Would you turn with me to John
Chapter 5? While you're turning there, I'll
announce what I'm going to preach on tonight. We're going to be looking at
1 Corinthians Chapter 5, and I'm asking this question from
that passage of scripture. Are you afraid of sin? Are you afraid of sin? John Chapter 5. Let me go ahead and read these first nine verses to remind
you of what has taken place. After this, there was a feast
of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, there is a
Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the
Hebrew tongue Bethesda. Having five porches, in these
five tiers or porches lay a great multitude of impotent folk, the
blind, halts, paralyzed, withered, waiting for the moving of the
water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the
pool and troubled the water. Whosoever, therefore, first,
after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of
whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there.
which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw
him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that
case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent
man answered him, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled
to put me in the pool, for while I am yet coming another step
is down before me. Jesus saith unto him, 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 it
was the Sabbath. Look down in verse 18, Therefore the Jews sought the
Lord to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
or their view of the Sabbath, but he said also that God was
his Father, making himself equal with God. I've entitled this
message, Equal with God. There is, always has been, and always will
be only one issue. What do you think of Christ? Now that is the only issue. There are no other issues. This
is the one issue. When God sees you, when He looks
into your heart, what does He see regarding your personal thoughts
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you think of Christ? Now, what you really think of
God the Father, what you really think of God the Holy Spirit,
what you really think about yourself and others, and what you think
about God's salvation will be determined by what you think
of Jesus of Nazareth. When He looks into your heart,
What does he see that you think concerning Jesus of Nazareth? What think ye of Christ? Now,
this passage of scripture, John chapter five, there's not a more
awesome passage anywhere in the word of God than the one before
us. In this passage, we're going to look at this morning. Jesus
of Nazareth gives us his own testimony concerning who he really
is. And now we need His Spirit to
enable us to hear what's being said in this fifth chapter of
John. As a matter of fact, I've read this fifth chapter of John
so many times over the years. And every time I've read this
passage of Scripture, I've gone away with kind of a feeling that,
boy, there's just so much in this that's beyond me. But I
pray that God will be pleased to bless us with His Spirit to
hear what's being said. Now, you remember what has taken
place. The Lord Jesus has miraculously
healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. And there is much in this physical
miracle that attracts our attention. First thing that attracts my
attention is the misery and the helplessness of the state of
this man, 38 years, lying on a mat, paralyzed. We also are struck with the sovereignty
of the great physician in singling out this certain man. And Scripture
says there was a multitude of impotent people laying on these
tiers. And you know, the Lord only chose
to save a certain man and he passed by the rest. We're struck
with the total absence of this man making any appeal to Christ
or to having any faith at all previous to this healing. were
struck with the suddenness of the Lord's command. He just said,
rise, take up your bed and walk. And we're struck with the power
of Christ in making him whole. He rose. He took up his bed and
he walked. We're also struck with the fact
that Christ did this on the Sabbath day. And I think maybe what we're
most struck with and amazed by is the fact that the Jews were
angry with him over this. Verse 16 of John, chapter five,
and therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him. They sought to put him to death
because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. And the Lord
says in verse seven, remember, you're not supposed to do any
works on the Sabbath day. That's that's the command of
the Sabbath. No work at all. And we considered last week what
that represents. I think there's no works in our
salvation. What he did is everything. Now, I love what our Lord says. They were so upset over him working
on the Sabbath day, doing this on the Sabbath day. But Jesus
answered them, My father worketh hitherto and I work. The one who is my father is working
right now, and I am working also. Yes, I have the authority to
do this, because I am the Lord of the Sabbath. I am the Lord of the Sabbath. Now, they understood exactly
what he was saying, because look at their reply in verse 18. They
knew exactly what he was saying. Therefore, the Jews sought the
Lord to kill him. I mean, they were angry. They wanted to kill
him over this. The Jews sought the more to kill him because
he not only had broken the Sabbath or their view of the Sabbath.
