Who Gave You the Right? - Part 2

If you would open up your Bibles to John chapter 5, specifically if you would open up your Bibles to page 1058.

John 5 · chapter mention

! Let me ask you a question, especially the men in the room.

What's your favorite musical?

I've had the privilege of seeing a number of musicals.

I've seen Shrek the musical as part of a streaming.

Gentlemen, if you're not used to seeing musicals, that's the place I'd start.

The pot of humor is phenomenal.

Dear Evan Hansen, seen it.

The Notebook, seen it.

Newsies, seen it.

That changed, that was my opening to musicals.

And I'm so glad to have seen Newsies.

And then there's Hamilton.

Now, before you judge me for being a musical fan,

before you judge me,

you've got to understand something about Hamilton.

Hamilton is set at the time of our country's founding.

And one of the reappearing characters is King George, who is hilarious.

And what we see unfolding in this musical

is our forefathers asking one essential question.

Who gave King George the right to govern us?

To rule us?

To tax us?

To determine our future as a nation?

To hold out to us either life or death?

Who gave King George the right?

Who gave him the right to judge us?

Our forefathers rose up against this mere man, King George,

and threw off the yoke of his tyranny,

and we're going to be celebrating that this summer, 250 years ago.

This morning in John 5, 19 through 20,

we see another king.

Not a tyrannical King George.

Not a mere man.

Totally God.

Totally man.

The Son of God.

The Son of Man.

Jesus Christ.

And he's been given all authority,

not just to give life as our Savior,

but to judge all people everywhere

as the judge.

So let me just get something,

a question in your mind.

What will you say to him

on the day you stand before him?

Could you imagine this?

Some person standing before the risen and reigning

all-glorious Christ on Judgment Day.

Jesus, who gave you the right to judge me?

Who gave you the right to judge me?

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

We are not to rise up

and throw off the authority of Jesus.

It's quite the opposite.

We are to humble ourselves

and come under his life-giving authority.

He is both our Savior and Judge.

And at great cost to himself,

he was condemned in our place

so that we could pass from death to life.

And so let me read John 5, 19 through 29.

You can read along with me.

Listen as I read God's Word.

So Jesus said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

the Son can do nothing of his own accord,

but only what he sees the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does,

the Son does likewise.

For the Father loves the Son

and shows him all that he himself is doing.

And greater works than these will he show him

so that you may marvel.

For as the Father raises the dead

and gives them life,

so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

For the Father judges no one,

but he has given all judgment to the Son,

that all may honor the Son

just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son

does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

whoever hears my words

and believes him who sent me

has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment,

but has passed from death to life.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

an hour is coming and is now here,

when the dead will hear the voice

of the Son of God

and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself,

so he has granted the Son also

to have life in himself.

And he has given him authority

to execute judgment

because he is the Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this,

for an hour is coming

when all who are in the tombs

will hear his voice

and come out.

Those who have done good

to the resurrection of life

and those who have done evil

to the resurrection of judgment.

Who gives Jesus the right to judge us?

Jesus, what gives you the right to judge me?

So I want to help you see

three aspects of the authority of Jesus

to judge this morning.

The nature of his authority,

the effect of his authority,

and the scope of his authority.

John 5, in its entirety,

is about the authority of Jesus.

Last week, we saw his authority

to heal on the Sabbath.

And this week,

it's his authority to judge.

So, let's look at the nature

of his authority.

It's in verses 19 through 23.

And the first thing you need to see here

is a little phrase Jesus likes to use.

Truly, truly, I say to you.

It's a little phrase

that Jesus alone uses.

Truly, truly, I say to you.

What he's saying is literally,

amen, amen.

So be it.

So be it.

Here's what he's doing.

He's saying, listen carefully.

Truly.

Because what I am about to do you,

tell you, explain to you,

is something of life importance.

And in our passage,

there are three truly, trulies.

I'd also like you to notice

who he's talking to.

