Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
this morning to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. We're going to look at verses
19 through 27. John 5 verse 19 begins by saying,
then answered Jesus and said unto them. Now, before I read the rest of
this verse, I want to stop and consider the holiness of this
verse. I cannot think of a more serious
and holy portion of scripture than this. All of the Word of
God is the Holy Word of God, but I want to make sure that
I'm reading this verse correctly, understanding it correctly. I
would never, ever want to disrespect or disgrace or dishonor the Holy
Son of God. So with that being said, verse
19 says, 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. For what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Isn't that
an amazing verse? The Lord Jesus Christ said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but
what he seeth the Father do. For what thing soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise. Oh, the humility of our Lord,
the humility the one who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. This is the
same one whom God the Father told, Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. God the Father said that to God
the Son. The Father told the Son, Thy
throne is forever and ever, O God. And this same one now says in
John 5, 19, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. For what thing
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Can't we see
the love that the Son has for His Father? The love. Can't we see the love that the
Father has for His Son? God the Son desires nothing more
than to honor His Father, nothing more. than to honor His Father. God the Father desires nothing
more than to honor His Son. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
purpose. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Love, love between the Son and His Father, the Father
and His Son. John 5 verse 20 says, for the
Father loveth the Son. Loveth the Son. Here's the title
of this morning's message. It's called The Oneness of the
Father and the Son. They are one. The Oneness of
the Father and the Son. Right here in John 5, we have
seven proofs that our Lord Jesus Christ is God. Just like most
believe God the Father is God, God the Son is God too. The oneness
of the Father and the Son. It's called the Deity of Christ. And that means Christ is God. That's what it means. Seven proofs
of that. That the Son and the Father are
one God with the Spirit. Father, Son, and Spirit. One
God. Now here's the first proof that
we have. It's in verse 17. John chapter 5 verse 17. It says,
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto and I work. My Father works and I work. Look back over at John chapter
4, verse 34 says this, Jesus said unto them, my meat is to
do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. That's my meat, to do his will
and finish his work. What work is he talking about?
The answer is every work. Every work that needs to be done.
But here are the two greatest that pertain to me. Number one,
the work of creation. Creation. Only God can do that. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word became
flesh. All things were made by Him.
Jesus Christ created this world and everything in it, including
you and me. God made me. He created me. Only God can do that. And what
did man do after he was created? He rebelled against God. Man
fell. Man lost his standing with God. God saw everything he created
that it was good. It was very good. But man sinned
against God and lost his standing with God. He became separated
from God. He died spiritually. And here's
the second great work that involves me. It's the work of redeeming
this creation back to its original state. Only God can do that. Only God can do that. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
who said, Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do." I have finished the work. God the Father and God the Son
are one in the work of redemption. They're one. Here's the second
proof. It's in John chapter 5 verse
19. It says, 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. For what
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."
That doesn't mean he's restricted. When he said the Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do, that doesn't mean
he's restricted. That doesn't mean that his power
is limited, not at all. What he's saying is the son cannot
do anything other than what the father desires to do because
they're one. He can't do anything other than
what the father desires because his desire and the father's desire
are the same. They are one. They are one in
will, purpose, mind, heart. One. Turn with me over to John chapter
14. John chapter 14 verse 10 says,
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father
in me? The words that I speak unto you
I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me He
doeth the works. Christ said, what you see me
do is my Father working in me. One. He said, I am in the Father. The Father is in me. One. My works are His works. His works
are my works. Back in our text in John chapter
5, verse 20 says, 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 marvel." Here's
the third proof that God the Father and God the Son are one. One. He said, the Father showeth
Him all things. They are one in knowledge. one in knowledge." Now think
about this. No man, no woman, no creature, no being of any
kind, not even Satan, can know the mind of God. No one. No thing. Our adversary, the
devil, is a spiritual being, but he's not omniscient. He's
not all-knowing. He has no idea what tomorrow
may bring. No idea at all. Go with me over
to Romans chapter 11. Romans 11 verse 33 says, Oh,
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?
Who? No one. No one but the Father
and the Son. No one. Turn over to Proverbs
8. Proverbs chapter 8 says, verse 24, When there were no
depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet He had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when He prepared the heavens, I was there. when He set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree
that the waters should not pass His commandment, when He appointed
the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him as one brought
up with Him. And I was daily His delight,
rejoicing always before Him." Always. The Lord Jesus Christ
knows the mind and purpose of His Father because He was there. He was there when it all came
about. No one else was there. It was
just the Father and His Son. Father, Son, and Spirit. Here's the fourth proof back
in our text, in John chapter 5. Verse 21 says, For as the Father
raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom He will. Whom He will. as the Father raiseth
up the dead, and quickeneth them." That means gives them life. Even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will. They are one in sovereignty. One in sovereignty. Here's the
key to this verse. It's the last three words. Whom
he will. Whom he will. Now right here
in John chapter 5, the verses before this, our Lord had just
healed a lame man. He'd been lame for 38 years.
