WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.800 Well, on April 20th, 1996, a group of over 100 believers internationally represented came together in the city of Cambridge in Massachusetts. 00:00:13.700 --> 00:00:23.100 Among these believers were some that you'll recognize, R.C. Sproul, Alistair Begg, James Montgomery Boyce, David Wells, Michael Horton. 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:29.740 They were heavy hearted as they gathered. And the reason is because they were very aware. 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:39.140 This is about 25 years ago, how much the doctrines of the Bible have been pushed outside of many churches in the West today. 00:00:39.820 --> 00:00:42.439 They describe the problem that they see this way. 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:51.560 The evangelical world seems to now be dominated by approaches to worshiping God that are man centered. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:01:06.000 Sermons about your self-esteem, false health and wealth promises, many treating the gospel as a product to be sold and treating sinners as consumers who want to buy it. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:11.680 And there are others who treat the Christian faith as being true simply because it works. 00:01:12.740 --> 00:01:18.099 Such man centered ministries silence the doctrines of grace. 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:21.319 And this is not new. 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:30.319 In fact, this is the very truth, the doctrines of how God saves sinners that he has revealed in the Bible. 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:35.340 It's what the New Testament epistles, those letters write to defend and to make clear. 00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:41.280 That's exactly the human centered encroachment that they're pushing away from the early church in the first century. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:52.659 This is what Martin Luther and John Knox and John Calvin, the reformers, had to dust off and open up from the Bible once again because the Catholic church had shrouded it over. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:53.379 It was blind. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:54.340 They're blinding the people. 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:55.659 They're making it all in Latin. 00:01:55.740 --> 00:01:58.620 They couldn't read God's word to hear the promise of grace. 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:03.099 It's what the Puritans were arrested and thrown in prison for in England. 00:02:03.379 --> 00:02:07.920 It's why their churches were shut down for preaching the doctrines of grace from the Bible. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:18.759 And so in Cambridge, they came up with five statements to simply reaffirm what the Bible teaches, what the Reformation was about, what the Puritans upheld and gave their lives for. 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:28.360 One of those five doctrines is the doctrine of sola gratia, that God saves sinners by grace alone. 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:37.060 One week from today, we'll have our Reformation Sunday, and I've invited one of the elders from our sending church, Chuck Porter, to preach a Reformation message. 00:02:37.540 --> 00:02:46.240 And I believe he's going to tell us about the work that God did through men like Martin Luther and why the five solas are still so important for the church today. 00:02:47.320 --> 00:02:53.660 And now I'm reminded if we're here defending the doctrine of grace, which is simply the message of the Bible. 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:57.419 It's like what Charles Spurgeon had to do in the late 1800s. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:05.079 He said, anytime you see men gathered around the cage of a lion, they're trying to defend the lion and explain how powerful and mighty the lion is. 00:03:05.519 --> 00:03:06.419 What should they do? 00:03:07.979 --> 00:03:10.359 Open the cage and let the lion show them. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:16.479 And that's my prayer that as we go through the Gospel of John, the lion, Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:23.199 you'll hear from his words, why he is so powerful and why he saves sinners by grace alone. 00:03:23.799 --> 00:03:30.239 And I think this theme that we have, it's pointed to once again by John the Baptist, that Jesus is the groom. 00:03:30.339 --> 00:03:35.060 It carries all the way through what this interaction that Jesus has with the woman from Samaria. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:36.060 It's the same theme. 00:03:36.419 --> 00:03:38.799 I want you to see that from Christ himself. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:46.800 So first I want to show you the heavenly groom, Jesus Christ, and then I want to show you his unlikely bride. 00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:50.340 Why can we call Jesus the heavenly groom? 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:51.680 Look at verse 28. 00:03:53.140 --> 00:03:54.780 John the Baptist calls him that. 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:57.520 He says, I'm the friend of the bridegroom. 00:03:58.260 --> 00:03:58.800 Chapter 328. 00:03:59.620 --> 00:04:04.840 And he says, the friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:12.319 So I want to open up to you from what John the Baptist says, four observations about Jesus, the heavenly groom. 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:16.600 Number one, the heavenly groom cares about purity. 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:18.480 Look at verse 22. 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:19.899 Chapter 3, verse 22. 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:23.740 Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:24.879 And what was he doing there? 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:28.459 He was baptizing. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.560 And verse 23, John, the baptizer, was also there baptizing. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:37.160 And we're told that they were baptizing where water was plentiful. 