I want you to turn your Bibles this morning to John chapter 8 beginning there in verse 48.
The Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?
Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me.
Yet I do not seek my own glory.
There is one who seeks it and he is the judge.
Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
Let's pray.
Father, for us this morning, together as a body of believers, prayer is not something we do out of habit or routine
or because it's just the appropriate way to introduce a sermon.
We do so because we have confidence in you who answer prayer.
And we confess at the same time that we are pretty frail.
Father, we tend to be full of ourselves and our own ambitions and interests.
And Father, we recognize that your glory, your word is truly supremely valuable
and we are well served to come to you with humility and ask for your help.
That as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119, verse 18,
Open thou mine eyes that I might behold wondrous truths out of thy law.
And so we begin with prayer.
There are some here that need to be obedient.
For your people are charged with responsibility in the scriptures of praying that the word of God would have free course.
There are some here this morning that need to be obedient.
Some who need their hearts encouraged and refreshed.
Some who need to be drawn to the cross and to genuine repentance and faith.
And some who need to have their hearts lifted up with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ
and that their love may grow for him.
All these things flow from the preaching of your word,
from the faithful and humble prayers of your people and the work of the Spirit among us.
And so we begin by asking for your help.
And we have confidence in your answer.
And for Jesus' glory we ask this.
Amen.
Well, as we take up our text this morning,
I think it's appropriate to kind of frame where we are in the book of John.
And I want you to understand that John chapter 8 is a breakover point.
If you are familiar with the four gospels,
you know that the four gospels really only cover a very small part of Christ's life.
He lived some 30 years.
And the truth of the matter is,
is that the gospels give us hardly any detail about his birth,
none about his adolescence and childhood, etc.
And the majority of the time actually focuses on the one week surrounding his crucifixion.
That is particularly true of the synoptic gospels.
What we find in John's gospel is that he takes a different tack,
and at the center of his gospel is this singular focus of making sure
that those who read the gospel understand some fundamental questions.
The question is this, who is Jesus?
And what does that mean to me?
Interestingly, in the last several weeks, for one, I was out in California with my sister,
and then later I had an opportunity to talk with some other individuals.
And in two conversations, though they were in different locations
and with radically different individuals,
we really came back to kind of the same things.
And when I actually had a person ask me, a Baptist pastor, that's always scary,
but, you know, ask me,
so what's this about all the religions in the world?
I thought that was a died-and-gone-to-heaven opportunity.
I really did.
And I explained it this way.
Even though I grew up in India, my parents were missionaries,
and I lived across the street from Muslims,
and I had Hindus around the corner,
and I had Buddhists where I went to school in the Himalaya Mountains.
How many of you noticed they said Himalaya, not Himalaya?
Just talk to me about that afterwards, okay?
But anyway, here we go.
There are really only two religions in the world.
Only two.
One that proposes mankind may work their way up the ladder by repeated efforts
and eventually get it right.
And if that idea is true, then Buddhism, or Hinduism in particular, with do-overs.
You know what a do-over is?
It's, you know, you die and get another shot at it,
another shot, another shot, another shot.
It took me a while to figure out in India why, for the most part,
people tended not to help the deprived and down.
Here's the reason.
Because you're messing with their karma.
Do you understand?
They're paying off their debt from the past,
and when you step in and interfere, guess what they have to do?
They have to do it again.
So kind of let them work their way out of this pile.
Wow.
And so here, two religions, one where men kind of work their way up,
and I love asking the question to people,
so when you die and God says,
why should I let you into heaven, what are you going to say?
Well, I've been a pretty good person.
You're on that, guess what?
You're kind of on the works-based idea of kind of working your way up.
The other idea is God knowing our desperate inability to save ourselves,
about like a drowning man pulling himself out of the water by his hair.
You know, it's like God sent his son to be the sacrifice for my sin,
and he, seeing my desperate state, loving me unconditionally,
and not because of who I am or ever would be,
he sent Jesus to be my Savior.
So in both of these conversations,
I had the opportunity of kind of ending off the conversation by saying,
because, you know, it's not like the person said,
man, I need Jesus right now.
