Because Jesus Keeps His Promises
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Title: Because Jesus Keeps His Promises
Scripture: John 5:24
Occasion: John Thompson Funeral
Date: June 27, 2026
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We come before You today with hearts that are heavy and hopeful.
Heavy because death is an enemy.
Heavy because we feel the pain of saying goodbye to someone we dearly love.
But hopeful because Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death through His perfect life,
His sacrificial death, and His victorious resurrection.
As we open Your Word, would You comfort this dear family, strengthen every believer, and graciously call those who do not yet know Christ to trust in Him.
May our hope rest in the sure promises of our risen Savior.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Introduction
Good afternoon.
When I think of John Thompson,
one word keeps coming to my mind.
Steady.
John was steady in his love for Christ.
Steady in his love for Peggy.
Steady in his love for his family.
In a world that often feels unstable and loud, John had a quiet steadiness about him.
He was not trying to draw attention to himself.
He was simply a man who walked with the Lord, loved his family, and encouraged others along the way.
About eighteen years ago, Jessica and I were brand new believers, trying to figure out what it meant to follow Jesus and belong to a church.
And in the kindness of God, He brought us to Avalon Church.
Among the very first families who welcomed us were John and Peggy Thompson.
They did not merely greet us.
They welcomed us.
They loved us.
They encouraged us.
Over the years, they became much more than friends to us.
They became spiritual parents.
Today,
I stand here not only grieving the loss of a dear brother,
but grieving the loss of a spiritual father.
Jessica and I will never forget certain things about John.
His smile.
His gentle encouragement.
The way he could make you feel lighter after you talked with him.
And I have to mention this, because it makes me smile even today.
John had the absolute best goofy impression!
And every single time he did it, I laughed.
Every single time.
My kids laughed too.
That was John.
He could bring joy into a room without trying too hard.
Those small moments,
those laughs,
those simple memories,
they are gifts from the Lord.
Today they come to us with tears,
but they are still gifts.
And yet,
as much as we thank God for John today,
John himself would not want this moment to be mainly about John.
John would want us to look to Christ.
And that is exactly where his memory card takes us.
John 5:24 is not merely a comforting verse for a funeral.
It is one of the clearest and greatest promises Jesus ever made.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
I want us to see three truths from this verse today.
First,
hear the promise of Christ.
Second,
rest in the work of Christ.
Third,
live in the hope of Christ.
And here is the heart of it all:
Because Jesus keeps His promises, those who trust Him can face death with hope.
Point 1: Hear the Promise of Christ
Jesus begins with these words:
“Truly, truly, I say to you…”
Whenever Jesus says,
“Truly, truly,”
He is telling us to listen carefully.
He is saying,
“This is certain. This is trustworthy. This is absolutely true.”
That matters at a funeral.
Because we do not need vague religious thoughts.
We do not need empty sentiment.
We need the bjective the word of God.
We need something stronger than our emotions.
Stronger than our memories.
Stronger than our grief.
And Jesus gives us that.
He speaks with divine authority.
In John 5,
Jesus has just healed a man who could not walk for thirty-eight years.
But instead of rejoicing, the religious leaders became angry because Jesus was making claims only God could make.
Jesus says He gives life to whom He will.
That the Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son.
That all must honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
So the One speaking here is not merely a teacher or prophet.
He is the eternal Son of God.
He is the One who gives life.
He is the One who will judge the living and the dead.
When Jesus says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you,”
heaven itself is speaking.
Then Jesus says:
“Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me…”
That word “whoever” is full of mercy.
This promise is not limited to the strong.
Or the religious.
Or the cleaned-up.
Or those who feel worthy.
Whoever hears.
Whoever believes.
This is the gracious invitation of Christ.
But hearing here means more than hearing sound.
To hear His word means to receive it.
To believe it.
To bow before it.
To trust the Christ who speaks it.
And Jesus says whoever hears His word also believes the One who sent Him.
That is the gospel!
The Father sent the Son to save sinners.
Every one of us has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
Every one of us deserves His righteous judgment.
But God did not leave us to save ourselves.
The Father sent the Son.
Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, lived the perfect life we have not lived and could not live.
He fulfilled the law completely.
Then He went willingly to the cross, where He bore the wrath of God and suffered the judgment we deserve.
He died.
He was buried.
And on the third day, He rose in victory over sin and death!
Now He calls sinners to turn from sin and trust in Him.
Not to trust in our goodness.
Not to trust in our record.
Not to trust in how much people loved us.
But to trust in Christ alone.
That was John’s hope.
John was a kind man.
A faithful husband.
A loving father and grandfather.
A dear friend.
BUT NONE of those things were the foundation of his salvation.
John’s hope was Jesus Christ.
If John could speak to us today, he would not tell us how good John was.
He would point us to Christ and say,
“Look to Him. Trust Him. He is the Savior.”
Transition:
And that is why the next words of Jesus are so precious, because the Savior John trusted does not merely invite sinners to believe; He gives them a finished work to rest in.
Point Two: Rest in the Work of Christ
Jesus continues:
“Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.”
Notice what Jesus does not say.
He does not say,
“He might have eternal life.”
He does not say,
“He could have eternal life if he does enough.”
He says,
“He has eternal life.”
Present tense!!
That means eternal life does not begin when a Christian dies.
Eternal life begins the moment a sinner believes in Jesus Christ.
Death does not create eternal life.
Death simply ushers the believer into the fullness of the life Christ has already given.
So as we gather here today, we are not resting in uncertainty.
We are resting in the promises of Jesus.
John heard the gospel.
John believed in Christ.
John belonged to Jesus.
And Jesus always keeps His promises.
