If you would, open your Bibles
again to John chapter 5. The title of the message this
morning is, Jesus of Nazareth is God. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
not just that he's equal with God, he is God. Now, the theme of John's Gospel
is the deity of Christ. His theme is, you go all the
way through his Gospel, showing us this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
is God in human flesh. And our text this morning states
that as plainly as it can possibly be stated. Now, you remember
the Lord had healed this impotent man and the Jews were angry because
the Lord had made himself equal with God. And they shouldn't
have been upset when he told them that he's equal with God
because he is God. Now, I make an issue of that
for this reason. What's the issue of salvation? Well, the issue has always been,
what think ye of Jesus? That's the issue. The issue is,
who is this man, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth? And I want
to tell you plainly this morning from God's Word that this man,
Jesus of Nazareth, is God. I want to do that for two reasons.
First of all, so that we will be shut up to Christ. If we see that Jesus of Nazareth
is God. We'll come begging him for mercy
if we see that he's God. Second, I want to make this plain
from God's word. Jesus of Nazareth is God. So
that those of you who have already believed will leave here this
morning comforted and confident in your Savior because your Savior
is none other than God. So he can't fail. Our Lord just
healed an impotent man on the Sabbath day. Our Lord healed
this man sovereignly. He picked one sick person out
of that whole multitude and healed him. And he did that showing
us he's the Lord of the Sabbath. Now the Jews didn't like it,
but now he's Lord. So he's Lord over everything.
Certainly he's Lord of the Sabbath. And these Jews were so angry
that the Lord dared violate the Sabbath day by showing mercy
and healing someone who was helpless, healing someone who was in need
on the Sabbath day. They were so angry they were
trying to kill him. Now, remember, it's still Sabbath
day. And they're trying to kill this
man, Jesus. Well, apparently it's OK to kill
somebody on the Sabbath day, but it's not OK to show mercy
and heal someone on the Sabbath day. Now, that's how twisted
religion is. I mean, that's twisted, that's
perverse. But that's what dead men come
up with, isn't that right? And Peter, we looked at this
Wednesday night, Peter said we must be redeemed. from this false
religion, we must be redeemed from this awful way of thinking. And the only way that will happen
is through this person, the Lord Jesus Christ, through God's Redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one that the Father sent to redeem his people. And he is one with
the Father. Our text here, we're going to
see this morning, shows us seven ways that this man Jesus of Nazareth
is one with the Father. And he tells us that so we'll
know who he is. And we're commanded in the gospel
to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
commandment of the gospel. Well, who is he? We'll look at
our text this morning. He's going to tell us exactly
who he is. This is the one to whom we are
to look. He's God. First, Jesus of Nazareth
is one with the Father in the work of salvation. In verse 17,
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Now in every work, in the work
of creation, in all the works of providence, the Lord Jesus
is one with the Father. It was Christ who spoke the world
into existence. He's the Word of God. It's Christ
who spoke the world into existence. He said, Let there be light,
and there was light. And it's Christ, the Son. who upholds
all things by the word of his power. It's Christ who keeps
all this, everything, spinning in motion. Now God did rest the
seventh day, didn't he? But what did he rest from? He
rested from his work of creation. He rested from it because it
was done. But God never stopped his work of governing the earth. Certainly God never stopped his
work of salvation, did he? He never rested from that. of God's elect was purposed and
planned by God in eternity past. But that wasn't just done by
the Father. That was done by the whole Godhead, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. Now that work was finished before
the foundation of the world. Christ is the Lamb slain from
before the foundation of the world. Now before there was a
sinner, there was a Savior. because God had already appointed
the sacrifice for sin before he ever made man, put him on
this earth. So in the mind and purpose of God, salvation was
accomplished. It was done. No doubt that that
salvation would be accomplished. Now, since the work of salvation
is finished before the foundation of the world, it was finished
when only God existed. Well, then when Adam came along
and sinned, his sin couldn't damn God's elect, could it? Because
the work was already finished. And the personal sin of God's
elect can't damage, can't ruin God's work of redemption because
the work was already finished before we ever existed. And the
Lord Jesus says now he's come in the flesh, he's come to this
earth and he's one with the Father in this work of salvation. Now
that means he is God doing the work of salvation. And he's doing
it as a man on this earth. And he's accomplishing the salvation
of his people. This work that he did of healing
this impotent man on the Sabbath day is part of his work of salvation,
revealing himself to be the Messiah. And these Jews understood exactly
what our Lord was saying. I always want people to be crystal
clear. When you leave those doors, I
want you to understand exactly what I'm saying. I don't want
you driving home asking your wife, well, reckon what he's
saying. Now, you may not believe what I'm saying, but I want you
to understand exactly what I'm saying. These Jews understood
precisely what our Lord was saying. Look at verse 18. Therefore,
the Jews sought the more to kill him because he not only had broken
the Sabbath, but he said also that God was his father, making
himself equal with God. Look over at John chapter 10.
