Welcome to Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And now for today's program. Welcome to our program today. I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the Gospel of John chapter five, beginning at verse 17, John 5, 17, the Gospel of John.

And I'm going to preach on this subject, the testimony of the father. the testimony of the Father, speaking of God the Father. And in this portion of Scripture, of God's Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, the Son of God incarnate. That's God manifest in the flesh. God-man. He is explaining here or relaying here who He is by the authority of the testimony of God the Father, His Heavenly Father.

And of course, when you get into things like this, you get into what we know in true Christianity in the Bible as the Trinity or the Triunity of God. And that is an awesome subject. It's something that we are very, very inadequate in our human limitations and thinking to explain. We really can't analyze it. All we can do basically is read what the Word of God tells us and accept it upon that authority because God is the authority.

Now, there are a lot of people who claim to be Christian who deny the Trinity, who claim that it's polytheism, many gods, three gods, but it's not. It's not three gods, but it is one God in three persons. And it's a revelation of God, but it's a subsistence of God in these three persons, God the Father, Father representing the sovereignty and the authority and power of the Godhead. And God the Son, the second person of the Trinity.

He's the one who accomplished salvation for God's chosen people. Came to earth and united with holy humanity, sinless humanity. And He is the salvation of His people. He is the revelation of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit to us. And so God the Son and then you have God the Holy Spirit. Now all three persons and the Spirit who is the one who applies the benefits and blessings of salvation to each and every one of God's people in time. Now The triune Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. is the revelation of the one God that we worship. And the connection that we have, we who are saved, we who know God, Christ said it in John 17. He said, this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And in Colossians chapter, I believe it's chapter two, verse nine says, in him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Second Corinthians 4.9 talks about the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, the person and work of Christ. Our connection to the Godhead, to the Father, by the Spirit through the Son comes through Christ. And this is what he's talking about. Look at verse 17 of John 5. He says, but Jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto and I work.

Now, he had been challenged by the Pharisees because he had healed an impotent man on the Sabbath. And the Pharisees said that he broke the law, but he did not break the law by healing an impotent man on the Sabbath. The Sabbath laws were very strict now. There was to be no work done on the Sabbath under the Old Covenant. But it never did forbid acts of necessity and acts of mercy. They were never forbidden. And when Christ healed an impotent man, He didn't break the Sabbath. He kept the law perfectly. Now today we don't have a Sabbath day, we have Christ who is our Sabbath. He's the embodiment of the Sabbath. We rest in him spiritually for our whole salvation.

But here's what he said, he says, but Jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto and I work. Verse 18, therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him. because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father making himself equal with God. Now, when he said that in the sense, you know, well, you know, people say, well, isn't God all of our father? He's our father by creation. And then those who are saved, he is their father by adoption and grace and redemption. You need to get that straight in your mind. To whom is God a father?

Over in the book of John chapter six, just a page over, in verse... No, it's not John chapter six, it's John chapter eight, I'm sorry. John chapter eight. My memory's not as good as it used to. But in John chapter eight, the Pharisees challenged him and told him he was a blasphemer, basically. And he says, he said in John 8, 43, listen to this. He said, why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word.

The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned. These men were spiritually dead, like all of us by nature, unless we are born again by the Spirit. And so being dead spiritually, they didn't understand His Word. They understood the language, but they didn't understand the truth of it, the impact, the beauty of it.

And so he says, listen to this, John 8, 44. He says, you are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he abode not in the truth. You see, if you believe a lie, as far as your salvation is concerned, and abide not in the truth of the gospel of God's grace in Christ, that comes to us through the God-man, through his blood and his righteousness alone for all salvation, you're following a path that has been set before you by the devil. So he says, you're of your father, the devil, and you bow not in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. In other words, when he speaks a lie, he's only speaking what's natural to him. for he is a liar and the father of it. And he says in verse 45, and because I tell you the truth, you believe me not.

Every human being is a child of God by creation alone. Mark that down in your mind. We're not all, the universal fatherhood of God, the way it's preached around today is a lie. We're all children of God by creation. And that's true. But we fell into sin and death and depravity in Adam and became alienated from God. And that's our natural state.

