Turn with me to the third chapter
of the Gospel of John, if you would please. John chapter 3. I would dare say that most of
this religious world can quote John 3.16. Look at it with me. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. Men say things like God
loves the whole world so he must love me. He has to love me if
he loves the whole world. Well, is that right? Is that
what you believe? Look at the very next verse,
verse 17. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him,
you see those two words? That the world through him might
be saved. Now I wanna ask you a very serious
question and I want you to think about it for a moment. Does God
love those who hate his son? Does God love those who hate
his son? Now God didn't send his son into
the world to condemn the world, no sir. But that the world through
him might be saved. So first we see that salvation
comes through Jesus Christ. That's a very important thing
to know. Salvation is of the Lord. It comes through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 18. And he
that believeth on him, who the Lord Jesus, is not condemned. Salvation is believing in and
on Jesus Christ. Isn't that what it says here?
But that's not all that it says. Read on. But he that believeth
not is what? Condemned already. Why? He tells us. Because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. How serious is it not to believe
on Christ? It's life and death serious.
Life and death serious. According to statistics, 56 million
people die a year. That's four and a half million
a month. That's something. Nearly 150,000
people a day die. 6,392 people an hour. 106 people a minute. That equals
almost two per second. That's mind boggling. And according
to Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27, we're told that it's appointed
unto men once to die. And I'll just throw something
in for you. It's God that does the appointing. It's appointed
unto men once to die, but after this, The judgment. A lot of
people die every year, every month, day, hour, minute, and
second. And when they do, they go out to meet God in judgment. And according to the word of
God, this is what we know according to verse 18, that he that believes
on Christ is not condemned. But he that believes not in the
name of the Son of God is condemned already. Already condemned. Condemned before they die. And
what's the reason? They believe not on Christ. They're
already condemned. Already under the judgment of
God. Already under the wrath of God. Not when they die, but right
now. Now I have children whom I love. that are condemned already. Some of you have parents, siblings,
spouses that are already condemned. And the reason is that they have
not believed in the name of Christ, God's only begotten Son. Oh,
it's a serious, serious thing not to believe on Christ. Look
at the last verse of this chapter, verse 36. He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Oh, that's something you don't
hear much about in churches today, the wrath of God. Well, God loves
everybody. Jesus died for everybody. The
Holy Spirit calls all men and women without exception. No,
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. Right now, it abides on him.
Right now, this very minute. And there are some sitting here
this morning that have not believed on Christ. You've never trusted
in Christ, not the one that's revealed in this book. You've
never confessed Him publicly. Oh, you may have made a profession
in a God and a Savior of your imagination. You may have exercised
your will, raised your hand, repeated a prayer to a God that
made salvation possible. You may have trusted in a God
that needs your help to save you, but you've not trusted in
the God and the Savior that this book reveals. And that's the
difference between life and death. There are many of you who are
going about to establish your own righteousness, but you have
not submitted yourselves unto the righteousness of God because
you're ignorant of God's righteousness and you're trying to establish
your own. That's what Paul said in Romans 10, 3. But before you
get offended at that word ignorant, Let me first tell you what the
word means. It means to lack knowledge and
awareness. Not really an offensive term
at all. I'm ignorant of many things.
I'll be the first to tell you. You know, I'm ignorant of how
airplanes fly. I know that they fly. I've been
on them. I've looked down from thousands
of feet. I like knowledge and awareness,
though, of how that big piece of metal can take off off the
ground and fly high in the sky. And I'm not offended by that.
I admit that I'm unaware as to how that's accomplished. I'm
ignorant of it. And I'm ignorant of how a ship
These big cruise ships and some of these Navy ships that weighs
220,000 gross tons, how that thing can float on water? I lack
knowledge and awareness as to how that's accomplished. There
are many who are ignorant. of the righteousness of God and
how it's obtained and how it's accomplished. Paul tells us first
how it's not accomplished, and that's by going about to establish
our own righteousness. Going about to establish righteousness
on your own. It's not accomplished that way,
nor can it be. It cannot be accomplished that
way. And then Paul tells us how this righteousness is accomplished
in 2 Corinthians 5, 21. He says, for He, God, hath made
Him, Christ, to be sin for us, that we might be made, made the
righteousness of God in Him. Another reason that you who are
ignorant should not be offended is because God is the one who
says here that you simply lack the knowledge and the awareness
as to how this perfect righteousness is obtained. So don't get mad,
don't get offended. God reveals in this book called
the Holy Bible how it is, how righteousness is obtained. I
heard Tim James say in a message once that a sparrow, a little
sparrow, flies and lands on a telephone line. And that sparrow is supported
by that telephone line. He's got a firm grip on that
telephone line. But that sparrow is ignorant
to the message that's going through that telephone line. There are
some voices going through it, but he doesn't understand what
they're saying. And I've heard religious men
and women say all my life, I'm standing on the word of God. They're like that sparrow, I'm
afraid, standing on the telephone line. They're ignorant of the
message that is going through this book. They need, they lack
the knowledge and the awareness as to what it's saying. Now the
Lord Jesus Christ said in our text, he that believeth on me
is not condemned. I'm interested in that. I don't
want to be condemned. Do you? But he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. What is it to believe on Christ?
