Jesus and the Trial of Public Opinion (Part 1)

The Gospel of John, chapter 5, and the text for this morning and also will be the text for next week is John chapter 5, verses 17 through 24. If you would like to, it's been as our tradition as a church, we stand when we read the Word of God. Let's do that now. John chapter 5, beginning in verse 17 and going to verse 24.

But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

For 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. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, 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.

May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Please be seated. No person's life has had a greater impact on human history than Jesus of Nazareth.

No person has occupied more space in the pages of literature than him. No name is more well-known worldwide than his name.

And no person has ever been as misunderstood or misquoted as he has been. And no person's name has been uttered by so many as his name has been.

Whether that be used as a blessing or whether that be used as a curse word, no person has had their name spoken more than Jesus Christ has had his name spoken.

And no person has ever been so loved by so many and so hated by so many.

You can turn on the TV, in fact, or listen to a conversation between different people who both claim to know Jesus, but in hearing them each talk about him, it could sound to you as if they're talking about two completely different people.

That kind of confusion has always trailed the places where the name and the message of Jesus Christ have been.

And we see an example of that in John chapter 7, verses 37 through 52, of the kinds of confusion that Jesus' name and message can result with.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and he cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Now this he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, This is really the prophet.

Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?

So there was a division amongst the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and the Pharisees who said to them, Why did you not bring him?

The officers answered, No one ever spoke like this man. The Pharisees answered them, Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?

But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. Nicodemus, who had gone to him before and who was one of them, said to them, Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?

They replied, Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee. As was the case then, so the case continues to be today that there is no more polarizing a figure in all of human history than Jesus Christ.

And this should come as no surprise to us because Jesus said that such would be the case. In Luke 12, 51 through 53, Jesus says, Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two, two against three.

They will be divided, father against son, and son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

So while we understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ results in us having peace with God, again through Jesus, it also means, as we see Jesus say clearly throughout His Word, that it will produce divisions for us and separations in this life as a cost of following Him.

Which then might lead one to wonder, well, why should we follow Him at all? If it could potentially mean division or separation. Well, hang on, because this sermon will address that.

It's a question that Jesus answers in the text that we've read. Why should you follow Him? He answers that question. There may be confusion about who Jesus is, but that confusion is cleared up when we examine His words and His testimony, the testimony that He gives about Himself.

And so that's the main idea for this morning's message. The testimony of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture is that He is the eternal Son of God and is equal to God the Father.

The testimony of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture is that He is the eternal Son of God and equal to God the Father. Now, that is a very weighty and a very heavy statement.

And truthfully, a sentence isn't nearly long enough to be able to explain all that Jesus is, but it's a good starting place for today as we turn into this passage, as we hear from Jesus, as He gives testimony to us as to His true identity.

And so you should want to listen because Jesus says that He's God. And if Jesus is God, like He said, then you would want to listen to what God has to say, wouldn't you?

Of all the people who could speak to you, of all of the people that could give you information, who could give you more valuable information than God Himself, your Creator, your Maker and Sustainer.

And so it's so important that we listen to the profound truth that Jesus has to tell us, to tell you about who He truly is. And Jesus wants you to hear this message this morning.

He wants you to hear these words. If you don't believe, He wants you to hear them. And He wants you to believe them. And so He's giving you His testimony so that you will hear and believe it.

And then have peace with God and everlasting and eternal life. Now for those of you who do believe and you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you still need to listen to this message.

because you've been called by Him to go into places where there is confusion about Him or where His name hasn't been taken at all. And so you must know the testimony of Jesus Christ so that you can give the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And again, where there are confusions about who He is, people misquoting Him, putting words into His mouth or thoughts into His mind that He never thought or spoke, you can come knowing that testimony and you can provide clarity to those who are involved.

So it's important that you listen as well. Now remember where we've been, where we've just been. Jesus has just healed a man who was paralyzed.

He was an invalid for 38 years. And then having done that, remember He commanded him to pick up his bed and to walk with it out of that place.

He was no longer bound by his superstitions. He had been freed by Jesus' healing to get out of that place. And then we saw in verse 16 that the Jewish leaders observed Him doing that and they, blinded by their traditions, were blind to the true identity of who Jesus was.

