Introduction:
Three Astonishing Claims of Christ
for Those Who Will Believe: (John 5:18-29)
- Submission is power. (John 5:19-23)
- Judgment is cancelled. (John 5:24)
Satan's Lies:
- Man is basically good
- The "good Lord" overlooks our faults.
- If we try to do right, God lets us into heaven.
- The pain we go through on earth is God's only judgment for sin.
- I've always been a Christian.
- Any "religious path" will get you to heaven.
- We can't really be sure of heaven.
1 John 5:13 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
- Life is Restored . (John 5:25-29)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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01:54-01:56
Open up your Bibles to John 5.
01:58-02:00
John 5. It would help if I turned there.
02:03-02:10
You know, there are certain topics, just by mentioning the topic, it brings debate.
02:12-02:19
And I thought we'd kick off this message by talking about some of those highly controversial topics.
02:20-02:24
I thought, what better way to approach the Word of God than to get our and ruffled a little bit.
02:27-02:30
But you know, certain topics bring instant debate.
02:33-02:52
It could be something as mild as saying, "I think Pepsi is way better than Coke." I see some people nodding in agreement, and I see some people squirming in their seat very uncomfortably, like, I thought they preached truth at this church.
02:55-02:57
How about this topic that brings instant debate?
02:58-02:59
Marijuana.
03:02-03:03
Should it be legalized?
03:06-03:07
Are your feathers ruffled yet?
03:07-03:08
Hang on.
03:09-03:10
How about this one?
03:10-03:11
What about vaccinations?
03:14-03:18
What if I said to you I believe vaccinations cause autism.
03:20-03:22
Are your feathers ruffled yet?
03:22-03:23
Hang on.
03:24-03:25
I got one for all of you.
03:26-03:28
What if I said President Donald Trump?
03:31-03:34
What if I said I think he's the best president ever?
03:36-03:36
(audience laughing)
03:44-03:54
What if I said saying things like that "You're gonna get me shot." This is just an illustration, an introduction.
03:57-04:03
What if I said, just in case there's somebody that's not offended yet, don't worry, we'll get to you.
04:03-04:10
What if I said, "I think the church should only play hymns "with a pipe organ."
04:11-04:12
(audience laughing)
04:13-04:14
(laughter)
04:17-04:18
Is there anybody I have not yet offended?
04:18-04:19
Because I can keep going.
04:23-04:23
Here's the point.
04:25-04:35
In Jesus' day, Jesus created controversy with the Jewish leaders in the two biggest areas that He possibly could have.
04:38-04:40
Look at verse 18 in John 5.
04:40-04:40
Here they are.
04:41-04:45
He says this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.
04:48-05:00
Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, that's number one, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.
05:00-05:01
That's number two.
05:01-05:04
So we talked about our little controversial subjects.
05:04-05:06
Jesus hit the two biggest in his day.
05:07-05:12
the Sabbath and the Lord God.
05:14-05:23
Jesus violated the Sabbath, and He was making these claims that He was equal to God Himself.
05:25-05:29
We saw last week Jesus healed a man who was lame for 38 years.
05:30-05:35
And you would think that the Jewish leaders would be like, "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!
05:36-05:40
He healed this man, but that's not the reaction Jesus got.
05:41-05:44
In fact, they reacted to Him with disgust.
05:45-05:55
Because Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath, and therefore Jesus broke their Sabbath rules, not God's, He broke their man-made Sabbath rules.
05:57-06:06
And then speaking as if He were equal to God Himself, they decided literally at that point, they wanted not just to shut Him up, They wanted to kill Him.
06:08-06:14
And in this passage we're looking at today, we have Jesus' response to this situation.
06:16-06:17
That's what we're looking at today.
06:18-06:25
How did Jesus respond to verse 18 where they want to kill Him?
06:28-06:32
You know, Jesus could have tried to defuse the situation.
06:34-06:36
You could have tried to reason with them.
06:38-06:42
And instead, in this passage we're going to look at today, we're going to see that Jesus doubles down.
06:44-06:55
He escalates by emphatically reinforcing the boldest claim that any human being could ever make.
06:56-07:06
And that is, "I'm God." And that's a theme throughout the ministry of Jesus.
07:07-07:10
Understand that Jesus wasn't just some moral teacher.
07:13-07:19
Jesus made claims that could only apply to God.
07:20-07:22
Jesus said these things about Himself.
