John Chapter 5:18-24

The Bible clearly teaches that there's only one way to heaven. I'm not talking about one verse. I'm talking about a whole bunch of verses. Of course, there's, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father but through me.

And the verse we just saw, to honor the Father, you have to honor the Son. And again, I'm just grateful there is that one way. Whoever believes, whoever believes, isn't that awesome? Whoever hears and believes, that's real complicated.

Let me repeat it. Whoever hears and believes, Jesus in His love for us set it up to be so simple and so straightforward. And yet we've been pretty busy the last 2,000 years trying to complicate it. It's not that simple. You got to do more than just hear and believe.

That's what Jesus said. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of The Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. Today, one of David McGee's associate pastors, Pastor D.A. Brown, is with us as David teaches in John chapter 5, It is All About Jesus.

Hey, Bob. The Bible teaches us there's only one way to heaven. But D.A., I've heard people say there's lots of different ways to heaven as long as you're sincere. Bob, we can say all kinds of things, but what does the Word of God say? Today we're going to find out.

Today we're going to find out. So let's jump in as David McGee begins his teaching, It is All About Jesus. Last week we were talking about the man that was healed at the pool of Bethesda in chapter 5 and what was going on in his life. And we see that the religious establishment got very upset with Jesus about healing this man on the Sabbath. We talked about how they had reduced the Sabbath to a legalistic form of bondage. And before we go casting stones at the Jewish people, we need to understand that we have done exactly the same thing in this day and age.

We have turned what should be a celebration and a healing and being set free in some forms into bondage. So let's jump on in here, verse 18. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was his Father making himself equal with God. Now you notice the end of verse 18, making himself equal with God. If you are equal with God, what does that make you?

That makes you God. Now the Jewish leaders believed that Jesus was claiming to be God. They understood he was saying he was equal with God.

It's right here in the scriptures. And any misconception that the church deified Jesus hundreds of years after he was here, it's either woefully ignorant or intentionally dishonest. Because here in the Bible we see not just once, not just twice, but over and over and over again Jesus stating that he was God. Now either one, he is misleading people or number two, he really was and is God and I believe that. But that is his claim. Understand that is his claim.

He was put to death. He was put on trial because he claimed to be God. He never said, oh guys, listen, you're blowing this whole thing out of proportion. You're calling me God and worshiping me and really I'm not him. He never says that.

Obviously he would have if it wouldn't have been true. In verse 19, then Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the father do. For whatever he does the son also does in like manner. Jesus is saying I do the things the father does. And again, if Jesus can do the things that the father does, what does that make him? That makes him God. He has the attributes of deity. He has the descriptions of deity.

And this passage this morning really hammers this home so we're going to be talking about it. Now whether you believe that or not is up to you. Now I hope you believe it. Certainly as a person that believes in the Bible you need to believe every part of it. And as a Christian you should believe that Jesus is in fact God. Because if you don't believe that then the foundations of your Christianity are messed up. That's a theological word, messed up. You have the decision to make. Jesus claimed to be God.

What do you do with that? See that's a decision each one, every one of us has to deal with. And I believe him. I believe him. And if you choose not to believe him, you need to understand there's certain things that you can choose not to believe.

That does not change it at all. You can choose not to believe in gravity. But let me promise you, if you go up to the roof of this building and you jump off of that corner, you're going to experience the laws of gravity. It doesn't matter if you believe in them or not. You're still going to have at the end of that little experience, you're going to have some pain because you chose not to believe in the laws of gravity.

Well if you choose not to believe that Jesus is God, there's going to be some pain at the end. And your belief does not make it so. There was a Christian bumper sticker that I really had a problem with. If you have it on your car and your car's in a lot, it's probably already been removed from your car.

No, I'm kidding. But the bumper sticker said, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. I got a problem with that bumper sticker.

You know why? Because whether you believe it or not has no bearing at all. God said it, that's it, that settles it.

Whether someone believes it or doesn't believe it, the truth is still there. And the Son was imitating the Father, if you will. Now Jesus wasn't saying He can't do anything. He was making the choice. He was making the choice as a good son. Might say, well I can't do that.

