In John's Gospel, chapter 1,
referring to John the Baptist, we read there was a man sent
from God whose name was John. Yes, John. Not Dr. John, not Reverend John. I hate that. When someone refers
to me as Reverend, They just don't have any better sense,
I guess, but occasionally it happens. But John wasn't Reverend
John or Pope John or Dr. John, just John. There was a
man sent from God whose name was John. In Luke's gospel, we
read this. I'll read it to you. I think
this is interesting. In Luke chapter 3, we read of
the reign of Caesar during the time of John. Pontius Pilate
was the governor of Judea. Herod of Galilee, Philip. Caiaphas
and Annas were the high priest. My soul, that's like a who's
who's list, isn't it? I mean, these are the elite.
The political powers, the religious powers, But we read this in that
same verse. The Word of God came unto John,
not the high priest, not the king, not the governor. The Word
of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. Because God lest men do what
they are inclined to do anyway. That is, give credit to man for
only that which God can do. For that reason, so that no flesh
should glory in his presence, God chooses, John being an example
of it. He bypasses kings and governors
and high priests and doctors and reverends and popes and brings
the word to John. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. God has chosen the weak things
of the world and the things that are despised and the things that
are not to bring to naught the things that are. Why does God
act that way? What's his reason for doing so
when we read that in 1st Corinthians 1? That no flesh, no worm, No
worm should glory in his presence. That's why. And John didn't. John didn't. He was a man sent
from God. How do you know? How can you
know if a man is sent from God? Because everybody that picks
up a Bible and steps into a pulpit claims to be sent from God. They
open their mouth and talk about everything in any form of nonsense
but the gospel, but yet they claim to be sent of God. He that comes from God has the
message of God. God gives his messengers his
message. If they don't preach the gospel
of God's free grace, God didn't send them. God didn't send them.
They may be Reverend, they may dress in clergyman's clothes,
but if God didn't send them, they're not called to God. They
don't have the message of God. I cringe, I cringe every time
I read of a man of whom it is said he decided to be a preacher,
John. or like his father or grandfather
before him, he decided to join the ministry. Really? After considering whether to
be a doctor or a lawyer, think I'll be a preacher. No, no, that's
not how it works. Mr. Spurgeon, as I've mentioned
to you, I think recently, had a pastor's college where young
men that had already been called of God, feeling their need for
instruction and teaching from more experienced men, Mr. Spurgeon tried to provide that
in a pastor's college. But he said when young men would
come to him applying for admission into the college, the first thing
he would do would ask them, what makes you think God called you
to be a preacher? I've got his book entitled Lectures
to My Students, and the very first chapter is not on a lot
of issues that such books deal with. The very first chapter
is the call to the ministry, God's call. And he would ask
a young man or a young man would come to him and say, well, Mr.
Spurgeon, I think God's called me to preach. He's calling me
to preach. And Mr. Spurgeon would say, don't do
it if you can help it. Don't do it if you can help it.
If you can be satisfied doing anything else, don't do it. That was pretty wise advice because
Spurgeon knew, Spurgeon knew that if God Almighty had dropped
a fire in the bones of that young man, that he couldn't help it. He couldn't help it. He would
have to preach the gospel. As the prophet said, his word
was as a fire in my bones and I had to speak. I had to get
it out. John was such a man. He was a
man sent from God. And his message, as we read here
in John chapter 3, as we read a moment ago, His message was
not about himself. It was not about himself. As
Paul said, we preach not ourselves. We preach not ourselves. Not
about ourselves? What good would that do anybody?
We don't preach about ourselves. We don't promote ourselves. We
don't preach for ourselves. We preach, Paul said, and he
spoke to every God called man, we preach Jesus Christ, so did
John. That's exactly what he did here.
And that's what he always did. This in chapter 3, did you know,
what we read together a moment ago, this is John's last message. This is the last time he ever
preached. Soon after this, we read that
he was not yet cast into prison, but shortly after this he was.
And you know the outcome of that. He was beheaded. This was his
last message, the last time that he would proclaim, that he would
declare and speak of that glorious one for whom he was the forerunner. And his message is exactly as
his first one. He's not been deterred at all. It's not changed at all. It's
the same at the end of his life as it was at the beginning. Isn't
that refreshing? John, in a nutshell, what he
said here, what he always said, we could sum it up in just a
few words. It's not about me, John said. Hmm, isn't that refreshing? Isn't that refreshing? It's not
about me, John said. They came to him, these Jews,
in verse 28, and John replies to them, brethren, in verse 28,
and they come trying to divide him in Christ. Rabbi, master,
reverend, he that was with you beyond Jordan, you were first,
you were here first. He came later, you baptized him. And now all men come to him are
being baptized. What do you think of that, John?
