I was reading the gracious words
written in the bulletin about it being a privilege to have
me today. I can assure you that the privilege
is mine. It certainly is. I love this
church. I love your pastor. I love your
pastor's wife. And I commend you men that the
Lord has raised up here keep this work going, and it's a labor
of love. And I'm thankful. I pray for
you often, and I'm so thankful that the Lord has blessed you. You know, over the years, I've
seen a lot of billboards and bumper stickers and people holding
signs that simply read John 316. Just this past week, I saw a
man on a busy intersection holding a sign, and most of the time
when you see that, it says, I'll work for food or whatever, but
this fella just had John 316 on his sign. And I was thinking
as I saw that, most people in this world, including a multitude
of churchgoers, had no idea what John 316 means. Men who call themselves preachers
have taken John 3.16 and made our Lord's words the Arminian
theme song. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe
it in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And many
see nothing but the free will, the decision, and the choice
of man in that verse. They claim that salvation is
accomplished by their choosing or at least them collaborating
with an inferior God. And if you can collaborate with
God on your salvation, He's no God at all. The God you're worshiping
is no God at all. Did you know what I see in those
words, John 3, 16? By the way, you can turn to John
3 if you like. You probably figured that out
already. What I see in these words, I
see the love, I see the mercy, and I see the grace of God and
the salvation of His elect people in the Lord Jesus Christ. Others
see that God loves the whole world, and they believe that
Christ died for everyone in the world, but both can't be so. Both can't be so. So what is
the Lord teaching us in this verse, or in these verses, I
should say, found in John chapter 3? A child of God sees God's
sovereignty and the salvation of His people. God chose to save
a people before the foundation of the world. And you know, that
is just precious to me. Why? Because before you and I
had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, the purpose
of God, according to election might stand. It's not of him
that willeth, it's not of him that worketh. It's of God that
showeth mercy. God in His time of love is going
to save each one of these elect out of the world. So for just
a few minutes this morning, let's observe the words of our Lord
and ask the Holy Spirit to again show us the gospel of Christ
and Him crucified. John chapter 3, look at first
at verse 14. Our Lord did not say the Son
of Man shall be lifted up. It says the Son of Man must be
lifted up. We see something right there
of our desperate need before God. If the demands of God's
holy justice are going to be met and are going to be satisfied,
If our sin is going to be put away, and if God's elect are
going to be saved, Christ must die. Amen? In verse 14, here
we see the remedy for our sin. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man,
must. We lift it up. In verse 15, we
see the result of Christ being lifted up on the cross. Whosoever
believes on Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life. So we can deduct from that, if
He was not lifted up on the cross to die for us, well, there would
be nothing for us to believe. There would be nothing for us
to trust Him. Then in verse 16, we find the
reason. Our salvation was provided by
love, for God so loved. You know, when I just stop and
think about that sometimes, I'm overwhelmed. First and foremost,
because I know God's revealed to me what I am. And to think
that God Almighty, perfectly holy and righteous, would love
one such as me, it's overwhelming. But friends, He only loves us
in Christ. He only loves us in the Lord
Jesus. Our salvation is of the Lord. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him,
this is all about Him, has everlasting life. Secondly, I would like
for you to notice the tense of God's love. For God so loved
He's always loved His people. He's always loved them. His love is an everlasting love. It's a love without beginning. It's a love without end. And I'd have you to notice the
magnitude of God's love. God so loved. He so loved. He loved so much. You know when
two people are in love, They often say to each other, I love
you so much. Stressing how much they love
one another. Yet our love doesn't even begin
to compare to God's love. God infinitely loved His Son
and His people in His Son. They are in the world. They are
dead in trespasses and sin. They cannot come. They will not
come. Yet God loves His Son so much
that He gave His Son to those before the foundation of the
world. What did He give? He gave His only begotten Son.
The thing that was most precious to Him. And that's the message
of the Bible. God gave. God gave. Oh, I grow tired of hearing men
in churches talking about all they do for God and never say
anything about what God's done for sinners. Well, when God shows
you that, He showed you something. What is the glory of God? That
He gave His only begotten Son to do for you what you could
never, ever do for yourself. I can't keep God's law perfectly. If I'm guilty in one point of
the law, I'm guilty in all of it. I'm guilty of all of it. God gave. It's impossible for us to pay
our own sin debt. And it's impossible for us to
provide only the perfect righteousness that God will accept. How are
we going to obtain it? Just one way. The Lord Jesus
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That covers it,
doesn't it? He's the way. He's the truth. And He's the life. And then the
Lord Jesus added this, and no man, no woman, no body cometh
to the Father but by Him. God's love in Christ is an infinite
love. Someone asked Brother Mahan one
time years and years ago, he said, do you believe in once
saved, always saved? And he kind of cocked his head
a little bit and he said, it all depends on who saved you.
