Truer Words… Pt. 3

John, the Gospel of John, and we find
ourselves in John chapter 5. Just to set the scene for those
of you who have either been traveling or just now coming into our midst,
there is this healing that takes place at the beginning of John
chapter 5. It’s kind of a strange scene
because there was a lot of, there was a myth, really, a prevailing
notion that if a crippled person jumped in this bubbling water
at the right time, then he would be healed. Well, Jesus comes
along and interfaces with a man who believed that myth, but was
hopeless to throw himself in the water. And he just offered
the man healing. And not only does he offer him
healing, but he ends up coming back and circling back with the
man and essentially calling him to repentance for his sin. Well,
as you know, for those who have been with us or if you’re glancing
down at chapter 5, this provokes a great trouble in the community
because it was done on the Lord’s day. It was done on the Sabbath. There are those who take issue
with Jesus about doing those things on the Sabbath, even healing
a man. At the end of it, Jesus challenges
them by saying, my father is working until now and I myself
am working and he clearly put himself in the same category
as God the father and that provoked his critics. so much so that
they were seeking now no longer just to fulfill their irritation
or to fulfill their persecution, but now their design is death,
murder. Well, Jesus responds and he does
so graciously, so graciously in these solemn declarations.
I’ve suggested that there are three that Jesus responds with
here in the midst, the middle section, if you will, of John
chapter five. And they’re identified, these
solemn declarations are, they’re identified by that little phrase,
truly, truly. If you would, let’s pick up by
way of both review and context, beginning in verse 19. Therefore, Jesus answered and
was saying to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do
nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father
doing. For whatever the father does,
these things the son also does in like manner. For the father
loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing.
And the father will show him greater works than these, so
that you will marvel. For just as the father raises
the dead and gives them life, even so the son also gives life
to whom he wishes. For not even the father judges
anyone, but he has given all judgment to the son. so that
all will honor the son even as they honor the father. He who
does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Truly, truly I say to you, he
who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life
and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into
life. Truly, truly I say to you, An
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just
as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also
to have life in Himself. And He gave Him authority to
execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel
at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice and will come forth. Those who did the
good deeds to a resurrection of life. Those who committed
the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing
on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just. because
I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” Jesus is responding to his critics. And as I said, if you don’t pick
up the solemnity, I doubt that anything that I do or say this
morning is going to help you. This is a very solemn response
that Jesus is communicating to his critics And I believe that
it’s done absolutely out of a heart of love. It’s out of a heart
of compassion. Essentially, Jesus is preaching
the gospel to his critics, to those who have already designed
to kill him. And I suggested to you that there
are three of these solemn declarations, all indicated by that truly truth. The first one that we looked
at several weeks ago, is that the son does as the father does. We saw that in verse 19 and 20.
In fact, he repeats it in verse 30. The son can do nothing of
himself. It’s not that the son is powerless. It’s not that the son’s might
is limited. It’s not that the father has
him restricted in any sense. But no member of the Godhead
can go off on his own agenda and do his own thing. That’s
what Jesus is saying. The son can do nothing of himself. The son cannot implement any
plan that he has of his own. He cannot do anything that the
father does not design because it’s the Godhead. It’s a function
of the Godhead. son can do nothing of himself
unless it is something he sees the father doing and from eternity
past for all eternity God the father son and the Holy Spirit
have been on exactly the same page always and so for his critics
to assign guilt to him to suggest to him for a moment that he was
running counter to God that’s what Jesus begins to address,
truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself. Jesus goes on to begin to talk
about what had created this whole argument in the first place.