And he was laying by a pool called the Pool of Bethesda. And a lot
of people were laying there. They were looking for a miracle.
When the waters moved on this pool, the first person to get
in the water was healed. They were all laying there. There
were tons of lame people laying there. Tons of sick people. Tons of people in need. He only
chose to heal one. He only chose to heal one. That's His sovereignty. A person
may hear that and say, well, that's not fair. Well, He didn't
have to heal any. It was great mercy and grace
on His part that He would heal any. That's His sovereignty. Whom He will. As the Father,
Even so the Son, one in sovereignty. Here's our fifth proof. It's
in John chapter 5 verse 22. It says, For the Father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all
men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent
him. God the Father and God the Son
are one in honor. One. Most people think of God
the Father being their judge and Jesus Christ being their
lawyer. And it is true. He does make
intercession for us. That is true. There is one mediator
between God and man. That's what the scripture says.
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The Father is the one who's been
sinned against. He's the one who's been wronged.
But the Father said, I'm not the judge. Verse 22 says, "...the
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son." The Father has committed all judgment to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the great judge of this
earth. He is the one who men and women
are going to have to stand before in that day. If we're in a court, a court
of law, how do we address the judge? We say, Your Honor. Your Honor. Why did God the Father
give all judgment to God the Son? Verse 23 says that all men
should honor the Son. Men and women say they love this
man Jesus? They do. And they say they worship
Him? The question is, is do they honor
Him like they honor His Father? Do they honor Him as God, just
as they do His Father? Do they see the oneness of the
Son and the Father. That's the question. That all
men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent
him. They're one. One in honor. It's owed to our Lord. It's commanded by His Father.
They're one. Here's the sixth proof. John
5 verse 24 says, 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. 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. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself."
They are one in spiritual life-giving ability. Whoever hears my word, this is
what the Father says, whoever hears my word and believes on
him that sent me has been given life from us. Life. Verse 25 says, the hour is coming
and now is when the dead shall hear." The dead shall hear. You know a dead man can't hear
anything. He can't. That's impossible. Totally impossible. Yes, it is. With man, it's impossible. But our Lord says, 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." Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? He says,
when you see that take place, you're going to know that I and
my Father are one in imparting life. Life. Ephesians says, "...and
you hath he quickened who were dead." I was dead. I was spiritually dead in my
trespasses and sins, and the Lord Jesus Christ gave me life. Gave me life. Here's our seventh
proof. Verse 27 says, "...and hath given
him authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of
Man. Our Lord, God the Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and His Father are one in authority. One in
authority. And it's because He is the Son
of Man. Here's why. It's because God
the Son became flesh and walked this earth as a man. He walked
this earth as a man because he was despised, he was rejected,
he was humiliated, he was cursed because he went through all that
in working his father's work, obeying his father's command.
Because of that, the father says, The stone which the builder set
it not has become the chief cornerstone. Because he went through all that,
fulfilling his father's work, the father has said, every knee
will bow to him. And every tongue is going to
confess that he is Lord. to the glory of God the Father. Every single person on this earth
is going to bow and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. And that doesn't mean that he's
just merely God's Son, a lesser than God. They are gonna acknowledge
he is the equal part of the Trinity. God the Son. God Himself. He and His Father are one. He is the great judge of this
earth. All life is in His hands. Every bit of it. Every knee will
bow. Every tongue will confess He
is Lord. That's the Father's glory. You
know that? That's His happiness. That's His will. That's His desire. That's His heart's love. That
His Son might have all the glory. That His Son might have all the
authority. Oneness. Oneness in authority
with God the Father and God the Son. Now here's the good news. Here is the good news. Good news
for sinners like us. Sinners who have been cast away
because of their sin. Sinners who have been rejected,
totally rejected from the presence of God. As they are, so are we. So are we. If we are in the work
of redemption that the Father and the Son have made together,
if we are in their knowledge, in their mind, in their heart,
if we are in their purpose, if they have chosen us, chosen to
give us life sovereignly, they can choose whom they will. If
they have chosen us, to redeem us and quicken us. And if they've chosen us to give
us a heart to repent and bow the knee and confess Him now,
as they are, so are we. Turn with me over to John 17. John 17 verse 21 says this, that
they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them." Isn't that amazing? The son says to his
father, the glory that you gave me, I've given it to them. We are one in their glory. That's amazing. In Christ. Verse 22 says, And the glory
which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be
one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one. That's Jesus Christ. and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me." Every sinner whom God the Father
has chosen to put in Christ, God the Father has loved that
sinner as God has loved His very own Son, the only begotten Son. In Christ is all of the fullness
of the love of God. Every bit of it. The Father and
the Son are one. And God's people in the Son are
one with Him. One with God. One head, one body. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.