GraceLife Church Worship Service - Apr 5, 2020

so for those of you have tuned in you know that we lost the feed there and we lost it just because we were trying to stretch the quality a little bit so we we were requiring more bandwidth and we overloaded the system as it were and so we had to recreate a new live stream and so we're just you gonna bear with us as we work through these these new matters that we're dealing with but we're gonna give folks a few minutes to tune in and then we'll pick up where you lost me [Music] you [Music] all right well many of you have tuned back in and so we're gonna get get back up and running again let me just see what it is that I that you would have missed I think I got through to the falls before things went which basically means that I had gotten through everything so you basically have heard the announcements and so here here we are we are back and here to worship our Lord we lost the stream just due to the bandwidth and and that shouldn't happen again so not to worry about that let me read to you Psalm 100 it says the shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth serve the Lord with gladness come before him with joyful singing know that the Lord Himself is God it is he who has made us and not we ourselves we are his people and the Sheep of his pasture enter his gates with Thanksgiving in his courts with praise give thanks to him bless his name for the Lord is good his loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations let's pray together well father again thank you so much that we can come before you in this way thank you Father God for the live stream and your provision of it father we just pray that you would bless this time that as we worship you wherever we are right now that you would receive that worship that it would be pleasing in your sight that you would empower us to sing your praise and to give you our undivided attention and so Lord we commit this time into your hands we love you we thank you for your goodness it's in Jesus that we pray amen please stand [Music] I sing the mighty power of God that makes the mountains rise and spread the fluencies abroad and build the lofty skies I sing the wisdom ordained her son too the moon shines for as the stars are [Music] I see the goodness of the Lord that filthy earth where food he formed the creatures of years and then enthrall bounced and displayed turn if I serve a background [Music] and Wow [Music] is [Music] every [Music] [Music] what a wonderful song for us to sing at a time like this if you would please remain standing for the reading of God's Word we're gonna carry on in second Kings this morning we're in Chapter four and we're gonna read the opening 17 verses second Kings chapter 4 beginning in verse 1 now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha your servant my husband is dead and you know that your servant feared the Lord and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves Elisha said to her what shall I do for you tell me what what do you have in the house and she said your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil then he said go borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors even empty vessels do not get a few and you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons and pour out into all these vessels and you shall set aside what is full so she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured when the vessels were full she said to her son bring me another vessel and he said to her there is not one more vessel and the oil stopped then she came and told the man of God and he said go sell the oil and pay for it pay your debt and you and your sons can live on the rest now there came a day when Elisha passed over to shinshu gnam where there was a prominent woman and she persuaded him to eat food and so it was as often as he passed by he turned in there to eat food she said to her husband behold now I perceived that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually please let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for there and a table in a chair in a lamp stand and it shall be when he comes to us that he can turn in there one day he came there and turned into the upper chamber and rested then he said to Gaza his servants call this Shunammite and when he had called her she stood before him he said to him say now to her behold you have been careful for us with all this care what can I do for you would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army and she answered I live among my own people so he said what then is to be done for her and Gahan Z answered truly she has no son and her husband is old he said call her when he had called her she stood in the doorway then he said at this season next year you will embrace a son and she said no my lord o man of God do not lie to your maidservant the woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year as Elijah had said to her this is the reading of God's Word let's pray together well father as we read this portion of Scripture it is striking that you are attentive to the needs of those who are seemingly insignificant we think of this woman this wife of the sons of the prophets and her need how having lost her husband and having had debt she was in a position where she would lose her children and you took notice of her and he provided for her and you made it so that she had provision and was able to even pay her her debts and father even this this other woman this Shin of my woman her husband was old she she had no no son she would have been destitute and without family and yet you took notice of her she obviously had a heart for you she esteemed Elijah the man of God she she esteemed even the word and his ministry and provided a place for him there was clearly a love in her heart for you and you took notice of her and provided for her and even within the context of second Kings we know that that what we're seeing here is this wonderful glorious comparison between you the one true and living God and M Baal who takes no notice of the insignificance who can't provide a child can't can't cause a woman to conceive who can't who can't make oil in abundance to provide for