Good evening. If you'd like,
you can join me in John 3. When someone says to you, trust
me or believe me, are you able to do so? Well, if you're like me, you
have to say it depends. What's it depend on? What kind
of relationship do I have with the person that's asking me to
trust them? Have they been reliable in the past? Have they gained
a trustful foundation? What kind of topic are they talking
to me about? Is it something I think they
can handle better than I can? Do I trust them to take care
of that topic more so than for myself? And I guess the last thing that's
evaluated with considering if I can trust someone that asked
me this, am I certain they're going to
follow through with what they've said? I promise I'll do this. Trust me. Believe me. I'll take
care of it. Do I sincerely believe that they're
willing to go through with what they're making me a promise for. Every week and every message
that I've heard from this pulpit, every person who stood behind
this, these pulpits, has basically said the same thing using different
words. And this is what they say. There's
a man I know who I trust with my eternal soul. And I know that he is true, and I
want you to know him, and I want you to trust him. He is true, and I say with Job
of old, though he slay me, It's all I deserve. Though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him. This evening, John 3, 36, we read the promise, the sure
word of our Lord Jesus Christ. John 3, 36, he the man, the woman, the child. He that believeth on the Son
hath right now everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Before us is a statement simple
to read. Everyone who reads these words
can understand each and every word. They're not difficult,
they're simple words. There are two promises given,
and with each promise, there's a condition that fulfills that
promise. First promise is that of everlasting
life, which is conditional on the recipient of life believes
the Son. The second, the wrath of God
abideth right now on the person who does not believe the Son. Both of these promises hinge
on one person. the Son. Do we believe the Son
and have everlasting life or do we not believe and the wrath
of God abides on us? In answering that question, do
I believe? Do I trust the Son? I need to know some things. Who
is the son? What did he do? Who did he do
it for? How did he do it? Why did he
do it? Where is he? Do I, do you believe the son? Who is he? Is he worthy to be believed?
Does he have the ability to keep the promise that he made? Who's the son? What are his characteristics? Look up in verse 35. The father
loveth the son and hath given all things into his hand. First
characteristic of the son, he is loved of the father. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
10, and you don't need to hold your place here. Luke chapter 10. Luke 10, verse 22. Our Lord is speaking here and
he says, all things are delivered to me of my father, and no man
knoweth who the son is but the father, and who the father is
but the son, and to he to whom the son will reveal him. The son is known of the father,
and he is the only one who can reveal the father to others. Who is the Son? Go to John chapter
9. John 9 verse 35. This is the conclusion of the
account of the man who was born blind to whom the Lord Jesus
Christ gave him sight. John 9 verse 35. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out. And when he had found him, he
said unto him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered
and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus
said unto him, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh
with thee. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son. Jesus of Nazareth is God. In John 10, 30, he said, I and
my Father are one. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
eternal God in the likeness of sinful flesh. Is the Lord Jesus Christ worthy
to be believed on? He is God that cannot lie. Does he have the ability to fulfill
the promise of everlasting life? As we read in Luke 10, all things
are delivered to him, to the Lord Jesus Christ, of God the
Father. What did the son do? Turn over
to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2, verse 7. What did the sun do? The Lord Jesus Christ, being
the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His
person, verse 7, made Himself of no reputation, and took upon
Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. God the Son, whom the heaven
of heavens cannot contain, veiled his glory in the body prepared
for him before the foundation of the world. What did he do
in that body? He lived as a man. He walked
throughout his life on this earth from the conception to the tomb
in absolute, perfect obedience to the law. In every word, thought,
and deed, He fulfilled the law of God. He, the righteousness
of God, obtained, he earned a righteous standing before God as a man. Then having earned that righteousness,
what did he do? Verse eight, and being found
in fashion as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. This man, having no spot
or blemish, having no sin before the law of man or of God, we
sons of Adam, by wicked hands, crucified." What did the Lord Jesus Christ
do in that body prepared for him? He was numbered with the
transgressors. He laid down his life. He went
to the tomb. Jesus Christ, God the Son, the
eternal, immortal God, laid in a tomb. But on the third day,
he arose. On the third day over in John
10, I'm sorry, turn over to John 10. Our Lord arose on that third
day from the tomb because he has the power to take his life
again. John 10, 17. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." What did the
Lord Jesus Christ do in that body that was prepared for Him? In a word, he by himself purged
our sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, came in the likeness of sinful flesh, upheld all the
law of God, and obtained a righteous standing before God as a man. He suffered, shed his blood,
died, and rose again. Who did he do it for? Look back
at the last sentence of John 10, verse 18. This commandment
have I received of my Father. Why did Christ become obedient
unto the death of the cross? First, to obey and glorify God
the Father. Why would the Father, who we
know loves the Son, command the Son to lay down His life? In
Isaiah, the Lord God, God the Father, God the Son, God the
Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, declares, There is no God else
beside me, a just God and a Savior. In our father Adam, when he sinned,
when he broke God's law in the eating of the fruit, we being
in him, sinned with him. When Adam died, we died in him. But before Adam was formed, before
he ever transgressed, God chose some and he gave them to his
son. Look over in John 10, verse 27.
