Good morning, everyone. If you
will, turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 16. We'll look at a few verses right
here to get started. You can see the title of my message
is Convinced of Judgment. Let's read these verses. John
16, 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient, profitable for you that I go away. For if
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if
I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he
will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. of sin, because they believe
not on me, of righteousness, because I go to my father and
you see me no more, of judgment, because the prince of this world
is judged. This is probably the final message
in a series that I've done over the last year or so. The series
is entitled Known by Judgment, and the basis of that series
is Psalm 9, in verse 16, which reads like this, The Lord is
known by the judgment he executes. The wicked is snared in the work
of his own hands. The Lord judges, and he's known
by that judgment. The Lord is known by the judgment
he executes, first of all, against sin. A just God punishes sin,
all sin. He punished the sins of his elect
in Christ on the cross with the just punishment that his justice
demands of every soul that sins. And his just punishment awaits
all others, all who are found at the judgment, not looking
to Christ and Christ alone. Alright, so he's known by the
judgment he executes against sin. He's also known by the judgment
he executes in justification. God justifies the ungodly and
he does it on a just ground. He justifies the ungodly on the
basis of Christ's righteousness imputed to them exclusively and
on no other ground, on no other basis. Nothing else is involved
in their justification but the righteousness of Christ imputed
to them. Now, these are all things that I've talked about in a lot
of detail in other messages. And if you want those details,
you'll have to go back to the series and get those messages.
I'm just kind of summarizing these things to lead up to the
day's message. Finally, the Lord is known by
the judgment He executes in the sinners He justifies. Those that are chosen in Christ,
those that are redeemed by Christ, those that are justified based
on Christ's righteousness imputed to them. He's known by the judgment
He executes in them in time. He's known by the judgment He
executes in their regeneration. He's known by the judgment he
executes in delivering his chosen people from death to life, from
darkness to light, from no fear of God, no reverence and respect
for the God who chose them, or the Christ who redeemed them,
to a God-honoring respect for God and the Christ who saved
them. In John chapter 9, Christ healed
a man who was blind from birth. And he gave this man not only
physical, but spiritual sight. Christ enabled this man to see
and to worship him as the incarnate Son of God. And after doing this,
Christ made this statement in John chapter 9 in verse 39. He
said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which
see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. Now this man in John 9 is a picture,
he's a type of God's chosen elect people. Although the elect are
chosen in Christ unto salvation from before the world began,
blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. redeemed by the blood
of Christ, justified based on the imputed righteousness of
Christ. Although that's true of all of God's chosen people,
we are also born spiritually blind. We have no spiritual eyes
to see the things that honor God. We have no spiritual hearts
to respond favorably to the message of God's free and sovereign grace
in the salvation of ungodly sinners based on Christ's work alone.
And we stay that way until God brings us to the gospel and the
Spirit of God visits us in regeneration and gives us eyes that can see
and hearts that can respond to the good news of the gospel.
Now that's what our text here in John 16 is talking about.
The subject in John 16 is regeneration. Christ told his disciples that
in each successive generation he would send the Comforter,
who is the Holy Spirit, to those given to him by his Father, and in each generation the Spirit
would convince The word in the text is reproved, but it's also
interpreted convict and convinced. And this is a convincing by the
spirit in regeneration that we'll be talking about here. He said
he had sinned the Holy Spirit and that in each generation the
spirit would convince the world that he sent to of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment. As we've studied in this series,
these are specific things that the spirit must convince sinners
of. He must do this. Remember why
we all have to be convinced of these things? We saw the answer
in Jeremiah 17 in verse 9. The heart, the heart of natural
man, the heart of all of us by nature. That heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. It's wicked in a way
that it can't bring itself out of this wickedness. Who can know
it, it says. Unless the spirit of God comes
to us in his power and convinces us of these things, we will remain
as we all are by nature, ignorant and self-righteousness and lost.
Now the Spirit will convince those he sent to of sin, it says,
because they believe not on me. This is the specific sin of not
trusting the Christ identified and distinguished in the gospel
for all of our salvation. That's the sin that deceives
us all by nature. We're looking here and there,
everywhere, at our works, at all kinds of things. But we're
not looking to the Christ of the Scriptures. We're not looking
to His righteousness imputed as the only ground of salvation.
