Sitting here, I think I may finally
have realized why that song is so special. That lays me low. I mean, lays
me low. How much I owe. Now I'm ready
to worship. Once I'm laid low, now we can
worship. May the Lord be pleased to do
that for us this morning. Turn back to John chapter 15. I'd like to begin my message
this morning with a statement that would shock most people
in the world. All men, by nature, hate God. All men, without exception,
by nature, hate God's Christ. Now, you who have been born again
know what I said just says true. All men hate Christ. And all
men who are not born again will disagree with me, but it's so.
All men by nature hate Christ. Now, they certainly don't hate
the Jesus of their imagination, but they hate the Lord Jesus
Christ declared in the Holy Scriptures. Now, we want to know what the
truth of the matter is. We always go to Scripture. So
what does the Scripture say about this? Well, the Old Testament
tells us very plainly that men will hate Christ when He appears. He is despised and rejected of
men. He is despised and we esteem
him not. Psalm 41, verse 9. My known familiar
friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted
up his heel against me. That's the Old Testament. As
soon as our Lord Jesus appeared in the New Testament, he was
hated. Herod immediately began to try
to destroy the child Jesus. And he killed every child under
two years old in an attempt to kill him. He hated him. The crowd
who heard our Lord's first public message tried to kill him as
soon as he finished. And they chased after him his
whole earthly ministry. Eventually they beat him, they
tortured him, they crucified him and mocked him while he suffered.
Because they hated him. The only reason you do that to
somebody is you hate them. And what they did, we did. I
know we're not alive 2,000 years ago, but we've got the same nature
that they had. And by nature, we hate Christ
just as much with the same burning hatred that they did. Now, here's
a good question. Why? Why do men hate the Lord
Jesus? If everybody hates Him, surely
there's a reason that we hate Him. Surely there's a good reason
if everybody hates Him, right? Look at verse 25 in our text
of John chapter 15. But this cometh to pass that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. We read
it to open our service. They hated me without a cause. Men hate Christ without any reason. No reason found in him whatsoever. The Lord Jesus Christ is perfect. He's holy. He's righteous. He's kind. He's gracious. He
only did perfect, good, kind, gracious things, things that
help people. But man is so sinful. Our nature
is so vile that we hate Christ, even though He never did anything
but good. And Scripture gives us a few reasons why men hate
Christ. And all these reasons are faults
found in us, not in Him, but in us. First, men hate Christ
because of what He says in His Word. Verse 22, John chapter
15. If I had not come and spoken
unto them, they had not had sin. But now they have no cloak. They
have no excuse for their sin. Now, all men are sinners. Our
Lord says, if I had not come and spoken unto them, they had
not sinned. All men are guilty of sin whether they have heard
God's word or not. What our Lord is saying is, he
came unto his own. He came unto the religious world,
the Jews, and they rejected him. because of what he said. What
he said. They hated him because of what
he said. What our Lord said revealed the
truth to them. It revealed the truth about men
and the truth about God, and it revealed their hatred. Our
Lord told them, and He tells us in His Word, all men are sinners. And He's the only Savior. The
only hope of salvation we have is in Him. He told us who we
really are. And we hate Him for it. Because
we don't like to have our ugliness revealed. We don't like to have
the depths of our depravity revealed. And by His words, He revealed
what we are. And when these Jews did not repent,
when they did not beg Christ for mercy, He showed them who
they are. And they didn't beg for mercy. They're left without
excuse. Men hate Christ because men hate
the truth about God, the truth about themselves, and the truth
about Christ that's revealed in God's Word. Now I'm going
to give you a few examples. Look first at Luke chapter 4. I made reference to this a moment
ago. This is our Lord's first public message. Men hate Christ
because in God's word and what he said, he declared that God
is sovereign in salvation. And you and I are completely
dependent on God to save us because there's nothing good in us that
make us deserve for God to save us. We are completely dependent
on Him to do it. He is sovereign in salvation.
