Turn back with me to John chapter
3. John chapter 3. This morning as we look at the
scripture, our main text will be found in verse 36. But as we look at this, I would
pray that God would show us and teach us concerning the meekness
of John. that He would teach us to be
as even. That word meekness, a better
word is evenness. In other words, He was steady. He was steady. He was steady
in the work that God had sent Him to do. And if you'll notice
here in this text that in verse 25 there arose some questions
about purifying among the disciples of John and the Jews. And in
verse 26, they, whether they be the Jews or his disciples,
it really doesn't matter, they came to him and said, Master,
he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest
witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. In other
words, they were pointing out to John that, hey, look, you
were a great preacher, John. You were a faithful messenger.
sin of God, and now that Jesus has come, your crowds seem to
be much smaller than they were." I'm sure John knew that. I'm
sure he didn't have to tell him that. But they were trying to
cause him to be envious of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they
said, well, John, you know, you should be preaching. You should
have more than this. Well, what was John's reply?
John's reply is found in verse 30. Look at this. But he must
increase, but I must decrease. John's answer to these people
who would try to allure him away from his ministry, he recognizes
that he must decrease. John was not concerned with the number of
people that followed him. John was faithful to preach the
gospel regardless of who was sent to him. He was neither encouraged
by the praises of men, nor was he discouraged by the hatred
of men. Matter of fact, John says this
and sets the record straight in verse 32. He says, And what he hath seen
and heard he testifieth. And look at this, no man receiveth
this testimony. You see, all the people went
after Jesus, and John just said, look, no man can receive anything
except to be given him of the Father. These people, it may
appear as though Jesus has a large crowd, but truly, none of them
receive his testimony. None of them receive his testimony.
In other words, the gospel, who is saved and who is not, is not
dependent upon outward things, outward appearances. But let us, like John, trust
not in the appearance of things, but rather trust in the Word
of God. John trusted in the Word of God. He trusted the Son of God, regardless
of what things looked like. Let us, like John, exalt Jesus
Christ when the world speaks well of us. There was a time
when everybody seemed to follow John. Everybody went out to see
him. But that didn't make John proud
that all these people came to him. It didn't affect him at
all. Let us be like John and not be influenced by the praises
of men to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
If we have received the Word of God, if we believe on the
Son of God, we know this, that this is the work of the grace
of God alone. If you believe on the Son of
God, it is not because of you, it is not because of what you
have done, it is not because you are more gifted than anyone
else, it is because of the grace of God. That's it. The only thing
that makes a believer, a Christian, different than anyone else in
the world is God's work, God's grace. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. The apostle asks them a question
here that I often ask myself, and you should ask yourself,
Verse 7 of 1 Corinthians chapter 4. These people were being puffed
up with pride. They said, well, I'm this preacher,
I have this preacher, and I've got a better one than you, and
I'm more educated than you, and I've got more gifts than you.