So that's the sin we have to be convinced of. And it's the
sin that will cause those who reject Christ to suffer the eternal
wrath of God. John 8, 24 says, I said therefore
unto you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe
not that I am He, you shall die in your sins. This shows us that
the convention we're studying here in John 16 is a vital work. It's a necessary work that must
and will be accomplished in the heart of every Regenerate Center. The spirit will also convince
the world he is sent to of righteousness, it says, because I go to my father
and you see me no more. Just like the sin, the righteousness
is also specific. It's identified by two distinguishing
facts, the fact that Christ would go to his father and the fact
that his disciples would see him no more. Christ went to his
father by way of obedience, by way of death, by way of resurrection,
by way of righteousness. God must make the righteousness
Christ established by his obedience unto death, his righteousness
imputed. He must make that righteousness
our standard of saved and lost. Why? Because no natural-minded
sinner, none of us by nature, judges by that standard. That's
what the Spirit does in every sinner he comes to in regeneration.
He changes our standard from whatever it was to the imputed
righteousness of Christ alone. And when sinners are made willing
to see Christ's righteousness imputed, enabling God to be just
and justifier, they submit to that righteousness and they repent
of every other way. The question we'll start out
with today When sinners are not looking to the Christ identified
and distinguished in the gospel to save and preserve them, who
are they looking to? When sinners are not resting
in the imputed righteousness of Christ alone as the only ground
of their salvation, what are they resting in? When the righteousness
of God, the imputed righteousness of Christ is not your standard
of judging saved and lost, what is your standard? These questions
lead us into the third thing the Spirit will convince those
he sent to of in each successive generation. He will convince
the world of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. Now the prince of this world
is Satan. He's the devil. He's the liar
from the beginning. Natural man does not need an
understanding of who Satan is. Even the natural man understands
Satan to be the accuser of the brethren. We understand him to
be the god of this world who blinds the mind of the lost.
We understand that he's the prince of the power of the air who still
works in the children of disobedience. We understand him to be the enemy
of the church. We understand these things about
Satan because that's all scriptural language describing him. Even
the natural man can intellectually understand and believe these
things about Satan. But there is something about
Satan that we, by nature, do not understand. There's something
about Satan that we don't know. We don't know that, by nature,
we're all in league with him. We don't know by nature that
we're all under his power and influence. We don't know by nature
that we're all promoting the lie he started in the garden.
To Eve, thou shalt not surely die. These are all hidden to
the natural heart. Remember that heart? Deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Satan
has already been judged by Christ's death on the cross. His doom
is fixed. It's certain. But there is a
convincing of judgment in the heart of every regenerate sinner
concerning the prince of this world's judgment. God must execute
his judgment concerning Satan in our hearts individually. Why?
Because God must bring us individually to see Satan for who he really
is. See, we have to learn this. We
have to be taught because none of us knows who Satan really
is by nature. None of us knows by nature that
Satan's power and influence reaches all without exception. None of
us knows by nature that Satan is the one directing this world's
religion apart from the gospel, our gospel. We'll find that's
what it is to be convinced of judgment. We'll find that's what
the spirit does when he visits the center in regeneration and
convinces each of them of judgment. The phrase that identifies this
specific judgment is because the prince of this world is judged. Now this is perfect tense. It
indicates an action completed in the past, once for all, not
needing to be repeated again. And it's indicative, something
that in this case has already happened. And it's passive, the
one spoken of is the recipient and not the giver of the action.
