WWUTT 838 The Father has Given Life to the Son?

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Sometimes we think of God the Father is the mean one and the Son of God is the nice one. But both are equally loving and both are perfect in their judgments.

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All judgment has been given to the Son when we understand the text. This is when we understand the text.

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A daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt

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.com Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. We continue with our study of the

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Gospel of John chapter 5. And as with yesterday I'll begin reading in verse 19 through verse 24.

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Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what

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He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

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For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing.

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And greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel. For as the

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Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom

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He will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the

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Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the

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Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears

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My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life.

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So yesterday I mentioned briefly verse 21. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the

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Son gives life to whom He will. It is the Father who raised

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Jesus Christ from the dead. Now you say, well, didn't Jesus say, I have the authority to lay my life down and to take it back up again?

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Certainly, but that was still all at the will of the Father. We also have it stated in Romans 8 that it was the

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Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead. Romans 8 11, if the

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Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised

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Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

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One of the things that this shows us is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a

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Trinitarian work. It was not merely Christ raising Himself or the

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Father even doing that work on His own or the Holy Spirit just kind of idly waiting until, hey,

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Jesus, when am I supposed to go and and be as tongues of fire on the apostles and everything? When is that supposed to happen?

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It wasn't like the Holy Spirit was just sitting idly by either. All of these things were a

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Trinitarian work. All that God does is in unity with the

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Godhead. It is not the Father acting on His own and then the Son going, oh, but Dad, do we really have to do it that way?

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Or the Holy Spirit just kind of going willy nilly to and fro and just being all spontaneous and everything the way that, you know, most charismatics and Pentecostals probably think of the

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Holy Spirit as being everything that God does is Trinitarian. It is

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God, the Father. It is God, the Son. It is God, the Holy Spirit. None of these are opposed to one another, although you have different functions among each.

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The Father is the first person of the Trinity. The Son, the second person of the

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Trinity, submits to the will of the Father, and he does this willingly. It's not like the

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Father is more powerful than the Son, so the Son doesn't have any choice. They're co -equal and co -eternal.

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But the Son has chosen to willingly submit to the will of the Father and the

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Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity submits to both the Father and the Son. Later on in the

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Gospel of John, Jesus is going to say to his disciples, I am going to give you, I will send you my spirit to dwell within you.

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Now, even though these three persons of the Trinity serve different roles, they are never in contradiction in those roles.

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They never disagree. And the work of God is a Trinitarian work, particularly

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I mentioned resurrection, but also in salvation, in the salvation of a believer.

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Salvation was elected by the Father. From before time began,

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God the Father chose those who were going to be saved. And I mentioned that yesterday when we were going through Matthew 25, where Jesus makes the comment to those who are going to receive the kingdom.

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Come and receive the kingdom that has been prepared for you by my

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Father from before the foundation of the world. So the Father is the one who has elected.

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Jesus is the one who has effected. He's effected the salvation of believers, of those who the

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Father elected from before time began. Jesus, with his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, effected the means of salvation.

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And then the Holy Spirit is the experience of salvation. So you have election, Jesus Christ effecting, and then the

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Holy Spirit is the experience. We know who God is. We know the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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We have heard the gospel, believed it, and received it because of what the Holy Spirit has done in our hearts.

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And now as we grow in this process of sanctification, that is because the Spirit dwells in our hearts.

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And we come to understand the word of God because these things are spiritually discerned.

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And the Spirit that God has given to us helps us to understand these things. And also growing in a

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Christ -likeness is a work of the Spirit in us as we continue to progress in holiness until our dying day.

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So it's in this way that soteriology, the study of salvation, of justification and sanctification, all of these things are a

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Trinitarian work of God in the heart of a believer. If you believe in God, you will know him as Triune.

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As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Which is why the doctrine of the Trinity is such an essential doctrine.

