For a scripture reading this
morning, turn with me to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. This is a wonderful chapter.
I see verses like John 3.16 on nearly every billboard across
the country when I'm driving. So much of this chapter I've
used as proof text in the past during messages that I've preached.
It's just a wonderful passage of scripture. And then in verse
25, he tells us this. Then there arose a question between
a sum of John's disciples, that is John the Baptist, and the
Jews about purifying. And they came to John, and they
said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan,
to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and
all men come to him. Why aren't they coming to you?
Why are they going to him? John answered and said, a man
can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye
yourselves bear me witness that I said I'm not the Christ, but
that I'm sent before him. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth
and hearth him, he rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's
voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. I'm perfectly happy to be a friend
of the bridegroom. Aren't you? He must increase. I must decrease. He that cometh from above is
above all. He that's of the earth is earth.
He speaketh of the earth. And he that cometh from heaven
is above all. And what he has seen and heard,
I want you just to think about that for a minute. What he's seen, what hasn't he
seen? He's God. What hasn't he seen? What he has seen and heard that
he testifies. And here's the wonder. And no
man receiveth his testimony. The one man who's seen the Father,
who knows the Father, who's seen everything in heaven, who's been
involved in everything from the beginning, he testifies of it and no man
receives his testimony. He that hath received his testimony
hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath
sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, that is, he shall not even perceive life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him. Our great God and Father, we
come to you this morning totally dependent upon you. We've read that every good and
perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
is no variance, neither shadow of turning. And we look to you
this morning. We ask of you this morning, for
Christ's sake, to be present here in this place, to take your
word, your gospel, and reveal it to the hearts of those gathered
here this morning. Those who know you, feed them.
Feed your sheep. Oh, how the Lord loves to feed
His sheep. How He's concerned with the feeding
of His sheep. Feed them. And Lord, be pleased this morning to take the things which we prepared,
the things from Your Word, Your Gospel, and reveal it to those
who've never seen it, never heard it, Never believed it. Oh, what
a miracle of grace it would be. Be with us in all that we do.
The hymns we sing, scriptures we read, and even our feeble
attempts at prayer. Be with us. Be with us. Help
us for Christ's sake. Amen. If you will, turn back with me
to John chapter 3. I have a very serious and solemn
text this morning. My subject this morning, and
I pray it's God's message to you for this hour, is believing
and believing not. Believing And believing not,
as our Lord appeared to his disciples, and just before his ascension
into glory, he said to them, go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. As surely as the believer's salvation
is secured in heaven, so the damnation of unbelievers is secured
in the justice of God. One is as sure as the other. That's my subject, believing,
believing not. There's no mention here about
good works, Baptism, repentance, gathering
for worship with unbelief, because they have no bearing on the subject. Salvation is not in baptism. And neither is it by our works. But these things are totally
irrelevant as to unbelief. Our Lord separates the whole
of society into two groups, believers and unbelievers. Most folks cling
to a religious philosophy that believes men and women are accepted
with God according to their behavior in this world, not necessarily
their religious activities. I'm talking about people who
never donned the door of a church. People who just go through life,
they don't go to church, they don't do anything, but they still
believe that their hope before God is all summed up in their
behavior in this world. Not necessarily in some denomination,
just their general behavior in the world, their honesty, their
morality, their kindness, their willingness to help, their generosity,
and so on. And the degrees of their practice
vary from person to person. But this is the fundamental belief
of most people. Others walk in a religious hope
that amounts to the same thing, but it has religion as the basis
of it. The law is the basis of it. Do
this, don't do that. Taste not, handle not, touch
not. That's their philosophy. And
they're kept in line by rigid and strict standards and rules
and laws and threats and punishments. Do this or else. Do this or else. The church I grew up in, you
signed a pledge card when you joined the church, and if you
didn't tithe, they'd come and dun you at your house. They'd
come and bill you like the government would for their taxes. But here there's only one point
of distinction. Those who believe and those who
believe not. Saved or damned, everlasting
life or everlasting torment, sons or enemies, heirs or impostors
of God or of the devil. Alright, so what exactly are
we talking about believing and not believing? That's where the
controversy comes in. Well, the basis of the division,
that's what I want to talk to you about. What is the basis
of this division? The basis of the division is
the gospel. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. He that believeth, believeth
what? The gospel. and is baptized, he shall be
saved. He that believeth not, believeth
not what? The Gospel. The Gospel. The whole of mankind
should be divided upon believing and not believing the Gospel.