Luke 4, verse 24, And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet
is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth. Many
widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias
sent. save unto Sarepta a city of Sidon, a Gentile city, unto
a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of the licest of the prophet, and none of them
was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, hatred,
and rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him under
the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they
might cast him down headlong." Now, do you mean to tell me this
is what had to be going through their mind that morning? Do you
mean to tell me that God passed by all these nice Jewish widows
and he sent his prophet and he sent food when nobody else had
a prophet, when nobody else had food, that God sent it to a Gentile
woman and passed by, rejected all the Jewish widows? That's
what God's Word says, isn't it? I mean, this shouldn't have been
news to them. This is what God's Word says. Now, in today's language,
it would go like this. You mean to tell me God would
pass by all these fine, church-going Americans and he'd save a harlot? He'd pass by all these fine Christians
and he'd save someone who's never tithed, who's never witnessed
for Jesus? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Because that's what
God's Word says. God says He saves whom He will. And God's Word says He saves
sinners. God doesn't save good people. God saves sinners. Matter of fact, God only saves
the chief of sinners. You're here this morning. God
saved you. You think you're the chief of sinners. As I'm saying
that, I think I'm the chief of sinners. Whoever's sitting next
to you thinks they're the chief of sinners because God only saves
the chief of sinners. And Naaman's the perfect illustration
of that. Not only did God pass by all
the Jewish lepers in that day, God sent His prophet to heal
one leper, not just a Gentile, a Syrian. And not just a Syrian
who's the enemy of Israel, who at that time was oppressing Israel,
had their boot on the throat of Israel, but God sent His prophet
to heal the captain of the army. of Syria, the chief of the army,
the chief of sinners. You know why God healed Naaman,
of all people, Naaman? Because God says the chief of
sinners. And all of our good deeds and our religious heritage
and our background will not help us one bit. All of our religious
background does not make us any more savable. None of our religious
doings and background makes us any more savable than Charles
Manson. Is that so? Does that offend
you? That's so. I bet Charles Manson
had nothing on those Syrians, name and the captain of them.
You see, mercy is a gift. Mercy is not a reward. It's something
that you deserve. It's a gift. And God said, I'll
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I'll show mercy to
whom I will show mercy. Because God's sovereign in salvation.
And men hate Christ for that. They hate it. They hate him so
much they tried to throw him off a cliff. Now who are we talking
about here that took our Lord to the brow of that hill? It's
religious people. These are the devout religious
people who would never miss a Sabbath day in the temple. So filled
with hatred to hear that God's sovereign in salvation, they're
going to throw a man off a cliff, take him out of the temple. on
the Sabbath day and throw him off a cliff. And religious men
today are no different. They hate Christ. Now they can't
get their hands on him and throw him off the cliff, but they reject
him and they reject his gospel just the same because all men
by nature hate God who is sovereign in salvation. And that's what
God's Word says. Second, men hate Christ because
he elected a people. Christ said God elected a people. Look in John chapter 10. And John 10 verse 26, but you
believe not because you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you,
my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. And we'll read down here in a
minute. Just a few verses later, they took him and tried to kill
him because what Christ said is he didn't come save everybody.
He only came to save his elect. Now, on the surface, the Jews
agreed with that because they thought they were the elect.
They thought being a physical descendant of Abraham made them
elect. But when our Lord explained exactly
what election means, they hated him for it. Our Lord explained
that God elected sinners to salvation. Not good people, not because
they did anything to deserve it. God chose sinners. If God
waited for somebody to do something to deserve his election, he never
chose anybody. God chose a people even though
they didn't deserve it. God always and only saves sinners
by free, sovereign grace. It's because of His electing
love. All the reasons are found in Him. None of them are found
in us. And men hate that. They hate
that God elected a people to save. And they hate that those
people that God chooses are sinners. They hate that they cannot earn
the right to be saved. And the only way anybody can
believe that is if God elected them. All people that God has
elected unto salvation believe. They believe when they hear the
gospel. Our Lord told them, you don't believe what I'm telling
you. You don't believe my word because I didn't choose you.
