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The Authority of Jesus
13 Plays8 days ago
John 5:10-30
Recommended
Transcript
The Journey to Temple and Authority
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Speaker
want you to imagine with me this trip that many of you take on a regular basis from here to Temple.
00:00:09
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You know the road going out here 190. We've driven 100 times. You know the curves, you know the straight areas, and you know where other people speed.
00:00:22
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I know that's not in any of you who know where to speed. But you also know where to slow down. There's a few towns on the way there.
00:00:32
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Now imagine you're going through one of those towns and you forgot exactly how fast you were going. And those lights start flashing in your rear view mirror your heart starts pounding.
00:00:45
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You look down at speedometer and you pull over.
00:00:50
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Why do you pull over, by the way?
00:00:54
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Because that policeman has authority.
The Question of Jesus' Authority
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That's why you do that. Now imagine something just slightly different. You're still going through that same town. You may still be speeding.
00:01:06
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And some guy that you don't know is in a Ford pickup and he's driving behind you and he's honking his horn and he's rolling down his window. This is well before powered windows, by the way. And he's yelling at you, hey, slow down, pull over. What are going to say to that guy?
00:01:29
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Not pulling over. Who is that guy anyhow?
00:01:34
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Brothers sisters, this exactly what is this question underneath our passage today. Who is Jesus anyhow?
Jesus' Divine Authority and Life Implications
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Because if he is who he claims to be, he has authority. And that authority extends all through our life.
00:01:55
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In every area of our life. put a note to myself this week as I reviewed my notes. Most people are okay with Jesus. so i put. They like Jesus as long as he stays in his lane.
00:02:11
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They like Jesus who comforts them when they need comforting. They like the Jesus who forgives. They like the Jesus who answers prayer. They like the Jesus who gives hope.
00:02:25
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But that Jesus that says... Hey, drop everything and follow me? I'm not sure about that guy. How about that Jesus that confronts the way you're living your life right now?
00:02:40
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What happens when his authority collides with your preference? We're not so quick to follow that Jesus.
00:02:50
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The real question we're going to look at today, this big tough question that we're going to struggle with is, who has the right to tell you how to live? And there's only one person.
Healing on the Sabbath: Miracle and Controversy
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John chapter 5 gives us this answer.
00:03:03
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It's unmistakable. I put my notes up. No gray area this Sunday, by the way. It's very black and white. Jesus doesn't present himself as some helpful guy, some great teacher, some religious leader, some prophet.
00:03:19
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No, he claims divine authority. And that authority changes everything. Changes everything in the lives of the readers today. It changes everything in your life and in my life. Let's turn with me to chapter 5. We're going to continue on where we left off. If you're visiting or you're new to the church, um we just go right through a book.
00:03:41
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ah So we're in John. We've gone verse by verse all the way up through... Chapter 5, we finished at chapter 5, verse 9 last week. We're picking up verse 10.
00:03:53
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You'll remember last week, if you were here, this picture, right? Jesus encounters this guy ah who had been paralyzed for 38 years. You'll remember that. He came over and he gave him three commands. You remember what those were? Stand up, pick up, and walk out.
00:04:08
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Stand up, pick up, and walk out. And instantly that man was healed. Think about that. As I was rereading, I thought, because if you just jump right into verse 10, it's kind of mid-sentence.
00:04:20
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And so I thought to myself as I reread this this week, thought, wow, where we at again in this and this story? By the way, I don't just... ah read and prepare for Sunday sermon this previous week. This lesson was done months and months ago.
Defending Divine Work on the Sabbath
00:04:34
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So often, just like you, i have to have a little refresher. So I refreshed myself this week, and I thought to myself, this guy has been paralyzed for 38 years. Jesus comes in, and boom, just like that, he's healed.
00:04:47
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And you would think verse 10 would just pick up, and there would be this great celebration. My goodness, this guy's been paralyzed for 38 years. Let's celebrate. He can walk again. But right at the end of verse 9 and the beginning of verse 10 gives us this clue.
00:05:02
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Look with me if you will. It says, but this miracle happened on the Sabbath. That's the end of verse 9. Verse 10 picks up. And so the Jewish leaders objected.
