Turn with me in your scriptures
to John Chapter 8. I'll just read some of these
verses. We have talked about faith, and
the Lord Jesus Christ makes some remarkable statements in John
Chapter 6. And I trust that as we go through
these verses and look at the answer to a question that the
Lord Jesus Christ asks these people. He asks them in verse
46. He says, which of you convinces
me? Which of you can convict me of
sin? you've seen my life for three
years it's just barely six months before the crucifixion you've
watched me and you've examined me so closely what a remarkable
thing he can say which of you convinces me of sin and then
he says and if I say the truth why do you not Why is there unbelief? Why is there unbelief? The previous verse in verse 45
is an extraordinary convicting verse, isn't it? And this is
the Lord Jesus Christ, this is God who spoke to Abraham speaking
here. He said, and because I tell you
the truth, you believe me not. Why do you not believe? One of the things that's remarkable
about Abraham's faith, and it's like the faith of all of God's
children, it's never private faith, and always the faith of
God's children is a faith that yearns for salvation, yearns
for God to reveal himself, yearns for others to experience the
mercy and the grace and the faithfulness of God that we've experienced.
And we don't have time to look at it very closely, but if you
go back to Genesis chapter 18 and look at Abraham, the Lord
came to him. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
him. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. And he spoke to Abraham and he
made the most remarkable promises about Abraham having this child
of promise. And then the Lord said, Shall
I hide from him what I'm about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah?
And then in Genesis 8, we don't have time to look at it, but
Abraham actually has a debate with God Almighty. He says, will
you destroy it if there are 50 righteous people down there? 45? 40 and he gets more courageous and
he goes down to 30 and 20 and 10 and finally, finally he says,
will you destroy it if there are 10 righteous people in there? So Abraham, Abraham was deeply troubled about unbelief. But the other thing that is remarkable
about Abraham is that Abraham In Isaiah chapter 42, Abraham
is called, my friend. God, my friend. And if you go
in your scriptures to situations with the saints of God in the
Old Testament and in the New, it's just lovely to see how deeply
personal and intimate their reaction and their relationship was with
them. So Abraham was concerned about the unbelief of Sodom and
Gomorrah. That was the root of all of their
sins. They had righteous lot living
there. They had the example of Abraham being there. The only
reason they were there was previously Abraham had rescued them. king and all of their people
and their goods from the other kings who had come and taken
them all away. So they knew about Abraham and they knew about Abraham's
faith and they knew about Abraham's walk with God. Why do men not
believe? Why do men not believe? We have seen earlier that faith
is the gift of God. Faith is the grace gift of God. Faith also is the command of
God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. That's a command from God. So
saving faith is a heart matter, isn't it? Saving faith is a heart
matter. It's with the heart one believes
unto righteousness. Hebrews 4 talks about the evil
heart of unbelief. Faith is a heart matter, and
unbelief is a heart matter, and unbelief is an obedience matter. Unbelief is a declaration that
God is not true to his character and who he says he is. It's a
reflection upon the very character of God. So let's go back to these
verses. in John 8, verse 45, And because
I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? And the first answer, and I want
to give 8 or 10 of these this morning, and some of them relate
to the activities of God and some of them relate to the activities
of man. But the first one is given in
verse 47, isn't it? He that is of God hears God's
word. He that is of God hears God's
word. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. The Lord Jesus Christ in John
chapter 8, as he does in John chapter 3 and John chapter 6
in all of the scriptures, the Lord Jesus Christ divides humanity. There's a division among the
people because of him. And he leaves no middle ground
for people to find comfort on. He takes away that middle ground
Ultimately, the issues are black and white, aren't they? And this
is God speaking. This is the God that Abraham
believed and rejoiced. Can we, with the faith of Abraham,
say this is what God says, and I'm just gonna bow and be in