What do I do?
I wish that had happened, but it didn't.
So it's like, so how does a pastor walk away from some of these conversations?
Here's what I did.
I said, hey, we've had a great time talking about these things,
and can I leave you with something to think about?
Well, yeah, sure, you know.
I said, why don't you read the Gospel of John,
and as you're reading the Gospel of John,
just ask yourself two questions.
Who is Jesus?
And what does that mean to me?
And that question is particularly poignant.
It's very central to what we're going to study this morning,
because here at John chapter 8,
remember I said we're kind of at a turnover,
a turning point.
Prior to John chapter 8,
Jesus has continued a fairly public ministry
that has gotten more aggressive
in making it clear to people who He is.
And, as you have heard me say,
when the truth is out there,
people are on the spot of saying yes or no to God,
and that's what happened.
As Jesus made His messianic and saving work clear,
people came to the point of saying yes or no.
And John 8 is a turning point.
He stops working so much in the public eye
and begins to invest more and more energy
in working towards the cross
and ministering to His disciples.
Interestingly enough,
as we were closing off these conversations
that I referenced,
I had one of them say to me,
well, you know,
I really do believe that all religions are the same.
Now, I'm on the spot.
What do I say with that?
And I said, well,
you know, I have to tell you,
if I read the Bible,
I have to come to a conclusion
of either Jesus is a pathological liar
or He's telling the truth.
Because what Jesus said is,
I am the way, the truth, and the life,
and no one comes to the Father but by Me.
And so either Jesus was a liar and a deceiver
or what He had to say about who He was
and what He'd come to do
was to be believed or rejected.
And so as we work our way
through this passage this morning,
beginning there in John 8, verse 48,
one of the things that I want you
to be thinking about
is this central question,
who is Jesus
and what does that mean to me?
And I'm going to take
the parts of this passage
and break them down
into two little pieces.
I'm going to let you kind of
follow along with me
and if you want to,
you could actually put a little tick mark
by verse 48.
This is the Jews
kind of reacting to Jesus.
You could put another little tick mark
by verse 52
and you could put a little tick mark
by verse 57.
So you've got to get an outline.
We see the one side
that looks at Jesus
and has the idea
that He is not
the Son of God
and the one who is
the Savior of the world.
So we're going to work our way
through this passage
and I want you to understand
ahead of time
how the outline is going to flow.
Being that we start in verse 48,
I guess we could begin this way
of saying the question is this,
was Jesus a wicked deceiver
and a liar?
In verse 48,
the Jews answered Him,
are we not right
in saying that you are a Samaritan
and have a demon?
And when they said that,
I want you to understand
that they were responding
to the ongoing logic
that Jesus had been engaging in
since the beginning of chapter 8.
It actually goes back
in chapter 6
where He came out
and made it clear
I am the bread of life.
And then in chapter 8
in particular,
He said,
I am the light of the world.
Later,
in that same context,
He made it clear to them
that those who did not believe in Him
were destined to an eternity in hell
because of their rejection
of the offer that He made
of the gospel
and salvation through that.
And so here they were.
The Jews had tried to trap Jesus
with various logical arguments.
They had actually sent some
to arrest Him.
This had not worked out.
Not worked out well at all.
And so their closing statements
were kind of a sarcastic
and what they thought
was a supremely insulting statement
to Jesus.
Now, I'm not inclined
to get into the political season.
You know that.
But I'm always impressed
by the fact that
when people don't have much to say,
they are reduced
to throwing barbs at one another.
How many of you understand
what I'm saying?
In the absence of logic,
insult will do.
And so here's what the Jews did.
They were not being very successful
at dealing with Jesus' popularity.
They were not being successful
at dealing with Jesus'
winsome ministry
and gospel presentation
that He was the one
who'd come to save people
from their sins.
And so they decided,
let's go with the absolute
knockout insult
for any average Jewish male.
We will call Him
a Samaritan
and we'll accuse Him
of being filled with demons.
Somebody's like,
ah, you can't say that about me.
You can see it going on.
And Jesus goes,
yeah, really?
Is that all you got?