My Father would not be pleased with that. It's not limiting the deity of Jesus. And Jesus is a model, He's a wonderful model of the way we should be behaving. We see Jesus loving people, we should love people. We see Jesus serving, we should be serving. We see Jesus giving, we should be giving. We see Jesus praying, we should be praying. And there shouldn't be, in the kingdom of God there shouldn't be any of this, I just want to do my own thing. Wait a minute, you've been bought with a price if you know Jesus as your Savior, and there's not a lot of room for doing your own thing. Now God will lay on your heart what you should be doing, and it'll be much, much better than anything you could come up with following His will. Verse 20, for the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel. You know what I love about Jesus?

He's in this situation. He's healed the guy. They know He's healed the guy. He healed the guy on the Sabbath. Jesus had not broken Levitical law. He had broken rabbinical law. Here's the difference, the Levitical law was according to the law of the Levites or the word of God. There was nothing in the word of God that said you couldn't heal somebody on the Sabbath. But the rabbis had developed more and more rules and regulations and laws, and some of them were really, really silly. Some of the stuff that we've talked about before that you couldn't wear dentures on the Sabbath because you would be carrying your teeth, and that technically was work. Now before you go, wow, that's really silly, wait a minute now.

We've come up with some equally silly stuff. If you have a town here, praise God, I'm glad you have a town. But I don't think that you have to have a town in order to approach God. Amen? I believe that that's another barrier that we've placed in front of people that, okay, in order to come to God, you got to look like this, you got to dress like this, and you got to talk like this, and you got to walk like this.

Now here it's an issue, but do you understand that people are trying to do this in places like Haiti, places where they have dirt floors, no electricity, no running water, and they're asking these people that they're saying, you got to have a suit and a towel in order to come to church. So before we go and throw rocks at the Jewish leadership, remember this stuff is ongoing. And I love the fact that Jesus didn't play it safe with them. He didn't play it safe with them. He could have said a lot of things. He could have said, oh, you know, guys, we're kind of on the same team. Let's just figure out how we can all work together and love one another. As a matter of fact, you guys got a good thing going.

Why don't I just kind of join up with you guys and we'll just continue this thing? No, that's not at all what he said, is it? No, it was more like, passengers, you may have noticed the fasten your seatbelt line has been lit. That means there's some turbulence. There's going to be some bumpy ride up ahead. So he does, you know, he does this stuff, preparing them and he begins to really, really speak the truth and love. And guys, as believers, that's what we're supposed to be doing. And somehow that's going to be a little scary for some of you, but it'll be good for you. Somehow we've watered Jesus down.

We've watered him down into somebody that was very politically correct and sensitive. If you don't believe this, just pick up the editorial pages in the newspapers and you'll see Jesus would have never told somebody they were in sin. Jesus would have never said somebody's not going to heaven. Jesus would have never told somebody that they were wrong. Wait a minute.

Where did they get that? Not from this book, not from this Bible. Jesus in this book loves us and loves others enough to tell them when something is wrong, when something's not right.

Well, here's a radical idea. I think we ought to look into the Bible and see who Jesus really was, then trying to turn Jesus into something he wasn't and trying to say, well, it was all, you know, I've heard people say, well, you know, Christian, it's all about getting along. It's all about getting along.

Where do you find that in the book? You know what Jesus said? Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace. I came to bring division with the sword. When's the last time you saw that on a Christmas card?

It's probably been a while, right? But that's what he said, because he came to speak the truth in love to our lives because we needed the truth. And we have to look around and say, you know what? As you look at churches in the United States, take a good long look and you say, you know, is this what he had in mind? Is this what he intended? You know, I walk away for the most part going, I don't think so.

I don't think so. I think that we need to really see from scripture who Jesus was and take off our religious glasses and stop, and this is going to be radical, but stop buying into what the religious establishment said Jesus was and let's look at the book and see what the book said Jesus was. Because you know what? Here's what happens. They recreate Jesus and then they say, okay, this is what Jesus really was.