If God saves you, once saved, always saved. I'm so glad that
God does the saving, aren't you? Yes, I am. Greater love hath
no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends,
John 15, 13. Then I want you to consider for
a moment the scope of God's love. God so loved the world. God's love was not limited to
the Jews only, but Christ by His own blood redeemed us to
God out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
The reason men and women today don't believe that salvation
is of the Lord is that preachers have made God equal or less than
man. So God does His part and man
does his. Well, that's a terrifying thought
to me. Because my part is filthy rags,
and God won't accept it. My, my. It's here that we see
the nature of God's love. God's soul love that He gave. You see, real love, true love,
always, always seeks the interest and well-being of its object.
I remember when I first became a pastor, I confided in Brother
Don quite a bit. I remember calling him one time
before I became a pastor, and I said, I've got a lot of people
that have called me and want me to preach funerals. I said,
but I just had someone call me and ask me if I can marry them.
And Don said in that voice of his, he said, buddy, you can
marry them, but you can't marry them. But when I did start performing
marriage ceremonies, I used Brother Don's outline. He always said that, love always
gives, it never takes. God so loved that He came. Isn't that an amazing thought? You see, the nature of God's
love. God gave the greatest gift. He gave His only begotten Son. In God's love, we see His sacrificial
character. God not only gave His only begotten
Son, His only begotten Son gave His life. And I hope that never
becomes cliche with us, you know, because God Himself became a
man. And He died on a cross to put
His people's sin away. God not only gave Christ His
Son, but God gave His Son to die the death of a criminal on
a cross, because that's exactly what you and I are. We're repeat offenders of God's
holy law. And the soul that sins, it shall
die. and the wages of sin is death. Men and women have convinced
themselves to take cold credit with God. How can that be when
it was God Himself who came and died in the believing sinner's
room instead? But do you know what the true
child of God sees when they look to Christ? They see that Jesus
Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. You know why? Because He was.
I think sometimes people get the idea that God, the Son of
God, is somewhat less God than God the Father. God's in three
persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. None inferior to the other, all
three God. What a great mystery that is. Him being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation. Now you think about that. God
made himself of no reputation. And he took upon him the form
of a servant and was made in the likeness of men without sin. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, Paul said in Philippians 2.7.
Christ became obedient unto death because we cannot be obedient
in life. The heart of the gospel is substitution,
God doing for me what I could never do for myself. How glorious is it that Christ
made Himself of no reputation. And you think about that. God
made Himself of no reputation. You see, to become a man, He
had to. God took on the form of a servant.
You know, we say these things that we need to slow down sometimes
and just meditate on and think about. God Almighty, He who spoke
the heavens into existence, became a man and took on the form of
a servant. He made himself of no reputation
among men. We who had no reputation, he
stood in our room, in our stand, doing for us what we could not
do. He had to take on the form of a servant and be made in the
likeness of sinners in order to substitute himself for us,
paying our sin debt in full. It took great humility for God
to become a man. It took profound humility to
die for His people. But it took boundless humility
to die the death that you and I should have died. The death
of a criminal, the death of the cross. And because Christ died,
God hath highly exalted Him. and given Him a name which is
above every name. And friends, He will not share
His glory with another. For man to take partial credit
in His salvation, even if it's just partial credit, is nothing
short of blasphemy, really. This is serious, serious stuff.
And because Christ died, God also hath highly exalted Him. that the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. Did you notice the design of
God's love? The Lord shows us so much here
concerning the love and the mercy and the grace of God. Well, what
is the design of God's love? That whosoever believeth on him
should not perish. And we're right back to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is believing in Him. Believing what? That He took
my sin upon Himself, died in my room instead, and gave me
that perfect righteousness that only God will accept. It's such
a simple gospel, but yet impossible to believe apart from the mercy
and grace and revelation of God. And you might be sitting here
today wondering, why me? Why do I see these things and
others don't? Well, it pleased God. It pleased
God to reveal these things to you. There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are aware in Christ Jesus. That's where we've got to be.