They didn’t like the healing. But they never even address the
healing. Their bigger concern is the fact that Jesus healed
on the Sabbath. And so it can’t possibly be of
God. Or is it? Look at verse 20. The Father loves the Son and
shows Him all things that He Himself is doing, and the Father
will show Him greater works. In other words, what Jesus says
is that there are going to be far greater, far more fantastic,
far more wonderful things to be done than the healing of a
cripple on the Sabbath in a miraculous way. And He articulates what those
greater works are in verses 21 and 23. We looked at this several weeks
ago. The father raises the dead and
gives them life, and the son, in like manner, gives life to
whom he wishes. Jesus didn’t heal every cripple
by the pool that day, and Jesus doesn’t grant life to every person
ever born. Not even the father judges anyone,
but he has given all judgment into the son. I want you to notice
something. This thing is so interwoven that I want to pause and just
show you a feature here. We’ve already identified that
the second declaration there in verse 24 is about life, eternal
life specifically, but also throughout this entire section and specifically
in the passage that we’ll focus on this morning, verses 25 and
following, there is judgment. But that life and judgment interplay
is really throughout this entire articulation. In verse 21, he
mentions life. In verse 22, he mentions the
judge and judgment. In verse 24, he mentions life
again, eternal life. In verse 24, he also mentions
judgment. In verse 25, he mentions life
again and then life again. In verse 26, and judgment in
verse 27. Rounding it out in verse 29,
he mentions life, eternal life again and judgment. That’s the theme, that is the
focus of this entire section. And so we come to the second
solemn declaration. Look at verse 24, the son grants
eternal life, the son grants it. That is something that the
Father has given to the Son. The prerogative is now given
to the Son to grant life to whoever He wishes. And we saw, we looked
at this. This can only be referring to
eternal life. Truly, truly, I say to you, he
who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal
life and does not come into judgment but is passed out of death into
life. Solemn. declaration, a plea for
those to repent of their foolish sin of attributing Jesus works
to himself and not to the Godhead. And then we come to the third
and solemn declaration. The third and solemn declaration
is that the son raises the dead. We’ve already seen that He has
been given the prerogative of granting eternal life. We know
that He will judge. But here in verses 25 through
29, this third solemn declaration, we see that the Son raises the
dead either to life or to judgment. There is no third alternative.
There is no middle ground. It’s either a resurrection to
life itself Eternal life or it is a resurrection to judgment
Let’s begin this morning in verse 25 The son raises the dead to
life or judgment The relationship between the Father and the Son
is now presented to us with regard to the power and the privilege
which God had entrusted to the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that
that was alluded to in verses 21 through 23, that the Father
is going to show even greater works, but He has entrusted these
two great things to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it’s a reiteration
of the power of giving life and the awful responsibility of judgment. Verse 25, if you look at it,
it is not just a simple restatement of verse 24. He’s not saying
the same thing in new words. This is an entirely new point. It is further along, if you will,
in Jesus’ argument. Verse 24 said, truly, truly,
I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who
sent me has eternal life, does not come into judgment, but has
passed out of death into life. That verse does mention, as we’ve
already seen, both life giving and judgment, but the focal point
there in verse 24 is life giving. That Jesus Christ is the one
that we must go to if we desire life, eternal life. Here in verse
25, both again are mentioned, but now the focal point has shifted. All the way through verse 29,
it has shifted to the focal point of judgment. And the argument
throughout is in essence this. If a person is not raised to
life, they remain under judgment. Did you get that? If a person
is not raised to life, eternal life, salvation, they remain
under judgment. Every person ever born on the
face of the earth comes into the world already under judgment. They don’t have to amass a life
of evil deeds to be judged. It is the sin of Adam and Eve
that is resonant upon them. Their fall was our fall. And Jesus says that without life,
without eternal life, without that gift of eternal life, there
is and remains judgment. Look at verse 25. Truly, truly,
I say to you, the solemnity almost deepens with each of these statements,
doesn’t it? Truly, truly, I say to you, verse
19, the Son can do nothing of Himself. Truly, truly, I say
to you, He who hears my word, verse 24, and believes Him who
sent me has eternal life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the
hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who hear will live. The solemnity
intensifies, doesn’t it? And now, here in verse 25, that
possibility of life now becomes a reality. It now is, is the
way the verse states it. And that sounds strange to our
ears, doesn’t it? An hour is coming and now is. Sounds strange, almost like a
contradiction. How can it be both a future hope
that an hour is coming and a present reality now is? And those words
are important and we cannot just pass over them because they tell
us about the particular nature of the resurrection, the life
that is in view. What Jesus is talking about What
kind of resurrection that it is something according to this
little phrase an hour that is coming and now is it is something
that has in a sense a future aspect to it. And yet it is already
manifesting itself. That alone prevents us from taking
this resurrection of sorts. And he says it this way, the
dead will hear the voice of the son of God. There is in some
sense, some way a resurrection, but it can’t be referring to
the future resurrection because the resurrection that Jesus mentions
here is different from what he’ll mentioned there in verse 28.