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It is the most important doctrine in the Christian faith that separates

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Christianity from any other monotheistic religion. Like the

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Muslims are monotheists. They believe in one God, Allah. But they do not believe he is

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Triune. They do not know the Son. In fact, it even says in the Quran that it's blasphemous to say that God has a

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Son. And so they don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Because they don't have the

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Son, they don't know the Father. 1 John 2 .22, this is the Antichrist.

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He who denies the Father and the Son. And the same is the case for the Mormons as well.

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They don't believe in the Godhead. That God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are uncaused, co -equal, and co -eternal.

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They don't believe that. In fact, God the Father is even a man of flesh and blood.

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Just like you are. And Jesus Christ the Son. There's really no big deal about Christ's incarnation.

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Because all gods, according to the Mormons, were once flesh and blood beings.

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Just like any of us are and can likewise become gods. So they don't believe in the

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God of the Bible. And since they don't believe in the Christ of the Bible, they don't know the Father either.

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And then Jehovah's Witnesses. Also a monotheistic religion. And you can kind of dismiss Mormonism as a monotheistic religion, by the way.

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Because it's not really. It is polytheistic. And as I've heard Dr. James White say, it's probably the most polytheistic religion that there is.

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The Jehovah's Witnesses are monotheistic. But they believe that there is one

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God who is not three persons. And that Jesus Christ is actually the Archangel Michael. So because they believe in a

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Michael, they believe in an angel. Rather than the Son of God, then they don't know the

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Father either. And so likewise, they don't have the Holy Spirit. Since in 1 John it says that the

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Holy Spirit is the one who testifies to who the Son is. And the Son testifies to who the Father is.

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So if you don't have one, you don't have any of them. There are the Oneness Pentecostals who believe that there is just one

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God. They claim that who they believe in is the God of the Old Testament. So who the Jews knew that God was, that's who we have to know that God is.

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And they didn't know him as Triune. And so therefore, we should not know him as Triune either. That's a pagan idea.

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It's a pagan theory to say that God is one God and three persons. That's what a Oneness Pentecostal will say.

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We have a lot of them in our community. And I encounter them all the time. But though they say they are filled with the

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Holy Spirit, they don't have the Spirit of God either. And that's all just an act. They are not actually experiencing what they claim they are experiencing.

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Because they don't truly know Christ who is revealed to them the Father. Since they don't understand this

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Trinitarian work of salvation the way that Christ explains it here. Even in John 5, you know the

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Father because you know the Son. And this raising of the dead that happens in the life of every believer.

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Because we were all dead in our sins and our transgressions is a Trinitarian work.

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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Working to raise Christ from the dead and also raising our dead spirits to life.

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Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he will.

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Jesus does this just as well as the Father does. But whom Jesus raises from the dead,

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God the Father is not opposed. It's not like, hey, you know, I gave you this authority, this power to raise from the dead but don't abuse it.

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No, all of this is in tandem. Father and Son in complete agreement, in perfect agreement in fact.

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Jesus said in Matthew 11 verse 25, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

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Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my

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Father and no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the

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Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

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Lest we come out of the Old Testament believing that God is just some sort of oppressive deity up in the heavens that's only there to punish you whenever you do bad.

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We have these words of loving kindness that comes from Christ and he shows us the Father, that the

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Father is just like this, just as Jesus is. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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The Father is no different. Yes, he is God. Yes, we should fear him with a reverent fear because he is the creator of all and he is the judge of all.

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All judgment the Father has given to the Son. So if you think of the Son as the gentle one but the

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Father is the vindictive one, well understand that all judgment has been given to Christ and he's the one who at the last judgment is going to be looking at those who were not predestined from before the foundation of the world and did not show the will of the

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Father in obedience in their lives and he will say to them, depart from me you workers of lawlessness,

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I never knew you. That comes from Christ. So don't think of the Father is the mean one but the

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Son is the gentle one. He's the one who's throwing his head back in laughter and stretching his arms all the way out like Stretch Armstrong.

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Like we were listening to one person describe this yesterday. But Jesus is judge.

