The Deity Of Christ

It seems like we're in the singing mood this morning, a lot of songs. And as a shepherd trying to lead songs, I oftentimes don't lead us very well, I acknowledge that. I think I missed a verse today and did a few other things, but praise God we have a better shepherd than us.

Well let's open our Bibles to John chapter 5. We're going through the book of John for those of you who are visiting. And we are trying to preach the Word. We're going to look at three verses today, no four verses actually.

We got down through verse number 20 in John chapter number 5. And if you have a red letter Bible, you'll notice that verse 19 all the way down through to verse 47 is all the words of Christ. He is speaking and answering something that is spoken or spoken about in verse number 18. And again, just for review, these responses are in response to the Lord's healing of a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years.

And the Lord had compassion on him there at the beginning of John chapter 5 at the pool of Bethesda and He healed him. And after the healing there were some who came and accused him of violating the Sabbath. Well we talked about last time he didn't actually violate the Sabbath, he violated their application of the Sabbath because this man was told after he was healed to take up his bed and walk.

And to the Jews that meant the Sabbath had been violated, but to the Lord of the Sabbath it was not obviously a violation of the Sabbath. And so this man took up his bed and he was accused of violating the Sabbath. Verse 10 it says, the Jews therefore said unto him, that was cured, it is the Sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

Well in verse 16 they come and persecute Jesus, and this was last time's message, they sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. Then verse 17, here's where the Lord gets more persecution, it says, but Jesus answered them, my Father worketh hitherto and I work. If you remember last time we talked about how the Lord has sent two great works and the work of creation he did in Genesis 1 and 2 and he rested, after his work was finished it says, he was done and he rested.

But the second work that he is doing is the work of redemption. The work of redemption is an ongoing process, it is not finished, and that's why we're still pursuing souls, still the day of grace is here, and Jesus says my Father is working up to this point and I am working. So we spend some time talking about the work of redemption and how the Holy Spirit is doing the work through us in the New Testament, but then because Jesus said my Father worketh hitherto and I work, we read verse 18 and here's what the Jews thought after they heard Jesus say that, therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath in healing this man, but said also that God was his Father making himself equal with God.

So Jesus has here two strikes against him, the first one is that he is accused of violating the Sabbath for healing on the Sabbath, but he's also accused of making himself equal with God, and they got that from his statement there in verse 17, my Father worketh hitherto and I work, and this idea of claiming that God is his Father, God is my Father, therefore I am his Son, and that makes me a deity, that makes me equal with him, Father and Son. And of course the Jews when they hear this, they respond with basically this is blasphemy because you, actually in John chapter 10 we're going to see this, they took up stones to stone him, and Jesus asked them what are you stoning me for, what good works are you stoning me for, and they respond, for a good work we do not stone thee, but because thou being a maiden, makest thyself God, and so the Jews had a difficult time in understanding how God who is a spirit, the spirit of the living God, from Genesis to Malachi, how God could be a man, and so they missed in many ways the incarnation, that God who was and is a human being, so we understand the incarnation, let me just read a couple of verses to you, 1 Timothy 3, 16, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in the flesh, so God became a human being, and one of the things that was asked, and had to be asked, in Jesus day when he was born, this baby comes out of Mary's womb, and the question is, who's son is he? Joseph, Joseph says not I, well then who's son is he, and of course the angel said, that child that is born of you Mary, shall be called the son of God, the son of God, this is a miraculous conception, he's the son of God, he is deity in a human body, and so another verse, and there's many I could read, but just to get your mind thinking this way, Philippians chapter 2, many of us know this verse, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. He who thought it not robbery, he was not stealing anything from God the Father, to say he is equal with God, he humbled himself, and he came down to this earth, to a sinful planet, and he became incarnate, he became a human being, and so he walked amongst men, and so when the Jews looked at him, they did not connect, and I just want to share this with you, you know some people think that God was in a sense kind of confusing people, there was no confusion here, throughout the Old Testament, God was foretelling the nation of Israel, through the Old Testament, that he was going to come, and he was going to visit his people, and the Jews failed to see the Messiah, we'll see here in just a minute why they failed to see the Messiah, but they are the ones to blame, they were given the revelation and the understanding that the Messiah was coming, and there are many verses, but I just want to read one, it's probably the most familiar one, Isaiah 9, 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.