But Paul said, who maketh thee to differ from another? And what
hast thou that thou didst not receive. It was God who made
us to differ. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, it's because God made you different. It's because God
differed you in His divine and sovereign election. It was the
Father that chose you from eternity. It was the Father that loved
you. that predestinated you to be adopted as His Son? What have you that you have not
received by grace?" This election of God is sovereign. God, out of the same lump of
fallen humanity, chose some that He would save. And you who believe,
you are the elect of God. Now did you receive that because
you were better? Was there anything about you? No. We read in Romans
chapter 9 about the election of God. It says, Speaking of
Jacob and Esau, "...for the children not yet being born, neither having
done good nor evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand." As it is written, for Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. If you believe on Christ, if
you are loved of God, it is by His own free, sovereign grace
that He loves you. Not because of you. What do you
have to be puffed up about? What is it that we have to be
so proud about? We're not any different than
anyone else. Who make thee to differ from another? It was God
that chose us. It was God that loved us. There
was nothing in us. We were chosen not according
to any good in us. not because we were better than
others but the scripture is clear in Ephesians it tells us chapter
1 that we were chosen and predestinated in Jesus Christ before the foundation
of the world according here it is according to the praise of
the glory of His grace that's it the only reason that we have
any hope at all is because of God's choosing because of God's
grace what do we have to boast about? Is there any boasting
in man? No. No boasting. Who maketh thee to differ? The
Son of God has made us to differ, in that He was our representative
and our substitute. The Scripture tells us, whereas
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Our father Adam, when he sinned,
we all sinned in that representative man. Well, how do you know that? For all have sinned. Have you
sinned? Well, there's evidence right there that you and I were
born dead in trespasses and sins. You and I were born without the
ability to understand the Gospel, without the ability to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, No man can come unto
Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him. That was very offensive to a
lot of disciples and they ran away never to be with Christ
again after that. After he said that, they didn't
want to be with him anymore. They weren't his. His people believe him, trust
him, and we have no reason to boast in ourselves. Jesus Christ
made us to differ in that he was our representative. He provided
all the righteousness of God by His faithfulness. He alone represented all of the
elect of God, all that God gave Him to represent. He represented
as a man and provided righteousness that we could never provide. Who made thee to differ? was
Christ that made the righteousness of God for us by his faith. And
Jesus made us to differ from other men in that he offered
himself for our sins. Jesus has made us to differ because
he offered himself once unto God. And God accepted His offering. Now, what did you and I have
to do with that? Nothing. Nothing. We had nothing to do with that.
Our Lord Jesus Christ willingly became a substitute for His people. And not only that, what makes
us to differ is that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Having
put away our sin, having abolished sin in His body, in His flesh
on the cross, having put it away forever, satisfying the justice
of Almighty God on our behalf, He is risen from the dead and
ascended into glory where He sits right now on the throne
of heaven ruling all things after the counsel of His own will. Do you realize that this world
seems to us to be chaos, but I tell you to Him, it is in perfect
order. He is doing exactly what He decides
to do. This is His creation. He does
everything for Himself. Jesus Christ does everything
for His own glory, and He should. He's worthy of it. And now, we
are made to differ from others because we have received what
God had prepared. Received. Received is not... Receiving
something is not an act that we could be proud of. It's not
something that we add to the work of Christ. We don't say,
well Christ did all of this, and God did all of this, and
now I do this and receive it. No. No. To receive... is like a hungry, a starving
man receiving bread. Now, is there any question that
a starving man would take bread if you give it to him? Is there
any question in that? Do you think that he might be
picky? He might say, well, that doesn't look like sourdough bread.
I don't think I really want that bread. I'm going to go and choose.
He's not really hungry, is he? He's not starving. If a man's
starving, he'll take it. He'll receive it. He'll grab
a hold of it and bring it to him and eat as much as he can.
That's exactly what happens to a man who's aware of his sin.
That God makes us aware of who we are by nature. That we cannot
save ourselves. And God creates the hunger for
righteousness in us. And by His grace, we receive
it and we eat it. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit in the new birth. What did we have to do with our
first birth? Nothing. What do we have to do with this
spiritual birth? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. God does it for us. Where then
is our boasting? Where is our pride? It's excluded. Excluded. We have nothing to
be proud of. We only boast in Jesus Christ,
our Savior. We only boast in Him. The Scripture
says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Have you received the
spirit of adoption? Has God given you the spirit The Spirit of God is not hovering
above you for you to just reach up and take Him as you please.
He comes in power. Friends, to be born again is
not a decision. It's a resurrection. It's a resurrection. Did Jesus
ask Lazarus to come forth? Lazarus, if you would put it
pretty please, would you come out of there please? I would
really, I need your help, Lazarus, to help raise you. No! Jesus
said, Lazarus, come forth! And he came forth. That's what
he said to me. That's what he said to my soul.