In verse 19, it says,

Jesus said to them.

And then later in verse,

I think it's 20,

when he says,

so that you may marvel,

it's a y'all,

he's not talking to his disciples here.

He's talking to the very people

who want to kill him,

to his opponents,

to those who are judging him

for blasphemy.

He's speaking to them.

And so remember,

in verse 19,

that Jesus has just been charged

with blasphemy.

These people,

these religious leaders,

want to kill him.

And now he's saying to them,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

and let's pick it up there.

What's the foundation

for this authority to judge?

The first thing I want you to notice,

it's a shared authority.

It's a shared right.

Throughout these verses,

verses 19 through 23,

we have this little coupling

of two names,

son, father,

son, father,

son, father.

And what that's getting at

is the father and son of God.

We are now wading into

the Christian doctrine

of the Trinity.

And you can summarize the Trinity

with three statements.

God has eternally existed

as three distinct persons.

Each person's fully God.

There is one God.

You hold those together,

you're orthodox.

And so what we have here

is a statement Jesus is making

about the nature of the Trinity.

It's the foundation

for his authority.

But if you notice,

the father and son,

well, they share divine essence.

Jesus will say in John 10, 30,

I and the father are one.

But there's also this distinction.

There's the son and the father.

It's a specific kind of relationship.

They have the same essence

of godness,

yet there's a distinction

when it comes to role.

And the son is very clear

on what his role is.

In verse 19, he says,

I can do nothing.

The son can do nothing

of his own accord,

but only what he sees

the father doing.

And what he's saying there is,

hey, I have not come.

The father has not sent me

for me to do whatever I want.

I have come in submission

to my father's will

to accomplish his plan.

And so what we see in verse 19

is that the son sees

what his father is doing

and he submits himself

to the father's will.

He's not going to do anything

except what the will

of his father is.

Shared essence,

full Godhead,

distinction of roles.

So what this means is

the father and the son

are in lockstep together

to accomplish the purposes

of the father.

And it would apply

to the Holy Spirit as well.

They're here to accomplish

what God the father

has ordained.

And so I just want to say,

help you to see right here

that what establishes

his authority to judge

is his shared essence

as being God.

But it's also part

of a shared plan.

In verses 19 through 20,

you can see it.

There's this repeated

do and doing.

So Jesus said to them,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

the son can do nothing

of his own accord,

but only what he sees

his father doing.

For whatever the father does,

that the son does likewise.

For the father loved the son

and shows him all

that he himself is doing.

All of this doing

is getting at a plan.

Shared essence,

shared plan.

And it's the plan

of God the father

that was established

before the foundation

of the world,

a plan for the fullness of time.

I preached a sermon on this

a few months ago

on Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1:3–14

verses 3 through 14,

talking about this plan

this triune plan.

It is a big plan.

It's a Christocentric plan.

It's a people-moving plan.

And it's a glory plan.

It's the plan of salvation.

And what we have going on here

is what the son

sees his father doing,

the son is doing likewise.

And do you know what that is?

The plan of salvation.

That's what they are doing.

Another area that establishes

Jesus' authority

is shared power.

21 and 22.

Power is the ability

to accomplish something.

I need power to mow my lawn.

But in this case,

it's power to accomplish a plan.

And what kind of power

are we talking about?

Would you just look at verse 21?

For as the father raises the dead

and gives them life,

so also the son gives life

to whom he will.

That is an interesting kind of power.

power.

That's resurrection power.

That's raising people

from the dead power.

Now that's power.

That's God power.

This past week,

your pastor was minding

his own business in his office.

Kelly Schneeberger comes by

and she says,

hey, can you help me with something?

I said, of course,

because I'm a servant.

Of course.

And then she said something

about a bat.

A bat.

She led me to an undisclosed room

in this building.

And she pointed up

to an HVAC unit

and said,

bat.

And right next to

the HVAC unit

was this little dark thing.