Jesus had just performed this supernatural action, but rather than acknowledging that, they instead were incensed by His audacity to break one of their laws.

And so, this event really is the catalyst for the ever-increasing and growing persecution that Jesus would face on His way to Calvary, on His way to the cross.

He'd done a good thing, Jesus had. He'd done a great thing. He had healed this man. But instead of rejoicing in that, the Pharisees, these leaders, they hated Him for it.

They hated Him for it. Instead of backing down, though, because of their being offended, instead of apologizing to them for having offended them, Jesus instead proceeds to give clear testimony to them and whoever else was around them as to His true identity and as to His true nature.

And testimony is precisely what Jesus gives here. He gives His testimony. When you think of the word testimony, what comes to mind?

A courtroom, more than likely. That's what comes to my mind is a courtroom, courtroom, and I love courtroom dramas. I love courtroom dramas.

You know, if you've been a part of this church, that I'm somewhat of a true crime junkie. And a part of that appeal for me, of that genre to me, is seeing the bad guy caught.

I like to see the bad guy caught and brought to justice through our judicial system. So it doesn't matter if it's 48 hours or a dateline or a movie or a book.

I'm drawn into that and I'm especially drawn into the moment where the bad guy has been apprehended and it has been brought to court where then he is tried before a jury of his peers.

And I'm always drawn in whenever there is a courtroom scene, it just, there's something about it that's so appealing to me, especially whenever a key witness gets up and they give testimony that will provide evidence that will either seal the case for the prosecution or for the defense.

But you know, in all of those things that I've read and that I've seen, I've never once witnessed the judge ever being put on the witness stand.

In fact, he's not allowed to. The judge isn't allowed by our law to take the witness stand in a courtroom that he is presiding over.

Because truly, also, that's not what he's there for. If he did, it would give either the prosecution or the defense aid in winning that case, so he won't do it for that reason. But also because that's not his job.

His job is to preside over the entire case. So if a prosecutor or a defense attorney was to call the judge to the witness stand, they'd get a lot of silly looks coming their way, right?

You can't do that. That's foolish. That's not what the judge is for. He doesn't give testimony. He's there to preside over everything. That's his job. In this passage, though, Jesus declares that God the Father has handed all judgment over to him.

But the Jewish leaders are so blinded by their refusal to believe in him that they were willing even to put the judge of the universe on trial.

The author and giver of life, of their lives, who had established all of the natural laws that we are forced to obey.

The one who gave the law that they had in order to show them how sinful they were and how in desperate need they were of a Savior. And now that Savior was there, but they still refused to see it because they were so blind to who he truly was.

And so instead of bowing down and worshiping him instead of pleading for his forgiveness, they take the judge of the universe, the Savior of the world, and they put him on trial based upon their man-made laws.

How ridiculous is that? But Jesus graciously, graciously gives his defense to them. He could have snapped his fingers and they could have poofed, been gone in an instant.

But he graciously gives his defense to them. And in verse 17, most of our English Bible translations begin that verse with these words, either Jesus said or Jesus answered.

But hidden in the English is something that the Greek makes more clear, which is that word for him answering or him saying, apokrinito, translated, as answered, is a rare word.

It's a rare word. In fact, it's primarily found in contexts where a trial is taking place, in courtrooms, where a formal defense is given against charges that have been made.

So what John is telling us here is that Jesus was not simply answering their questions, but he was giving his testimony. He was giving his legal defense to them.

This may be similar to when a witness is sworn in in our culture. They put their hand on the Bible, as you've probably seen, as you maybe have done, and they pledge that the testimony that they are about to give is the truth, that it's truthful.

So here, Jesus, the judge of the universe, puts his stamp of approval on the fact that what he is about to say to them, to us, to you, is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

And so here, he gives us five truthful statements about himself, but again, as I mentioned, we will only cover two today, and we'll cover the next three, Lord willing, next week.

The first truthful statement that he gives in testimony of who he is, of his nature, is that Jesus is equal to God in person. He's equal to God in person.