They never got over this. They were so angry because this
man is saying he's equal with the father. In John 10 verse
30. Our Lord says this so plainly,
you cannot mistake what he says here in verse 30. I and father
are one. Now he's not, that my is in italics.
What he's saying is I and God the father are one. Oh, then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good
works have I showed you from my Father, for which of these
works do you stone me? And the Jews answered him, saying,
for a good work we stone thee not. You can do all the good
works you want, well, unless it's on the Sabbath day, you
know, that's their twisted mind, twisted heart. For a good work
we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because of thou being a man,
makest thyself God. Now, there's only one reason
you get angry at our Lord. for saying he's one with the
Father. And the only reason you get angry is if you don't believe
Him. Now, if I stand up here and tell
you that I'm God, you'd get angry. Maybe you would have stoned me,
but you'd get up and leave. You'd never be back to hear me
preach again if I told you I'm God. You'd be angry at that.
Well, why would you be angry? Because I'm not God. But if I
tell you I'm Frank Tate, you say, Well, nice to meet you,
Frank. Good to see you again, Frank. You're not angry at all.
Why? Because I am, Frank Tate. Jesus
of Nazareth is God, so we ought not be angry when he says he
is God. He's just telling us who he is.
And I say this, if we say that Jesus of Nazareth, if we just
say if we say equal with the father. We're really not accurately
saying who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Jesus of Nazareth, this man
that we're reading about, is equal with the Father because
Jesus of Nazareth is God. It's not that they're two separate
but equal beings. He is God. There's one God manifest
in three persons, but there's one God and Jesus of Nazareth
is God. And that made these Jews so angry.
But I'm telling you, I rejoice. I mean, I am thrilled To know
this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is God. I'm thrilled. Mike, that's
the only way I can be saved. That's the only way salvation
can be accomplished is if this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is God.
The Savior must be God so that he can be all the perfection
that God requires. Only God can produce this perfection. Only God can be perfectly holy. Only God can be perfectly righteous. Only God can produce that. But
the Savior must be a man. He must be bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh so that he can be the representative of
sinful men. He must be a man so he can be
the sacrifice, so he can be the substitute for sinful men. God can't be my substitute, but
a man can. So God became a man. That's the
only way a sinner can be saved. It's through the life, the death,
the burial, the resurrection of the God-man. God in human
flesh. And that is exactly who the Lord
Jesus Christ is. He's equal with God because He
is God standing there in human flesh. And I rejoice because
that's my Savior. That's who my Savior must be. Now, if you're here this morning
and you're lost, And typically, if you're lost, you know it.
If you're lost. Would you like to be saved? I
mean, just be honest. Then run to Christ. I just showed
you He's the Savior. That's the only way you can be
saved from your sin. Then run to Him. He's God. He has the power in His blood
to cleanse you from all of your sin. Then run to Him. Since He's God, His righteousness
is perfect. And you will be too if you're
dressed in His righteousness. Unto Him. And if you already
know the Savior, I hope this brings joy and happiness and
peace to your heart. To know that it is the blood
of God that blotted out your sins. Well, then there's no worry
that will ever come back. Is it? Because it's God's blood
that blotted it out. If you have the righteousness
of Christ imputed to you, brother, you're righteous and God loves
you and he accepts you exactly like he loves and accepts his
son because you have his righteousness. Now, that ought to bring joy
and peace and confidence to our heart because Christ is your
Savior. It is impossible. for you to
perish in hell if Christ died for you. Because it's God that
justifies it. It's Christ who died. Then you're
saved. If God justifies you, Christ
died for you, now you're saved. He's risen again and you're saved. That is the work of God in salvation. And I'm telling you, look to
Christ now. The only revelation you will ever have of God is
this man, Jesus of Nazareth. Look back at John chapter 1.