Alright, so what is the Gospel? We must determine what, since
the basis of the division is based on the Gospel, what is
the Gospel? What's he talking about? Well,
the gospel is the declaration of the redemptive will of God
in Christ. That's the good news. This book
is not a book of law or science or... it's not a history book. The
only sense in which this is a history book, it tells his story. That's the only history that
I'm concerned with. The Gospel is a declaration of
the redemptive will of God in Christ and of His Son's accomplishment
of that will. In the volume of the book, he
said in Hebrews chapter 10, it's written of me, I come to do thy
will, O God. And then he said, by the which
will we're sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ. once for all. That's God's redemptive
will. That's declared nowhere except
in the gospel. His wrath is revealed from heaven
against all unrighteousness and ungodliness. We see that in the
hurricanes and the various things that God sends, disasters and
so forth in this world. His wrath is revealed in many
ways, but His gospel only in one. And that's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said in John 6.38, He said, I've come down
from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. What is
that? That's the redemptive will of
God. And I'm hearing these crackpots on TV talking about God revealed
to me His will concerning a school and His will concerning this
and a statue and raising so much money and this and that and the
next thing. God only has one will that He
reveals to men, that's His redemptive will. Period. Period. Anybody start talking to you
about the will of God to give them money, send them down the
road. That's not God's will. God's
will is to save sinners in Christ and manifest the glory of His
name. That's the reason behind creation,
that's the reason behind providence, and that's the reason behind
salvation. The gospel is the declaration
of the redemptive will of God in Christ. What else? What is the gospel?
The gospel is a person. Did you know that? I've told you this story many
times, but I was just a young man and joined this little local
Baptist church and we were having a revival, what we called a revival. Nothing in the world but a bunch
of entertainment we brought in, tried to see how many people
we'd get to join the church and make professions of faith. I invited my brother-in-law's
brother, and he told me, he said, don't go up there. He said, just
don't do it. He said, you'll be sorry. And
I said, well, I'm going to invite him. And I went up, and I did,
and he said, why? I don't know what to tell him. Nobody ever asked me why. They
just said yes or no. And I said, well, we got an evangelist
down here. What's he do? I said, well, he
preaches the gospel. He said, you wouldn't know the
gospel if you met it in the middle of the road. I said, what do
you mean I don't know the gospel? He said, if you know it, what
is it? And for the first time in my life, I realized I didn't
know the gospel. It was just a word. Just another
religious word. We talk about sanctification,
we don't have a clue what sanctification is. We talk about holiness, I
didn't have a clue what holiness was. I thought holiness was how
long the women wore their hair and how long they wore their
dresses and that's what I was told. Holiness got nothing to
do with that. Holiness has to do with the wholeness
of God, his whole character. His justice, His righteousness,
His goodness, His kindness, His grace, His mercy, and it's all
interacting within Him. Never compromising. One don't
compromise the other. His justice will not compromise
His love, and His love will not compromise His justice. It all
works in perfect harmony. That's holiness. Be ye holy. Oh my soul, how am I going to
be holy in Christ? God chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Why? That we should be holy. That is perfectly consistent
with the character of God. And without blame. Without blame. Oh my soul. The only place you
can be without blame is in Christ, isn't it? The gospel is a person. John 3.36, look at this. He that
believeth on the Son. Uh-oh. He uses that word instead of
gospel. Why? Why don't he use the gospel here?
Because Christ is the gospel. He is the Gospel. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Look back at verse 18 of John
chapter 3. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Did you know that in Ephesians
chapter 2, Paul began that chapter with these words? You hath equipped who were dead
in trespasses and sins. And what's that mean? Wherein
you walked according to the course of this world. What's the course
of this world? They're under the curse of God.
They're fallen depraved sinners, ruined by the fall. Sin entered and death passed. And Adam all died. We walked according to the course
of this world. Walked in our depravity. Walked
in our unbelief. Walked in our pride. Walked in
our selfishness. Walked in our sin and our ignorance
of God. You hath he quickened who were
dead wherein you walked according to the course of this world.