That comes from verses 17 through 18, and I'll reread those. But Jesus answered them, my father is working until now, and I am working. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.

So the charge that the Jewish leaders brought against Jesus was, first of all, that he had broken the Sabbath, and that second of all, he was saying that he was equal to God, crimes of which both were to receive the death penalty if the person accused was found guilty, which Jesus was clearly not.

And so by serving as his own defense attorney in this trial of public opinion, Jesus answers their accusations. He gives his defense.

Again, the first accusation was that they said, you're breaking the Sabbath. And Jesus' defense in verse 17 was very simply and profoundly, my father is working until now, and I myself am working.

Sabbath is a Hebrew word that means rest from labor. And it was instituted, if you remember, by God back at the beginning.

After he had created everything in six days, the Bible says that he rested on the seventh. And that day was to be set aside as a day for all of us to worship him.

But the Jewish leaders by this time had taken that, that command to honor the Sabbath, to rest on the Sabbath, and they had added to that 39 additional laws of which we saw last week was that you can't carry one thing from one place to another place on the Sabbath day.

That was prohibited. But in making these laws, they had completely missed the point of why God had instituted the Sabbath in the first place.

And so, in another instance, we see Jesus come against the Pharisees about this very issue, about what it meant to break the Sabbath in their minds. When the Pharisees saw Jesus and his disciples walking through a grain field and the disciples were hungry and so they grabbed some heads of grain and they rubbed it in their hands in order to have a snack to eat.

Well, that was one of the laws that they created that they had broken and so they stopped him and they were asking, Jesus, what are you doing? Why are you allowing your disciples to break the law? And so Jesus answers in reply to that accusation in Mark 2, 27.

It says there, and he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. In other words, God didn't create the Sabbath because he needed to rest.

He didn't create the Sabbath for himself, but he made a divine example for man to follow. That man should take one day a week off to rest for worship.

And thank God that he has given us that day of rest. Amen? If God needed to rest, now think about this, if God needed to rest, we would all be in grave, grave, serious danger.

Even the rabbis that Jesus was speaking to, they acknowledged that fact, that God continues to preserve and to sustain his creation from moment to moment, even on the Sabbath day.

He has to because if he rests from that, then guess what? Everything is wiped away in an instant. We cease to exist. The universe ceases to exist. And that's what Acts 17.28 says.

In God, in him, in our creator, we live, we move, we have our being. And so without God upholding the universe for us from moment to moment, nothing would continue to be.

Nothing would be besides him. But God doesn't need to rest. Nor is he like Atlas straining to hold the universe, strain the earth upon his back.

No, he's omnipotent. That's not a difficult thing for him to do. He's all powerful. It would be simpler for him than it is for us to blink an eye than for him to uphold his creation moment for moment.

And God's working to keep existence existing is a good thing. Wouldn't you agree? I'm glad that he does that.

So too, Jesus says that his healing of a paralyzed man, though it happened on the Sabbath, was likewise a good thing thing for him to do.

And we understand that he intentionally performed that miracle on that day specifically to bring their attention to this truth, a greater truth.

That he is the God-man. That he's not some ordinary man. That he's not simply a prophet or a good teacher or a good example.

That he is the God-man. That he is the Son of God. And so he makes that comparison in order to show them that just as God the Father does a good thing by keeping existence existing on the Sabbath day, so too I do good things on the Sabbath day as well.

As example by the fact that I have just healed a man supernaturally who had been invalid, paralyzed for 38 years.

How could you not see that? He is the second person of the Trinity and he is equal with God the Father. That is what Scripture says.

But this revelation, what Jesus says to them in defense, leads them instead to accept it as they should have. How else could this man be healed?

But instead it leads them to a second accusation which was that he was making himself out to be equal with God. And again, instead of shrinking back from their accusations, Jesus asserts that that is exactly, that that is precisely what he has been testifying to.

And so that leads us to the second truthful statement that Jesus makes here about himself in his testimony that Jesus is equal to God in his works, in his works.

