Who's heard of the expression, it's a matter of life or death?
Serious health issues can become a matter of life or death real quick.
! Maybe you have someone you know, someone you love in the hospital,
and you hear the word sepsis used.
Immediately, you're like, oh, this is going to be serious.
This could be a matter of life or death.
A natural disaster can become a matter of life or death,
whether it's the forest fires out west or it's blizzards out east.
Let's pretend that you come across a horrific car crash.
You're the first on the scene, and you look into one of the cars,
and you know right away this is a matter of life or death.
911, send someone quickly.
We've got a matter of life or death on our hands.
These are not trivial things. These are important things.
But our culture has a way of making trivial things into a matter of life or death,
and I'm guessing you all know what I'm talking about.
Because I've made trivial things a matter of life or death.
I don't get the respect I think I'm owed.
And what goes on in me, inside, one would think is a matter of life or death.
Is it?
Or your favorite athletic team goes to the championship game,
and as you're watching, it seems as though this is a matter of life or death.
Is it?
You have to declare bankruptcy.
Is that a matter of life or death?
You go through a divorce.
Is that a matter of life or death?
Do you know what else is a matter of life or death?
What you believe about Jesus.
Whether you trust in Jesus or not is a matter of life or death.
Hold on, you say.
Maybe you're not a Christian in the room.
You're like, Jesus is a matter of life or death?
I don't know what to think about Jesus, let alone trust in him, whatever that means.
But Pastor Mike, are you actually saying that trusting in Jesus is on the same scale as pancreatic cancer?
I know it sounds crazy, but I am.
Because Jesus does.
What you believe about Jesus is a matter of life or death.
So here's a question for you.
If we can make trivial, unimportant things into matters of life or death,
would not the opposite be also true?
That we can also trivialize the most important things.
And Jesus is the most important thing.
A couple of weeks ago, we began looking at this nighttime conversation between Jesus and this religious leader named Nicodemus.
And we're returning to that to finish off that conversation this morning.
But Jesus had thrown Nicodemus for a loop.
He was saying things, you need to be born again.
And Nicodemus was like, what?
Lights were on, but nobody was home.
Didn't get it.
And so Jesus repeatedly sets the record straight for Nicodemus of what it means to be born again.
What it means for the spirit to move and to give new life.
And in that part of the conversation, Jesus in chapter 3, verses 14 and 15 of John, he says this.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up.
He's talking about himself.
Jesus is clearly saying that what you believe about him, the son of man, is a matter of life or death.
Eternal life or eternal death.
So what does it mean to believe in him so that you may have eternal life?
That is why verses 16 through 21 are in your Bible.
It's Jesus himself explaining why believing in him results in eternal life.
And so we're going to look at his explanation this morning.
And what we're going to see is that Jesus explains what it means to believe in him and have eternal life in two ways.
He's first going to make the point that he is uniquely qualified to be trusted.
And then secondly, he's going to say there are two polar opposite responses to him.
So let me read for you now, John 3, 16 through 21.
You know the first verse.
For God so loved the world.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, his one of a kind son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him, the son, whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe is condemned already
because he is not believed in the name of the only son, the one of a kind son of God.
And this is the judgment.
The light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light
lest his works should be exposed.
But whoever does what is true comes to the light
so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.
May God bless the reading of his word and hearing of his word.
Now let's turn to point one.
Jesus makes that he is uniquely qualified to be trusted.
So this again is this part of his explanation that Jesus is giving of why, of how he is to be trusted
and how that leads to eternal life.
And what's interesting is he starts with himself.
He's essentially saying this is why you should trust me.
What we see here is he says he's God's only son.
One of the many interesting things about Jesus is the way he talks about himself.
And it's not unusual for Jesus to refer to himself in the third person.
He just did so in verse 14 and 15 where he talks about him being the son of man.
And so here he's talking about himself in the third person again.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.
I talk about myself in the third person it turns out.
My daughter, Mary, loves matcha tea.
She recently offered me some.
I took a sip and almost threw up.
And I said, Mike, no, like.
Third person.
It gets something done.
It's emphatic.
And here Jesus is referring to himself in the third person.
His only son.
God's only son.
And he says this three times in 16, 17, and 18.
God's only son, his son, the only son of God.
And he is claiming to be God's son, which is essentially claiming to be God himself.
And here's why that little only matters.
He is one of a kind.