And they got so angry, they tried to kill him. Third, men hate
Christ because of what he said. He said he's God. Look down at
verse 30 of John chapter 10. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. Now, Jesus of Nazareth is God. He's not someone that looks like
God. He's not someone who appeared to be like God. Jesus of Nazareth
is God. He told them another place, I
am. And when he said, I am, you know
exactly what he meant. They did. He meant that he was
the one that spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Well, I thought
God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. He did, in the person of
Jesus Christ. That man standing in front of
them said, I am, telling them he is eternal God. And when our
Lord told these religious people that he's God, they wanted to
kill him. They took up stones to stone
him. In verse 32, Jesus answered them, many good works have I
showed you from my Father, for which of these works do you stone
me? The Jews answered him, saying, for good work we stone thee not.
Heal and do all these things all you want, but for blasphemy,
because of what you said, because of your word, because of thou
being a man, makest thyself God. Now, here's why men hate Christ
for saying he's God. They hate Christ because he is
God for this reason. If Jesus Christ is God, then
he's sovereign. If Jesus Christ is God, he's
sovereign. As a matter of fact, He can choose
whom He will to save. He can be gracious to whom He
will be gracious if He's God. And if Jesus Christ is God, we
must bow to Him. We must bow to the man, Christ
Jesus, and we must beg that man for mercy. If Jesus Christ is
God, we've got to get in the dust before Him and worship Him.
And Him alone. Because He's God. And men hate
that. They just won't humble themselves
to do that. They hate him for it. Fourth,
men hate Christ because he said, of what he said, that salvation's
all in him and through union with him and not through all
your ceremonies. Look back at John chapter 6. John 6 verse 35. This is when our Lord's been talking
to them about the manna. They just come to Him because
they want another free meal. In verse 35, Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to Me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. But
I said unto you that ye also have seen Me, and you believe
not. The only way you'll have life,
is what our Lord is telling them, is if you eat Me. If you have
Christ formed in you, that's the only way you'll have life.
Look down at verse 47. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
this eating and believing is the same thing. He that believeth
on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your
fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead.
See, those religious ceremonies and traditions and all those
things didn't help them a bit. They had the manna and they're
dead. But this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that
a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which
came down from heaven. If any man eat this bread, if
he believes me, he shall live forever. And the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world."
The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this
man give us his flesh to eat? And Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink his blood, You have no life in you. You cannot
have eternal life if you do not have union with Christ. If you're
not in him and if he's not formed in you. Whoso eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I'll raise him up at
the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and
my blood is drink indeed. This is the real flesh, the meat
of life and the drink of life. It's Christ, his body and his
blood. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him." That's salvation. Well, the Jews said, I'm not
going to have that. And many left Him after that time. In
chapter 7, verse 1, after these things, Jesus walked in Galilee
for He would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill
Him. They sought to kill Him because
He told us salvation is not in our religious ceremony. Salvation
is not in our religious history. Salvation is in Christ alone,
through union with Christ alone. And men hate Christ for that.
Because if salvation is in Christ alone, that means I am a totally
depraved sinner who can't do anything to save myself. I can't
even contribute anything to my salvation. I'm completely helpless. I'm completely dependent on Christ
to save me. All of my religious heritage,
you know, my grandparents and my parents and me, we've been
in church every Sunday and every Wednesday for the last 150 years. You mean that doesn't do me any
good? No, sir. It's good for you to be in service
to hear the word of God, but God's not impressed with our
attendance. He's not impressed with our religious heritage.
You mean none of that will even help save me? Distinguish me
from this fellow down here who's just a heathen? Not in the least. I must have Christ or else I
die. I must have Christ or I'm going
to die eternally. And men hate that. They hate
Christ for his word. The message is found in God's
word that tells us who Christ is, that he's all of salvation
and we're nothing. Secondly, men hate Christ because
of his works. Look back in our text, John 15,
verse 24. They hate him for his words and
they hate him for his works. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But
now have they both seen and hated, both me and my Father. Now the
works that our Lord did showed this. It showed that all man's
works are evil. We don't know our works are evil
until we see our works compared to the perfect work of Christ.