They didn't have any understanding of the Sabbath. They made a work
out of not working. They had not a clue as to what
he was doing, but they were so angry with him over what he said
about my father works hitherto and I work. They were angry not
only that he broken the Sabbath, but also that God was his father
making himself equal with God. Now, in making that statement,
I work hitherto, and my father's work, and my father works hitherto,
and I work. He's saying, I am equal with God. Now, there's only one way of
being equal with God. What's that? The only way you
can be equal with God is if you yourself are God. That's the
only way you can be equal with God. Jesus of Nazareth, this
is my, I love saying this, Jesus of Nazareth is God. And did you hear that? Jesus
of Nazareth, that one who walked on this earth for 33 years, is
nobody less than the almighty, omnipotent God of glory, the
creator of the universe. Jesus of Nazareth is God. Now, that person who says that
Jesus was a great teacher, a great moral leader, the founder of
one of the world's great religions, that person is dishonest. Jesus Christ is either God or
he's the most deluded, imposter, arrogant liar to ever live. Don't say, well, I believe he's
one of the world's great religious leaders. No, it's infinitely
more than that. He is either God. He's either
the creator of the universe, the one who's in absolute control,
or he's the greatest imposter and most arrogant man to ever
live, because he did make himself equal with God. Now, if I said
I am my person and equal with God, you would be revolted by
me, wouldn't you? You would be disgusted. You'd
be angry with me. What kind of claim are you making?
He makes that claim. You know, when they accused him
of being making himself equal to God, he didn't say, now, wait
a minute, I'm not going that far. He didn't reject their claims,
did he? As a matter of fact, as we go
on reading in this passage of Scripture, he demonstrates to
them that they did, in fact, understand what he was saying.
He is equal with God. He doesn't deny this accusation. Listen to this scripture, Philippians
chapter 2, verse 6, says he thought it not robbery. He thought it
not to be a thing to be grasped for. He didn't think it would
be wrong for him to call himself equal with God. That's who Jesus of Nazareth
is. He's God. Look at John chapter 8. John
8, I want to look at these scriptures. Verse 56. The Lord says to the Jews, your
father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and
was glad. Then said the Jews, have you
not yet fifty years old and has now seen Abraham? Jesus saith
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was,
I am. That's God's name. Then took
they up stones to cast at him. Look over in John chapter 10, verse 30. I and my father are one. Who He is, I am. That's what He's saying. I and
my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many good
works have I showed you for my Father. For which of these works
do you stone Me? The Jews answered Him, saying,
For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Look over in John
14, verse 8. Philip saith unto him,
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 with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
He that hath seen me, it is just as if he had seen the Father.
I didn't read that right, did I? He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. Now that is awesome. What else can I say? And what Our Lord is saying in John
and throughout the New Testament, it's the teaching of the Old
Testament. Listen to this scripture, Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 says,
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The son wasn't
born, the son's always been. He's talking about the eternal
sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty
God. I want you to turn there. I'm
quoting it, but I just want you to see it in the black and white,
in the pages of God's book, Isaiah 9, 6. You know, sometimes just reading
something is better than quoting it. I want you to read this. Verse 6. For unto us, Isaiah
chapter 9, verse 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders,
and his name shall be called Wonderful. Counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Now that is Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal,
sovereign, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God, Jesus. Oh, I
love to say this. Jesus is God. Well, somebody
believes that. It's going to be something. Jesus
Christ is God. Now, you see, who he is determines
the worth of his sacrifice. If I died for you, what eternal
good would that do? It wouldn't do a thing for you,
would it? You would have no benefit at all from me dying for you. It wouldn't do a thing for you.
Why? Because there's nothing to me.
I'm just a man. I'm just a sinful, weak man. And if I died for you,
it couldn't put away any sin. I might save you from, you know,
I might have taken your place so you wouldn't get killed. In
some respect, you're going to die sometime. Ultimately, it's
not going to do you any good. But if he died for you, It's totally different. Why?
Because of who he is. Turn to Romans 8. Very familiar
passage of Scripture. But I tell you what, you know
what Paul said to the Philippians, to write the same things to you,
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it's safe. I quote
this, I bet, once a week. But there's a reason for it. Romans 8. Beginning in verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall it not with him also freely give
us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. It wasn't
Todd that died. My, it's Christ that died. What else needs, if Jesus Christ
died for you, is there any way you can be anything but saved? You know, I can't even express
it. I want to say this with a, I
want to say this the right way. I don't know how else to say
it, though. I can't express my content. My contempt of that
belief that says that Jesus Christ can die for your sins, and you
might end up in hell anyway if you don't do something to make
what he did work. That is ridiculous, and I have nothing but contempt
for that. If Jesus Christ died for me,
my sins are paid for. It's because of who died. It's
Christ that died. It wasn't some mere sinful man.
