There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou dost,
except God be with him. Our Lord answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeneth,
or where it will, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but cannot
tell where it comes, and where it goes. So is every one that
is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and
testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If
I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall
ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, the Son of
man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. 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. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, But he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God." John chapter three. The title of my message this
morning is Four Revelations. Here in John chapter three. And
all four of these revelations, all four of these things that's
revealed to Nicodemus and to us are through verses fourteen
and twenty. And what is happening here is
our Lord Jesus Christ is talking to a Pharisee, a man of the Pharisees. Describes him very vividly, a
Pharisee. Paul said he was a Pharisee of
Pharisees. Pharisee, I mean, he was way
up there. These fellows were the smartest,
the best living, When they went out in public, the first thing
they did when they got home was wash themselves very, very good. They were, oh, they were so dedicated. They put a fundamentalist to
shame. Put them to shame. But here we have a Pharisee. And then he says down here in
verse 10, he said he's a master of Israel. There's a master in
Israel. That'd be like saying, you know,
he's got a master doctorate, you know, he's got a master's
degree. Well, here's a master it is. Somebody that's got rule
over him, got able to teach and able to guide him and able to
be over him. People served him, waited on
him, went to him to answer questions. And that's how the Lord just
said, well, you're a master of Israel, and evidently you don't
know anything. You don't know anything. And
then the Lord Jesus tells him the necessity of the new birth.
And Nicodemus asked him this question in verse 9. And said, How can these things
be? How can a man be born again? How can a man be born of water
and the Spirit? How can a man be born from above? Well, our Lord Jesus is going
to tell him. He said, now I'm going to tell you earthly things.
He said, I'm going to tell you things that's easy to understand.
I'm going to tell you about love. I'm going to tell you about light.
I'm going to tell you about faith. I'm going to tell you about condemnation.
I'm going to tell you about things that's so easy to understand.
I can't tell you heavenly things because you can't even understand
earthly things. So I'm going to tell you some
earthly things because you couldn't understand if I told you heavenly
things. And so here's the first thing,
the first revelation we have. And he said, I've told you earthly
things you shall not believe, so I'm going to tell you. And
he said, here's the first thing you told him. And this is why
he speaks in earthly language, things that Nicodemus would find
so easy to understand. And he says, and as Moses, verse
14, here's the first revelation. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
Here's God revealing to us, and Lord revealing to Nicodemus,
how God provided for sinners, how He provided for them. As
the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, and Moses lifted
it up, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now, what in
the world is he talking about? Well, if you want to find out,
go to Numbers chapter 21. Numbers 21. And we'll see just
exactly what he's talking about. Why was the circuit lifted up?
Why did Moses lift up that circuit? Now, Nicodemus knew why it was
lifted up, and he knew the results of it being lifted up. Why it
was lifted up and the consequences of it being lifted up. Now why
was that serpent lifted up? Well, this is going to tell us
right here. Look what it says in verse 4, Numbers 21, 4. And they journeyed from Mount
Hor by the way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Edom,
and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way. They didn't like God's way. This
is the way God brought. He just brought them out of Egypt.
Just took them through the Red Sea. So all kinds of signs down
in Egypt. And here they are along the way,
and they ain't been out there no time at all, and they're discouraged
because they don't like the way that God's taken them. And I
tell you what, most folks don't like the way that God's taken
them. Don't like the way God does in His own world. Don't
like how He deals with people in His own world. But this is
God's world. And they were discouraged because of the way. God help
us not get discouraged because of the way. And them and the
people, now listen to this. Here's another reason why it's
lifted up. The people speak against God. Can you imagine people speaking
against God after what God had done for them? Surely, surely. But I'll tell you, beloved, it's
as common as people to speak against God now as it is for
us, me and you, to breathe. And they speak against God. Anytime
you say anything that's not And then they spake against Moses. Moses, God used Moses. And then
they said, why in the world have you brought us out of Egypt to
die in the wilderness? If he's able to bring them out,
don't you think he's able to take them in? If he's able to
part the Red Sea, don't you think he's able to get you into Canaan? And they said, there's no bread. Not any water. And our soul loathes
what God's provided for us. It's not enough. It's not good
enough. It don't meet our needs. And
listen to this. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, And much people of
Israel died. Why was that circuit lifted up?
