If you turn back to John 3, while
you're turning there, tonight I'm going to be speaking from
Romans 14 on the judgment seat of Christ. Romans chapter 14,
verses 10 through 13, if you want to read that passage of
scripture. Verse 21 of John chapter 3, But
he that doeth truth. That's an unusual phrase, isn't
it? He that doeth truth. The truth is something you do. He that doeth truth cometh to
the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are
wrought God. Now this is the conclusion, the
concluding words of the Lord's message to Nicodemus, and that's
such an important message. I can't even emphasize how important
John chapter 3 is. As a matter of fact, this is
a passage of Scripture that I've attempted to preach upon many
times, and every time have felt very frustrated that I didn't
preach it as it ought to be preached, and I imagine I ought to feel
that way about every message I preach. But let's look at what
led to these words. John chapter 3, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus. a ruler of the Jews. Now this
man was a very religious man. He was a Pharisee. It means a
separated one. And he was a member of the Jewish
Sanhedrin. He was somebody very well respected
in Israel. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night. Perhaps he was ashamed to be
identified with him, but he was interested in him. But I think
what this means more than anything else is he was in the dark. It
was night with him. He had no spiritual understanding. A ruler of the Jews, but a man
without spiritual understanding. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, He comes with a semblance of respect.
We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can
do these miracles that thou didst, except God be with him. Now, true faith is never brought
by seeing miracles. And this is all this man had.
We know you're a teacher come from God. I'm sure the Lord was
impressed with his affirmation. We know that you're a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that you do,
except God be with him. And look at our Lord's reply,
verse three. Jesus answered and said unto
him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
or from above is the way that could be translated. Except a
man be born from above, he cannot, he lacks the ability to see or
to perceive the things of the kingdom of God. Now what our
Lord is saying to this man who comes with this affirmation,
we know that you're a teacher come from God, The Lord says,
Nicodemus, you know nothing. You know nothing. All of your knowledge is useless. And except you be born from above,
except you be born again, except God come down and do something
for you, you cannot see, you cannot understand, you cannot
perceive the things of the kingdom of God. When Nicodemus verifies
that, he said unto him in verse 4, how can a man be born when he's
old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and
be born? Now, Nicodemus demonstrates here
how clueless he was. How's this going to happen? Do
I have to crawl back in my mother's womb again and be born all over
again? This doesn't make any sense to me. Verse 5, Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water,
and of the Spirit. He cannot, he lacks the ability
to enter into the kingdom of God. Now the water does not refer
to water baptism. Some people will take this passage
and say this shows that you have to be baptized to be saved, you
need this water. This does not refer to water
baptism. Paul spoke in Ephesians 5, 26
of the washing of the water by the Word. What this water refers
to is the Word of God. Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, taking the Word and making
it effectual and giving that man life, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God. James 1.18 says, of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. The only way you or
I will enter the kingdom of God is if God the Holy Spirit takes
the Word of God and creates life in us, giving us this new birth,
being born from above. Now, this is a miracle. This
is a supernatural miracle of God. Verse 6, that which is born of the flesh
is flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. That which comes from the flesh
can never rise above what it is, sinful flesh. Anything that
comes from you or me, that's all it's ever going to be, flesh.
Flesh. Weak. Sinful. no true spiritual
life. But that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit, a spiritual nature that was not there before. Marvel not, verse 7, that I said
unto you, you must be born again. Don't be incredulous concerning
this. Verse 8, the wind blows where it listeth. And that word
listeth is simply wills. The wind blows wherever it wants
to. wherever it wills to. You hear the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone
that is born, birthed of the Spirit." Now I'm looking at some
people who have been born of the Spirit. And I'm looking at
some people who are still in their natural state of deadness
without spiritual life. Now, the wind blows where it
wills. How much ability do you have
to control which way the wind blows? You have no ability at all to
control which way the wind blows. God the Holy Spirit gives life
to whosoever he will. Now I want you to listen to me
very carefully. This is very important. God the
Holy Spirit gives life to whomsoever he will. This speaks of the sovereignty
of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is God just
like the Father is God and the Son is God. The Spirit is God.
and he has absolute sovereign control, and as to whether or
not you or I have spiritual life, it's not up to us, it's up to
him as to whether or not we'll be born again. Billy Graham wrote
a book entitled, How to be Born Again. The Bible never tells
us how to be born again. It simply says you must be born
again. Now how would you respond if
somebody wrote a book how to be born? What? Why would somebody even think
something like that? You have to have existence to be born.
How to be born again? Well, that's the most ludicrous
thing I've ever heard. How to be born? How to be born?