Now, if you're a Christian brother in the room, you might be thinking something like this.
Wait, wait.
Time out, Mike.
I thought that the moment I believed in Jesus and became a Christian, that at that moment I was adopted by God the Father,
and that I am an adopted son.
You were.
You are.
Or maybe you're a sister in Christ, and you're like, time out.
Wait, hold on.
I thought the moment I believed in Jesus that I became a daughter of the Most High God.
You did.
So why is Jesus saying he is God's only son?
Aren't we all part of the same family?
We are.
When you hear only, you need to hear one of a kind.
If you flip back in your Bible to John chapter 1, I want to help you see it.
In John chapter 1, verses 1 through 18, John opens the gospel by talking about the Word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
Verse 3, all things were made through him, the Word, and without him was not anything made that was made.
Verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we've seen his glory.
Glory is of the only Son, the one-of-a-kind Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
In verse 17, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In other words, the Word is Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God, verse 18, the only God, the one-of-a-kind God, who is at the Father's side.
He has made him known.
So here's what's going on.
Here's what I want to help you see.
That Jesus, when he claims to be God's one-of-a-kind Son in chapter 3, it's being connected to what's been said about the Word in chapter 1.
So let me ask you, Christian, were you at the beginning?
In the beginning, Genesis 1-1, were you there?
You were not there.
I wasn't there, but the Word was there, who's also Jesus Christ, the Son.
Were you in the beginning with God, distinct from God, but with God?
No, no, none of us were in the beginning with God, distinct from, but no, no, no.
Were you God?
Are you God?
No!
None of us are.
Did you, were you the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, glory as of the one-of-a-kind Son from the Father,
full of steadfast love and faithfulness?
Were you that?
Are you that?
No.
Are you the one-of-a-kind God who's at the Father's side,
who is making known visibly the invisible God?
No!
So we're sons and daughters of God, but we're not the one-of-a-kind Son.
And what makes him the one-of-a-kind Son
is that he's totally God and totally man.
And it makes him uniquely qualified to get something done
to rescue sinners from their sin.
Now I just want to point something interesting out in this passage.
In verses 16 through 18, Jesus speaks about himself in the third person
as the Son, the only Son.
But when you get to verses 19 through 21, he shifts his language
from talking about to being the only Son to being the light.
This is the judgment.
The light has come into the world.
He's talking about himself.
And people love the darkness rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light.
So I just want you to notice that Jesus shifts
from talking about himself as the Son
to talking about as the light
and that he is the light that shines in the world.
And the world is equated with darkness
and not a spiritual darkness.
Darkness is a way of describing sin and death
and light is a way of describing holiness and life.
And so what we see here is Jesus talking about
that he is the light as a way of talking about
that he is salvation.
He is the one of a kind Son, Son of God,
and he is the light of eternal life
shining in the darkness of sinful humanity.
He is the one of a kind Son.
So he's making this argument.
Why believe in the Son?
Why believe in him?
He's one of a kind.
For what purpose did God send him then?
Did you notice in verse 16?
I'm sure you did
because this is the football field goal verse, right?
John 3, 16.
For God so loved the world that he gave.
And then in verse 17,
for God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but sent him in order that the world
might be saved through him.
So what we're reading here is that,
is that God the Father gave his Son.
He sent his Son.
And he sent his Son for a purpose.
Jesus is literally a God sent.
God the Father gave, sent God the Son for a purpose.
And there's a clue to what that purpose is
in verse 17.
In order that.
But in order that the world might be saved through him.
Jesus was given by God, sent by God on a rescue mission.
He wasn't sent to condemn the world,
but to save the world.
To save, to rescue.
Time out, you say.
I didn't wake up this morning thinking that I was in danger.
I didn't drive to church to this morning
think I was needing rescue.
I don't feel like I'm in danger right now,
as a matter of fact.
What exactly do I need to be saved from?
Well, you need to be rescued from something of your own doing.
And it's something that you don't like to think about.
Those deep regrets that you have
from your past of how you hurt people,
how you deeply wounded people,
how you injured,
how you've done wrong and evil things.
And if they were broadcast,
you would be undone.
You'd be devastated.
You'd be embarrassed.
You've said things and done things
that are flat out wrong.
Do you know how I know?
Because I've done them too.
What you need to understand
is that these wrongs that you've done
are worse than you think they are.
Because those wrongs that you've done
are not only injuring yourself and others,
your wrongs are always wrongs against God.