Because they sinned. They spoke against God. They
didn't like God's way. They rebelled against God. They
spoke against God. Spoke against His way. Spoke
against His service. Spoke against Him. Spoke against
His provision. Everything that they needed,
God gave to them, and they wasn't still satisfied. Now watch what
happens now. Therefore, I mean, they began
to die. And they should have died. You
men that hate God ought to die. And they're going to die. Men
that despise God ought to die. Brad sent me a link this week
and there's this fella that says that Christ A preacher stood
in front of his church on Easter and said, I tell you that if
Jesus was here today, he would be for gay marriage. He would
evolve because he didn't know everything there was to know
when he was on the earth. Hell ain't half full. Jesus didn't know everything
while he was here. That man ought to go to hell
today before the sun goes down. But God lets people live that
error must be made manifest that the truth will stand out. But
a man that hates God, rebels against God, and speaks against
God, and don't like God's dealing with him, he ought to perish. And the only thing that will
keep us from perishing is the grace of God Himself. Now look
what they said. And therefore the people came
to Moses and said, We sinned! That's the first thing you'll
say when you understand you've sinned against God. I've sinned! Ain't that what that prodigal
said to his father? He says, Father, I've sinned
against heaven and I've sinned against you, and I'm not worthy
to be called your son. That's the first thing that will
come out of you. That publican, he spoke his breast
and he said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And look what
he says now. And we've spoken against the
Lord. I mean, they told the sins that they done. And against you. Now, now, would you please have
mercy on us and would you pray to the Lord? Would you call on
the Lord for us? Oh, my. That He take away these
servants from us and Moses prayed for the people. Now, listen to
what happens now. Some remedy's got to be made
for these people who sin. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Make thee a fiery serpent, a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole. And I mean, this was made out
of brass, and it looked just like the serpents that had bit
them people, but it wasn't a serpent that bit the people. It was just
the likeness of it. And Christ came in the likeness of sinful
flesh. You know, a serpent that bit
them, It had to be made in the likeness of Him. Christ was made
in the likeness of Sinful Flesh. Now watch what He said. Set it
on the pole. Set it up high where people can see it. Set it up
where folks can be way far away and they can look up and see
it. Set it where everybody can see it. Set it up there where
folks can ever, you know, people that's bitten can look at it.
And watch what happened. When they look upon it, they
shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, put it on a pole, and
it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld
the serpent of brass, he lived. Now, Nicodemus could understand
that language. So this is how in the world I'm
going to be saved. Moses, I now know Moses and why
he lifted up that serpent in the wilderness. I know why he
did it, and I know what happened when people looked. They lived.
And that's what our back over in our text, that's what our
Lord said, even so, Must the Son of Man be lifted up? Why
must He be lifted up? The same reason the serpent lifted
up. Because of sin. Because of rebellion. And I tell you what, beloved,
He's lifted up on the cross. And He said He was lifted up
on that cross for one reason. And that was to be made sin.
God made Him to be sin who knew no sin. That we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. O my soul, to her Christ, who
is sinless, and perfect, and holy in body, mind, and soul,
that there is said, that he says in verse 13, he said, the Son
of Man came down from heaven, and the Son of Man which is in
heaven. How is He on earth and in heaven at the same time? I
tell you, it's because He's both God and man. When He spoke to His Father,
He was speaking to the Spirit. God is a Spirit, and He's here
and there at the same time. And the Scriptures tell us that
it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. It pleased the Lord to make
His soul an offering for sin. The Lord laid on Him. Just like that Wideness of the
Abrasion Serpent, But their sin wasn't put on that brazen servant.
Our sin was charged by Lord Jesus Christ. Our ignorance, our rebellion,
our hatred, our enmity, everything that we had in us that's against
God, Christ took it to Himself. And if God wounded Him, He made his soul an offering
for what? Sin. Huh? And all sin and ignorance and
rebellion and the enmity that we have in our hearts against
God, it must be dealt with before there can ever be a new birth. Sin's got to be took care of.