Well, I know this. It's to trust Him fully. and
it's to trust Him completely to do for you what you cannot
do for yourself. Now we say that all the time,
but isn't it true? We cannot keep the law of God.
The law cannot save you because the scripture tells us for what
the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh.
And that means our flesh. Weak through the flesh. Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ. And it doesn't even say their
faith in Jesus Christ. It's talking about the faith
of Christ. His believing God in my room
and in my stead. And me by my union with him. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh Be justified, Galatians 2.16. You see, the law of God
requires perfection. I mean perfection. And we cannot
provide what the law requires. We cannot satisfy the holy justice
of God. Why? Because of our sin and guilt.
God can by no means clear the guilty and remain just. He cannot
sweep sin under a rug. at the expense of his holy justice. So we can't satisfy, we can't
appease God for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend
in one point is guilty of all. Guilty of the whole law. James, excuse me, James 2.10.
And only Christ, according to this book, is just and the justifier
of them that believe in him, Romans 3.26. Now it's become
popular today among men and women to read through the Bible once
a year. I don't have a problem with that.
I'm gonna be honest with you, I've never done it once. I've
never read through the whole Bible. There was a man who once told
Spurgeon that he didn't believe in election. And that man said,
Mr. Spurgeon, I want you to know
that I've read through the Bible 23 times on my knees and never
seen election in the Bible. And Mr. Spurgeon said, well,
two things are wrong. He said, number one, you need
to get off your knees and get into a comfortable chair. And he said, on your knees is
no position to read anything. No wonder you didn't see anything,
especially the election. You're too uncomfortable. I'm
surprised you saw anything. And secondly, he said, you're
reading too fast. 23 times through the Bible in
the length of time that you've lived, he said, that's too fast,
son. Slow down a bit. Men and women
need to slow down and study this book. We need to ask God to reveal
its contents to us. You see, we learn by His revelation. The Son of God is revealed to
us by the Holy Spirit. What good is it to read through
the Bible in a year if you don't understand what you read? That
Ethiopian eunuch was reading the scroll of Isaiah and Philip
asked him, he said, do you understand what you're reading? And that
fellow was so honest and he said, how can I? How can I? Except some man should guide
me. This book reveals some things
to us about God and it reveals some things to us about us, about
ourselves. A man once confessed to George
Whitfield that he was a great sinner. And he confessed his
drunkenness, and he confessed stealing, he confessed cheating
in business, he confessed adultery, he confessed lying. And when
he was finished, Mr. Whitfield said, is that all?
And the man looked at him kind of funny and said, well, isn't
that enough? And Mr. Whitfield said, you haven't confessed
the greatest sin of all. What's that, the man asked. And
Mr. Whitfield replied, unbelief,
unbelief. This is the greatest sin of all.
Turn over to the book of Hebrews with me, chapter three, if you
would. I wanna show you a verse or two here, Hebrews chapter
three. First wants you to look at verse
12, Hebrews three, verse 12. The verse reads, take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of covetousness. No, that's not what it says.
A heart of thievery, no, doesn't say that. A heart of lust, a
heart of evil, a heart of hatred, no, doesn't say that either.
He said, take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief. in departing from the living
God. You see, first thing we see here
is that an unbelieving heart is an evil heart. Jeremiah said,
the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And only God can know it. And
unbelief is to depart. The second thing we see is that
unbelief is to depart from the living God. Now look down at
verse 17. The writer here asks, but with
whom was he, that being God, grieved forty years? Was it not
with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?