The only revelation we'll ever have of God is the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. In John 1 verse 18, no man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared Him. The only way you're ever going
to see Him is by seeing the Son. Look over in John chapter 14. John 14, verse 8. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me is just
like he seen the Father. That's not what he said, is it?
He that hath seen me is just as good as if he'd seen the Father.
That's not what he said. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father." The only revelation we'll ever have of the Father
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The saints in heaven, that's
who they see. In this life and in eternity,
that's the only one we'll ever see. It's the Lord Jesus Christ.
The redeemed in glory, they see the Lamb on the throne. They
see in the midst of the throne a Lamb as it had been slain.
They sing, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Who is this Lamb?
It's not the Father. It's the Son. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look to Him. He's the only revelation
the Father will ever have. Second, Jesus of Nazareth is
one with the Father in will and in purpose. Look back at our
text. John 5, 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. For what thing
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Now, these
Jews were so angry that our Lord had made himself equal with God.
He said, verily, verily, truly, truly, nothing could be more
true. I am equal with the Father because
I am God. Now, our Lord did not sin when
he healed this man on the Sabbath day. Now, you would agree it's
impossible for God to sin, because God's holy, right? So it's impossible
for God to sin. Well, the exact same thing is
true of Jesus Christ. He didn't violate the Sabbath
day. When he healed this man, he's accomplishing God's will
and God's purpose. Now, when our Lord says he can
do nothing of himself, he's not limiting his power. He's not
limiting his deity. He's not saying somehow his deity
is inferior to the deity of the Father. What he's saying is he
cannot act independent of the Father. He won't act, ever, according
to just his own will, independent of the Father, because the Father
and the Son have exactly the same will. The Father and Jesus
of Nazareth have exactly the same will. You know why? They
have the same nature. They have the exact same nature,
so they must will and do the exact same thing. What the Father
does, the Son does. What the Son does, the Father
does, because they're one in nature, they're one in will,
they're one in purpose, they're one in power. The Father decreed
the salvation of his elect in eternity past, and the Son and
the Holy Spirit have the exact same decree. What the Father
decreed, the Son purchased, and what the Son purchased, the Holy
Spirit carried out. They have the same will, the
same purpose, it's the salvation of God's elect. Third, Jesus
of Nazareth is one with the Father in knowledge. Look at 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 ye may marvel. Now look
over at Romans chapter 11. And no man is capable, no mere
man is capable of understanding and knowing God. Who can understand
God? In Romans 11, verse 33, all 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 hath been his counselor? Or who hath
first given to him, that it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to
whom be glory for ever. Amen. No mere man can understand
God, but Jesus of Nazareth knows and understands God. He understands
all the works of God, all the ways of God, because Jesus Christ
is God. Look in John chapter 18. In verse 3, Judas then, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh hither with lanterns, and torches, and weapons. Jesus
therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? all things. That means a whole
lot more than our Lord Jesus knew all the treachery that took
place with Judas and this mob to bring this mob out to him.
Jesus knowing all things means a whole lot more than he knew
all the events that were going to take place and happen to him
in these coming hours. This means he knew all things. He knew why all these things
were happening. Because everything that must
happen to him is going to happen to him according to his own eternal
decree. He knew all things because he
has decreed all things. Now, as God, Jesus, that man,
Jesus, knew all things because he's God. But he says here in
verse 20 that the father showeth him all things that he doeth.
Now, what does that mean? Why does he have to be showed
something if he already knows everything? Well, as God, he
knew all things. As the Son of Man, God showed
him things. Now, you just go figure that.
You can't go figure it, but just go and ponder on that this afternoon.
As God, he knew all things. at the Son of Man, the Father,
showed him things. Just ponder that and marvel.
This is the Savior. And if you think healing an impotent
man on the Sabbath day, tell him to take up his bed and walk,
you think that's something? Does that offend your flesh?
You just wait until you see what's going to happen. You just wait
until you see the will of the Father and the Son in redemption
carried out. You just wait until you see sinners
justified. through the sacrifice of this
man. You just wait. Now the verse began, I saved
this to the end of this verse, the Father loves the Son. The Father loves the Son. I wish
everyone who goes around saying God loves everybody would just
stop for a minute and read God's Word. Every person here, if you
can read, you see what that says. The Father loveth the Son. The
Father certainly does not love everyone. Hell is eternal testament
to that. God doesn't love everyone. The
Father loves the Son. The Father only loves the Son. All of the love of the Father
is vested in His Son. This slogan, God loves everyone,
is a lie that's been hatched in hell. The Father loves the
Son. And the only way that God will
ever love any son of Adam is if that son of Adam is in His
Son. That's the only way. God's love is a sovereign love,
and it's found only in His Son. Now, would you like for God to
love you? I would. I'd like for God to love me.