It's some God-man who died. And if He died for my sins, they
are God. There's infinite satisfaction
in His death because of who He is. That's why God raised Him
from the dead. He's God the Son. It's the God-Man
who died and He put away the sin of everybody that He died
for. When He was raised from the dead,
God said, I'm satisfied with Him and everybody He did it for.
You see, who He is determines the worth of what he did. Jesus of Nazareth did not reject
their accusation, you make yourself equal with God, but rather he
let them know that they had in fact understood his claims. Now
back to our text in John 5. They sought, in verse 18, the
more to kill him. They were angry because not only
had he broken the Sabbath, but also he said God was his Father,
making himself equal with God. Verse 19, Then Jesus answered
them and said, 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. Now, when the Lord says he can
do nothing of himself, He's not speaking of any inferiority to
the father. It means nothing less than this.
He has one and the same power as the father so that nothing
can be done by the one that is not equally done by the other. I and my father are one. Does the father, does God exercise
sovereignty? Is God sovereign? Ain't nobody
said no he's not. Maybe there is, but that's plum
foolish. He's God. Of course He's sovereign. He's
in control. He rules and He reigns. He's the first cause behind everything.
His will's done. It's not like He doesn't have
the power to make sure His will comes to pass. Does the Father
exercise sovereignty? So too does the Son. He's in
absolute control. Is the Father all-powerful? You
say, yes, He is. So too is the Son. Everything
that the Father is, the Son is. Oh, the glory, the excellency,
the dignity of Jesus Christ. He's the express image of the
Father. You know, He said to His disciples
in John chapter 14, verse 1, let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God? Believe also in me, just as you
believe in God, just as you believe He's the omnipotent, sovereign
creator of the universe, the sustainer of all things, the
one who's in absolute control, just as you believe in Him, believe
also in me. The Father is who the Son is. The Son is who the Father is. Two distinct, separate personalities. One God. Do I understand this? Not in any way. Do I believe
it? Absolutely. I say with Thomas, as I see the
Lord Jesus Christ in spirit, by faith, I bow down with Thomas
and I say, my Lord, And my God acts of Jesus Christ as he cannot
act independently. Of the father. Now, look what
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. Now, here we read of
the near dear relationship that is between the father and the
son. The father loveth the son. Who
does God love? Right here, he loves the son.
And he loves everybody in the son, but his love is to the son. He said his word to us is still,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him, the Father loveth
the Son. And He doesn't hide anything
from Him. Nothing is hid from the Son, because He is the eternal
God. Now, as we go on reading in this passage of Scripture,
I see at least four things in the following verses that the
Lord says of Himself that tells us that He is indeed equal to
God. And I want you to remember this
as we're considering this passage of Scripture. Somebody says,
well, this is high, deep theology. I don't know what it is, but
it's the truth. It's the truth. And what God thinks of you personally
is going to be seen in how you view His blessed Son. Now, that's how important this
is. Now, He gives us four things that demonstrate to us His equality
with God the Father. Now, look in verse 21. He says, for as the Father raises
up the dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickens whom
He will. Now, here's his first mark of
equality with God. Who is the only one who's able
to raise the dead? Now, you take a dead, lifeless corpse. There's
nothing a man can do to bring that thing back to life, is there?
I mean, we've tried. It's not going to happen. When
somebody's dead, they're dead, and no man can bring them back
to life. If somebody's dead, the only
hope they have that they'll ever have life is if God raises them
from the dead. Isn't that right? Only God can
raise somebody from the dead. Now he says, as the Father raises
the dead and quickens them, and that word quicken means gives
life, quick. You know, when you cut your finger to the quick,
that means you, you know, if you cut off the dead part of
the fingernail, it doesn't hurt, does it? But if you get into the quick,
the living part, it hurts. Quick means life. The Father
raises the dead and quickens them or gives them life, even
so the Son quickens whom He will. Now, how is that? How is it that
he gives life? Well, look down at verse 26. For as the father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the son to have life in himself. And God is utterly independent. He has life in himself. He says,
if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle
on a thousand hills are mine. He's not worshipped with men's
hands as though He needeth anything. See, He gives to all life and
breath and all things. He is independent. You know,
you and I are so dependent. I mean, maybe we feel good this
morning, feel strong and healthy and so on. Maybe we're sick and
we feel feeble. But you think of how dependent
you are. The very next breath that you breathe, it's up to
God as to whether or not you'll breathe it. You're so dependent
you need Food, you need water, you need clothing, you need shelter.
