A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. not earned by him given from
him and that word given is in the perfect passive tense what
God does is perfect and when he gives a gift he makes sure
that all the recipients receive the gift in fact this word giving
is used 56 times in the Gospel of John there's a lot of giving
the gospel of John and the remarkable thing is that every time there's
a word giving there's always a reception always as why because
God is the giver God is the giver and therefore there must be a
reception that's why those verses that we began with this morning
in Isaiah are so sweet and precious aren't they and they come at
the end of that glorious chapter that I where the Lord declared
in prophecy what his ministry was, isn't it? The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek. Send up the broken-hearted. to
proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to
them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
That acceptable year is the year of Jubilee. A remarkable year
in Israel's history, wasn't it? It was a remarkable year written
down in the Lord and was never ever performed once because on
the year of Jubilee everything that you had lost by your sin
and your wickedness was restored to you. All your land, all your
property, if you were a slave you were set free. No wonder
it was never ever practiced in Israel once. Why? Because it's all about the Lord
Jesus Christ. All of this book is about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so the recipients are the
ones who are the recipients of this
marvelous work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the acceptable day,
in the day of vengeance of our Lord, to comfort all that mourn,
to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the spirit of praise
for the spirit of heaviness. They might be called, this is
all the church of God, they might be called trees of righteousness. the planting of the Lord, that
he might be glorified. And so the purpose of the preaching
of the gospel is that the children of God will go away rejoicing,
they'll be rejoicing, I'll greatly rejoice, verse 10 as we read
earlier, I'll greatly rejoice, not in what I've done, I'm going
to greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he
has covered me With the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom,
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with jewels. He's going to do all that. And
yet he came to his own. He came to his own, and his own
received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he the power to become the sons of God. born
of the will of man not built born of the works and the activities
of man but born of God so let's go back to our text in
John chapter 3 and verse 27 a man can receive nothing except it
be given him from heaven I want to be a recipient of the things
that come from heaven brothers and sisters in Christ and I want
you to be the recipient of the things that come from heaven
I want to be a receiver, not an earner, but a receiver. I love, as I said earlier, I love
John's response to these people. Basically he ignored them and
told them who God was. That's the solution to so many
problems, isn't it? There's so many of the difficulties
and things we face in this world. Our God reigns. That's what they
said to David in the Psalm 115. He said, where is your God, David? Where's your God? Where is he? It doesn't appear that he's doing
the things that he's promised to be doing. Our God's in the
heavens, says David. Our God's in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. You look at the history of this
world, that's exactly the way you ought to see it. God has
done whatsoever he hath pleased. As he thought it, so it is. Such is the power of God. John
wants to remind them of whose presence they are in when they
are dealing with the people of God and they're dealing with
God sent servants. I beg of you, and I beg of myself,
let's not play games with God. Our God is a consuming fire. Our God is absolutely sovereign.
