:00.319 He has all that the Father has, 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:02.860 It is all his, 00:26:03.120 --> 00:26:05.200 Own self-sufficient, 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:06.299 Unending life, 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:07.519 Eternally his, 00:26:08.580 --> 00:26:11.160 And here is the mystery, 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.380 Here is the mystery, 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:14.500 That as the Son, 00:26:14.740 --> 00:26:15.779 That Godness, 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:17.420 That undepleting life, 00:26:17.900 --> 00:26:19.539 Is something granted to him, 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:21.920 Begotten to him by the Father, 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:25.519 And so Jesus comes to us, 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:25.960 This morning, 00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:27.500 And he comes to us, 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:28.140 With life, 00:26:28.340 --> 00:26:29.640 Unlike any other life, 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:30.220 In creation, 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:31.300 It's his own to give, 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:33.680 He's been granted, 00:26:33.820 --> 00:26:35.360 Judgment over all things, 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:36.000 Verse 27, 00:26:36.120 --> 00:26:37.080 Even over death and life, 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:38.680 And so when we were cut off, 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:39.980 When the plague, 00:26:40.060 --> 00:26:40.840 Had been pulled out, 00:26:41.140 --> 00:26:42.340 When we'd been estranged, 00:26:42.340 --> 00:26:43.380 From the source of life, 00:26:43.580 --> 00:26:44.259 Unforgiven, 00:26:44.420 --> 00:26:45.240 Coming into judgment, 00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:47.500 But verse 24, 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:49.340 Jesus is the great reconciler, 00:26:49.339 --> 00:26:51.779 He is the source, 00:26:51.879 --> 00:26:53.000 Of life itself, 00:26:53.740 --> 00:26:55.579 And right now, 00:26:55.639 --> 00:26:57.019 His voice is ringing out, 00:26:57.980 --> 00:26:59.939 And we get to look, 00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:01.139 At his works, 00:27:01.919 --> 00:27:04.339 As these people have done, 00:27:04.419 --> 00:27:05.539 And his Father's love, 00:27:05.619 --> 00:27:06.639 Is on show for us, 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:09.439 And we listen to his words, 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:10.819 As we are right now, 00:27:11.099 --> 00:27:11.939 In this room, 00:27:12.399 --> 00:27:13.919 Calling us back to himself, 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:16.399 Calling us to take hold, 00:27:16.399 --> 00:27:17.279 Of his Son, 00:27:17.459 --> 00:27:18.599 And be made right with him, 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:22.220 It's why as Christians, 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:22.579 Isn't it, 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:24.539 We long for our family, 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:26.619 And for our friends, 00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:27.419 And our neighbours, 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:28.500 And people we care about, 00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:29.480 To come to church, 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:31.959 To sit and be under Jesus' words, 00:27:32.459 --> 00:27:35.419 To hear Jesus' words, 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:38.919 Because that voice, 00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:40.159 Is life-giving, 00:27:40.699 --> 00:27:42.159 Unto us, 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:43.419 Listen to Jesus, 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:44.079 And then finally, 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:45.579 Verses 28 to 29, 00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:46.559 Marvel at Jesus, 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:49.319 Marvel at Jesus, 00:27:49.419 --> 00:27:50.339 Because he will pass, 00:27:50.399 --> 00:27:51.179 The Father's verdict, 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.859 Now if you're still awake, 00:27:55.259 --> 00:27:57.919 And you look down, 00:27:57.960 --> 00:27:58.639 At verse 28, 00:27:59.059 --> 00:28:01.960 It seems to be saying, 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:02.779 The exact opposite, 00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:03.839 Of what my point is saying, 00:28:03.899 --> 00:28:04.139 Isn't it, 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:04.960 Can you see that, 00:28:05.619 --> 00:28:07.759 It says there, 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:08.480 Do not marvel, 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:10.759 And yet my point is, 00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:11.179 Marvel, 00:28:11.179 --> 00:28:11.279 Marvel, 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:14.619 And so, 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:15.960 If you look at verse 20, 00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:18.460 God the Father, 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.759 Wants us to look at, 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:20.579 Jesus' works, 00:28:20.660 --> 00:28:21.779 That he will do through his son, 00:28:21.899 --> 00:28:22.700 And he wants you, 00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:23.980 To marvel at Jesus, 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:27.240 And so the question is, 00:28:27.399 --> 00:28:28.160 Why in verse 28, 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:29.139 What is the this, 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:30.059 In verse 28, 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:32.579 And I think again, 00:28:32.619 --> 00:28:33.660 You need to come out of the weeds, 00:28:33.879 --> 00:28:35.299 And remind yourself, 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:36.680 Of where this paragraph comes, 00:28:37.139 --> 00:28:38.079 The people that Jesus, 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:39.420 Is speaking to, 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:40.379 They are angry, 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:42.460 They are angry, 00:28:42.540 --> 00:28:43.160 About one man, 00:28:43.180 --> 00:28:44.540 Who was healed on the Sabbath, 00:28:44.860 --> 00:28:45.860 With nothing but a word, 00:28:47.060 --> 00:28:49.080 They've seen one little picture, 00:28:49.080 --> 00:28:49.960 Of what he's been saying, 00:28:50.020 --> 00:28:50.640 In these verses, 00:28:51.320 --> 00:28:52.100 That his voice, 00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:53.960 Gives life to the living dead, 00:28:54.020 --> 00:28:54.880 And they're astonished, 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:56.460 And they are furious with him, 00:28:57.900 --> 00:28:58.640 And do you see, 00:28:58.680 --> 00:28:59.680 What he's saying in verse 28, 00:28:59.780 --> 00:29:00.600 He is saying to them, 00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:01.700 You've not seen anything yet, 00:29:02.600 --> 00:29:04.640 Let me give you something, 00:29:04.760 --> 00:29:05.420 To marvel at, 00:29:06.820 --> 00:29:07.780 That voice, 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:08.680 Which healed, 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:10.280 One spiritually dead, 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:10.619 Man, 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:11.440 Will ring out, 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:12.559 Over all the earth, 00:29:12.619 --> 00:29:13.160 And it will call, 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:13.960 Every man, 00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:14.700 And woman, 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:15.160 And child, 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:15.960 Whoever was, 00:29:16.059 --> 00:29:17.019 Or is to come, 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.119 Because the hour is now, 00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:19.879 Verse 25, 00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:21.240 When the living dead, 00:29:21.299 --> 00:29:22.099 Can you hear my voice? 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:24.440 But verse 28, 00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:26.119 There's an hour still coming, 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:29.240 When even the dead, 00:29:29.339 --> 00:29:30.399 Dead will hear my voice, 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:33.539 That same voice, 00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:37.899 Not just one representative man, 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:39.720 But all who are in their tombs, 00:29:39.879 --> 00:29:41.359 Will rise out of the grave, 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:42.839 To face their life giver, 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:43.659 And their judge, 00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:46.920 And on that day, 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:47.220 He says, 00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:47.559 Jesus, 00:29:47.879 --> 00:29:50.259 What you did with my voice, 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:51.759 Will be perfectly obvious, 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:53.899 And it will be all out in the open, 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:57.540 So take hold of me, 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:00.180 While you've got the chance, 00:30:01.180 --> 00:30:02.740 While you're alive, 00:30:04.120 --> 00:30:06.100 And if my new creation life, 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:07.440 Has been planted in you, 00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:08.540 Then it will be demonstrable, 00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:12.779 On that last day, 00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:14.099 It won't be just a fantasy, 00:30:14.099 --> 00:30:15.079 That you lived, 00:30:15.180 --> 00:30:16.379 There will be evidence, 00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:18.740 To base the judgment on, 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:20.960 Good works, 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:21.960 As Jesus put it, 00:30:22.139 --> 00:30:22.700 In chapter 3, 00:30:24.059 --> 00:30:25.099 That were carried out, 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:25.659 In God, 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:26.659 Through his grace, 00:30:27.059 --> 00:30:28.639 Fruits of a life, 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:29.960 That have been changed, 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:30.740 By the son of God, 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:34.720 But those who rejected my voice, 