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He is the judge of all. He is the one sitting on the great white throne that John sees in the book of Revelation.

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And so we must fear Christ just as we would fear God the

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Father. And again, this isn't a please don't hurt me sort of a fear, but it is a reverent fear.

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It is knowing that he is God. He has called us to himself and he wants to fellowship with us.

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Amen, praise the Lord, but don't ever think that means you can run up to him and noogie his head. Okay, that's the irreverent approach to Christ.

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We still must worship and honor him for he is God and he is worthy of our worship.

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So again, verse 21, 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 but has given all judgment to the son that all may honor the son just as they honor the father.

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Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. And that goes back to what

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I mentioned out of 1 John 2, 22, is that whoever does not know the son doesn't know the father either.

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1 John 2, 23, the next verse, no one who denies the son has the father.

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Whoever confesses the son has the father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.

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If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the son and in the father.

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Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him.

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In Matthew 21, Jesus was teaching in the temple and you had the chief priests and the Pharisees ask him what by what authority did he do these things?

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Jesus responded with a question. He told a couple of parables. And one of those parables was that there was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country.

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When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.

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And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first and they did the same to them.

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Finally, he sent his son to them saying they will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the sun, they said to themselves, this is the air.

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Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

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When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these tenants? And they said to him, he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.

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Jesus said to them, have you never read the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

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This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

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And the one who falls on this stone will be taken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.

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When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.

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And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because the crowds held him to be a prophet.

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That's the last parable that we read at the end of Matthew 21. So there's the illustration there of if you do not receive the son whom the father has sent, then the father is not with you.

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Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him.

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Later on in John 8 44, Jesus is going to say to the Jews, you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

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He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

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When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. So I was talking about monotheism a moment ago.

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Judaism is monotheism, but they do not worship the true God of the Bible, for they have rejected the son.

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And whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him and is instead a liar and an antichrist, according to 1

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John 2 22. So Judaism does not lead to salvation. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ.

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John 5 24. Now, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

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Remember what I said on Monday that Jesus reveals to us the father.

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We know the father through Christ because Christ has shown him to us, as I just read a moment ago out of Matthew 11 verse 27.

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All things have been handed over to me by my father and no one knows the son except the father and no one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him.

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We know the father through Jesus Christ. Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life.

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He does not come into judgment, but he has passed from death to life. Let me go ahead and finish out this section, verses 25 through 29.

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Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here. Now, where did we where have we heard

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Jesus say that before? He said that to the Samaritan woman at the well in the previous chapter in John 4.

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An hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers of God will worship him in spirit and truth.

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So now he is saying this to those who are challenging him about healing a man on the Sabbath day.

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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.

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In Isaiah chapter 9, a chapter that's popular around the Christmas season.

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This is the chapter where we read for to us, a child is born to us, a son is given. In Isaiah 9 too, we read the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

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Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shown.

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And we know that light is Jesus Christ and those who hear his voice 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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And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.

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Do not marvel at this, Jesus says, verse 28, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.

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Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

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And that goes back to even the Olivet discourse section that I read yesterday out of Matthew 25.

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In the very last verse of that discourse, it says, and these will go away into eternal punishment.

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Those who did evil, but the righteous will go into eternal life.

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Whoever is in the sun will do the works of the sun. We will do those things that Jesus has told us to do.

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For remember, the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live.

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We will have a life that is not our own, but it is the life of Christ that has been given to us by the grace of God.

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And whoever has the sun will live and will live forever. Let us conclude with prayer.

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Our wonderful God, we thank you for the salvation that has been given to us in Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. And I pray we would indeed walk in the holiness of Christ. We would hate the sinful flesh that has led us into all manner of rebellion and unrighteousness.

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You have given us your spirit poured into our hearts that we would hate the flesh and love the

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Lord, our God. And so in pursuit of you, help us to do those things in obedience that are pleasing to you.

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And we see those things written down for us in the pages of scripture. Help us to honor the son that we may also honor the father in all we say, think, and do.

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And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

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Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.