[The following is a full manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 8th of July, 2018. Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
We’ve been looking at some of the statements Jesus made during His ministry on earth that He prefaced by saying, “I tell you the solemn truth”. If our Lord took the time to tell us these truths, went to the extra effort to emphasize their importance, shouldn’t we listen to them? Isn’t a solemn truth worthy of our attention?
Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 5 of the Gospel account of the Apostle John, verses 24 through 30, from the New English Translation of our Holy Bible…
Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 5 of the Gospel account of the Apostle John, verses 24 through 30, from the New English Translation of our Holy Bible…
24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears My message and believes the one who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming — and is now here — when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, thus He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and He has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice 29 and will come out — the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. 30 I can do nothing on My own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me."
--John 5:24-30 (NET)
Let us pray… Father God, we don’t know exactly when Your great plan for mankind’s salvation will be completed with Your Son’s return to earth, but we do know we will face judgment at that time. Help us, please Father, to be prepared for our judgment. Speak to us now with the message we need to hear this morning. Help us to understand the truth of Jesus and of what He said. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Two psychiatrists meet at their 20th college reunion. One is alive and vibrant, while the other looks withered and worried. "So what's your secret?", the older looking psychiatrist asks. "Listening to other people's problems every day, all day long, for years on end, has made an old man of me." "So," replies the younger looking one, "who listens?"
Speaking of listening, how good a listener are you?
Hearing is easy. It is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If we’re not hearing-impaired, hearing just happens. Listening, however, is something we consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that our brain can process meaning from the words and sentences we hear.
Jesus told us to hear His words, His message, but I really think He meant for us to listen. That's why He added the word believe in verse 24, when He said, “the one who hears My message and believes”. We can only believe if we've listened to the message of the Gospel and allowed ourselves to process what we've heard.
Jesus said that those who hear His message and believe the One who sent Him has eternal life and will not be condemned! There are two very important points in this solemn truth. The first is that believers already have eternal life!
We tend to think that we will be granted eternal life in heaven once this life is over, and that is true, kind of. But the key here is that our life eternal has already been granted because of our belief and our faith! It’s ours, God has already given it to us. Once we die to this mortal life our everlasting life begins. There’s no “if” involved. We took care of any “ifs” when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master.
And the second point is clearly related to the first. Since we already have everlasting life, we will not be condemned to everlasting death, eternal torment.
The second solemn truth Jesus told us in this reading, in verse 25, is that the time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God – His voice – and will live. The dead will hear and live. For believers, our resurrection will be followed by life everlasting. For evil-doers, resurrection will result in condemnation and everlasting torment.
Remember: believers will not be condemned. Those who are already dead to this mortal life who did not believe are already condemned. But those who are currently alive but are dead in sin need to listen and pay attention, for there is still time for them to accept and believe in Jesus as Lord.
In verse 27 of our reading, Jesus almost casually notes that God the Father has granted Him – the Son of God – the authority to execute judgment. He does not say “to judge”, but “to execute judgment”. In verse 30 He clarifies that He will judge according to what He hears, meaning what He hears from His Father God, because it is God’s will He is carrying out, and not His own. Consider what Jesus tells us in chapter 12 of John’s Gospel account, verses 46 through 48…
Jesus came to save the world, not judge it. As far as condemnation goes, Jesus doesn’t have to judge us – we judge ourselves. By our words, by our actions, by what’s in our hearts, by our belief or disbelief… we judge ourselves. If we hear His voice and don’t listen, if we hear His words and still don’t believe, then we condemn ourselves. If we reject Jesus as Lord, we will be rejected from life eternal.
These things we have looked at so far, Jesus shared with us through His disciples, His apostles, from the time He still walked this earth. But He showed His beloved disciple John even more, after He had returned to heaven to sit at His Father’s side. He showed John what we can expect when He returns to this earth, and He instructed John to write it all down, to save it for us even to this day. Listen to part of what Jesus revealed to John, in his great Book of Revelation, chapter 20, verses 11 through 15…
John sees God’s great white throne of judgment. And standing before that throne is everyone still alive on that day and everyone who has ever lived. All of mankind, from Adam onward to the last child born, will stand before God in judgment.
Books will be opened – not just one book as some think, but many. Most of those books will contain everything that every person has ever done during their mortal lifetime. The time you helped feed the homeless will be listed on one of those books, as well as the time you refused to even make eye contact with a person in need. Everything we’ve ever done will be recorded in one of those books, and by them we will be judged. I envision that one of those books opened that day will be titled, “The Life and Heart of Richard Raymond Moore”.
But those aren’t the books I’m as concerned with right now as the one book that John calls by name: the “Book of Life”. The contents of this book testify as to our salvation, or our condemnation. For anyone not found written in the Book of Life, anyone whose name is not listed there, will be cast into the lake of fire, there to burn in everlasting torment. By our belief or disbelief we judge ourselves, whether to eternal life, or eternal death.
Jesus told us a solemn truth. Dictionary definitions for “solemn” include sober, mirthless, earnest; gravely impressive; causing serious thought. We hear the truth Jesus speaks, but do we listen? Do we give His words serious thought? We can clearly see that whether we are saved to eternal life or condemned to everlasting torment is entirely up to us. And this pertains to every truth Jesus shared.
