In mystery, fear, and death,
the Lord God is living God, the Holy God, Emmanuel. Thank you. Take 20 or more hymns in our
modern hymnals. Make up one line of truth from
those old ones. So God honoring, Christ exalting. All right, turn with me to the
Book of John, the Gospel of John, Chapter 5. John, Chapter 5, as we continue
our studies through the Gospel of John. Gospel of John, chapter five. Let's read. Let's read a few verses. My way
of review. We've already looked at the first
16 verses, but look back again at verse eight and nine. This is the story, you know,
of the Lord raising The man who had an infirmity,
38 years, verse 8, rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked, and on the same day was
the Sabbath. Verse 10 and 11, the Jews therefore
said unto him that was cured. A little while later, they saw
him in the street carrying his bed home. And they said unto
him, it was cured, it's the Sabbath day, it's not lawful for thee
to carry thy bed. He answered them, he that made
me whole, the same, said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. Look at verse 15 and 16. The
man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made
him whole and therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought
to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. Now turn over to John 15. Now
mark John 5, mark that place. We'll come back in a moment.
John 15. And the Word of God. clearly points out to us that the persecution of the Lord
Jesus Christ began with when he did this miracle on the Sabbath
day. How they began to persecute him
because of the way he treated the Sabbath day. And from that
time on, The lawgiver, Christ, is none
other than God who gave the law to Moses. And they accused the lawgiver
of being lawless from that day forward. John 15, look at this. Our Lord said in verse 15, and now remember what he says
here, because he says something similar in chapter 5. He said,
henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends. He's speaking to
his disciples here. He's not speaking to all people. He's speaking to his disciples.
He said, I have called you friends for all things that I have heard
of my Father I have made known unto you. Remember that. Now verses 18 through 21. If
the world hate you. You know that it hated me before
it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own, but because you're not of the world,
but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hated
you. Remember the word that I said unto you. The servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they've kept my saying, they'll
keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake. Because they know not him that
sent me. They don't know God. So they don't know the truth. Right? They don't know what the
truth is. What true worship is. If you
don't know God, you don't know how to worship God, do you? What is true worship? Do you
know? Do you know what true worship is? What did Christ say was true
worship? Do you remember? How do you worship
God? You go through the signs and
you go through the the rituals of religion, you know, sprinkling
water and making all the hullabaloo and commotion and flesh and raising
your hands and put on all the paraphernalia of religion, signs
and pictures and statues and all that sort of thing. Is that
how you worship God? John chapter 4. Look at what
our Lord said over here. And you'll see why I'm getting,
why I'm saying all this. John chapter 4. Turn back there.
John chapter 4. And we're going to get to John
5 and stay there here a few minutes. John chapter 4, look at verse
22. Speaking to this woman who was
religious, you worship you know not what. We know what we worship. Salvation is of the Jew. The
hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. for the father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit. They that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth." All right, so
how, if a person knows God, they know God's spirit. Our Lord said
later on, he said, that which is flesh is flesh, and that which
is spirit is spirit. God is not worshipped with hands.
God is not worshipped with the outward man. God is not worshipped
with a day. A certain day of the week only.
God is spirit. Well, all right, what about the
Sabbath? OK, that's what our Lord, that's
what we're talking about. That's what we're dealing with.
What about the Sabbath? I touched on, we touched on this briefly
Sunday. What about the Sabbath? You know
what day the Sabbath is, don't you? What day is the Sabbath?
That's right, it's Saturday. It always has been. It never
will be any day but Saturday. What about the Sabbath? Very
briefly, let me say a few things more about the Sabbath. Our Lord
said man was not made for the Sabbath, didn't He? He said man was not made for
the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man. What does that mean? It means
just what it says. That's not hard to understand.
Man does not live in order to keep a day. But the day God Almighty ordained
a day for man to rest. You see, the Jews had just come
out of Egypt, out of Banda. They didn't have a day off. They
only worked seven days a week. And God, in mercy and grace,
said, y'all not going to work seven days a week. You're going
to have a day off. He even said that about the land, that you've
got to rest the land. You plant your crops six years
and then rest it. Or at least rotate it, you know,
plant over here and rest this one. The next year, plant this
one, rest that one. Just makes good sense. Can't
go on. Good practical help, isn't it? Well, the Jews had just come
out of bondage when the Lord gave this law concerning the
Sabbath a day of rest, a day of relaxation, but a day of worship. Above all is a day of worship.
And God didn't mean for us to go back under bondage. It just
took them out of bondage. It didn't mean for them to go
right back under bondage to the day. But now listen. God is spirit.