00:05:13
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And they said to the man who was cured, you can't work on the Sabbath. The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat. But he replied, the man who healed me told me, pick up your mat and walk.
00:05:26
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Who said such a thing as this, they demanded. That's the religious leaders. Verse 13, so the man didn't know for Jesus had already disappeared into the crowd. But afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and he told him, now you are well, so stop sinning or something even worse may happen to you.
00:05:44
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Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. And so the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, my father is always working and so am I. And so the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his father and thereby making himself equal with God.
00:06:12
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lot to unpack in these first couple verses here. You understand kind of what's happening here, right? This man has been healed. Jesus tells him, get up, pick up that mat, roll it up, and walk out.
00:06:30
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And the witnesses who are around him, instead of seeing this miracle, they just see the mat. And they realize, this guy's not supposed to be carrying his mat right now. He's in violation of the Sabbath law.
00:06:43
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Part of what I wrote down this week is an observation. What's going on with the Sabbath? question mark That's something for you to to investigate this week while you're at home. What's going on with the Sabbath?
00:06:55
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See, the Sabbath was given as a gift to the Israelites. It was a day set apart for rest and worship.
00:07:07
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And just like fallen men tend to do, they take what's easily commanded by God and they want to add on top of it. And this is exactly what the religious leaders did at the time. Started just having this day of Sabbath, they took what was easy and they started adding on and developing all these detailed traditions.
00:07:26
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One of those traditions were you weren't allowed to carry anything for X number of feet. that amazing? went too far, it was a violation. But if it was under that, you were okay. This guy is carrying this mat, and this is the context of why it's considered a violation.
Escalating Hostility and Jesus' Divine Claims
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They see him walking, and instead of saying, yes, congratulations, look at your legs are working, they go, you're in violation of carrying that mat. But look at verse 11.
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I love, look how this man responds. says, the man who healed me... told me to carry it. Because they're saying, who gave you the right to do this? Who allowed you to break this Sabbath law? He says, the man.
00:08:06
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he doesn't He doesn't know Jesus' name at this point, so he just says the man. Think about this logically, if you will, for just a second. 38 years this guy's been paralyzed, and some guy shows up, and in an instant, this guy's given the ability to walk around.
00:08:24
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And I put to myself, if someone has enough authority to heal legs, shouldn't you listen to that guy? Nobody else for 38 years would be able to heal this guy. Jesus comes in, speaks, this guy's legs are healed. And so I put as a note to myself and a note for you to write down this week, our first note is, we should listen to the one who has the authority.
00:08:45
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There's only one person who has all authority over your life. And that's Jesus. We should listen to him. But the leaders ask, who told you to carry that? right They're so focused on the violation that they're missing the miracle.
00:09:02
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Imagine someone saying to you, my house caught on fire last night. I called up the firefighters. They rushed inside my house. They saved my family.
00:09:12
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They put out the fire. And you ask them, well, did they wipe off their feet before they went in your house?
00:09:21
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They missed the point. They missed something extraordinary that had happened. They were so fixated on the secondary issue or even put a non-essential issue.
00:09:35
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They're worried about the mat and they should have been looking at this man who was just healed. Brothers sisters, this happens in the church all the time. We can be so concerned with how we do things, when we do things, whether it fits our expectation whether it fits our preference, that we miss what God is doing right in front of us.
00:10:00
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This is what's happening right here in this story. This small controversy about the Sabbath now escalates. Look at verse 16. It says...
00:10:11
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Religious leaders began harassing Jesus. This word harassing really in the Greek is not like they're poking at him. It's not like they're giving him a hard time.
00:10:22
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This is open hostility. This is worse than stalking. right there there and We'll see that he's going to tell you exactly how bad it gets. They're already...
00:10:34
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not pleased with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Verse 17, Jesus just boldly says this. He says, my father is always working and so am I. To you and I, this may not sound very shocking, but it drives his audience berserk.
00:10:52
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Why? Why you ask? Well, that's what I put down as a note to myself. The Jewish people from all of creation understood this idea that God is the one who created God the Father, right? He's the one who created work and on the Sabbath he rested, he stopped.