There is none that can deliver out of my hand, he says, and
he says, I will work and who shall stop it? Who shall stop
what I do? Isaiah 43, 13. He says, I form
the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord, and people will say
the Lord allows these things to be done. That's not what the
text says. He says, I the Lord do all these
things. So here we are with these Jews
coming to question and these Jews that remained in their obstinate
unbelief despite the most remarkable evidences that could ever be
put before them. They just didn't receive it. And the Lord, they
are in the midst of a living, breathing fulfilment of the Word
of God, and so are you and I right now, and we are never outside
of that. And our only problem with understanding
the things of this world is that we don't understand who God is
and we don't understand what He's promised in His Word. And
if God would give us light, we would see those things. See Malachi
finishes, the last words of the Old Testament was about this
Lord, He's coming to His temple and who may abide the day of
His coming? You Jews come to debate me about
purification, you come to debate me about baptism, you come to
stir up jealousy. want to talk about those things
when this is actually what's really happening before your
eyes let's get serious says John let's talk seriously about who
God is the Jews problem is outlined Luke chapter 6 and it's the problem
that relates to the Jews in this time but it relates to all the
religious people in this world who don't bow to the glory and
the lordship of God. So who received him? And it says,
all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God,
they declared God to be righteous, Luke chapter 7 verse 29, being
baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the
lawyers, Those who thought themselves righteous by their activities,
those who saw themselves as esteemed because of their knowledge of
the Scriptures and their knowledge of doctrine and things, the Pharisees
and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves. not being baptized of him, not
being baptized of John. There is a counsel of God against
all of humanity, isn't there? And the counsel of God, when
it comes into the hearts of people, causes them to bow. And the publicans
and the harlots bowed before the counsel of God, and these
Pharisees and lawyers stood proud. But the fundamental problem that
John takes these people... I just wanted to give you some
background of these people that are coming and asking these questions
and how stupid it was, how silly it was of them to be asking these
questions. What terrible blindness they had! A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. A man can receive nothing of
any understanding of what's happening and what is now happening before
your eyes, says John. He's come, the Messiah's come
after all these thousands of years of promises and prophecies. He's here before you. Behold
the Lamb of God and He's come to His temple and He's cleansed
His temple. And He's left again. I am here. John the Baptist had
the most remarkable testimony, didn't he? He could have said,
I had a miraculous birth. My father, the priest, was the
first person in hundreds of years to meet an angel in the temple.
You guys know about these things that happened 30 years ago. I'm
here as that voice, that voice that cries in the wilderness.
And I've been out in the wilderness, I've been crying, I've been dressed
like Elijah, I've been speaking the very words of God. I've been
saying to you people, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. And it says, the glory of
the Lord will be revealed. He's here. This is as close as
you'll ever get to see God. And you can see Him in human
flesh. And you've got three years to examine Him, you people. And
you come and talk to me about purification. You need to get
ready to meet your God. Prepare to meet your God, you
people. I couldn't understand. Unless
a man is accepted to be given Him from heaven, he cannot. He cannot receive any understanding
of what's happening in the world around him. Isaiah 40 is fulfilled,
Malachi 3 is fulfilled and you come to debate these things.
The Lord reveals to his people, the Lord reveals, he hides, Matthew
11, he hides things from the wise and the prudent. and he reveals them unto babes,
and it seemed good in his sight to do so. You can't receive an
understanding of what's happening. You can't receive a very word
and the clearest possible word from God. You can't receive it
unless it's given you from God. Verse 32 of our text. What he
has seen that he testifies that no man receive his testimony.
You can't receive the testimony of God and you can't receive
the testimony of his servants unless unless heaven is opened for you
and the gift of heaven is to receive his testimony. And the
testimony's there before you. I had written in my notes that
testimony's in a man. The testimony is the man. The testimony is the man. It's
heaven's testimony. This son from heaven has come
and been sent by his father. You can't receive the testimony
of John the Baptist unless it's been given you from heaven. Verse
28, you yourselves bear me witness. I said, I'm not the Christ, but
I'm sent before him. I'm a sent one of God. God has
sent me to bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm faithfully
born witness to him. You can't receive my witness.
This voice, the crying in the wilderness, not just speaking,
he's crying in the wilderness to these people. Make straight
the way of the Lord. Make straight the way of the
Lord. Give up all your crooked paths of works righteousness.
Make straight the way of the Lord. You go straight to him.