Now,

I have experience with bats,

believe it or not.

So I took an extended,

lengthy item,

poked it,

nothing happened.

I ascended

into a very,

it was very dangerous, folks.

I ascended upon high

and I had gloves on

and I reached up

to that bat

and I grabbed it

and it crumpled.

And so I pulled it down

and I spoke,

live bat, live!

Do you know what happened?

It just crumpled more.

No life.

I don't have the power

to give life to the dead.

Anybody in the room?

This is unique God power.

And this power

to give life

is also the power

to condemn forever.

If you look at verse 22,

for the Father judges no one,

but has given all judgment

to the Son.

this is a judgment.

If we're talking about

eternal life

and raising from the dead

on one side,

this kind of judgment

is,

has to do with eternal death.

Judgment,

being cast out

into darkness

where there's

weeping and gnashing

of teeth.

And what we have here

is the Son

has not just been

given the authority,

the power

to be able to give life,

He has the power

to condemn

for eternity.

shared essence,

shared plan,

shared power,

and the last thing

I want you to see

is shared honor.

in verse 20,

we read,

in greater works

than these

will He show Him.

Will the Father

show the Son?

And just think of

John 11's coming

where Jesus

raises Lazarus

from the dead.

Greater works.

And then He says,

so that you may marvel.

Remember who He's speaking to.

He's speaking to His enemies.

Greater works are coming, guys,

so that you will marvel.

So that you will be amazed

and that you will give me

the honor due me

and the Father

will be honored as well.

Look down now

at verse 23,

that all may honor the Son

just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son

does not honor the Father

who sent Him.

this honoring

is reverencing.

It's being in awe of.

It's deep respect.

It's acknowledging

that Jesus

is the judge of all

and that He was given

that responsibility

by the Father

and He's to be honored as well.

which for His enemies,

the Jews hearing this,

this is what that means.

If you don't honor the Son,

even though you say

you're honoring the Father,

you're not.

This is the kind of honor

and marveling

that results in submission

to the one

who has the authority.

Recognizing

that this one

has eternal life

and can condemn

to eternal death.

He has the right to judge.

Jesus,

what gives you

the right to judge me?

You're God.

You're executing God's plan.

You are going to honor God

in all that we do.

And you have God power.

So,

when we're talking about

the nature

of the Son's authority,

it starts with Him

being fully God.

shared essence.

The second

aspect

of the authority

of the Son

I want you to see

is the effect

of His authority.

And we see that

in verse 24.

And it's queued up

with another

truly, truly.

Truly, truly,

I say to you,

whoever hears my voice

and believes Him

who sent me

has eternal life.

He does not come

into judgment,

but He has passed

from death

to life.

What Jesus

is providing

for us here

is the major

criteria

for His

judging us

at the end

of the age.

It's whether you

hear and believe

His word.

His word.

His word about

who He is.

His word about

His Father

who sent Him.

His word about

the reason

why He was sent.

To save.

I know that

many of you

can say,

John 3, 16,

from heart,

for God so loved

the world

that He gave

His one-of-a-kind

Son

that whoever

believes in Him

hears and believes

shall not be

condemned for eternity

apart from God

shall not perish

but have eternal life.

Live.

What Jesus is saying

is if you believe

what He is saying

about Himself,

about God,

about why He came,

why He was sent,

if you believe that

to be true,

if you see your need

to be rescued,

if you see that

Jesus is the only

solution to your

biggest problem

the moment you believe

you are given

eternal life.

He's not under judgment.

No longer under judgment.

The moment you believe

you have passed

from death

to life,

you're not under judgment,

you're no longer

condemned.

What Jesus is talking about

is your conversion.

So let me spell that out

for you a little bit.

What happens

the moment you believe

that Jesus is

God in the flesh

who was sent by the Father

to take away our sins?

It's immediate life.

Immediate eternal life.