Well, you look here
and they threw it.
And by the way,
you do have to understand
that Jesus had kind of
egged them on a little bit.
You understand that,
don't you?
He had referred to them
as not being part
of Abraham's children.
And He'd actually gone so far
in verse 44
to say that they were
the children of Satan.
And you can understand
that things were getting
pretty heated.
And so they threw this at Jesus
and they thought,
wow, this is going to do it.
But what happened?
You look there in verse 49,
Jesus answered,
I do not have a demon,
but I honor my father
and you dishonor me.
I want you to understand
that at the core
of the tension
between Jesus
and the religious leaders
was this question
of whether or not
their system of faith
was worthy of trust.
The Jewish leaders
had the idea
that the way in which
you got to heaven
is one,
it really helped to be a Jew.
And number two,
you had to keep
a whole grocery list of laws.
One of the biggies
was really don't mess
with the Sabbath.
And how many of you
realize that Jesus
kind of specialized
on Sunday
or on Sabbath healings, right?
It's like,
remember they said,
can you do it any other day?
And I was like,
please, no.
And Jesus kept on
letting them know
that the Sabbath
was not all about
their rules and plans.
And really,
coming back,
what the Jewish leaders
had put together
was a works-based faith.
faith.
They believed
that they were going
to get to heaven
because they were
doing the right things.
And by the way,
that is the predominant
faith of everyone.
Everyone.
Whether a person
is a professing believer
or a person
is an atheist,
at the end of the day,
they think it's going
to turn out okay
because at the heart
of it,
they think they're
pretty decent people.
Now,
I would be the first
to admit that
everybody could be
worse with practice.
But the fact of the matter
is the heart
is a dark
and deceitful place.
And when Jesus
made it clear
to the Jewish
spiritual leaders
of Israel
that their faith
in their works,
religion,
was not going
to accomplish
what they hoped,
they became incensed.
They hated
the logic
of what He presented.
Incidentally,
it was rooted
in the Old Testament
scriptures
and what God
had to say
about the heart
of man.
And so,
here we are today
sitting under
the teaching
of the Word of God
and really having
to wrestle
with the same
attitudes
that the Jewish
religious leaders
were dealing with.
Am I trusting
this morning
in my own abilities
and my own goodness
to be the remedy
for the darkness
of my own heart?
Put it another way,
are you sitting
here trusting
in your own efforts
to save you?
And that's a question
every one of us
need to answer.
Am I really confident
at the end of the day
that my increased
education
or my increased effort
and a little more
self-help,
I'll get there.
I'm not what I should be
but give me time,
it's okay.
Here's the problem.
When you start
with bad code
or to use
a mathematical
principle
that I am
always very
uncomfortable with
but if you don't
copy the problem
right when the
teacher writes it
on the board
and you take it home
and you've got
some of the pieces
wrong in the way
you copied it,
how many times
does it take
before you get it
right?
Forever.
Here's the reason.
If you don't
get the information
right to start with,
you can't come out
with the right
conclusion
and the truth
of the matter
is the scripture
says that the
heart of man
is deceitful
above all things
and desperately
wicked who can
know it.
The heart that I
have and the
heart that you
have is a place
that is marked
by darkness
and deceit
and sin.
I'm not as bad
as I could be
with practice
but I cannot
save myself
and Jesus
made that true
undeniably clear
to the Jewish
leaders.
So the practical
question for you
at this moment
is do I believe,
do I believe
that my sin
is a serious
problem
or do I believe
that I can solve
my problem
with my own
efforts
and my energy?
As we work
through the remainder
of the passage
you will notice
that Jesus
didn't back away
from the truth
of their need
and interestingly
enough as he
continued to make
his ministry
and his calling
clear what
happened is they
hardened their
heart.
Will you listen
to me?
There is a distinct
disadvantage to
sitting under the
teaching of the
gospel when a
person refuses to
hear what God
has to say.
Why is that?
The more light
you are given
the more responsible
you are for the
facts.
And gospel
teaching helps
you come to
grips with the
fact I can't
solve my problem
myself.
I need Jesus
to be the one
that helps me.
