Jesus Gives Life

Good morning. As a child, I felt a great amount of peer pressure to like the movie The Story of the Wizard of Oz. I'm here to tell you today, I do not like The Story of the Wizard of Oz. A couple of reasons. One, the lion, the skicker, the timid, they're whiners. All they do is complain and they whine. The story is built upon whining. While they're wanting something, I appreciate their acknowledgment of their weakness, they're whining about it. That just always annoys me. The second thing, there's flying monkeys. That's terrifying to a child. Now, as I'm coming and I'm confessing that I do not like the story, as I've thought about how much I do not like the story, it's actually amazed me how much biblical imagery is in the story. They're taking the yellow brick road. There's a golden streets in heaven. They're going to the one person who can grant every wish a divine figure. And when they get there, there's thunder and crashing and it's frightening. Until the little dog pulls back the curtain. And it all falls apart. And as I thought about this text, Our story is completely unlike. It's completely different than the Wizard of Oz because these people, they came to the wizard expecting great things. What they found was a quirky little man putting up smoke and mirrors and all he could give was sentiment. This morning, God is going to draw back the curtain just a little bit. Our text is Jesus Christ drawing back the curtain so that we can see just a little glimpse of God in further revelation. And it isn't disappointing. It brings about awe and wonder and praise. That's why we sang a song of corporate prayer asking for illumination, because if we're going to see God this morning, it's not just an intellectual pursuit. Our sin keeps us from seeing God as Jesus taught. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We must enter into this text, which is drawing back the curtain just ever so slightly, lest we be undone so that we can see who God is and who he is for us. We pray with me as we're about to pursue and dive into this revelation of the triune God. Father, we thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in Jesus Christ. We thank you for sending your son to die for us. We thank you for your spirit that continues to illuminate us and cleanse us and apply Christ's death to us and remind us of who we are in him. As we look to your word now, we pray that you would keep sin. from interfering and tainting our vision of who you are. Help us, Lord, to see you more clearly in your glory, in your power, in your holiness. Help us, Lord, to worship you more faithfully. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. We're going to continue in John chapter 5. If you do not have a Bible with you, you can use the Pew Bible in front of you. That should be found on page 890. Jesus has just healed a paralyzed man and it was on the Sabbath. Jesus is using this this miracle, he's intentionally paving his path to the cross, he is he's really picking a fight, he's starting to cause the Jews to not just want to see the signs and the miracles, he's helping them see he's not just a wonder worker, he's the Messiah, he's God himself, he's coming to die for sinners. The true message of the gospel, which is offensive to sinners, apart from the grace of God. As we prepare to hear God's Word, we're going to be listening for a few things here in John 5 verse 17. He's really beginning what we see as a legal defense. Jesus answers. The particular form of that verb is legal language. It's kind of like cross-examine. Now, if you use cross-examine in a conversation, you typically automatically think of a legal room here. Jesus, the way he uses the word answer, it doesn't it's not obvious in our English translation, but it's a legal form of that word. We're going to be looking at verses 19 through 30, where he states his case. The legal case that he is the Lord of the Sabbath, he is the son of God, and then verses 31 through 47, He's called, he calls forth witnesses. This is really set up like a courtroom structure where God is defending himself. Jesus is giving an answer and calling forth witnesses that he is a son of God. Now, what's great about this is that he's being judged. By those who are hearing him, he's being judged by the Jews and he is going to declare that he is a son of God who has the authority to judge. Our passage is structured with the terms truly, truly, you'll see this repeated throughout. Truly, truly, we'll set up our three points, our three section outline, the three different statements of Jesus. And key words I want you to be listening for are father, son, judgment and life. Father, son, judgment and life. And this all points to the fact that we are to honor the authority of Jesus, the son of God. Listen, as I read our text. But Jesus answered them. I'm going back to verse 17. 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 of 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 a father raises the dead and gives them life, So also the son gives life to whom he will. The father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the son for all so 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, 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. 