Look at verse 28. Do not marvel at this for an
hour is coming. in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice. That is the resurrection of the
dead. There he is talking about physical resurrection, but here
in verse 25 it’s different. Here in verse 25 he doesn’t mention
the tombs as he does in verse 28. And in verse 28 he only says
an hour is coming. He doesn’t say as he does here
in verse 25, and now is. This is something altogether
different. This is a different kind of quote unquote resurrection. That resurrection is future. The one that he mentions in verse
28, this resurrection, this new life is happening now. What is
it? You can’t possibly be a reference to those few literal resurrections
from the dead that Jesus performed, Lazarus and others. primarily because Jesus hasn’t
performed them yet, but more importantly, it can’t refer to
those particular people because those people all died again eventually. What is it that Jesus is referring
to here in verse 25? When he says, truly, truly, an
hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son
of God and those who hear will live. believe there’s only one possibility
here. He’s talking about the God’s
work of regeneration in the believer’s life. The life giving that Jesus
has just effected with Nicodemus, right? As we believed. That he
has just worked in the lives of those plentiful Samaritan
villagers. as they came to faith in Christ.
Even the man by the pool, Jesus has just effected regeneration
in the man’s life. It isn’t bodily resurrection
here that’s in view. It’s the new life of resurrection
that He proclaims. It is salvation. It is new life. It is eternal life through faith
in Jesus Christ that He proclaims. It cannot possibly be future
resurrection because He says it’s now. It now is. Glance down, if you will, at
the verse. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and
now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.
Let me just say it up front. There is no way, given the overwhelming
and absolute testimony of Scripture, that there is some kind of a
second chance that dead people will receive to respond to the
gospel. Jesus doesn’t preach to the dead
and in some kind of a last chance consideration hope that they
have a better response the second time around. Hebrews 9.27 says,
inasmuch as appointed for men to die once and after this comes
judgment. So Christ having been offered
once to bear the sin of many will appear a second time for
salvation without reference to sin. And yet we still have people,
don’t we, all the time, oh, that’s not fair. We have one life to
live. We have one opportunity to interface
with the Lord Jesus Christ, with the gospel of Christ, to place
our faith in Christ in this life. We have one opportunity. There
are no second chances. It doesn’t mean that. He’s not preaching to the dead.
not the physically dead. As I’ve already suggested, the
dead that Jesus mentions here are not those who are physically
dead. They are those whom scripture
calls spiritually dead. The natural man, the person without
Christ in their natural condition. Jesus effectively says that Already
people are repenting of their sins. They are already coming
to faith in Christ. There is already a resurrection
of the dead of sorts, the life-giving that He has already effected
in those who were spiritually dead. It’s already underway. This is a biblical concept, a
thoroughly biblical concept that we are spiritually dead. Ephesians 2, you were dead in
your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, according to the spirit that is now working
in the sons of disobedience. You were dead. If you are in
Christ now, you are alive by God’s grace, but you were very
dead. Among them, those sins, we all
too formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging in the
desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children
of wrath, even as the rest. But God, there’s the hope of
that passage. Ephesians 2, but God being rich
in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead and our transgressions made us alive. together with Christ. That’s
exactly what Jesus is talking about here. Near the end of the
book of Ephesians, Paul says it this way, for this reason
the scripture says, awake sleeper, arise from the dead, and Christ
will shine on you. If you were here this morning,
this is not an insult, this is a plea. If you were here this
morning, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are
already dead. Spiritually speaking, you are
dead. And only the enlivening power
of the Lord Jesus Christ will change that. This is the testimony
of scripture. Colossians 2.13, when you were
dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he made you alive together with him. Romans 6.13, there’s a plea
there that is so incredible. Do not go on presenting the members
of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present
yourself to God as those alive from the dead. It’s a resurrection
of sorts. Coming to Christ, placing our
faith in Christ is a reception of new life. It is a process
that is worked into our life by the spirit of God himself.
