JOHN 5:24 "VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE THAT HEARS MY WORD, AND BELIEVES ON HIM THAT SENT ME, HAS EVERLASTING LIFE, AND SHALL NOT COME INTO CONDEMNATION; BUT IS PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE."
Because our sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ feeling the full weight of God’s wrath as He hung on Calvary there are three great truths that assure the believer that he or she does not have to fear coming before God in judgment seeing that he or she has been judged already.
I. For the Believer Eternal Life is a Present Reality
A. " has everlasting life"
B. Has - to have in hand, own, possess
C. John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him."
D. A PREACHER A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE SERVICE WENT BACK TO THE DOOR TO GREAT THE PEOPLE. A LADY TROUBLED ABOUT HER SOUL CAME ALONG, AND HE REACHED OUT HIS HAND AND SAID TO HER, "WELL, HOW IS IT WITH YOU TONIGHT? ARE YOU SAVED?" SHE SAID, "OH, I DON’T KNOW, SIR; I HOPE SO." HE SAID, "WELL, LET ME SHOW YOU THIS VERSE, ’HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE.’ DO YOU BELIEVE ON THE SON?" "OH, I DO, SIR, I DO BELIEVE ON HIM WITH ALL MY HEART." "WELL, THEN HAVE YOU EVERLASTING LIFE?" SHE REPLIED, "I HOPE SO. I HOPE I HAVE IT." THE MINISTER THEN ASKED HER TO READ THE VERSE AGAIN. SHE READ IT, "HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE." "DO YOU BELIEVE ON THE SON? "I DO." "THEN DO YOU HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE?" "I HOPE SO, I CERTAINLY HOPE SO." "READ IT AGAIN PLEASE." SHE READ IT AGAIN -- "HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE." DO YOU BELIEVE ON THE SON? AGAIN SHE REPLIED, "I DO!" "THEN DO YOU HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE?" SHE AGAIN REPLIED, "I HOPE SO." "WELL," THE MINISTER SAID, "I SEE WHAT THE TROUBLE IS." SHE ASKED, "WHAT IS THE TROUBLE?" "WHY, THE TROUBLE," THE MINISTER SAID, "IS THAT WHEN YOU WERE A GIRL THE SPELLED VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN THEY DID WHEN I WAS A BOY." SHE SAID, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I AM NOT THAT MUCH OLDER THAN YOU." HE REPLIED, "WHEN YOU WERE A GIRL H-A-T-H SPELLED "HOPE." WHEN I WAS A BOY H-A-T-H SPELLED "HATH!" "HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE."
E. John 6:47 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
II. For the Believer Judgment is over and the Books have been Closed
A. "is passed from death unto life"
B. HORATIO SPAFFORD WROTE IN HIS SONG, "IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL" THESE WORDS "MY SIN, O THE BLISS OF THIS GLORIOUS THO’T, MY SIN NOT IN PART BUT THE WHOLE IS NAILED TO THE CROSS AND I BEAR IT NO MORE. PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL!"