07:24-07:30
For example, Jesus claimed that He has control over people's eternal destinies.
07:32-07:34
Jesus said He has authority over the Sabbath.
07:35-07:36
Jesus said He answers prayer.
07:37-07:39
Jesus said He forgives sin.
07:40-07:41
Jesus said He rules angels.
07:42-07:44
Jesus said He has an eternal kingdom.
07:44-07:48
Jesus says He has the right to be worshipped.
07:49-08:01
And probably hardest of all, Jesus many times referred to Himself as the "I Am." The name that God the Father used to identify Himself.
08:06-08:15
So Jesus spends His ministry making these claims that can only apply to God, and we've seen them through the book of John even from the very first verse.
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Right? That's how John started.
08:18-08:24
"In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, Word - verse 14 - became flesh.
08:25-08:28
We're going to see this throughout the whole series in the Gospel of John.
08:29-08:30
Jesus is God.
08:30-08:46
And in the passage we're looking at today, Jesus clearly explains not only who He is, but the implications of His identity for you.
08:46-08:47
Okay, for you.
08:51-08:59
And each of these three hard truths - again, we're looking at three things here that are going to be kind of hard to swallow.
09:00-09:11
Jesus starts every one of them with a phrase, "Truly, truly, I say to you..." Now, everything Jesus said was truth, right?
09:11-09:14
Everything Jesus said was the Word of God.
09:14-09:23
But when Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you," it was almost like He was pulling out as this highlighter and saying, "Listen, this is very important.
09:24-09:28
And you're going to find this hard to believe, but you can take this to the bank, ok?
09:29-09:33
Write this down. This is absolutely true." So on your outline if you're taking notes.
09:35-09:36
We're going to get through this together.
09:36-09:43
Three astonishing claims of Christ for those who will believe.
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So this is Jesus' response.
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The first one.
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The first astonishing claim.
09:55-09:56
Jot this down.
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Submission is power.
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Submission is power.
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Look at v. 19.
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"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, and only what He sees the Father doing for whatever the Father does that the Son does likewise.
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Jesus said He did nothing of His own accord.
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Try to wrap your brain around that one.
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Do you realize when you study your Bible, Jesus never did anything for His own benefit.
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Nothing.
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He never did one thing.
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Having all the power in the universe, He never did one thing He personally benefited Himself.
10:43-10:43
Right?
10:45-10:47
Think of Satan tempting Jesus.
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"You're hungry. You've been fasting for 40 days.
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Tell these rocks to become bread." Jesus said no.
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He could have, but He didn't use His power for His own benefit.
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Jesus lived in total submission to the Father.
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And this submission to the Father It wasn't based on obligation.
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It was based on relationship.
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Look at v. 20.
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It says, "For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing.
11:19-11:32
In greater works than these will He show Him so that you may marvel." You know, the heart of God's redeeming work is love for His Son.
11:33-11:34
That's first and foremost.
11:37-11:46
All of the work of Jesus Christ - dying on the cross, resurrecting from the dead - a lot of times we think, well, the main reason He did that is me, and that's not true.
11:47-11:57
The main reason Jesus went through that is because of His love for the Father, and to glorify the Father, and to fulfill the purposes of the Father.
11:57-12:02
It's that love relationship that the Father and the Son have that was the main drive.
12:02-12:07
We are the beneficiaries of that.
12:08-12:09
It's a whole other sermon.
12:10-12:11
We're going to move on.
12:11-12:12
Look at verse 21.
12:15-12:24
Jesus goes on. He says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will.
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The Father judges no one, He has given all judgment to the Son.
12:32-12:37
That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.
12:39-12:46
Whoever does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent Him.
12:49-13:01
In other words, because Jesus gives life, because Jesus has all authority and judgment, Jesus is saying here - did you catch it?
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That He is worthy of the same worship that God the Father deserves.
13:09-13:12
In fact, Jesus takes it to another level.
13:13-13:18
Jesus says if you don't honor the Son, then you don't honor the Father.
13:20-13:25
Okay, so let's dispel this generic notion of God that people want to embrace.
13:25-13:26
You know, God bless America.
13:27-13:46
When you think of God as this generic force or thing or whatever, Jesus says, "No, no, you honor Me to honor the Father." I want you to look again at v. 19.
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Where Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of His own accord.
13:58-14:01
That could be one of the most shocking things Jesus ever said.
