Liar, Lunatic, or Lord

Welcome

Introduction

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord

we are going to cover some things

this morning that unless you preach

verse by verse through the bible

you might not hear

as Jesus is beginning to make some claims that are tough

to understand

specifically we will talk some this morning of resurrected body

and of the second resurrection

that will come

thats a pretty tough pill to swallow but it is one

that Jesus speaks about

so it is one that we must study

So stand with me please as we read the word of God

John 5:24–30 ““Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. “Truly I tell 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 just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation. “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

Illustration

Most of us know who C.S Lewis was

He was and still is an extremely influential author

and up until a certain point he was an agnostic

In his book “Mere Christianity”

C.S. Lewis said this..

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic— on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

McDowell, Josh. More Than a Carpenter (pp. 32-33). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. Now remember, we already established that Jesus

As C.S. said here, there really isn’t a middle ground with where we stand with Jesus

The things he said and taught are one of a kind

See we only have 3 options when discerning the things that Jesus said and taught

He could have either been a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord

See if when Jesus made his claims

The very things we are studying

if he made these claims

and He knew he was not God

then he was lying and deliberately deceiving his followers

But that doesn’t make sense because as

Sean McDowell states in his book

More than a carpenter

that doesn’t coincide with what we know either of him or of the results of his life and teachings. See, wherever Jesus has been proclaimed, we see lives change for the good, nations change for the better, thieves become honest, alcoholics become sober, hateful individuals become channels of love, unjust persons embrace justice.

So, Someone who lived as Jesus lived, taught as Jesus taught, and died as Jesus died could not have been a liar.

Well, he could have been a crazy lunatic

I mean today we are going to hear him speak of the dead coming to life at the sound of his voice

Today, if someone claimed to be God

or claimed to be able to raise the dead

we would see him as deluded or self deceived

we may even lock him up

yet In light of other things we know about Jesus, it’s hard to imagine that he was mentally disturbed.

He is a man that spoke some of the most profound words ever spoken

The skill and depth of his teaching

could only have been taught by someone

with full mental clearness

mental clearness that far exceeds that in which

I possess

McDowell, Josh. More Than a Carpenter (p. 38). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. Either he was a liar

is not a Liar

That he is not a lunatic

which means he must be Lord

So while it may be interesting or maybe even

new to us

we must believe it if we believe

that he in fact is Lord

So a quick outline of our text

and our points this morning

The Life (24-27)

The Resurrection (28-29)

The Will (30)

So lets get started

The Life

John 5:24 ““Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”

Remember what I said about when Jesus says

Truly, or Truly Truly

or for some of you

Verily Verily

Perk up your ears, pay special attention to this

And if we link this with verse 23 that we finished up with last week

John 5:23 “so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

how are we to honor the son and enter into eternal life?

by hearing and believing his word

in verse 23 he says “so that all people”

and here

He says anyone!

See Christ, as the co-equal with God

wants all to come in saving faith in him

he wants all of us to honor him

now we know that not all people will do that

and we will get to those people that dont a little later

but that doesn’t mean it isn’t his desire

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”

See some were heckling Peter back in this day about why the Lord hadn’t come back yet

And Peter answers them with this verse

which is really saying you should be happy he hasn’t come back yet

for the Lord is patient and he is giving you,

us, ample time to repent

hear his word

and believe

So he is patient as he gives us mercy and the opportunity

to what...

to hear his word and believe in it

and by doing this you are believing in the

one who sent Him

which is God the Father

See right now we are merging 2 very important concepts

of our faith

That is Christology

which is the doctrine of Christ or the study of who Christ is

as in the Son of God, the Son of Man, The Lamb of God

the co-equal with God

and we are merging who exactly Jesus is

with a concept called Soteriology

and Soteriology is just a fancy word for how we are saved

or the doctrine of Salvation

So in order to enter this eternal life?

and not come under judgement for the sins we have commited

we are to only hear and believe?

yes, its that easy

and yes, its that difficult

See for some these things that I am saying are like music to their ears

and for some it either sounds

far fetched

or sounds like fairy tells

or foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.”