Oh, then I see my works of righteousness are filthy rags, but not before. Not until I see my works compared
to the perfect work of Christ. If you look back at John chapter
7, we see this in John 7. He says it plainly in verse 7. He says, the world cannot hate
you, but me it hateth. And he's not speaking to believers
there, he's talking to those who are of the world. The world
can't hate you, you're just like them. But me it hateth, because
I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. Now look over
at John chapter 5. How does he testify of it that
the works thereof are evil? Well, it is by his words, but
it's also by his works standing in comparison to our works. Now
here in John chapter 5, this is after our Lord has healed
that impotent man. Remember, he is laying there
by the pool and all these sick people are laying around it.
When the water was troubled, the first person that got into
the water would be healed. Well, this impotent man, he can't
help himself. He can't get to the water when the water is troubled.
He's dependent on somebody else. And our Lord came and healed
him. Now look at John 5 verse 15. And the man departed, and told
the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. And therefore
did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because
he had done these things on the Sabbath day." How horrible. But
Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill him, because he had not only broken the Sabbath,
but he also said that God was his Father, making himself equal
with God. They hated our Lord. because
of what his works said. A man hates Christ because only
Christ can heal our spiritual diseases. When our Lord healed
that man, they finally understood what he was saying by his works
of healing that man. Only Christ can heal our spiritual
diseases. He said another time, which is
harder? To forgive sin or say, take up
your bed and walk? Well, he forgiven his sin, now
he told him to take up your bed and walk. That gift of healing
that He did showed He's God. And only Christ can heal all
of our spiritual diseases. Only Christ can forgive sin.
And if only Christ can forgive sin. If only Christ has the power
to heal all of our spiritual diseases, then we're dependent
on Him. We're dependent on Christ through
all the work of salvation. He's going to save whom He will
when he will, even if it means violating our Sabbath day, because
he's God. And men hate Christ for that.
They hate Christ because his works clearly show he's God.
Only God could do the works he did. No other man did these things.
No other man could heal and raise the dead and control the weather
and create food. Only God can do that. And men
hate Christ because his works Show us our works are filthy
rags. Our works will never get the
job done. We're depending on His work for
us. The only righteousness a sinner can ever have is the work of
righteousness found in our Lord Jesus Christ. If His righteousness
is not imputed to us, we'll have no righteousness. And men hate
Christ for that. They hate it. And their hatred
of Christ extends to the whole family of God. Look back in our
text. In John 15, verse 23. He that hateth me, hateth my
Father also. Now, it is impossible to love
God and hate Christ. It's impossible to love the Father
and hate the Son that the Father sent to be the Savior. Now, anyone
who hates Christ, and the Word says he's the express image,
the exact image of the Father. Anyone who hates the express
image of the Father hates the Father too. Understand the reason? And here's where this hatred
is seen. This hatred of Christ is not seen just standing and
shaking your fist and yelling up to the heavens, I hate you.
That's not worth seeing. The hatred of Christ, the hatred
of the Father is seen when we do not worship Christ. If we're
not worshiping Christ, we hate him. It's not that we're indifferent. We hate him. Indifference to
Christ is hatred of who he is, and it's hatred of the Father.
So if anyone hates the Father and the Son, they're going to
hate all of his people, too. They're going to hate all the
children. The world hates the children of God because they're
united to Christ. If you're united to the one the
world hates, they're going to hate you, too. That's what he
says in verse 18. If the world hates you, you know
it hated me before it hated you. And the world hated Christ first,
so it's just natural. that the world's going to hate
anyone who believes Christ. You know, the world hates Christ,
so they're going to hate anyone who identifies themselves with
Christ. They hate the Word of God, and
they're going to hate you if you believe the Word of God.