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. For as the father has life in himself, he has granted the son also to have life in himself. He has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever. This is a thick text. Jesus, he really is. He's drawing back the curtain. We learn more of God here. Who God is, how he's the father and the son. This is a drawing back of the curtain in redemptive history. So I want to give a bit of a summary before we really start working through the details of the text to make sure we get the big picture. Jesus makes some bold claims here. The big bold claim is my father is working until now and I am working. As you see there in verse 18, the Jews knew what this meant. He's making himself equal with God. He has healed of the Sabbath to demonstrate that he is Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was established to show that in Genesis 2, should be Genesis 1, Genesis 2, the Sabbath has no end. The point being, that is the ultimate end and purpose of creation, that we would enter God's rest. But we were denied God's rest. We denied it because we forsook Him. We rejected Him. The Sabbath law for us was to demonstrate to us that we can't work to reestablish ourselves in God's rest. We must trust what he does for us. We can do nothing to recreate that relationship we had. We must trust what Christ has done by saying he's still at work. He's claiming to be. identified with God. He has a unique relationship with God. We call God father. This is our normal language in the Western world because we've grown up with the Bible. No one dared call God father. Because to claim God as father is to claim a unique relationship with him. To claim this kind of identity with God is to claim to be identical with God, and you see that there in the text, John gives us this clear interpretation. He's making himself equal with God by claiming this unique relationship with God. And then secondly, he's claiming, I'm doing the same work as God. I'm working on the Sabbath. In our passage, there's two main claims we must see. As God's Son, Jesus claims to have power to give new life. As God's Son, Jesus claims to have the power to give new life. And secondly, as God's Son, Jesus claims to be the just judge to whom we will be accountable. We are called to believe in Jesus and honor him so that we might live. You see there again, the structure, the truly trulies, they set apart the structure for us. And I want you to if you were listening, the second one was very short. The first and the third were very similar. He is the son of God. He's been given the right to life. He's been given the right to judgment. The middle one stands out, I believe it stands out as the focus. It's shorter and it calls us to believe. The first thing we want to look at here is our first truly, truly the son does the work of the father. He gives life and he judges sin. This is a well-ordered argument. He makes his case. Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord. But only what he sees the father doing it. He's continuing to explain this declaration. My father's working till now. I'm working till now. It's a well-ordered argument because there are four arguments within this. He establishes four reasons. Our text doesn't have this if you're using the ESV. There are actually four fours. F-O-R-S. The number four, there's four fours. There's one in verse 19. At the end for whoever the father for whatever the father does that the son does likewise. There's one of us 20. There's one of us 21. And there's also one of us 22. The ESP doesn't include it. And there's a good reason for that. But if we need to put that in there because it helps establish this this argument. Now, I'm not going to continue to say for force, because that's very confusing. For F.O.R. Whenever that's used in an argument like that, it's a ground. What Jesus is doing is he's continuing to ground his statements. He makes a claim and then he puts an explanation or gives a rationale. It's a ground. And so I'm going to call him for grounds rather than for fours. You're welcome. You can exchange that for because. So it's the rationale for what he's saying. We see this. We can make the same as he had a salad for he's on a diet. You have the action, then you have the grounding, you have the explanation, you have the rationale. We see these in Scripture throughout. Matthew 5, 3, blessed are the poor in spirit. Well, the blessed are the poor? That seems counterintuitive. Why? Jesus tells us why. The grounding for that statement. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's how we can declare blessed are the poor in spirit. It's because they're the king of heaven. That's the grounding for that declaration. Our first grant in seven nine. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry for. Here's the principle. It is better to marry than to burn with passion. I'm going to refer to these as foreground, so let's look at our first grounding. Jesus has said the son can do nothing of his own accord. Jesus is saying I have limits. I can do nothing except for what I see my father doing, and here's the first grounding. He really repeats the same thing. It's more of an affirmation. The son only does what he sees the father doing. It is redundant. Now, in the ancient Near East, the way you knew someone was a son was that they followed their father. If you were a true son, you entered your father's work. He trained you to do whatever he did. There wasn't a lot of job opportunity. There wasn't the same kind of job market we have. If you were a son, you did the same thing your father did. You took up his vocation, you took up his habits, you you continued his his morality, his principles, his example to be a son is to reflect your father and Jesus, who is the perfect son of the perfect father. He's saying whatever the father's doing, that's what I'm doing. That's who I am. We saw this in John one. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. And we see that great declaration in John one following. Nothing was created without the word. The father was creating and the son was reading, he participates in the work of the father. Really, what we see here is that all three persons, the Trinity, these two, especially the father and son in this passage, they're working together. They don't have different agendas. They don't have different purposes. They work together. They're inseparable in their operation. Now, this is good news for us. This is somewhat obvious, but it's good news for us. The entire Godhead is for us if we believe in Jesus Christ. The father, he loves us in Christ, the son dies for us, the Holy Spirit applies that death to us. The entirety of the Godhead is committed to our well-being. They don't have separate agendas, they don't have separate directions. God is single mindedly focused on caring for those whom he has called. Now, the response he requests, as we've seen in James one, those who are studying on Wednesday night, is that we are to be single minded or, as Jesus says, single hearted in our response to the gospel. We're to love God with all of our hearts. We're to not be tossed and turned, we're to be single committed to worshiping and loving him. Our first round is simply says the father is doing this work until I am doing this work. Our next grounding is in verse 20. For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing and greater works in these, he will show him so that you may marvel. Now, how he does what the father is doing is now explained in this step of the argument. He's made the argument, I can only do what I see the father doing. I only do what the father does. And now he explains how he does it. It's because the father reveals it to him and the father reveals it to him because the father loves him. This is central to the doctrine of God. We declare that God is love. But essentially, that means the father has a perfect relationship with the son and love is what defines that relationship. It's a mutual love, a mutual identity. It's a perfect, everlasting love that exists between the father and the son. As we continue to look at the passage, it says, because he loves him, for the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. Jesus already been contrasted with Moses wants to be contrasted with Moses at the end of our passage next week. Moses never got to see the face of God. Moses received one of the greatest revelations throughout the history of the world, there on Mount Sinai with a thunder and the shaking and the lightning. But he couldn't truly see God. The curtain wasn't really pulled back. But here the sun says that I've seen the face of God, I know the face of God because he loves me and we we love one another and we're in communication with another and I'm here to show you. The face of God. When he's asked, can you show us the father, what does he say? If you've seen me, you've seen the father, because the father has perfectly committed himself to the son, we can see the father perfectly through the son. We can only see the father. through the sun. Now, what are the greater works? What is Jesus referring to in that greater works in these? Will he show him so that you may marvel? Now, in a few chapters, we're going to see Lazarus raised from the dead. That fits the context of the passage, because he's going to say, rather than the father, he raised the death. That could be what he's referring to. I think at some level it is referring to referring to because it is a greater work. It follows. But the real greater work that is the the ultimate and final greater work is a father raised his son from the grave. The father sent his son to die for sinners and the father then raised the son, he raised Christ from the grave. Now, we put all this together that. This is kind of this is the beauty of the gospel. The father loves his son, and I believe the greater work is referring to the resurrection of the son. In order to get there, we have to make it clear that the father loved the son and he judged that son who was perfectly righteous as if he were a vile sinner. The father had to judge and pour out his wrath on his beloved son, and I don't think he stops loving the son at that moment. You see, the father, he counts our sin towards the son, but at no point does he ever not realize who he's pouring his wrath out upon. It's his perfectly beloved son, the one who has obeyed him in every way, the one who has done everything he's ever said, the one who has revealed everything he's ever said. He looks at him. He loves him forever. And he doesn't stop loving him. He does forsake him. He turns his back on him. The relationship is an experience. The love is an experience because God has to pour out his wrath upon that, his only beloved son. Why? Why would God do such a thing? It was because God also loves us. Those whom he chose from the foundation of the world, before the foundation of the world, he loves. Now, he loves his son more than us. But the only way we could ever experience the love of God is if someone first took the wrath we deserve. And so God looked upon his beloved son and he judged him as if he were like us, vile and wretched, worthy of judgment when he's truly worthy of praise. He's