Make his way straight to you. Get all the rubbish out of the
road. There's much rubbish to be taken out of the road. You
can't receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ unless
you have gift from God you can't receive the testimony of John
the Baptist you can't receive the testimony of his ministers
in this world God still has his servants he's always had his
witnesses in this world and their word cannot be received they
can't be received unless there is a gift from God first 29 You can't receive God's purposes
for creation and can't receive God's purposes in creation. The bridegroom hath a bride. Bridegroom hath a bride. All things. He's above all, and
all things are in His hands. He's the sovereign ruler of all
of this universe. And He rules this universe and
He created this universe that He might come to Calvary's tree
and on Calvary's tree He might suffer the infinite wrath of
God because of eternal union with His people. And God in holy
justice poured out the fury of His justice upon all the sins
of all of God's people until they're gone in the sight of
God. They're gone, brothers and sisters. God remembers them no
more because they are no more. God in perfect and holy justice
put his son to death because the son had a union with a bride
and he loved a bride. And he, the son, this son, declares
her sins to be his because of his union with her. And he says
it again and again and again. I lay down my life for my sheep. He purchased the church of God
with his own blood. We can't receive his witness,
this simple testimony, unless it's given from on high, given
from heaven. I hope that verse causes us to
treasure the things that you've laid hold on, brothers and sisters
in Christ. Because you didn't lay hold of
them because of an activity of your will and your wisdom and
your righteousness. You laid hold of them and you
keep laying hold of them until you cross the Jordan and get
to be with Him in glory. Because He keeps you. You're
kept by the power of God. You're kept by the power of God,
says Peter, to keep on believing, to keep on believing this testimony. You need the power of God to
receive it. You need the power of God to keep it. You can't, unless you're born
again, unless heaven gives you a gift, you can't receive the
joy of the friend of the pilgrim. Don't you love how John spoke
to these people? He says, my joy, my joy is fulfilled. My joy is now complete. Why? Because I've heard the bridegroom's
voice. I've heard his voice. Oh, brothers and sisters, if
he speaks to you through his word, speaks in a way that only
he can speak, there won't be any doubt that God is speaking.
It's the joy of all of God's children, isn't it? To hear his
voice. Verse 30. You can't receive,
except it be given from heaven. You can't receive this work of
grace, the musts of grace. He must increase and I must decrease. They're the graces of the new
birth that we, as we grow as Christians, grow down. And as we grow down, we grow
more stable because we grow down until we're sitting on a rock. And at the same time, a growth
in grace is a growth in the knowledge of Him, isn't it? A growth in
the grace and the knowledge of Him. He becomes more and more
amazing and more and more special. His forgiveness becomes more
extraordinary when we see ourselves as great, great sinners. To receive
His work of grace, It's the gift from heaven, brothers
and sisters, if God has caused you to be diminished in the presence
and the sight of your great God and Saviour. Paul finished his
life, don't he? This man who wrote half the New
Testament, this man who planted churches, this man who has the
most remarkable testimony of the presence of God with him.
He finished his days saying, I'm the chief of sinners. He
had so much that he could have boasted about. He says, I'm just
the chief of sinners. And he finished his life. It's
remarkable, it's hard to read the closing chapters of 2 Timothy
without tears in your eyes. He's finished his life, seemingly
abandoned by many who had no reason whatsoever to abandon
him. I must decrease and he must increase. And I don't know what
all went on for Paul. And he said, when everyone abandoned
me in 2 Timothy, he says, but the Lord stood by my side. How remarkable must have been
that standing and how remarkable that presence and how extraordinary. If the Lord stands by your side,
brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter what happens in the rest
of this world. It doesn't matter what happens. It doesn't matter
what the world does. It doesn't matter what even your
brothers and sisters have done. If the Lord stands by your side,
you're secure. He said to that thief on the
cross, today you will be with me in paradise. Paradise is being
with him. The Lord stood by his side. A
man can receive nothing. A man can take hold of nothing
except to be given him from heaven. Given him from heaven, not given
from man and not given from his religion. What's given from heaven? There are so many gifts from
heaven and they're all wrapped up in a person, aren't they?