PEGGY, if I may speak to you for just a moment.
The same Savior who faithfully carried John through every season of his life is the same Savior who will faithfully carry you through this season.
The promises that sustained John now belong to you.
The Lord has not changed.
His love has not diminished.
His grace has not run dry.
I know there is an empty chair and a familiar voice you long to hear again.
But there is a Shepherd who has promised,
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
The Christ who has fulfilled His promise to John will be faithful to fulfill every promise He has made to you.
Jesus goes on to say:
Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life...
“He does not come into judgment.”
Now that does not mean John was sinless.
John would tell you he was a sinner in need of grace.
What I admired about John was not that he pretended to have it all together.
It was that his confidence was not in himself.
His confidence was in Christ.
That is the Christian life.
The ground of our assurance is never our performance.
It is Christ’s performance.
When Jesus says,
“He does not come into judgment,”
He is not saying there is no judgment.
The question is this:
Will I bear the judgment for my own sins, or has Christ borne that judgment for me?
For those who are in Christ, judgment has already fallen.
Not on them.
On Jesus.
At the cross, God’s justice and God’s mercy met.
Sin was not swept under the rug.
It was judged fully.
But for the believer, it was judged in Christ.
Jesus took the condemnation His people deserved.
He bore the wrath of God in their place.
And because His sacrifice was perfect and complete, the believer can say:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
No condemnation.
Not less condemnation.
No condemnation.
Why?
Because Christ bore it all.
That is why we have comfort today.
Not because John lived a flawless life.
Not because John earned heaven.
John was saved the same way every Christian is saved.
By grace alone. Through faith alone. In Christ alone.
We rest not in John’s record, but in Christ’s record.
We rest not in John’s goodness, but in Christ’s righteousness.
We rest not in John’s strength, but in Christ’s finished work.
Transition:
And because Christ’s finished work gives us rest in the face of judgment, His final words in this verse give us hope in the face of death.
Point Three: Live in the Hope of Christ
Jesus concludes:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment...“But has passed from death to life.”
Notice the certainty.
He does not say,
“may pass.”
Or “might pass.”
He says,
“HAS PASSED.”
For the believer, this is already true.
The moment John trusted Christ, he passed from death to life.
God took a man who was spiritually dead in sin and made him alive in Christ.
He forgave his sins.
He declared him righteous.
He adopted him into His family.
And because that work was God’s work, it could never be undone.
That means when John died, it did not separate him from Christ.
Death did not end John’s life.
Death brought John into the presence of the Lord.
Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Today,
John’s faith has become sight.
The Savior he loved,
he now sees.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
The Savior he trusted,
he is now with.
And that is why Christians grieve differently.
We do grieve.
Jesus Himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus.
Death hurts because love is real.
We miss the voice.
The laugh.
The chair at the table.
The phone call.
The steady presence.
The goofy impression that made us laugh every time.
We miss John!!
But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
Because Jesus is risen.
Because John belonged to Christ.
Because the promise of Jesus is stronger than the grave.
When I think of John, I think of a man who finished well.
Not because he was perfect.
But because he clung to a perfect Savior.
He walked quietly with Jesus.
He loved his family.
He encouraged God’s people.
He served without needing recognition.
He laughed often and made us laugh often.
And through it all, he kept pointing people to Christ.
A Life-Changing Question
To everyone here who does not know Christ,
I want to speak to you plainly and lovingly.
The greatest way you can honor John’s memory is not simply by remembering him.
It is by believing in the Savior whom John believed.
One day,
every one of us will have a day like today.
Others will gather.
Others will remember.
Others will grieve.
And the question on that day will not be how successful we were.
It will not be how many people attended our funeral.
The great question will be:
What did we do with Jesus Christ?
Have we heard His word?
Have we believed the One whom the Father sent?
Have we trusted Christ alone for salvation?
Jesus says:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
That promise was true for John.
And by God’s grace, it can be true for you.
So come to Christ.
Turn from your sin.
Trust in Him.
Do not delay.
The Savior who welcomed sinners then still welcomes sinners now.
And all who come to Him, He will never cast out.
Closing
So Peggy,
may the Lord continue to uphold you with His everlasting arms.
Michael, Nick and Becca,
thank you for allowing us to know and love daddy.
His life has left a legacy of quiet faithfulness that will continue to bear fruit.
I can see it in your lives.
I can see it in your Stella’s life.
And to all of us,
may we remember that a life spent following Jesus is never wasted.
One day, every one of us will stand before the Lord.
My prayer is that when that day comes,
we will all be found where John was found,
not trusting in ourselves,
but resting entirely in Jesus Christ.
Because one day,
for every believer,
faith will become sight.
The trumpet will sound.
Christ will return.
The dead in Christ will rise.
Death will be swallowed up forever.
Every tear will be wiped away.
And all who belong to Jesus will dwell with Him forever.
That is not wishful thinking.
That is the unshakable promise of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
And may every one of us leave this place looking not merely to the memory of a faithful man,
but to the faithful Savior whom John loved, served, and now sees face to face.
Let us pray.
PRAY
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the sure promise of Jesus, that whoever hears His word and believes Him who sent Him has eternal life, does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
For those here who do not yet know Christ, would You graciously open their hearts today. Cause them to turn from sin and trust in Jesus alone, not in their goodness, not in their works, but in His perfect life, His atoning death, and His victorious resurrection.
And for every believer here, especially Thompson family, help us to rest in the hope of this promise.
Teach us to grieve honestly, but not without hope.
Fix our eyes on Christ, who has conquered the grave, keeps His promises, and will one day make all things new.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, our risen Savior.
Amen.