a woman to pay her debts and so father we see that you are unrivaled unmatched worthy of all honor all glory even this really being an example of all that we've been seeing in the Psalms and Psalm 34 Psalm 86 that your your eye is upon the righteous your ear open to our cries and Lord even now you know there are needs in this body right here there are people who have lost work there's there's concern over provision the payment of mortgages food so many issues and you know every single one of them and so father I pray that in this moment you would work in the hearts of your people and cause them to lift up a prayer a cry from their heart even appealing to their status as sons and daughters of you and that you would hear their cry and that you would meet their need and that you would glorify yourself as you pay attention as you are attentive to us who are insignificant and so Father we give you praise you are worthy of all honor worthy of all glory worthy of all worship there is none like you and really father we just admit that we could not even offer enough praise we could never praise you to a point where it would be too much where we had gone too far because you were worthy of it all and so father we just come before you we give you thanks we pray that you would bless this time that you would bless even the preaching of your word that you would use even this time to strengthen and build up the body of Christ we even pray father God that as the gospel goes forth this morning that you would work in the hearts of those who have not come to believe on Christ that they would come under the conviction of their sin that they would see and behold the Savior as he is and that they would believe on him and be saved and so father we thank you for this time bless bless this time bless this day bless our fellowship we ask all these things in Jesus name Amen may be seated [Music] will not let me go I rest my weary soul in the back then I find [Music] ocean depths its flow [Music] that father saw my way I my flag rains washed resources [Music] [Music] Etsy gives me food [Music] my tray [Music] Jonesy SB [Music] [Music] fifties to my I - hi does much glory dead [Music] life that Shelly [Music] [Applause] please stand [Music] my worth is not in what I own not in the street [Music] across the runs of [Music] my worth is not in scale or name in when or in pride or shame Christ that fools I rejoice in my redeemer greatest treasure wellspring of my soul trust and you know they satisfied as summer fires we fade and and [Music] no cost to us I will not post in a farm I wore human [Music] but I will I rejoice in my redeemer greatest treasure wellspring of my soul I will trust in him though I saw this satisfied in him alone - wonders here that I confess my worth in my [Music] I value fixed my ransom paid [Music] I rejoice in my meeting his treasure wellspring of my soul I'll trust in the air so this satisfied [Music] rejoicing greatest treasure el spring of my soul I will trust you know we saw this side is fun [Music] I will priceless fly my the sin they draw the better [Music] my only shaker before the Holy Church [Music] who is my register [Music] I it's for I'm satisfied the falls are my feet are firmly is raised [Music] by its prey [Music] I will worry [Music] is trying up some [Music] me his face forever to be ball his face forever to be home [Music] my hope is in the who gave himself for me [Music] the price of all my sin [Music] [Music] I ain't got to suppress it's family [Music] for me my play [Music] [Music] before the father stone is one me [Music] and like hey [Music] his race has planned it all his mind but to be and recognize his work [Music] three [Music] thank you you can be seated [Music] well thank you John and Courtney so good to have you both leading us in song this morning and just wonderful songs that we sang songs about our God and Father songs about our Lord and Savior just a wonderful time in song thank you so much for that well I've been wrestling with what to do in terms of preaching I I thought about trying to do a series that might tie us over until we could all be together again and I'm at John 3:16 in the Gospel of John I really didn't anticipate preaching John 3:16 to an empty auditorium but the Lord has let me back here to the Gospel of John and John 3:16 is the next verse and so if you have your Bibles do that open your Bible to John chapter 3 verse 16 we're gonna look at just verse 16 this morning and Lord willing we'll continue on in the Gospel of John in the weeks ahead and as we come to this verse it's a familiar verse it's a verse I'm sure you could you could give to me just by my memory but let's read it together John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life this is what is likely the most famous the most well-known verse in all of Scripture and and yet it's a verse that I've I've never preached in fact I think even until this week in preparation for this sermon I had never heard John 3:16 preached now I've certainly referred to John 3:16 I've I've certainly proclaimed the truth of John 3:16 and in gospel Proclamation but but never preached it until this week I don't think I've ever heard it preached and I wonder how many of you listening now can can recall a sermon on John 3:16 you're familiar with John 3:16 you've probably memorized John 3:16 but have you ever had or heard John 3:16 preached and this is really the whole Bible in one verse this is the the gospel in a nutshell this is the love of God on full display this is the greatest demonstration of love there has ever been or ever will be this is the free offer of salvation to any and all who believe this is the greatest offer a person will ever receive we've been Eve eavesdropping on a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus and I tend to think that that conversation has actually come to an end that it ended in verse 15 and that what we have now is that the commentary of the Apostle John and really that the strongest argument for that is seen in the words that God gave His only begotten Son because it asserts the death of Christ as a past act as a completed reality as something that has already taken place but from the vantage