So here is a prophecy in Isaiah of this virgin incarnate son, Jesus Christ, and how he will be called Wonderful, meaning a wonder worker, a miracle worker, which he obviously was, Counselor, he will be a teacher and instructor, a good shepherd, he will be the Mighty God, and the Everlasting Father, and so the Old Testament is telling it, brought to the nation of Israel, revelation, and understanding about who is coming, and so there was an expectation that when Jesus came, and all the prophecies, and all the prophecies in Daniel, that basically what time he was coming, all of these things would lead the nation of Israel to receive their Messiah, and to welcome their Messiah, and to understand the purpose that the Messiah was coming, to Isaiah 53, to suffer, and to lay down his life for the sins of the people, every time they brought that lamb, every family brought that lamb on Passover, and laid that lamb on the altar, every year, it was a statement to them, God is going to provide a lamb, and so here Jesus comes, and John the Baptist says, behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Now I just thought about these men here that we're reading about, how they're seeking to kill the Lord, and we talked about why they wanted to do that last time, but how did the Jews miss it, how did they, their eyes, why were their eyes blinded, well simply this, and it's this human nature, sin, sin and carnality, tradition, all of these things caused the nation, by the way if you went back and you talked to those Jews in Jesus' day, you'd ask them what's on your heart, they just said, well I got a new chariot, you know, and I'm making all kinds of money, and they'd have been talking about the world, and they'd have been talking about, and their hearts would have been filled with iniquity, and many things, but their eyes were blinded, and so they missed the Messiah, and you know there's a lesson for us, the Lord is coming again, you know, and the Bible says many people are going to miss Him for the same reason, because they love this present life, they love their own sin, 2 Thessalonians 2 says, God will send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but who had pleasure in unrighteousness, those who had pleasure in the sin of this world, and live for this present world in the end, I hear people say this, you know, I probably thought this when I was a young man, I'll just wait until the end, you know, when all these signs come, and then I'll get my heart right with God, that's not a good idea, because if our hearts are involved in this world, and we're pursuing the pleasures of unrighteousness, the Scripture says, God will send them strong delusion, and if God sends you strong delusion, you're not going to be able to see anything, and so you ought to be mindful of that as we approach the end of time here, that we ought not to play around as Brother David said, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because God is able to send man strong delusion, and to close their eyes, that man will receive the Antichrist, as a matter of fact, here in John chapter 5, if you look down to verse number 43, this is what's going to happen to the Jews, verse 43, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not, if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive, and so Jesus came in his Father's name under the authority of his Father, they would not receive him, another will come in his own name, you know who that is, don't you? That's the Antichrist, he has no one over him, he is coming in his own name, he is claiming to be God, and the Jews are going to embrace him, and much of the world will too, in large part because sin, and the love and care of this world, and tradition, and all the things that the Jews were involved in, had blinded their minds, but some, praise God, some realized who he was, like those wise men, and even as a child, they bowed before him, and they worshipped him, so they understood, this is deity, and they understood that God had become man, you don't worship men, you don't worship babies, you worship deity. Simeon was also one, Thomas, a little late, Thomas got there, but he said, my Lord and my God, after he thrust his hand into the Lord's side, he believed that this person named Jesus Christ was God incarnate, and so that was a struggle for the Jews, and so they're having a difficult time here, when Jesus begins to open their minds to the reality of who they are, but in chapter 10 he's going to just nail it, he's going to say, listen, my father and I are one, and if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

And so the revelation, the revelation of the deity of Christ, and I think we ought to be cautious of this, you know, the Jews here, they had mastered their religious standard, back here in chapter 10, they knew much about carrying beds and things like that, but they missed the deity of Christ. You know, let me just ask you a question here this morning, I thought about this, how many of you, if a Jehovah's Witness came to your door, and asked you, do you think Jesus is God, how many of you would be able to convince them, or at least talk to them about the deity of Christ? You know, there's many subjects we need to know well, but what about something as important as the deity of Christ? That which is central to the gospel, the deity of Christ, do we have a handle on the deity of Christ? And so when we, or excuse me, when the Jews rejected the Son of God, it was the same as rejecting the Father. Have you heard someone say this, I believe in God, but I don't believe in Jesus.