You must be born again. And it's in the Sovereign Spirit's
will. You must be born again. How much say did you have in
your first birth? Absolutely none. How much say do you have in your
second birth, the new birth? Absolutely none. It is the work
of God the Holy Spirit. Verse 9, Nicodemus answered and
said, he once again verifies his utter blindness, how can
these things be? I have no idea what you're talking
about. How can these things be? Now, what I think is interesting
about Nicodemus, as you go on reading in his history, he's
one of the ones who defends the Lord at his death. And he's one
of the ones who asked for the Lord's body after his death. I think, can't prove it, but
it seems that the Lord ended up saving this man after this.
But he heard this message, and at this time, he has no idea
what the Lord was talking about. You too. Me too. When we first
hear the gospel, what? But what an effectual teacher
the Lord is. Verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Now what the Lord was teaching was taught in the Old Testament.
Jeremiah chapter 31, Ezekiel chapter 36, about the giving
of the new heart, the new life. This has always been taught in
the Old Testament scriptures. You're a master in Israel and
you don't know what I'm talking about? Verse 11, verily, verily,
I say unto you, we speak that which we do know. and testify
that which we have seen and you receive not our witness. Now
when the Lord says we speak, he's speaking of all three persons
of the Blessed Trinity. We speak what we know. And he's
also speaking of every believer. The united testimony of every
believer. We speak what we know. And we're testifying, bearing
witness of what we've seen. And when I'm speaking to you
right now, beloved, I'm speaking to you as a witness. I'm testifying
to you what I know, what I've seen. Ananias said to Paul the apostle,
the God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know
his will. See that just one and hear the
voice of his mouth for thou shalt be his witness to all men of
what you've seen and what you've heard. And I'm speaking right
now, not in my own name, but in the name of him who sent me
as his witness, bearing testimony to what he has said, not what
I've said, not what this church believes, but what he has said. We speak what we know, and we
bear witness and testify to what we have seen, and you receive
not our witness. You don't receive it. Turn to
John chapter 8. In verse 43, the Lord says to
the Pharisees, why do you not understand my speech? Even because
you cannot, you lack the ability to hear my word. You are of your
father the devil and the less of your father you will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because
there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convinceth
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God. God's words,
you therefore hear them not because you are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil.
That was their response to what the Lord said. Verse 12 of John
chapter 3, if I have told you earthly things
and you believe not, How shall you believe if I tell you of
heavenly things? You can't understand this. Now
look what he says next. Verse 13. Now remember Nicodemus
thought the Lord was a great teacher and he comes to him as
a teacher. Verse 13. And no man hath ascended
up to heaven But he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man, which is in heaven. I'm speaking to you right now,
but know this, I came down from heaven. And even while I'm speaking
with you, I'm in heaven right now while you're looking at me
upon the earth. This can only be said of him who is God. He's proclaiming his own deity
at this time to Nicodemus. We're having this conversation,
but understand, I'm here now, but it's because I came down
from heaven. And right now, as I'm speaking to you, I am in
heaven. because I am God. Now Nicodemus was hearing this
and saying, this is either a madman or he
is who he says he is. Verse 14, now he brings out the cross and
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. Now the Lord quotes an
Old Testament passage, turn to Numbers 21 for a moment. Verse 4, and they journeyed from
Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom,
and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way. There's humanity, much discouraged because of the
way. And the people, verse 5, spake
against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,
neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light
bread. Now, they're discouraged. They're angry. They said, Why
have you brought us up? This bread that's come down from
heaven is not anything more than light bread to us. It's not substantial. It used to be angels' food, but
no longer. It's light bread. Our souls loathe
this light bread. And the Lord, verse 6, and the
Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the
people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore, the people came
to Moses and said, We've sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he would
take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent and
set it upon a pole. and it shall come to pass that
everyone that is bitten you know you had to be bitten first before
you'd look but everyone with no exceptions everyone that was
bitten when he looketh upon it shall
live And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole. And it came to pass that if a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass,
he lived. Now you had two groups of people
here. You had people who had not yet been bitten. What were
they doing? They were looking for every way
they could prevent from being bitten. That's what their employment
was. They were looking, doing whatever
they could to keep the serpents away from them. And then you
had people who were bitten. People who had the venom running
through their veins. What were they called on to do? Look, Look at that serpent on a pole. And the Lord tells us that was
given for one reason, as Moses lifted up the serpent on a pole
in the wilderness. Even so, in the same manner must
the Son of Man be lifted up, be crucified, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish. but have eternal life. Now, my dear friend, listen to
me real carefully. If you look upon Christ, forget
yourself, forget yourself. If you look upon Christ, if you
believe on Him, You will not perish. You have everlasting
life. Now, what you do when you look
to Christ is you believe that He, who He is, and what He did
is all that's needed to make you perfect before God. Verse 16, John chapter 3, Four, God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. Now, I suppose this is
the most famous verse in the scripture. Wouldn't you say so? I mean, you look at ball games,
they have John 3.16, and ball players have John 3.16 in their... Well, you know how famous this
is. And this is the verse that is used to argue against what
is called limited atonement, or particular redemption, or
definite atonement. What is meant by that limited
atonement or particular redemption or definite atonement? It simply
means that Christ's intention when he died was to save the
elect. That was his intention. He never
intended to save all men without exception. His intention was
only to save the elect. And somebody will point to John
3.16 and say, how can you say that in light of John 3.16 when
it says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. Now, this glorious scripture
does not deny limited atonement or effectual redemption, Christ's
effectual salvation. for his elect. It does not say
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that
every individual to ever live should not perish but have eternal
life. It doesn't say that at all. Nor
does it imply it. God so loved the world that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish. Unlimited Atonement doesn't say
anybody that believes, there's nobody coming up and saying,
oh, I believe the gospel saved me. Nope, didn't die for you.