Would you like for God to love you? Then get in His Son. He's not going to love you for
who you are. He'll only love those who are
in His Son. Then get in His Son. And if you're
in Christ, If you believe Christ, you'd be thankful for this. God
loves you. Other people may not. Who cares? God loves you with an eternal,
everlasting, unchangeable, unsearchable love. If you're in his son, God
loves you like he loves his son. Fourth, Jesus of Nazareth is
one with the Father in sovereignty. Verse 21, For as the Father raiseth
up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will. And we'll come back to the raising
of the dead here in just a moment. But the point I want to make
from this verse is this. The sovereignty of Christ. Jesus
Christ is God. So He's sovereign in all things
because God's sovereign in all things. And He just showed everyone
who's paying attention He's sovereign. He singled out one impotent man
out of that multitude of sick people and healed him and then
vanished. He didn't heal anybody else.
And he can do that because he's God. He's sovereign. That physical
healing is a picture of spiritual healing. And that's what salvation
is. It's healing, healing all of
our sin sicknesses. And the Son is sovereign in this
matter of healing, of spiritual healing, giving spiritual life. He's sovereign the same way the
Father is sovereign, because they're one. The Son quickens. He makes alive. He gives life
to whom He will, just because He will. And if you look over
in Exodus chapter 33, this is God's chief glory. He'll quicken
whom He will. He'll have mercy on whom He will. His sovereignty and salvation
is His chief glory. In Exodus 33, verse 18, Moses
said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Moses, you've seen
all the miracles, the plagues in Egypt. Moses, you've seen
the Red Sea parted. I mean, come on. Moses knew. Moses saw that bush that didn't
burn. God spoke to him out of that
bush. What else do you want to see,
Moses? Moses said, I didn't see it yet. I haven't seen God's
glory, His real essential glory yet. Show me your glory. I beseech
thee. God said in verse 19, I'll make
all my goodness pass before thee and I'll proclaim the name of
the Lord before thee. What's God's goodness? I'll be
gracious to whom I will be gracious and I'll show mercy on whom I
will show mercy. That's God's greatest And the
Son, Jesus of Nazareth, is one with the Father in this sovereignty,
quickening whom He will. Now, He's sovereign. He does
as He pleases. And I know the flesh doesn't
like that, but it's so. And we must learn this truth. There's a reason I make an issue
of this. God's sovereign. I make an issue of it for this
reason. No one will ever worship God until they learn this. God's
sovereign. And when I say God's sovereign,
this is what I mean. I'm crystal clear. This is what
I mean. God's sovereign. That means you and I are powerless. We're powerless in this matter
of salvation, completely and utterly dependent upon God to
do something for us that we cannot and will not do for ourselves.
We're powerless. There's nothing you can do to
get God to save you. You can't bribe him. You can't
make him like you a little bit. You're powerless. You can't do
anything. You're completely in his hands
to do with as he pleases. And unless God saves you, unless
he decides out of his free will, out of his goodness to save you,
you will perish in your sins. And until you learn that, you'll
never worship God. If you look over Jonah chapter
one, I'll show you an example of this. Here the Lord told Jonah, you
go down there to Nineveh and you preach. Jonah didn't want
to go. He got on a ship and he's on the run from God. And you
know the story. The Lord sent this great storm.
Verse 11, these sailors are on this ship. They said to Jonah,
what shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us?