Men hate God who's sovereign, and they hate people who love
and worship the sovereign God. If you don't believe me, go to
work tomorrow morning. Get people around the water cooler.
and tell them, you know, I've been watching this business over
there in the Middle East, this ISIS. Do you know the devil is
not making ISIS do that? God did. God just removed His
restraints from them, and ISIS, you know what they're doing?
They're accomplishing the will and purpose of God, because God's
sovereign. Try it out. Men will hate you for it. They
hate God who's sovereign. And they hate anyone who loves
and worships a sovereign God. Men hate Christ and His righteousness. And they hate people who hate
their own works and love and trust only in the work of Christ
for all of their righteousness and redemption. Men hate the
works of Christ and they hate the works of those who believe
in Christ. What do you mean by that? Men
hate the works of Christ and they hate the works of those
who believe in Christ. You mean they hate me if I give
to the poor or, you know, there's a flood somewhere and I help
put sand in sandbags or, you know, I go visit the sick and
those who are in prison if I can. They hate me. No, they don't
hate those works. The work they hate, the work men by nature
hates, the work of faith, believing Christ, the work of doing no
work, but trusting only in Christ. That's the work that the world
hates. Look at 1 John chapter 3. Let's see if this isn't so. 1 John 3. Verse 12. Not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, slew his brother, and wherefore slew him. Why did
he kill his brother? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous. How did he know his works were
evil? Because he saw his works in comparison to the works of
his brother, which was the work of faith. Abel's work was the
work of faith. And he showed that because he
trusted in the finished work and sacrifice of Christ. He was
trusting Christ alone. You know how I know that? He
brought a lamb. He brought what God commanded,
a blood sacrifice. That's how God's going to be
worshipped. Cain brought his own work. And men today still
hate believers for trusting only in Christ, worshiping only Christ,
and trusting only His work. The world hates believers because
you're a living testimony to the grace and mercy of God. And
they hate it. And they're going to hate you
for it. And again, this is the religious world we're talking
about now. It's good religious upright moral people are the
people who hate Christ and hate His people. Look back in our
text, verse 21. But all these things that they
do unto you, they're going to persecute you and hate you and
they're going to cast you out of the synagogue. They're going
to excommunicate you. They're going to do all these
things unto you for my namesake. Now, how can they do that for
the name of Christ, the name of your Savior? They know the
name of your Savior. They know the name Jesus. They
know the name Christ, but they don't know the person of Christ. They don't know the person of
Christ. They know his name, but since
they don't know his person, they don't know his will and they
don't know his way. That's why they're doing these
things to you in my name, because they know not him that sent me.
The religious world hates the believer more than The rest of
the world is not religious, it doesn't claim any religion whatsoever,
because of what we declare. Our message declares who Christ
is. By our words, by our message,
by the gospel that we preach, we declare who God is, who Christ
is. And by our actions, we declare
who Christ is. By living a life of faith, looking
to Him and trusting only in Him. And the religious world sees
that and hates it. They hate you and they'll persecute
you in the name of religion. Now I can tell you, this is a
very, very religious world. I can tell you who it is. You
won't find anybody that says, I hate Jesus. Nobody's going
to say that. But I can tell you how we know
who loves Christ and who hates Christ. I can tell you. It's
by how they react to the gospel. how they react to what the Word
says, who he really is. Look at verse 20. You remember
the words I said unto you. The servant's not greater than
his Lord. Don't you be expected to be treated better than the
Lord. You're just a servant. If they persecuted me, they'll
also persecute you. And if they've kept my saying,
they'll keep yours too. If they have believed my saying,
they'll believe your message and they'll be one with you.
You see, to believe Christ And to believe his gospel is to love
him. And to not believe the gospel just reveals our hatred of Christ.
If you don't believe Christ, it's not just that you think
he's, you know, it doesn't really matter. This is something that's
not important. If you think Christ is unimportant, you hate him. You hate his work. You can't
be indifferent. If you just think he's unimportant,
it's hatred. The only reason you don't believe
the gospel is you hate Christ. And if you believe the gospel,
it's because you love Christ. The gospel declares who He is.