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I mean, I would think, I don't know about you, I would think, you know what Jesus, if you're God, you can do whatever you want. Right?
14:15-14:16
I mean, you're God.
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You're not going to make a bad choice.
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You're not going to do anything wrong.
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"Jesus, you can do whatever you want." But Jesus here clearly stated the opposite.
14:26-14:39
Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of His own accord." And Jesus didn't mean physically, like He's unable.
14:41-14:42
He means morally.
14:45-14:53
For example, if I said to our treasurer, Sean, And I said, "Sean, why don't you take some money out of the missions account?
14:54-14:59
Take Jenny somewhere real nice for a little vacation just the two of you." I know what Sean would say.
14:59-15:03
Sean would say, "I can't do that." I'd be like, "Well, yeah you can.
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You have access to the bank account and things like that.
15:06-15:13
You could do that." And Sean would say, "No, I can't do that." He could, but he won't.
15:15-15:16
Because he knows it would cheapen his life.
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contradict who He is.
15:20-15:23
No, it's just not in Him to do that.
15:24-15:26
And that's the same with Jesus.
15:26-15:27
He could have done whatever He wanted.
15:28-15:30
Tell these rocks to become bread.
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He could have.
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But He said, "No, I can't do that." Because He would not do anything except what the Father wanted.
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in any situation.
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And He teaches us this truth that people don't want to believe.
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But it's true whether you want to believe it or not.
15:58-15:59
And here it is.
15:59-16:00
You ready?
16:02-16:03
Submission is power.
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We think when I have authority over someone or someones, that is a position of power.
16:14-16:22
And Jesus said, "No, no, submission is power." People don't want to believe that.
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You know how I know?
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It's because I've preached a few wedding sermons.
16:30-16:47
And I'm preaching the wedding sermon and I get to that Ephesians 5 part, "Husbands, love your wives like Christ loved the church." And everybody's like, "Christ the Lord!" And I'm like, "Wives, submit to your own husbands." And everybody's like, "Ugh!" I can hear the groan and I listen for it.
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I hear the groans and I face the feedback.
16:52-17:11
And I've had so many women over the last two-plus decades wagging their head and waving their hand saying, "I don't submit to no man!" And I just think to myself, You don't get it.
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Because I've also seen it in the church.
17:17-17:30
So many times, and Aaron can tell you, so many times, not just this church, other churches where we've served, I've seen people will submit to the church leadership so long as the leaders tell them what they want to hear.
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And if the leaders don't tell them what they want to hear, I ain't submitting to that.
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Well, then is it really submission?
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The Bible calls us to a life of submission to God.
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And submission to the authorities that God has placed in our lives so long as these authorities don't ask us to sin. Right?
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Then we appeal to the higher authority, which is God.
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God has placed authorities in your life that He has called you and I to submit to.
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The government, church leaders, kids to their parents, wives to their husbands.
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You know the Bible says that we should submit to one another in the church.
18:21-18:33
You see, this idea of submission gets so much negative feedback, but if you really read your Bible, the Bible says we should be people that are used to submission as a lifestyle.
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Too many people have bought into this idea that submission is weakness.
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Submission is weakness.
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And I challenge that by saying, well, who was the most powerful person who ever walked the earth?
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Who was it?
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The most powerful person, the most influential, the most famous person to ever walk the earth.
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Who was it?
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Say it.
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Jesus!
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And do you know what Jesus said about submission?
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He said, "The Son can do nothing of His own accord." The most powerful person who ever walked the earth lived a life of 100% submission.
19:20-19:31
And we too will learn and experience true power in our lives when we submit to God and the authorities that He's placed in our lives.
19:32-19:39
You do that, you understand like Jesus that submission is power.
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And I just have to ask myself, if Jesus Himself had this attitude of submission, how can I have anything less?
19:49-19:57
The first thing Jesus taught and modeled, and would come into us, submission is power.
19:58-20:02
Secondly, here's another astonishing claim of Christ.
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Judgment is canceled. Judgment is canceled.
20:10-20:32
So many people struggle with this idea of judgment and this idea of preaching forgiveness and grace, but Pastor Jeff, I've done so many wrong things in my life, and I'm not the person that I should be, How do I know that God's not still angry with me because of my sin?
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Look at v. 24.
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Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.
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He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." To be saved.
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To have the promise of heaven.
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To have your sins forgiven.