An amazing process. And as such, we ought to present
ourselves as those who have been brought to life, new life. Here’s how Jesus tells it. Look
at verse 25. Truly, truly, I say to you, an
hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who hear will live. That’s the gospel. He says, look, if you place your
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you too, even my critics, planning
and plotting my death, will live. Please don’t misunderstand Jesus’
words here. It is not a mere hearing of the
gospel with physical ears to which Jesus is referring here.
Otherwise, anybody and everybody who’s ever heard, whether it’s
Billy Graham or a tract or some radio show or some preacher someway,
somewhere, or a friend with a Bible and the gospel, the Romans wrote,
every person who’s ever heard it then is saved. He’s not saying
that it’s merely a hearing with the ear. Otherwise countless
millions would be saved and that just isn’t the case, is it? If all it took were a mere hearing,
then everyone would be saved. But the truth is that people
can hear and hear and hear and hear again. Some people sitting
here in the room today have heard dozens, if not hundreds of times
the gospel clearly proclaimed. And they’ve never heard with
spiritual ears, they’ve never listened so as to be saved, and
they are as dead now as the day they were born. That’s the truth, that’s what
Jesus is saying. It is the great and clear testimony
of scripture, and that’s what Jesus is articulating, that his
sheep will hear his voice, and when they do, they follow. When the gospel call goes out,
a call to repentance and faith, repentance from sin, faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, there are those who hear. They hear
the shepherd’s voice and they follow. They repent of their
sin. They place their faith in Christ, and not their faith in
their works, not their faith in their denomination, not their
faith in their friends, Not their faith in their effort, but their
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Nicodemus, as we’ve already
mentioned, I believe Nicodemus did that. I believe the Samaritan
villagers, as we looked and focused, the Samaritan villagers did that. They saw Christ for who He was
and they repented of their sin. That’s exactly the work that
Jesus was doing when He circled back with the man healed by the
pool. He had healed him physically,
but that wasn’t enough for the Lord Jesus, was it? He wanted
to heal him spiritually. He wanted him to come to salvation.
And he said, go and sin no more. The only way you can do that,
the only way you can do that is by the grace of God. Because what that prefigures
is that his sin was forgiven. Glance at the passage, if you
would. Truly, truly I say to you, an hour is coming, and now
is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and
those who hear will live, for just as the Father has life in
Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.
Now what does this mean? Because this is essentially the
explanation or the justification of what Jesus has just said.