He said, Fred Evans, come forth! And you know what? I came. I
came. Because he has all power. He
called me from life, from death to life. And if you're a child
of God, don't you know that you're an heir of God? An heir of God. What did God tell Abraham? I
am thy exceeding great reward. God is our inheritance. God's
our inheritance. and join heirs with Christ. In
other words, everything that Christ received of the Father,
you and I have a right to that. It's ours because He gave it
to us, not because we deserved any of it. It's wonderful. It's grace. It's mercy. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? What hast thou? Thou hast not received. John
the Baptist was not timid about this. He was not proud and boastful. He said, Christ must increase
and I must decrease. The more I grow in grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I see my nothingness. The more I see that I had absolutely
nothing to do with this salvation, that it was completely and absolutely
a work of God for me in every part. Where is my boasting? There is none. So when men praise
us, Let us not be lured away by their praises. Second of all,
let us not be discouraged by their hatred. John was not discouraged
by the hatred of men trying to rouse up his envy toward others. Let us not glory in anything
but in Christ when men despise us, even so when things appear
to be against us, when it seems or appears that the gospel is
out of season, And I tell you, we live in an age where it appears
that the gospel is out of season. We are in such a age where men
have no interest in the things of God. There are very few that
have interest in the things of God. When men will not come and hear
the gospel, When men will leave the gospel, did John quit preaching
the gospel? No, and neither would we. Neither
shall we. We'll be faithful no matter what
men do. John was not discouraged and
neither should we be discouraged because we know this, Jesus Christ
will save his people from their sins. There's no doubt about
that. I have no doubt that Christ will
save his people. And as we have heard the gospel
and received the gospel by grace, even so will all of God's elects
receive the gospel in the same way that we have, through the
preaching of the gospel. This, what we're doing here,
in the eyes of the world, is foolishness. It is. Well, you should get some entertainment
in that. I've heard this, truly. Men say,
well, you should get some entertainment in that church. You'll have a
lot of people. You should get some of this. You should get
some real good singers, because they know I can't sing. So they
obviously want me to get somebody in here that can sing, or do
some entertainment, or have some plays and things like that. No. No. We know that it's by the gospel,
the preaching of the gospel that men are saved. This is God's
means. This is God's means. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, it says, For the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of the
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For
after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not
God, here it is, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Why do I do this? Because this
is God's means. This is how God saves sinners.
Through the preaching of the gospel. This is not boastful. This is
just what God has pleased to do. Now that just makes man crazy. It makes the wisdom of this world
go nuts. They can't understand it. They
don't understand why. And so, therefore, the Apostle
tells Timothy, he says, preach the word. Be instant in season
and out of season. In other words, when the gospel
is fashionable and when it's not. He said, it doesn't matter
what men think about this gospel, we continually preach the gospel
of Christ, no matter what. Because this is the means of
God's salvation. And so therefore, in our text,
John here, he concludes with this gospel message. He states
this gospel as clearly as it possibly can be stated. Look
at our text in verse 36 of John chapter 3. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. that believeth not the Son shall
not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him." This is the gospel in very simple
and plain terms. The whole world is divided into
two groups. Those that believe the Son and
those that don't. There's no middle ground here.
There's no partially believing the Son. There's no partially,
maybe, well, I kind of tip my hat to God and, you know, maybe
He'll let... No! You are an unbeliever. You
are either an unbeliever or you are a believer. There are no
other categories. You will fall into one of these
categories. This morning I pray that the message is speaking
to you individually, because really it doesn't matter what
we think about somebody else. Because you can't control whether
they believe or not. I love my children, but I know this, I
can't give them faith. Can't do it. Wouldn't do it if
I could, because my faith is so weak anyway. I hope this hits you individually
to know this morning when you leave this building, I pray that
you would know where you stand. You are either in the believers
group or the unbelievers. Do you believe on the Son of
God? This is the question. There can
be no greater question than this. Because this question has to
do with your immortal soul. This question has to do with
life and death. Not physical, but spiritual life
and death. All flesh is grass. Now you feel
that way, because I sure do. I feel like this life is fleeting.
You that have been here longer, has this life not been fleeting
for you? Is eternity not closing in on
you? It is, and it may be closer than
you think. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not life, cannot see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him. How can you believe on the Son
of God unless you know Him, unless you've heard of Him. Is it possible
to believe on someone you've never heard? No. Go to John chapter 10. See it.