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You have to come to Jesus on His terms.
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It's His Word. It's His truth.
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It's believing that He was sent from heaven to save you, to give you eternal life.
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But when we talk about salvation, when we talk about judgment being canceled, when we talk about our sin being taken away, when we talk about our total need for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, So many people get confused.
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Or so many people flat out get it wrong because they bought into Satan's lies regarding salvation.
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I'm going to go through some of these lies quickly because I promise you there are some people here today, there are people listening online, that have bought into one or more of these lies.
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So we're going to hold them up to the light of God's Word for what they are.
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They're lies.
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Have you bought into Satan's lies?
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Here we go.
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First one is, "Man is basically good." That's a lie from hell.
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People say, "You know what?
22:11-22:19
I think man deep down, man is basically good." And I'm like, "Really?" You know, the Bible says that we're sinners by birth and by choice.
22:20-22:30
Even apart from the Bible, can you really look around at what's happening in the world and come to the conclusion that mankind is basically good?
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Can you really look within?
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Knowing your own wicked thoughts and attitudes and conclude that man is good?
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That sure doesn't line up with experience, and more so, it doesn't line up with the Word of God.
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That's a lie.
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from Satan is the good Lord overlooks our faults.
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We've all heard that, right?
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"Oh, you know, we all mess up, we all make mistakes, but the good Lord just overlooks our faults." When the reality is God is holy, and He cannot overlook our sinful rebellion.
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He can't. And He won't.
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Like, well, how bad can I be?
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You know, the Bible says if you've broken God's law at one point, you're guilty of the whole law.
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That's James 2.10.
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Because rejecting the law means you're rejecting the law giver.
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Now I would ask you, hypothetically, imagine you showed up in a local courthouse here, and the judge says, oh, I see here that you are guilty of breaking every law that we have on the books.
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What are the chances that that judge is going to just let you go?
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Zero.
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No honest judge could dismiss a person guilty of every crime possible.
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And somehow we think we're going to stand before a holy God?
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That He's just going to ignore our sin?
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It's not true.
24:10-24:12
Furthermore, why did Jesus show up?
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If God just overlooks our sin.
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Third lie, if we try to do right, God lets us into heaven.
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This could be the biggest one.
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If you just try to do right, God lets us into heaven.
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It doesn't matter if you try to do right.
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Because you're still guilty of sin.
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Right?
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Get back to that courtroom scenario where you're standing before the judge and you're guilty of committing impossible to commit.
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What if you said to that judge, you know what, your honor, you're right.
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This looks very bad for me because I'm guilty of all these crimes.
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I'm gonna tell you what, from now on I'm gonna live at the soup kitchen.
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I'm gonna move in and I'm gonna spend every day for the rest of my life helping poor people or helping down and out people.
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The judge is going to say, hey, that's a noble intention, but you're still guilty, right?
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That doesn't take away your guilt.
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So it is with the Lord.
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"You know, we can try to do right, but we still stand guilty of violating God's law." That's a lie.
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Fourth lie, letter D.
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"The pain we go through on earth is God's only judgment for sin." Oh, I've heard that so many times.
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"I don't believe in hell, Jeff, because I believe that we experience hell on the earth." And I'm not making light of those of us who have struggled with various types of pain and loss.
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But here's the reality.
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Pain is part of the experience of living in a fallen world.
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Pain itself doesn't take away sin.
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God sent His Son to pay the eternal penalty for our sin and to take it away.
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Pain doesn't take away sin.
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Jesus takes away sin.
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Fifth lie.
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People say, "I've always been a Christian." "I've always been a Christian." Now, listen, this is different than "I grew up in a Christian home and was discipled and came to understand Jesus at a young age." But, you haven't always been a Christian.
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"Yes, I have." "No, you haven't." "Yes, I have." "No, you haven't." What if I just did that for five minutes?
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How annoying would that get?
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Well, let me ask you this.
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When you came out of your mother's womb, at birth, did you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior in that moment?
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Like, I don't really remember that moment.
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Probably not, right?
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Did you receive Jesus Christ when you were one year old?
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No, I don't even think I was talking at that point.
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Did you receive Jesus Christ when you were two years old?
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Did you receive Jesus Christ when you were three years old?
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You see the point, right?
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At some point in your life, you have to believe in Jesus Christ.
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At some point in your life, you have to personally receive Him.