Those who hear will live. An hour is coming when the dead
will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will
live. So what does it mean when he says the Father has life in
Himself, the Son has life in Himself? What Jesus is doing
here is providing the justification, or if you will, the explanation
of His God-given ability to impart life whether it’s physical life
or spiritual life, whether it’s raising a crippled man out of
the pool, whether it’s healing and raising the dead, whether
it’s imparting the gift of salvation, or as we’ll see in a moment,
resurrecting the dead out of their graves. It’s all been given
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the justification, the reason
here is that He, Jesus Christ, just like His Father, has life
in Himself. What does that mean? It’s kind
of a Hebrewism. We don’t really, it doesn’t sound
familiar to our Western ear. It’s an odd sounding phrase and
it means much more than just the fact that in some sense Jesus
is alive. We knew that He had taken on
human flesh. We knew that He was alive, born
of a virgin. Now in his 30th year essentially,
he’s alive physically. He stands before his critics
that day living and breathing flesh and blood. His heart beating,
breathing all the while. But that’s not his point. He was alive as God, that certainly
is true. living in that profoundly spiritual
sense, which as God, we can’t even comprehend how that is,
that Jesus is alive for all eternity. And while it’s true, and it’s
absolutely true, this passage means more even than that. What
does it mean that even as the Father has life in Himself, So
He gave to the Son to have life in Himself. Well, Scripture,
as you know, presents God to be the source of all life. He is, if you will, the fountain
of life. Scripture talks about God being
independent. The big word, or the, not exactly
a long word, The less used word is asiety. He is self-existent. It has been absolutely fascinating
to me in teaching this 8th grade worldview class to review just
the ideas that other religions put forth as to the existence
of God. Of course, Hindus Of course,
they don’t even believe in a literal God, a being, if you will. It’s
just kind of matter and things, and everything is God, and really,
at the same time, nothing is God. You can even kind of become
part of that godness, whatever that is. You have the Mormons
who essentially believe that gods create other gods, create
other gods, that you too can become a god one day if you’re
really good. One day you can have your own
planet if you’re really, really good. But God, ultimately, in
the end, is still flesh and blood. It’s absolutely astounding. But the scriptures teach that
God is completely apart. He is independent. He is self-existent. Nobody gave birth to God. Nobody
created God. Nobody conceived of God and reasoned
Him into existence. God, when he spoke to Moses,
simply said, I am who I am. And thus, you shall say to Israel,
I am. Sent me to you. What a great
explanation for, you know, your first ministry, right? I’m here
on behalf of I am. See, God has no beginning. He
just is. He has life in himself. As it
says here, He wasn’t created by anyone. He is unanswerable
to anyone. Nothing that His creation does
can add or take away in any way from who He is. As one pastor said it, God is
independent in His being, independent in everything else, His virtues,
His decrees, His works. He is independent in all things.
All things exist only through Him. God wasn’t created. Father is the absolute fount
of all life. What he says here is that that
same blessing of giving life has been given to the Messiah.
That now the Messiah can restore the crippled by the pool. The
Messiah can give life to the dead. The Messiah can give spiritual
life to those who come to Him in faith and the Messiah can
again, as we’ll see, raised the dead to resurrection. Jesus couldn’t do this. Jesus
couldn’t do this unless he had life in himself, unless he was
also the fountain of life. And Jesus has that life. Jesus is self-existent. Jesus is the co-creator from
all eternity. Acts 17 says it this way, the
God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord
of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands,
nor is he served with human hands, as though he needed anything,
since he gives himself to all people, life and breath and all
things. That’s Christ. That’s a prerogative
that God has given to Christ. We saw it in John chapter one,
didn’t we? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was, in the beginning, with
God. All things came into being through
Him, that is, through Christ. And apart from Him, nothing came
into being that has come into being. He has life in Himself. Psalm 90 says of God, and now
we know it is true of Christ, before the mountains were born
or you gave birth to the earth and the world, from everlasting
to everlasting, you are God. Jesus Christ has always been
in that role of blessing. The Old Testament makes it clear
that life was God’s to give. Job 10, you have granted me life. Job 33, the Spirit of God has
made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life. The Jews were
not going to push back on this concept that God is the giver
of life, but now Jesus stands before them and says, I have
that prerogative. And it’s against that backdrop
that Jesus stands before them. The Jews knew that the Father
was the life giver, but now Jesus stands face to face with him
and says that he has that same incredible prerogative. Jesus, there is no way Jesus
could not do this if he were not God. If he were not self-existent,
if he did not have life in himself just as the Father did, He couldn’t
help anyone. You can’t think of Christ as
so many of these world religions do. You can’t think of Him as
a mere prophet. He’s not just announcing God’s
intentions here. He is God’s Son sent to earth
who has eternal life resident, inherent within Him. And it was true the moment He
came to earth. glance at the passage if you would. Just as the father has life in
himself, even so he gave to the son also to have life in himself
and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is
the son of man. God gave him authority. He sent
him into the world and he gave him authority not just the prerogative
to give life, He is the life giver, but He gave Him authority
to execute judgment. It is in His role as the Messiah
that Jesus comes. It is in His role as Messiah
that God gave to Him all judgment. It was because Jesus was prepared
to serve and function in full capacity as the Messiah, that
he declares this now, that he is the sovereign judge of all. This is an echo, this thought
really is an echo of a prophecy that was given by the prophet
Daniel. And this title, the son of man
becomes Jesus’ favorite way of referring to himself. He is the
son of man. Daniel 7, verse 14, and to him
who was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples,
nations, and men of every language might serve him, all dominion
is an everlasting, pardon me, his dominion is an everlasting
dominion which will not pass away. His kingdom is one which
will not be destroyed. In other words, the simple and
plain statement here that is made is that Jesus Christ will
be the judge. on that last day. Look at verse
28. We’re in the midst of this third
and solemn declaration that the son raises the dead either to
life or to judgment. And this is where he comes. Look
at verse 28. Do not marvel at this. I mean,
it’s marvelous, it’s incredible that the Lord Jesus Christ now
has clearly been identified as a co-creator, co-life giver,
that he is very God in the flesh. He doesn’t equivocate one little
bit standing before his critics. But don’t get stuck on this.
