Jesus, The Father’s Standard
John 5:24-30
This morning we began this sermon of Jesus.
It is the sermon in which Jesus outlines the special relationship
That He has with the Father.
This morning we learned that Jesus is the Father’s Son.
He shares His Father’s Passions
He sees His Father’s Plan
He shows His Father’s Power
He shares His Father’s Praise
But tonight Jesus hits the second point of His sermon.
There is another very unique thing
About Jesus relationship with the Father.
Not only is He the Father’s Son
He is the Father’s Standard
When asking people why they will go to heaven…
“Because I’m a good person”
Now of course you and I both know this is not true.
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
The Bible is clear that no one has ever been good enough, Save One.
Matthew 3:17 “and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ” This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Biblical truth is that no one but Jesus has ever been good enough to go to heaven, yet people still believe this today.
While this is an erroneous belief, it is not a new belief.
700 years before Jesus Isaiah
Dealt with a people who had such a view.
Isaiah spends the first 8 verses of this chapter describing how the priest and the prophet are comparable to drunkards. They put on a good show, but all that comes from their mouth is worth no more than the vomit that comes from a drunk’s mouth.
They were justifying men who were not righteous. They told people “peace, peace, when there was no peace.” They had omitted the message of righteousness, they had omitted the message of holiness, and they were in the business of telling people what they wanted to hear.
Isaiah 28:7-8 “And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment. For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.”
Now apparently the prophets didn’t appreciate Isaiah’s sermon.
They took this opportunity to respond.
Isaiah 28:9-15 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'” Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive. Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
You can hear in their message that they thought they were ok.
BROTHER JIM TOLD ME:
“You know Rory, one time I was preaching a pretty tough message to the people and I determined, I could either look at people like they were a bunch of condemned sinners, or I could see them as people who are pretty good just trying to do what’s right.”
That’s the same kind of heretical stuff
These prophets were railing Isaiah for.
The Bible says men are nothing but a bunch of condemned sinners And that they aren’t good enough.
The problem is far reaching.
Men all over America believe their own goodness will carry them to heaven, And why not, because preachers all over America tell them that is so.
But they are all forgetting one thing.
GOD GETS TO SET THE STANDARD.
Salvation is not attained through men being good.
Salvation is not attained through men justifying themselves.
Salvation is difficult.
Salvation is a small gate followed by a narrow path,
The Bible teaches that while many will want to enter the wedding banquet, many will be locked outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Since this is the case, we must come to grips
With what God’s standard for righteousness is.
THIS IS EXACTLY THE POINT WE LEARN TONIGHT
Tonight we are going to look at Jesus, The Father’s Standard, and there are three truths we see about Him tonight.
#1 JESUS IS THE PATHWAY OF SALVATION
John 5:24-25
Did you ever talk with a person about how to go to heaven?
I like the question Mark Cahill asks. “I need directions. How do you get to heaven?”
That is what Jesus is telling us here.
We don’t go to heaven because we are good enough to do so.
We don’t go to heaven because our parents did.
Jesus gets extremely clear as to how a person goes to heaven.
There are two pre-requisites He mentions.
1) “He who hears My word”
NOW THAT SEEMS STRANGE.
That is a simple step, just hear what Jesus says.
You would think that was easy,
Yet this step weeds many out right off the bat.
Let me talk to you theologically about hearing for a second.
Take into consideration what Paul said in Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,”
A dead soul cannot hear.
John 8:42-43 “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.”
SO HOW DOES ANYONE EVER HEAR?
Jesus makes them able to hear.
Look at verse 25, “an hour is coming AND NOW IS, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
Here He is talking about the spiritually dead.
There is only One who can speak to the soul.
That is why the Bible makes this point.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
People must hear, and only Jesus can speak to the dead soul.
The next problem however comes with people who have been given the opportunity to hear, but who refuse to hear.
And this goes right along with the second pre-requisite
2) “and believes Him who sent Me”
Remember this lesson?
Matthew 13:10-13 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
Some people don’t hear because they won’t hear.
It is a person who refuses the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
It is a person who refuses to believe the conviction.
That person can’t be saved, because hearing is a pre-requisite.
Hebrews 6:4-8 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
However, the person who hears and believes “has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
A person who hears and believes will never stand God’s judgment.
That means they will never have the standard lifted beside them.
They don’t come into judgment.
“but has passed out of death into life.”
They literally have left death and been made alive.
Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
Jesus is the pathway of salvation.
If you won’t hear His word…
If you won’t believe what God says about Him…
You cannot be saved.