And the Bible describes those wrongs
that you commit against yourself and others and God.
It describes it as committing sins.
When you sin against another person,
whether you lie or you steal
or you commit adultery
or you just flat out hate them,
you are also sinning against God.
And God is not indifferent to that.
Because God, as we heard from our communion meditation,
is a God of justice,
and that is good.
What this means is that your wrongs that you've done,
which you think that they weren't that bad,
are worse than you think.
Because they've always been done
against the living God,
and they have eternal consequences.
Maybe this is a surprise for you this morning.
Maybe there's something in your mind right now.
I'm like, wait, time.
Hold on a second, somebody.
Look at your Bible.
Look at verse 18.
No.
17.
For God did not send his son into the world
to condemn the world.
Why are you condemning me, Mike?
Jesus wasn't sent to condemn the world,
but to save the world.
Why don't you read your Bible?
It reminds me of a story.
Decades ago, my brother and I
were driving our young families.
This is decades ago,
when I was a younger man, immature.
Decades ago, my brother and I
were driving our families,
our young families,
in separate cars
across northern Indiana
on State Route 30.
Anybody know it?
And we were flying.
I was in the lead car,
my older brother Scott
behind in his car,
and we were setting
a new land speed record.
Brothers egg each other on.
At one point,
I looked up in the rearview mirror,
and lo and behold,
an Indiana State trooper
pulled up behind my brother's
mother.
Lights flashing,
siren blaring,
and my first thought was,
stinks to be you, Scott.
I've been delivered.
I look up again at my rearview mirror,
and Scott is pulling his car over
with the State trooper
pulling over with him,
and behind the State trooper
was another State trooper.
Sirens going,
lights flashing,
and he pulled up behind me,
and he pulled me over.
You see,
10 miles earlier,
we had been condemned already,
and they had just been following us
for 10 miles,
waiting for the moment
to pull us over.
Judgment caught up with me,
and God's judgment for the wrongs
you've done against him.
You've already been clocked.
And it's just a matter of time
before it catches up.
That's the danger you're in.
It's not because Jesus,
he didn't send Jesus
not to condemn the world.
The world was condemned already.
That's why he sent Jesus,
in order to save the world.
Because our sin provokes God's just wrath,
and you will suffer for it
if you have to pay that on your own.
God the Father sent God the Son
in order to bear God's just wrath
for your wrongs,
in order to save you.
That's why Jesus is a matter of life or death.
So let me ask this.
What would motivate God to send Jesus?
It's in one word.
It's the word love.
For God so loved the world.
This is God's extraordinary love,
we delight in his justice,
we are really grateful for his mercy,
but his grace and his love,
we celebrate.
But let me just be clear,
love doesn't mean some kind of emotional,
feel-good thing right now.
That's not the love of God.
The love of God is a commitment.
It's a resolve.
It is a pursuit
that none of us deserves.
And remember that this word world,
for God so loved the world,
don't think planet.
The world is sinful humanity
in organized rebellion against God.
Defined this way,
you can start understanding
why John uses darkness language
to describe the world.
It's humanity living in the darkness
of a sinful rebellion,
which then makes God's love for the world
all the more extraordinary.
Let me tweak 3.16 a little bit
to make the point.
For God so loved his enemies
that he gave his one-of-a-kind son.
For God so loved those who rejected him
and ignored him
and wronged him over and over and over again
that he sent his one-of-a-kind son
to die for them.
For God so loved those who worshipped themselves,
which is the high capital crime of pride.
God so loved them
that he gave his one and only son
who humbled himself
even to the point of death for them.
What is extraordinary
is not how lovable you and I are,
because we're not,
but how loving God is.
Extraordinary.
In love, God sent Jesus
to be lifted up on the cross
and die in the place
of those sinners.
Jesus suffered the full venting
of God's wrath
for all of our sin
in six hours on one Friday afternoon.
And being totally God
and totally man,
Jesus was uniquely qualified
to be the savior of the world.
Because he's totally God,
he can satisfy God's wrath
totally in six hours.
And because he is totally man,
he can represent us totally.
He can sympathize with us in every way.
What kind of love is this?
That God incarnate would die for me
and you rebels?
It's extraordinary.
But let me just be clear.
Jesus didn't die for us.
Just to rescue us from God's wrath.
Jesus died in order to reconcile us to God.
Not just to save us from God's wrath
over our sin,
but save us to God.