We just read that. And they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. All right? Turn over to
Hebrews 4 now. Hebrews chapter 4 concerning
this thing of the Sabbath. Now you listen carefully because
there's a lot of people out there. who are ignorant about this,
and you're going to deal with them. Now, I'm talking about,
well, there are many people. There's one whole denomination
who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists. That means they're
Sabbatarians, Sabbath-keepers, OK? Claim to be Christian, but
yet to keep the Sabbath. But really, they're no different
than those who are First-day Sabbatarians. or strict believers
in a day or some. Yet claim to be Christian. All right, Melissa. What is the Sabbath all about?
Now, God is spirit, right? They that worship him. Must worship
him in spirit. Got that? God is spirit. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit. Everything God said had a spiritual
meaning behind it. Primarily, everything God said. Hebrews 4, look at verse 1. The Sabbath day, Saturday, was
a symbolic day of the believer's rest in Jesus Christ. from works
of religion, from works of the flesh. Are you with me? The seventh day, God said, the
day it read, is symbolic of the believer's rest in Christ from
his works. All right, look at Hebrews 4,
verse 1. Let us therefore fear lest a
promise be left us of entering into his rest. You see the key word there? Doesn't
say a day of rest, does it? It says his rest. Look at verse 3. We which have
believed do enter into rest as he said. I have sworn in my wrath
that they shall enter into my rest. Although the works were
finished from the foundation of the world. Look at verse 10. He that has entered into His
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from
his. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest. Isn't that clear? Isn't that
clear? It is if you know. All right. He says in verse eleven, let
any man fall at the same example of unbelief. What's that? The
Jews of old, they fell through unbelief. Why? Why did they fall?
They didn't keep the Sabbath? No. They were strict keepers
of the Sabbath. Right? That's why they fell. You see that? That's why they
fell. It says up in verse. Let's see. We're just saying not being mixed
with faith. Somebody find that verse for
me. Oh, verse two, the same gospel was preached under them, the
gospel was preached as well under them, but the word preached did
not profit them, not being mixed with faith. If they were keeping
a day, they weren't looking to the one that today represents.
That's plain to you, Stan. Like Proverbs 8 says, it's all
plain to him to understand it. Blessed are your eyes, they see
Christ your Saviour. You see, we rest in Christ. We cease from our own works,
trying to be accepted by God with our own work. Just as God
ceases from his works, every believer ceases from his works
from being accepted by God. And they rest in Christ. You
say what it was, why did believers meet on the first day of the
week? I'll tell you why. See, he'd take it away the first,
he may establish the second. Christ wrote that the law was
represented by the seventh day. Work, work, work, work, work,
work, work, work. If you can, if you can do the work, work,
work, work, work, then you get entitled to rest. Right? On the seventh day. That's the
law. Work, work, work, work, work, work. This do and live.
This do and rest. But you can't do it. But Christ
came, says, you meet on the first day of the week. Rest. Rest first. You rest first. He arose life. So he gives life
first. Not by works. Not by works of
righteousness, which we have done. But according to his mercy,
he has saved us. And when he comes, he says, rest.
Rest. And then you go to work. For
him. But not to be saying you already are. You see that? You
see the difference? You see why we meet on Sunday?
That we don't make it a law. We don't make it a strict law.
There are people, listen to me, there are people who are keeping
a day but haven't ceased from their work. But there are people who are
working on a certain day, Brother John sitting right here, he's
going to have, you went to work Sunday? You worked Sunday? You
worked last Sunday, didn't you? Yeah, but you ceased from your
works that day, didn't you? Yeah, you better have. You cease
from your work. You're not resting in your work.
You're resting in Christ. You're working, but you cease
from working. Well, you know what I'm saying. So Sunday's not our Christian
side. All right now back to John chapter
five. Oh my. Could you tell that to
somebody you approach now somebody that you want to deal with concerning. Sabbath day sabbatharian or first
day sabbatharian. Could you deal with somebody
on that subject. Where would you take them. How would you
deal with them. If you had to deal with somebody.
Where would you go. What would you say. Can you give
a reason. Give me an answer. The reason of the hope is within.
Where would you go? Where in Hebrews would you go?