reverential awe of it. See, believers believe. Believers believe. Believe, and
they believe God's word. They believe God's gospel. They
believe God's servants. They believe the Lord Jesus Christ. How much do you have to believe
to be a believer? everything that God has written. I'm your God, but I'm your friend. Believers believe. At the end of the book of Acts,
Paul's imprisoned in Jerusalem, and people come to him, many
Jews come to him, and many others come to him, and it says at the
end of the book of Acts, some believed Paul, and some believed
not. And believing here, this is in
Acts chapter 28, believing in that passage of scripture is
in the passive voice. And I don't want to talk a whole
lot about Greg, because all I will do is reveal my ignorance. But
the passive voice means that someone's acting, but it's not
you. And so believing is in the passive voice. They believe because
God worked in their hearts to believe. You are not of God,
he says. You don't believe because you're
not of God. But in Acts chapter 28, at the
end of that church, early 30 years of church history, believing
not is in the active voice. which means that non-believers
are active. They are active in their rejection
of God's declaration of who he is. They are active in their
rejection of the fact that they can look at this creation and
they see that someone made this and no one made him and he is
God over all. If he can make this and keep
this thing turning around, this whole universe spinning and held
together by the most remarkably complex and detailed and intricate
patterns of physics. It's just extraordinary, just
life itself, what's going on in your brains to see, to take
light and to see and to hear and for that to work into your
hearts. We are remarkable beings and
so to deny creation is an act They are suppressing the truth
according to Romans 1. People are believing not because
they're actively suppressing the truth. And they're suppressing
the truth of their consciences as well. God makes and causes
himself and his presence to be known by creation and conscience.
They are not saving activities, but, dear brothers and sisters,
they cause people to be responsible, and God treats people as if they
are responsible. So when the Lord Jesus Christ
asks that question, he's not looking for an answer. He's just
wanting to declare something, and it's a question that we ask,
isn't it? I remember when the Lord first seriously did a work
in my life, and I thought just everyone I know is going to love
this. I'll go around and I'll talk to everyone I possibly could
about the Lord. I'm still shocked at the response
to it. And when the Lord took me to
India to teach me the gospel of free and sovereign grace and
the glory of the eternal covenant and the glory of the fact that
the Lord has robed his people with the very righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, And He didn't leave anything in salvation
up to me to finish and it was all done a long, long time ago
and on the cross He actually took all of my sins and all of
the sins of all these people. And it's impossible for one of
God's children to be lost. And we have the very righteousness
of God and our work is not to earn our righteousness now. Our
work is just simply a work of believing, isn't it? We just
believe. We do what's impossible for a natural man to believe
and God causes us to believe. I came back to the religious
people here in all sorts of churches and I thought, people are just
going to love this. People are going to just rejoice.
They're going to rejoice just like the people of Jerusalem
should rejoice. Simeon held a baby 30 years before these events. He held a baby in his arms. He
said, I can go now, I'm ready to die. I have seen thy salvation. He held a baby in his arms and
he was rejoicing. He was rejoicing. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to this world exactly as promised and the angels in
heaven rejoiced and John the Baptist rejoiced and yet he comes
to these people. Like I did. Oh dear, I did. That's
a terrible thing to be saying. I'm nothing like him in any way.
But nevertheless, I thought the people, the religious people,
I thought the people who were trapped and sort of working and
working and working, I thought they would just rejoice in the the joy and the peace and the
freedom of believing. This freedom that the Lord speaks
about in John Chapter 8, He'll make you free. Not cause you
to work your own way to your freedom, He makes you free. Free
from all those entanglements. And all of you, in one way or
another, can testify to how the religious world responds to the
Gospel and nothing has changed, brothers and sisters, has it?
So why do people not believe? It's not as if it's complicated.