Now what's the difference then? All men by nature hate Christ. So what's the difference? Here's
these folks that love Christ and here are these ones that
hate Him. What's the difference? God made the difference in divine
election. If we love the Lord, it's because He loved us first.
Isn't that right? He chose us and He made Himself
known to us. And if we know Him, we'll love
Him. Look at verse 19. This is what our Lord says. If
you're of the world, if you're just like the world, the world
will love His own. But because you're not of the world. But
I've chosen you out of the world. I've elected you and chosen you
out of the world. That's why the world hates you.
God has chosen His people out of the world. To make them different
from the world. The elect are different. They
have a different God than the world. They love different things
than the world loves. They have different goals than
the goals of the world. The elect have a different nature
than the world. Because God gave them a new nature
and a new birth. And men hate anyone that's different
from them. I mean, just find any difference.
Boy, that's why they hate them. Because if they're different.
And God's election made a difference. Isn't that right? God said, I'm
going to do this to show I made a difference between Israel and
Egypt. I made a difference. And the
world hates you for it. Now, I know this has been kind
of dark up to now, but I've got some good news. Get a hold of
your seat. God's eternal purpose is to save His elect. That purpose
is going to stand. We looked at that Wednesday night.
God's going to save His elect through the blood and the righteousness
of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's God's purpose. But
we're born hating Christ without a cause. Now, if we hate Christ
without a cause, that shows us there's nothing good in us. He's
perfect and holy and wonderful. Well, if we hate Him, then there's
nothing good or wonderful or righteous in us at all. We're
totally depraved. All we are is sin. Then if we're
going to be saved, it has to be without a cause. Without any
reason found in us at all. Since we hate Christ without
a cause, if God's going to save us, it's going to have to be
without any cause in us. Now look at Romans chapter 3.
The word, the phrase that our Lord used here, without a cause,
is normally translated into scripture freely. And that's how God saves his
people. That's how Christ came to save his people. He came to
save them freely. Romans 3, verse 23. Here's us, for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Well, then there's no hope
in us. There's no reason to expect God
to save us. There's no reason to expect God
would be merciful to us because we've sinned and we've come short
of the glory of God. There's nothing but sin in us.
There's no goodness in us. So if we're going to be saved,
it's got to be without a cause. Look at verse 24. Being justified
freely. And that word freely is the exact
same word our Lord used, without a cause. Being justified without
a cause. Being justified freely by his
grace. through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. Nowhere is boasting then. It's
excluded. By what law? Of works? No, by
the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith, freely by faith, without the deeds of
the law. By nature, we hate Christ without
a cause, but Christ saves his people by his grace the exact
same way. It's by grace, freely, without
a cause. If you look at Revelation 21,
this is the words of Christ to his people. save you freely, without a cause,
without any cause found in you. Revelation 21, verse 5, And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful. Yeah, I thought I was in the
wrong place. I'm sorry. These words are true and faithful.
He said unto me, it's done. I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. Without a cause. Without a cost
and without a cause. Are you thirsty? You know, the
only reason we're thirsty is because there's a lack of something
in us. There's no good in me. I have none whatsoever. I have
no righteousness, no hope. I'm empty. That makes me thirsty.
Then our Lord says, come drink freely. You don't have to find
a cause in you to come to Christ. Come and drink freely. And this
is the message of the Spirit, the message of the church. And
when we preach the gospel, look over page of Revelation 22, verse
17. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will. No restrictions. Whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. Without a cause. I know there's
no reason for God to save you. But come. Come. And drink freely. Without a cause. The water of
life. And yet this points us to the
necessity of the new birth. The fact that we hate Christ
without a cause shows us the necessity of the new birth. We'll
never come till we're born again. We'll never know we're thirsty
till we're born again. And I have to be born again.