Now listen. According to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now worketh in the children of disobedience. So what's the end result? We
were, by nature, children of what? Wrath, even as others. Oh, that brings a whole new light
on election, don't it? A man who thinks he's half alive,
he'll argue with you about election. Election's not fair. This ain't
fair. But when he finds out everybody's
dead, Oh, election wasn't a closed
door, it's an open door. Wasn't for election, nobody'd
be saved. Paul said, the Jews would have been like Sodom and
Gomorrah. But God had a people according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, then there's
no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. The gospel is a person. It's
a person. And that brings me to the third
definition of the gospel, the name of the only begotten Son
of God. Now I want you to listen to this.
Acts chapter 4 verse 10. Be it known unto you all, and
to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, Whom you crucified. Whom God raised from the dead.
Even by Him does this man now stand before you, O. This is the stone which was set
at nought of your builders, which has become the head of the corner."
Every time I preach the gospel, somebody says, well, I don't
believe that. You just took the stone, this
precious pearl, one of a kind, you just took it and looked at
it through its eyes. That's not going in my temple. That's not
going in my foundation. You called it out. That's what
he's talking about. Peter's telling these Jews, you
called out Christ. You crucified Him. Whom the Lord
has made the head of the corner. Watch this, verse 12. Neither
is there salvation in any other. For there's none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby you must be saved. What is the
name of the only begotten Son of God? Well, it ain't Jesus. That's not His name. Christ has
many names like that. He's the bright and morning star.
He's the day star. He's the Prince of Peace. He's
the Everlasting Father. He's the Word. And on and on
the names go like that. But his name is who he is. And
who is he? Well, who he is, is his character.
He's going to reveal to believers the very heart of God, how God
saves sinners and still can be God. How does a holy God, who
will by no means clear the guilty, how can he justify a sinner? How can he be clean, Job said,
that's born of a woman? That's the question. And the only way you're ever
going to find the answer is to find it in Christ. Justified, Romans 3, 24, freely
by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth as a propitiation for our sins. through faith in
His blood, to declare His righteousness in the remission of sins. Oh,
my soul, that He might be just and justified. He's just in His
justification of His saints, because Christ bore their sins
in His own body on the tree. Through His perfect obedience,
we have a perfect righteousness. A perfect righteousness. And
He's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. His
name is who he is. He told Moses, he said, I'm going
to pass by before you, but I'm going to put you in the cleft
of the rock. That's Christ. And he said, I'm going to pass
by before you. You couldn't see my face, but
I'll let you see me after I pass by. I'll let you just get a little
glimpse of who I am. And I'll proclaim, now listen,
the name of the Lord. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. That's His name. I'll show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. That's His name. He proclaimed
Himself the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering,
abundance in goodness and truth, but will by no means clear the
guilty. Everyone that Christ justified
in His resurrection is without sin. Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? Their sins were never charged
to them. They were charged to His Son.
Charged to His Son. Oh, we experienced our sins and
we still do. But our sins were charged to
Him. He said, you go, I'm going to
give to you the ministry of reconciliation to wit. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. Now listen, not charging their
trespasses unto him. What? What? Substitution, representation,
all God's elect, chosen, saved in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Paul told young Timothy, he said,
you preach this, God hath saved us and called us. God calls people and then he
saves them. Paul said he called us, he saved
us, and then he called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus, when? Before the foundation of
the world. That's right. That's hard swallowing. Natural man ain't going to swallow
it. He can't do it. His glory is in his name. And
the gospel tells us how God can save sinners and still be God.
And then, think about this. What is the gospel? The gospel
is a revelation of salvation in Christ. That's what it is. I'm preaching to you. You're
looking for a revelation. I'm preaching to you the revelation. He said he's going to reveal
it to us through his Spirit. Show me an instance where the
Spirit of God in the New Testament works apart from the preaching
of the Gospel. You can't find one. Paul said not that we're sufficient
of ourselves to thank anything of ourselves over in 2 Corinthians
3. But our sufficiency is of God. Huh? Of God. And what's he talking
about? The Spirit of God. Words are
just words apart from the Spirit of God. But he can take the revelation
that I'm declaring to you this morning in the Gospel, and he
can make it so real you'll walk on it. You'll rest on it. You'll enter in. You'll lay hold
of it. It's as real as the floor I'm walking on. It's more real
than that. And only the Spirit of God. Paul
said, I know your election of God, told those Thessalonians.