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It has to happen somewhere, right?
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Whether you're a disciple in the home, or Jesus was never mentioned in your home, and you came to know Him and understand Him some other way.
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At some point, you have to receive Jesus Christ.
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Next lie.
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Any religious path will get you to heaven.
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It doesn't matter what you believe.
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Just believe in God.
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Your path will get you to heaven.
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Well, that contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
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Because He's the only one that deals with the sin issue.
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Nobody else has or can do that.
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But again, apart from the Bible, even the concept itself is ludicrous.
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If you came to me and said, "Hey, I'm going to take a little family trip to Erie.
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"What's the best way to get to Erie, Pennsylvania?" And I said to you, "Any road will get you there.
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Just get in your car and drive, and you'll end up in Erie." You're like, "Well, that doesn't seem to make very much sense." I'm like, "No, no, any path will get you there." Look, I'm not one to push my beliefs about maps and direction and GPS.
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I don't want to be obnoxious and push my beliefs on those things.
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So I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, young grasshopper, you take any path you want, you'll get to Erie.
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You'd be like, what was in your communion juice?
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It's crazy, isn't it?
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Isn't it funny when we talk about heaven, people are like, any path will get you there.
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No, it will not.
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Because you've got a sin issue, you've got a holy God issue, of one Savior that dealt with that issue.
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And His name is Jesus Christ.
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Last lie is we can't really be sure of Heaven.
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I mean, we can't really be sure.
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The answer to that lie is yeah, we can know that Heaven is real and we can know that we have eternal life because God wants us to know for sure.
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Did you know that?
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God wants you to be sure.
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That's why the Bible says, among other places, 1 John 5.13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." You're like, well, how can somebody possibly know that they have eternal life?
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Well, let's get back to John 5.24 when Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, for he who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life." Can you hear Jesus' Word?
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And I don't just mean can you audibly pick up the sounds coming out of my mouth.
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No, it's not about me.
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Can you hear what Jesus is saying in this passage?
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Are you tuned in?
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Because Jesus said, John 10.27, we're going to get there, My sheep hear My voice.
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Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sin?
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Do you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to give you eternal life?
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If you do, look at the end of verse 24.
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Jesus said, "He does not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life." See, that's the assurance.
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It's believing the promise of Jesus Christ.
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I can confidently stand before you and say I know that I'm going to heaven.
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You're like, well, that sounds awfully arrogant.
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No, no, no, it's not!
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Because it's not up to me.
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It's not based on me.
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It's not up to my works or my integrity.
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It's based on God's integrity.
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He made a promise, and I'm saying I believe the promise that He made to me.
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And I believe God always keeps His Word.
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So because of that, I know that I'm going to heaven.
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People all the time say things to me like, "You know, Pastor Jeff, I've got a lot to answer for.
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Don't stand behind me on judgment day because God's really going to let me have it." That's just not true.
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That is not true.
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Because if you've received Jesus Christ, He says, "Truly, truly, there is no judgment." Three astonishing claims of Christ.
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Do you want to know one more?
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Number three, life is restored.
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Life is restored.
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Jesus Christ did not come into the world to turn bad people into good people.
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Jesus Christ came into the world to turn dead people into alive people.
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Adam, the first man, He brought sin and death into the world.
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He brought sin and death into the world.
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So what we need is not morality, we don't need encouragement, we don't need positive thinking or good vibes.
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What do we need?
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Look at verse 25.
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Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming.
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It is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
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For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself.
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What we need is life.
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What we need is spiritual resurrection.
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Regeneration. Being born again.
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Jesus is pointing out here that regeneration in His day It has begun.
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Jesus, during His ministry and all the way up to February 23, 2020, and tomorrow if He gives it, Jesus is giving life to those who will believe in Him.
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We are by nature spiritually dead.
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That's how we're born.
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And some people will remain that way for the rest of their lives.
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will not respond to God.
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There's no thought of accountability.
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They refuse to listen to God's Word.
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They refuse to turn from sin.
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Why?
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Again, Jesus points out, because they don't hear.
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They're unwilling to hear what the Son of God is saying.
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Look at verse 27.
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It says, "And He has given him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man." At this point, I think Jesus' audience, I think their jaws are on the floor.
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Hearing all this?
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This is some pretty shocking stuff that Jesus is saying.
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And I think that that's what's happening because of Jesus' next statement.