Somebody quickly. We just read Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4. Now remember, they started persecuting
Christ. This was the first persecution
when he dealt with the Satan. And he said, we'll do the same
thing with you. Didn't he say? That's what he
said. Do the same thing with you. All right, after this controversy,
now listen. Verse seventeen, John five, verse
seventeen. After this controversy over the
Sabbath, he said in verse seventeen, my father worketh hitherto and
I worketh. And one more word on this thing,
the Sabbath. Does God work on the Sabbath? It said he ceased from his work
and rested. Did he? No. God never quit working. We live and we live and we move
and have our being. He worketh all things at the
council. He never ceases. If he quit working, everything
died. Symbolic. You see that? Symbolic. God says, He vested it all in
Christ. He vested it all in Christ. All
right. Look at verse 18 now. Now our
Lord's going to, this is our subject now, not the Sabbath,
although it's been after the message on it. Taken in context though, verse
18, 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. Now this is our subject. That the father and the son are
equal. Now, many today claim Christ
never said he was God. That's because they're ignorant
of the Scripture. Many claim to believe in a Jesus
whom, if they knew who he was, they wouldn't even use a name. But the Jews of old heard him,
didn't they? Many say he never said he was
God. The Jews heard him. And then it doesn't say there,
in verse 18, they sought to kill him because he made himself equal
with God. Look at chapter 8. Look at over
John, chapter 8, verse 57. John 8, 57 through 59, the Jews Then said the Jews unto him,
You're not fifty years old. Have you seen Abraham? Jesus
said unto them, Barely, barely, of a truth, of a truth, I say
unto you, before Abraham was, I am. They took up stones to
cast at him. Chapter ten, turn over there.
Chapter ten. You got it? Chapter ten, look
at verse thirty. I and my father are one, then
the Jews took up stones to stone him. Verse 37 of this same chapter,
37 through 39, if I do not the works of my Father, believe me
not. But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works
that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and
I in him. And they sought again to take
him. They heard what he was saying. They knew what he was saying.
He said, I'm God. He said, I'm God. And even now,
men reject him, not only as Lord of the Sabbath. You see, we take
up our beds and walk on Sabbath. Why? Because he said so. Whatever
he says, we do. Whatever he says don't do, we
don't do it. Right? He's Lord of the Sabbath, and
he's our Sabbath. He's our rest. We don't rest
in a day, we rest in a person and his word. But he's the Lord
our God, too. He's our God. He's our God. This is still the issue today.
This is the issue today. You remember when they asked
Christ many questions, lawyers and scribes and Pharisees asked
him one by one many questions. He answered them all. And finally,
he put them to silence and asked them one question. Remember that? He said, what
think you of Christ? Whose son is he? Well, he said,
well, he's the son of David. Oh? Then why David call him Lord? Why David call him Lord if he's
David's son? Nobody asked him any more questions.
That's still the issue today, isn't it? If the issue is not
Preachers are saying today, what are you going to do with Jesus?
That was settled a long time ago, 2,000 years ago. That question
was asked, wasn't it? 2,000 years ago, God put Jesus,
the man Jesus, into men's hands to see what they would do with
him. They did what he determined before to be done. But he said,
here, what are you going to do with Jesus? They said, kill him.
We won't have this man reign over us. Kill him. God says,
OK, you're doing exactly what I determined you to do. You're
killing the lamb. The blood you're shedding is
the only thing that's going to put away sin. Now the question
is, not what will we do with Jesus? You see, they said, we
will not have this man reign over us. But here's the decree
God said in Psalm 2. I've declared the decree. I've
set this king on my holy hill of Zion, and you're going to
kiss his toe. You're going to kiss the sun
now, lest he be angry. You will have this one reign
over you. He reigns and rules among the
armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand. He's not in their hand now. Everybody's in his hands.
And that's what Peter preached at Pentecost, and that's what
struck fear in the people's hearts. This same Jesus is on the throne
of glory, and we're in his hands now, not to do with as we please,
but for him to do with us as he pleases. Now, now, this is the issue. And this is what Christ is answering
those who reject him here in these passages. He's answering
me. He's declaring who he is. And
here's. And you don't think I'm going
to get through them, but I will. Here's seven things. That says, don't list seven,
don't list seven things that you've been preaching for 20
minutes. But I did. All right. And I know you're
going to be counting them. Well, let's hope the Lord gives
liberty for you to hear. All right, look at what the Lord
says here. Look what he says here. He's
declaring that he's one or equal with the Father. All right, look
at him. Verse 19, 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, what
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. All right, now what he's saying
there, he's not saying that I can't do anything. myself. And I can't do anything. And
he's not saying he's just he's a man like us can't do anything
without the power of God. That's not what he's saying.