See hearing is the first step to believing

Hearing God’s message about hope, grace, forgiveness,

judgement, sin, and I could go on

hearing this message is the preliminary step

to believing

and true hearing demands response

So if you hear these words of Jesus

and if you believe them

then you will respond

and I beg you

if you have not responded do so soon

Because when you do

you will enter into this union with Christ

and you will know and have eternal life

and eternal life doesn't start when we pass away

eternal life starts now

this very instant that you believe

See eternal life is a present possession as well as a future gift

see the word eternal here

that is rooted in the greek

means quality as well

as quantity

and eternal life really isn't

even equated with years

because it’s independent from time

Eternal life begins when we begin our relationship with Jesus Christ

and we enter into a hope

and a rest knowing that

the creator of the world

loves us and has saved us

See eternal life is defined in John 17:3 “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.”

and when we have this relationship and this eternal life

we will pass from judgement

we will pass from death

and into life

Jesus continues in

John 5:25 ““Truly I tell 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.”

With this verse we have

an already

not yet type of feel

right

where Christ is here

now, should we turn and believe in him

yet, an hour is coming

when we will be united with him in heaven

See we are talking a couple of different levels again

Jesus says when the dead will hear his voice

on one level he is speaking of the spiritually dead

and to be spiritually dead is to be

insensible to the things of God

to either completely ignore Him

or to flat out reject him

that is spiritual death

that is where we all were

before we trusted in him

Now through believing in Jesus we go from spiritual death to spiritual life

as in we begin to care for the things God cares for

we begin to embrace his ways

and make them our ways

we no longer reject his message but place our hope in it

see this is one way we go from death to life

and in fact

Christ giving life to the spiritually dead is the

central theme of Johns gospel

But another way he brings life to the dead is through

and this is where it may get a little weird

remember

Jesus is not a liar

and he wasn't crazy

But there will also, at the end of ages

be a physical resurrection of all people

at the end of time all will be given new bodies

as we are re-united with Christ in his second coming

For when he comes down in the same way he went up

the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live

That concept of a bodily resurrection will be further developed in verses 28 and 29

v 26 continues with

John 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself.”

Imagine if I were to go into your house

open the kitchen cabinets

take out all your dishes

then go to your pantry

take out all food

then go to your safe

and take out all your guns

then go into your garage

and get all your tools

then, I gave them away

You would be pretty upset right

I have no right to give away what isn’t mine

but, imagine if I went into my own home

went into my own cabinets

my own pantry

my own safe

my own garage

well I have a shop because man stuff right

now I went into those places and gave all those

things away

you really wouldn’t think twice right

that’s because those things are mine to give

and that is exactly what Jesus is saying here

Because His father has life in himself and is the giver of life

so does the Son, who has the same authority as the father to give that life

and as we already mentioned

he gives that life to those that are spiritually dead

and in the same way he has authority to give life

John 5:27 “And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man.”

I agree, these are some of the same things we spoke about last week

but if Jesus finds it important enough to repeat

then we will repeat it

So, we have this positive right

Jesus giving life

and the negative

pronouncing judgement

and these 2 authorities that are given to Christ

are intertwined

as they depend on your

and my

faith decision

those 2 things are dependant on whether we put our faith in Jesus Christ

Remember Jesus came to save, not bring judgement

this time

but his coming forces each of us to encounter his light

his word

and after that encounter

when we hear his word

we will either believe

or we wont

but that decision decides our destiny

whether we are given eternal life

or face final judgement

Now don’t misinterpret me

salvation is 100% God

it isn’t 99% God and 1% us

many will argue that if we made a decision for Christ

then we are in one way saving ourselves

But this is something I do not agree with

See our decision for Christ is only available because

He already did all the work

and our faith is a gift through grace

not a work

so please don’t let others tell you

that if you decide to follow Christ then he

is not sovereign in that

he absolutely is

and this is one of the biggest differences

I have with my calvinist friends

Now, sorry, I digressed a little

but that is very important

Now, Jesus has been given this authority

as 27 concludes with

he is the Son of Man

we first see this concept of the Son of Man

in Daniel 7:13–14 “I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.”