And that's why Christ said, you must be born again or you cannot enter the kingdom or the family of God. In order to be a true, spiritual, eternal, loved child of God, it's a matter of grace in salvation, where God before the foundation of the world chose a people to be saved, to be in his family, and gave them to Christ. And Christ came and did for them what they could not do for themselves. He put away their sin by the sacrifice of himself. Their sins were charged, accounted, imputed to him. and he came to earth and united with humanity yet he was without sin and he walked this earth and kept the law he didn't break the Sabbath back here in John 5, he kept it every jot and tittle and he went to the cross and suffered and bled and died to redeem us from our sins and bring life to us before the foundation where God adopted his children into his family, his spiritual children, not by creation now, but by redemption, by election, by adoption, by justification, all of that.

And so in order to be claimed to be a true child of God now, We must be saved by the grace of God, looking towards and resting in Jesus Christ as our whole salvation. But now here, they were trying to kill him because his claim of being a son of God was literally making him equal with God. See, my claim, I'm a child of God, but I'm not God. But Christ, his father, Him being a son of God, He is God. And they wanted to kill Him.

In verse 19 of John 5, listen to this. 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.

What he's showing there is not any inability in himself. He's showing his equality with the Father. You see, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity, they're three persons, one God. The three persons are co-equal in every attribute of deity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And this is what he's saying. He acts as his father acts, and his father acts as he acts. He says in verse 20, 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. You're gonna see more, he says. So that's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now listen to me. I know that that's mind boggling.

And don't get caught up in these preachers who use earthly illustrations to try to explain the Trinity. Like sometimes they'll say something like one person has three roles, father, a son, a husband. That's not the Trinity. It's not one God in three roles. Some use the water, ice, and steam. That would be one God in three forms. It's not one God in three forms. There is no earthly illustration to describe or explain the Trinity.

It is an awesome truth. Stand back and be amazed. That's what we need to do. Oh, the depth, the richness of our God, all of that. So look, verse 21 now, he says, for as the father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will. The father and the son, they choose who they're gonna give life to. It was chosen before the foundation of the world. for the world began.

Christ called them his sheep. He's the great shepherd and they're his sheep. And he said, he gives his life for the sheep. Read it in John 10. And he said, his sheep will hear his voice and they'll follow him. Remember he told the Pharisees, you cannot hear my word because you're of your father, the devil. but my sheep hear my voice, he said, and they'll follow me. They're going to hear because he's going to give them ears to hear. That's what the Bible says in Romans chapter 10 and talks about how faith comes by hearing in verse 17 and hearing by the word of God. So he said, he quickens whom he will. He gives life. That's the new birth, that quickening. That's not natural birth. And then he says in verse 22, listen to this.

He says, for the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. Seems to be saying there that Christ in the end will be the great judge of all. And the father has committed all judgment to him. He's given it to his son as the reward of his work to save his people from their sins.

One thing I know for sure, listen to this, in Acts 17, 31, it tells us that Christ will be the judge and the standard of the judgment, where it says that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, in that he hath given assurance unto all men and that he raised him from the dead. And what does that tell us?

It tells us that for me to stand before God at judgment, and enter into His glory, spiritual life forever and ever, live forever and not be condemned to a sinner's hell and perish, I must have a perfect righteousness, a perfect righteousness that I cannot produce. And in the gospel, it's called the righteousness of God. Think about it. Paul said in Romans 1, 16 and 17, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, the Jew first, the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. So what is that righteousness of God? It's the entire merit, value, worthiness, power of the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God the Son incarnate, that he accomplished finally on the cross when he said it's finished. It's what the Bible calls the righteousness of Christ that's imputed. to His people. And so it's a righteousness that is given to His people.

It's a gift of righteousness. And it's nothing that we worked for. And it's not power to save us because we choose it. It's power to save us because it in and of itself is meritorious and worthy. And because of that, when God reveals it to us from faith to faith, from knowledge revealed to knowledge received, we will choose it. Because He makes us willing in the day of His power.