It's got to be dealt with. The new birth, what it does,
it changes a man's heart. It brings him into a new relationship
with God, gives him a new nature with this new birth. And he,
beloved, he's got to have his sin dealt with before thou'lt
ever be a birth from above. And that's why Nicodemus said,
how can these things be? He said, I'm going to tell you
so you can understand it. And I'll tell you something,
beloved, John 3.16 is not the gospel. The Gospels in verse
14. That's the Gospel. The Gospels not in John 3.16. And
I know that's what the Gospels here in John 3.14. There's where
crisis lifted up. There's where sin was dealt with.
There's where God was honored. There's where justice was satisfied.
There's where the law was fulfilled. There's where the curse was bared.
That's where redemption was accomplished. And I'll tell you, beloved, that's...
And he said, you look back on what Moses did, and I'll tell
you what, just like they looked back and told them what Moses
did, we look to what Christ did. My sin was taken care of back
there 2,000 years ago. My faith didn't take care of
it. My prayers didn't take care of it. My sincerity didn't take
care of it. My tears didn't take care of it. Baptist bore the
flesh, all that will ever be is flesh. Christ put away my
sin 2,000 years ago and bore my sin in his own body on the
tree 2,000 years ago. The gospel came and told me what
Christ did for me. And that's why he goes on to
say, now listen, and then a revelation of this love. There's a revelation
of how God provides for us, but then there's a revelation of
the love of God here. In verse 16, for God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish." Now, listen to me. God so loved,
and the reason that he did is that he gave his only begotten
Son. Now, that's what he's talking about. He gave his Son to the
cross. This is telling why the gospel came. This is telling
why the gospel of Christ was come to be. This is the effect. John 3.14 is the effect of the
love of God. Christ on the cross is the effect
of the love of God. Huh? A blessed, glorious love
of God. And let me tell you something.
It's just so simple. It's just so simple. And that's
why our Lord said, I'm telling you earthly things here. God's
love is revealed in who He gave to redeem us. Who did He give
to redeem us? Who did he give to be lifted
up high? Huh? It says here, his only begotten
son. God had one son. Only one. Only one. God commendeth us love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ, Christ, Christ
died for us. He was delight of his father.
You read Proverbs chapter 8 and you'll see there that he daily
was the delight of his father. His father would look at him
and find such joy in him and rejoice in him and had such delight
in him as he walked and as he filled up heaven with his glory
before he ever came here. That glory that he had with the
father for the world was the father would just always rejoice
so in his son. Delighted so in his son. I'll
tell you, you know, you take these little babies and you just
sit and watch them and watch them and watch them, and they'll
grin a little, move a little, google a little bit like that,
and we just get enamored with them. That's the way we are when
it's flesh. Imagine what it is when it's
God. And, oh, beloved, because we're
enamored with our sons and our grandsons and our great-grandchildren,
imagine what God is with His sons. And he was always, he always
pleased his father. That means he always satisfied
him, always honored him. And he was, the scriptures tells
us, he was in the bosom of the father. So what does that mean?
That means the father held him in his heart, held him in his
bosom, held him tied, held him closed. This is the Son of my
love. This is the Son of my heart.
This is the Son of my soul. This is the Son of my... This
is Him. This is Him. And He held Him. And He was full. When He sent
Him here, He sent Him full. And He came full. Full. Completely full of grace and
truth. And all He told us is that He
came down from Heaven. And then it says here that God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. I tell
you, when He gave Him, do you know what He gave Him to? Gave
Him to a poor man's family. Gave Him to be born in a poor
man's family, in a poor man's stable. Gave Him to poverty. Gave Him to poverty. Poverty,
poverty. Gave him to where he had to work
like everybody else did. Gave him to this world as his
word. You gonna hear from God, you
gonna hear through me. Gave him to be hated, to be rejected,
to be despised. Gave him into the hands of men
to smite him, to pluck out his beard, and to crown his head
with thorns, and take his back and have his back beaten bloody
and raw gave him up to the devices of wicked men gave him up to
the curses of the law and then finally gave him up to the cross and then when he put him there
he turned his back on him And said, I'll cut out the lies so
nobody can see the awful suffering and agony you're going to go
through because of my justice and because I find sin to be
on you. Oh, beloved. And let me tell
you two reasons why he gave Christ to the cross. Gave him up. Gave his only begotten son, the
son of his love. The first reason, this is the
first reason. If you don't get anything else I say today, get
this. God crucified his son and put him on that cross. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. First, first, to satisfy himself. God's got to do something for
us before he'd never do anything. He got to do something for himself
before he'd never do anything for us. These people sinned. Well, how
in the world? The innocent must be put in the
place of the guilty. The sinless must be put in the
place of the sinful. The obedient one must be put
in the place of the disobedient. The righteous one must be put
in the place of the unrighteous. And so when God put His Son on
the cross, the reason that it got dark and the reason He pulled
down the curtains of heaven is He didn't want this world to
see what was going on in that dark hour, those three hours.