To experience a fullness of relationship
which we were created for.
God in his love paid the greatest price
in order for you and me
to experience a relationship,
a life-giving relationship with him.
And do you know who gets all the glory for that?
None of us.
Not to us, O Lord.
Not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your steadfast love
and faithfulness.
This is a matter of life or death.
And what Jesus is doing is making case
that he alone is the sole object
of our trust
regarding this matter of life or death.
No one, nothing else can save you
from your sins but him.
He is uniquely qualified
as being totally God and totally man,
the one of a kind son
to be the savior of the world,
to be your savior.
So if Jesus truly is God in the flesh
and he has made a way for you
to be rescued from God's wrath
and he's offering you rescue this morning,
there are only two ways to respond to him
according to Jesus.
And that's where I want to point you to now.
The polar opposite responses.
Jesus explains this in this passage.
Imagine a topographical map
of the United States.
Can you see that in your mind?
Or maybe a globe
where you can see
on the western side of the United States
just the rising of the Rocky Mountains
and it is a mountain line
that extends all the way up
to the North American continent
and all the way down
to the South American continent.
It's also called the Continental Divide.
If precipitation falls
on the eastern side
of the Continental Divide,
that water will flow
either into the Hudson Bay,
the Atlantic Ocean,
or the Gulf of Mexico.
But if precipitation falls
on the western side
of the Continental Divide,
it flows into the Pacific Ocean.
The Continental Divide
is a great watershed.
Rain can fall
on top of the same mountain,
but that water
can end up thousands of miles apart
in two different oceans.
Jesus Christ,
God's one-of-a-kind Son,
is the great continental divide
of all humanity.
How you respond to Him
will determine
where you spend eternity.
What you believe about Jesus
is a matter of life and death,
eternal life,
eternal death,
and Jesus Himself spells out
two polar opposite responses
to Him
in this passage.
And He uses
different language for it.
The first is
believing or not believing
in the Son.
If you look at 3.18,
whoever believes in Him,
the Son,
is not condemned.
But whoever does not believe
is condemned already
because he is not believed
in the name
of the only Son of God.
Believing
or not believing in Jesus
are polar opposite responses
to Jesus.
He's making Himself
out to be
the great continental divide
of all humanity.
And whether you believe Him
or not
will result
in you being condemned
or not condemned.
And I've already shown you
from 3.18
what it means
to be condemned.
You're condemned already.
If you flip your Bibles
over to chapter 3,
verse 36,
this is just another way
Jesus describes it.
Whoever believes in the Son
has eternal life.
Whoever does not obey the Son
shall not see life,
but the wrath of God
remains on him.
He's condemned already.
That's what it means
to be condemned,
to be under God's
just wrath.
Whether you believe or not,
there's a lot riding on it
because Jesus is the sole object,
the sole Savior,
but there's some confusion
on what it means to believe.
There's confusion in the room
of what biblical belief is
and what biblical belief is not.
Hence,
I brought out this chair.
Can everybody see the chair?
Let me ask you a question.
Do you believe this chair
can hold your weight?
Yeah, you do.
You believe that.
Are you exercising
that belief right now?
No, you're not.
You're trusting
in your pew right now.
You're not trusting
in this chair right now,
though you intellectually agree
that this can hold your weight.
When we talk about
biblical belief,
we're talking about
active trust,
not intellectual agreement.
Did you know that
even the demons believe
that Jesus is the one-of-a-kind
Son of God?
So here it is.
This is not believing.
If this chair is Jesus,
this is not believing in Jesus.
If you're sitting in the pew,
you're not believing in the chair.
It's only when you sit
in the chair
that you are trusting
in the chair.
And what conversion is,
it means you've got to get out
of trusting in yourself.
You've got to get up
out of that chair,
and you've got to go
put all of your weight
in the Jesus chair.
Are you following me?
And if you think
you believe in Jesus,
but you haven't actually
put all of your weight,
your trust,
for your present
and future life
to deliver you
from the wrath to come,
guess what?
You're not actually saved.
You've deceived yourself.
You just agree
that Jesus is the Savior
of the world,
but you're not actually
trusting in Him.
And so what that means
is you remain condemned already.
Whether you trust in Jesus or not,
it's a matter of life or death.
You've got to believe in the Son,
not just agree.
There's another contrast
in verses 19 through 21.
And it's not believing
or not believing.