That just doesn't seem right. That's not fair. That's just
not fair. They were trying to make John
jealous, I'm sure of it. Trying to divide God's people.
And look at John's answer. Ye yourselves bear witness that
I said, I told you this before. I've told you this once and I'll
tell you again. I'm not the Christ. I'm not the
Christ. I never said I was the Christ.
I always told you and I'll tell you again. I am not the Christ,
but that I am sent before Him. It's not about me. Look, if you
will, back in chapter 1 here in John's Gospel. When John says,
I told you before that I am not the Christ, I suspect that those
to whom he was speaking were the same Jews that had been sent
to him before. Here in John's Gospel, chapter
1, verse 19. And this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, who art thou? Who are you? Who are you? John was that one that was prophesied
to come in the Old Testament. Was any other man other than
Jesus Christ himself foretold to come? His birth foretold?
I think you dealt with that, John, a month or so ago. I don't
think so. John was that one that the prophet
said should come preparing his way before him, come in the spirit
of Elijah. But John didn't make any mention
of that. John's birth was by a miracle
of God's omnipotent power. John makes no mention of that.
He says to them in response to, are you the Christ? Who are you?
He confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. That's what John refers to when
he said in chapter 3 again to these same Jews. I'll tell you
again what I told you before. I am not the Christ. It's not
about me. What a blessed, blessed Word. All men come to Jesus of Nazareth,
they said. You're being overshadowed by
Him. John, you're being pushed into
a corner. You're being eclipsed by Him. You mentioned it again, John,
in your lesson this morning. When the Son of Righteousness
arises, oh yes, He'll eclipse everyone. He should. And John,
when he heard the news that All men are coming to Him. John said,
good, good. That's how it should be. And
he deflects, he deflects attention from himself to Christ. Look again in chapter 1 of John's
Gospel. Verse 7 and 8, concerning this
man John, who was sent from God, the same came for a witness,
verse 7 of chapter 1, the same came for a witness to bear witness
of the light, that all men through him, that is the light, might
believe. He was not that light. He never
claimed to be. He never pretended to be. He
wouldn't allow anyone to think that. He was not that light but
was sent to bear witness of that light. That's the true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. In the final word of this, his
final message, John concludes by summing it all up, I think,
with the words of verse 36. It all comes down to this. My,
oh, would to God that this religious world knew this. It all boils
down to this. For Larry Criss, It all comes
down to this. For Terry Hoke sitting back there,
it all comes down to this. To each and every one of us sitting
here this morning, it all comes down to this. Verse 36. This
is the conclusion of John's last message. And what a glorious
conclusion it is. John says salvation or damnation,
eternal life or eternal death, heaven's glory? If I spend eternity
in the very glory of heaven, basking in the smile of the great
shepherd of the sheep, or whether I suffer forever under the wrath
of God in the torments of everlasting hell, it all depends on this. Have I got your attention? Sounds
important to me. Doesn't it you? Are you interested
in this? And John says it all depends
on this. This is essential. That's the
title of my message. This is essential. Often. I declare often is probably not
the correct word. There seems like one place or
another all the time there is a discussion among Usually self-professing
theologians, they like to sit around and tickle each other's
ears and say, ooh, ah, ooh, ah, aren't you something? but a discussion
about, well, how much does a man need to know in order to be saved?
Can a man be saved and not know this? Or can a man be saved if
he doesn't know this? John brings it down and tells
us. This is essential. This is essential. Look at it. Verse 36. This is
the conclusion of John's last message. He that believeth not
on John, but on the Son, had present tense right now. Oh,
that's good news. He that believeth, not he that
worketh, not he that willeth, not he that runneth about doing
religious works, but he that believeth on the Son had present
tense everlasting life. That's what it all boils down
to. That's what's essential. Faith in the Son of God. And
he that believeth not is going to spend some time in purgatory.