There our Lord Jesus Christ was facing the awful fierceness of
the wrath of God. And He tread that winepress alone. And the fire of God's wrath came
down on Him. This is the son that he loved.
But God hates sin. Sin must be punished. Justice
must be satisfied. God's holiness must be honored. God's righteous nature must be
satisfied. And why did he do all this? Because
he loved the world and set his son high. So he done it first to satisfy
himself, and the second reason was to redeem his people out
from under the curse of the law. To put away all their sin, once
and for all, by the sacrifice of Christ. And how could he do
that? He had to provide a substitute. A substitute. When God calls
me at the judgment, and then I'll tell you St. Christian's
5 says that we all shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
And when I stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and I'm before
God in judgment now, and I'll tell you right now, when I stand
before Him, I'll stand there before Him just exactly like
I stand right now in Christ. He was my substitute in death,
He's my representative in life, and He'll be my advocate before
the Father when it's all said and done. Huh? So He's my salvation
back yonder, He's my salvation now, and He'll be my salvation
at the end. That's what salvation is all
about. Let me tell you something else. So it's revealed in whom He gave
to redeem us, His only begotten Son. And God's love is revealed
in who it is that He loved. Look what it says here. For God
so loved the world. The world. Oh, my. Now, let me ask you something. What did John say was in the
world? The lust of the flesh? lust of the eyes and the pride
of life, and God gave His Son for that? Uh-huh. Oh, my. All that's in this world is the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Oh, my. You ain't never had any of that,
have you? You ain't never been like that, have you? You ain't
never had lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life. Uh-huh. And, oh, beloved, and then the
kind of people that were in the world When God passed by that
infant, cast out in Ezekiel 16, there he was, looked at that
infant, cast out to the loathing of his person. Loathing of his
person. His person was loathed. And he
had never been washed. He had never been swaddled. And
his cord was still stuck to his father, Adam. And God passed
by and saw that infant loathe him in his sight, saw it polluted
in its own blood. And you know what he said? Live. And you know when it was
that this time had come by when he saw it? Scripture said it
was the time of love. It came by in the time of love. And you know what he'd done with
that time of love? He said, you know, you're loathsome. I said,
I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to wash you. I'm going
to swallow you, and then I'm going to cover you. But it was a time of love. Is
that what he done to us? Loathsome, polluted, cast out,
and he came to us in the time of love, and he washed us, and
swallowed us, and covered us, and covered our nakedness, and
put jewels on us even." And he said, look, why, perfect in my
perfection. And not only was there a world
as lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, a world of people full
of hate, lust, lost and loathed and polluted, but a world of
lost sheep, a world of lost sinners, a world of people dead in sins,
alias from God. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. But this, this, this is the kind
of people that He came into this world to save. Look with me and
keep John 3. Look in Romans 8.32. Just a moment. Romans 8.32. You know, our Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to save
sinners, Paul said, I'm the chief. And all my, and everything that
I've said about the world, I have been and I am. Lest the flesh, lest the eyes
cry out. Polluted in my blood, united
to Adam. Nothing. Nothing to offer. Dead
in sin. Aliens from God. But God is love. God is love. And look what He
said here. Then I said in Romans 8.32, talking
about God gave His Son. Listen to this. He that spared
not his own son. They say, spare the rods for
the child. that all God didn't spare his
son. Whatever was necessary to satisfy
himself and to put away our sin, God held nothing back. He didn't spare him when he stood
before Herod. He didn't spare him when he stood
before the Pharisees. He didn't spare him from the
hatred and rejected. He didn't spare him when he stood
before Pilate. He didn't spare him when he was
hanging on the cross. He did not spare him. He said,
I can't. There never was a time when God
said, oh, I've got to make it easier. I've got to make it easier.