And so as you
sit here this
morning I appeal
to you that you
don't behave like
the Jewish hearers
did who said
hey I don't want
to hear what you
have to say
and I'm going
to accuse you
with the most
vile name I
conceivably can
because I want
you to step off
the message that
you have.
So when you say
no to the light
I want you to
hear this things
grow darker in
your life.
Don't risk that.
You look here in
the passage in
verse 48 the
Jews answered
you got a demon
you're Samaritan.
Verse 52 the
Jews said to him
now we know that
you have a
demon because
Jesus said hey
those that believe
in me are not
going to die.
Abraham died I
mean that was
trump for a Jew
do you understand
everything kind
mention Abraham's
name it's like
that's good that's
good you got
Abraham in the
picture that's
good and Jesus
said you believe
in me you're not
going to die well
Abraham died the
prophets died blah
blah blah and
Jesus says let's
get this clear.
the life that you
live in the
physical sense is
going to bring you
to the grave but
those who trust in
Jesus are not going
to die.
So let's kind of
step into that a
little bit more and
ask you a practical
question as you work
your way through
this is Jesus your
hope and your
confidence for all
of eternity.
I want you to put
your finger if you
would on John
chapter 8 verse
51 look at that it
says this truly truly
I say to you if
anyone keeps my
word he will never
see death never
see death.
Now let me ask you
a question if you
had been if you
had been writing
that verse and you
weren't invited to
do that so just kind
of buy what's there
right but if you
had been writing
that verse would
you have written it
the way Jesus
quoted it or would
you rather have
said anyone who
believes in me
shall never see
death.
which would you
prefer?
Whoever keeps my
word or whoever
believes in me.
How many of you
would prefer just
hey I believe
I believe you know
it's like I
believe.
Why did Jesus say
keeps?
Listen to me.
It's fairly easy to
profess belief.
It's another thing to
show the evidence of
the transforming power
of the gospel in
behavior that is
radically different
than the way you
used to be.
I think one of the
things that's a
detriment to the
evangelical church
today is there are
a whole lot of
people scampering
around saying I
believe and they're
acting like the
average unregenerate
unsaved person and
there's no difference
whatever in their
life.
Jesus said let me tell
you something.
Here's how you know
you got the real
deal.
There's something
happening in your
life.
It's interesting.
A couple weeks ago I
was sitting at the
table with three
wonderful people I
had the opportunity to
eat supper with and
we're in a conversation
and all three of them
were profoundly
unhappy.
I mean we're
talking about people
that had education
up to the point that
I was kind of sitting
there with degree
envy.
It's like wow I'm
impressed.
But the thing I kept
as we were just kind
of so how do you like
your job?
I work with turkeys.
And I just kept on
going on.
These were unhappy
people.
I mean really unhappy.
And finally you know
low life sitting there
in his jeans and
t-shirt and that's
California so you
understand.
I said I feel sorry.
I'm sad that you're so
unhappy.
And they looked at me
and I was like well
are you happy?
I said I love doing
what I do.
What do you do?
Here's my answer.
I said I'm a broken
person.
Who gets to talk to
broken people about the
only one who can fix
their heart.
Do you follow that?
I love that.
And here is Jesus
saying something
profound.
Look at the passage.
Truly truly I say to
you if anyone keeps my
word he will never see
death.
I'm a professional
funeral doer.
How many of you
understand what I just
said?
I'm a pastor.
I've done funerals.
In fact the truth of
the matter is the
first professional
act I ever performed
was to do a funeral.
My father-in-law thought
that I should be a
pastor before I thought
that I should be a
pastor.
pastor and he
invited me to go to a
graveside in New
Jersey and be part of
the funeral service at
the graveside.
I'm froze to death.
It was like January and
it's like what am I doing
out here?
No someday someday you're
going to be doing this.
I don't think so.
But you know what?
I'm a professional
funeral doer.
I mean and I've got to
tell you something.
Listen to me.
I love funerals.
I absolutely love
funerals because I have
a captive audience that
is obligated to sit and
listen to what I have to
say for a couple minutes.