You know that, don't you? Huh? He says he has all power
and authority over all flesh. Doesn't he? He's declared, Romans
1 says, he's declared to be the son of God with what? Power. He's not saying here he doesn't
have power, he can't do anything without God, he's saying he doesn't
do anything independently of God. See that? Neither does God. See, in the beginning was the
Word. The Word was with God, the Word
was God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made which was made. See, God
didn't make anything. Without Christ, he said in Genesis,
didn't he say in Genesis, let us make man. Why did God say let us make man? Is he talking to the angel? Cherubim
to Seraphim? No, he's talking with the son,
the eternal son that was with him in the beginning. The word
was with God and the word was God. Without him was not anything
made which was made. Let us. Father and Son and Holy
Spirit make man. Creation. Creation. God decreed it. God the Son did
it. Preachers like to say God has
no hands but your hands. That's blasphemy and that's another
lie. We're not the hands of God. But
I tell you who is the hand of God. Christ. He's the hand. He's the Word
made flesh. He said, Behold my hands. Those hands that have
scars in them are the hands that created this universe. Right? He's the creator. In creation,
in redemption. From the beginning, God has been
working out the salvation of his people and he does this in
and through Christ, with Christ. Ephesians one, he keeps talking
about the grace from God the Father and Christ. God has chosen us in Christ,
hasn't predestinated us in Christ. Everything is by God, his decree
in Christ. They're in this thing together.
See that? So they're one in creation, they're
one in redemption. Secondly, secondly, Look at version
nineteen, he says, I can do nothing. Of the son can do nothing of
himself, but what he see if the father do what things, whoever
he do it, these also do it, the son, likewise. He's one, not
only in creation and redemption, the second. Point is, he's one
in will and purpose. They do nothing independently
of one another. Christ said, He said, whatever
the father willed to do is my will. He said, not my will be done,
but thy will be done. And thine is mine, and mine is
thine. All we do, we will together. We will together. And here's
another thought on that, on this saying of the Godhead in a body. God's hands are Christ's. The scripture says he purchased
the church with his own blood. God doesn't have blood. In Christ
he doesn't. Nobody but Christ's body. And
what he sees the Father's will and purpose, he wrote down. Christ is the finger of God that
wrote the Word. When Moses went up on that mountain
and it says God wrote on the tablets of stone with his finger.
What was the finger? That's Christ. Christ is the
Word. Isn't it? My Word. Christ's Word,
he said. He is the finger of God. Look
at verse 20 now. Here's the third thing. Verse
20, The Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that
himself doeth. And he'll show him greater things,
greater works than these, that you May marvel. Here's a third
thing. They're one in knowledge. They're
one in knowledge. And one in love. They love each
other. They love each other. But they're
one in knowledge. Here's the main point. Our Lord said, No man knoweth
the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal
him. Right? No man knows anything
about God unless the Son reveals it. Who's the Son? The Son is
the Word. God has in these last days spoken
unto us in the language of the Son. God is Spirit. We can't understand spiritual
language. We're flagged. But the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us and speaks to us. But he no man knows anything
about God unless it's revealed to it. But this man God in flesh
knows all about God knows all things. Can you say. You know
all things. How does he know all things about
God. They're one and the same. That makes him equal with God
equal with God. All right look at verse 21. Here's
the fourth thing. Verse 21, "...as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will." They are one, God the Father and God the Son. As the father raises up the dead
and quickeneth them. That's what the word quickeneth
means. It means to give life. That's what it means to give
life. All right. Listen. The scripture says in
him we live and move and have our being. In who? In God. Paul quoted that. He's saying
in God we live and move and have our being. But 1 John 1 says
in him was life. In Christ was life. In Christ
is life. Right? Now, wait a minute. Paul
said, in God we live and move and have our being. Well, John
said over here, in him was life. In Christ was life. Well, are
they contradicting one another? No. I and the Father are one. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. I am the life. And he said in
1 John 5, verse 20, he said, This is the true God and eternal
life. We know the Son of God has come
and has given us an understanding that we might know him that is
true. And this is the true God and eternal life, Jesus Christ. They are one and the same. And
look at this. It says, He quickeneth whom he
will. You see that? Are you still with me? Not me. We're just reading Christ's words
here. Are you with me? What is Christ is saying here?
Verse twenty-one, he said, "...this Father raiseth up the dead, and
quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will."
Whom he will. Whom he will. Whom he will. This is the heart of the gospel
of sovereign grace. Whom he will. This is the heart
of God's glory. This is the essence of God's
glory, His sovereign will. I had several verses written
down, but will not turn to them. But do you know how it says in
Exodus 33? That God says, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. Right? Isaiah 43 verse 13 says, God
will work and who shall let it. He said, I have purposed it,
I will do it. I have spoken it, and it shall
come to pass. I will, I will. God doesn't ask
us, what will you do? The issue is not up to our will.