We are just declaring who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what
he did on Calvary's tree. If I say the truth, he is the
truth, why do you not believe me? And I'll give you some of
these answers that relate to God. You don't believe because
you're not the children of God. Verse 44 in John chapter 8, just
stay there with me, most of these are in John's Gospel. He says
in John 8, verse 44, you are of your father the devil. That
word of is a word that denotes origin. You are of your father
the devil, and the lusts of your father, the desires of your father,
you will do. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
describes what the lusts of him are. He was a murderer from the
beginning and abode not in the truth. There was a time when
Satan and Angel knew the truth. He abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Unbelief,
and continuing in unbelief, is evidence to God that you are
a child of the devil. Now they're God's words. They're
just God's words. Men do not believe because God
is not their father. Men do not believe. Men do not believe because they
are not his sheep. John 10.24 Then came the Jews
round about him, and said, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If you thou be the Christ, tell
us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. He did works that the Messiah
alone could do. He did works that God alone could
do. He created out of nothing. But
he did the supreme work that God alone had saved for the Messiah. And there was one work which
was healing the blind. Verse 26 of John 10, but you
believe not because you are not of my sheep. The reason that men do not believe
is because they are not his sheep. What do the sheep do? Verse 27
of John 10. My sheep hear my voice, I know
them, and they follow me. I was at a funeral some years
ago and I was there with a number of school, friends of mine from
school many, many years ago and one of them asked me, what are
you doing these days? And I know what happens when I tell
people that I'm a pastor and often the reactions aren't very
pleasant. And I said, well, I just preached
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he looked at me and
he said, that must be a really, really hard and frustrating and
disappointing work. Nothing could be further from
the truth. The Gospel is the power of God under salvation.
The Gospel is the power of God under salvation. Will they be
lost? Can they be lost? Can all that the Father gave
into the hands of God Almighty, His Son, can they be lost? No one can pluck them out of
my hand. What do the sheep do? All the
sheep will be taught of God, and all the sheep that are taught
of God will come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll follow
him. His voice is a glorious voice. Men do not believe because they
are under the judgment of God. They are under the judgment of
God. Acts 13.48 speaks of an ordination
to eternal life. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained unto eternal life believed. And the word of
the Lord was published throughout all the region. But as in all
situations, there was a division. And the Gospel comes and it creates
a division. And he says, Paul says to those
who despise, He says, Behold, you despisers. He's quoting Habakkuk
in Acts 13.41. Behold, you despisers, and wonder
and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work in which
you shall no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. People don't believe. People don't believe because
they are not of God. People don't believe because
they are not his sheep. People don't believe because
they are under the judgment of God. Men do not believe because
they are blinded by Satan. We quote this verse often because
it's such a glorious description of what gospel preaching is and
the result of it, isn't it? 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse
3. But if our gospel be hid, to them that are lost, in whom
the God of this world hath 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 upon them. 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 heart to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face Men don't believe because they're
under the judgment of God. Men don't believe because they're
not the sheep. Men don't believe because they
reflect in their unbelief and their continued active unbelief
that they are children of the devil, not God. The Lord Jesus gives us many
other reasons, and I'll just go through them briefly. Men
do not believe because they just do not believe the Bible. They
just do not believe the Scriptures. John 5.45 Do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you,
even Moses, whom you trust. For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe
not his writings, How shall you believe my words? We've been reading in Genesis
the words of Moses, haven't we? We've been reading the words
of Moses about the man of faith, the father of the faithful. You don't believe, people don't
believe and remain in unbelief because they just simply do not
believe the Bible. They simply do not believe what
God said. And the Lord Jesus in John Chapter
5 and John Chapter 8 that we're looking at, He was speaking to
people who knew their Bibles off by heart. They are serious
Bible scholars, these fellows, and they knew it in the original
language, and they saw the pictures in the original language that
we have to struggle to understand, but they knew them and debated
them and discussed them. They didn't believe Moses. They
did not believe Moses. They didn't believe a single
word that Moses wrote. while he might still be in John
chapter 5. Men do not believe, and I want
to keep reminding you that this non-believing is an active activity,
isn't it? Men do not believe because they
do not want to believe. John 5. 37 And the Father himself which
hath sent me hath borne witness of me, and you have neither heard
his voice at any time nor seen his shape, and you have not his