Salvation must go through Jesus.
So many in the world today want to go to heaven without dealing with Jesus. It cannot be done.
If you won’t believe Him, you cannot be saved.
#2 JESUS IS THE PROVIDER OF SALVATION
John 5:26-27
This text teaches that the power for salvation is also His.
These verses are some amazing truths that we ought not miss.
Man is very technologically advanced today.
We can build almost anything.
We can build almost anything that can do almost anything.
But you know what a man can’t do.
MAKE LIFE
Life is exclusive to God.
Only He has life in Himself.
And His Son because “He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself”
But as you have figured out by now, we aren’t just talking about physical life, a thing which Jesus made.
We are talking about spiritual life.
Jesus is the only One who can speak to a dead soul,
He is the only One who can resurrect a dead soul.
I’ve told you the story about the hand that popped up out of the grave yard.
You see only Jesus can give life.
John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
And then look at what Jesus says next.
Vs. 27, “and He gave Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man.”
“execute judgment” means to rule as a King. To set as a ruler.
“Son of Man” is a Messianic title that Jesus took upon Himself. It literally means human.
The idea here is this.
That because God gave life to Jesus,
And because Jesus became human,
He has the right to rule and give life to whomever He wishes.
Remember vs. 21 from this morning?
John 5:21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”
This is what makes Jesus the provider of salvation.
YOU CAN GET SALVATION FROM NO OTHER SOURCE
Our world is full of false prophets and false religions
They can tell you what to do with your life….
They can tell you how they think to sustain your life…
They can tell you how they think to gain eternal life…
But their mouth is writing checks they can’t cash.
No one else can give life.
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Jesus is both the pathway of salvation and the provider of salvation,
But here on a Sunday night I’m going to assume we all knew that.
So let’s look at this third point of Jesus about Himself.
#3 JESUS IS THE PLUMB-LINE OF SALVATION
John 5:28-30
Jesus says, “Do not marvel at this”
You get the feeling Jesus was talking to a people
Who were wondering why He was speaking of such things.
You get the feeling that He was talking to people
Who didn’t even realize they needed to be made alive.
And here He is telling them that life is only found in Him.
You see this is the other upsetting attribute of the lost.
Their soul is dead and they don’t even know it.
The Pharisees didn’t. The Jews didn’t.
Many in our world don’t.
We speak of the need of salvation
And they marvel or wonder why we say such things.
WELL THIS IS WHY WE SAY SUCH THINGS
THIS IS WHY JESUS MADE THOSE TWO POINTS.
“for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice.”
Here He is talking about physical death.
DON’T MARVEL THAT I SPEAK OF NEEDING ME FOR SALVATIION, YOU NEED ME BECAUSE JUDGMENT IS COMING.
All will “come forth”
And come forth for a purpose.
“those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
You see up until this point Jesus has been talking about the possibility of salvation, here He talks about the need of it.
There is coming a day when all the dead will be raised
And all will be judged, and the judgment will be carried out.
This is something that our world needs to understand.
We started off by talking about how people don’t really see their need for Jesus because they all think they will go to heaven.
This is the point they have missed.
WE DON’T JUDGE OURSELVES – GOD DOES.
We must fall under God’s standard.
SO WHAT IS GOD’S STANDARD?
Well, let’s look back at the passage we first read in Isaiah.
Isaiah 28:15-19 “Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. “As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
You see God has a standard by which all men will be judged.
God has a standard by which all deeds will be measured.
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level”
Good deeds and evil deeds are determined by Jesus.
John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
1 John 3:23 “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”
Jesus is God’s standard. Jesus is the plumb-line of salvation
He is God’s standard because He is perfectly righteous.
Vs. 30, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
He is the Only One to walk perfectly according to the will of the Father.
He is the Only One who ever performed good deeds.
He is the Father’s Standard.
That leaves this world with two options.
You either run to Jesus for salvation,
Or you are measured by Him.
Matthew 21:42-44 “Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
You either fall on this stone resulting in brokenness and repentance,
Or this stone will fall on you resulting in destruction.
Consider the people in Isaiah’s day.
They didn’t like what Isaiah was telling them.
Isaiah 30:8-17 “Now go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever. For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them, Therefore this iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar, So ruthlessly shattered That a sherd will not be found among its pieces To take fire from a hearth Or to scoop water from a cistern.” For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.”
Our world is one which desperately needs to know
That there is a Standard and there is a Savior.
Jesus will be one or the other in your life.
When God judges, it will all be according to Jesus.
He is the only source of salvation.
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