So look at it again, verse 22. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. Now listen to this, verse 23. 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.

You see there, the only way to the Father is through the Son. And the only way that we'll come to the Father through the Son is by the power of the Spirit. Applying the resurrection life of Christ in our new birth. Regenerating us, quickening us. converting us and bringing us to faith in Christ, causing us to turn away from self and idolatry and sin in the world in true repentance. And that's how we come to the Father.

He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father. Think about it, which is sinning. So look at verse 24 now. 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. Wow. Isn't that something?

Now, you remember when Christ first appeared on the scene in his public ministry? not at his birth now, but later on. It's almost 30 years later. He came to John the Baptist to be baptized. And you remember it's recorded in Matthew 3 that John first refused to baptize him because he knew he wasn't worthy. He said, I'm not even worthy to untie your shoes. But Christ said, suffer it to be so for us to fulfill all righteousness. His baptism was a picture of what he would have to do to bring out the righteousness that we need for salvation, for justification.

He had to die, he had to be buried, he had to be raised again. That's why he went down into the water and came up out of the water. And then right after he did that, that was the inauguration of his public ministry as the Messiah. And right after he did that, the father spoke from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. The spirit descended in the form of a dove.

So you had the testimony not only of the Father, but of the Spirit, and the Spirit testifies of Christ all along. His way of ministry to the people of God is to reveal Christ to them. He reveals their sinfulness, their depravity, their helplessness, and He reveals the victory that Christ had for their sins over their sins in his obedience unto death on the cross. And then he shows them the assurance of salvation, forgiveness, justification, all of that. that they come to when they come to Christ and believe in Him. But look at this verse, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me.

Faith is not natural to us. Again, we fell in Adam. and we fell into a state of sin and depravity, spiritual deadness, with no capacity or desire for the things that glorify God. And we may be religious, most people are, we may desire salvation, eternal life, but in our sin and depravity and spiritual deadness and ignorance, we wanted our way. And our way is a way that will give us some credit, some glory.

But God has his way, and it will only give him credit and him glory. And that's why we won't come to Christ on our own. People say, well, of your own free will. My friend, the Bible teaches if you're left to your own natural will, You will not come to Christ, not the Christ of the Bible.

You may come to a counterfeit. You may come to a way of religion. You may turn over a new leaf. You may stop drinking and drugging and all that stuff. You can do it. Natural man can do that. But he will not. Come to Christ, the true Christ of the Bible for all salvation and righteousness and forgiveness and eternal life. Because he doesn't have spiritual ears to hear it or spiritual eyes to see it.

Christ spoke of that in the kingdom parables. In Matthew 13, when he began to speak of the different hearers, the gospel seed going out, being preached, and different hearers, wayside, hearers on the wayside, in the stony ground and the thorny ground. And there was one good ground hearer, And that ground represents the heart of man, the mind, the affections, the will. And he told them, when the disciples asked him in Matthew 13, I think it's beginning at verse, somewhere around verse 10, they asked him, why do you speak in parables? And he said, because they seeing see not, they hearing hear not. They don't have ears to hear and eyes to see. He said to the disciples, but blessed are your ears for they hear.

Blessed are your eyes for they see. Where do you think they got those hearing ears and seeing eyes? They got them from God the Spirit in the quickening. And that's what you have to have. So he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me And what does that say? They have everlasting. If you hear and see and believe these things, God has given you life. He's given you everlasting life through Christ. You didn't earn it. You didn't make a choice to receive it. You chose him because you have it. And you shall not come into condemnation, but you've passed from death unto life.

And that comes under the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. And he says in verse 25, he says, 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. He's talking there about the end of time. Now the dead are going to come to Christ in this life, spiritually dead. but they're going to die physically again, but not spiritually. They're going to go to be with Christ.

And when he comes again, they're going to be raised from the dead and, and gathered together with him and they shall be glorified. Now that's the testimony of the father concerning his son, Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, the Lord, our righteousness. I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's word.

We are glad you could join us for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening today and may the Lord be with you.