point of the conversation with Nicodemus the death of Christ is a future reality obviously and so I think verses 16 to 21 capture the commentary of the Apostle John although really it it doesn't much matter because John is writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit these verses are breathed out by God and Colossians 3:16 refers to God's Word as the word of Christ and so either way Jesus is speaking but I tend to think his conversation with Nicodemus has ended and that here we have the commentary of the Apostle John on his discussion with Nicodemus and in that conversation Jesus obliterates the false religiosity of Nicodemus he told him that his religious achievements count for nothing that his ancestry counts for nothing that the the righteousness he believed he'd earned was useless in fact he told Nicodemus that unless he is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God that's it enter God's kingdom he must be born of water and the spirit and really Nicodemus can make no contribution to this verse to this birth because just as the the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going so is everyone who was born of the Spirit the Spirit sovereignly imparts life to whomever he wishes and in verse 9 Nicodemus gasps at this how can these things be he's been entirely unmasked all of his life in a brief conversation rendered worthless useless a complete waste of time everything that he believed he had built that would have warranted merit with God was deemed to be rubbish so what I think Adiemus need well he needed a new quality of life he had physical life but he needed spiritual life and so in verse 14 and following Jesus says as Moses lift up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life that in the same way that Moses lifted up the serpent such that the Israelites had to look to that serpent to receive physical life that also now the sinner must look to Christ to receive spiritual life and that creates a bit of a tension doesn't it I mean on the one hand a person must be born from above a birth they can make absolutely no contribution to and on the other they must believe in Christ or they will die in their sin which means that God is entirely sovereign in salvation on the one hand and that man is entirely responsible on the other two truths that run parallel to each other and never intersect but keep in mind this that it's through the the proclamation of the gospel and the effectual call that life and faith are imparted to the sinner that life and faith are created in the in the fallen human heart such that a new heart is is brought into existence where the Spirit of God removes the the heart of stone and and replaces it with a heart of flesh that lives spiritually and so the new birth is the efficient cause of a person's faith both eternal life and saving faith are gifts from above now I guess someone could say but James doesn't getting into all of that sort of blunt the evangelistic thrust of this passage to which I would say well tell that to Jesus I mean Jesus is here talking to Nicodemus and he is not shying away from the sovereign monarch is sztyc work of God in Salvation in fact in this in this up in this this gospel he never shied away from it he doesn't here with Nicodemus and declaring the the necessity of the new birth he doesn't in John 6 where he says no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and he says later on no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the father and he doesn't do it in John 10 where he says but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep Jesus didn't shy away from the doctrines of grace and his gospel preaching and so we don't need to shy away from that either we can tell someone plain as day you need to be born from above or you cannot enter the kingdom of God and you can make no contribution to this birth you must be born from above you need a new heart you need the Spirit of God to impart life to you and all I can do is tell you that you must believe on Christ and apart from believing on him you will die in your sin and we let God and the spirit work out that tension but as we come to John 3:16 it's really the father that takes center stage because everything proceeds forth from his love it's it's his love that initiates everything everything hinges and and moves on account of the Father's love and so if you're taking notes jot this down the greatest love the greatest love and you're gonna see this obviously in the first part of verse 16 where it says there for God so loved the world why is that for there well it's explanatory it's explaining what Jesus says in verse 15 where he says so that whoever so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life and and that construction there so that whoever believes is literally so that all who believe that statement would have shocked Nicodemus not to mention the the group he represented he he represented the Pharisees and and furthermore all of Israel and so for Jesus to the basically unmask is false religiosity and say that his ancestry means nothing and that his his fastidiousness to the law means absolutely nothing and then declare that all who believe will be the ones who receive eternal life this would have been shocking to him it's the who ever hear what Jesus has done here as he has completely leveled the playing field Nicodemus is in the same boat as the immoral Gentile he's in the same boat as as the tax collector everyone is in the same boat in need of a sovereign work of God in their heart in need of new birth in need of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and so if eternal life is reserved were all who believe that God's saving purposes transcend Israel and that helps us to understand how John is using the word world here he's declaring that God's saving purposes aren't just for Israel it brings every tribe tongue and nation interview Jew and Gentile alike now now that shouldn't have been shocking that should not have been shocked he had Nicodemus understood the Old Testament he wouldn't have been shocked by this God created every nation all nations alike proceeded forth from God even Abraham the father of Israel was a man called out from