John chapter 10. John chapter 10 and verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's great. But how
then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe on Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Do you not see God's means in
saving a person? How can you call on the Lord
Jesus? How can you believe on the Son of God if you don't know
who He is? I tell you, there are many Christ's
being preached, but there's really only one. There's only one. I'll tell you, if you've never
heard of THE Christ, then how can you believe on Him? You can't. And so this morning, I want you
to know who He is. I want you to see who He is.
First of all, we must see that He is the Son of God. the Son of God. Any other Christ than the Son
of God is not Christ. Look what John says. John, back
in our text in verse 31, he said, He that cometh from above is
above all. You and I did not come into this
world We didn't come into this world because we did not exist
until we were created by God in our mother's womb. We did
not come from anywhere. We were created here on earth. And John just says in the next
passage, the next line, he says, that which is of the earth is
earthy. That's us, isn't it? We're of
the earth. We're earthy. But Jesus Christ existed long
before He came into this world. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son
of God. The eternal Son of God. He is God. He cometh from above. He cometh from heaven and He
is existed from all eternity. Jesus came from heaven where
He ruled as the eternal Son of God in Colossians chapter 1 and
verse 15. It says of Jesus who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Does that
mean that He was born or created? No. It means that He is the first
of the creation. He is the motivating source,
the source of all creation. Everything stems from Him. He
is the creator of all things. That's what it says. For by Him,
were all things created that are in heaven and are in 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 is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. Can you not see that this world
spins because He causes it to spin? He holds the universe together. This is who I'm talking about.
Jesus Christ is God. He is God, a very God. If your Christ is not God, you've
not believed on the Son. Everything was made by Him and
everything was made for His glory. And to believe on the Son is
to know that He is God. In John chapter 8, Jesus told
those Pharisees, He says, If you believe not that I am, you
shall die in your sin. What did He mean by that, I am?
Well, that's the name of God. They knew that. That's why they
wanted to stone Him when He said it. He said, Before Abraham was,
I am. I am God. And they wanted to
kill him. Jesus Christ is God. He is the
eternal Son of God. One with the Father and the Spirit. He is God. And to believe on
the Son of God is to know that He is God. Second of all, to believe on
the Son is to know He is man. Man. He came from above to be a man. God took to Himself a human body,
nature. Jesus came from above. and became bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. Why? So that He should save His
people from their sins. That's why His name was Jesus.
You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people
from their sins. How? By being that representative
man. By being the substitute for sinners. See, because we were born dead
in sins, we could not know God, and we could not save ourselves.
Do you realize your works profit nothing before God? Isaiah said, all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. We could not please God. And
the only hope for us is that God would send His Son to be
our representative man. A mediator. One to go between us and God. To be a faithful high priest
for us in the things pertaining to God. To offer a sacrifice
that we could not offer. Our sacrifices. or nothing but
sin. You see how foolish men run around
and they say, well, I'm going to give up fish for God. God never asks you to give up
fish or meat or anything else. That's nothing. You think that
provides any righteousness for you? I'll tell you this, if I were
to give up meat, I would want meat. I would lust after it in
my heart. So what good is it? Nothing.
It doesn't do anything for me. I need someone to be righteous
for me." And that's exactly what Jesus Christ did. He came to
be righteous. No man could do this. No man could come unto the Father
but by this man, Jesus Christ. You believe on the Son of God,
have you seen He is the Son of Man? That He is bone of our phone? That He is man of very man? In Timothy it tells us this,
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. It's a mystery why that God would come to save
such wretches as we are. sinners, rebels, haters of God,
and yet God came as a man. Have you believed on the Son
of God? Do you know Him? To believe on the Son of God
is to believe in His finished work. To believe that He is God,
that He is man, and that He has finished the work that God gave
Him to do. All that the Father gave to Jesus
Christ, Jesus perfectly fulfilled all their salvation. Look at John chapter 6. John chapter 6 and verse 38. Let's go back to verse 36. Jesus said, But I have said unto
you that you also have seen Me and believed not. All that the
Father giveth Me shall come to Me. And Him that cometh to Me
I will in no wise cast out. For I am come down from heaven,
not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.