Didn't die for you, it's not going to happen. Nothing like
that ever takes place. It doesn't say that somebody's
wanting to be saved and wanting to be saved from their sins and
wanting the mercy of God and wanting to be found in Christ.
God says, no, Christ didn't die for you, you can't be saved.
That's never happened. That's a complete misrepresentation
of the truth. Thank God it does say God so
loved the world. He's the Savior of the world.
If you're going to be saved, He's the one that's going to
save you. He's the Savior of the world. He's the only Savior. If you're going to be saved,
He's the Savior. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten and well-beloved Son that whoever believes. Would that be you? Would that
be you? that whoever believes should
not perish, but should have eternal life. Now understand this, John
3,16 is not the gospel. John 3,16 is the reason for the
gospel, God's love. John 3, 14, and 15 is the gospel. Christ being lifted up, being
crucified. And John 3, 16 makes sure that
there's some who will believe. If you don't have John 3, 16,
nobody's going to believe. But because of God's love, His
saving love. And let me tell you something.
There isn't anybody that God loves that He didn't save. Everybody
he loves, he saves. Now, if it's in your power to
save somebody you love, are you going to do it? Of course you
will. Now, it's not in your power.
If you could, you'd make sure every one of your children are
saved, wouldn't you? But you know you can't. But here's someone
who can. He's got the power to save all
he loves. And this thing of effectual redemption,
devine atonement, limited atonement, that doesn't prevent anybody
from saving, being saved. It makes sure a whole bunch of
people will be saved. Thank God for that. Now John
3.16, what a wonderful verse. Does it deny Christ's successful
atonement for his elect? No, it doesn't deny it in any
way, but I love John 3 16. I'm not going to, and I want
to be honest with it to deal with what it actually says. God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 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. He didn't
have to send his son into the world to condemn the world because
the world was already condemned. He sent his son into this world
that the world through him might be saved. Verse 18. He that believeth on
him is not condemned. Do you hear that? He that believeth on him is not
condemned. It's not believing anything about
yourself. I'm not asking you if you're
saved. I'm not asking you if you're born again. I'm not asking
you if you're elect. I'm not asking you anything about
yourself. Here's what I'm asking you. Do
you believe on Him? Do you believe on Him? Forget about anything about you.
Do you believe on Him? Do you believe that who He is
And what he did is all that's needed to save you. If you do, you are not condemned. You know what that means? That
means you are justified. That means there's nothing to
condemn you for. If you're not condemned, there's
only one reason! There's nothing to condemn you
for! Your sin has been put away! It's
gone. It's non-existent. He put it
away by His own sacrifice on Calvary's tree. He appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and that is exactly
what He did. If you believe on Him, you are
not condemned because you are justified. You stand without
guilt before God. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather that's risen again, who's even
at the right hand of God. Nothing to condemn you for. Dare I take this promise to myself? Dare I to believe myself to be
somebody that's not condemned? Would that be an act of presumption
on my part? 1 Timothy 1.15 says this is a
faithful saying and it's worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Are you a sinner? If your answer to that is yes,
He came to save you. And that is precisely what He
did. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned. The only way you can be not condemned
is if there's nothing to condemn you for. That's what Christ accomplished
on Calvary's tree, the complete justification of everyone he
died for. You see, the point behind effectual
redemption is that what Christ did is enough. That's the point
behind it. If he died for you, you must
be saved. You can't run the risk of the
possibility of being anything but saved if he died for you.
You see, his death is salvation. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But, verse 18, but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Now the name of the only begotten
Son of God that I believe on is my justification before God. This justification is continual. The verdict for every believer
is always not condemned. It's complete. There's no condemnation
in any measure to any degree. It's effectual. It works. And that man who doesn't believe
on him rejects this. He rejects this. He rejects the
only way of salvation. And he's in trouble. He's in
trouble before God. He that believeth not, he doesn't
rely on Christ as his justification before God, is condemned already
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God, the greatest crime that could ever be committed. This doesn't do anything for
him. Verse 19, and this is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world. Now, light has come to you this
morning and to me. There's light. You see by light. There's light as to how God can
accept you. This is the only light as to
how God can accept me or you through the work of Christ on
the cross. You see that light? I'll tell
you what, if you do, You know it has nothing to do with you.