Judgment has already befallen Satan. The prince of this world
is, that is, he already has been judged. Now, why would that concern
us? Why would that information be
of any interest to us whatsoever? Why should we care that Satan
has already been judged? Well, the natural mind, the one
that's in all of us by nature, not concerned about it. It doesn't
care about Satan's judgment. Why do sinners need to be convinced? That's what the Spirit does in
regeneration. He convinces us that the prince
of this world already has been judged. What do all regenerate
sinners need to learn about Satan that we did not know before God
brought us to the gospel? What do all regenerate sinners
need to learn that we didn't hear under our so-called former
gospel? Well, we learn God's description
of Satan. We learn God's declaration of
his work. The natural mind has a description
of Satan. We have what we think he's about
in this world, an idea of his work. We think he's a red, angelic
being. walking around with a forky tail
and a pitchfork and is trying to get everybody to lie and cheat
and swindle. And I'm not saying that Satan's
not behind these things that appeal to the natural mind of
some men. But as we'll see more clearly
in this message, Satan's main work is not in the areas of lawlessness
and perversion. His main work is in religion. He's the instigator and promoter
the power behind this world's religion. Yes, you heard me right. Satan is the one urging sinners
to become religious. Satan is the one directing sinners
to a place of worship where God's gospel is not preached. He's the one encouraging every
natural-minded sinner along that broad way that's leading them
to that wide gate and eternal destruction. That broad way is
any notion of salvation and fellowship with God except that which is
based on the imputed righteousness of Christ alone. That's the broad
way. Satan brought the whole human race into condemnation
by deceiving Eve and convincing Adam to believe his lie, thou
shalt not surely die. Satan persuaded Adam to rebel
against God's revealed standard of judgment and attempt to set
his own standard and by that one act of disobedience Satan,
through Adam, instigated the condemnation of the whole world.
Romans 5 and verse 18 says, therefore as by the offense of one That's
Adam. Judgment came upon all men to
condemnation. In John 8.44 we find a description
of Satan. Now Christ is talking, the discourse
here starts way back to those who believed on him. They believed
him to be the Messiah sent from God, but they rejected him as
the Christ, the Son of God. He said, you're of your father
the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
of his own, for he's a liar and the father of it. Satan is described
as a murderer from the beginning, not a murderer of men's bodies,
but a murderer of souls, a soul murderer, bringing sinners, holding
sinners in a fear of punishment that we can't get over until
God brings us to the gospel. We'll see more of that in a minute.
He's a liar and the father of lies, and all who continue following
him are facing the same judgment he is. They're destined to the
same end he is. Under the gospel, we learn that
Satan is the one hiding the gospel from the lost. Look with me at
2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 3. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 3 says,
but if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. Now we want to ask and answer
two questions right here to understand this. First, what is our gospel? Paul the Apostle is writing here.
Let me first tell you what our gospel is not. It's not the general
message that's promoted by 99.9% of this world's religion, especially
those who name the name of Christ. It's not the message that tells
sinners that God loves everybody and Christ died for everybody. It's not the message that preaches
that some sinners Christ died for will perish anyway. Although
he died for them, they'll perish unless they do their part. It's not even the message that
tells sinners that God's death saved a chosen people but fails
to tell them upon what ground or basis he saves those people. Multitudes believe that God chose
a people that don't know the gospel. Our gospel is the declaration
of Emmanuel, which means God with us, the God-man, one person
who is both true humanity and infinite deity in one unique
person. It's the declaration of a savior
who by his obedience under the law, his obedience unto death,
he put away the sins of those he was given, which means God
won't charge them. He won't punish them because
Christ suffered their punishment in his body on that tree. And
he also established the one righteousness by which God is just to justify
the ungodly. In other words, God's not going
to punish these sinners and he's going to bring them into his
fellowship because they are made righteous based on the imputed
righteousness of Christ. Our gospel is the one and only
message out of all the messages preached in the world, which
is the power of God unto salvation. Look in Romans 1, 16 and 17 at
that at another time. It's the power of God unto salvation
for one reason, for therein, in that message, is the righteousness
of God revealed. It's the only message that's
the power of God, which means it's the only message that God
uses to save sinners. It's the only message God uses
to call his people out of darkness unto light. It's the only message
God uses to deliver his people from the bondage to that sin
that deceives us that we're in by nature, to liberty. And it's
the only message that does these things for one reason, because
it provides information It reveals something that no other message
reveals. It's because of this specific
vital information that Satan wants to, and he does, hide our
gospel from the lost. Now we won't look at that information
in a minute, found in our gospel, that is hid from the lost. shortly. But let's answer that second
question. Our gospel is the declaration of Christ, of his work as the
only ground of salvation, which is honoring and magnifying to
a just God and Savior. Now, who are the lost? First
of all, the lost are those to whom our gospel is hid. The lost
are those who don't know the way. While the gospel is hid,
we don't know, we can't know the way. What way Don't we know? We don't know the true biblical
way of salvation and fellowship with God. Why don't we know this
way? We don't know this way because
only the gospel reveals this way. It's the only message that
does. We don't know this way because
we're on another way. We're on a way. And the way we're
on seems right. The way we're on seemed like
the way to God. It seemed like the way of salvation.