There's this misconception

that those who believe

in Jesus

that eternal life

begins when you die.

it begins

when you believe.

The moment you believe

you are given

eternal life.

I can show you

right from the text.

Truly, truly,

I say to you,

whoever hears my word

and believes him

who sent him

has eternal life.

That's a present

tense verb

saying it's now.

It's what it means

to be born again.

To become a new creation.

The moment you believe

in what Christ has done,

that moment you believe.

And so the first aspect

of this eternal life

is that it's immediate.

Second aspect of it,

it's secure.

It's irrevocable.

This life

that is granted to us,

given to us

by the Son,

it's unsnatchable.

You want to flip

in your Bibles with me

a couple pages

to your right

to John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

I can't wait

to preach

John 10.

Man,

it's going to be awesome.

Not my preaching,

the passage

is going to be awesome.

In John chapter 10,

John 10 · chapter mention

in verse 27,

he says,

this is Jesus speaking,

my sheep

hear my voice

and I know them

and they follow me.

I give them

eternal life

and they will never perish

and no one

will snatch them

out of my hand.

So just think about

what we just read

about who Jesus is.

Shared essence,

right?

Shared power,

shared honoring

with God.

There's another

shared something.

He has you

in his hand.

He's given you

eternal life.

This eternal life

that starts immediately

is irrevocable.

No one can snatch you

out of his hand,

but it doesn't stop there.

Look at verse 29.

My Father

who has given them

to me

is greater than all

and no one is able

to snatch them

out of the Father's hand.

You're in a double

divine vice

if you're a believer

in Jesus

and this eternal life

has begun

instantaneously

that it's irrevocable.

You're unsnatchable.

that means

you can't even

pry off

the fingers

of God

that grip you.

Secure.

I and the Father

are one.

Here's one

that you need to hear.

Something about

this eternal life.

This eternal life

that's immediate

and unsnatchable

from us

is experiential.

this eternal life

which God gives us

the moment we believe,

it has real effects.

Real life-changing effects.

It changes the way

that we live.

It changes us.

How, you ask?

First and foremost.

it changes

who you live for.

Instead of living

for yourself,

this eternal life

is going to be

pushing yourself

out to the perimeter

and bringing Jesus

into the center

so that you're living

with Jesus Christ

as the controlling

center of your life.

The one who is life

ends up

ruling your life,

controlling your life.

life.

There's another passage

that I want you

to turn to.

It's John 15.

I can't wait

to preach John 15.

It's awesome.

This is where Jesus

calls himself

the vine

and we are the branches.

It's an interesting

organic relationship.

A branch can't

bear fruit

on its own.

It can only bear fruit

if it's attached

to the vine.

And when you're

attached to the vine,

you bear fruit.

In John 15.

5 we read,

I am the vine,

you are the branches,

whoever abides in me

and I am.

Another way to say it

is when Jesus

is the controlling

center of your life,

the all-governing

reality of your life,

the one consuming

passion of your life,

the one whom

you depend on,

when you are

trusting in him,

he it is that

bears much fruit

for apart from me

you can do nothing.

Verse 8,

by this my father

is glorified

that you bear much fruit

and so prove to be

my disciples.

And in all of this

fruit talk,

look at verse 12,

this is my command.

Here is the

principal fruit

that I am going

to produce in you,

that you love

one another

as I have loved you.

You see,

eternal life

has real effects.

it changes

the way we,

who we live for.

We go from living

for ourselves

to living for Jesus

and when we're

living for Jesus

he begins to

bear fruit in us.

Fruit in which

we're living for Christ,

we're living

dependent on Christ

and we're bearing fruit

that is a lot

like Christ.

One more passage

for you to turn to.

John 13.

And you know what?

I can't wait

to preach

John 13.

In John 13,

34, 35,

a new commandment

I give to you

that you love

one another

just as I have loved you,

you also are

to love one another.