among the nations in fact God promised Abraham that in his sea which refers to Christ all the nations of the earth will be blessed God's saving purposes always had the world as its focus but if you want to see the the heart of the Israelite toward the nation's just look at Jonah God tells Jonah to go to the Ninevites and and and proclaim coming judgment and Jonah doesn't want to go and and when he does proclaim judgment and they repent he's totally downcast and in despair that was the heart of the Israelite toward the nation's and so it's no shock that that God has the world as the the focal point the focus of all that he's doing in his his salvation work in the world what is shocking is that God so loved the world I mean the word so expresses the intensity of this love for God so loved the world this is a transcendent love but it's toward the world what in the world would have warranted God's love what what in the world would have elicited God's love nothing the world is the the realm of mankind at enmity with him mankind hates God his truth is in total rebellion against his law there's a complete disregard for his authority as God surveys the landscape of the world what does he see but but rebellion hostility entity with him the stench of sin rising up from mankind rejection of who God is a love for unrighteousness a love for the fallen world system the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the boastful pride of life there was nothing lovable about the world and God loved the world in spite of that and he loved because he is love first John 4:8 he loved because love is bound up in his essence it's his nature to love he is infinite in love his love is perfect inexhaustible loyal his love is redemptive it's been said that his love is the purest stream of love that has ever flowed into this world and so God so loved the world not because there was anything worthy of the world anything worthy of his love no he loved the world because he purposed to love the world he chose to set his love upon it was a free and sovereign act of his will and in spite of the fact that the world gave him no reason to that's the shocking thing this is the greatest love it's an out-of-this-world love an eternally unrivaled love for the epitome of unlovable and it resulted in the greatest gift so if you're taking notes jot down second the greatest gift it says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son the word that it expresses Raziel God so loved the world that He gave so his love resulted in action and he gave the most precious gift he could have given his only begotten son but the son is begotten points to the reality that having had no beginning and having had no end he eternally generates from the father this is what distinguishes the father from the Sun the Sun is eternally begotten by the father that the son is uncreated points back to John 1:1 where it says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God the son is Co equally God and yet distinct from the father that the son was with the father points of their mutual delight and eternal participation in one another they shared the experience of Holy Communion eternal fellowship but it was because of the father's love for the world that he commissioned his son his his one and only son to leave his side and to enter the realm of fallen humanity and so he he sent his son that the word became flesh and dwelt among us you see far from the Sun having to overcome any kind of reluctance in the father it was the father who sent the son he's the architect he's the one who commissioned his son he sent his son on this rescue mission it's the father's love and that He gave His only Son points unmistakeably to his work on the cross Christ's sacrificial death such that the Son of man being lifted up in verse 15 is pointing to his crucifixion where he died a substitutionary death in the place of sinners for all who would ever believe on his name again just consider the hostile world the the world at enmity with God that hates him that lives in open rebellion against him that disregards him at every point God so loved that world that he treated his son as if his son had committed the sin of those he died to saying Paul captures this sentiment in Romans five verse eight it says this but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us I mean just think of Abraham for a moment to test him God directed him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice God said take your son your only son whom you love Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering I mean just imagine how difficult that would have been imagine even having to offer up your own son or daughter now of course God intervened it was it was just a test but as Abraham was prepared to go through it he would have been at least offering his his son his one and only Son to one worthy of that offering Abraham would have been taking the son whom he loved them would have been offering him to God but in the case of God giving his only son there was no intervention there was silence in the garden as the son prayed and then on that cross the son others my God my God why have you forsaken me to give his son was essentially to give himself what more could he give he gave the most precious gift he could for a people totally unworthy of him and so whereas Abraham would have at least have been sacrificing his son to a god worthy of all honor glory and praise God spared some of that crucifies his own son treats him as if he had committed the sins of his people for a group a multitude unworthy of him it's really amazing it's shocking this should shock us turn to Romans 8 for a moment Paul picked up on this reality just the the significance of this gift the that the the massive demonstration of love and and really uses it to help us understand and to see that if God has given us his son how will he not also with him provide everything else that we need in Romans 8 and verse 32 the Apostle Paul says he who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all how will he not also with him freely give us all things it's an argument from the lesser to the greater if God the Father was willing to deliver his son to