And to whom swear he that they should not enter into rest? Now did these, speaking of Israel
after they were delivered out of Egypt, did these not enter
into rest because they made a golden calf and worshipped it? Was it
because they rebelled against Moses? Was it because they loathed
the manna that God had fall from heaven? Was it because they desired
to be back in Egypt? No, that wasn't the reason at
all. And to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not. So we see that they could not
enter into rest because of unbelief. Turn over a page, you may not
have to, look at Hebrews 4 verse 6. Seeing therefore it remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first
preached entered not in because of unbelief. Look at verse 11. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. Oh, listen to me. he that believeth
not is condemned already. Isn't that a sobering thought?
A guilty convict sets on death row. He's been convicted of murder,
caught red-handed in the act. He's been tried, he's been convicted,
and he's been sentenced to death. He may be sitting there still
breathing, His heart may still be beating, but He's as good
as dead. Because His condemnation is certain
unless in the final hour He's given a full pardon. It's the
same with the unbeliever. Unless God visits him or her
in grace and in mercy and in forgiveness, they're going to
perish because they're already condemned. And the wrath of God
abideth on them. By nature, every single one of
us have been weighed in the balances of justice. And each and every
one of us, in and of ourselves, have been found wanting. Look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse
28. It says, he that despised Moses'
law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how
much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy
who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing. and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said,
vengeance, excuse me, belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. Oh, it's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. Oh, listen to me, dear friend. This is no light matter. to hear the gospel and neglect
it. The Lord Jesus said in Mark chapter
six, verse 11, he said, verily I say unto you, it shall be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for
those who believe not the gospel. In Mark chapter 16, verse 15
and 16, Christ said, go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. And he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall
be damned. You see, continued and persistent
unbelief is the sin that will forever condemn a sinner to hell. In Psalm 50, God said to the
ungodly, He said, you hate instruction. You cast my word behind you.
You run with thieves, and you partake with adulterers, and
you've given your mouth to evil, and your tongue to deceit, and
you speak against your brother, and you slander your own mother.
He says, these things hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou
thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself. And that's
the problem today. People have imagined God to be
like they are. And he's not at all like we are. Thou thoughtest I was altogether
such a one as thyself, but I will reprove thee. And I'll set them
in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget
God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Those are the words of a thrice
holy God, who will by no means, under no circumstances, clear
those that are guilty. In Psalm chapter 36 verse one,
speaking of the wicked, we're told that there's no fear of
God before their eyes. I am absolutely amazed anymore
at the things men and women say about God. Why, a lot of it's
unspeakable. But I'll tell you things that
we do here that shows men have no fear of God before their eyes. God is trying to do something. God wants to do something if
you'll just let Him. Not the God of the Bible. Not
the God who spoke this world into existence. Not Him. He's not tried or wanted to do
anything. There's no reverential respect
and affection for God. Only in nothing but enmity. No
humble fear, only pride and weakness. And in the unregenerate heart
there is no fear. The fool has said, no God. No
God. No fear, no God. No God, no fear. And God says, you're condemned
already. Everyone will confess that they
believe this book called the Bible. They'll say that it's
the Word of God. But when it gets right down to
it, there is much of it that they don't believe. And men and
women alike talk about how much they love Jesus, but they don't
believe for one minute that it was because He first loved them.
They'll say, I have decided to follow Jesus. Most men and women in churches
today will confess that they made a decision and decided to
do just that, follow Jesus. That they made Jesus Lord, but
they don't believe that it was God and God alone who chooses
whom He saves. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion and whom I will, I'll harden it. And all
God has to do to harden a sinner is just leave them to themselves. Christ in the Bible says, you've
not chosen me, but I've chosen you. Isn't that so plain? And
folks say, well, he didn't mean it that way. You still have to
let go and you still have to let God. God says in the scripture,
Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. And preachers declare
that that means that God loved Esau less than he did Jacob. Perish the thought. The thing that a believer can't
believe is that God would love Jacob. And that God would love
any of us. None of us deserve His love.
That's what makes it mercy and grace. I've heard folks say things
like, well, I don't know much about the Bible, but I know what
I believe. Have you heard anybody say that?
I've heard that. I don't know much about the Bible,
but I know what I believe. Well, what we believe must be
according to the Bible. Or it means nothing. Doesn't
matter what we believe. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse
3 and 4 say how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures. And that he was buried and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Is it according
to the Scriptures? We through the Scriptures see
how that Christ died for our sins and how that He was buried
and how that He rose again the third day. And that means that
Christ fulfilled the holy law of God. And that He satisfied
God's holy justice. Or He could have never risen
again. And we could be assured that
the sinner's acceptance before God can be found in him and only
in him. God said, my word shall not return
unto me void. It shall accomplish that where
unto I have sinned. God said of his own will, he
beget us with the word of truth. Not by a gospel track written
by men, not by a contemporary Christian song, Not by the southern
gospel quartet. With the word of God. And I like good songs and good
singing as good as anybody, but that's not how God saves sinners.