It's where Jesus describes Himself
as the light of the world,
the light that has come
into the world.
And what this contrast
contributes
is something a little bit more
than believing
or not believing
in the Son.
Because in this section,
in verses 19 through 21,
what Jesus actually
shows us
is why
people
don't
trust in the Son.
Why people
don't believe
in the Son.
Look at verses 19 through 20.
And this is the judgment.
The light has come
into the world
and people
loved
the darkness
rather than the light
because
their works were evil.
Verse 20,
for everyone
who does wicked things
hates
the light.
Hates the light
and does not come
to the light
lest
his works
or her works
should be
exposed.
Do you know
why people refuse
to come to Jesus?
Jesus gives
the answer here.
Because
they love
their sins
more
than they love
the Savior.
Savior.
That's
Jesus' answer.
They don't want
to have their sins
exposed.
They don't want
to have to change
their lives
because they think
that is going
to be
somehow
lesser of a life
when in fact
Jesus offers
abundant life.
They don't want
to give up
sinning.
They don't want
to be exposed.
Here's
what this means.
if you're not
a Christian
in the room
here's what
this means.
In order
for you
to be rescued
from God's
very real
wrath
you must
first
take
responsibility
for the
wrongs
you've done
against him.
You've got
to own it.
Coming
to the
light of
Jesus
requires
humility.
It requires
honesty.
It requires
saying yes
I am guilty.
I have
sinned
against you.
When you
come into
the light
of Jesus
you get
your sins
exposed.
You start
to see
your sin
for what
it is.
Evil
and wicked
works
that are
seen
for what
they are
in God's
sight.
The very
things that
condemn you
you get
to see
them.
So in
order to
become a
Christian
you don't
ignore
your sins.
You
confess
them.
You
repent
of them.
You
turn
from
them
because
you
realize
this
is
the
way
of
destruction.
I
don't
want
to
perish
under
God's
wrath.
I
got
to
turn
to
Jesus
and
turn
away
from
this
stuff.
So in
order to
become a
Christian
you don't
ignore
your
sins.
You
own
them.
being a
sinner
against
God.
That's
why you
need to
be
saved.
What
Jesus is
saying
here is
that people
refuse to
come to
the light
because they
love their
sin more
than the
one who
can save
them from
their sins.
And in
verse 21
Jesus
contrasts
those who
don't
come to
the
light
with
those
who
do
come
to
the
light.
Verse 21
!
But whoever
does
what is
true
comes to
the
light
so that
it
may
be
clearly
seen
that
his
works
have
been
carried
out
in
God.
By
implication
if
those
who
don't
come
to
the
light
love
darkness
verse 19
and
hate
the
light
verse 20
then
those
who
come
to
the
light
they've
got to
hate
darkness
they've
got to
hate
the
sin
and
they've
got to
love
the
light
they've
got to
love
Jesus
they've
got to
see him
for
the
unique
one of
a
kind
son
he
is
those
who
come
to
light
love
the
savior
more
than
their
sins
they
see
their
need
for
rescue
and
are
willing
to
say
yes
this
is
who
I
truly
am
save
me
did
you
notice
that
Jesus
is
emphasizing
love
hate
language
love
the
darkness
hate
the
light
do
you
know
what
that
means
conversion
requires
a
heart
change
a
new
heart
for
someone
to
do
what
is
true
in
pleasing
in
God's
sight
verse
21
that
person
has
to
have
a
new
heart
and
God
gives
new
hearts
when
sinners
are
born
anew
by
the
spirit
they
are
born
again
this
is
what
Jesus
was
talking
to
Nicodemus
about
moments
ago
they
hate
their
sin
and
love
the
light
and
who
they
are
living
for
becomes
evidently
clear
that
Jesus
is the
controlling
center
of their
life
so
Jesus
spells
out
these
polar
opposite
responses
to
God's
one of a
kind
son
who
is
shining
in
the
darkness
and
he
spells
them
out
by
talking
about
!