They're all wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. What's given
from heaven is a saving spiritual knowledge of God. This is eternal
life. This is eternal life. That you
know the Father and you know Him. Not just know about him,
you know him. Paul says, I know whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded that he is
able. I'm persuaded that he's an absolute
sovereign. And all that the Father gave
him are held in the palm of his hand and none can be taken from
his hand. He's graven them on the palms
of his hand. They're written on his heart. None can take them
out of his hand, ever. No one. not Satan, not this world,
not all the schemes of man, and thankfully not even me. Because I'm my worst trial, brothers
and sisters, I'm my worst trial all the time. I need to be kept
from myself. But God, in the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ, gives a saving spiritual knowledge
of who God is. In the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we see that God is holy. We see that He is just. We see
that He is a sovereign. We see that He is faithful. We see that He is gracious and
He is merciful. We see that there is no legitimate
excuse for unbelief. God won't accept any. There are
none. There is much in the Witnesses
to criticise, but there's none in Him. The Witnesses have a
treasure in jars of clay, and the clay is altogether too evident
for too much the time, and I wish it wasn't for any of us. But
there's none in Him. Him. To see God is to see the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's believing on this Son, the
Son. To have a saving spiritual knowledge
of God is to have a saving spiritual knowledge of self. You'll never
know who you are. You'll never know what you are
until you see yourself in light of who God is, in light of who
the Lord Jesus Christ is. You won't see sin until you've
seen the Lord Jesus Christ crucified. You won't see righteousness until
you see the Lord Jesus Christ crucified. You'll think that
you have some of your own. It's a gift from heaven for you
to know that you're a sinner, that you have nothing to offer
God and no ability in yourself. It's a gift from God to know
that salvation is 100% by the grace of God. He's got to do
it all, all, all the time. When did he save his people?
2 Timothy says He saved them before
the creation of the world. Where were you? And what were
you doing? He saved His people on Calvary's
cross. Where were you? What were you
doing? Salvation is of the Lord, brothers
and sisters. I love the fact that it's an
eternal salvation. The Lamb of God was crucified,
was slain before the foundation of the world, which means that
my good works and my bad works have got nothing to do with it.
We were saved before all of that. Just read Romans 9. Salvation,
to have a knowledge, a spiritual knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ
is to know God, is to know who you are, is to know how God saves
sinners. See, man's problem is not that
he's too low, but that he's far too high in his opinion of himself
and his abilities. He's got to be brought down.
He must cause me to decrease. You cannot see the Kingdom of
God, we read earlier in John chapter 3. You can't even see
what it is, and you can't enter the Kingdom of God unless there
is a gift from heaven. You must be born from heaven,
you must be born from above. John is just reminding them of
what the Lord Jesus Christ had said to Nicodemus. You Jews have
just been told a few weeks ago, and here you are coming and having
an argument with me about purification, and I've told you about eternal
life. You can't see, unless there is a gift from heaven, you can't
see what the Scriptures are all about. For most people, the Scriptures
are just a rule book for living. But the Scriptures are they which
testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in this book is about
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And if you can't find
it in there, the problem's not with the book, the problem's
with you, and you seek God. You make all the difficulties
of Scripture, like Spurgeon said, as a prayer stool, don't you?
Where you get down on your knees and say, I can't figure this
out. But you, you are saying something about your Son and
Him crucified in these words, in these pictures. Paul thought
he had a righteousness didn't he? He thought he had a righteousness
which was So esteemable in the eyes of
himself and the eyes of men that people thought that Saul of Tarsus,
like all of his contemporaries, was right on the jolly doorpost
of heaven, wasn't he? He was almost in the door until
he met the Lord Jesus Christ and he realised that he had no
idea about who God was and he had no idea about who he was
and he had no idea about the emptiness, the emptiness and
the shallowness of his religion. And he still had a heart's desire,
doesn't he? Romans 10, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved,
for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. They don't have a knowledge of
God and they don't have a knowledge of his law. They don't have a
knowledge of his righteousness. They don't have a knowledge of
his holiness and they don't have a knowledge of who they are.
Not for being ignorant of God's righteousness. It's a gift from
heaven to see the righteousness of God, is the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's a gift from heaven to know that the Lord Jesus Christ robes
His bride in that righteousness. It's a gift from heaven to see
that in heaven right now, all those saints around the throne,
they're wearing these white robes. And one of the elders comes to
John and, what are these rites? And John says, I don't know what
these rites are. These are the righteousnesses of the saints.