By this all people

will know

that you are

my disciples

if you

bite each other

and beat each other

up.

No,

if you have love

for one another,

Christ-like love

for one another.

You see,

here's what happens.

You receive

eternal life.

It's immediate.

And then Jesus

starts to change you.

You stop living

for yourself

because you're like,

that stinks.

I don't like that.

Jesus doesn't like that.

And when you start

living for Jesus,

you're like,

boy,

this is really,

I enjoy this.

And then you start

loving people

the way that

God in Christ

has loved you.

It is such

a game changer.

It changes

the way

that you treat

people.

Here's another way

to say it.

When you become

a Christian

and eternal life

takes root

in you,

you go from

being seeing

people as

what can I

get

to seeing

people as

how can I

give them

Jesus?

What can I do

for them to

bring glory

to Jesus?

It's a radical

change.

This eternal

life business,

it's not

some kind

of add-on

when you

die.

This radically

reorients

to who you

live for.

There's one

more piece

of this,

of eternal

life,

and it's

forever.

We will be

living with

Jesus Christ

as the

controlling

center of

our lives

forever.

on this

side of

Christ's

return,

our experience

of this

eternal life

is limited

because of

our sinfulness.

We still

sin,

but when

he comes

back,

we will

be unencumbered

by our

own sinful

nature and

living in

a creation

that's been

subjected

to decay.

It's going

to be

glorious.

And just

to help you

make the

connection,

this is

the effect

of the

authority

of Jesus

as both

Savior and

judge.

When you

believe his

word,

Jesus,

who gives

you the

right to

judge me?

Look what

he's able

to do.

The last

area I want

you to see

about his

authority

is what he

says about

his authority,

and that's the

scope of his

authority,

and it's the

last truly,

truly in this

passage.

In verses

25-29,

Jesus says,

truly,

truly,

I say to

you,

an hour is

coming and

is now here

when the

dead will

hear the

voice of

the Son

of God

and those

who hear

will live.

Look down

at verse

28.

Do not

marvel at

this,

for an

hour is

coming when

all who

are in

the tombs

will hear

his voice.

What Jesus

is doing

here is

he's like,

hey,

let me clue

you in on

reality.

Let me

bring you

into how

things really

are,

truly,

truly,

so be

it,

this is the

way it

is.

And then he

talks about

the scope

of his

authority in

terms of

two different

hours.

A now

hour and

a then

hour.

The now

hour is

verse 25,

the then

hour is

verse 28,

and they're

two different

hours.

hours.

So let's

look at the

now hour,

verse 25

to 27.

You can

also say

it's the

already

hour.

Truly,

truly,

I say to

you,

an hour is

coming.

There's,

let's see,

one,

two,

three,

four,

four words.

Can everybody

say those

four words

together?

Let me

just set

you up

again.

Truly,

truly,

I say to

you,

an hour is

coming and

is now

here.

the hour

has already

begun.

It's this

present age

we're living

in.

We're living

in the

now hour,

this present

age.

And then

Jesus starts

talking about

dead people

made alive.

When the

dead will

hear the

voice of

the Son

of God

and those

who hear

will live,

those who

hear will

pass from

death to

life.

Jesus is

talking,

not talking

about those

who are

physically

dead.

He's talking

about those

who are

spiritually

dead,

who are

living in

their sin.

When they

hear his

voice and

they believe

his word,

what he

says about

himself and

about his

father who

sent him and

why he

came,

when they

hear that

and they

believe that,

they pass

from death

to life.

And in

verses 26

through 27,

Jesus just

reiterates that

he's been

given the

authority to

live, to

give life,

26, he's

the Son

of God, and

he has the

authority to

execute judgment

because he's

the Son of

Man.

These are two

huge titles.

The Son of

God is getting

at his

godness,

and the Son

of Man is

getting at his

executive

kingship.