We've got to be in Him. And here we see the benefit of
God's love. Those God loves, He sent His
Son to die for, and those who believe that Christ alone can
put away sin, have their sin put away. No ifs, ands, and buts. No maybes in this Gospel. No. It's certain. It's for sure. Christ didn't die to make salvation
possible. Christ died to make it certain.
Look at verse 17, for God sent not His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. You know, there are many folks
that think that those who believe in the sovereignty of God and
the salvation of sinners, those who believe in His predestinating
and predetermining choice to save wretches like you and I,
believe also that God somehow finds pleasure in the death of
the wicked. Oh, you believe in that election
stuff. You believe where God elects
people to hell. No. The Lord Himself deals with
that. He said, as I live, I find no
pleasure in the death of the wicked. But that the wicked turn
from His way and live. God so sent His Son, verse 17,
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved. There are many, as I said, who
think that God finds pleasure in the death of the wicked. I
can assure you that He don't. What does God say? As I just quoted, I have no pleasure. No pleasure in the death of the
wicked. To believe that Christ coming into the world was to
condemn it really is to be ignorant of who God is and what He says
in the Scriptures. The coming of Christ into the
world was not to condemn the world. You know why? Because
the world was already condemned. Paul was very clear on that in
Romans chapter 5 verse 18 when he wrote, Therefore, as by the
offense of one, that being Adam, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation. We're born condemned. Born condemned. And that phrase there in verse
17 that says, "...might be saved," doesn't express the uncertainty
of being saved. It simply expresses God's design
and God's will and God's purpose. Christ came in order that sinners
in this world might be saved. Christ's person and work for
chosen sinners enabled God to be just and the justifier of
those who believe. God cannot save a sinner apart
from His holy justice. God can't just in love go, oh,
I love that sinner so much, I'm just going to turn my head. No,
He would not be a just God if He did that. God cannot forgive
the sin of a sinner apart from His holy and strict justice being
satisfied. So what did God do? God became
a man and dwelt among us. And He worked out a perfect and
holy righteousness. Took our sin upon Himself and
gave us His perfect righteousness. Oh, there's never been a transaction
of mercy and grace like that, nor sins. No, no. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust." He's the just one, I'm the unjust. That's substitution, isn't it?
That He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. And in God's Word, we're told
to believe, we're commanded to believe. You know, men talk about
giving an invitation. And I know what they mean. But God says, believe or perish. It's a commandment. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 18, He that believeth on
Him, on Christ, is not condemned. Do you hear that? He that believes
on Christ is not condemned. I'm to believe on Him. I'm to
look to Christ. He's the object of our faith. No man can come to God but by
Him, as we just quoted. Many have said, you know, I would
believe in Christ if I just knew that I was one of the elect.
I had someone tell me that recently. Well, it doesn't work that way.
My dad used to say, that's getting the cart before the horse and
it just won't roll. No man, no woman, no sinner can
come to the Father except, that's a strong word, except, by Christ,
except the Father which sent Christ draw him. You remember
when the Lord began to draw you and show you the things of Christ?
My, my. Except it were given unto them,
the Lord Jesus said. And we're right back to God gave. I guess if we wanted to try to
say the gospel in two words, that would be two good words.
God gave. God gave. A sinner can't know their election
until they first believed on Christ. I've thought about that
a lot. It's the Father's work to elect,
and you can't come to God directly. God has provided a mediator,
a go-between. There's one mediator between
God and men. Who is that? The man Christ Jesus. The man Christ Jesus. Therefore
you can't know your election until you first believed on Christ. And then, through your redemption
in Christ, you find out, it's revealed to you, and you know
that in the beginning, before the beginning, God chose you
to salvation in His Son. Men and women, Also look within
to see if they have certain feelings. You know, I did that for years.
I was raised in a free will Arminian church and I always felt like
I had to have some kind of experience. I had to have some kind of feeling,
something needed. You know, folks think that feelings
prove whether or not they're saved. I can save you some time. I had an old fellow tell me one
time, he said, my sister told me that she feels like she's
saved. I told her, don't get too excited,
it may just be gas. Feelings come and feelings go,
feelings are deceiving. Trusting and believing in Christ
is our hope of salvation. There are many who feel saved
that are not. And you know, there are many
that don't feel saved that are. Men and women are saved only
one way, and that's looking to and trusting in Christ alone.