Verses 19 through 20. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing on his own accord, only what he sees the father doing, for whatever the father does, that the son does likewise, for the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel. So just in case there was any doubting, just in case there was any confusion over the claims that Jesus was making, here again he doubles down on this assertion that he made, that he is equal to the father, meaning that he is God in human flesh.

when Jesus uses the term truly, truly, those two words, whenever he brings them together, what he's doing is making the strongest possible statement of affirmation that he can make.

He's saying whatever comes after these two words, I am saying here right now at the beginning that what I'm about to tell you, in as strong a word, as strong a language as I can use, these words are true, and you better believe them.

And so Jesus does that, he asserts that, truly, truly, you need to listen to what I have to tell you, that I and the father, that we are one, that we are equal in our works, that whatever he did, whatever actions he made, that whatever words he spoke, that they were the actions of God, that they were the words of God, that they were in complete and total harmony with one another.

Every once in a while in sports, a dynasty will take place, and a dynasty, you probably know, is a team that wins a lot over a period of time, five years, give or take.

But that team seems to just win all the time, and usually what constitutes a dynasty is a great player, or two or three great players, and a great coach, and usually a great general manager who helped build that thing and put that thing together.

So you think of the New England Patriots recently with Brady and Belichick, and I know we all thank God that that dynasty is being broken up, or you think of the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen and Phil Jackson, players and coaches in those situations, and there's so many others, but they exist in a harmonious relationship.

The coach puts the player in the position so that he can succeed in the moment where the team needs him the most to come through, and the player does that, and so there's this harmonious relationship, even between coach and general manager, where they are talking about, well, we need this player, these are the needs that we meet, and so they work together to fill those needs so that the team can continue to win, but every dynasty in sports comes to an end, and sometimes they come to an end prematurely, and they come to an end because egos get in the way.

Analysts, fans, people start debating, well, who, and they ask, who should get most of the credit for this team's success, and some will say, well, it's the player.

The player, you know, the coach without the player is nothing, or they'll say the coach. The coach without the player is nobody, or it's the general manager, or whatever, but somebody is usually given more of the credit, others are given less of the credit, and so that starts to create divisions within the team as a result of their egos and wanting to get more of the credit for the success that they've experienced.

That, along with money, are reasons why dynasties are often broken before they can fully achieve all that was possible. But when it comes to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, there is no disharmony whatsoever.

There is no disunity whatsoever. Each is glorified by the other. Each is fully pleased with the other. Each fully loves the other.

There are no egos in the Trinity. There are no alternative agendas within the Trinity. There is no issue between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit about who is getting the praise and the honor and the worship.

And so that's what Jesus is talking about here. He says that he lives, has lived in perfect harmony with the Father, and the Spirit was working perfectly through him.

His words, again, he says, these words that I speak, these are God's words. These actions that I do, these are the actions of God. They are three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but they exist as one, one perfect, harmonious unit.

Jesus' works and words, again, always paralyzed those of the Father, both in their nature and in their extent. And so what Jesus is saying, and what you need to understand, is that to see Jesus is to see God.

to hear Jesus is to hear from God. By accusing Jesus of wrongdoing, the religious leaders were putting God on trial.

And they were guilty of doing the very same thing that they accused Jesus of doing, which was blasphemy. Blasphemy. Because they doubted who Jesus said that he was, even though it should have been clear before their eyes.

How else could these things, these miracles happen? Who else speaks like this man speaks? And they should have known. Jesus continued by declaring that the Father would show him still greater works.

So his healing of the paralyzed man, that's a great work. That's truly a great work. But Jesus makes the declaration that greater works are on the way.

And they will marvel. And we'll see greater works as we go through the Gospel of John. We'll see Jesus take a sack lunch, a few loaves and fishes, and he'll multiply that and multiply that and multiply that and feed thousands and thousands of people with leftovers for them to take home.

That's an incredible and impressive miracle. We'll see Jesus heal people of all kinds of ailments for which there was no cure, leprosy, blindness.

We'll see him do that. Those are incredibly impressive miracles. Even more impressive, we'll see as we go through this what Jesus has already done.

He healed dead people. He brought dead people back to life. That's very impressive. But most impressive still is the fact that after he was dead for three days in the grave, he would rise again.