He that believeth not is going to lie in his grave and sleep
body and soul forever. No, no, no, no. He that believeth
not, the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
again, present tense, at this moment abideth on him. Now, that's essential, is it
not? If I knew that this was my last message, just like this
was John's last message, if I knew this was my last message to you,
if I would never preach to you again, nothing could be more
important than the words of this verse, than the message contained
here. What's essential? for you. What's indispensable? What is
absolutely necessary to being a true believer, to being a Christian? Exactly what John said. It's
to believe on the Son of God. It's to believe on the Son of
God. Notice the sentence concludes with a period. Not to believe
and, not to believe plus, but to believe on the Son of God,
not Christ plus? My soul, anybody that talks in
such language as that can know nothing about the true
Son of God. Anyone who talks about the necessity
of having Christ and Having Christ plus doesn't know the way of
salvation or God's amazing grace. There is no Christ plus. The
scriptures doesn't talk that way. Men talk that way. Foolish. Men who have sent themselves
talk that way. But John and every witness for
Christ says it's not Christ plus, it's Christ is all. I like that. I like that. I like the testimony of poor
Jack. Was that him? He said, I'm a
poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in
all. I'll stand in your shoes, Jack.
Let them call us ignorant and unlearned. That's okay. It's
Jesus Christ is everything. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. How could
you be otherwise? How can a sinner, believing on
the Son of God, thereby being complete in the Son of God, how
can he lack anything? That's the same as saying that
Christ must lack. That Christ must not possess
all glory, all power, all grace, all dominion. And that's not
so. when our Lord sent his disciples
out to preach the gospel. And they returned and he said
afterwards, when I sent you out without money, without a purse,
did you like anything? Did you like anything? And they said, nothing. Nothing. Did you like anything? What likest
thou, he asked them. And they said, nothing. Nothing? Now that's a message, isn't it?
I have to come back to that sometime. Nothing? God Almighty says, I
demand a perfect righteousness in Christ. I don't like that. In Jesus Christ, I stand before
a just and holy God and I like nothing. Nothing. What glorious
good news. And the older I get, the older
I get, The more I'm made to know that, the more I'm made aware
of that, and the more I appreciate it because I find out. I have
found out again and again. Anytime I begin to ignorantly
think otherwise, God reminds me, this old flesh, this old
man is not getting any better. He's not getting any better.
I read a statement by Mr. Newton, John Newton, the other
day, and he said when he was first converted, he thought that
as he traveled, following his Lord, as he made his way through
this world, that he would progressively get better. That the old man
would become more and more subdued, and he would increasingly progress
in grace and sanctification. And he found out, man, it was
a rude awakening. Because I found out old Adam
never gets any better. You know that, don't you? Old
Adam doesn't get any better. Ask Paul. Ask David. Ask any child of God. When Jesus
Christ, by his miracle of grace, as he told Nicodemus, You must
be born again. When that operation of God's
grace takes place, He doesn't reform the old man. The old man
doesn't change at all. Not at all. He's just as fallen,
just as depraved, just as sinful as he ever was. And if you serve
God for the next 50 years, he'll still be the same. No, God doesn't
reform the old man. He creates in him a new man. that sinneth not," John said. Oh yes, knowing that that's the
case, I am so thankful that being in Jesus Christ, I lack nothing. In order to have a better appreciation
or a refreshing of this blessed truth to our hearts, of what
John says in verse 36, He that believeth on the Son, is that
you? He that believeth on the Son,
oh my soul, look what it says. He hath now everlasting life. Consider. the object of faith. Would we get some inkling, some
hold on the blessedness of that man or that woman to whom God
has given, granted, instilled in them the precious gift of
faith by which they embrace his son, by which they, like Simeon,
can say, I've seen thy salvation. You want to see something of
the treasure of that, the beauty of that, the blessed hope of
that? Then consider the object of faith. The object of faith, Jesus Christ
himself. Consider God's unspeakable gift. Just sit down. Just sit down. Get as low as you possibly can
and it won't be low enough. It won't be low enough. But get
as low as you possibly can. And look up at that one who sits
upon the throne of sovereign majesty. Look up at the only
potentate, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Look up at
the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father,
upon whose shoulders the government of the universe rests. Look up. And believing on Him, It is well with my soul. Considering the unspeakable gift
of God's Son, His matchless, glorious, only begotten Son,
then we get an idea of the blessedness of a believer at this very moment. He has everlasting life. Our Lord asked the blind man,
after finding him, After he had healed him and the Sanhedrin
booted him out, excommunicated him, best thing ever happened
to him. I've had a church or two show
me the door. Don't bump it on your way out.
