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Today's Lesson
John 5:1-47 Part 2, vs. 23-47
John 5:23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.
:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death
unto life.
:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice,
:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and
they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because
I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
:32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he
witnesseth of me is true.
:33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
:34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
:35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice
in his light.
:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither
heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
:38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
:39 Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they
which testify of me.
:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
:41 I receive not honor from men.
:42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own
name, him ye will receive.
:44 How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that
cometh from God only?
:45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust.
:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
:47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
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Hear this well! If you do not honor the Son, it is
not possible that you are honoring the Father. Don't be deceived.
Jesus is Truth.John 14:6
And He is reminding us that what He is saying is true. To go from condemnation to
salvation, we MUST really hear what Jesus is saying, and believe in God.
"The dead shall hear" means that those who are not yet saved (thus they are 'the dead'
and are presently on God's spiritual death row, still scheduled to reside in Hell) will
listen and hear what Jesus is saying. After they hear, they now understand, which leads
them to believe, which removes them from God's spiritual death row, and schedules them to
eternally reside in Heaven.
Eventually, all who have died will hear Christ's voice and will report to Him to be
publicly judged. All will be resurrected. Some are resurrected from beneath God's altar,
Revelation 6:9-11 to reside
in Heaven and enjoy paradise with God (called everlasting life). Many others will be
resurrected from spiritual death rowLuke 16:19-31
to reside in Hell and suffer eternal torments with Satan (called
everlasting death).
Jesus is explaining that He is here on earth as Servant to His Father. He is here
to do whatever His Father wants.
Jesus is not asking anyone to believe Him, but believe the witness that is greater
than the witness of a man. Believe the works that He has done, which have been done
by no other. Believe the witness of God.
Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35
Christ is now witnessing against those Jews who were persecuting Him. He points out
why He knows that they are not honoring the Father (i.e., they are not yet saved from
Hell).
- They have never heard the Father's voice
- God's words are not living inside them
- They do not believe Jesus, though He was sent by God
- They rely on Scripture to escape Hell
- Scripture points to Him. Jesus is the real escape from Hell
- They refuse to come to Him, that they might have eternal life
- They do not have the love of God within them (which means that God's Spirit
is not residing within them).
Romans 8:9
- Though they won't receive Him who comes in God's name, they will receive another
who come in his own name (which is still true today)
- They CAN'T believe because they prefer the honor that comes from men, rather than
receive the honor that comes from God (they want to be honored for achievements,
rather than be honored as a servant)
- Jesus does not intend to accuse them with his conclusions
- The Scripture written by Moses already accuses them, because their behavior proves they
don't believe what was written by Moses, because He wrote about Jesus,
John 1:45 and they don't
believe in Him as the Christ.
- He points out if they don't believe Moses words, it is not possible to believe
His words (they don't have God's Spirit living inside their bodies, so they cannot know
that Jesus was the one who gave the Law to Moses,
Isaiah 33:22; James 4:12 thus Moses was
saying what he was given to say from The Word (God - the Son, who was born in flesh
as Jesus.John 1:1, 14)
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