Hear the voice of our Lord and believe, and live forever. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, the day will come when You will sit upon Your great white throne and we and all of mankind will stand arrayed before You. But we will already have decided our own fate by that point. Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to give serious thought and consideration to Your word. Forgive us those times when we do not fully accept Your Son Jesus as our Master, but only look to Him as our Savior. Please help us give You our full attention. Help us be ever faithful.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You told us the truth of what is to come. You warned us that we will decide our own eternal life by whether we listen to Your voice or not, whether we believe in You as God’s own Son or not. Help us believe without doubt, Lord. Help us to hear Your voice and to listen to Your message. And help us to share Your truth with the world while there is still time.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
Two psychiatrists meet at their 20th college reunion. One is alive and vibrant, while the other looks withered and worried. "So what's your secret?", the older looking psychiatrist asks. "Listening to other people's problems every day, all day long, for years on end, has made an old man of me." "So," replies the younger looking one, "who listens?"
Speaking of listening, how good a listener are you?
- Since you think about four times faster than a person usually talks, do you use this time to think about other things while you're keeping track of the conversation?
- Do you listen primarily for facts rather than ideas when someone is speaking?
- Can you tell from a person's appearance and delivery that there won't be anything worthwhile said?
- Do certain words and phrases prejudice you so you cannot listen objectively?
- When someone is talking to you do you appear to be paying attention even when you're not?
- When listening are you easily distracted by other sights and sounds?
Hearing is easy. It is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If we’re not hearing-impaired, hearing just happens. Listening, however, is something we consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that our brain can process meaning from the words and sentences we hear.
Jesus told us to hear His words, His message, but I really think He meant for us to listen. That's why He added the word believe in verse 24, when He said, “the one who hears My message and believes”. We can only believe if we've listened to the message of the Gospel and allowed ourselves to process what we've heard.
Jesus said that those who hear His message and believe the One who sent Him has eternal life and will not be condemned! There are two very important points in this solemn truth. The first is that believers already have eternal life!
We tend to think that we will be granted eternal life in heaven once this life is over, and that is true, kind of. But the key here is that our life eternal has already been granted because of our belief and our faith! It’s ours, God has already given it to us. Once we die to this mortal life our everlasting life begins. There’s no “if” involved. We took care of any “ifs” when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master.
And the second point is clearly related to the first. Since we already have everlasting life, we will not be condemned to everlasting death, eternal torment.
The second solemn truth Jesus told us in this reading, in verse 25, is that the time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God – His voice – and will live. The dead will hear and live. For believers, our resurrection will be followed by life everlasting. For evil-doers, resurrection will result in condemnation and everlasting torment.
Remember: believers will not be condemned. Those who are already dead to this mortal life who did not believe are already condemned. But those who are currently alive but are dead in sin need to listen and pay attention, for there is still time for them to accept and believe in Jesus as Lord.
In verse 27 of our reading, Jesus almost casually notes that God the Father has granted Him – the Son of God – the authority to execute judgment. He does not say “to judge”, but “to execute judgment”. In verse 30 He clarifies that He will judge according to what He hears, meaning what He hears from His Father God, because it is God’s will He is carrying out, and not His own. Consider what Jesus tells us in chapter 12 of John’s Gospel account, verses 46 through 48…
46 “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
--John 12:46-48 (NKJV)
These things we have looked at so far, Jesus shared with us through His disciples, His apostles, from the time He still walked this earth. But He showed His beloved disciple John even more, after He had returned to heaven to sit at His Father’s side. He showed John what we can expect when He returns to this earth, and He instructed John to write it all down, to save it for us even to this day. Listen to part of what Jesus revealed to John, in his great Book of Revelation, chapter 20, verses 11 through 15…
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
--Revelation 20:11-15 (NKJV)
Books will be opened – not just one book as some think, but many. Most of those books will contain everything that every person has ever done during their mortal lifetime. The time you helped feed the homeless will be listed on one of those books, as well as the time you refused to even make eye contact with a person in need. Everything we’ve ever done will be recorded in one of those books, and by them we will be judged. I envision that one of those books opened that day will be titled, “The Life and Heart of Richard Raymond Moore”.
But those aren’t the books I’m as concerned with right now as the one book that John calls by name: the “Book of Life”. The contents of this book testify as to our salvation, or our condemnation. For anyone not found written in the Book of Life, anyone whose name is not listed there, will be cast into the lake of fire, there to burn in everlasting torment. By our belief or disbelief we judge ourselves, whether to eternal life, or eternal death.
Jesus told us a solemn truth. Dictionary definitions for “solemn” include sober, mirthless, earnest; gravely impressive; causing serious thought. We hear the truth Jesus speaks, but do we listen? Do we give His words serious thought? We can clearly see that whether we are saved to eternal life or condemned to everlasting torment is entirely up to us. And this pertains to every truth Jesus shared.
Hear the voice of our Lord and believe, and live forever. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, the day will come when You will sit upon Your great white throne and we and all of mankind will stand arrayed before You. But we will already have decided our own fate by that point. Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to give serious thought and consideration to Your word. Forgive us those times when we do not fully accept Your Son Jesus as our Master, but only look to Him as our Savior. Please help us give You our full attention. Help us be ever faithful.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You told us the truth of what is to come. You warned us that we will decide our own eternal life by whether we listen to Your voice or not, whether we believe in You as God’s own Son or not. Help us believe without doubt, Lord. Help us to hear Your voice and to listen to Your message. And help us to share Your truth with the world while there is still time.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
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