They didn't know their election of God, but Paul did. I know
your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word
only. It does that with many folks. But not to his elect. That gospel
comes in power, he said, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance. Oh, you mean they have a lot
of confidence in their confidence? No. No, I mean they have a lot
of confidence in the Christ they preach. Much assurance. Brand new believer,
he can have much assurance. Because all his assurance is
in Christ. You know, I've told you this so many times about
that tightrope walker. I discovered it in a book. I
left it set. My wife and I bought it at Niagara
Falls, and it just sat up on my china cabinet forever. And
one Sunday, I was going to have all the church down. I got to
looking around. I don't know why. Every day,
I don't see it. But things were dusty. I discovered you have
to dust them. And so I got all the books down.
I was wiping them off. And come on this book from Niagara
Falls, big old coffee table book, I never read it. And I was opening
it up, you know, recalling the old memories where her and I
went. And in there they had a little section called Daredevils. And
in this section they had this guy, he was a tightrope walker
back in the day, way back, early. And called him the Great Blandin. And this man, you know, we watched
a man not too many years ago walk across Niagara Falls on
a wire, and he had a pole, and I didn't think he was going to
make it, and he was just walking. That's all he did. This man put
peach baskets on his feet and walked across the falls. He pushed
a man across there in a wheelbarrow across the falls. No pole. Walked
out in the middle, lowered down a rope down to the maid of the
mist, got a bottle of wine and a glass and pulled it up and
drank wine out in the middle of that thing, and then he walked
across. The crowd was just going berserk. And he got over there
and old Harry, his promoter, he was just clapping and smiling
from ear to ear. And when he got over, he said,
Harry, he said, do you believe now I can do everything I told
you I can do? Oh, he said, without a doubt.
He said, I believe. He said, get on. That's the difference when the
gospel comes in power. You're persuaded in your heart.
And when he says, get on, you get on. Old Harry, he's scared,
but he climbed on. And that man walked him back
across the falls and set him down on the other side. Isn't
that what Christ came to do? He gonna pick that lost sheep
up, lay him up in his bosom, and take him all the way to the
other side and set him down. Set him down. You believe that?
Get on. You know, that's the gospel. The gospel is the revelation
of salvation in Christ from eternity to eternity. He's the very image
of the invisible God, the firstborn from every creature. For by Him
were all things created that are in heaven, that are on earth,
visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him
and for him, and he before all things, and by him all things
consist. They have a continuance. He's
the head of the body of the church, the federal head representative
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. It pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell. Our salvation was purposed and
made provision for in Christ Jesus before the world began.
When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
are under the law. Why? That we might receive the
adoption. What adoption? Oh, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasures his will. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth His Spirit into the world, and you're going to
cry, Abba, Father. When the Spirit comes in power
with the Gospel, you're going to cry, Abba, Father. What is the Gospel? It's a declaration
of the redemptive will of God in Christ. It's a person. It's the God-man. It's the declaration
of the name of the Lord. And it's the revelation of God
from eternity to eternity. John said, we know that the Son
of God hath come and given to us an understanding that we may
know Him that's true, that we're in Him that's true, even in His
Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. The basis of belief and unbelief
is the Gospel. That's the basis of the division,
the gospel. And then secondly, the means
by which this division shall be made is preaching. Preaching. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved, but how then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe
in Him of whom they have not heard? And how are they going
to hear without preaching? Everybody that utters the name
God, not calling on God, they're calling on their concept of God, not the living God. And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they
hear without a preacher? Paul said, so then, so then,
having summed up those four questions, so then, faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God. You know what you're doing this
morning? Hearing. Hearing. You know how God saved
sinners? Hearing. Hearing. Oh, my soul, what a privilege.
What a privilege. You may not know it, but you're
shut up to the preaching of the Gospel. I'm not going to send
to you some private revelation of Himself. But he said, after
that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
yet pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believed. And if God ever speaks to me
or you, it will be through His preacher. And that's what John
the Baptist here in John 3 is talking about, our Lord preaching
the gospel and Himself being a witness to it. I'm the friend
of the bridegroom. I'm just standing by him and
I'm happy to hear him speak. I don't care the vessel he uses.
God spoke to one man through an ass, but man said he still
does from time to time. Preaching is the medium by which
this division is set. And preaching is one of the greatest
privileges given to men because it's the power of God and salvation. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. I'm not ashamed of preaching. Well, what if they
all get a sour look and walk out the door? I ask you, are
you ashamed of preaching? I'm not ashamed of preaching. And I'm going to tell you something.