By the foolishness of preaching. Foolishness of preaching, God
saves those that believe. There was a man in John chapter
five who was crippled He hadn't walked in 38 years. I'm sure his little legs were
just shriveled up and probably weren't any bigger around than
a one inch piece of pipe. People had passed by him by the
hundreds, maybe even the thousands. Nobody paid much attention to
him. One day Christ passed his way and he asked him a question
that no one had ever asked him before. And he said, will thou
be made whole? Will thou be made whole? And
that poor man began to make excuses. He said, well, you know, there's
a custom here that when the water's troubled, an angel comes down
and troubles the water. And the first one to get in the water,
God heals. But I don't have any man. There's
one excuse after the other. And the Lord Jesus interrupted
him and He said, rise and take up your bed and walk. And immediately
the Scriptures say the man was made whole and took up his bed
and he walked down the road carrying his bed with him. That bed that
he begged on for 38 years. And the Lord's power and His
grace and His strength were so complete in his healing that
his legs looked like those of a power weightlifter on the day
that God healed him. And as he walks down the road
carrying his bed, some religious fellow saw him and said, why
are you carrying your bed on the Sabbath day? It's not lawful to do that. You
know what that man said? He said, God said it was. The man that healed me said,
take up thy bed and walk. And that's what I'm doing. Friends, we're going to have
to believe God. We're gonna have to believe God.
One day the Lord prayed, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes. What things? What things is he talking about?
The things taught in scripture. Paul asked the church of Rome,
he said, what shall you say to these things? What things? Whom
He, God foreknew, He predestinated. Whom He, God predestinated, He
called. Whom He, God called, He justified. Whom He, God justified, He glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? That's what we say,
isn't it? God has hid these things to those
that are wise in their own sight and prudent in their own hearts,
and he's revealed them to babes. If we could just become like
little children, my grandchildren, sitting right back there in the
back, will believe just about anything I tell them. They're
little children. They can be taught. But our pride
won't let us sit at the feet of Christ and learn like a little
child. Not unless he does something for us. Mary sat at the Lord's
feet. And Martha, she was cumbered
about with much serving. She came into the Lord, and I
can just see her with her hand on her hip and kind of toddling
her head a little bit and said, Lord, I'm doing all this stuff,
and Mary, she's just sitting there listening to you. He said,
Mary's chosen the good part. She found that one thing needful.
Have you found the one thing needful? Oh, God help us. Dear sinner,
if you're without God, and if you're without Christ, you are,
according to the Scriptures, without hope in this world, and
you're condemned already. And it's unbelief, not believing
this book that keeps you condemned. I think about that rich man in
hell. He said, Father Abraham, he said,
send Lazarus to preach to my brothers. And Abraham said, hey,
they've got Moses and the prophets. In other words, they got the
Bible. That's what he said. They have Moses and the prophets.
And the rich man said, yes, but if one rose from the dead, they
would believe. And Abraham said, you got it
all wrong. If they won't believe the word
of God, they won't believe that one rose from the dead. You see,
for they themselves are dead in trespasses and sin. And until
God gives them life, they won't believe it. They're condemned
already. You who are without Christ, may
God give you life. May God give you the ability
to believe and to come to Christ. The Lord Jesus said, you cannot
come to me that you might have life. You will not come to me
that you might have life. We don't have the ability and
we don't have the will to come. He's got to make us willing in
the day of his power and he has got to give us the ability to
believe. Salvation is of the Lord. Boy,
that short statement becomes a little clearer to me every
day. Salvation is of the Lord. If God don't save me, I won't
be saved. Oh, may God give you life. May
you see that Christ is the only mediator, the only savior between
God and men. If it's not through him, friends,
you'll never see and be reconciled to God. You're already condemned
and what you need is forgiveness, mercy, and grace to believe on
him. May God be pleased to make it
so. May He be pleased to make it
so. Amen. Let's dismiss in prayer. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Christ. Thank You,
Lord, for the Holy Spirit that reveals these things unto us.
Lord, we believe, but help Thou our unbelief. Enable us, Lord,
to truly trust in Christ. to see that He's put away all
our sin, that He's kept your law perfectly, that He's satisfied
your justice in our place, that by grace we're saved through
faith, and that's not of ourselves. It's a gift from you, Lord God. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name be all the honor and the glory forever
and ever. Amen.