00:11:10
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He did not cease sustaining creation, he was still at work, he just wasn't creating. This sustaining power, this divine work of God is solely attributed to God and God Father alone.
00:11:23
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And here Jesus is saying his work Jesus' work goes right alongside his Father's work. He says, my Father is always working and so am And I drew a little picture in my notes of a brain, the crude drawing of a brain exploding. Because this is what would happen to the religious people at that point.
00:11:46
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How dare he equate himself with God the Father? Your homework this week, research, Jesus,
00:11:57
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Co-equal with the Father. Jesus jesus co-equal with the Father.
00:12:03
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there's There's no gray area here, I put, black and white. They knew exactly what Jesus was talking about. This is the same time when Jesus answers the question, well, who do you say I am?
00:12:15
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And, you know, are you the Messiah? or Are you a prophet? And, you know, Jesus answers, you know, ego ego I am. Ego ame. I am who I am, right? The same thing that as Moses is asking God, you know, who who should we call you? And God says, I am that I am, right?
00:12:31
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Jesus speaks this word they know exactly what Jesus is saying. He is putting himself equal with God the Father. In this word that they became hostile, we see how bad it is.
00:12:42
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says they they planned all the more to kill him because he called God his Father and equating himself with There's a word equal here in the Greek.
00:12:54
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Isos means equal in status and standing. Suddenly we discover this real issue is not some man carrying the mat. It's not even really the issue of the Sabbath getting broken.
00:13:06
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It is Jesus saying who he is and claiming who he is. John's answer is unmistakable. Jesus is claiming equality with God.
00:13:18
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It's a dividing line, if you will, in this passage. It's a dividing line in the sand for you
Unity with God and the Implications for Believers
00:13:23
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and I. It's a dividing line for everybody that has come in some contact with Jesus. We cannot be left in this area in our lives thinking that Jesus is just a good teacher or he is a moral example or he's some religious reformer or maybe he's just one prophet and the many of prophets. No, John tells us from the very beginning in John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word the Word was with God and the word was, say it, God.
00:13:53
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It's the same message that we get at the very end in John 30, 22. It says, Jesus is the Son of God. There's no mistaking who he is. And if he is the Son of God, if that's his claim and it's true, then his words are not merely advice in your life. His words are authoritative.
00:14:11
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It means this book carries weight. It's not just a helpful manual on how best you can live your life. It is literally God's word right here. This why I keep it in my right hand so that I'm constantly reminded when I'm preaching that we're always going back to God's word.
00:14:28
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Most people want Jesus as Savior. True or no true not true? Would you say most people that you encounter want Jesus as Savior?
00:14:40
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want you to about that this week. I would say most people don't want Jesus as Savior. There are some who come to saving faith and they believe Jesus as Savior. But is he Lord over your life? It means something completely different, by the way.
00:14:55
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Is he Lord and Savior? Because if he's just your Savior and he's not Lord, then he's not truly having authoritative decisions in your life.
00:15:07
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Does that lordship that Jesus has over your life, does that extend to all parts of your life? Or is it just Sunday morning? Hey, i'm I'm okay with Jesus being and in control of Sunday.
00:15:18
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You know what? I'll give him Sunday right up until 2 o'clock when the Cowboys play.
00:15:25
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What about Monday? When Monday comes around, does he have authority over Monday? Does he have authority over the way that you speak to your spouse? Does he have authority over that resentment that you keep replaying in your head over and over and over?
00:15:40
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Does he have authority over your money and how you spend it? By the way, it's his money. You're just spending it. Does he have authority over the things that you watch on television or the things you listen to on the radio?
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Does he have authority over your ability to forgive that person that you're refusing to forgive right now? Does he have authority over your calendars?
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and your priorities.
00:16:08
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I put many people profess to be Christians all while resisting his authority in their lives. These people, these religious elite brothers and sisters, I don't want you to miss this, they knew scripture.
00:16:21
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They knew theology. They knew religious tradition. Yet the Son of God was standing right in front of them and they resisted him.
00:16:32
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That's some of you here this morning. You're here this morning refusing to acknowledge who Jesus is. And for others of you who do recognize him, his authority has not reached all parts of your life.