crucifixion to divine judgment whereby the father would pour out his own wrath on his son for the sins of his people of God if God be willing to do that if he'd be willing to give his one and only son the most precious gift he could give how much more will he not also with him freely give us all that we need of course he will the giving of his son is the greatest demonstration of love is the greatest gift that could have ever have been given a gift that will go eternally unmatched and so we've seen the greatest love we've seen the greatest gift now third know this the greatest offer the greatest offer start back at the beginning of the verse for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son here it is that whoever believes in him the word that there expresses purpose God gave His only begotten Son for a specific purpose and the purpose is fleshed out in the affects of believing in that those who believe shall not perish but have eternal life but for now we want to hone in on the the free offer of the gospel the the free call of the gospel all of the benefits of salvation are reserved for whoever believes in him again this is all who believe in him you can even render this as the KJV does whosoever whosoever will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved this is an offer to to be offered to any and all indiscriminately whether rich or poor male or female religious or irreligious educated uneducated Jew or Gentile this is a an offer a gospel offer that is to be made to to all mankind and salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone it can't be purchased with silver or gold no amount of gold or silver is enough it can't be earned by any measure of good works since no amount of good works can erase our sin nor can it be acquired by means of some religious Rite or ceremony like water baptism no that's not going to do it either salvation is secured simply by believing in Christ to believe in Christ is to trust in him it's to place trust in him it's to receive him it's to it's to come to him it's the confess him as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead Romans 10:9 it's to enter through the narrow gate you say well why would I do why would I trust in him trust him for what to take away your sin there's no mention of of sin made here in this verse John 3:16 but we know from John 1:29 he is the Lamb of God it takes away the sin of the world you see you would only come to Christ if you were convicted over your sin if you saw your seeing as first and foremost an offense against God because when you see your sin that way there's a godly sorrow that begins to work in your heart a realization that you've been offending the very one on whom you depend for life and breath and you would see the the sacrifice of Christ as wonderful and precious that through his death he has made atonement for sin and really if you can sense the pain thoughts of this verse and you can you can even sense the the conviction and the sorrow that we're we're talking about right here and even a desire to trust in him then what you're gonna see in your life is a desire to turn to to turn from those things you know to be wrong to turn from the sin that until now you've cherished which isn't to say that you won't struggle with sin in fact your your struggle with sin will just begin but whereas in was once your friend it will now be your enemy in fact it will it will use every means it possibly can to to to lure you back into its clutches even tricking you into thinking it's your friend but if you come to Christ by faith your sin will will be forgiven past present and future in your faith will will be reckoned to you as righteousness in fact you'll have your own record of righteousness a perfect record of righteousness because you will be counted with the righteousness of Christ the power of sin will be broken in your life you'll you'll no longer be a slave of sin and Christ will give you the right to become a child of God but know this believing isn't merely a one-time act in John 3:16 where it says that all who believe or that whoever believes it's in the present tense and so this is an ongoing faith a faith that saves is a faith that lasts at persevere zall the way to the end and so this is the greatest offer you will ever receive and it's only available in the Lord Jesus Christ because it says there it's whoever believes in Him Jesus declares I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through me John 14:6 Peter declares there is no salvation in anyone else for there's no other name under heaven that has been given him a man by which we must be saved and then P Paul declares having having overlooked at times of ignorance God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent and here's the promise of this offer that whosoever will call on his name will be saved Romans 10:13 and Jesus says the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out John 6:37 and so he says come unto me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest you will find rest for your souls for I am humble of heart and so this is the this is the free offer of the gospel this is the this is the offer that is given to you from heaven you are to come unto Christ if you have not believed on him this is the time this is the moment this is that moment to realize that you are fallen that you have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God and this is the moment to to bow your knee to Christ to believe on him to look to him for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life you will never receive a greater offer than this offer this is the greatest offer has ever been or ever will be and if you're taking notes jot down forth now the greatest deliverance the greatest deliverance you'll note it says there shall not perish to perish is more than to experience physical death it's to experience what scripture calls the second death it's to spend eternity in the lake of fire listen to Revelation 21 and verse 8 but for the Cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all Liars their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death there is a coming judgment and all who reject Christ will die in