Don’t marvel at this because there’s coming an hour where
the most fantastic thing that’s ever been done is going to happen.
The resurrection of the dead, all of the dead. The granting
of spiritual life, the task of ultimately judging all people,
those things were massive claims. monumental, overwhelming, but
Jesus essentially says, don’t get stuck there. Don’t pause
there. Don’t get stuck marveling at
those truths because an even more fantastic truth is coming.
Jesus himself will be the cause of the great resurrection from
the dead. When all men will be raised to
face their creator, who is to them either savior or judge. There is no middle ground. This
is another kind of resurrection than what we saw earlier. It’s
not this time a spiritual resurrection. He’s not talking about regeneration
here. This is not the granting of new
life, but a physical resurrection of the body. One said it this
way, man possesses spiritual life through union with Jesus
Christ, but his present body is not adapted to the requirements
of such a life. It is called a body of death.
We groan under its weight and we look earnestly forward to
its redemption. But the spiritual body will not
only be a body in which the spiritual principle dominates the whole
organism, but it will be adapted to its spiritual needs and possessed
by powers yet unknown. In other words, God is going
to fit us And don’t we look forward to that day with a frame that
is suitable to eternity? Don’t marvel at this, Jesus says,
for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will
hear his voice and will come forth. What an incredible scene. And note that it doesn’t say
some, And it certainly doesn’t say those whom God sovereignly
gives life are resurrected. This is the bodily resurrection
that’s in view here in verses 28 and 29. Everyone who has ever
lived will be raised, both believers and unbelievers. This is a biblical
concept repeated countlessly throughout scripture. Matthew
1028 Jesus said do not fear those who kill the body but are unable
to kill the soul rather fear him who is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell there is a judgment. Acts 24. Paul speaking, defending himself
with this, I admit to you that according to the way in which
they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing
everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the
prophets, having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves,
that there shall certainly be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the
wicked, every person ever born. Second Corinthians 510. We must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And if you note
here in this passage, it’s the very voice of Christ. What an
incredible scene. Truly marvelous, truly fantastic. It’s the voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ himself that will, with a single word, beckon those out
of the grave. and they will be raised either
to judgment or to life eternal. Christ is that agent. Christ
is the one who will do that. As one pastor said, the judgment
here in view must await the resurrection. The mention of the graves distinguishes
this reference from the regeneration Chapter 5, verse 25, Christ will
call the physically dead from their graves. Just as he brings
regeneration to those who trust him, both the righteous dead
and the wicked dead will be resurrected by the voice of Christ. To the
righteous, to enter fully into the bliss of eternity with glorified
bodies. And to the wicked, to hear their
doom pronounced. I said to you they were solemn
words. Look at verse 29. Do not marvel at this, an hour
is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice
and will come forth, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection
of life. Please don’t misunderstand here.