But the way all are on by nature is a way that ends in eternal
death. Now we have two proverbs that
say the same thing. Proverbs 16, 25 and 14, 12. And this is what those two proverbs
say. There is a way which seems right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. There
are many ways of salvation in the mind of natural man, but
they all end in the same place, eternal death. This way that
seems right is the way of natural man. It's the way of all of us
without exception. It's a way of salvation based
on anything and everything but the imputed righteousness of
Christ alone. That way which is always revealed
in our gospel. It's the way even God's elect
are on until God delivers off this way by means of the gospel
and the convincing of the spirit in regeneration. The lost are
those who don't know God's way, but they're also those who don't
know they don't know God's way. In other words, they're lost,
but they don't know they're lost. The lost are those looking to
a savior who can't save because he's not the one who established
the one righteousness by which God is just to justify the ungodly. We must learn God's way of salvation
through Christ and his imputed righteousness alone. Until then,
we're the lost. Until then, Satan is blinding
our minds. Until then, we're among them
which believe not. Look on with me in 2 Corinthians
4 at verse 4. If our gospel is hid, it's hid
to the lost, in whom the God of this world has blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. Satan is the God of this world. Now, he's not really a God. He's
in charge of this world's religion, just like I've already said,
by God's permission. God allows Him to hold men in
bondage under the fear of death. What world is Satan the God of? He's the God of the lost. He's
the God of them which believe not. Were you ever lost? Were you ever among them which
believe not? That is, believe not in the Christ
identified and distinguished clearly in God's gospel? Of course
we were. And at that time, that is, while
we were among the lost, while we were a part of them, which
believe not, Satan is hiding something vital from us. At that
time, Satan is blinding us to something necessary for God to
be honored in our salvation. At that time, Satan is keeping
information from us without which we cannot be saved. And what
is he hiding from us that's so vitally important? What is He
blinding us to that is so necessary for salvation? Look on in 2 Corinthians
4 verse 5. Paul writes, For we preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Contrary to what most believe,
Satan's mission in this world is a simple one. His one goal
in hiding the gospel His one goal in blinding the minds of
them which believe not is to keep men and women ignorant of,
blinded to one specific thing, and that one thing is the glory
of God in the full free salvation of ungodly sinners, which glory
is revealed in the face, the person, and finished work, the
accomplished salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ for those he
was given. Satan is blinding us to the imputed righteousness
of Christ as the only ground of salvation, which means he's
blinding us to the only thing that enables God to remain just
when he justifies the ungodly. That's why, while we're here,
separated from our gospel, we're among the lost. That's why, while
we're here, we are of them which believe not. Why is that true? Because no sinner has ever been
or ever will be saved who's ignorant of Christ's righteousness imputed
as the only ground of salvation. That's the only thing that honors
God and gives Christ the preeminence in the salvation of ungodly sinners,
and you can't be saved ignorant of it. That's what the natural
mind, even its religion, never comes to. That's what the natural
mind, even in all its religious zeal, never considers. What is
it that's never considered? The justice of God in salvation
is what's not considered. The justice of God in the full,
free salvation of ungodly sinners is what is never considered by
the natural mind. How is it just? How is God doing
right? What makes it right for God to
show mercy to one sinner who deserves his eternal wrath and
not show it to another sinner who deserves his eternal wrath?