00:16:48
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So if Jesus is equal with the Father, this raises yet another question. What does this relationship between the work of the Father and the work of the Son look like? Well, Jesus answers that here at the beginning of verse 19. Look with me here in 19.
00:17:05
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So Jesus explained, by the way, if you have red letter Bible, you'll notice verse 19 all the way down to 30 is only in one color, and that's red. Jesus explained, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself.
00:17:19
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He only does what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does, for the Father loves the Son and he shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man.
00:17:33
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Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. Let's pause there for a second.
00:17:50
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think about this answer that Jesus provides, it's pretty remarkable. He says the Son never acts independently or contrary to the will of the Father. He reveals the Father perfectly.
00:18:03
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You wanna know what God looks like? Look at Jesus. It's just that simple. He says here in verse 19 that the Son can do nothing by Himself. He's not describing weakness, He's describing unity.
00:18:17
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This Greek translation here, can do nothing, udenitai is this word, it's not meaning he's not able. doesn't mean he lacks the ability to do it.
00:18:27
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It means that it's impossible for him to do something and in contrary to what the Father is doing.
00:18:36
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ah put You want to look real closely in the Bible how Jesus treats sinners, because that's how God treats sinners. You want to watch how Jesus responds to suffering?
00:18:47
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That's how God responds to suffering. want to watch how he confronts hypocrisy? That's how God confronts hypocrisy.
00:18:57
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Jesus extends compassion? So does God. Jesus perfectly reveals the Father.
00:19:06
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What do you think God looks like? Well, I put in my notes this week, I bet you a lot of people have a pretty distorted view of what God looks like.
Authority Over Life and Judgment
00:19:17
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Some of see this guy in heaven way up, not personal, very distant. Some see people see Jesus purely as loving and compassionate and not holy and judgmental.
00:19:33
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Some believe that Jesus has to kind of convince God the Father to love us.
00:19:40
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But Jesus didn't come to persuade an unwilling father to love us. God the Father already loves you.
00:19:48
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When you see the compassion of Jesus, you see the heart of God. When you see the holiness of Jesus, you see the character of God.
00:19:55
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Now look at verse 21. Jesus makes even greater claim. Verse 21, he says, for just as the Father gives life to those who rate that he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one.
00:20:10
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Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge. And he has given, so that everyone will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is clearly not honoring the Father who sent him.
00:20:27
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Jesus has authority over life and judgment.
00:20:34
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By the way, the Jewish religious leaders of this time would have heard this, and and if their head was already exploded, they would have gone berserk even more. God the Father all throughout the Old Testament is one who has this claim over her creation of life.
00:20:51
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Solely for God the Father. Same thing for judgment. Both divine prerogatives were associated with God the Father. And now Jesus is saying, look, God the Father has given those me authority over life and over judgment.
00:21:07
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I'll just put a note to myself here. If you're somebody who highlights or underlines, verse 23.
00:21:15
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I have that in my study Bible at home. I highlighted all of 23. Verse 23.
00:21:20
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Why is 23 so important in here?
00:21:24
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Because I think there's a lot of people, brothers and sisters, that I'm not going to steer too far outside of Scripture here, but think there's a lot of people who who may be okay honoring God, and they think they don't have to honor Jesus in the same
00:21:40
Speaker
Because they don't recognize that Jesus is the Son of God. If he's just a teacher, he's ah a moral guy, he's a prophet, somebody like that, they're okay keeping Jesus in that box. They don't have to honor him, they don't have to love him. They'll just, you know what, they'll just say, you know I know there's a God.
00:21:56
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You know these people, universalists, is what they I just believe there's a God, there's some higher power, there's somebody up there looking out for me.
00:22:06
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But they won't give Jesus the the honor that he deserves. I'll put as my second note, you can't honor God without honoring Jesus. You cannot honor God without honoring Jesus.
00:22:25
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don't you think about that for just a second? Jesus says that he deserves the same honor given to the Father. Think about this. If he was just a prophet, that would be blasphemy.
00:22:37
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You understand that? If he were merely a teacher, that would be idolatry. But if he is who he says he is, if he is Son of God, then, brothers and sisters, he deserves that type of honor.