word abiding in you, for whom or because whom he hath sent,
him you believe not. 38 You search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have Eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me, John 5.40, and you will not come to me that
you might have life. Men do not believe because they
do not want to believe. We've looked at it from God's
perspective, and this is man's perspective, and God treats man
as responsible beings. In Luke 22, he says, Art thou
the Christ? Tell us. And he said to them,
If I tell you, you will not believe. Luke 22, 67. Telling them the
truth made no difference to them. Men don't believe because men
don't want to believe. And why is that? They don't like
what the gospel says. They don't like what the gospel
says about God. They don't like what the gospel
says about man. And they don't like what the
gospel says about God's salvation. Listen to what he says. For God
sent his son into the world, John 3, 17. God sent not his
son into the world to condemn the world, the world was already
condemned, but that the world through him might be saved. He
that believeth, that means to believe and continue believing
on him, is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
this is the judgment. If you actually wrote out the
Greek letters of that word, it would be crisis. It's a crisis. This is the condemnation that
light has come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. As I said earlier,
it's an issue of heart, isn't it? It's an issue of love. Men
love the darkness rather than light because their deeds were
evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hates the light. What's the light? The light is
the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. The light is how he
can be the light of the world and say to that woman who's caught
in adultery, neither do I condemn you. How God can be just and
a justifier of them that believe. Everyone that doeth evil hates
the light, neither cometh the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved or exposed. Why don't people come to the
light of the Lord Jesus Christ? They're fearful of being exposed
for what they are. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are
wrought in God. Men don't believe because they
don't want to believe what the Bible says about them. God says
they hate the light, so it's an issue of hate, it's an issue
of love, it's an issue of heart, isn't it? People who don't believe
don't want to believe. There's another reason given
in John chapter 12 why people don't believe. Nevertheless,
among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because
of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they be should
be put out of the synagogue. They were fearful of religious
people. Verse 43, For they loved the praise of God. He says the
same thing in John chapter 5 verse 43. I am come in my father's
name and you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. You'll receive someone who's
famous, you'll receive someone who is charismatic, you'll receive
all sorts of people. Verse 44, how can you believe
which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that comes
from God only? So if you don't believe, you're
more concerned about what men think of you than what God thinks
of you. Last time I was in a church service
in Wollongong, many, many years ago now, thankfully, We read
the man did it all of chapter 13 of Acts. We just read some
few verses out of chapter 13 of Acts. He left all the difficult
verses out and when he came to Acts chapter 13 about many, as
many who was ordained to eternal life believed. And that verse
in a sense explains the rest of the chapter and explains why
Paul is there. And he left it out and I went to him after the
service because I'd been at Bible College. I said, why did you
leave that verse out? That verse explains the rest
of it. You can't leave that. He said, well last week after
church we had a question and answer time and we had a debate
and people got upset in the debate and I didn't want to upset them
again. I didn't want to upset them again.
Why? Why didn't he just read what
God said and just say, encourage people to have the childlike
faith of Abraham? Childlike faith of Abraham. Men do not believe, ultimately
because God has not revealed himself to them. Who has believed our report?
Who has believed the gospel? The Lord Jesus Christ thanked
his Father. He said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. And there is another reason from
God, and you know the verse in 2 Thessalonians, and if you go
to people who claim to be believers, and wonder why they don't respond
with the simple childlike faith of Abraham. And God says, people
do not believe because they do not love the truth. And the truth
is a person. And the truth is a person who
speaks. And so if you don't love his
words, you don't love him. Period. Men do not believe because
they do not love the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2, and then shall
that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish. Why do they perish? because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe the
lie, that all might be damned who believed not the truth but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. It comes down to a matter of
love, isn't it? He doesn't talk about just knowing the truth.
But God's children love the truth. If you were of God, if God were
your father, you would love me, says the Lord Jesus Christ. You
would love him. And if you love him, you love
everything about him. And if you love him, you love
his word. You love his word. Finally, the Lord says that men do not
believe because they cannot believe. They cannot believe. They lack the abilities. They
lack the ability to believe. John 12 But though he done so
many miracles before him, yet they believed not on him, that
the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spoke,
Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe.