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:43.720 John Calvin observes that we should picture sinners hearing the gospel preached and proclaimed, 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:49.540 being called to these waters that were plentiful, these rivers coming together and being plunged into the water. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:53.540 Now, what did they have in mind? 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:56.680 What was it that they were preaching that was calling these people to the waters? 00:04:57.740 --> 00:04:59.240 Well, look at verse 25. 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:03.079 A discussion arose among some of John's disciples. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:04.500 So they're hearing the proclamation. 00:05:05.780 --> 00:05:11.240 And a Jew following them up from the south, from Jerusalem, all the way up to this area where they're baptizing. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.540 He's trying to cause division among the work of Jesus, the work of John the baptizer. 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:19.280 And it's about the doctrines that they're both preaching. 00:05:19.960 --> 00:05:22.079 What is it that the discussion was over in your Bible? 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:22.800 Verse 25. 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:25.240 It was about purification. 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:25.759 Purification. 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:32.860 So I want to pause and I want you to see that Jesus, the groom from heaven, he cares about purity. 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:42.420 There is not a single worthy groom who does not care about purity and the purity of his life and the purity of his bride. 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:46.460 You know, picture a groom of the week leading up to his wedding. 00:05:47.139 --> 00:05:54.980 And imagine if he were just giving himself and his body, you know, and he heard that his wife was fooling around and that type of thing. 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:57.759 That would be a wedding you would not want to bless and affirm. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:02.959 You want a groom preparing himself and calling his bride to purity. 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:06.219 And that's exactly what we have in Jesus Christ. 00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:14.399 The heavenly groom is so heavenly that not only the bride, but also all the guests at his wedding feast must be pure. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.939 They must be clean to even join his wedding feast. 00:06:18.159 --> 00:06:20.500 The groom, he prepares his bride. 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:23.279 He prepares everyone who's coming to his wedding feast. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.619 And he does this, we're told, look at chapter 4, verse 1. 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:31.259 Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:40.299 So the pattern of ministry that Jesus set is that he will spiritually purify his people and he will do it through his appointed servants. 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:45.419 He will do it through his disciples who will become now the leaders in the early church. 00:06:45.479 --> 00:06:46.719 And that pattern continues. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:52.480 He uses the church to purify you, his bride, the church for himself. 00:06:53.720 --> 00:07:03.860 How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ won once for all sacrifice on the cross was for you personally? 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:08.320 Well, an Orthodox catechism that we read explains it in this way. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:19.800 Christ instituted this outward washing with water because with it he gives a promise that as surely as the water washes away the dirt from your body, 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:25.279 so certainly his blood and his spirit wash away my soul's impurity. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:36.559 So when you picture a baptism, you get to watch someone being baptized every time it should minister to you and assure you that just like the water is washed away the outside of the person, 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:43.519 the Holy Spirit by the blood of Jesus washes and purifies your soul, your inner being, preparing you for him. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:52.060 Not only does the heavenly groom care about purity, he also, number two, has identifiable groomsmen. 00:07:52.919 --> 00:07:56.399 You'll be able to tell when you go to a wedding who's the groom who's the groomsman. 00:07:56.479 --> 00:07:59.419 If they're all out in the lobby joking around, it's hard to tell. 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:00.319 They're all dressed the same. 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:01.060 They all look the same. 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:03.299 You know, you really can't tell who's who. 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:09.799 But when they take their place, the groomsmen are identifiable because of how they stand in relation to the groom. 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:18.780 And so I want you to see John the Baptist as that identifiable groomsman, the pattern of a true believer who points to Christ the Savior. 00:08:19.460 --> 00:08:22.680 Four observations about John the Baptizer as a groomsman. 00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:27.580 Number one, the groom's true friends stand for the groom. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:28.920 Look at verse 26. 00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:35.840 They said of John the Baptizer, Rabbi, he to whom you bore witness. 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.980 That's how John wanted to be associated to Christ. 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:39.740 Who is Jesus? 