The Lord here is using sheep to represent
mankind. John 10, verse 27. My sheep. There are many sheep. Some are my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. How did they become my sheep? Are they better sheep? Are they
cleaner sheep? Smarter sheep? better than other sheep? Did
these sheep do anything to become His sheep? Verse 29, My Father,
which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of My Father's hand. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the great Shepherd of the sheep, laid down His life for His elect
sinners. not all of mankind, but for those
sinners that were given to him by the Father. Those sinners
who are just like all other men, dead in trespasses and sins,
those sinners the Lord Jesus Christ, by the shedding of His
precious blood and the sacrifice of Himself, has made peace between
the offended just God and the offending sinner. Who did the Lord Jesus Christ
suffer and die for? First, the thrice holy God, because
He is a just God and a Savior. And then for those lost, filthy,
helpless, defiled sinners that were given to Him by His Father. Now how did the Lord Jesus Christ
satisfy the justice of God and redeem the sinners given to Him
by the Father? Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2 verse 14, For Lord
Jesus Christ is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us. having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Having walked through this world
as a man fulfilling the righteousness of God, being perfect, holy,
blameless, undefiled, this sinless man went to Calvary's cross and
there God laid on the Son of God the guilt, the sin, the condemnation
of us sinners that Christ came into the world to save. The wrath
of God fell upon the beloved because of what I am, sin, from
head to toe, top to bottom, ruined within and without. Those that
the Father gave him, Christ Jesus, bore their sins in his body on
that tree. The wages of sin is death. Without
sin, a man cannot die. Christ Jesus gave up the ghost
because he was made sin in the place of his sinners. He who knew no sin was made sin
and he bore the penalty thereof. Having borne our burden to the
tomb, he separated us from our sin as far as the east is from
the west. On the third day, our Lord arose
and he wrapped those people that he loves in his robe of righteousness
that he earned as a man. Why did the Lord do this? Why
did he leave glory, come as a man, obtain that righteous standing
that he didn't need, suffer, die, and rise again? First, for
love's sake. We've already read it in John
10, therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my
life that I might take it again. The father loves the son, the
son loves the father, and the father loves those that he's
given to the son. In his high priestly prayer,
John 17, verses 22 and 23, our Lord says, and the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even
as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Turn one other place, Romans
chapter 8. By law in this country, everyone
that is in a moving vehicle is required to wear a seat belt.
That's the law. It's set. Would any of us, having an infant,
take that infant, put them in the car, and say, the law commands,
put the seat belt on, and walk away? Of course not. Why? Infants not able to keep
that law. They're not able to perform what
the law demands. So we do it for them. We ensure
they're buckled in correctly. We, those of us born of Adam, We being dead in sins are in
worse condition than that infant trying to keep that seat belt
low. Eventually, the Lord permits that infant will grow and mature
and one day be able to fulfill that law for themselves. This
dead nature that I have cannot mature. It's dead. It's never going to change its
nature to become willing or able to keep the law. Romans 8, Paul speaking here
in verse 3 of God's law. for what the law could not do. What can the law not do? Look
up in verse two. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. Excuse me. The law cannot free
us from sin and death. What can the law not do? Verse
one. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. The law can't pardon us. The
law can't free us from condemnation. Why? Is the law weak? Is it weak because of the lawgiver?
Because of God? No. Verse 3. for what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh." Just as that
infant in the car seat cannot perform the law, I am unable
to perform the law because I am weak through the flesh. Why did
the Lord Jesus Christ come in the flesh, suffer, and die? For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh." I hope I have shown that this
man is worthy to be trusted. He is the Almighty God. I hope we have seen He has the
ability to fulfill the promise made. Is he willing to fulfill
that promise, to pay the debt that was owed? Just look at what
he's done for those that he loves. He walked as a man. He obtained
a righteous standing before God. And as he did so, those he loves
did so in him. He at the appointed hour was
made sin. The sin of those he loves was
placed on him. He suffered, he bled, he died for that guilt, which is all
mine. He paid the sin debt. He satisfied
the law that I could not and would not keep. And he rose again,
as our justification, because his people, being in him, lived
righteously, died in him, were buried with him, rose with him. 1 John 4.17 declares, as he is,
so are we in this world. He is willing to ensure all those
that He loves are with Him where He is. Well, where is He? Where is He now? For finishing
the work, for securing the salvation of His people, our Lord has obtained
a more excellent name. And we read in Colossians that
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Lord Jesus Christ, having
finished the work of redemption, reconciled His people to God,
is seated at the right hand of God, the absolute Sovereign of
all. To Him be all honor and glory
forever and ever. Amen. He that believeth on the
Son, Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed
in these scriptures? Do you cast all your hope upon
Him for your acceptance of God is only found if you're found
in Him? If so, we have the Word. We have the absolute promise
of God. Right now, we have eternal life. But if we don't believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, if we are not sure that He alone, without
any of our doing or not doing, He alone has accomplished our
salvation, then we have, right now, the wrath of God abiding
on us. Oh, may God give us faith to
believe, to look, to trust, to place all our hope on the one
man who is worthy of trusting, the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray the Lord will bless that
to you.