And I never preach about
the person that's dead.
Do you know why that is?
Because they don't care.
I'm all about letting the
people who are still in
the path of dying know
about how to get it right.
And so here we are.
Jesus says to them,
hey, the one who believes
in me will never see
death.
And what he was talking
about was not the issue
of physical death because
we know for a fact that
people die.
They die every day.
Every one of us here are
going to be ground
temperature one of the
days unless Jesus comes
back.
It's just a fact.
And so you look here and
here is Jesus.
He's speaking about the
issue of not seeing death
and their immediate
response is verse 52.
Now we know that you have
a demon.
Abraham died as did the
prophets.
And yet you say, 52, if
anyone keeps my word, what?
You're not going to die.
Now listen to the response
that Jesus gives.
In verse 54 he says, if I
glorify myself, my glory is
nothing.
It is my father who glorifies
me of whom you say he is our
God.
Now follow with me so that
you understand what is
happening here.
Jesus has made a profound
and indicting statement to
them.
You are going to die in your
sins.
He said that three times
earlier in John 8.
And I got to tell you that
was pretty offensive.
People who were greatly
confident in their own
status as, hey, I'm doing
the best I can.
In fact, I'm doing better
than he is.
I mean, what do you mean
I'm not going to make it?
Jesus was profoundly
offensive to them and they
kept on pushing back at it
and here he says, listen,
let me tell you something.
I'm not in this to glorify
myself.
And what was he saying?
He was saying that the
father was the one who was
glorifying him.
How was God glorifying
Jesus?
Ask yourself the question.
How was God glorifying
Jesus?
Let me help you understand
that for one, God was
glorifying Jesus by the fact
that Jesus had the full
measure of the Spirit and
everything he said came
from the prompting and the
enabling and the power of
the Spirit of God.
Remember one of the
recurring things that people
said about Jesus?
You never heard anybody
talk like him.
You never heard anybody.
Man, he could preach your
socks off to use the
phrase.
That guy brought fire from
heaven.
Remember when they sent
people to arrest Jesus?
I mean, these were
professional arresters.
And they came to deal with
Jesus.
They kind of had it.
All right, bud, you grab
him on the left arm and
I'm going to grab him on
the right and we're going
to march him right in there
to the Sanhedrin and he's
toast.
And all they did was they
listened to him preach the
word of God and what
happened?
Walked out of there as a
kind of overawed and
fanatic.
And they came back to the
Jewish leaders and they
said, you never heard
anything like this.
I mean, that guy preached
like, wow.
How do you do that in
power of the spirit?
Something else.
Do you understand that he
did miracles that were
real miracles?
Jesus was the original
fact-checking opportunity.
What I mean by that is one
of the things that happens
every now and then is we
have quote-unquote, you
know, these fancy miracles
at these big rallies, you
know, kind of stuff.
And, you know, what
happens is in 24 hours,
48 hours, people come back
and check and see, really,
did they get healed, etc.?
And da-da-da.
And they were always around
behind Jesus kind of
checking to see whether
there was clear evidence
of him really doing the
miracles.
We're going to get to that
in John 9, by the way.
Remember a man born blind?
They're all about checking
to see whether or not
Jesus really could heal.
And there was undeniable
power that he healed.
In fact, it was so undeniable
that remember after he raised
Lazarus from the dead,
what did they think was
their best option for
dealing with the evidence
of Lazarus?
What was it?
Kill him!
If you don't like the
messenger, kill the
messenger, right?
Okay, so here we are.
How did God affirm and
glorify Christ?
By enabling him to perform
miracles.
But one other thing.
God glorified Christ by
seeing to it that hundreds
and thousands of years
before Christ showed up on
the scene, there were
repeated prophetic
statements about the
ministry of the coming
Messiah, and Jesus
fulfilled every one of
them.
In fact, one of the things
that you find over and
over again in the
Scripture, it says, he did
this to fulfill Old
Testament prophecy.
So I want you to look
here at verse 51 and
kind of lock your heart
in on this.
Those who believe in
Jesus will never see
death.
That's interesting.