It's God's will. It says, He quickeneth whom He
will, not who will let Him. Right? He doesn't say that God
gives life to whoever accepts Jesus as their personal Savior.
He doesn't say that. They're dead in sin. They can't
accept Jesus. You see, and God gives all the
glory. God's glory is at stake here. Daniel 4.35, old Nebuchadnezzar
learned it, didn't he? He learned it the hard way. He
had to go out and become like a beast. You know, some of us got like
that. You're looking at a fellow that got like that. My hair grew
like feathers back when it used to grow long like feathers. If it had been fashionable to
wear your fingernails long and all that, Nebuchadnezzar, you
know, looked like a wild beast. So did I. And he said, I learned,
though, when I was out there, I learned that the most high
rulers That God rule reigns and rules among the armies in heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his
hand and say unto him, what doest thou? God does all, worketh all things
unto the counsel of his own will. It's not left up to man's will.
Isn't that what he said? He quickeneth whom he will, whom
he will, whom he will. When the leper came to Christ,
he said, Lord, if You will. And if you will, you can make
me. Not after our will, the sooner
men learn this, the more sooner they'll start crying unto God
for mercy. And quit accepting Jesus, I won't say man, bowing,
fearing God and bowing and crying for mercy will. And he quickens
them, he raises them. And that cries is life begun. All right, look at the next thing.
Verse twenty two and twenty three. Verse twenty two and twenty three,
the father judges no man who has committed all judgment under
the sun. All men should honor the sun,
even as they honor the father. Jeanette, you used that with
some so-called Jehovah's Witnesses, didn't you, that came to your
door? That's perfect. All men should honor the Son
even as they honor the Father, in the same way, with the same
extent, should pray, worship, honor, exalt the Son just as
much as the Father. Why? Because they're equal. Didn't he say that? That's what
he said. They're one in honor. They're
one in honor. And they're one in judgment.
They're one in judgment. You see, the scripture says that
he's the judge of the quick and the dead. Didn't we read that
over there in Revelation 1? He says, I have the keys of...
This doesn't sound like General Jesus making mild at me or talking
about the dead. He has keys of hell and death
at his side. Isaiah 63 talks about him walking,
treading on men when he comes to judge this earth and his garments
soaked in their blood. It sounds like poor Jesus who's
wringing his hands hoping somebody does it. This is the true God. This is
the true Jesus Christ, the scripture right here. Right? All judgment. All judgment. He's the judge
of the quick. He's the just God and say. And
it's a an honor. And look at the next thing, verse
24 through 26. Barely, barely, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me have everlasting
life. And shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. Barely, barely, I say unto
you, the hour is coming. And now he is, when the dead
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, they that hear shall
live. He's one with God in all power. He upholds all things by the
word of his power, his power. And Peter said, this is the gospel
we preach unto you. And lastly, lastly, he's one
in authority. He's one in authority. He said
in verse twenty-seven, God hath given him, verse twenty-six,
as a father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the son to
have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute
judgment also, because he's the son of man. He's the son of man. Our Lord said, Later on, I and my father are
one. I and my father are one. And
they took up stones here to stone him, didn't they? They took up
stones to stone him. And some in our day, if they
hear these things that we've spoken, and all we've done is
read the word of God, Old and New Testament concerning him,
who he is, what he does. And men, if it were lawful, would
take up stones to stone us, wouldn't they? But our Lord said in another
place, he that is of God, heareth God's word. And they heareth
Christ, and they bow the knee. They don't come running up to
accept Jesus. They don't come running up so
quickly to kiss him like Judas on the cheek as equals. They
bow at his feet like Mary of old. They kiss his feet. They
bow to me. And they say with Thomas of old,
my Lord and my God. My God. And after the way they
call heresy, that's the way I worship. So worship I, the God of my father's. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
God. Great is the mystery of Godliness.
God was manifested in the flesh. All right, let's stand and be
dismissed in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we come
to you in the name of your Son, who is God in come in the flesh, God
incarnate. And when we exalt our God, we
exalt the Son. When we exalt the Son, we exalt
the Father. And all of this comes through
the revelation and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of truth. We thank Him. We honor the Spirit in honoring
the Son. and honoring the Son, we honor
the Father. Lord, these things are mysterious and they're too
great for us, too high for us, yet we believe them, we believe
Him, and we marvel in the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Open our understanding further and see who He is, see Him as
He is, until that day when we see Him with these eyes. to gather
us again this coming Sunday to worship this same God who is
worthy. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.