And some people go, I don't think so. I'm not sure I want that Jesus. But when they get a picture of who Jesus really was and who Jesus really was, they go, oh man, oh man, I want a relationship with that Jesus. We need to get back to a biblical Jesus and a biblical model for a church. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A. Brown. Hey, Bob, we're excited about God's word going forth, and we want to pray for some listeners in these cities.

Susanville, California, Talmadge, Truckee, Victorville, Westwood, Yankee Hill, and Yreka, California. God, we pray for the people listening in these cities today and the surrounding areas. We pray that they would put their trust and hope in you, that they would be encouraged in how much you love them, and Lord, that they would look for other people who you place in their life to share this good news with as well. And God, that they would get plugged into a Bible-teaching, Bible-believing church. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 21. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so, the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son. The Son gives life to whom He will. You understand, and we're going to read about it in a few chapters, but understand, Jesus knew ahead of time He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, another proof of His deity.

He said it, and then He did it. And then the fact that the judgment has been given to the Son. It's kind of tragic and ironic that the Jesus that people are refusing is the Jesus who was going to judge people.

I mean, imagine if you ran into somebody's car one day and you needed to go to court the next day, and then when you got to court, you looked at the judge's bench, and the man's car that you hit is behind that bench. Would that be a bad feeling or what? That would be a horrible feeling. And yet, that's just a small picture of what people are going to experience at the end of their life if they don't accept Jesus as their Savior. When they see Him sitting on the throne, they're going to say, oh, no. So, you know, with that, guys, if people want to tear up tracts, if they want to make fun of Him, if they want to speak evil against Him, it's to their own tragic end.

I really wouldn't advise doing those things. Verse 23, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Do you understand that, again, this verse knocks down the argument about there's many ways to heaven? It knocks it down.

Why? Because it says here that those who do not honor the Son do not honor the Father who sent Him. In other words, you can't approach God from any other place than to honor His Son, because if you dishonor His Son, you are dishonoring Him. And can you imagine, can you imagine if you gave your son to die for someone?

And then with either arrogance or ignorance, they come up and they go, hey, you know what? I appreciate, you know, your son dying for me and stuff, but is there another way? I really don't want that way. I'd like a different way.

Can you imagine what you would feel like? And yet that's what we do with the Lord who has given us His Son to die for our sins. And sometimes some people go, I don't care about the sacrifices you made. I don't care about you dying for me. I want to see if there's another way, if we can go through Buddha or Muhammad or this way or that way.

Wait a minute. I am just thankful that there is a way. How am I going to argue with God that there's only one way or say, well, laminate and narrow-minded.

I'm just happy there's a way, because I couldn't find a way before. I tried. My own behavior?

I wasn't going to get it. My own goodness? Uh-uh. See, I tell people, you know, you'll recognize me in heaven because I'll be the one jumping and dancing, going, I made it. Praise God, I'm here. I'm going to be grateful that there was a way in.

We should be that way. I honor God the Father and I honor God the Son. Verse 24, most assuredly, I say to you, He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life. Again, the way is laid out to pass from death to life. The way is laid out to get into heaven.

The way is laid out to have access to the Father. Life lesson is the Bible clearly teaches that there's only one way to heaven. It clearly teaches there's only one way to heaven. I'm not talking about one verse. I'm talking about a whole bunch of verses. Of course, there's I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father but through me.

And the verse we just saw, to honor the Father, you have to honor the Son. And again, I'm just grateful there is that one way. I'm not in arrogance or ignorance going to say, well, I wish there was another way. If there was another way, then I would go that way.

But I'm not going to do that. And whoever believes, whoever believes, isn't that awesome? Whoever hears and believes, that's real complicated.

Let me repeat it. Whoever hears and believes, Jesus in His love for us set it up to be so simple and so straightforward. And yet, we've been pretty busy the last 2,000 years trying to complicate it.

It's not that simple. You've got to do more than just hear and believe. That's what Jesus said, that we can be passed from death to life if we do this. And again, look at the power that is being ascribed to Jesus.

Jesus is God. There's a passage in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, and it's interesting because this one's on, they edit it out when they do Christmas cards very interestingly enough. They take one part of it enough.