the
same
responses
in
two
different
ways
believing
and
not
believing
in
the
son
as
well
as
coming
to
the
light
being
born
of
God
or
not
coming
to
the
light
which
is
remaining
dead
in
your
sins
and
God's
wrath
remaining
on
you
these
are
the
polar
opposite
responses
to
Jesus
and
he
makes
himself
into
the
great
continental
divide
of
all
of
humanity
what
side
of
him
are
you
on
Jesus
explains
what it
means
to
believe
in
him
so
that
you
may
have
eternal
life
he
alone
is
to
be
trusted
as
the
savior
of
the
world
the
one
of a
kind
son
and
there
are
only
two
responses
do
you
know
what
this
passage
is
all
about
trusting
in
Jesus
is
a
matter
of
life
or
death
so
trust
in
Jesus
and
live
if
you're
a
Christian
in
the
room
here's
what
this
means
for
you
thank
God
for
saving
you
don't
forget
what
you've
been
forgiven
from
there's
a
little
episode
in
Luke
7
where
Jesus
has
been
invited
to
a
dinner
party
with
Simon
the
Pharisee
in
a
woman
of
the
city
which
is
a
nice
way
of
saying
a
prostitute
comes
in
and
she
starts
crying
on
his
feet
and
cleaning
his
feet
with
her
hair
and
then
she
breaks
open
this
very
expensive
bottle
of
perfume
and
anoints
him
with
that
and
there
is
Simon
the
Pharisee
saying
in
his
heart
if
he
was
a
prophet
he
would
know
who
this
woman
was
and
Jesus
goes
on
to
tell
him
a
story
and
he
sums
it
up
this
way
this
woman
who's
done
all
these
things
she's
been
forgiven
much
he's
been
forgiven
much
loves
much
but
he
who's
forgiven
little
loves
little
and
what
you
need
to
know
is
everybody
in
the
room
if
you're
a
follower
of
Jesus
you
have
been
forgiven
much
and
when
you
give
thanks
to
Jesus
it
is
good
here's
the
second
thing
Christian
you
do
tell
others
of
what
Jesus
has
done
for
you
start
easy
start
with
your
spouse
but
Mike
my
spouse
is
a
Christian
already
so
what
tell
them
oh
Jenny
I
am
amazed
that
God
would
forgive
me
a
sinner
she'd
be
like
amen
you
are
a
sinner
saved
by
grace
but
don't
stop
with
your
spouse
go
on
to
your
kids
do
your
kids
know
how
God
saved
you
they
might
need
a
letter
you
might
not
explain
it
kind
of
in
a
G
rating
at
first
and
then
he
moved
to
PG
when
they're
a little
older
and
then
he
moved
into
R
if
you
think
you
can
when
they're
old
enough
oh
but
don't
hold
back
tell
them
of what
Jesus
has
done
for
you
grandparents
when Hudson
my
grandson
is
old
enough
I'm
going
to
share
with
him
what
Jesus
has
done
for
his
grandpa
tell
your
grandkids
and
don't
leave
out
what
this
same
God
is
offering
them
in
Jesus
do
you know
why we
tell
other
people
about
Jesus
because
Jesus
is a
matter
of
life
or
death
let's
pray
together
Lord
Jesus
thank
you
for
willingly
giving
yourself
as the
one of a
kind
son of
God
for us
sinners
to make
us
God's
sons
and
daughters
God
would
you
by
your
spirit
not only
deepen
our
gratitude
for
that
but
would
you
increase
our
boldness
to tell
other
people
about
that
amen
I
almost
forgot
I
moved
this
around
right
before
the
sermon
so I
forgot
to say
this
if
you're
a
non-Christian
if
you're
a
non-Christian
you've
just
been
seeing
Jesus
as a
chair
that
you
could
sit
in
Jesus
is
inviting
you
this
morning
he's
inviting
you
this
morning
to
trust
in
him
alone
to
be
saved
to
receive
eternal
life
and
I'm
guessing
you're
wondering
what do
I
do
you
pray
here's
what you
pray
I'm
going to
read
this
and then
I'm
going to
pray
it
and then
you
pray
along
with
me
you
say
Lord
Jesus
save
me
from
the
wrath
my
sins
deserve
and
then
you
say
thank
you
for
dying
in my
place
and
giving
me
eternal
life
amen
that's
all you
have to
say
so I'm
going to
pray that
now
and if
you want
to pray
that
you pray
along
and after
I say
amen
I'm going to
say one
more thing
to you
Lord
Jesus
save
me
from the
wrath
my sins
deserve
thank
you
for
dying
in
my
place
and
giving
me
eternal
life
amen
if
you've
prayed
that
prayer
you
need
to
tell
me
so
would
you
find
me
after
the
service
and
let
me
know
that
today
you've
become
a
Christian
God
bless
you
amen