And this is the Father's will. Just in case you don't know what
the will of God is, here it is. This is the Father's will. which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing. Nothing. But raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. This is the will of the Father, that of all the elect
that God gave to His Son to represent. He represented them in righteousness
and in redemption. All that the Father gave. Who were they? Well, those are
the ones that come to Him. He said, those that cometh to
Me, I will in no wise cast out. Why? Because they were given
to Him of the Father. If you believe on the Son of
God, it's because the Father gave you to the Son. It's because
the Son, for you, represented you as a substitute for you to
die for your sins, to pay the justice of God that you and I
could not pay. To believe on the Son of God
is to believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd that laid down
His life for the sheep. To believe the Son of God is
to believe that He is the Bread of Life and is to eat His flesh
and drink His blood. What is that? That's faith. It's
not a physical bread or physical blood. It is faith. Believe on
the work of the Son of God and you shall be saved. Period. Believe. Not believe
He's done part and you finish the rest. That's not believing.
That's unbelief. To believe is to believe that
Christ has finished the work. What were His last words on the
cross? It is finished. Done. Done. Salvation accomplished. Have
you believed on the Son of God? Then you believe. You have come
to Him because He has finished the work. Jesus said, ìCome unto
Me, you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto
your souls.î Sinners, this morning listen to me. Cease from trying.
Cease from working. And believe on the finished work
of Christ. and you are saved. That didn't sound too complicated,
but it's not. It's not. Rest your soul completely on
Him and you have everlasting life. I like the way the word here
uses it. He that believeth on the Son
hath. Now I'm not a grammar professor,
but that's past tense. He that believeth on the Son
hath already everlasting life. That word everlasting is eternal.
When does our eternal life begin? It didn't have a beginning. And
our eternal life will never have an end. Have you believed on
the Son of God? Then you have already eternal
life. Jesus said that all that God
gave Him are in His hand, and He is in the Father's hand, and
no man will pluck them out of My hand. If we have the Son,
we are free. Free from sin. The guilt of sin. The power of sin. And we are
promised that one day we'll be free from the presence of sin.
All because of His work. I believe on the Son of God. Do you? I rest completely on Him. if you've believed on the Son.
And notice this word, believeth. This is a present perfect tense.
In other words, believed, believe, and shall believe. That's what
that word means. In other words, when God gives
us faith in His Son, that faith will continue until it is lost
in sight. We've lost two brethren here. And they died in faith. And as soon as they died in faith,
they opened their eyes in sight and saw what they had believed.
That's what will happen to everyone who believes on the Son. We will
believe until the just shall live by faith. I have believed, but I tell you
what, I do believe now. And if it is true faith, I'll
believe until I die. Have you believed on the Son
of God? True faith that is a gift of God is not self-generated,
it's not emotional, and it's not the kind of faith that just
don't want to go to hell. Have you ever had that? I've
seen people do this. Well, I want to believe because
I don't want to go to hell. Well, that's not true faith.
Who wants to go to hell? Raise your hand. Now, no. Nobody wants to go to
hell. That's not true faith. True faith
is resting completely in the Son of God, His person, and His
work. That's true faith. And you know
what? True faith won't just start out with a bang and then end
with a fizzle. That's what usually happens.
People get all emotional and teary-eyed and then they, oh,
I believe in Jesus, and then pretty soon they stop coming
altogether. That faith was nothing. True
faith lasts. Now a word to you who are in
the unbelievers category. Those who will not believe on
the Son of God, you have a promise. Here's the promise. You will
not see life. The eternal wrath of God will
abide on you forever. Unbelievers are not just those
who are atheists or agnostics. Unbelievers are those religious,
moral people who partially believe on the Son of God, who profess
faith in Christ but add some work of the flesh to it. The
Apostle said, if you add one thing to the work of Jesus Christ,
He shall profit you nothing. You're an unbeliever. I add nothing to His work. He
is all my salvation, all my desire. He is all the object of my faith
and love and hope. I believe. I have everlasting
life. You who believe have everlasting
life. You who will not believe shall
not see life. But the wrath of God will abide
on you forever. Where do you fit? Which category do you belong
to? May God even reveal this to you and believe on His Son. Our stand will be dismissed in
prayer.