It's worth all the preaching that you've ever done. Just to
see one sinner rejoice in the Gospel. Just to see one. And oh my soul, to see more than
that. I can't even describe what that
means. Our Gospel came not in word only. And I'll tell you something else
about this Gospel. It's the seed of regeneration. Paul said, I
have begotten you through the Gospel. Through the Gospel. And over and over he tells us
that we're saved by sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. And I'll tell you this, believing
is a state of being. It's a condition of the mind
and heart. It's a new creation. Preaching,
believing, sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. You can't
go back to that junk. You can't go back to that hour
walking. You can't go back to a mourner's bench. You can't
go back to signing cards. It makes you nauseous to even
think about it. People come up in public and
they talk about doing this and doing that, or if you really
want to get sick of your stomach, go to a funeral. That's when
men really confess what they believe. Old grandpa's up there
with his fishing rod, you know. Really? You think that's what's
going on in glory? His people all gathered around
the lamb and they got crowns on their head. He made them kings
and priests under their God, but they take the crowns off
and they throw them at his feet. Perfectly satisfied to sit at
the lamb's feet forever. As all the blessings of God are
attached to faith, so the wrath of God comes by unbelief. He
that believeth not the Son shall not see life. He won't perceive
it. He won't receive it. And he'll
never experience it. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 2
with me. I've had people tell me this
to my face. I can believe anytime I want
to. But that's just my point. You
don't want to. You don't have a want to. His
people shall be made willing in the day of my power. That's
what God said. They gonna come unwilling? Oh
no, they gonna be willing. You don't want to and you never
will apart from the intervention of God. All mankind's under the
curse of sin, sin entered, death passed, all under sin, none righteous,
none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God. All gone
out of the way. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace they've
not known. Their heads are full of words and ideas, their minds
articulate all sorts of concepts and images, but they don't know
God. They talk about God, talk about
Jesus and angels and salvation and all these things. They carry
Bibles and go to church. They say words to God and practice
a form of godliness. But it all denies the power of
God. All of it. I'm not telling people they can't
be religious, but being religious is not synonymous with being
saved. Look at this, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14. He just went through
this whole thing. Telling us, I have not seen or
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that
God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed
them to us by Spirit. He goes on and then he tells
you this. We're taking His Word by the
Spirit and we're showing these things to you. We're showing
them to you. But in verse 14 he said, but
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Their foolishness unto him. You mean I have to hear a preacher? Foolishness unto them. I can't be saved without that
book. Foolishness. Foolishness unto them. Natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God. The Gospel is one of the things
of the Spirit of God. The Bible is one of the things
of the Spirit of God. Gathering together, assembling
together with the saints, that's another thing of the Spirit of
God. But there's foolishness unto them. Neither can they know
them because they're spiritually discerned. It's not a puzzle you can put
together, it's a mystery that has to be revealed. A mystery
that's never entered into the heart of man, and it never will
apart from an intervention of God. But that doesn't excuse
unbelief, rather it establishes it. What in the world are you talking
about? Our Lord said, This is the condemnation. Light has come
into the world, and men love darkness rather than light. That's the condemnation. You
can shine all the light you want to, but if God don't shine it
in their heart, ain't nothing gonna happen. They love darkness rather than
light. Pharaoh, let me give you a couple examples. Pharaoh would
rather worship a bug than believe on the living God. He went out
on that river and made sacrifice to a bug, a dung beetle. The Jews had rather rest in their
righteousness than to receive the righteousness of God. Natural
man. That's where he's at. And my
generation is so caught up in themselves and the internet They
don't think they need anyone or anything. No, they receive not the things
of the Spirit of God. And here's the reality of it.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life. Oh, may the Spirit
of God press this reality upon our hearts as only He can. Four little granddaughters, she
was visiting. My daughter was. I'm thinking she was about four
or so. She had to go back to the nursery.
She was too young to sit in the meetings. And in the old church,
very similar to this, there was a door that went back to a back
room. I was sitting on the bench waiting
for time to start. She went by and she stopped.
And she said, Papa? I said, yes, honey. She said,
are you going to say the words? And boy, I thought to myself,
I hope so. I hope so. I hope so for my sake,
and I hope so for yours. May the Lord add his blessing
to the preaching of his gospel. Thank you.