Jesus is not saying that we’re saved by our good deeds. We’re
saved unto good deeds. not for them. This is essentially
a note of sanctification. Did God do a work in your life?
Because the same God that initiated the work of salvation is the
same God who continues the work in your life of sanctification. These deeds, these works, if
you will, are proof of our salvation. They’re not the means. They’re
not the cause of it. As one pastor noted, judgment,
as always in scripture, is on the basis of works. It is those
who have done good who attain the resurrection of life. And
that doesn’t mean that salvation, as I said, is on the basis of
works. Did God do a thorough work in
your life? Luke 6.43, Jesus said, there
is no tree which produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand,
a bad tree which produces good fruit. What a simple illustration. How is your life? How is God pressing forth in
that process of sanctification? Ephesians 2, you know the passage
well. By grace you have been saved. through faith, not that
of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as
a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His
workmanship. In other words, he comes back
to this idea of works and he says, look, God is at work in
you. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that We’re not saved by our
good works, we’re saved unto them. But there’s another group that
Jesus addresses in closing. Do not marvel, verse 28, for
an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear
his voice and will come forth, those who did the good deeds
to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds
to a resurrection of judgment, they are already, even now, under
judgment. It merely needs to be rendered
in that final day. It’s a resurrection either to
life, to eternal life and salvation, or it’s a resurrection to face
the judge. Revelation 22 declares it this
way, Behold, I am coming quickly, my reward is with me, to render
to every man according to what he has done. Daniel 12.2, which
first we saw a moment ago, many of those who sleep in the dust
of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but to the
others to disgrace and everlasting condemn. Isaiah chapter 3, say
to the righteous that it will go well with them for they will
eat the fruit of their actions. Woe to the wicked, it will go
badly with them for what he deserves will be done to him. Jeremiah
17.10, even to each man according to his ways, according to the
results of his deeds. Do not be deceived, Galatians
6, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, this he
will also reap. One sows to his flesh will reap
from his flesh corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit
will reap from the Spirit eternal life. It’s that simple. And no wonder Jesus says, to
attribute this to me as a mere man, to say that I’m off the
mark of God’s work is utter blasphemy. And what he called them to solemnly
and graciously was repentance. Because he closes with this in
verse 30. I can do nothing on my own initiative. I’m functioning
as God. I’m functioning as part of the
Godhead. Nothing I do can be independent
of Him. As I hear, I judge. My judgment
is just because I do not seek my own will, but the will of
Him who sent me. What solemn words. What solemn words that the Son
is embedded in the very will of God because He is God and
the Son is the one who gives life and the Son is also the
one who raises either to life, life eternal or judgment. If you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you have placed your faith in Him, you do not need
to fear Judgment. You don’t. It’s essentially an
echo of Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you have not placed your faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you don’t know for certain that
your sins are forgiven, there is no other option. That those
sins, unless they are dealt with with the blood that has already
been shed for them, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless you place
your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, your resurrection will
be to judgment. The incredible words of Isaac
Watts, swell us with hope. How divinely
full of glory and pleasure shall that hour be when all the millions
of mankind that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb shall
meet together and stand around Him with every tongue, every
heart full of joy and praise. How astonishing will be the glory
and the joy of that day when all the saints shall join together
in one common song of gratitude and love. Let’s examine our hearts. Our merciful God, we humble ourselves
in your glorious presence. And Lord, what started out that
day as an act of deity, an act of kindness and mercy, Lord,
you had designed for it far beyond what any human could possibly
recognize. The healing of this crippled
man The offense of the Sabbath to his critics. Lord Jesus, we
thank you for the lessons that flow from it. That you are sovereign
God. You are almighty God, the life
giver and the judge. Father, we thank you for sending
your son and our Lord Jesus. We thank you for paying our price. for our sin. And, Lord, if there
is even a single person here who does not know the Lord Jesus
Christ, who has not placed their faith in Christ for salvation,
Father, we pray that these words would echo in their hearts, that
they will be raised either to face a Savior or a judge. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
Amen.