And I'll confess to you this morning, among friends here,
that most of the time, I don't feel saved. And the reason
is that I look within. Now listen, most of the time
I look within to find some reason or some feeling to prove that
I am. And if we do that, we'll never ever
find any hope of assurance of being saved. You just won't.
Christ in you. Christ in me. is the hope of
glory. If you and I are to ever have
any hope of being with Christ forever in Heaven's glory, it'll be in Christ. Faith comes
by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing
the Gospel preached. And a sinner's sense of need
comes by hearing what God says about them. That's God's ordained
means of saving sinners. It's a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
do what? To save sinners. That's why He came. How is it that sinners like you
and I come to know that we're lost and ruined? How is it that
we're driven by the sense of our ruin and our sin to take
hold of Christ? The answer and reply is, the
gift of God. God gave. God gave. Aren't you glad God gave? For
by grace are ye saved through faith. That's not of yourselves. But is it, Brother Davis, the
gift of God? Not by works, lest any man should
boast. The gift of God is the work of
the Holy Spirit. And again I remind you that no
man comes to Christ except the Spirit draw him. No man comes
to Christ except it be given him of God. How is it that the
Spirit of God teaches some to see their need and not others? How does one see their need of
Christ and look to Him and others don't see their need of Christ
at all and go on in their self-righteousness and perish? One reason. Who maketh thee to
differ from another? What have you received that wasn't
given to you? And if God gave it to you, why
do you glory in it? We've got a lot of folks today
glorying in a salvation I'm afraid they don't have. I can give you one answer from
Scripture why He passed by some and didn't you. The Lord Himself
said it, even so Father, it seemed good in your sight. The Lord
hath hidden these precious things from the wise and the prudent
and He's revealed them unto babes. That's why we must come to Christ
as a little child. You know, when I was a young
man, my dad could tell me anything and I believed him. I trusted
him. I knew that he was out to do
me good. How much more so is that true
with our Heavenly Father? Our Lord said, My sheep hear
My voice. The Bible does not say you are
not My sheep because you do not believe. Our Lord said, you believe
not because you're not of My sheep. All God's sheep will believe. All of them, every single one
of them. Believing and trusting in Christ does not make us sheep. We believe and we trust in Christ
because we are God's sheep. And our Lord Jesus said, all
that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. If they don't come,
it's clear proof that they never were given to Christ. Those who
were given to Christ, God the Father knew, He chose, He predestinated,
He called. And one day, very soon, He'll
justify every one of them. Sounds to me like salvations
of the Lord. All God's elect are led by the
Spirit through a sense of need to come and lay hold of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those who are well, righteous
in their own sight, have no need of a physician. And you know
I used to think folks didn't come to hear the gospel because
of a lack of dedication and I've come to see that they don't come
because of a lack of need. The Scriptures doesn't say that
Christ came to save repentant sinners. There's no adjectives
before the Word. He came into the world to save
sinners. Not repentant sinners, not awakened sinners, not sensible
sinners, not grieving sinners, not alarmed sinners. It only
says sinners. I qualify. That's what I am. I'm a sinner. And that's who
Christ came to save. Why not me? Yes, that's something I qualify
for. I'm most definitely and certainly
a sinner and that's who Christ came into the world to save.
I come to Christ as a sinner with nothing in my hands. We sing that in Rock of Ages. In my hand on Christ I bring
simply to the cross where Christ shed his blood and covered my
sins. That's who I cling to. Not a what, is it? I cling to
Him. Just as they are, we come. If you're thirsty, how do we
buy without money and without price? You ever think about that?