And they would marvel as we should marvel. And our Savior who is living and alive today.

in chapter two, when Jesus entered the temple, he had foreshadowed already that this was the great miracle that he was going to perform. And even greater ones still await us as his church.

But in chapter two, when Jesus entered into the temple and was overcome with grief and anger over what the Jewish religious leaders had allowed the temple to become, he said they'd turn it into a robber's den.

In holy outrage, he overturned their tables and he drove them out of there along with the livestock that they were selling in that place, a place that was meant to be used for worship.

And he drove them all out. And if you remember in John 2, 18 through 22, that the Jews said to him, what sign do you do to show us for doing these things?

And Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it again. The Jews then said it has taken 46 years to build this temple and you will raise it up in three days? But again, he was speaking about the temple of his body.

When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. So as Christians, we believe a lot of strange things and we confess that.

We believe a lot of supernatural things. We believe that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. We believe that Noah and his family survived a worldwide flood having been spared from God's wrath as he sealed them up inside of the ark.

We believe that and we believe many more things. But let me tell you why we believe them, why we believe these things. Because we believe that the tomb that housed the body of Jesus Christ for three days is empty.

And you believe that, you believe the rest. The man was dead for three days and came back to life. I believe what he'd have to say and I hope that you do too.

Because Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God. He is the God-man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was born of a virgin.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified. He was died. He was buried. But on the third day, he arose from the grave. And his message continues to spread as it did back then worldwide.

And he changes. He transforms people's life. Bringing them from spiritual death. Resurrecting them. Bringing them to spiritual life. If there ever was any doubt about who Jesus was, the resurrection should forever seal the truth that he is the Son of God.

That he is our great champion who brought death to death by bearing our sins on the cross. That there he endured God's wrath for the sins that we have committed.

Just as Noah and his family took shelter in the ark and they were spared from God's wrath, so too those who take shelter in Jesus Christ are spared from God's wrath as well.

Now, maybe you still don't care about Jesus. You don't care about what he said or what he's done. But I tell you honestly and truthfully that he cares about you.

You. And he will return. And my question to you is, are you ready for that?

You will. Every one of us will. Stand before him. The judge of the universe. You may have been able to put him on trial in this world, but when that time comes, it's too late.

It doesn't matter. He's the judge. He will judge you. Are you ready for that day? I've talked about division.

Well, Jesus spoke about a day, this day that is coming, when a great division will take place. The greatest division of all times. And listen, you will be there.

I will be there. We will all be there. Matthew 25, 31 through 42, please listen to the words of our Lord and the warnings that he's giving to you today.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And he will place the sheep on his right. But the goats on his left. Then the King, Jesus, will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you?

And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, Truly I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Then he'll say to those on his left, Depart from me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. naked and you did not clothe me.

Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

Then he answered them saying, Truly I say to you as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And listen, listen, and these will go away into eternal, eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

The Bible says that all sin is committed against God. Every sin that you've ever committed, despite whom it's impacted, ultimately, it's all committed against God.

And God being gracious, merciful, and loving has provided you with a Savior to save you from your sins and His just wrath stored up against them.

Those sins that you have committed against the judge of the universe. So I want to ask you some questions because maybe you don't feel like you're guilty.

God is perfect, righteous. The angels declare that He is holy, holy, holy. It doesn't get any holier than that. He's holy and He's too holy to behold sin and not punish it.

And He will punish it. So maybe you think, well, I'm not all that bad. Well, let me ask you, have you ever told a lie? Even a small lie, you thought. Have you ever told a lie?

And chances are, if you say no, then you're lying right now because we all tell lies because we're all born sinful. Part of being sinful is that we lie.

Sometimes we lie when we don't even need to lie. We just lie because that's what we do. And what do we call people who lie? Liars. Let me ask you another question.

Have you ever used the Lord's name in vain? Have you ever said God or you used the name of Jesus in a cursing way or just in a dishonorable way? And if you have, which I'm sure you have, I confess to you that I have.

The Bible says that's blasphemy. And those who commit blasphemy are blasphemers. have you ever hated someone?

I'm sure that you have. Jesus equated hatred with murder. He says if you hate someone, what you're doing is you're murdering them in your heart.