Now, we don't know the answer to that by nature. Separated
from our gospel, none of us knows the answer, the right scriptural
answer to that question. And because we don't, we are
among the lost and unbelieving. We also learn from the gospel
that because Satan is blinding our minds to the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ, he's also holding every one of
us in bondage under the fear of death. Look over at Hebrews
2 in verse 14. We've looked at these verses
a lot of times, and they're always worth looking at one more time.
Hebrews 2 in verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, Christ also himself likewise
took part of the same. He became incarnate, took on
flesh and blood, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. Now, unless God gives it to him,
Satan has no power to put men to death, that is, to end their
physical life. That power is in God's hands. Now, he may give it to him sometimes,
I don't know about that, but he doesn't have it by nature,
and that's not what he's talking about here. Anyway, God alone
is the giver and sustainer of life. When you or I die, it'll
be by God's appointed means and at God's appointed time. But
Satan does have power over the lost and unbelieving, even his
elect, while we are among the lost and unbelieving. He does
have power to hold men's consciences in bondage under the fear of
death. Now, our conscience is our seat
of judgment. See, when we're not judging saved
and lost based on Christ's imputed righteousness alone, We may find
some confidence and assurance that God can't punish us or won't
punish us, but it's a presumptuous confidence because the only thing
that can deliver a sinner from the just punishment we all deserve
is the death of Christ in our place. He took our punishment.
That's the only thing that can deliver a sinner from God's just
wrath. Satan has the power to keep men
wondering, not sure whether we're facing God's wrath or not. If
you ever thought that you were in fellowship with God, that
you were saved based on anything but Christ's righteousness imputed
to you and that alone, your conscience was in bondage. Your seat of
judgment didn't know the right basis for God to save you, which
means you were under Satan's power, under his control. Now,
nobody wants to think that we were ever in league with Satan.
Nobody wants to think that we ever trusted a counterfeit Christ.
Nobody wants to think we ever worshipped an idol of our imagination. Nobody wants to think they ever
believed a false gospel, but according to God's testimony,
all of us were in league with Satan. All did believe a false
gospel. All were servants of that sin
that deceived us. I'm going to paraphrase three
different contexts of Scripture here which tell us those things
to be true. Romans 3, 10 through 18 says
there's none righteous, no not one. There's none seeking after
the God of the Scripture. We have a God in mind, but it's
not the God of the Bible. And there's no fear of God before
our eyes. That's how that indictment ends
down there in verse 18. No reverential respect for a
just God and a Savior. We never even considered whether
God was just when he justifies or not, much less know the answer
to the question how he can be just when he justifies. And then
Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3. Are you, hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins? Spiritually dead, wherein
in time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit,
who's still yet working in the children of disobedience. And
he goes on to say that that's where all of us were. We all
were by nature children of wrath. The elect of God are not children
of wrath. They're not going to end up under God's wrath, but
it's because Christ bore that wrath for them and put it away
in a just satisfaction. Romans 6, 17, and 18 is another
context that speaks of this. He's talking to converted, regenerate
sinners here, and he says, but God be thanked that you were
You were the servants of sin, the sin that deceived us. Looking
elsewhere for our assurance and confidence before God other than
to Christ alone, His righteousness imputed alone. Being then made
free from sin, God delivered us to the gospel is what it says.
He delivered us to that form of doctrine. in that form of
doctrine is the gospel, being then made free or liberated from
that sin that deceived us. We became the servants of righteousness. What's the sinner's only defense
against Satan's hold on us? Well, we need to learn of Christ. We must learn of Christ. We must
hear of His accomplished salvation. We must have Christ's righteousness
revealed to us. We'll never stumble up on this
by nature. It has to be revealed. We must
understand that Christ's righteousness imputed is the only thing that
enables God to be just and justify ungodly sinners such as we are
by nature. Now why must we be brought to
know these things? It's because by nature we're
all ignorant of these things. And that ignorance is mainly
because this world's religion never taught us these things.