All things work together for good. But he asked the man, hearing
that they had thrown him out, the great shepherd found him
and said, Do you believe on the Son of God? Do you believe on
the Son of God? And this man asked an intelligent
question. Faith is not a leap into the
dark. Faith is an embracing of the
Son of God. David, or rather Paul, when he
was facing death, didn't say, well, I'm in turmoil about this
thing. I'm just not sure. I know whom
I had believed, Paul said. That's faith. Do you believe
on the Son of God? Our Lord asked the man. And he
said, who is he, Lord? Who is he that I may believe
on him? And you remember what the Lord
said. It is he that you see. that He who speaks to you now. Oh my! Watch out! Watch out! You mean to tell me that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, That one in whom is everlasting life,
that one who is himself, all of our salvation and all of our
hope is about to reveal himself to that one's poor blind man? Oh, my soul, what amazing, amazing
grace that is. Who is he, Lord? I'm he. I do speak unto you, I'm he. And he said, Lord, I believe. I believe. And we sang it a moment
ago. The moment, a moment we believe,
that very moment from Jesus, a pardon, a full, blessed, irrevocable,
everlasting pardon, a not guilty in the court of heaven is rendered
on our account. Not guilty! Blessed is that man
to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity, to whom he will not
charge sin. Do you really believe you have
everlasting life? That's what it said. You possess
in your soul at this very moment eternal life. Eternal life. The same life that's in our glorious
head. The Son of God is the same life
that flows through every member of his body, the church. The
very same life. This is what he said in John
chapter 5, verse 24. John 5 and 24. Again, this is
our Master speaking. And he says, Verily, verily,
truly, truly, rest on this, assuredly, assuredly, he's saying, Take
it to the bank. Oh no, better than that. You
can roll all the weight of your immortal soul on this. Fall down
on it. Just fall down on it and rest
easy. Oh, rest easy. Just put, just
like I'm putting, and I'm not a small fry. If I wasn't tall,
if I was a couple, Feet shorter, you'd see how hefty, how pudgy
I would be, but man, lookie here. I'm lifting my feet up here.
I didn't hear a creak. I didn't hear, I don't see a
splinter. This pulpit can bear all my weight, and the Son of
God can bear all the weight that this sinner can roll up on him.
It won't be a problem for the Son of God. I tell you, I say
unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me hath," again, present tense, everlasting life, and
shall not come in, shall not come in, shall never come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Oh, my soul. Hallelujah, what a Savior. He
said to Martha in John chapter 11, I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live." Listen now. Listen. Believer, this concerns
you. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Shall never die. Believest thou
this? A preacher of some years gone
by said one day, Soon, it's not going to be long, you're going
to pick up the paper and turn to the obituary and you're going
to see my name there. So and so has died." He said,
don't you believe it. I will have never have been so
alive in my life. Then I will be at that moment.
I'll be in the presence of He who is the resurrection and the
life. I'll be in the presence of that one who loved me and
gave himself for me. I will be basking in the glow
of the eternal smile of my ever-living, loving, lasting Savior. Oh, I'll
be more alive than I have ever been. Is that not so? Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the anointed of God without measure? We'll not go
over them, or rather just briefly. John, in the response to their
question, he tells them, he that had the bride is the bridegroom. He that has the bride, he that God entrusted into his hands
the bride, he's the bridegroom. He that loved his church and
purchased it with his own blood, he's the bridegroom. He who in
that everlasting covenant of grace when asked by the Father,
will you son, in the fullness of time, will you go forth? made like your fallen bride,
made of a woman, made under the law. Will you go? Can you hear
him? Can you see your glorious bridegroom
say to his father, I will, I will. I will, Father. I will in the
fullness of time according to the covenant of everlasting grace.
I give you my word. I'll be their surety and I'll
go and do everything necessary. I'll live for them and I'll die
for them. Yes, I will. I will. Oh, that has the sweet, blessed
sound of wedding bells to it, does it not? Can you hear the
chime? Hear our great bridegroom saying,
Father, I will, I will, I will. And he says, I will. that all
those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Yes, he
that has the bride is the bridegroom." And John said, but I'm the best
man holding the ring and that's okay with me. Just to hear his
voice, my joy is complete. It's fulfilled. Oh, to believe
on the ever-blessed Son of God. Like John, his servants rejoice. just to hear his voice. John
in verse 30 said, he must increase, he must increase, he must increase
in my appreciation, in my love, in my devotion to him. Unto you
that believe he's precious. Unto those who don't believe
he's not precious. Know they live their lives and
Don't give him a thought. They see no beauty whatsoever
in him. Oh, but to you that believe,
he is precious. A Sunday school teacher was teaching
a class of young children, and she read that verse in 1 Peter
2, and to you that believe he is precious, and she asked, what
does that mean? Does anybody know what that means? One little girl said, well, father
told me that mother was precious because what would we do without
her? Child of God, what would you
do? Where would you be without the
Son of God? Where would we be without Jesus
Christ? We'd be in this world without
hope. without grace, without mercy,
without salvation. We pass our days as a tale that
is told and then we'll be ushered into the presence of God Almighty
and there we stand without a mediator. Woo! My soul, what a horrible,
horrible thought. John says, the Father loveth
the Son, verse 35, and hath given all things into his hand. All things are in the hands of
our blessed surety. I'm there. I'm there. And I'll be kept, if I'm in his
hand, preserved and brought all the way to the Father's house.