They've washed themselves. They've come out of great tribulation
and washed themselves clean in the blood of the Lamb. They're
being ignorant of God's righteousness, Romans 10.3. And they're going
about to establish their own righteousness. What a great description
of religion in this day and age. going about to establish their
own righteousness. They're all about getting people
busy, busy, busy, getting them to do, do, do. We want people
to sit still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I
am God. To rest, to rest in his arms. They're going about to establish
their own righteousness. And there's a rebellion in all
of that, isn't it? Because they have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. I must decrease, I must
decrease from my own righteousness to have the very righteousness
of God. It's given from heaven. Knowledge
of God is given from heaven to know what the scriptures are
all about. It's given from heaven to know what the righteousness
of God is all about. It's given from heaven to repent,
to have a changed mind from God, to be born again. It's the gift
of God. It's the gift of God to repent.
You must repent and believe. And listen to what God says about
it. He speaks to these Jews and he
says, Him hath God exalted to his right hand to be a prince
and a saviour. for to give repentance to Israel
and forgiveness of sins. It's the gift of God to repent. You must repent. And all that
God gives, he must. All that God requires, he gives
to the hearts of his people. And Peter had to come back and
explain himself after having a meal with Cornelius and enjoying
some prawns and ham down there by the coast. And he came back
to Jerusalem. Those Jews were absolutely horrified
that he'd been in the house of a Gentile and defiled himself
in the presence of the Gentiles. He says, He explained that God
had done a work. Something from heaven had come
to Cornelius and all those in his household. For as much then
as God gave them a like gift, a similar gift as he did unto
us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I then? Could I withstand God? When they
heard these things, finally they had to be persuaded. When they
heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God,
saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted, graced,
gifted repentance unto life. He must repent, and everything
that must be done, God must work in the hearts of His people.
Such is the glory of our God that He's made the promises. And we are the recipients of
the promises, and we see those remarkable things happening.
You must believe, you must believe again and again and again. John
chapter 3 speaks of believing. John the Baptist finishes his
last words that we hear from him in, He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. And where do you get this faith
from? You know the words well in Ephesians chapter 2, doesn't
it? Verse 8, For by grace are ye saved, through faith and that
not of yourself. It's not of yourselves. Is the
grace of yourself? It's not. Is the faith of yourselves? It's not. It's all the gift of
God. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that
we should walk in them. Will we walk in them? Will we
walk in repentance and faith and love? God says we will. I believe him. I believe him. I've seen it happen again and
again. See, faith's object must be revealed
from heaven before faith's operation can live in the heart of the
child of God. We must see who he is. That's
why John the Baptist, as with all of the servants of God throughout
this book of history, always described the character of God
and the work of God. because the two are linked together.
Faith's object, he that believeth on the sun, not any other sun,
believeth on this sun that we are describing, has everlasting
life as his own possession. It's a given from heaven. Redemption
by His blood is a gift from heaven. He came from heaven to shed His
life's blood. It's a gift from heaven to know
what happened on the cross of Calvary. Most of this world thinks
that the Lord Jesus Christ made an offering to man. The Bible
never says that He made an offering to man. He made an offering to
God. God, it was a transaction on
the cross, it was a transaction between God the Father and God
the Son, as witnessed and promised by God the Holy Spirit. It wasn't
an offering to man. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He doesn't try and do anything,
ever. He doesn't attempt to do anything.