It has to be charged to the account of another. And our sin debt
was charged The Lord Jesus Christ. Just as I am without one plea. You know, Baptist churches have
just about ruined that song. That's a great song. But they've
sung all six verses seven or eight times to try to entice
people to come down to the front to make a profession of faith. And they've just about ruined
the song. Just as I am without one plea. I don't have anything
to plea. I don't have anything to stand before God and say,
Lord, Lord, Lord, haven't we done many wonderful things in
Thy name? Haven't we cast out devils? Haven't
we laid hands on the sick? And the Lord said, depart from
Me ye that do iniquity. God calls that work that religionists
do, iniquity. He said, I never knew you. That's the issue. Does Christ
know us? Does God know us? I have no plea
of my own righteousness. I bring no good works of my own. God's Spirit bids me to come,
and it's Christ's blood that enables me to do so. And I come
to God just as I am. I come poor, wretched, and blind,
sight, riches, healing of the mind, all those things I need
in Christ I find. O Lamb of God, Once you come
to Christ, if you've yet to come to Christ, come to Christ. He's
never, ever turned down a single sinner that wanted to come. Not
once. You know, men and women make
statements like, well, when I get my life straightened out, I'll
come. Or when I get some things worked
out in my life, I'll come. You'll never come. You'll never
come. Because you'll never get your
life straightened out. And that's why we come. Christ does for us what we cannot
do for ourselves. I was poor, wretched, and blind.
Only Christ can give me the riches of His grace. Only Christ can
heal my wretched and carnal mind. Only Christ can take this desperately
wicked and deceitful heart of mine and give me a new heart? Only Christ can give me sight
to see spiritual things? The Lord Jesus told Nicodemus,
He said, unless you're born again, you can't see the Kingdom of
God. You can't even see it. You're
blind. You're dead in trespasses and sins. So we come to Him just
as we are. Just as we are. With nothing
but our sins. Seeking Him to put our sin away. And you know what? He never turned
anyone down yet. I can't find anywhere on the
pages of Scripture where somebody came to Christ and said, Lord,
help me. Lord, save me. Lord, have mercy
on me. That He didn't give it. If you come to Christ this way,
He'll accept you. How do I know? Because He said,
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Isn't that what He said? Let's
believe Him. Let's believe what He said. Verse 18 says that if I believe
on Christ, I'm not condemned. But it also says that he that
believeth not is condemned already. We've already said that. Why?
Because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. That's why. I will not have this
man to rule over me. Well, then you'll perish. Did you hear what the Lord said?
He said, he that believes not is condemned already. We're born
condemned because we're born in sin. And we enter into this
world with the curse of sin upon us, by nature we're the children
of wrath, even as others. And if a man or a woman hears
the gospel and believes not, they sustain even greater condemnation
through their unbelief. The sinner that does not trust,
that does not believe in Christ to put away their sin will not
have their sin put away. Why are men and women born condemned?
Because of their sin. Dead in trespasses and sin. They're
conceived in sin. They're born in sin. They come
forth from the womb speaking lies. Why do men and women remain
condemned? Verse 19 tells us very plainly
why. And this is the condemnation. That light has come into the
world and men loved darkness rather than light because their
deeds were evil. What's the cause of man's unbelief?
He loves darkness. And he hates the light. Isn't
that what he's saying? It's not only that men are in
darkness, now hear me on this, it's because they love that darkness. They prefer darkness. They prefer
their ignorance. They prefer error. They'd rather
remain in darkness than come to the light of the truth. That's
what our Lord said. He said, you will not come to
me that you might have light. Well, I tell you what, we don't
have a free will. Our will is in bondage to our
nature. Our will is in bondage to our
sin. and what proof it is of men and
women's depravity. And the person of Christ has
found perfect holiness, perfect righteousness, perfect love,
perfect truth. Christ the perfect man came and
dwelt among imperfect men and women. And what was our reaction
to Him? With wicked hands, we took and
crucified the Lord of Glory. With deceitful and desperately
wicked hearts, we hated Him without a cause. There's no reason for
anyone to hate the Lord Jesus. We will not have Him to reign
over us. Now look at verse 20. 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 manifest, that they are
wrought in God." Everyone that loves and practices sin hates
the light. They hate the truth of God, and
they hate the Christ of God, and they will not come to Christ,
the light. They love their sin. There's
pleasure in sin for a season, but God makes His people to hate
their sin. You know what Job said? I abhor
myself. You know what Paul said? Oh,
wretched man that I am. Who can deliver me from the body
of this death? And then he told us, I thank
God through Jesus Christ. He's the only one that can. We love our sin. God makes His
people to hate it. Why is that? Because if they
come, their deeds, their error, their sin, their wickedness would
be revealed and judged. You know, God's Word condemns
us. God's Word convicts us. God's
Word shuts us up to the mercy and the grace of God Almighty.