There's a lot of religions that say that. Well, I believe that God is God, and He's one God, and I don't believe Jesus is God. And so as we treat the Father and the Son, we treat them exactly the same, because God the Father is God the Son incarnate.

1 John chapter 2, the same writer who wrote the gospel, verse 23 says, whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father, but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also. So it's not possible for you and I to say, I love God, but I don't love Jesus. I believe in God, but I don't believe in Jesus.

I like Jesus, but I don't like God. You've heard people say that, oh, Jesus is so nice, but God seems to be so angry. You receive the Father, you must receive the Son.

Now, I know this is a crude example, but Donald Trump, everybody knows who he is, the President of the United States. Someone says, I like Donald Trump when he's that rich real estate mogul, but I don't like him as a President. It's the same person.

It's in a different position. And so when we think of God the Father, we think of God the Son. They're the same.

God the Father incarnate in God the Son. So let's go up here and go down through a few verses. And we left off last time in verse number 20.

And so I'd like to read down through verse 21, down through verse 24, and also 26 and 27. I'd like you to see how Jesus is opening up their minds to this idea that the Father and the Son are equal in authority and equal in power and equal in honor, because God has given these things to the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm going to read down through these two verses so that we can see that.

Verse 21, for as the Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. In other words, here I am the Son. The Father raises the dead.

I do it too. Oh, so you're equal with God. Verse 22, here's a big one.

For the Father judges no man but has committed all judgment unto the Son, 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 jump down here to verse 26.

For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. So God the Son has the same power to raise the dead, verse 21 says, as the Father has. Like God the Father just gave all of His authority and power and honor to His Son.

And it calls upon humanity to honor the Son as they honor the Father. And so one of the first things that is mentioned here is that the Father, who has the power to raise people from the dead, has given that same power to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Jesus comes to the grave of Lazarus and He says, Lazarus, come forth.

And just the authority of His word, the power that is dwelling in Him, boom, Lazarus comes right out of that grave in His grave clothes. And people observe that. Who can raise the dead but God only, right? Here is Jesus raising people from the dead.

Jairus' daughter, another example, when Jesus came to Jairus' daughter and said to her, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. Raising up people from the dead, Jesus was given that same power and authority. And so God the Father, God the Spirit, the eternal Spirit became a human being incarnate and God the eternal Spirit gave that Son of His the same power that He had to raise the dead.

And Jesus is, as the scripture says here, equal to His Father. He had power to raise the dead. He even had the power to raise Himself from the dead.

The Bible says to destroy this temple. Jesus said in three days, I will raise it up. Now this authority and power is not something the Father gave just for Jesus' earthly ministry because even after the resurrection, He said all power and authority is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

Brother Elson mentioned this last week that Jesus will keep that power and authority until He brings every enemy under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death and then He in 1 Corinthians 15 will submit Himself back to His Father and all will become one again. Now I don't understand all of those things, but Jesus has become what He has become incarnate to fulfill the will and purpose of our Heavenly Father.

And so Jesus has the authority to raise the dead. Look down to verse 25. We see this here mentioned a little later on in chapter 5. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of who? Son of God.

Not God the Father. They're going to hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. They're coming up out of the grave.

Verse 26 says, The Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice. That's the Lord's voice.

Hear His voice and shall come forth. And so the Lord is going to call everybody out of the grave. Not just Lazarus and a few little children.

He is actually going to call everybody out. Verse 29, And they shall come forth, they that have done good under the resurrection of life. What's doing good? Does that mean we're saved by good works? No.

Doing good is following Jesus, making Him your Savior and your Lord. And they that have done evil, they that have enjoyed the pleasures of sin under the resurrection of damnation. So His voice.

And so Jesus was given the authority to speak and to raise people from the dead. So someday, every one of you here is going to hear His voice. You may not even be converted here today.

You may not be a child of God, but you're still going to hear His voice. And you're going to hear His voice, and He's going to say to you, Come forth. You know, you're sleeping in the grave, probably rotted.