I've got to make it easier. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Father,
if it be possible, Let this cup pass from me. I can't spare you. If it would be possible. I can't spare you. Are you going to forsake me?
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? I can't spare you. I can't let up. Not a moment.
Not a moment until Sin is finally put away, and when Christ said,
it is finished, that was when it was over. Not till then. And now look with me over in
John. First John, chapter 4, real quick. I want you to see
this. You know, God's love came from
His very nature. God's so love that it came from
His very nature. John, chapter 4. You know, God's
love didn't begin in time. It began in eternity. And God's
love comes from His very nature. And you know, you see people
that say, boy, they seem so loving. They're so loving. Well, God
is love. Ain't that what it says here
in verse 16? John 4, And we have known and
believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. Not that God is
a God of love. God is love. He is love. It's His very nature. And where there's love, it must
be experienced. When you see people that you
love in trouble and need, roar you right there. Just Johnny
on the spot. When you see people you love hurting, you hurt. And all I said, God is love,
and God's love, that's His very nature. And where there's love,
it must be expressed. And then look what He says down
here in verse 9 of John chapter 4. And this, and this, and this
was manifested in the love of God. God so loved the world that
He gave. God manifested His love toward
us, as toward the world, the world of sinners. The world of
the people, the lust of flesh, the lust of the earth, toward
us. Because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world
that we might live, live, live through Him. Here it is, love. Not that we love God. We were those people in numbers.
Discouraged, murmuring, complaining. And oh, but Not that we love
God, but that He loved us. How do we know He loved us? He sent His Son. What did He
send Him to do? To be the perpetuation, the sacrifice,
the atoning victim for our sins. And bless His holy name. His
love didn't start in time. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love and with cords of a man. With Christ I've
drawn you. God, who is rich in mercy and
love, having predestinated us to the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to Himself. Having loved His own, He loved
them to the very end. Now, look back over in our text.
Let me show you the third revelation. First of all, we see how God
provided for us. He revealed to us Christ lifted
up, lifted up for sin. A revelation of God's blessed love.
And all the things that goes with that. Then he shows us the
way of life. He reveals to us the way of life.
He says in verse 15, it says, Moses lifted up that serpent
in the wilderness. Christ is going to be lifted
up. Now listen to it. That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. God loved the world, that
he gave his Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. This is the way of life. Christ
has been lifted up. He was lifted up because God
loved the world. And why did he lift him up? Why
did God love the world? He lifted him up that you believe
in him. Whosoever believes, now listen to it, in him. in Him,
in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Now, notice
here it says, whosoever believeth. Both places says, believeth.
Now, this believeth means that what you believe, it's not, you
know, you go back to fifteen years ago when you believed.
You believed. He that believeth continually,
believeth, believeth, believeth. Do you believe? And that's what
he said. It's a continuing belief that I believe, I shall believe.
Ah, but you know, most, I mean, Peter says, there's no other
name under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. And oh, listen,
listen, listen now. What a glorious, glorious word. When it says, whosoever. Oh,
that's a big word. Whosoever. Now, I'll tell you
what that means to me. That means that it includes me. It doesn't exclude you or me. There's no name given that says
whosoever. And our Lord, one of the things
that He commended several times was faith. He commended faith.
Great is thy faith. Great is her faith. No such faith
have I seen in all of Israel. And, beloved, He commended faith.
Now, let me tell you what faith is. Faith in His person. Faith
in His person. Not faith in what He did. Faith
in Him. Oh, faith in His person. Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. Faith in His power. Power to
put away sin. Power to save. Power to continue
to save you. Power to bring your sheep to
his cell. Power to pick you up out of the
wilderness and carry you all the way home. And then you have
faith in His work. Faith in His work. Look in Romans
10 with me just a moment. I hope I'm not taking too long.