And when God saves a sinner, they take sides with God against
themselves. You know, the Lord Jesus called
that Syrophoenician woman a dog. Now, there are a lot of things
you can say about me, but if you called me a dog, I think
I'd take offense to it. But do you know what she said?
She took sides with Him against herself. She said, yes, I am.
I am a dog. I see that. But even the dogs
get the crumbs from the master's table. And the Lord Jesus said,
I haven't seen this great a faith in all of history. Oh my, take
sides with God against yourself, dear sinner. My, my, he that doeth truth cometh
to the light. What is it to do truth? Well, there would be some that
would give you a big theological explanation. I'm not going to
do that. What is it to do truth? It's
to believe on the Lord Jesus. It's that simple and yet impossible
unless God intervenes. Everyone that believes on Christ
comes to Christ who is the light and our deeds are manifest. Well,
what does that mean? Well, it means the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit here gives us a hint as to what it is. He tells
us that these deeds are wrought in God. Now, I can't tell you
how many times I've read that verse and never really thought
about that statement. Our deeds, the believers' deeds,
are wrought, are worked in Christ. That means that when I come to
Christ, Christ has already perfectly finished and accomplished all
that the law of God required, all that God demanded of me,
and all that holy justice required from me. It's finished. That means that I'm perfect before
God. When does a man rest? When his
work's finished. I was telling Rex last night,
we were talking about mowing the yard. And I told him
my problem was, is I can get the yard mowed and I was too
tired to weed eat. And Teresa said, it never looks
finished when you mow the yard. Well, when does a man rest? When his
weed eating's done. when His work's finished. God rested from His work, not
because He was tired, like me, when I'm old, but He rested because
He finished His work. The work's finished. And that's
why we should not doubt our redemption. It's not based upon what we do,
it's based 100% on what Christ has done for us. And I see so
many folks today, I talk to so many folks, they just don't have
any assurance. I had a man not long ago, he
sat under the gospel for 40 years. He said, I'll be honest with
you, Brother David, if I died right now, I don't know if I'd
go to heaven or not. And I said, where are you looking?
Are you looking within? I can assure you that he was.
There's no hope found there. No hope found at all looking
within. You've got to look to Him. I lifted up on that pole. Look to Christ. The work's finished. My deeds are wrought in God. They're wrought in Christ. And
it's a perfect work. God looks at me and He says,
that sinner is perfect. He has no sin. He's perfectly
righteous. He's perfectly holy. How perfectly
righteous and holy? As perfectly holy and righteous
as Christ Himself. Have you ever heard such good
news? You know what the gospel is?
Good news. That means when I come to Christ,
My work's finished, and I can rest. Oh, that's a bed I can
stretch out on. There are not many beds that
I can, but that's one of them. The perfect righteousness Christ
wrought for me is the perfect God-man He gave to me when He
took my sin upon Himself and He died to pay the wages of my
sin against God. And that's the issue, really,
our sin is against God. Against Thee and Thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight. That's what makes
our sin even more atrocious, that it's against the God that
loved us, created us, and provides everything, even monetarily.
The rain falls on the just and the unjust. God's sun shines
on the wicked and the righteous. Now was the Lord's message here
in John 3.16 for us to make Jesus Lord over our lives? Well, let me tell you something.
If I can make Jesus Lord, then He is not Lord. If I can make Him Lord, He is
not Lord. God already beat me to it. Jesus Christ is Lord. And this is the Gospel message
from God's mouth. Christ is all. He's all in all. Christ is all in all. And that's
so true. No salvation in any other name.
For God so loved His people in this world, that He gave. God gave. He gave what was most
precious to Him. He gave His Son. He that hath
the Son, he that hath Jesus Christ, has life. And he that hath not
the Son, hath not life. So let me leave you with the
most important question that our Lord ever asked in the Scriptures. What think ye of Christ? What
do you think of Him? Some say that you're Elijah,
one of the prophets. Some say you're John the Baptist
reincarnated. And the Lord said, who do you
say that I am? And Peter, by divine revelations,
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Has God
shown you who Christ is? What do you think of Him? Well,
He's the way, and He's the truth, and He's the life, and no man,
no woman, no body comes to the Father but by Him. Boy, aren't those three precious
words, but by Him. May God be pleased to make it
so for God's glory, your good, and for Christ's sake. Amen. Thank you so much for having
me. I love you and appreciate you so much. Thank you.