Don't you love what Isaiah 42 says? He shall not fail. That's what it is for God to
be God. Did He save His people from their sins? That was his
name that was given from heaven, wasn't it? Joseph wasn't allowed
to give him a name. Heaven gave him a name. You'll
call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Did he do it? God says he did. That's what
the resurrection is all about. That's what they're singing in
heaven. They didn't say he tried to redeem us. They're all singing
he hath redeemed us. That's exactly what he did. Redemption
by his blood. God hath made him who knew no
sin. God hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. It's a creative activity from
God, isn't it? God made him sin. It's called justification, brothers
and sisters. To be justified is to have no
sin in the presence of God, none whatsoever. the gifts of the church. God
has given a church and he's given these gifts to the church. His ascension gifts are on display
throughout this age, aren't they? He's ascended on high, Psalm
68, 18. And I love the next word because
it suits me perfectly. that God might dwell among them. To hear the gospel in this day
and age is a gift from God sent from heaven and he fits his church
together, he grows his church and it's a body, a dwelling place
of God by his spirit. He lives amongst his people. He dwells amongst his people,
he builds his people together. In whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. In whom you're also builded together,
the church of God, for a habitation of God through the Spirit. He
builds, he builds and he nurtures and he grows this church of his. It's a gift from God to see him
doing it. It's a gift from God to know
that he's promised and all of his promises are yay and amen.
It's a gift from God, a gift from heaven to have a knowledge
of our fellow believers and to know that they're sinners just
like us. They're sheep. God wasn't complimenting us when
he told us we're sheep. If you've had a lot to do with
sheep, Lisa had some sheep here on the farm some years ago, and
I don't know why. It was an act of extraordinary
devotion that we had these jolly sheep here. And it wasn't until
we got rid of them all I knew that she actually found them.
She didn't know that they were, but they were the most roguish
sheep you could ever wish to have. And they were nice when
they were lambs, and they were nice on the plate, and the rest
of the time they were a pain in the neck. Oh dear. Anyway. Sheep. They're helpless
critters, aren't they? If you leave them out in the
wild, they will grow so long that they'd normally die. Graham
knows about sheep. Dear oh dear. We're sinners, brothers and sisters.
And we're sinners still. Be kind. Be kind one to another. That's a gift of God, isn't it?
Be kind one to another. They're sinners, sinning, just
like you're a sinner, sinning. Be kind one to another, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. It's a gift from God, isn't it?
To love our brothers and sisters. You'll be taught of God, says
Paul in 1 Thessalonians. You're taught of God to love
one another. The living waters flow from the
side of the Lord Jesus Christ to grow and supply. He'll lead
you through the waters and the waters won't overflow you and
he'll lead you through the fire. He says he leads and guides his
people to a safe haven. He says, I will bring the blind
by a way they knew not. It's not about your sight, brothers
and sisters, it's about his leading. I will lead them in paths they
have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. It's the gift of heaven to persevere. We are persevering in this world
because we are preserved by our great God. It's a gift from heaven. The things that God gives to
his people are spiritually discerned. Now we have received, says Paul
in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 12, Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. If you read the early parts of
that chapter you'll realise the gifts are just extraordinary.
which things we also speak, not in the words which man wisdom
teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned." It's a gift from God to have
this Word open to us as a spiritual book that speaks of God and speaks
of us. how Lord Jesus Christ himself
is a receiver. Look at verse 34 in our text.
For he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him. There is a measure of the
Spirit given to all of God's children in this world, and the
Lord Jesus Christ has without measure whatsoever. He's a receiver. Christ's body
is a body that are receivers. The bridegroom is arrayed before
her God and she's going to be presented before him. In that day, It shall be said
to Jerusalem, to the church of God, fear thou not and desire,
let not thy hands be slack. The Lord thy God is in the midst
of thee. He's mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. That's what our God's doing over
all of his people in all of this world right now. Zephaniah 3.17 is remarkable. Beggars are receivers. We are just mercy beggars at
a throne of grace. Workers earn. Beggars rejoice
in their receiving. Can you receive his testimony?
If God has worked in your heart, you'll receive his testimony.
Verse 33. And has set to his seal that
God is true. To believe on this son is to
have everlasting life. Brothers and sisters, life that
has no end, a life with God that is eternal and infinite. May
God grant us the grace to believe on Thee, Son, to receive this
gift from heaven. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we pray that You would bless Your words Yet again, our Father,
we pray that you would speak and that your children would,
like John the Baptist, find their joy fulfilled because they've
heard the Bridegroom's voice. Glorify your Son in us and amongst
us, our Father, for we pray in his name. Amen.