worthy of exaltation so that we could know the love of God. Let's continue to follow the argument versus twenty one and twenty two. These are together. That's all the fours on in your text there. They're there. They're related grounds. Two ways the father reveals his will to the son versus twenty one and twenty two. There are two ways the father reveals his will to the son. First, the father gives life and the son gives life. And second, the father gives the son the sole authority to judge. The end result is that the son will be honored along with the father. Let's look at this first declaration. The father raises the dead, so also the son gives life. Jesus has just had this conversation with Nicodemus. He asked, how can I see the kingdom of God? How can I enter the kingdom of God? Jesus says, you must be born again, you must be given new life, you must have regeneration. And here we see this, the father who raised the dead. And he also gives the son the right to give new life. We were created to live in God, we were created to have life in God, and it's only through his blessing that receive it. Now, this they're doing the work together, they're giving us new life together. This next passage as to how The two ways the Father reveals His will to the Son. This one's actually quite interesting. The Father no longer judges. He's given that right solely over to the Son. Look at the passage here. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. Now, that's at one level somewhat perplexing. Why isn't the Father judging anyone? Why is he given that sole responsibility to the son? It's perplexing and fascinating at the same time. As I've wrestled with why would the father give all the authority to judge to the son? I have a couple of reasons and they're all real. They're all related. The first thing we need to realize is that God alone judges. This is a way for the father to make sure everyone knows the son is God. The Son is equally in deity. He has the authority to judge. But why does a father who gives life, and the Son also gives life, why does he remove himself from this action? One thought would be this. The Father's already given his judgment once. He judged the Son. He's already poured out his judgment once. He doesn't need to do it again. He's already judged the son as if a sinner for sinners. The father has executed and exercised his judgment when he declared the son innocent for sins he never committed. Secondly, and related to that, the son is the one who is judged for sinners, and so now he judges all. He knows whose sins he died for. He knows whose sins were covered in his blood. He knows whose sins have been wiped away. And so when one dies and enters into the judgment of God, it's the son who knows. Your sins have been judged already because I was judged for you. You can come into the father's presence. The son also knows those whose sins he did not die for. And he sends those into the Father's presence, but instead of love and joy and delight, it's wrath. Another reason related to this still is that I believe by being judged by the sun, we'll realize how wicked our sin truly was. We'll see the true consequence of sin, that he himself had to die because of the gravity of our sin. Now, if you're a believer this morning, I want you to hear this. Because Christ is the judge, we can have great confidence. Because when we die, when we stand before God, we can have confidence that our judgment has been paid. Christ knows that we are his and that he is ours. He knows that our sins have been washed away. He knows that we've been declared innocent. And we'll hear the words, you are forgiven. Enter into the Father's presence with joy and with delight and with a clear conscience. And praise Him forever. Have confidence in what Christ has done and in His judgment. If you do not believe in Jesus, I want you to be confident in something. When you stand before God, you will stand before Him and you will be judged. Your sins will be evident and clear. They'll be so clear you'll be speechless. There will be no defense be made because it'll be obvious the holiness of God in the front of your sin. There is no defense. You're guilty. Brothers and sisters, our friends, if you do not believe in Jesus Christ, you will be judged for your sins unless you believe in Jesus Christ. And then he is judged for your sins and you are declared innocent. As we think about the judgment, I want to talk about something that's actually in the news today. The most recent pope has made headlines with something he has said about God's judgment, and I believe it's helpful for us to think about this. He is declared. that even an atheist will have received the mercy of God if they're sincere to their own conscience. You laugh. This is this is the head of the this is the so-called head of the largest Christian denomination by name. He is declared that all you have to do is be sincere to yourself. And that's all that really matters. What's wrong with this is that he's failed to see the sinfulness of man. Everybody's sincere to sin. We all are sincere in pursuing sin and loving it. That is our natural disposition. We are sincerely sinful. So that means everybody goes to heaven. Everybody's sincere to sin. None of us are sincere in our worship of God, though, which is what we're truly called for. and created for. The other problem we see is that he's refused and rejected the truth that God is just. We saw that in verse 30. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge. My judgment is just. The father's judgment is just. The son's judgment is just. For God to not punish those who are sincerely pursuing sin, that's not a just God. It's not a just God. We all want a just God. Because we want sins to be punished, just not ours. We don't want everybody in heaven because we know some people, there's no way they should have mercy. The beautiful thing about God is that he shows mercy to all who believe in Jesus Christ, no matter how sinful. But it's not for being sincere in your sinning. Notice also, there's a great purpose clause to these two grounds. So that, verse 23, so 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. You see, the relationship is tied to their mission, which is one. You cannot have the Father without the Son. You cannot have the Son without the Father. The Son is to be honored with the Father. Now, as we think about honoring the Son, I think most people do give some honor to the Son. I was sharing the Gospels and when I was explaining to him, everybody likes Jesus. Everybody likes Jesus. He's a good teacher. He's a model. He's a friend. If nothing else, he told you to quit judging me, they think. I mean, everybody likes something about Jesus. Very few people will say something negative about Jesus. The problem is they don't really honor him. The problem is we don't truly honor him. You see, when we call Jesus a friend, that is a sweet declaration that we do receive by grace. We are by nature enemies of God and by grace we are declared friends. But for that to truly mean something, we have to first realize he is worthy of honor as almighty, holy God. In order to truly understand and appreciate what friendship means in terms of God declaring us friends, it's that he is first worthy of worship. And we have not given him that worship. And in order for Jesus to be our friend, he has to lay down his life for us. He has to be judged for us. He's worthy of worship. And by grace, he calls us friends. Let's move on to our second, truly, truly our second main point, which I do believe is a big emphasis for, well, because of where it is in the three points, but also because of one particular theme here. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me have eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. I want you to notice here what's at stake. There's death. And there's life, there's there's judgment and there's eternal life, there's there's experiencing the wrath of God and there's experiencing rejoicing with God. I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me, there's two parts here. He first believed Jesus' message. Jesus said his main message was to come and to seek and to save the lost. As Andrew made very clear, in order to declare Jesus, I come, I first have realized, Jesus, I'm not worthy to come. I'm a sinner. I am wretched. I must first hear the message of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is God's message. He is the word of God. Secondly, we must believe that Jesus is sent from the father. We really see two primary identities here. Jesus is a son. Jesus is sent by the Father. He is the sent son. Jesus is the plan of God for salvation. The key part here, whoever hears my word and believes. Faith is the changing point, either we believe in Christ or we're still in our sin. So what does it mean to believe? Believing is just is not just agreeing with facts. It's not just sentiment, it's not just feeling. Faith means we learn that we must rely upon Jesus Christ and what he has done, recognizing we can do nothing on our own to please God apart from the grace of Jesus Christ. It is realizing that I come here, I'm a wretch, I'm a sinner, I've rejected God, and there's nothing I can do to make that relationship right again except rely upon what Jesus Christ did When he died for me. Faith also means I think differently. Those things I used to say are pleasurable or acceptable or enjoyable and they're an enjoyment, I recognize their sin. And I start to see them for what they are, they're worthy of judgment, they're gross and they're destructive. I started to realize what God says is right. This is a big picture in John 5. I started to see what God says is right and that I am extremely wrong. And I began to redirect my affection for God. Friend, you must believe in Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. Finally, let's move to our third. Truly, truly, the Son does the work of the Father. He gives life and he judges sin. Listen for the same theme that this section repeats what the first section said with a slightly different nuance. It's a future judgment that's going to come. 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. For as the father has life in himself, so he also so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. And he has given himself authority. He's given him authority to execute judgment because he is a son of man. Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own, but the will of him who sent me. A key phrase that makes this passage differently is, an hour is coming. An hour is coming. It's not just the truth that the Father has life and He gives the Son to give life. It's not just the truth that God says, you will judge now. The Father says to the Son, you will judge now. It's set in a different way in that an hour is coming. You see this in verse 25 and 28. The dead will hear His voice. Those in the tombs will hear His voice. When is this hour? It's a key question. For when is Jesus referring to here? Is it the hour of his death or is it a future hour? And the reason we would think it might be the future hour is that Paul says in his letter to Thessalonica, when Jesus comes back, the trump will sound and the dead in Christ will rise first. So they're referring to that resurrection. Or is it referring to the resurrection of Matthew 27? And Jesus cried out again. He's on the cross with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened and many bodies of the saints had fallen asleep, were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection. They went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and sad. Truly, this was the Son of God. The answer to the when is it? It's yes. When Jesus cried, he opened the tombs of all the saints who believed in all the promises leading up to Jesus and they were freed. from the grave. They were entered into the resurrection. According to the letter to Thessalonica, when Jesus Christ comes back, the believers who know Jesus, they will experience the resurrection. Now, there's an important assertion here that I do want to give some explanation to. Verse 26, For the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. This is a drawing back the curtain. What does this mean theologically about the father and the son? Because one of the things we know about God is he's independent. He's self-reliant. He needs nothing. He is not caused And so God the Father, He clearly, He's not caused. No one has caused the Father to exist. He speaks all things that exist into existence. But what does it mean that the Son received life in Himself? Well, the in Himself is extremely important. The Son is self-existent. The Son is independent. It's actually a clear, strong declaration of the Son's deity. But what this is giving us is it's showing us there's a hierarchy among the divine persons. The son, he is submissive and subordinate to the father. The father communicates his being to the son, and the son has that being in himself. This is very different than us. We have life, but it's not life in ourselves. We live and act like that. But we do not have life in ourselves. We have life from God, but we're completely dependent upon God. The son is unique in that he has divine life in himself. Notice there the judge, the son judges justly, we've already discussed that. I want to find, I want to conclude with verse 29. Because 29 also can be confusing. Let me read verse 28. Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are all in the tombs will hear the voice and come out. You have two different kinds. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and to those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Now, a question we have to ask, does this mean I can be good enough so that when I die, I will go to heaven? Absolutely not. We all will be measured, we all will stand before God and we'll be measured, but we'll all be found wanting. We'll be found guilty. There isn't anyone who is good enough. That's why Christ had to come. So how do we make sense of this? I believe it's going back to verse 24. Belief is how you have life. Believing in Christ and the message of the gospel, that's how you have life. This passage is showing that if you believe, you will live for Christ. Jesus is the Son of God. If we believe in Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God. That means we all become sons of God. And what do sons do? What they see the Father do. If we believe in Jesus, we're going to stop wanting to do the things we were doing that caused God's judgment upon us. If we believe in Jesus, we're going to want to be true sons. We're going to want to participate in the family. And that means what we see the father doing, what we see the father declaring, we're going to want to do those things as well. I believe this passage could be translated or better interpreted with Jesus saying, you can tell a tree by its fruit. You can tell a true believer according to the fruit. Has he been doing good? People are pursuing evil. We just studied in our baptism class that the believer, they're called to present themselves to righteousness. We're called to no longer present ourselves to sin. We're called to present ourselves to God and for his worship. But I ask you, before we leave here, How have you been living your life this week? Where have you been presenting your time and attention and affection? Does it demonstrate that you are a son of God adopted into the family as a believer in Christ? Does it demonstrate you haven't taken your sin seriously? You haven't taken your sin to recognize, I need a Savior and I need to change the way I'm living so that I worship and honor that Savior. Will you pray with me? Father, we praise You that You speak to us. You've revealed Yourself to us. You have been gracious in not giving up on us. Lord, while we were Your enemies, You sent Your Son to die for us. Help us, Lord. To see you in your beauty, to see you in your glory, to see you in your mercy and your love for us. So that our hearts are changed so that we worship you with our actions, with our thoughts, with our desires, with our words. We thank you for Jefferson Park and we thank you, Lord, for the way you continue to use this body to stir one another up. To challenge one another and to love one another. We pray that you would not let us continue in sin. Correct us and change us so that we can become obedient, so we can worship you more faithfully. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.