Your body is going to come back, and it's going to all come together. And if you're lost, you're going to have that old body again. If you're saved, you're going to get a new one.

But your body is going to come back together, and you're going to hear Him say, Come out of the grave. And you're going to come up out of the grave. Now that grave, I don't know what's going to happen.

The dirt's going to open up. But everybody's coming up. And they're coming up because Jesus is going to say, Come forth out of the grave.

And by the way, when that day happens, you better be on the right side of things. You don't want the resurrection unto damnation. You want the resurrection unto life.

Well, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, it talks about the good side. The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

So the Lord descends with a shout. What's that shout? Come out! He's descending with a shout. The angels come, the Bible says, to reap the harvest.

They are the ones that catch us up and take us up to meet the Lord in the air. That's the good side of it. That's the resurrection unto life.

But the Lord has the authority to raise the dead. And I don't want to go into it here for sake of time, but if you're connected to that one who has authority, you know you can raise the dead. Peter did.

Tabitha arrived. You know why? It says he went down and prayed there in Acts, I think it's 9. It says pray to the Lord. It says he got up from praying, he turned, and he looked at the body, and he said, Tabitha, arise.

The little girl got up. He had prayed, he had turned, and the little girl got up. And you know, if you're connected to the vine, we ought to be able to do works.

Now, I'm not saying all of us ought to be raising the dead, but I've raised the dead. Come on now, I've raised the dead. People who've been lost in their sins, dead and trespassed in sin, they got saved.

They're no longer dead in their sins. Amen? A lot of people have been raised from the dead. Even here we've had resurrections from the dead.

I thought it would be a great church sign. We raise people from the dead on a regular basis. Why wouldn't that bring people to the church? Let's go visit that church.

Maybe someone will be raised from the dead. But, you know, when you get saved, you are raised from the dead. If you look here in verse number 25, it says, Truly, truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.

If you're lost today, you're dead in trespasses and sins, and you can hear the voice of the Son of God today and live, and have eternal life. It is now, and it is coming. It's talking about the time in the future when the Lord is going to raise, physically, people from the dead.

And so the Lord has been given that power to raise people from the dead. Verse 22, For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son. Boy, here's something.

God, who has the power to judge every person, God the Father said, Listen, Son, I'm going to give it all to you. You're the one that can judge everybody. You're going to stand before Jesus someday.

The man, Christ Jesus. And He is going to be judging you. Jesus said it in the New Testament, My word shall judge you in the last days.

And I think it's good for Him to judge us, because He's the one who died for us. He's the one who walked in our shoes. He's the one who suffered for us.

And what an awful thing to stand before the one who gave His life for you, and you rejected Him. Aye. And He is the one who's going to be judging.

God the Father is not going to be judging, and Jesus is going to be off to the side somewhere. No, He's going to be the one who is going to judge you. Let's just look real quick.

Hold your finger here to go back to Matthew chapter 25 for a minute. I'll just read a few verses here in Matthew 25, speaking about two judgments. One is for the Christian, and the other is for the lost individual.

In Matthew chapter 25 verse 14, a couple of parables. The kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants, that's us, and delivered unto them his goods, that's the gifts he gives us. Unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one.

To every man according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey. He went back to heaven. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same.

Well, there's a sermon in that right there. And made them other five talents, and likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money.

And notice verse 19. After a long time, when he comes back, the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. So Jesus will reckon with us and judge us.

But it won't be a judgment, we're going to see this in a minute, about our sin. It's going to be a judgment with regards to how we took care and used the gifts and abilities and graces God has given us. And whether or not we're going to receive reward.

1 Corinthians chapter 3 talks about gold, silver, and precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble. And so this is a judgment here about how you use your talents and your gifts. But now look on the other side.

This is a judgment you don't want to be in. And that's in verse 31 of chapter 25. 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 one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on the right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then shall the king say unto them on the right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, that's his people, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And then jump over to verse number 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

So Jesus is the one who's doing the judgment here. He is separating the sheep from the goats. It's not God the Father, it's God the Son.