It's coming

out of

Daniel chapter

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

7, where

we have the

Son of Man

who goes to

the Ancient

of Days,

and the Ancient

of Days gives

the Son of

Man a

kingdom that's

forever.

People from

every tribe,

tongue, and

nation are

part of this

kingdom, and

he will reign

over this

kingdom.

He determines

who's in and

who's out.

God.

So what we

have in the

now hour is

Jesus, who

is bringing

people from

death to

life by his

word.

Those, some,

he's giving

life because

he's God.

Others, he's

condemning to

eternal judgment

because he's the

Son of Man.

in other

words, Jesus

has all

authority right

now to

give eternal

life to

whoever he

sees fit, and

to condemn

all those who

reject him.

And it

raises a

question.

How is

Jesus speaking

now?

Well, now

he is speaking

through his

church.

When you

got a guy

like me who

is seeking

to faithfully

proclaim God's

word, it's

Jesus speaking.

Jesus speaking

through his

word.

When you

are talking

to someone

over coffee

about who

Jesus is,

why God

the Father

sent him,

he's speaking

his word.

Think of

the church

as God's

kingdom

embassy.

on earth.

We are

his

ambassadors

speaking his

words on

his behalf,

and those

who believe,

he brings

them from

death to

life.

And this

is all that's

happening in

the now

hour, the

already

hour.

And he

is speaking

all across

the globe

right now

to every

tribe, tongue,

and nation,

and he's

gathering

himself a

people who

all are

living with

him as the

controlling

center of

their lives.

That's the

now hour.

We're in it.

The then

hour is in

verses 28 and

29, the

not yet

hour.

In verse

28 we read

an hour is

coming, but

there's no

qualification to

it.

there is

and is now

here.

There's none

of that.

What he's

talking about

is an hour

yet to come,

the already

hour.

In Jesus,

in verse

28 and

29, what

he's getting

at is at

the end

of time,

there is

going to be

one great

judgment of

all people.

and he

starts talking

about

people who

were dead.

And now

he's talking

about people

who are

physically

dead.

It's all

people from

all time who

have died

and are in

the tombs,

in the grave.

Check this

out for power.

In one

utterance,

all who've

been dead

for all

time will

be raised

from the

dead to

judgment.

Do not

marvel at

this, for

an hour is

coming when

all who are

in the

tombs will

hear his

voice, the

voice of the

Son of God,

the voice of

the Son of

Man, God

incarnate.

They will

hear his

voice and

come out

of their

graves.

Those who

have done

good to

the resurrection

of life,

those who

have done

evil to

the resurrection

of the

dead.

And so

Jesus, at

the end

of the age,

will call

forth a

resurrection

of all,

and all

people will

be brought

to him,

before him,

and he will

not just

raise them

up, he

will then

divide them

out.

This is

Matthew 25.

When Jesus

comes back,

he will sit

on his

glorious throne,

and the

angels will

reap, and

all of

people will

be put in

front of

him, and

he will

separate them

out as

sheep from

the goats.

Judgment.

The first

group is

those who've

done good,

and they

will be

raised to

a resurrection

of life.

Think about

the good

that they're

doing.

It's not

good to

earn their

resurrection

to life.

It is the

good that

results from

Jesus giving

them eternal

life.

These are

the folks that

have born

fruit over

time that

is pleasing

to the

Father, and

they've been

raised up

unto the

resurrection of

eternal life.

They will

spend eternity

with Jesus.

The second

group are

those who've

been raised

from the

dead to

the resurrection

of judgment

because of the

evil they have

done, because

they have not

put their

trust in

Jesus.

They will

be condemned

forever.

The scope

of Jesus'

authority

authority is

now and

then.

He has

authority over

it all.

Jesus, what

gives you the

right to

judge me?

In these

three truly,

truly, I

say to you

statements,

Jesus makes

clear his

nature of

his authority,

the effect of

his authority,

the scope of

the authority,

and here's

the point.