If you don't have these things, you've had it. We're so dependent.
We're such dependent creatures. But you know, God is absolutely
independent. He has need of nothing. He has
sufficiency of all things in Himself. He doesn't have to eat
or drink or nobody has to do anything for Him to live. He
has life in Himself. And the Lord says, just as the
Father has life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have
life in Himself. The same independence and ability
is in the Son. And because He has no dependence,
He can independently give life. He's a totally independent being. And He has life in Himself. He's
not dependent on any. He's God. And therefore, He can
give life. Now, let's look at verse 21 again.
The first reason that He is equal with the Father is He's absolutely
independent. He has no needs. His message
is still, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle
on a thousand hills are mine. And look what he says next. Verse
21, for as the father raises up the dead and quickens them,
even so the son quickens whom he will. Now, in this passage
here, what the son does to show his equality with the father
is he asserts sovereignty to himself. He quickens. He gives
life to whom he will. Now, you remember when he walked
into that house called Bethesda with the five tiers and all the
multitudes of infinite folks and oh, what a sight that place
must have been. He went to a certain man. He
didn't go to everybody. He went to a certain man. And
he said to that certain man, rise, take up your bed and walk.
He didn't go to everybody, did he? Now, God the Father gives
life to whom He will. I can't say that strong enough. It's not up to you as to whether
or not you'll be saved. You know that notion of free
will? God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, wants to
save everybody, but it's up to your free will as to whether
or not you'll let him save you? That is a lie. It's not true. As a matter of fact, it's absolutely
ridiculous to even think anything like that. Now, that's how strongly
I want to speak. What if somebody punched me in
the nose, and I'm laying there bleeding, and they come up and
say, well, I've decided I'm going to let you forgive me of my own free
will. I'm going to let you. You'd say, that is the most ridiculous
thing I've ever heard. Yes, it is. It's no more ridiculous
than the very thought of free will and that sin. Men aren't
saved because they decide to let God save them. God saves
whoever He's pleased to save. That's so clear in the Scriptures.
He saves whom He will. Now, if you have a problem with
that, you've got a real problem. Because that's the way it is.
And we don't apologize for that. He saves whom he will. And the
Lord Jesus says, as the father raises the dead and gives them
life, even so, in the precise same manner, the son saves whom
he will. He hath mercy on whom he will
have mercy, on whom he will he pardons. And that's said of the
son. Your eternal destiny is in the
hands of Jesus Christ. Whether you're in hell or whether
you're in heaven is up to Him. And you don't have any control
in this thing. It's up to Him. That's scary
to not have any control, isn't it? But beloved, you don't have
any control. It's up to Him. He says the Son
quickens. The Son gives life to whom He
will. Now, here's the only response
to that. Lord, have mercy on me. I'm not going to get mad
at Him and say, well, that's not fair that He gives life to whom He
will. No, my response is, Lord, have mercy on me. Do something
for me. He's the controller. It's up to Him. Therefore, I
go to Him for the mercy. What do you think of that? What's
your thoughts? When God, when you hear this,
this preaching, what I'm saying right now, when God looks into
your heart, what does He see? Does He see resentment? Or does
He see, that's the truth. That's the truth. He's the only
hope. Quicken me. Have mercy on me. Now there's
His equality with the Father. He gives life to whoever He's
pleased to give life to. Look in verse 22. Here's the
third thing. First, he's equal with the Father
because he has life in himself. Second, he's equal with the Father
because he exercises absolute sovereignty and dominion. He
saves whoever he's pleased to save. And look here, thirdly,
in verse 22, For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son. The Father has committed everything
unto the Son, all judgment. He said, all power is given to
me in heaven and earth. And turn over to Matthew 25 for
a second. I want you to look at the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ here in this passage of Scripture. Verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them. He's the judge. He shall
separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep
from the goats. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the judge. Now, this is this is something utterly glorious
about his person. One, he's the advocate with the
father. He's the lawyer, he's the priest, but not only is he
the advocate with the father, he's the judge. God has committed
all judgment to him. He is the mediator. He's the
go-between. And God has committed all judgment
to him. In other words, he's the one
you're going to stand before in judgment. Father judges no
man. He's committed all judgment to
the Son. Now, what power, what glory,
what excellency there is here. He's the one who is the judge.
Now, verse 23 is where the rubber hits the road. Here's the fourth
thing. That all men, verse 23. Now,
how's he equal with the father? Well, he has life in himself.