When the Son of Man comes and returns, he will sit in judgment over all. God has given him that authority, not only to raise him up, but also to judge him. And I'll tell you what, every human being on the face of the planet is concerned about resurrection and judgment.

Resurrection and judgment. It's appointed unto men once to die, and after this to judgment. And so Jesus Christ has been given authority to not only raise people, but also to judge them.

So someday you're going to hear his voice, you're going to stand before him. And hopefully you'll stand before him, and it'll be a judgment for rewards for eternity, and it's not going to be a judgment to damnation. Now here is why God does this and gives his Son the authority to raise from the dead and the authority to judge.

Let's go back to John 5, and we'll read why he does that. John 5, verse 22. For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.

He that honors not the Son honors not the Father, which hath sent him. How many of you would acknowledge here this morning that if someone has the power to raise my body up in the end and has the power to judge me and cast me into hell or send me to heaven, that I ought to probably honor and respect that person? Yeah, you should. You should honor him, because he has the power to raise you and to judge you.

Now throughout history, men and women have been trying to get away from this resurrection. I've read stories. I remember a king way back many, many years ago who actually turned the course of a river to have himself buried in the bed of the river, let the river flow over him, and every person that was hundreds, maybe thousands, who went out to do this huge project, on their way back to the kingdom, they were all killed, so that no one knows where the body is.

That was an attempt to avoid the resurrection. You know, I believe cremation today is in large part many people's attempt to avoid the resurrection. Just burn me.

Get me to dust. Don't lay me in that grave. I'm afraid someday I'll hear the voice of the Son of God and have to come out.

I don't recommend you cremate bodies. I think if the world wants to burn you at the stake, that's one thing, but God's His way were to follow the Lord Jesus. They laid him to grave, and he was resurrected.

And so Jesus has given this authority to raise from the dead and to judge so that people can honor the Son as they honor the Father. You know, I honor the policeman. Do you know why I honor the policeman? I'm told to, but I honor the policeman because he has the power to change the right tickets and hurt my wallet.

He also has the power if I do other things that are not good to put me behind these bars and lock me up. And so I give honor to the policeman. And so we need to honor the Lord for the very simple fact that, number one, He is going to raise you, and He Himself is going to judge you.

Therefore, we should honor Him. Verse 23 at the end, it says, He that honors not the Son honoreth not the Father which has sent Him. Some of you know Duane that's come here over the years.

I've known Duane for probably 15, 20 years. Duane was raised in a home, a Jehovah's Witness home, and Duane was taught that Jesus is not God, that Jesus is an angel. The Mormons teach that Jesus is not God.

The Muslims teach that Jesus is not God. And many, many religious sects teach that Jesus is not God. But I'll tell you this, any religious sect that does not honor Jesus as God in the flesh, as deity, is not of God.

It is not of God. As a matter of fact, 1 John says it is anti-Christ. It is in opposition.

Anyone who denies the Son denies the Father also. And so the Mormons make claim to have Jesus on their advertisements. And Jehovah's Witness may talk a lot about the Bible and cast out their watchtowers.

And the Muslims may say, well, we believe in Jesus too. But they don't honor Him as deity. They don't honor Him as the Son of God.

So make sure you're not led astray with religious sects who do not understand who Jesus Christ really is. Verse 24. Here's a beautiful verse.

Verily, verily, or truly, truly. By the way, the Lord doesn't have to say truly, truly. But here He says it twice.

Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that hears My word, that's Jesus, the Son of God, and believes on Him that sent Me, that's My Father, you need both of them. You need to believe the words of the Lord Jesus and believe on the Father that sent Him that has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. Both Father and Son are essential for you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

You can't say, I believe in Jesus, but I don't believe in God the Father. Or I believe in God the Father, but I don't believe in the Son. Jesus said you need to believe My words and also believe on Him that sent Me.

And you can have everlasting life. By the way, that can happen to you today. If you're not a Christian, you can be saved today.

Everlasting life is not something that is out there in the future you're waiting for. Everlasting life is something that starts right now. Some of you that were here yesterday, that's the point.

So the line that has an arrow on the end that is infinite. And everlasting life comes because you hear the voice of the Son of God. Jesus says, I died for your sins.