their sins and they will be judged for their deeds their deeds will be read back to them and they will be charged with every violation of the law in their life in fact this turn to Revelation 20 for a moment because you'll see this and what is often called the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20 verse 11 and all the way to the end of the chapter John tells us about a scene a scene that is a future reality one that will definitely come to pass and it says this then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them and I saw the dead the great and the small standing before the throne and books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds verse 13 and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and Hades gave up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death the lake of fire and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire the unbelieving dead right now in a place called Hades their disembodied spirits in a temporary holding of judgment and a time is coming at the final judgement when they will be raised from the dead and given bodies fit for eternal fire and they will be judged and suffer under the wrath of God the judgment of God for all of their sin and they will be there for all of eternity because God is holy and to violate the holiness of God to reject and refuse the creator and judge of the universe is the greatest crime there could be hell is eternal punishment for one sins it is divine justice for every act of injustice and since it's a place that is described as a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth terms that describe suffering and despair it's a place of conscious torment there's an awareness that that the judgment being received for one sin is just that it's an appropriate response to the the sin and violations of the law in their life and what's amazing is that that no one spoke more about Hell than Jesus listen to Jesus in Matthew 10:28 he says this do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear him it was able to destroy both soul and body in hell fear God Jesus says or Matthew 5:29 he says this if your right eye makes you stumble tear it out and throw it from you for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body then for your whole body to be thrown into hell elsewhere he says it is better for you to enter life crippled than having your two hands to go into hell into the unquenchable fire where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched and then in Matthew 23:33 speaking to the Pharisees he says you serpents you brood of vipers how will you escape the sentence of hell no one spoke more about Hell than Jesus did and the judgment that that pertains to Hell is an eternal judgment that is yet future and all those who died in their sins will spend their whole eternity there but here's something that's really interesting if you look back at John 3 for a minute if you're alive and you have not yet believed in Christ then you've already been judged look at John 3 verse 17 for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through him verse 18 he who believes in Him is not judged he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God to reject Christ to not believe on Christ is to be judged already that the sentence of condemnation is already upon you and it's not a final sentence of condemnation this is an opportunity to come out from under that condemnation through faith in Christ but if you reject the son you are a child of Wrath and the condemnation of your own sin rests on you and really with every day that you refuse to believe on Christ with every day that you reject him you are storing up wrath for yourself for the Day of Judgment this is what Paul says in Romans 2 verse 5 but because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God every breath you take every every step you take every every new moment every new day where you are refusing to to believe on Jesus Christ you are just continuing to store up more and more wrath for yourself because you are continuing to come short of the perfect and righteous law of God and that's why you would be a fool to hit snooze that's why you would be a fool to think that you're just gonna take care of this tomorrow to believe that that tomorrow will be the day that you you believe on Christ to believe that that sin won't have a hardening effect on your life and bring you to the point of no return you would be a fool to think that you would have another opportunity than this one right now where the offer of the gospel is being extended to you so today if you would hear his voice do not harden your heart believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved but if you've believed in him for the forgiveness of your sin then you have already been delivered from God's judgment because on that cross the father judged the son for the sin that you had committed he poured out on him the wrath that was owed to you for Christ also died for our sins once for all the just for the unjust so that we so that he might bring us back to God first Peter 3:18 and so God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believed in him should not perish what a deliverance what an amazing deliverance and instead FIF not only deliverance from eternal hell but that they would possess the greatest possession and so if you're taking notes jot that down the greatest possession it says there but have eternal life but have eternal life eternal life is obviously the guarantee of life after death that should you die you will take part in a resurrection unto life and you will live for all of eternity now your resurrection won't be a resurrection unto judgment but one that is unto life with God in the future for all eternity it's the promise that you will inherit the new heavens and the new earth but eternal life is not just a quantity of life if we could say it like that it's not just looking forward to something future it's not merely looking forward to a future reality that you aren't yet participating in instead eternal life also refers to a quality of life one that's experienced here and now by all who believe and that's because eternal life is defined as as knowing