00:22:53
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He deserves that type of worship from you and I. He deserves that type of trust, that type of obedience over our very lives because he is the creator and he created you and he created me.
00:23:06
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Let us put as a note to myself this week, maybe we should pause, remember our Creator.
00:23:14
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Maybe we should pause and look at our schedules. Maybe we should pause and look at our conversations and our decisions and our priorities. Do they reflect that Jesus holds first place in our lives?
00:23:28
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Does he deserve that type of honor and is he getting that type of honor in our lives?
Reflecting on Jesus' Authority in Personal Life
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Well, he does if we rightly prioritize him.
00:23:38
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Because once we place our lives in full submission, right, under under Jesus, giving him full authority that he already has, everything in your life changes. Everything in my life changes.
00:23:49
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Not just this life, but the life to come. Let's let's keep reading here these last six verses here. Verse 24, he says, I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life.
00:24:04
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They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it is here now, when the dead will hear my voice and the voice of the Son of God.
00:24:18
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And those who listen will live, and the Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man." Don't be so surprised.
00:24:31
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Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son. They will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in their evil will rise to experience judgment.
00:24:47
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I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.
00:24:59
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Two pictures, if you will, Jesus is telling us right here.
00:25:06
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I'm giving eternal life to those who believe in me. says g Verse 24 says they have, present tense, eternal life, not just now but but life to come.
00:25:18
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Those people who genuinely put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. But he's talking about this second event that happens.
00:25:29
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Not only do you give your life to Christ here, but he says at later time everybody will hear the call of Jesus. Everybody will hear and they will respond.
00:25:43
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You will either respond one of two ways. You either respond in life, resurrection in life, or you will respond resurrection in judgment. Why is that the case? Well, if you're in Christ, you've received his righteousness.
00:25:57
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And so when when you get to heaven, right, when God calls you back, you have this ability to have the the righteousness of Christ and that's and that's how you are accepted.
00:26:09
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If you don't have the righteousness of Christ, you're on your own merit and you will be judged justly by God. And I just put a note to myself, woe for you. Woe for you if you have not placed your trust in Christ at this point. It's too late.
00:26:27
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Resurrection to life in one hand, resurrection to judgment in the other.
00:26:33
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The choice is yours.
00:26:36
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Is Jesus who he says he is? Because if he is, he has all authority over your life.
00:26:44
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What do we do with this this week? How do we apply this to our lives?
00:26:52
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might have carried over from last week because we had the... Get up, pick up, walk out. Write those three verbs. i I'll put this week. We need to hear, trust, and obey.
00:27:04
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These three words this week. Hear, trust, and obey. Write those three words down in your notes this week. Then ask God this this week this question. Jesus, where am I resisting your authority in my life? Where am I resisting your authority in my life?
00:27:23
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And then... Find in Scripture what Scripture has to say about that.
00:27:33
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Write that Scripture verse under here. Under trust, write what you need to believe about Jesus rightly in order to obey Him. He's calling some of you today to to obedience, calling you back to obedience.
00:27:50
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So under obey, I just put right down one specific way that you can take action before next Sunday.
00:27:58
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Maybe it's a phone call that you've been holding off on. Maybe it's forgiveness for something that you might just think is the unforgivable sin.
00:28:11
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Maybe it's an apology that you've been waiting to give. Maybe it's something you're hiding from God.
00:28:19
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Maybe it's somebody you need to reach out and ask help this week. Will you say yes? Will you say no? Take one concrete step this week before next Sunday. Because this is what real discipleship looks like. This is what real Christian living looks like. It happens in the areas of our lives where we give over increasingly all authority to Christ.
00:28:44
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I give all my finances to him. I give all of our future planning to him.
00:28:54
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And when we hear his word and we trust his heart and we obey, brothers and sisters, this is how we are conformed in the image of Christ.
00:29:05
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Don't wait until the flashing lights are behind you in the rearview mirror. All that anxiety that comes when you see those lights.
00:29:15
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Imagine if you saw those lights and you just said, you know what, I'm just going to keep on driving. I could care less if it's a cop or not. I'm just going to keep on driving.
00:29:25
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Some of you right now are driving away from Christ.
00:29:37
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Don't resist any longer.