For the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me
up, and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm
unto you. For I know that for my sake,
because of my rebellion, this great tempest is upon you." Well,
they didn't want to do that. They didn't want to throw this
man into the ocean. They knew he was going to die. So, verse 13, nevertheless, the
men rode hard to bring it to land, and they could not. For the sea wrought, and was
tempestuous against them. They worked as hard as they could
possibly work But they were powerless to save themselves. They're powerless. And when they realized that,
when all their energy was expended and they finally realized we're
in the hands of God to do with us as he will, because we're
powerless. Then, verse 14, they cried unto
the Lord and they said, we beseech thee, we beg thee. You're not
going to beg anything until you know you're powerless to obtain
it on your own. We beseech thee. We beg thee,
O Lord. We beseech thee. Let us not perish
for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For
thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee." Now, until we
learn that, we'll never worship God. He's sovereign. Now, I want
to ask you a question. You answer this question in your
heart. God's sovereign. You can't do anything to make
Him save you. What are you going to do with that truth? I want
you to answer that question in your heart. What are you going
to do with that truth? Well, your answer depends on
this. What do you think of Christ? The flesh is going to say that's
not fair and storm off. All right. That's what you want
to do. Go ahead. I'm warning you, you're storming
off into hell, but all right. That's what the flesh is going
to do. I can't talk you out of it. But I'll tell you what I'm
going to do. If I'm going to go to hell, unless
God saves That's what I deserve. If God's going to give me what
I deserve, unless He saves me, I'm not going to be mad about
it. That's what I deserve. I'm going to beg Him to save
me. I mean, that's what anybody's sense is going to do. And when
we arrive at that point, then we're going to begin to commence
to start to worship God. That's when we're going to worship
Him. We'll worship God when we know this. He's one. The Father and the Son and the
Spirit are one. in sovereignty. And that makes
me worship him. By God's grace. I'm not saying
anything about myself other than this. By God's grace, that makes
me worship him. Fifth, Jesus of Nazareth is one
with the Father in judicial rights. Look at verse 22. For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Now
every human being inherently knows this. God's put this knowledge
in us. God's going to judge us for our lives. He's going to
judge us for our sin and our lives here below. We know, just
inherently we know that God is the one with whom we have to
do. We're going to answer to him. Well, you remember when
Abraham was interceding for Sodom? Abraham made this statement,
shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Well, Abraham
recognized God as judge, didn't he? Our Lord says here, the Father
judges no man. The Father has given all judgment
to the Son. We must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, of this man, Jesus of Nazareth. He's
God, because God's the judge, right? Well, Jesus Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth is the judge. He is God. But he's also the
Son of Man. Look at verse 27. And have given
him authority to execute judgment also. Because He is the Son of
Man. Now who better to be the judge
than the Son of God who knows everything and the Son of Man
who can identify with men. Isn't that wonderful? That just
thrills my soul. The Son of God who knows everything
and the Son of Man who can identify with men is the judge. Our Savior
took the sins of His people And he suffered for them. Dale, he
bled and he died for those sins. He put those sins away with his
precious blood. Now, no one knows better than
him than the sins of his elect have been paid in full. Nobody
knows better than him. I'm glad he's our judge. No one
knows better than him the debt of his elect has been paid. He's
going to say not guilty. Because no one knows better than
him the debts paid. I'm glad Christ is our judge.
As a man, he worked out a perfect righteousness that he infused
to his people. I'm glad he's the judge. No one
will recognize Christ's robe of righteousness better than
Christ himself. He's going to recognize his righteousness
and he's going to say, not guilty. He's the judge. He's one with
the Father in judicial rights. It's just right he be the judge. It says, Jesus of Nazareth is
one with the Father in honor. 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 is sin. Now the
chief duty of man is to glorify God, to honor God. It is impossible
to honor God and not honor the Son. It is impossible for you
to honor me if you dishonor my daughters. It's just impossible. These Jews pretended to be the
protectors of God's honor. But you can't honor the Father
if you dishonor the Son, like they're doing. You cannot love
the Father and hate the Son who's the only revelation of the Father.
He's the express image, the exact image of the Father. Well, you
can't hate Him and love the Father. You can't know the Father and
not know the Son who's the express image of the Father. You can't
worship the Father and refuse to worship the Son who is one
with the Father. Look at 1 John chapter 2. Any
worship other than the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ is idolatry. Any worship that's not the worship
of the Lord Jesus Christ is a denial of God, a denial of the Father. In 1 John 2, verse 22, who is a liar? But he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ. Well, he's an antichrist that
denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father. You just can't get more plain
than that. You can't honor the Son by saying, well, now He did
everything, everything He can do. Now it's up to you. That's
not honoring the Son. You can't honor the Son by saying,
well, He died for everybody. He gave everybody a chance. But
some people go to hell anyway. What honor is that? That's dishonoring
His death. That's dishonoring His sacrifice.