They could not believe, because Isaiah said again, He hath blinded
their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see
with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I shall heal them. These things said Isaiah, and
you can read it in Isaiah chapter 6, when he saw his glory, he
saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the temple and spoke of him,
and this is what comes out of it. It all seems so negative, doesn't
it? It all seems so hopeless from
our point of view. And that's a good place to be,
brothers and sisters. Because what's impossible with
men is possible with God. And as God said to Sarah, all
things are possible. All things. There's nothing impossible
for God. Only when you are brought to
a place where you see that believing is impossible, Then you'll cry
for mercy. You'll cry out for mercy. What
happened in Acts chapter 2? Those men heard the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ from the mouth of Peter. And there they
were, with blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on their hands.
with cursing him on their lips and hatred in their hearts toward
him. And they heard that God has made
this Jesus and Eucharist by both Lord and Christ. When you see
him crucified, you will see yourself as the sinner. And they were
cut to the heart. They were wounded in the heart
by the Holy Spirit. And then they called out, what
must we do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's impossible with men. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. They were
mercy beggars. I do love Colossians chapter
2 verse 6. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk in him. How did you receive him? You
receive him as a mercy beggar. You receive him as someone who
is needy. You receive him as someone who
is absolutely and utterly dependent upon God to do everything for
you. God must do all the saving. Salvation
is of the Lord. Then you'll cry out to Him. You're
in the hands, and that's where God takes his people through
his word, you're in the hands of a sovereign God, an absolutely
sovereign God. And he has the right to do with
you as he sees fit. and his name is to be praised
and he is to be worshipped for who he is. So let's just go back
and look. All of those things leave us
dependent entirely upon Him. Why do people not believe? Because
they're not of God. Because they do not believe the
Bible. Because they reveal in their unbelief that they are
children of the devil. They don't want to believe. They
have a love of the darkness rather than light. They have a love
of the praise of men more than the praise of God. God has not
revealed himself to them. They are under a strong delusion. They reveal that they're not
his sheep. They've not been given faith. They're under the judgment of
God. They are blinded by Satan and they cannot believe. Now
as much as those things leave us in the hands of a sovereign
God, they are a great description if you turn them all the opposite
way around. They are a great description
of God's work in the hearts of all of his people, isn't he?
Believers are born of God, aren't they? Believers are born of God,
and they're born of God by the Word of God preached. And so if they are born by the
Word, then they'll love the Word of God, and they'll have Abraham's
childlike faith when it comes to the Word of God. They'll just
say, well, God said it. That's sufficient. That's all
I need. I don't need to have an explainer. I just believe
Him. I believe Him. And believers are children of
God, they're not children of the devil. Believers want to
believe. What's the cry of a believer?
Lord, increase our faith. Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief. And we never get above being
mercy beggars for God, aren't we? The children of God love
the Light and they come to the Light. They come to He who is
the Light. They are drawn by the irresistible,
invincible power of God to the Light, just like that woman was
drawn by the enemies of God into the very presence of God and
He says, I don't condemn you anymore. I'm the Light of the and be saved because salvation
is of me. And God's children love the light.