Those who believe in
Jesus will never see
death.
What does that mean?
It's not physical death
because we know for one,
Jesus was going to die on
the cross.
We know for another that
ever since Adam and Eve
sinned in the garden,
human existence has been
marked by the sorrow and
the reality of death.
I want you to understand
that what Jesus was
talking about was the
fact that those who have
faith in Christ and His
finished work upon the
cross do not see death
the same way the
unbeliever sees death.
Now, when you hear a
statement like that, a
logical follow-up is,
can you prove it?
I want you to turn in
your Bibles to Revelation
chapter 21.
Revelation chapter 21 is
the way the book ends.
And listen to what it says
in Revelation chapter 21,
verse 8 and then verse 14.
But as for the cowardly,
the faithless, the detestable,
as for murderers, the
sexually immoral, sorcerers,
idolaters, and all liars,
their portion will be in the
lake that burns with fire and
sulfur, which is the, what?
What's the word?
Second death.
Look again, if you will,
at verse 14.
And the wall, I'm sorry,
verse 14.
Suffice it to say that 8
will do it unless Tom can
save me and find where it
says second death twice.
Because it does say it.
We'll move on.
Okay?
The point is this, is that
there is a death that we die
physically, but there is a
death that unbelievers die
spiritually.
How is that?
For one thing, death is
separation.
In simple terms, it's the
separation.
And ultimately, the
unbeliever will be separated
from God and not just kind of
separated into, you know,
kind of absence from God.
It is separation into eternal
suffering that is very real and
undeniable in the Scriptures.
The sinner's death will usher
him forever into eternal
judgment.
The sinner's death will
separate him forever from the
joys of fellowship with God.
And so that brings us kind of
here to the closing lines of
this chapter and the final point
that you want to consider.
You go back there to verse 51,
if you will, again in John
chapter 8.
And here's what Jesus said.
He said there in verse 51,
if anyone keeps my word, he
will never see death.
What Jesus was saying is those
who keep his word and who
believe in him will not die a
spiritual death and suffer the
eternal absence from God the
Father.
You will be in the presence of
God and enjoy his company
forever.
I've got to tell you this
morning as I went into the
office, touched on the
computer screen, just touched
the keyboard, bang, there came
up the picture of my family, my
dad and my mom.
You know the first thought I
had?
My first thought is, dad, I'm
seeing you again.
That's what I thought.
First thought was, I'm seeing
you again.
I have no fear of dying.
And the reason I have no fear
of dying is not because I'm
deceiving myself, but because I
have confidence in the finished
work of Christ.
And I know that I will not suffer
the second death, not because I
have been a good person all of my
life, because I came to the point
of recognizing the absolute moral
bankruptcy of my soul and
confessing, I am a sinner justly
condemned before a holy God, and I
believe Jesus came to pay the
penalty for my sins.
Now, I like the way this argument
plays out here.
If you look at it, you find here
that as Jesus made this issue of not
dying clear, the Jews kind of
responded and look at their closing
argument in verse 57.
Jews said to him, you are not yet
50 years old, and have you seen
Abraham?
Remember he said, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day.
Now, that's a very interesting
statement.
What does it tell us?
Abraham looked forward to the
coming of the Savior.
That's what it's saying.
Abraham rejoiced.
Hey, how many of you sitting here
this morning, as muddy and as
difficult as your life is, are
looking forward to the day that
Jesus comes back?
That is a characteristic of a
believer.
It says this in 1 John chapter 3,
they that have this hope purify
themselves even as he is pure.
What drives you forward?
It is an understanding that the day
is coming that Tim Kenoyer is
going to be in the presence of
Christ.
And that keeps a guard on my tongue.
By the way, my tongue without any
practice can be an absolute
cesspool.
It is a reminder of the work of
Christ in my life and my interest
in pleasing him that has slowly
changed first my heart, then my
tongue.
And you look here and Jesus says,
the Jews said, well, you're not
even 50 years old.
And look at verse 58.
Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I
say to you, and this is, remember
they loved saying Samaritan, demon?
This is Jesus with a full forehand
slap across the face of the
unbelieving Jews.