Isn't that what we do? When we hate someone we think, I wish that you no longer existed. I wish that you were out of my life. And so hatred is equated to murder.

What do we call somebody who murders? They're a murderer. Have you ever lusted after someone who wasn't your spouse? The Bible says Jesus again equates that to adultery.

That's like committing adultery in your heart. In God's eyes, the judge of the universe, that is what you are guilty of having done. So by your own confession, my own confession, we are a bunch of lying, blasphemous, murderous adulterers.

And that being the case, when we stand before the Lord of the universe, the judge of the universe, what defense are you going to give that he should spare you from the wrath for the sins that you've committed to have having committed against him?

in that moment, who you think Jesus might have been or might be will not help you.

The only thing in that moment that will help you is who you know Jesus to be. That you know that he endured God's wrath for you on the cross for the sins that you've committed.

And he did so willingly. God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And on the cross you understand that God poured out his wrath upon his son for your sins.

He became your curse. He became your sin. That you believe in him. You believe in what he's done for you.

That it was his blood that had to be shed in order to make you clean. That he was the willing sacrifice who was punished in your place.

And you understand and you believe that. And you believe that he was dead and he rose again on the third day. The Bible says that you will be saved. Is that your confession? Do you know that? And just as Jesus took your sin he gives you his righteousness.

He clothes you in it. So now God the father when he sees you a redeemed sinner who was guilty and deserving of his wrath. You know what he sees now? He sees his son whom he loves.

With whom he is well pleased. That's the gospel and that is grace. God descended to us. He stooped down out of heaven.

He added flesh to his deity in order to take the stains of our sins away by dying for them again in your place. If you believe in him, if you believe in his testimony, if you receive it, you understand it, it means that your sins have been completely forgiven.

Completely forgiven. Now and forevermore. And when you stand before the Lord of the universe, what defense do you have to give?

Well, you'll have the great defense attorney there with you. Jesus, who is the Christ. I died, I suffered for his sins. This is one of my beloved children.

And you will have eternal life. So what do we do with this testimony? Again, we're still pursuing the best Highland Park in 2020, despite what coronavirus is doing.

We can still continue to do that. We can still continue to build community. And listen, like we've been talking about, those who go to your church now, those who are saved, we're going to know each other for a really, really long time.

Forever, as a matter of fact. And you know what's unfortunate is that sometimes we allow divisions to creep up in our congregations.

You know, yeah, we as a church should be divided from the world. We go to the world, we witness to the world, we live in the world as missionaries to share the gospel. But we can't allow those divisions to take place in our church.

And so we do that by building community here. That person who maybe you don't see eye to eye on, that person who maybe roots for OU when you root for Oklahoma State, or who doesn't understand that Patrick Mahomes is the greatest quarterback of all time or whatnot.

We don't, and there's greater things. We don't allow those divisions to get in the way of what God has done for us. And so we build community by showing how much we care about one another. We ask one another, how are you doing?

We check on one another, especially during that time. That's important. And I feel like that's been my building community point this whole time because of how important it is. I hope that you're doing that. Secondly, we equip believers.

We do this, we prepare one another that that day is coming. And you know what? That day could be today. We just don't know. But until then, we equip believers to continue to do the work of the ministry that the Lord has called us to do.

We continue to let our light shine. We continue to share the gospel. And we do that by equipping, encouraging one another to take part in that ministry, which means that we share Jesus.

We share the gospel. We warn people. You know, if you know the truth, it doesn't matter if it offends someone. Now, we speak the truth in love, but I'd rather people know the truth about what awaits them when the eternal judge of the universe comes than for them not to know because I didn't want to, I don't know, ruin their breakfast or their lunch or something like that or their day.

Eternity is at stake. People need to hear about the gospel. And so we must share Jesus, no matter what social distancing order is in place.

And finally, we teach the word. Why? Because the word is the word of God. You want to hear God? Then read his word. If you want to hear God's word or voice audibly, then read his word out loud.

It is the word of God. The word of God cleanses us. The word of God rejuvenates us. The word of God builds us up. It encourages us. Be ever in the word of God.

I'll see you next time.