the the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent and believing and knowing are inseparable to believe on Christ is to know Christ and as you think about eternal life eternal life is really the life of God it's that life that originates with God even in John chapter 1 I believe it's verse 4 it says in him was life that is in the word the the life eternal life was in him and so to receive eternal life is to receive the life of God that through regeneration the new birth the very life of God enters into you and it comes into you by means of the Holy Spirit and the possession of this life is transformative I mean this life transforms you it doesn't just result in an initial act of transformation though it it certainly includes that whereby you are made a new creature you become a new creature in Christ but it also looks to a process of transformation that evermore conforms you into the image of Christ Jesus declares in John 10:10 I came that you may have life and have it abundantly which has nothing to do with financial prosperity and everything to do with eternal life both a quantity and quality of life and really eternal life is a theme of John's Gospel just look down at verse 36 chapter 3 and verse 36 it says hew believes the son has eternal life but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on him that's an amazing statement it's obviously not saying that to to to have eternal life you must have perfect obedience to Christ no it's simply saying that those who believe on Christ have eternal life and when that life comes in to those who have believed it begins to produce obedience in them the obedience contributes nothing to their justification but nevertheless what it does is it conforms them more fully into the image of Christ and obedience by way of direction not perfection begins to take shape in their lives and so John 3:36 makes it clear that obedience is fruit of eternal life and eternal life comes by believing on Christ look at chapter four and verse 13 it says there jesus answered and said to her speaking to the the Sumerian woman the woman of Samaria everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again referring to natural water verse 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life again it's referring to the work of the Spirit the giving of the Spirit the the the eternal life that comes through the spirit and Wells up in us to eternal life look at John chapter 5 John chapter 5 and verse 24 there Jesus says truly truly I say to you he hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life to believe on Christ is to have eternal life and when you've had eternal life given to you you pass out of death and into life verse 29 and will come forth says there those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life those who committed evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment and so through eternal life that comes into us through faith in Christ you have this this obedience that's produced and those those those works of obedience are evidence of real saving faith evidence of eternal life within you and therefore those who have done these good deeds not because the good deeds secure the salvation but because their fruit and evidence of salvation will have a resurrection of life look at chapter 6 and verse 27 Jesus says this do not work for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life which the the man will give to you for on him the Father God has set his seal and the work that the Jesus here is referring to is is to believe on him look down at verse 44 this is the will of my father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life and the I myself will raise him up on the last day verse 47 truly truly I say to you he who believes has eternal life verse 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day verse 66 Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life flip over to John 10 John 10 is wonderful because it brings both the realities that you shall not perish but have eternal life into view chapter 10 and verse 27 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand firmly fixed in both Christ and the father's hand look at John 12 verse 50 Jesus says I know that his commandment is eternal life therefore the things I speak I speak just as the father has told me and then lastly John 17 which we've already alluded to in verse 2 even as you have given authority to him over all flesh to all whom you have given him he may give eternal life this is eternal life defined that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent this is eternal life it's a present quality of life and it's amazing because there are some who believe that you can believe in Christ receive eternal life and experience no change no transformed life no transformation no evidence of regeneration no fruit of the Spirit no desire to obey Christ no freedom from sin no nothing that you can believe on Christ that you can have eternal life and yet have no change so I ask you is that the Jesus you've believed in a Jesus whose impotent to deliver you from the tyranny of sin you want to know how Jesus relates to that kind of faith turn back to John chapter 2 this is how Jesus relates to faith that doesn't result in a transformed life chapter 2 verse 23 now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast many believed in his name that's looking good does it not we've been talking about that the entire time they've believed they must have eternal life they must be saved but it says observing his signs which he was doing and then verse 24 but Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men they weren't really believing on him for the forgiveness of their sins there was no birth from above there was no regeneration eternal life didn't come into them they simply believed that he was a teacher from God that's demon faith that's not a faith that saves and Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man for he himself knew what was in man it has been well said that if your faith hasn't changed you than it hasn't saved you saving faith results in Holy Spirit raw transformation a transformation that is god-given and driven by God's grace and