Before Abraham was, what's the next
word?
I am.
Well, what does that bring to your
Jewish mind?
Remember?
Back in Exodus, poor old Moses chasing
sheep around the backside of the
wilderness, and God comes to him and
says, Moses, you are going to go back
to the land of Egypt and you're going
to lead my people out.
You're going to deliver them from the
bondage that they're in.
And Moses says, yeah, all right, why
don't you send somebody else?
No, no, burning bush and all that.
And so Moses, all right, says, okay,
when I go back there, they're going
to say, who sent you?
And God says, well, here, get this.
My name is I am.
The self-existent.
The self-consuming.
All.
Everything that you can imagine, God
is that.
And God says to Moses, you tell them
that I am is sending you.
And here is Jesus.
If there was anything that those Jews
knew, it was the book of Exodus and
the call of Moses.
And Jesus says, let me tell you
something.
Before Abraham was, I am.
Who has the right to tell you that you
may have everlasting life despite the
darkness of your heart?
Who has the right to promise that he
will raise you from the grave?
Who has the right to assure you that
you're going to spend heaven in his
presence?
Who has the right to be able to guarantee
to you that with your conversion, you
will enjoy the enabling of the spirit of
God that you, listen to me carefully, you
don't have to stay the slave to your own
passions and your own self-centered,
unhappy focus.
The only one who can make such an
unbelievable guarantee is the one who is
the I am.
Let me close by coming back to where we
started.
At the heart of the gospel of John is this one
recurring thought that I think it's appropriate
to think.
Who is Jesus?
And what's that mean to me?
Who is Jesus?
And what's that mean to me?
Who is Jesus?
And what does that mean to me?
And I want to tell you this morning as you listen to the
preaching of the word of God, I want you to
recognize this, the scriptures are undeniable clear.
The Bible answer is right in front of you.
Jesus is the Lord and the judge of the whole earth,
and he is the only one who can save sinners.
So a question you have to ask yourself is this,
am I a sinner who has come to the point of
recognizing the moral bankruptcy and the darkness
of their own soul?
Or do I need, let's stop just for a minute so you
understand me, do I need more empirical evidence?
How many of you understand what I mean by empirical
evidence?
Huh?
Do I need anything else to convince me that I'm a
skunk?
I mean, your friend's been telling you, but you know,
you may not believe them.
Okay?
Gospel truth begins by helping us understand
there is a holy God,
and someday I will stand before him and give an account for my life.
Will I offer to him my absolute lame excuses?
Will I offer to him my incomplete and half-hearted efforts?
Or will I come to him broken and contrite and say,
I stand justly condemned,
but I believe you and your infinite grace and love were willing to put your
own son on the cross for my sins.
And the Bible puts it this way.
Whosoever believes in him, what?
Shall not perish but have everlasting life.
There's another part that I like.
Whosoever believes in him shall not be ashamed.
Hmm.
Can I tell you, as Christians,
we have the power of God to work in us so that we don't have to be ashamed.
And by the way, when we live lives that please Christ,
we become powerful, effective witnesses.
Isn't that right?
People ask us,
how come you're not so unhappy and moody and just full of yourself?
Well, I don't want to take credit for that,
because I'm not the hero in my story.
Jesus found me as a broken and bankrupt, miserable, unwholesome person.
And I came in brokenness and said,
I'm a mess and I can't solve my problem.
But I believe Jesus died for me and he died for you.
And the scriptures make it abundantly clear
that all those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So the decision is, is what are you going to do with who Jesus is?
He is the Savior and he will be your judge.
Let's close in prayer.
Gracious Father, this morning as we consider the authority and the supremacy of your word,
we are very thankful that Jesus is the one who is the center of the gospel story.
Jesus is the one who is the hope of sinners.
Jesus is the one who steps beyond the shallow pride and arrogance of our spirit
and helps us see that apart from his complete forgiveness
and the payment of his life upon the cross, we have no hope.
And this morning we delight in the sweetness of the gospel
that gives believers joy and unbelievers hope.
Lift up Jesus among us this morning in your precious name.
Amen.