So as the Son of Man

Jesus is the glorified figure of the OT

who is given dominion over the world

He is sovereign over creation

He is the Glorified word of God

and he has the power and right to Judge

This title Son of Man also signifies several of Jesus attributes

He is the Son of man because of his humanity

he walked the earth just like us and experienced all we do

He is the Son of Man because of his humility

see he lowered himself from his status in heaven

to walk among us sinners

to be despised and rejected

and to suffer at the hands of men

for us

He is the Son of Man because of his Deity

as we have been discussing so much last week

and this week

he is fully God and equal to God

He is the Son of Man because he is the fulfilment of

all the OT prophesies about him

we are looking at between 3-500 prophesies depending on how you calculate them

and he fulfilled all of them

the chances of just any human being doing that

it is impossible

and speaking of impossible

He can also raise the dead

one thing it is hard for us to wrap our heads around

is the resurrection

Now this whole time we have been talking about

eternal life, spiritual life, judgement

things like that

So, what is all of that leading to

It is leading to final days

its leading to what happens when all of this

is over

Its leading to the resurrection

and not the resurrection of Christ

that has already happened

but the resurrection of his church

and those that dont belong to his church

our second point this morning is

The Resurrection

John 5:28–29 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

As Jesus is getting deep into who he is and what is to come

he tells them,

and us, do not be amazed

he understands these are hard concepts to understand

earlier we spoke of Jesus giving us spiritual life

but I also eluded to a physical resurrection

and I eluded to this

now

not yet concept

see presently Jesus gives us spiritual life

and when we die now, our soul goes to be with Christ

but in the time to come

as it says all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out

he will give us a physical body

What Jesus is saying here is that there will 2 more types of resurrections

as he is clearly speaking of the second coming

see when Christ comes again he will gather his Church

this is known as the

The christians resurrection

He will give us new bodies

the believers new bodies

will be reunited with their

our souls

and we will live in the new heavens and the new earth

those are the ones he is speaking of when he says

those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life

now we are not going to get into the rapture and things like

that

because here Jesus is speaking generally of that time

he continues with but those who have done wicked things,

to the resurrection of the condemnation

see, some time later at he final judgement

will come the Sinners resurrection

When those, based upon their decision to not follow Christ

will be judged upon their deeds

and we know that the deeds of man fall short

to the righteous ness of God

and that is why he said those that have done

wicked things

This is when, those not forgiven for their sins

will be condemned

and of course, we do not want that outcome for anyone

which is why we must preach the word

and not hold back

because remember God is patient

and he is wanting as many as possible to dwell with

him in heaven

Our final point of the morning is

The Will

John 5:30 ““I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

Jesus finishes up this section

after dropping the preverbal bombs he just did

in regards to spiritual and physical life

by once again stating that he has come

as his fathers representative

kinda of a recap of verses 19 and 20 from last week

That these concepts are not based upon him

alone

but are based upon his co-union with God the Father

notice he even switches to the first person

as we compare these passages with verse 19 and 20

See all things are done according to the fathers will

so what is the fathers will you may ask

As that is a question often asked

what is Gods will for my life specifically

Now, while God does have a specific will

and individual plan for each person

His perfect will, as Jesus just mentioned

is really the same for all of us

And that includes his desire for

all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:3-4)

It’s God’s will that we should be sanctified (1 Thess 4:3-5)

that we should avoid immorality

that we should learn to control our body

in a way that is holy and honorable

that we should do good as a result of our faith(1 Peter 2:15-16)

and that we should give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18)

no matter what we are going through

so as we finish up this morning

Conclusion

we cant deny that Jesus said some pretty hard truths

some things that are hard to believe and understand

especially this topic of the resurrection and getting new bodies

But let us remember, that Jesus

was either a Liar

a Lunatic

or the Lord

and if we believe him to be the Lord

then we must accept these truths

So I pray that if you have not given your life to Christ

and accepted the fact that he was crucified

died, and rose again 3 days later

in order to rescue you

from your sins

that you do so soon

that way you can pass form death to life

and have an eternal hope

that starts now

and for those of us that have decided to follow

christ,

I pray that we will live out Gods will each and every day

Lets pray

Invitation

So now as we will enter into a time of invitation

This is a time of prayer and commitment

If you would like to pray with me

or one of our deacons about your salvation

or any other needs

now is the time

also, if you would like to begin the process of

becoming a member here

you can come up front as well

Let us sing