My nature is so evil and so wicked. God the Holy Spirit is going
to have to make me be born again. And he's going to have to give
me a new nature. HB, he can't influence that old
nature, can he? He can't influence it at all. It's gone. It's dead
in sin and hates God and cannot be influenced to love God. I
need a new nature. A nature that loves Christ and
will come to Him. And that's the nature the Spirit
gives in the new birth. And God's done that work of grace
in your heart. He's given you a new heart and
a new nature. You don't hate Christ anymore.
You love Christ with all of that new heart that God's given you.
You love Christ so much, you don't want anything but Him.
You won't have anything but Him. You won't have another message
but the message of Christ. Now the mark of the followers
of Satan is hate. And the mark of the followers
of Christ is love. And if God's done a work of grace
in your heart, you love what you once hated. You love what
the world hates. You love the Word of God. God
sends his servant to open the Word of God and preach the Word
to you. Not preach the church's historical
doctrine and these things, but when they preach the Word, you
love it. You love that God's sovereign.
You love that Christ the Savior is sovereign because you know
you cannot be saved by anyone except the sovereign Savior.
You love that Christ saves the chief of sinners. Because you
know that's the only way you can be saved, is if Christ saves
the chief of sinners. You love that God elected a people.
If God's done a work of grace in your heart, you love that
God elected a people. Because you know you're so rotten,
you never would have chosen God. I need God to choose me. That's
why I love His electing law. If God's done a work of grace
in your heart, you love the fact that Christ is God. You love that. I'm so thankful
that Christ is God, that Jesus of Nazareth is God, because only
God can save me. Only the righteousness of God
can make me righteous. Only the blood of God can put
my sin away. Only the power of God can save
me. I love to hear Jesus of Nazareth
is God. I need my Savior to be God. If
God's going to work a grace in your heart, you love The salvation
is all in Christ. You love to hear that salvation
is all in his work for you and not in any of your works at all.
You love that because you know your works are evil and his are
righteous and that lets you rest in him. Christ is going to have
to save me by his work alone without any works of mine because
I don't have any. I love to hear salvation is all
in Christ. And men hate Christ. And they
hate the believers who are still living in the world. Look back
in our text quickly. Our Lord says, Be of good cheer.
I've overcome the world. The world hates you. But I'm
going to send you comfort. Verse 26. But when the comforters
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of truth which was received from the Father, he shall testify
of me. And he also shall bear witness,
because you've been with me from the beginning. Christ says, I'm
going to send the Comforter to you. Well, how does the Holy
Spirit comfort the hearts of His people? Well, our Lord says,
by testifying of Christ. That's what He's going to do.
The Comforter testifies of Christ. He tells us of Christ. Would you be a comfort to God's
people who are in times of trouble? Would you be comfort to a sinner
who's seeking the Savior? Would you like to give them some
comfort? Tell them of Christ. Testify
to them of Christ. That's how God comforts the hearts
of His people. By pointing us to Christ. Telling
us who He is. What He did. Why He did it. And
where He is now. And our hearts will be comforted
when we hear of Christ. And the world will hate us. The
world will hate us. We're going to tell others. We
will tell others about Christ. And the world will hate us. But
that's alright. God's children will love us. And our hearts
will be comforted together as we speak of Christ. He is our
salvation. He saved us freely without any
cause found in us. Wayne, what could be more comforting
than that? Nothing. Alright, let's bow in prayer.
Our Father, oh how we thank you that despite who and what we
are, you loved us without a cause. That you chose a people and put
them in your Son without any cause, no reason found in us
at all. And despite our hatred of your
blessed Son, He gave Himself to be the sacrifice
for our sin without a cause. And that we're accepted in the
Beloved without any cause except Him. in His person, in His work,
in His blood, in His righteousness. Father, I pray that You would
apply Your Word to our hearts, this blessed, glorious truth
that we're justified freely in Your grace, in the person and
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless Your Word to our hearts
and for Your glory, we pray. Amen.