This excludes all boasting. You wouldn't boast about anything.
And you know it excludes despair, too, because it doesn't have
anything to do with me. If it had anything to do with me, I'd be
in despair, but it has nothing to do with me. And this motivates
you. Oh, I want to give myself lock,
stock, and barrel to Him, don't you? I want to be His servant
alone in light of this. And to reject this, Now why would somebody reject
this? Look in verse 19 again. And this is the condemnation,
the light is coming to the world. And men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil hates the light. Neither comes to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved or exposed. Now the light of
Christ and his gospel, men don't love it because their deeds are
evil. They think they're good, but when they come to the light,
the light exposes everything as evil. And if you're hoping
in that, and then the light says, it's evil, it's a bad hope. That's
when men get upset. Well, you're saying what I'm
hoping for is no good. It's nothing more than evil. Yep. That's what
I'm saying. That's what the Lord's saying.
Exactly. You got it. This is the condemnation that
light has come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil hates the light. Neither comes to the light lest
his deeds should be reproved or exposed or made manifest.
I don't want to find out the things I'm hoping. It is no good
and nothing but evil. But, verse 21, but he that doeth
truth. Now this is so important. The
truth is something you do. It's not giving assent to something
or agreeing with something. The truth is something you do. He that doeth the truth. God can only be worshipped in
spirit and in truth by the Holy Spirit and according to the truth
of the gospel. The Lord said in John 17, sanctify
them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. The Lord said concerning himself,
I am the truth. He said, you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. I came, he said, to bear witness
to the truth. Now when he was nailed to Calvary's
tree, how he bore witness to the truth. You want to know the truth regarding
God, the only way you'll know it is by the cross. Who God is, clearly manifest in that one
bleeding on the cross. Every attribute of God is fully
displayed. His wisdom in making a way to
be just and justifier. His holiness. His hatred of sin.
His justice. He's going to punish sin. His
sovereignty. This is His purpose coming to
pass. His great love. His salvation. All of this is
seen in Christ bearing witness to the truth. when he was nailed
to that cross. The truth about me and you is
seen there. Don't look to yourself to find out the truth about yourself.
Don't even look at your sins. They're bad enough. But the only
way you're going to find out the truth about yourself is looking
to the cross. You're so bad. I'm so bad. Here's what we're guilty of.
The murder of God's Son. Here's the truth about me. And
here's the truth about salvation. Salvation is completely what
he did and who he is. Salvation is his finished accomplishment. It doesn't have anything to do
with my works. It has wholly to do with his. Now that's the
truth. You believe that's the truth?
That's the truth. Verse 21, He that doeth the truth
comes to the light. He comes to the light of God's
Word. He comes to the light of the
truth, the sunlight. He that doeth truth comes to
the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they're
wrought in God. Now, 183 times in the New Testament,
that word in is translated by. He comes to the light that his
deeds might be made manifest, that they're wrought by God. I'm not afraid to bring my personal
righteousness to the light. Because I know that my personal
righteousness is nothing less than the righteousness of God
that He wrought, that He worked. And I'm not ashamed to bring
that to the light. His righteousness is my personal righteousness
before God. Philippians 2.13 says, it's God
that worketh in you, both to will and to do, his good pleasure.
I'm not afraid to bring my faith to the light because I know that
my faith is the work of God. It's what he did. I didn't come
up with this. It doesn't have anything to do
with me. My unbelief, that has all to do with me. I take full
ownership of that. I believe that's his work. Help
thou mine unbelief, that's me. But I'm not afraid to bring my
faith to the light because I know it's the gift of His grace. It's
His work alone. I'm not afraid to bring my repentance
to the light because it's the gift of God. It's the work of
the Spirit in me. The work of the new heart within
me. And I can bring that into God's very presence. And I'm
not afraid of that because it's His work. It didn't have anything
to do with me. regarding everything to do with salvation. I'm not
afraid to bring it to the light because I know it's all His work. Paul said in Galatians chapter
2 verse 20, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and
the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God. You know that faith I bring that's
my faith? It's really His. It's really his, wrought by God,
worked out by Christ. And so I'm not afraid to bring
anything to the light. Now this has to do with truth.
If you do the truth, if you do the truth, what's the truth?
The truth is that Christ is all in salvation. You'll bring that to the light,
won't you? Now this thing of doing the truth
and believing the gospel is the precise same thing. He that doeth the truth, he comes
to the light that his deeds might be manifested. That they're wrought
in God and wrought by God. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's blessed name, that name that's above every name. And Lord, we ask that everybody
in this room, by your grace, would be doers of the truth. Bless this word for your glory
and our good. In Christ's name we pray.