I hope you're not getting Weary, but I tell you this, as I told
Mary this morning, I've got an awful good outline, if the Lord's
pleased to bless it. In Romans 10, look what it says
in verse 12. Oh my, faith in His person, faith
in His power, faith in His work. And I tell you what, you get
Christ, you get everything He did. You not only get Him, you
get everything He did. You get Him, His work, His person,
His presence, His power, His righteousness, His obedience,
everything that Christ is, you get. Huh? You get all of it. Look what he says in Romans 10,
12. He says there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
No difference between men or nation or anybody. For the same
Lord over all is rich. Now listen to this. Rich. I mean,
He'll bless you with wealth unto all that call upon Him. Now listen
to it now. For whosoever... Now see if that had names in
there, then we'd be in trouble. But whosoever Are you a whosoever shall call? Now, listen to it. The distinction's here upon the
name of the Lord should be saved. Well, how then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? You're going to call
on Christ if you don't believe Him? If you believe Him, are
you calling on Him right now? I call on Him. Oftentimes, all
I can say is, Lord, have mercy. And then Mary Boakwell around
says, Oh, Lord, have mercy. Lord, be merciful. That's all
we say sometimes. That's all we say. Sometimes
we go all day, and that's all that comes out of our mouth.
Either that or have mercy on the Lord. Thank you for your
mercy. And listen to this now. And how are you going to call
on Him if you have not believed Him? If you believe Him, are
you calling on Him? I believe Him. I'm calling. And how shall
they believe in Him? I'm telling you about Him right
now. Have you heard? He that is my voice shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. Thou that is coming and
now is with the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they shall hear. My sheep hear my voice. Do you
hear it? Do you hear it? Do you hear it? Oh, bless his name. And, O beloved,
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach except they be seen? Oh, do you believe? Do you hear
that voice? Do you believe or are you calling
on him? Oh, I believe somebody calling
on him right now. You hear and you call. You hear and you call. Huh? And, O beloved, listen,
let me go back over here in our text. Whosoever believeth in
him, O God, reveals this way of life, this way of salvation,
this way of being made a new creature. And our Lord said,
you know, you must be born again of being this way of life, this
way of salvation, of being made a new creature. This new birth
that God gives is threefold. Threefold. Let me show you what
happens when you believe all Christ and you come to him and
you believe him. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. He's saved from his present condemnation
right now. And that word condemned means
judgment. You know, they go and say, I
condemn you to life in prison. I condemn you to the electric
chair. That's the judgment passed on
a person. And God's judgment's passed on a person. And then
he said that believeth on him, God's judgment's gone. As far
as your conscience is going and your understanding is going.
And then it's not only that, but it's salvation from future
condemnation. There's no condemnation to them
which are in Christ. And that's why it says, shall
not perish. No, you'll never perish. Salvation
from future condemnation. You're brought into everlasting
life. Should not perish. And when it talks about perishing
here, it says you won't perish like the old world. You know,
the old world was overthrown with water, but Noah was saved.
You won't perish like the old world, but you'll be saved like
Noah was saved in the Ark, in Christ. You'll not perish like
the Sodomites perished, but have life like Lot, even
if God has to come and drag you out of Sodom. And He will. And
you'll not perish like that foolish builder who built his house on
the sand. But you'll have life like that wise builder who built
his house on the stone. You'll not perish like that rich
man, but you'll have life like Lazarus who was poor and the
dog licked his soul. You'll not perish, but you'll
have everlasting life. And where is this life at? It's
in Christ. You have Him, you have life.
You have Him. You have life. Christ who is
our life. Life. And then not only that,
but you'll have assurance of eternal life. Look what he says
there in verse 18. He said, He that believeth on
him is not condemned. Oh my. He's not condemned. And I tell you what, beloved,
no justification before God Believing in any work that you've ever
done, anything you've ever done, or any church you've ever went
to, any creed you believe in. Beloved, salvation and eternal
life is believing, trusting in Christ and Him alone. Huh? Paul said, I know, I know whom,
whom I have believed. Whom I have believed. Not a rest. You'll go home this afternoon,
most of y'all will, and after you ate dinner today, you'll
go home and you'll either get in bed or you'll get in your
chair, and in a little while, you'll relax and you'll go sleep. But you'll be relaxed. Now see,
when Christ fills you and He feeds you, you can just lay back
in Him and rest. Have you ever tried this with
your kids when they were really little? Put them up on some high
place or something and stand close to them and say, jump,
jump, jump. And they'll start, and they'll start, and they'll
start. And it takes them a while to trust you, but after a while,
they'll jump. Let me tell you something. If
you trust Christ, you'll jump. So long as you jump, fall over
in his arms. Huh? Trust me. Come on. Jump. Jump.