Now, either Christ saved everyone that he loved, either Christ
saved everyone that he willed to save, or he's not God at all. He's the greatest imposter that's
ever lived. There's no other. It's those
two extremes. But I'm telling you on the authority
of God's word, he is God and he has completely and utterly
saved his people from their sins. Oh, I love that. I love that.
That's all my hope. And if you want to honor the
Son, Father, honor the Son. Well, all right. That makes sense. So then how do I honor the Son?
We honor Jesus Christ by believing Him. That's what you do to honor
Him. By believing Him, by trusting
Him, by relying on Him to be all of your salvation. Faith
in Christ. Just believe in Christ. honors
not just the Son, but the Father, too, by believing Him. And last,
Jesus of Nazareth is one with the Father in life-giving power. Verse 24, 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 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." Now, our Lord here is talking about the
resurrection of the dead. He's not talking about the physical
resurrection of the dead. He's not talking about anybody
being in the grave here. He's just talking about being dead.
Verse 28 is where he's talking about the resurrection of the
dead, where he says, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming
in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.
That's talking about the resurrection of the dead. In these verses,
our Lord's talking about giving spiritual life, giving spiritual
life to dead sinners. Now, when will someone receive
spiritual life? At the very moment they hear
the voice. of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
they hear His voice, they're going to receive life. You're
not going to hear an audible voice. It's when you hear Christ,
the Word of God. Speak through His Word. Speaking
through the Gospel of God's dear Son. And you hear with an ear
of faith. It's not just hearing like you
perceive a sound. This hearing our Lord is talking
about here is hearing and believing. Believing in faith. It's hearing
and experiencing God's grace in the heart. That's when a dead
sinner will live. And those who hear, like our
Lord is talking about here, those who hear, they love God's sovereign
grace. They love Christ as their only
Savior. They love the gospel of Christ.
They won't listen to anything else. Christ is their all. Now, you who believe, why do
you believe? Well, the only reason that you
hear and you believe is God's given you life. If he gives you
life, you will believe. And you won't come into condemnation
because Christ was already condemned in your place. You've passed
from the condemnation of the law to justification in Christ. And you'll never die because
you've passed from death into life. You've passed from death
in Adam to life in Christ. Now, the Father and the Son,
Father and Jesus of Nazareth, they're one in this matter of
life. The Father has a life in himself. He's not dependent on anything
or anyone else for him to have life. He's got life in himself. You and I are dependent. We can't
take our next breath without God. We're completely dependent
on him to give us air to breathe, to get food to eat. to give these
bodies the life to function. We're completely dependent on
Him. God's dependent on no one. He just has that life inherently
in Himself. And the Father, in His goodness,
has purposed to give life to dead sons of Adam. Now, the Father
hasn't given that life to His Son. The Son's equal with the
Father. Jesus of Nazareth has life in
Himself, too. He's self-existent. He's not
dependent on anyone else. But the father has put eternal
life in the hands of his son. That's what when he says he's
given him, he's put eternal life in his son. Eternal life. You know where it's found? It's
found in Jesus Christ. You know why? Because that's
where God put it. I lose something sometimes. I just forgot where
I put it. It's not lost anymore. You want to know where life is?
It's exactly where God put it. It's in His Son. And Jesus of
Nazareth came as a man and secured that life for His people by dying
in their place. And justice demands those people
go free because Christ died and He rose again. Not one of them
is going to perish because the Father and the Son are one in
this matter of giving life. And He gives it to everyone for
whom Christ died. And brethren, the work's finished. Then come to Christ for life. The work is finished. Rest. I hope that you who believe will
rest this afternoon because God has given you life. And this
life is in His Son. Look to Christ. He's the only
revelation of God you'll ever see. The Son of God and the Son
of Man. That's the only way sinful men
like you and me can be redeemed. I give thanks. Let's bow in prayer. Father, we beg of Thee that this morning,
in Your mercy and in Your grace, Grant this life that you've just
spoken of. The Son quickeneth whom He will.
Oh, we believe that. We know that. We're dependent
upon this awesome truth. The Son quickeneth whom He will.
Father, we beg of Thee that You would grant life this morning. That You would grant life in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That here in the ears of Thee,
Father, would you give us here this morning a hearing ear, an
ear that hears and believes the Lord Jesus Christ. Enable us
to honor the Son by believing Him, by resting in Him, by looking
to Him. He's all and in all. Father, if you would, if you
will, You can grant life this morning. We beg of thee that
you would. It's in that name which is above
every name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray and we
give thanks.