C. II Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
D. IMAGINE A DESTITUTE MOTHER BEING ARRESTED FOR STEALING A BOTTLE OF MILK IN ORDER TO FEED HER HUNGRY CHILD. HER CRIME OF THEFT MAKES HER A LAW VIOLATOR. SHE IS SUBSEQUENTLY INDICTED AND TRIED IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. WHEN THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY PRESENTS HIS EVIDENCE IN COURT, THE JUDGE HAS NO ALTERNATIVE OTHER THAN TO FIND THE POOR WOMAN GUILTY AS CHARGED. BECAUSE OF THE MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES, THE JUDGE IMPOSES THE MINIMUM SENTENCE, A FIVE-DOLLAR FINE. HOWEVER, A WOMAN WHO CAN’T AFFORD TO BUY A BOTTLE OF MILK FOR HER STARVING BABY CAN’T EVEN PAY SUCH A SMALL FINE. THE JUDGE IS A KIND AND CARING MAN. BUT HOW SHALL HE MAINTAIN RESPECT FOR THE LAW AND SHOW MERCY TO THE WOMAN AT THE SAME TIME? HE RESOLVES THE DILEMMA BY REMOVING HIS JUDICIAL ROBE, TAKING FIVE DOLLARS FROM HIS WALLET, AND PAYING IT TO THE BAILIFF IN SATISFACTION OF THE JUDICIAL SENTENCE. THIS FREES THE WOMAN TO GO HOME TO HER BABY. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WHEN JESUS WENT TO THE CROSS. WE HAVE BEEN INDICTED FOR OUR SINS AND FOUND GUILTY AS CHARGED. THE PENALTY IS DEATH (ROMANS 6:23), AND JESUS HAS PAID THE DEBT. (J.D. THOMAS, QUOTED IN "HOW DO I KNOW I’M SAVED?" BY NORMAN BALES, COPYRIGHT 1989, BY GOSPEL ADVOCATE)
E. Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
F. CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON WROTE, "THE HEART OF CHRIST BECAME LIKE A RESERVOIR IN THE MIDST OF THE MOUNTAINS. ALL THE TRIBUTARY STREAMS OF INIQUITY, AND EVERY DROP OF THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE, RAN DOWN AND GATHERED INTO ONE VAST LAKE, DEEP AS HELL AND SHORELESS AS ETERNITY. ALL THESE MET, AS IT WERE, IN CHRIST’S HEART, AND HE ENDURED THEM ALL." (CHRISTIAN HISTORY, NO. 29.)
G. I Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
H. II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
III. For the Believer Condemnation is No Longer Possible
A. "shall not come into condemnation"
B. Does not come into... does not incur sentence of... will not come under... judgment... Does not make an appearance before
C. Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
D. Godet - "Judgment being completed does not require repetition."
E. WHEN THE PIONEERS WERE MAKING THEIR WAY ACROSS ONE OF THE CENTRAL STATES TO A DISTANT PLACE THAT HAD BEEN OPENED UP FOR HOMESTEADING IN THE EARLY YEARS OF OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY, THEY TRAVELED IN COVERED WAGONS DRAWN BY OXEN, AND PROGRESS WAS NECESSARILY SLOW. ONE DAY THEY WERE HORRIFIED TO NOTE A LONG LINE OF SMOKE IN THE WEST, STRETCHING FOR MILES ACROSS THE PRAIRIE, AND SOON IT WAS EVIDENT THAT THE DRIED GRASS WAS BURNING FIERCELY, AND WAS COMING TOWARD THEM RAPIDLY. THEY HAD CROSSED A RIVER THE DAY BEFORE BUT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO GO BACK TO THAT BEFORE THE FLAMES WOULD BE UPON THEM. ONE MAN ONLY SEEMED TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING AS TO WHAT SHOULD BE DONE. HE GAVE THE COMMAND TO SET FIRE TO THE GRASS BEHIND THEM. THEN WHEN A SPACE WAS BURNED OVER, THE WHOLE COMPANY MOVED BACK UPON IT. AS THE FLAMES ROARED ON TOWARD THEM FROM THE WEST, A LITTLE GIRL CRIED OUT IN TERROR. "ARE YOU SURE WE SHALL NOT ALL BE BURNED UP?" THE LEADER REPLIED, "MY CHILD, THE FLAMES CAN REACH US HERE, FOR WE ARE STANDING WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN!"
ON HIM ALMIGHTY VENGEANCE FELL,
WHICH WOULD HAVE SUNK A WORLD TO HELL.
HE BORE IT FOR A CHOSEN RACE,
AND THUS BECOMES OUR HIDING PLACE.
THE FIRES OF GOD’S JUDGMENT BURNED THEMSELVES OUT ON HIM, AND ALL WHO ARE IN CHRIST ARE SAFE FOREVER, FOR THEY ARE NOW STANDING WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN.
F. Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
G. John 11:25-26 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: [26] And whosoever lives