Jesus is

both our

Savior and

our judge.

He's both

our Savior

and our

judge.

We need to

hold both of

those together.

So how do we

respond?

How do we

respond to

Jesus being

both Savior

and judge?

Well, if

you're a

non-believer

in the room,

if you've

yet to put

your faith

in Jesus,

if you've

yet to

submit to

him,

if you

haven't

taken his

words to

heart,

you need to

understand he

is ready to

rescue you.

He is

poised to

give you

eternal life.

He wants

to give you

eternal life.

life.

He wants

to cause

you to

go from

death

to life.

How can

he do

that?

Because as

God, he

died the

death that

you deserved.

And he

alone can

give you the

life you

are in such

desperate need

of.

life.

He offers

you this.

This life,

this immediate,

this secure,

this experiential,

this forever

life in a

relationship with

him.

So if you

haven't decided

to trust in

Jesus, let me

urge you to do

that.

This past

week I had a

conversation with

a young man,

and I love

this young man,

and I asked

him, hey,

have you put

your faith in

Jesus yet?

Have you become

a Christian yet?

He says, no,

and I'm like,

okay, why not?

And he goes,

I don't think

I'm ready.

I'm like, well,

when do you

know you're

ready?

And he's like,

I don't know.

So I asked

him, well, do

you believe this

gospel to be

true?

He said, yeah,

I believe it's

true.

I'm like, and

do you see your

need for the

gospel?

Do you see your

need to be

forgiven of your

sin?

He says, yes,

I do.

And then I

asked him, are

you willing?

And what I

meant by that

is, are you

willing to

stop living for

the things that

are the cause

of your death

and start

living for

Jesus as the

controlling center

of your life?

He wasn't

ready to answer.

Do you believe

this is true?

Do you see the

need in yourself?

are you willing to

come under his

authority?

That's the

question.

And when you're

ready, when you're

willing, at that

moment you believe

you will pass from

death to life.

And by the way,

if you're a

Christian, he is

your life.

John 15, your

vine.

So you respond to

him as Savior that

way, and what

about him being our

judge?

Now if you're a

Christian in the

room, you might have

some sweat on your

brow right now.

Wait, hold on a

second.

Hold on a second,

hold on a second,

hold on a second.

Do I need to be

afraid of that?

Christian, you do

not need to be

afraid of being

condemned.

Because Jesus bore

all of God's wrath

for all of your

sin upon the

cross.

Because your

judge is your

Savior.

That's really good

news.

But you will still

stand before him.

2 Corinthians 5.10,

we will all stand

before the judgment

seat of Christ.

And let me just

urge you in light of

that.

Let me just compel

you in light of the

parable of the

talents in Matthew

24, to take what

God has entrusted to

you and to invest

it into what matters

most.

And what matters

most is kingdom, is

the glory of Jesus.

It's marveling at him

in the honor due his

name.

Give yourself to that

Christian in light of

the judgment to come.

You don't need to fear

your judge because he's

your Savior.

But oh, seek to please

him now.

And if you're a non-Christian

in the room, I just have a

question for you.

Do you really want to

stand before the all

authoritative judge after

you've rejected him as

your Savior?

Savior?

You don't.

So let me just urge you to

trust him now.

This summer, we as a

nation will be celebrating

250 years of independence,

our forefathers throwing

off the yoke of King

George's tyranny.

What gave you the right

King George?

We don't throw off the

authority of Jesus

Christ.

He's our Savior and

judge.

We, by faith, come under

his authority and we

live.

We experience this eternal

life that Jesus died to

give us.

us.

We throw off the tyranny

of ruling our own lives

so that he can rule us

for the honor of his name.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, would you have

your way in us?

Would you cause us by your

spirit to experience this

life in greater and greater

abundance?

God, we want to live for

you.

would you help us to put

aside the things that

grieve you and live with

you more and more as the

center of our lives?

Because you are worthy of

that.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.