And it never taught us because Satan has subtly, skillfully,
successfully hidden these things from our minds while we were
among the lost and unbelieving of this world. To be convinced
of judgment means that the Spirit of God has judged the prince
of this world in you. It means that you've rested your
whole salvation in Christ, in his righteousness imputed and
repented of your former idolatry and dead works religion. It means
you see Satan as the scriptures declare him. You see him hiding
the glory of God in salvation from the lost and the unbelieving. It means you see him holding
all without exception in bondage under the fear of death. It means
that you're convinced that you were in league with him in promoting
his lie. It's convinced that you were
worshiping a God of your imagination. Who is that God of men's imagination? None other than the notion of
a God who saves or blesses sinners based on anything but the imputed
righteousness of Christ. Now that so-called God, he's
promoted in many settings and by many faces, but no matter
where you find him. He's an idol. Now that's God
we all worship before God mercifully and graciously delivers us to
the gospel who shows us how he can be just, remain just, and
yet justify ungodly sinners like we are by nature based on nothing
but the imputed righteousness of Christ alone. Now I've said
a lot of things here. I know they're not popular things.
I know they're things impossible for the natural mind to accept.
And you might say, I just can't see myself worshiping a God of
my imagination. I just can't see myself in league
with Satan. And all I can say to that is
this, the natural mind will never come to these conclusions. The
lost will never see their lost. The unbelieving will never see
their unbelief, but the spiritual mind, the regenerate mind, the
mind taught of God, will come to these conclusions, every one
of them, without fail. The scriptures are emphatic about
that. That scripture I read back in John 9 and verse 39, Christ
said, for judgment I am come, to give sight to the blind. He
said to his disciples in Matthew 13, blessed are your eyes for
they see. And he was talking about some
there who didn't see and wouldn't see. John 6 45 says it is written
in the prophets and they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that has heard and have learned of the father comes
to me. No exception. Every sinner taught
of God comes to Christ in true God-given faith and godly repentance. And that sinner keeps on coming
to our gospel. Why? Because it preaches to him,
it declares to him the Christ he's finding his confidence and
assurance in. 2 Peter 3, 9 says, The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but is long-suffering to us-ward. That us-ward is the elect of
God, not willing that any of us should perish, but that all
should come to repentance." The gospel, our gospel, is good news
to lost sinners who are unable to see their need of a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. It's good news
to sinners who are unable to find the righteousness they need
in the doing and dying of Christ alone, His righteousness and
beauty alone. 2 John 2, I think it's verse
maybe 21, says, if you know that he is righteous, you know that
everyone that rests their whole salvation, doeth righteousness,
rests their salvation in Christ, is born of God. Although our gospel is good news
to those that can see these things, it's also a declaration to those
who refuse to be delivered by the gospel and the righteousness
it always reveals. It's a declaration to them that
they will suffer the eternal wrath of a just and holy God. It's a declaration that all who
remain, as we are all born in league with Satan, will perish. Christ taught his disciples in
Mark 16, 15, he said to them, go into all the world, preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not that gospel
shall be damned. 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. I
can't convince you that these things we've considered here
in this lesson are true of you. I can set the scriptures before
you that say they're true of all without exception, but only
the Spirit of God can convince you they're true of you. I know
they're true of me. I know who I was when God brought
me to the gospel. I know I was a zealous idolater
under a religion that never told me anything about how God could
be just and yet justify a sinner like me. All who remain in league with
Satan are already judged and condemned as he is already judged
and condemned. God sent his son into the world
to save the world he represented. John 3.18 says, He that believeth
on him, on the one God lifted up on the cross. God did it.
He put him on the cross. He was there bearing the legal
guilt of his people. And the one God lifted up on
the cross, and the one God lifts up in the preaching of the gospel,
and the one God lifts up in every sinner whose heart is regenerated. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not on him is condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. Under the gospel and each successive
generation, the Spirit of God will deliver every one of his
elect out from under Satan's control, power, and influence.
He's the God who holds that power. and the elect will be delivered
to Christ's control, power, and influence. They will each one
in their generation rest their salvation in the imputed righteousness
of Christ alone and know that God is just to justify them on
that basis and none other. They'll do so because the Spirit
has visited them in regeneration and convinced them of judgment
because God has judged Satan in them and brought them to true
faith and godly repentance. May the Lord enable His people
to hear His word and rejoice in Christ.