I'll catch you. I'll catch you. Listen. You fall into Christ's arms.
Just fall in them. He'll catch you. Huh? Just say, Lord, sink or swim,
here I come. And I'll Before God, I tell you
this, if you do that, Christ will catch you. He's already
got you for you, John. He's big enough to hold us all,
carry us all. Let's all just jump together. All right, let me give you the
last thing here. I know a revelation of the The provision in God's great
love, revelation of revealing of the way of life in Christ
through faith in Him, never perish, have everlasting life. But then
there's an awful revelation here of an awful, awful future and
prospect if you don't come to Christ. Look what he said in
verse 19. And this is the condemnation.
If you don't believe in Christ, This is the condemnation, that
light has come into this world. Light, light. Oh my, light. Turn on the light so I can see.
Light, where do you need light at? People that's in darkness.
But this light come into the world and make this an awful
condemnation of the human race. Men love darkness, would rather
live in the darkness. rather than light. And the reason
being, because they're deeply evil. They're sinful. Everything
they've done was evil. If I come out in the light, then
everybody see how evil I am, how wicked I am, how deceitful
I am, how loathsome I am. Look what he said in verse 20.
For everyone that doeth evil, sin, hates the light. You don't hate the light, do
you? Huh? Oh, you get up in the morning
and that sun this morning is so bright, so warm. You sit out there and you feel
that sun coming down on you. And you sit there and you say,
Oh, Lord, thank you. Oh, so glad to feel that. Mary
said, you know, bless her heart, she ain't got any hair. She sat
out there this morning and got that sun beat on her head. She
said it makes my head feel so good. Listen now. Oh, hates the light, neither
comes to the light. This is the reason they won't
come. You see, Christ is the light. He's the light. And those
who love spiritual death and not the spiritual life, oh my,
why won't they come to it? They say, everyone that doeth
evil hates the light, neither comes to the light. Here's the
reason. Because if you do, they'll have to admit that my deeds were
evil, and you don't want them discovered. Oh, God help us. What could you
keep from Him? And look what He says there in
verse 20. Why won't you come to the light?
You don't want to be reproved. You want to be discovered. Oh,
my, because their deeds were evil. But now look what He says
in verse 21. But he that does truth comes
to the light. That his deeds may be made manifest
that God brought this in me. God changed my nature. He gave
me a new heart. He gave me a new birth. Now my
deeds, I don't care if He inspects them or where He looks at them,
because God done these things for me. And I don't care if He
looks at them and sees them. And let me show you, let me close
out with Psalm 139, and I'm done. Psalm 139, and verse 23. May this be your prayer today.
May it be mine. Oh, Lord Jesus, save your people,
save your people. That's what our Lord Nicodemus,
you know, he that loves the truth, he told Nicodemus the truth,
and he made it in very, very understandable And guess what? Nicodemus came and stood up for
him. I believe Nicodemus was saved
by the grace of God. But look what he said here in
verse 23. Psalm 139. Talking about our deeds were
evil, come to the light. That our deeds were all in God.
Search me, O God. Know my heart. Try me. Try me, and know my thoughts. Break out the light, just break
me right out into the light, and see, see in my heart, see
in my thoughts, and if there is any wicked way in me, in my
thoughts and in my heart, lead me, lead me from them in the
way of everlasting life. Are you in the light? Our gracious, gracious Father
in Heaven, thank You for Your Word, thank You for Your Gospel,
thank You for the truth as it is in Christ. The Gospel overwhelms
Oh, it just fills my heart. Gives me such peace, such joy,
such comfort, such strength. Good blessing to the hearts of
him here today. Lord, I know like you told, Paul
told Festus, I know you believe, I know you believe. And Lord, I know there are people
here who believe. God bless them, strengthen and
encourage them. Make Christ precious to us who
believe. Make Him precious to our hearts,
our faith, our lives, our understanding, our love. Make Him precious to
us. In His blessed and holy name
I pray. Amen. Amen.