I was buried, and I raised Myself from the dead. I paid for your sins. I died for the sins of the whole world.

That means that every sin in here of every human being has already been paid for. So if your sin has been paid for, why are you carrying all that guilt with you? Why don't you believe what Jesus has spoken and receive it and embrace it and go on your way rejoicing? Your sin has been atoned for. It has been paid.

Well, the Bible says in verse 24 here, He shall not come into condemnation. And that word condemnation means judgment. Now, I know it's hard for us to believe this, but if you're a child of God here today, you're not going to come into judgment for your sin.

We need reminders of that. Because sometimes we get so focused on do, do, do, do, do, do, do, that we forget that we're not under the law anymore. We're under grace.

And that our sin, as we're going to read here in a minute, is not imputed unto us. We are not going to come into judgment. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if Jesus came here to you and pointed His finger at you and said, you are never going to come into judgment for your sin.

Boy, I think someone would, if Jesus told them to that in person, they'd go, wait, we're the happiest person in the world. Wouldn't they? Wouldn't you love to hear Jesus say that to you? You will never come into judgment for your sin. Well, by the way, He's already said that to us.

He's already said that to us. He that hears my word and believes on Him that sent me shall not come into condemnation, shall not come into judgment. You know, we ought to be the happiest people around.

I said, we ought to be the happiest people around. I was singing that song there, that praise God. And I was, first two verses, no one was giving me the praise God on that one, so I figured I better do it.

But we ought to be. Life ought to be good. And you know, if that's the case, that we're not coming into judgment, it ought to excite us enough to go out and tell other people how to get out of judgment.

I would think, wouldn't you? Shall not come into judgment. Our judgment that we face will be for rewards. They will never be for a child of God who continues in the faith, who does not lose hope in the gospel.

They will never come into condemnation because Jesus has already been judged for your sin. We don't believe in double jeopardy. And so if you embrace the cross and you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God is not going to punish His Son for your sin and then turn around and bring you into judgment for the same sin.

So, there is no judgment, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Now there was a man, and I was supposed to bring my book to read the story. I've used this illustration many times.

I should remember the guy's name. But there was a man who was in prison for mail robbery and murder back in the 1800s. And one of the presidents, and I don't even remember his name, offered him a pardon for his sin that he wouldn't have to suffer the death penalty.

And what happened was the man in prison said, I don't want your pardon. Well, no one had ever refused a pardon. And so this is true.

It went to the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania, and their question was, what happens if the president pardons a criminal but the criminal says no thanks? Is the pardon valid? That's an interesting question. Well, the Supreme Court wrestled with that one, and they came to the conclusion that a pardon is only valid if it is received. And that's the case here.

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, and He is willing to pardon all, but a pardon, His pardon, is only valid if you are willing to receive. To many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God. So it's a blessing not to have to face judgment.

Boy, I don't know about you, but if I consider my life, I just have enough sin in my life. Nasty stuff. I'm a lot worse than you, I'm sure, but nasty.

Taking every thought, every imagination, every motive, words, actions, nasty stuff. I'd be laying underneath a pew with ten blankets if you put my life on the screen up here, James. Oh boy.

Maybe I'm just the only nasty one here. But I thank God I don't have to face judgment for it. And I can't fathom people getting to be my age, 60, 65, 70, and not dealing with their sin and trying to get rid of it.

I don't understand that. Closer and closer to judgment, and they're still... Well, I'd like to just look at Romans chapter 4 real quick. Romans chapter 4 talks about faith here, how we are forgiven.

Romans chapter 4, verse number 5. I'm just going to jump in here at the story of Abraham, believed God. It was accounted unto him for righteousness, but Romans 4 verse 5 says, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, that's me, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, the happiness of the man, unto him God imputes righteousness.

That word imputes means to mark to his account righteousness without words, saying, Blessed, happy are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute, will not mark to his account sin. Happy is the man that God does not keep track of his sins.

Who read this morning? If God would mark sins, who could stand, right? Happy is the man whom the Lord does not keep account of his sins. Do you realize that in heaven today, as a child of God, oh, I saw Jerry do another bad thing before they marked that one down. But see how the Lord doesn't keep track.