We love coming to the light, don't we? In fact, we cry out
when the light is absent, send me some more light. Lighten my
darkness. It's on my desk. The Lord will
enlighten my darkness. Men who have met God and believe
are no longer interested in the praise of men more than the praise
of God. As much as our flesh constrains
us and inhibits us, we have, if the Lord allows, an audience
of one as we walk through this world. Just Him, isn't it? We live our lives in His presence. And it's because he has revealed
himself to us. Who cares about the praise of
men? Who cares about men's opinions
about us? God says we're his children. He loves us with an everlasting
love and therefore with loving kindness He draws us to Himself. God says that He's put His people
in His Son and He's loved us eternally. God says that He's
loved us so much that He sent His Son into this world that
He might die on that cross bearing our sins away. God comes to His
own and reveals Himself. God sets the captives free from
the delusion of Satan, from the blinding of Satan. God comes
to Satan's palace. And Satan keeps his palace, and
he keeps all of his goods in his palace, he keeps them there
in peace. And Satan's preachers are preaching
peace, peace to you all the time. And God comes, and breaks down
the wall, and breaks down the doors, and goes to Satan's house,
and that one's mine, come here to me. He's doing it now, brothers
and sisters, throughout this world. You come to me and you'll
hear the shepherd's voice as you come and you'll be like a
sheep who just hears the shepherd's voice. I was telling Ben at the
break a while ago that I went to India and I was away for two
years and we had this lovely old sheep called Horace. He was
a ram that was rejected by his mother and he hadn't seen me
for two years and I walked around the corner and I was looking
at him and he couldn't see me and I called out to him. And
Horace came running and he reacted exactly the same way that he'd
done for all those years beforehand. calling us by name and calling
us to himself and saying, come away my love, come away with
me and come away to me. And God reveals the object of
faith and he gives faith to his people and they just love the
truth. They love who he is, the truth. And they realize that
they're not under the judgment of God anymore, but the judgment
of God fell on their Savior on Calvary's tree, and it cannot
possibly fall on them again. And they are set free, and they're
set free to believe. You need to be set free by God
to believe God. What's impossible with men is
possible with God. What's your warrant for coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ? What's your warrant for coming?
His command to come. He commands belief. I have the
right to come. May I believe your warrant for
coming is His command. May he speak words to your heart
that cause you to come, and come as Abraham did, with just the
faith of a child that says, you've said it, it looks impossible. And with you who create, you
who reveal, nothing is impossible at all. Abraham believed. He just simply and his children
do the works of Abraham they believe this is a lovely description
of Abraham they all died in faith Hebrews 11 13 having not received
the promises but having seen them afar off What are our promises? They're all nearly all far off,
aren't they? There are promises for this world, but the best
of the promises have been signed and sealed in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and what a glorious promise we have for our future.
They were persuaded of them. Hebrews 11, 13. They saw them
afar off. Abraham saw my day. They saw
them afar off. They were persuaded of them. And they embraced them, and then
they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. Strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. Abraham's rejoicing. We'll look at this next week
if the Lord allows. But Abraham rejoiced to see the
day of the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw it and was glad. Abraham's rejoicing was in a
person who met him. Abraham's rejoicing was in a
person who called him out of idolatry. and gave him the promises
and called him to a land of promise." Abraham rejoicing was in the
fact that God separated him and his family from the world. Abraham's
rejoicing was the fact that he had the freedom now to worship
God. He worshipped him for who he
was. He worshipped him for his sacrifice.
He worshipped him for the fact that he was the mediator of a
covenant. Abraham worshipped God in an acceptable sacrifice. Abraham brought the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, an ordained sacrifice, a complete
sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, a sacrifice that God says is
for him, for his satisfaction, for his namesake, and for the
acceptance of all who are in him, accepted in the beloved. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we do pray and thank you, Heavenly Father, for the freedom that
Christ brings, that freedom that allows us to worship him in spirit
and in truth and to rejoice in Christ Jesus. Our Father, we've
spoken of Abraham's faith and how childlike it was, and we
pray, Heavenly Father, that you would increase our faith, you
would grow our faith, you'd grow our love for he who is the truth. You'd cause us again and again,
Heavenly Father, to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. who
is both the author, he wrote it all, and he is the finisher,
the completer of our faith. And we praise you, Heavenly Father,
that when your dear and precious Son cried out on Calvary's tree,
it is finished. All of the salvation of all of
his people was perfectly signed and sealed. Their sins are gone. They are free to worship. as the children of God. Oh, our
Father, please, we beg of you, make him and his blood precious
to us, and make him to be the cause of our rejoicing, that
we might, heavenly Father, as you have promised, know the joy
and the peace of simply believing the Lord Jesus Christ. and rest our eternal souls in
his arms. For we pray in his name, our
Father, and for his glory. Amen.