They take one part of it out. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now, we recognize that the Wonderful and the Counselor and the Son being given is Jesus. What about the Mighty God part?

Evidently, it's talking about Jesus as well. But I love this here, back to the hear and believe. I mean, how simple can it get? I'm so grateful for this. I'm so grateful that, you know, when I decided to be a Christian, somebody didn't go, okay, well, this is section A, part 1, section A. And if you look down to, here's the list of the do's and don'ts.

And if you can do all those for long enough, then we might let you in. But looking at you, probably not. You know, I'm so grateful that it was hear and believe. And what happens is, Christians, when they're supposed to be spreading the good news or spreading something else that's not the good news and painting all these rules and these regulations, and you've got to do this, and you've got to do that, and if you do this, that, and the other, and you do that long enough, then you're in. How tragic. That's the good news. That doesn't sound like good news to me. The good news is, even though you and I are sinners, even though we fall far short of the glory of God, even though we don't deserve heaven, if we will hear and we will believe, we've passed from death to life. Thank you, Lord.

I mean, how awesome is that? Now, how are people supposed to hear? It says hear. How are they supposed to hear? Romans 10, 14 says, but how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they've never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

Now, maybe you're going, well, we live in the south. Most people have heard. Yeah, but what have they heard? What have they heard? Have they heard the gospel? Have they heard the good news? Or have they heard that if they'll quit, you know, smoking and chewing and what is it?

Don't smoke, don't chew, don't go with girls that do or whatever. You know, if you quit doing all those things, then you can, you know, put an application and we'll review it and maybe we'll let you into the exclusive club of Christianity. That's what most people are hearing. And proof of this is doing, and I've seen exit polls done in this state of people coming out of church and they go, hey, you think you're going to heaven?

You betcha. Why do you think you're going to heaven? Because I'm basically a good person. That's not the gospel. The gospel says that you're basically a bad person.

I mean, it starts with the bad news. There's none righteous, no one not one, for we have all fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3 10, 3 23. So it's not our goodness. I'm going to heaven because of His goodness, because of His goodness, and the fact that I've asked Him to forgive me of my sins. Not that I'm worthy, not that I'm deserving.

He loves me so much, He'll give it to me. And guys, this is so people would hear, and that's what we've got to be about. We've got to be telling people. That's why we're involved with the radio. That's why we're involved with putting all the teachings up on the internet so that people could hear. I was amazed when I read a statistic that said 47% of the people that listen to Christian radio are unbelievers. And I remember being an unbeliever and flick around the dial, especially real, real late at night, flick around the dial and go, oh, preacher, let's listen.

So when I heard that statistic, we started getting all over it, man. But Romans 10, 14 noticed something. But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? How can they believe in Him if they have not heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

Now, what is the main object of those verses? What do you think? Say it out loud. Go ahead. About Him. Yeah, excellent. You guys are awake. If you're not, there's espresso in the cafe. No, it's about Jesus.

That's a life lesson. It is all about Jesus. One of the ways to really cut to the quick when you're trying to talk to somebody about the Lord is it's just to simply say, what do you think about Jesus? Who do you say Jesus is? And you can cut to the chase because they'll say, well, He's a good man, but I don't believe He was God or whatever their notion is. But it's all about Jesus.

That's what we're all about here. And God, so love the world. Every person, every one of us, God so loved the world, not just us, not just if you're here this morning, but love the world. Talk about including everybody.

Nobody is excluded from that statement. God so loved the world. It's available to everybody. God so loved the world.

It's available to everybody. Jesus saw hope when He talked to people for everybody. He saw hope for the tax collectors, for the Jews, for the Samaritans, for the demoniacs, for the woman at the well. None of these were outside His ability to save. Peter's betraying denial was not beyond his ability to handle or forgive. The thief on the cross didn't present a difficulty beyond his ability to forgive.

Isn't that amazing? All these people in the eyes of Jesus were not without hope. They had hope.

They had hope. Jesus never saw anybody that was beyond His ability to save. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven, and I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been forgiven. You've been born again.

Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him, and He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to crossthebridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

That sounds good, Pastor D.A., and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There you'll experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge, in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.