He doesn't impute to my account my sins. I don't know if you all can accept that one or not, but that's what it says. He will not impute to our account.

Happy, how can you be happy if you knew God was keeping track of all your sins and it wasn't being washed away in the blood of Jesus? Happy are those who the Lord does not impute sin, reckon to their account. So if that's the case, some of you young converts, let's go out and just live in sin, right? Romans chapter 6, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How could you go out and live in sin if this one who loves you and gave himself for you and offered himself as a sacrifice to save you from those sins, how can you go on and live in it? It's like here you are and you're about ready to fall off a cliff or maybe you're in a seriously awful situation and someone comes to risk their life and saves you and picks you up and you look at them and say smack them in the face.

You say, well, you'd never do that. That's right, you wouldn't. Here's someone who saved your life and so you're going to bless them and thank them and ask them, can I do anything for you, right? And so if the Lord has saved your soul from hell, you don't just smack him and say I'm just going to live the way I want to, smack and I'm going to live and smack and I'm going to keep doing what I want to, smack.

You don't do that. You say, Lord, I want to live for you now. What can I do for you? Sappy is the man.

Verse 25. We won't read the whole chapter. Speaking of the Lord who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.

The word justification means innocence or acquittal. Just as if I have never sinned. So, the book of Colossians says someday if you believe on the Lord Jesus and you remain faithful and hold to the gospel, he will present you to himself holy, blameless, and without fault.

Perfect. That's where I want to be. Chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of you don't have peace with God. Right here it is. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.

You're never going to have peace any other way. Peace. Let me ask you a question.

Are you happy? Oh, yeah. I've got a lot of money in my wallet here today. It makes me happy today.

But what about tomorrow? Are you happy? Is life full of joy? Is life happy? We ought to be happy. And we ought to share that happiness with others. I find the amazing thing is that people find some sort of a vitamin or some sort of a herb or something that they think does them great and they're all over the place trying to get people to buy it and telling everybody about this great herb and I take it and it does wonders for me.

And then they get saved and they just don't say anything about it. It doesn't make sense. You should be at least promoting it.

Well, let's go back here. I'll finish up in John 5, verse 24. It says, He will not bring us into condemnation, but we are passed from death unto life.

Passed from death unto life. If you look this up, when the vine responds to a dictionary, death means separation. Death is separation.

You go out there in the springtime and you cut that nice pretty tulip, as soon as you cut that stem on that tulip, that tulip is dead. Cutting that flower brings immediate death. Jesus said, The day that you eat of that fruit, you shall die.

Right. Well, Adam and Eve lived for another 500, 600 years. How does that... He did not lie.

No. They died because they were cut off from the source of eternal life. And that was the Lord.

And they died. Let me draw a tree here. And it has a branch.

And what happened when Adam and Eve sinned was that branch was cut off because the Bible says sin separates us from God. And as soon as that branch is cut off from that tree, that branch, though it may have green leaves for a long time, that branch is dead because it's been cut from the source of life. Sin always cuts you off from the source of life.

Your iniquities have separated you from your God. Sin will always separate you. One sin will separate you from the source of life.

But when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, all sin is removed and the blood of Jesus Christ is able to keep us clean. Therefore, there is no longer any reason for us to be cut off. No longer any reason for death to come to us.

We are passed from death unto life. We are always connected to the source because the blood of Jesus Christ is always cleansing us from sin. And sin is not being imputed to our account.

And so we have passed from a condition of being separated from God because of sin into a position of being attached to Him because our sin is not imputed unto us. That's what the Bible means, that we're no longer under the law, but under grace. And so sin is now something that is forgiven.

It's not imputed unto us. And so we can be restored to life. And so all of that comes by faith in Christ.

Faith in Christ brings life to each one of us. Well, we're going to go on next week or a few weeks with verse 25 and talk about the resurrection a little bit more and go down to probably verse 31. But let's close this morning with a word of prayer.

Anyone here this morning, maybe you're a visitor, you don't know the Lord Jesus. You have a blessed life, a life that has experienced forgiveness and a cleansing. We would love to see you.