The great shepherd seeks and finds his sheep and puts them
upon his shoulders and brings them home. Joe, he brings them
all the way home. Not halfway in the journey does
he take them off his shoulders and put them down and say, now
you're on your own, get there the best way you can. Oh no,
he will keep me, he will keep me, bless his name, till the
river, Jordan, the river of death rolls at my feet and then he'll
bear me safely over. Where my savior I shall meet?"
John said, all things are in his hand. What does that mean?
It means all things. It means all things, all power,
all dominion, all things pertaining to heaven and earth, all rule
over all things. And if there's anything else,
that too. That too, all things. God has made Christ to be unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. O gift of gifts! O grace of faith! My God, how can it be? Are you like me? How often Do the words of this
hymn describe your attitude to your Redeemer? Or like me, do
you go day in and day out doing this, doing that, taking care
of this, taking care of that? This has priority and that has
priority. When I get that done, I've got
15 more priorities and never get alone and think, oh my soul,
the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. The Son of God
came to this worthless, needy, helpless sinner and lifted me
up out of the pit and set my feet upon a solid rock. And you
sing from your heart, to God be the glory, great things he
had done. When's the last time? For me,
they're far and in between. And I'm ashamed to confess that
that's so. This hymn writer said, O gift of gifts, O grace of faith,
my God, how can it be that thou who has discerning love should
give that gift to me? Me. O grace in two unlikeliest
hearts, it is thy boast to come, the glory of thy light to find
in darkest spots of home. And another, God's free love
from everlasting made me one. Me. Me. You meet a stranger and tell
them who your pastor is, Larry Crisp. Never heard of him. Who
is he? I didn't. Not important. Oh, but my soul. God's free love
from everlasting made me. Me. Me. This rebel who used to mock
his name, this rebel who cursed those who professed faith in
him, mocked him, ridiculed him, me who cursed God and said, I'll never bow to him,
I'll never bow to him. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. I laid in that hospital bed,
God sparing me, not letting me go out to hell, and the preacher
came in and I told him, get out of here and leave me alone. I
don't want to hear nothing about your God or his mercy or his
salvation. Leave me alone. But he wouldn't
leave me alone. God wouldn't leave me alone.
God's free love from everlasting made me one with his dear Son.
Blessed union, strong, unchanging, I am with my Savior, one. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Oh, do you believe? Do you believe? Then how thankful we should be. How hopeful we should be. We
have a good hope through grace. And how joyful Paul in prison
said, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Before
I close, as John closed, there's another part of the verse, isn't
there? He that believeth not the Son shall not see life. Speaks
of another group, those that believe not the Son. They may
be moral, religious, they may possess some knowledge. But they
do not believe, they do not know Christ. And John says, everyone
that's in that state, the wrath of God abides on them. The last time, I think it was
the last time I was at my mother's, before I was leaving, sitting
there with her in the living room, I said, Mom, is it well
with your soul? I know she professes that idea.
Is it well with your soul? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? I didn't know if I'd ever have
another opportunity to ask her that. Do you know the Redeemer? Do you know Him? Do you know
Him? Nothing else matters. How horrible. How horrible when leaving this
world and going out into eternity. into eternity to be forced to
confess, I don't know Christ. I don't have the mediator between
God and man, the only one. Then to see what you've deliberately
closed your eyes to here. Oh, may God, who made the light
to shine out of darkness, shine again. into our hearts to give
us again the knowledge of the glorious God in the face of Jesus
Christ. Amen. When Christ in judgment
shall descend and bid the world draw nigh, the saints shall find
to judge their friend and meet their Lord on high. His flaming
eyes, his thundering voice shall strike the world with dread.
and shall his ransomed ones rejoice in Christ their covenant head.
He'll rend the skies and make a way to bring his chosen home.
Oh, blessed hope, we'll watch and pray, come dearest Jesus,
come. And shall my helpless soul appear
before the great white throne, I'll plead the blood of Jesus
there and join the endless song. He that believeth on the Son
have everlasting life. God bless you.