He's absolute sovereign. He's the judge, just the way
the father is. And look in verse 23, here's where the rubber hits
the road. 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. Now that is, what's
our Lord say here? He says, if you don't honor Me
as you honor the Father, you do not honor the Father at all. I have equal honor with the Father,
and all men are called upon to honor the Son even as they honor
the Father. You know, there's a Scripture,
1 Samuel 2, verse 30, where He says, them that honor Me, Will
I honor? And them that despise me will
be lightly esteemed. Now, there's no middle ground
here. I either honor the Son or I despise Him. I either honor
the Son or I dishonor the Son. There's no neutral ground. There's
no middle ground. Now, here's what I want to close
with us thinking about. How in the world can I honor
the Son? How can I personally honor the Son? He said, them
that honor me will I honor. I'm interested in that. I want
to be honored by God. How do I honor Him? Now, how will I
answer that question? How can you actually honor the
Son? What do you think? I'm not asking
you to answer out loud, but what do you think? I've got one word
to answer that question. You know what it is? Faith. Now, this is how you personally
can honor the Son of God. And you'll receive all the honors
of God Himself in believing faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
is what honors the Son. If you honor the Son by faith,
you honor the Father. You honor God. Now, I mean, what's
this mean, this thing of faith, believing God? Well, here it
is, faith. First of all, I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is God. I believe He's man. I believe
He is who He says He is in His Word. Now, I believe. Do you believe? I really do. Probably just about
everybody say they believe. It's one thing to say you believe
and it's another thing to believe. God knows the difference. But
I do believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the creator of the universe,
the God of glory, the Son of God. I'm right there with Peter. You know, the Lord said, whom
do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, well,
they say good things. Some say you're Moses, Elijah,
one of the prophets. They put you in some pretty high
cotton. They give you, put you in some pretty good company.
I mean, they say good stuff about you. He said, But whom say ye
that I am? What do you say? Can you say
with Peter, Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God? Do you believe? Now, I believe
He is who He says He is. I believe Him with all my heart.
But let me take it a step further. This is part of faith. Not only
do I believe He is who He says He is, I trust Him as my salvation. And, beloved, while I'm speaking
to you, listen to me, I'm carefree. I'm carefree. I don't have a
worry in the world. I believe that Jesus Christ's
righteousness, that perfect obedience He worked out, is mine And it's
all I need to make me accepted before God. I believe that His
shed blood is such that it washed away all the sins of everybody
He died for. I'm relying on Him. I'm trusting
Him. And I'm footloose and fancy-free.
I mean, I'm carefree. I've got nothing to worry about.
Because I really believe that Jesus Christ is my salvation.
I don't look anywhere else. I believe that who He is and
what He did everything in my salvation, I believe. And not only do I believe who
He is, not only do I trust who He is, but this is part of faith
too. I bow the knee to Him. He is my Lord. Now, He's my Lord. When I read
where Thomas said, My Lord and my God, do you know, I say the
same thing. He's the Lord of my life. He is my Lord. I'm almost at a loss to say what
else I need to say about that, but He's my Lord. It's not just
something I believe in. It's not just a historical. He's
the Lord of my life. I bow to Him. Do you know serving
Him is the only thing that's important? It's not my first
priority. It's the only priority. Following Him, being His disciple,
being His child, being His wife, that's everything. He really
is my Lord. This isn't just talk. It's not
just theology or something I read that somebody else told me about.
No. Jesus Christ Himself, Jesus of Nazareth, is my Lord and my
God. And serving Him is everything. Now, believing Him. That's what faith is. Honoring
Him by faith. Believing He is who He says He
is. Trusting Him and being completely carefree. And that's what trust
is. If you're not carefree, it means you're looking to yourself
some way. Can you quit looking at yourself completely and just
look at Him and know that what He did is everything in salvation
and you don't need anything else? That'll make you carefree. Nothing
to stress over. Nothing to worry. He did it all.
And he really is my Lord and my God. Now that is honoring
the Son. And everybody in here, if you
believe him, you honor the Son. And look what he says in verse
23, that all men, this is God's purpose, that all men should
honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honors not
the Son. And if you and I don't do what
I've described, believing him, faith, If we don't honor the
Son, we're not honoring the Father either, which sent Him. Now may God give us grace to
truly honor the Son. Do you believe, let's begin right
here, or let's end right here. Do you believe He's equal with
God? That's honoring the Son.