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Verse 28, He says, "Do not marvel at this." Like, you look shocked.
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Hey, hey.
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Don't be so surprised that I'm telling you this.
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Jesus said, "Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming And all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out.
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Those who have done good, the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
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We talked about the spiritual resurrection.
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When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are born again.
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You have His life in you.
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Here, Jesus is talking about the physical resurrection.
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Someday, Jesus is going to empty every cemetery, every grave.
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is going to be emptied so that the body - the glorified body - is going to be reunited with the soul.
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Last year we covered this in Revelation 20.
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Jesus sums it up here.
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Those who have done good - meaning those who have received Him, believed in His name - that bodily resurrection happens at the rapture.
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And it happens through and after the tribulation.
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You'll have an eternal body for the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth and beyond.
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That's one resurrection.
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Jesus said there's another resurrection for those who have done evil.
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Revelation 20 tells us, remember?
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This resurrection happens after the thousand year reign of Christ.
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For everyone who's rejected Christ, and insisted on living life by their own terms, they'll get a glorified eternal body to stand before the great white throne.
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And that eternal body won't be used to enjoy God's presence and fellowship forever.
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That eternal body will be given to suffer forever.
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So it looks like the judgment is based on works here.
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It is.
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Your works can't save you.
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Your works can't keep you from being saved, but what Jesus is pointing out here, works, your works, good or bad, they're the fruit, they're the evidence on where you stand with Jesus Christ.
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Just tell me for a second that the God of the universe puts His life inside you and you don't change.
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You don't have new appetites.
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You don't have desires to do things that are pleasing and honoring to Him.
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That's why your works, they're evidence.
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And I would ask you, what does the fruit of your life reflect?
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Just think of your typical Sunday through Saturday week.
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What does the fruit of your life reflect?
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Does your life look like someone who has the life of Christ alive in you?
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Or does your life look like someone who lives life on your own terms, apart from God?
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Because for some of you, this verse should be frightening.
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Because the day is coming, that your choice regarding Jesus Christ is going to be revealed.
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You can fool me.
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You can fool your family that you live with if you have a family.
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You can fool your dear, sweet grandmama.
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You can be a nice person.
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You can be a churchgoer.
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But if you haven't received Jesus Christ, you will not fool Him.
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The wonderful news in reading all this is it doesn't have to be frightening.
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Today, you can have your sin taken away.
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Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life.
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He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
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Can you hear Him?
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Are you tuned in?
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I believe Jesus is who He says He is.
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He's God in the flesh.
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He's the Giver of life.
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He's the Judge of all.
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Turn from your sin.
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Turn to Him.
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You can do that right now.
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I'm going to ask you to bow your heads with me, please.
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I'd like to lead you in a prayer.
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And just repeating some words, that doesn't do it.
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It's believing from your heart what it is that you're praying.
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With whatever faith you have, bow your heads.
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If you need to say this prayer, say it with me.
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Something like this, God, I understand that I am a sinner.
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I am dead in my sin.
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I understand, God, that I am lost without You.
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God, I see in Your Word that You are the Giver of life.
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that you've given your Son the authority and the power to give life.
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And God, You have promised that if I hear Your Word, and I believe, I will receive life.
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I will not come into judgment.
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But I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
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I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin.
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I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead to give me eternal life.
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And God, today, right now, I'm asking that You have mercy on me.
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I'm asking that You give me the life When Jesus Christ promised, I'm asking God that You give me true spiritual faith to believe the things that You've promised in Your Word.
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If you've prayed that, and you believe, then you will not come into judgment.
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and you will pass from death to life.
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Father, You know every heart in this room.
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Let us not be self-deceived people, but instead, let us be people who like little children, we take You at Your Word, we believe, and we act on that belief.
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Father, I pray through this message from Your Word, that You would truly bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ, that sin is broken, that eternity is changed forever.
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Healing takes place.
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Father, glorify Your name.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read John 5:18-29
What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
Why do you think Jesus didn’t try to “reason” with His critics? Why would Jesus declare such truths about Himself if He knew it would only make them angrier?
According to John 5:29, what is the basis of judgment? If good works cannot save you, what does this mean? What place do “good works” have in the life of the redeemed?
Breakout
Have you ever struggled with feeling condemned? What does John 5:24 say about judgment for the one who believes in Jesus? Why do we often believe our feelings over the Word of God? How can we change that? Pray for one another.