so if you have come to Christ and you have you have received eternal life and you have been made a new creature in Christ and you have the very life of God within you and that life has made you a a new creation and it's also conforming you ever more into the image of Christ so that you will ever more begin to demonstrate his likeness in your life because that's the work that God is doing in you he is willing and working in you for his good pleasure and so John 3:16 is just an amazing verse we see the greatest love that God so loved the world a hostile world a world at enmity with him a world that had totally rejected him that wanted nothing to do with him the greatest love God so loved the world that he gave the greatest gift he gave His only begotten Son his one and only son the son whom he had enjoyed eternal fellowship with the son and whom he had great delight in the son in whom he says this is my beloved and whom I am well pleased he gave his son he crucified his son he sacrificed his son why that whosoever believes in Him that the offer of the gospel would be made to to all mankind that whosoever believes in him would receive the greatest deliverance but they shall not perish but instead have the greatest possession everlasting life God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life and so you asked well why would anyone reject why would anyone refuse this offer why would anyone refuse such a glorious gift such a gracious gift why would anyone checked him well look at chapter 3 and verse 19 this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and the light is Christ and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil the reason a person would reject Christ and not come to him and not believe on him for the forgiveness of their sins it's because they love their sin they love their deeds and they would rather have their their sin and indulge in their iniquity than have their deeds exposed look at verse 20 for everyone who does evil hates the light in man is just this this hatred toward Christ toward God and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed he doesn't want his deeds to be exposed and so he refuses to come to the light but verse 21 he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God those who have believed on Christ have received ternal life and by grace begin to obey the son come to Christ that their deeds may be shown to have been wrought in God where God is the cause of our obedience and so may this day be a day that someone believes on Christ if you have not believed on Christ and you are clinging to your sin I just want to reason with you for a moment what what benefit is imparting to you you may be enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin you may have a moment of the light but you're never satisfied you're always going from one delight to the next what is sin done for you what a sin given to you what good is it done for you what is it accomplished in your life it's folly and it's utter folly to cling to that sin and not come to the light and so don't be a fool turn from your sin come to Christ believe on him and be saved from eternal wrath and everlasting judgment let's pray well father we thank you for your word father we thank you for this verse father we thank you for your great love oh what a love that you so loved the world it's shocking there's nothing to love about the world but you chose to love it you set your love upon it and as a demonstration of that love you gave your only Son and father for many of us we have believed on him we have trusted in him we're not we're not relying on any works of righteousness we're not we're not looking to any sort of ancestry we're not we're not believing that we've done anything to merit salvation we know that we have received it by grace alone through faith alone in your son alone and so father we thank you for your mercy we thank you for your grace we thank you now because we have believed on Christ we shall not perish that we've been delivered from everlasting judgment that were no longer storing up wrath for ourselves for the Day of Judgment and we thank you that we have eternal life not just the guarantee that we will dwell with you for all of eternity in the new heavens and new earth but also a quality of life that we know you and Jesus Christ whom you sent and that father God you are working in us and transforming us into the very image of your beloved son what a blessing father God thank you for this salvation thank you for this great grace thank you Father God for your great love it's in Jesus name we pray amen please stand how deep the Father's love for us how fast beyond our man [Music] I'll grade the pain [Music] which by the chosen decides to [Music] behold [Music] she [Music] ha [Music] Oh [Music] this time yes [Music] Israel [Music] I will not boast in [Music] posted Jesus Christ has dead [Music] why should hi but this I know have beat my why should I gain from his reward I cannot give but this I know where for my his words have paid my rent I wanted to listen to a revelation 22 verse 1 in following then he showed me a river of the water of life clear as crystal coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street on either side of the river was the tree of life bearing twelve kinds of fruit yielding its fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation's there were no longer be any curse and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it and his bond servants will serve him they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads and they will no longer there were no longer be any night and they will not have need of light nor the light of the Sun because the Lord God will illumine them and they will reign forever and ever and all God's people said amen well I hope that you've been ministered to this morning enjoy the fellowship that you have today and we love you we miss you we look forward to seeing you soon and so may the Lord bless you this day you're dismissed [Music] you you [Music]

Channel: GraceLife Church of Edmonton

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Length: 94min 30sec (5670 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 05 2020