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:38.620 Those who heard the love, 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:39.600 Of heaven speaking, 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:41.339 And saw that all I did, 00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:42.940 And yet they dishonoured the son, 00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:44.100 There will be nothing to show, 00:30:44.140 --> 00:30:44.559 On that day, 00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:47.440 Because in life, 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:48.279 They never passed, 00:30:48.380 --> 00:30:49.519 From condemnation, 00:30:50.360 --> 00:30:52.100 To communion with God, 00:30:52.620 --> 00:30:54.559 So in death, 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:55.519 They will rise, 00:30:55.620 --> 00:30:56.319 To the resurrection, 00:30:56.980 --> 00:30:57.500 Of judgment, 00:30:58.779 --> 00:31:00.059 And they will answer, 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:00.940 For their deeds, 00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:04.079 And every last human being, 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:04.660 From global, 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:05.480 To your granny, 00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:07.720 Will rise, 00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:08.640 From their grave, 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:10.100 Or their scattered cloud, 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:10.500 Of ashes, 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:11.299 And they will stand, 00:31:11.380 --> 00:31:12.220 Before the Lord Jesus, 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:12.819 With joy, 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:13.460 Or with tears, 00:31:13.539 --> 00:31:14.200 In their eyes, 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:17.200 And then we will marvel, 00:31:17.360 --> 00:31:17.960 As well we should, 00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:22.160 You see it's really important, 00:31:22.259 --> 00:31:22.480 Isn't it, 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:23.460 For you and I to know, 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:26.559 Whose hands we are in, 00:31:28.200 --> 00:31:30.140 You live like that, 00:31:30.620 --> 00:31:32.059 Even for something, 00:31:32.180 --> 00:31:33.559 As trivial as a haircut, 00:31:33.559 --> 00:31:36.399 You care about, 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:37.179 Who's going to be doing it, 00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:37.480 Don't you, 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:39.079 For some of us, 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:39.839 That's more applicable, 00:31:39.899 --> 00:31:40.259 Than others, 00:31:40.259 --> 00:31:42.899 But you care about, 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:45.259 Who's going to do your haircut, 00:31:45.259 --> 00:31:47.879 You go for surgery, 00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:49.420 And who the surgeon is, 00:31:49.420 --> 00:31:50.019 Really matters, 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:52.359 It really matters, 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:52.799 Doesn't it, 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.879 And Jesus, 00:31:56.099 --> 00:31:58.240 Jesus has told us here, 00:31:58.359 --> 00:31:59.200 Whose hands, 00:31:59.299 --> 00:32:00.180 Have been entrusted, 00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:01.359 By God the Father, 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:02.400 With the resurrection, 00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:03.200 Of our bodies, 00:32:03.859 --> 00:32:04.960 And the eternal judgment, 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:05.680 Of our souls, 00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:09.339 He's showing us, 00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:09.980 The reality, 00:32:10.140 --> 00:32:11.700 That every single priority, 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:12.500 Of our lives, 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:14.039 Surely has to be ordered round, 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:16.660 And it could not be, 00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:17.500 Better news, 00:32:18.059 --> 00:32:20.000 It's the one, 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:20.839 Who does whatever, 00:32:20.940 --> 00:32:21.660 The Father does, 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:24.000 And the voice, 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:24.660 Of life, 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:25.259 And love, 00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:26.200 That God, 00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:26.900 In his kindness, 00:32:27.099 --> 00:32:28.279 Is still speaking, 00:32:28.539 --> 00:32:29.660 Into the world today, 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:32.720 And so then, 00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:33.619 It is time for us, 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:34.339 To listen isn't it, 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:36.940 Time for us, 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:38.059 To grab hold, 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:38.859 Of that voice, 00:32:38.859 --> 00:32:41.000 Let's pray together, 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:41.059 Let's pray together, 00:32:41.059 --> 00:32:41.059