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.759 Who is this man also baptizing? 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:44.419 He's the one that John bore witness to. 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:47.319 The one that John stood for and vouched for. 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:53.620 You picture at a wedding scene, the enemies of the groom wanting to come and take him down and mess him up. 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:55.439 Picture like a Romeo and Juliet drama. 00:08:55.979 --> 00:08:58.199 Well, the groomsmen are right there and they have his back. 00:08:58.439 --> 00:09:01.620 They will bear witness and they will stand by the groom. 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:03.599 That's exactly what John the Baptist does. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:11.540 Now, listen, if the true groomsmen of Jesus are identifiable, that also means that we need to beware of imposters. 00:09:12.540 --> 00:09:17.240 Those who are ashamed of Christ are not welcome at his wedding feast. 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:18.360 That's an imposter. 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:22.320 Number two, the groom's true friends defend his credibility. 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:23.840 Look at verse 27. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:29.800 John answered, a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:32.580 What was it that Jesus was receiving? 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:35.020 Jesus was receiving all the people. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.660 The disciples said, look, they're going from you over to him. 00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:39.700 John the Baptist assesses it. 00:09:39.780 --> 00:09:41.160 He says, they are. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:45.379 Yes, the father is giving all these people who have heard the gospel. 00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:46.180 He is. 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:49.379 The father is giving these people to his son. 00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:51.100 That's who is receiving them. 00:09:51.480 --> 00:10:00.879 The bride sees that Christ's life, work and glory were given to Jesus Christ by God, the creator of heaven and earth. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:07.919 And the groom witnessing that, the groomsmen are happy to vouch for him and to say, this is the true God. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:09.360 I point you to him. 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:11.179 He is worthy of your trust. 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:16.379 Number three, the groom's true friends make clear what they are not. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:28.960 Those in churches who have allowed biblical authority to be lost, Christ to be displaced, the gospel to be distorted or faith to be perverted. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.100 They are not true friends of the bridegroom. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:42.200 Those whose own interests have taken the place of God's interests and those who are trying to do the work of God in the name of Jesus in their own way. 00:10:42.820 --> 00:10:47.879 They are like a groomsman trying to kiss or steal the attention of the bride. 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:51.840 John the baptizer did the opposite. 00:10:52.800 --> 00:10:57.040 The groom alone makes the joy of his true friends complete. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:10:59.179 Look at verse 29. 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:03.480 John the baptizer did not want the attention. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:05.059 He did not want the popularity. 00:11:06.019 --> 00:11:06.919 He was full. 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:11.579 Simply hearing Jesus Christ preach the truth from heaven. 00:11:12.219 --> 00:11:12.860 Verse 29. 00:11:13.299 --> 00:11:14.519 John the baptizer says, 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:19.879 Who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:23.139 Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:27.419 He must increase, but I must decrease. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.580 What a pattern for ministry. 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:33.220 We are full simply hearing the truth of God. 00:11:33.980 --> 00:11:36.539 Our lives are so fleeting and short. 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:41.740 We want Christ to be exalted and for his bride to come and enjoy him. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:46.639 And for their joy to be just as full as ours because he alone can satisfy. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:51.879 The heavenly groom increases in the life of his true friends. 00:11:51.980 --> 00:11:54.759 Is Christ increasing in your soul? 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:58.840 Is your joy in Christ growing and deepening? 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:01.159 Then you're a true friend of Christ. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:06.620 Where the heavenly groom is being decreased, being made less. 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:09.159 Those are not true friends of Christ. 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:14.600 This was another thing that the Cambridge Declaration pointed out. 00:12:14.719 --> 00:12:21.179 They said the loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is both common and lamentable. 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:40.039 It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful by worldly standards. 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:51.740 As a result, God, Christ, and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us, the church. 00:12:52.199 --> 00:12:59.079 But Christ's true friends like John the Baptizer, they live to make Christ's glory known to the whole world. 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:07.159 It's the true friends of the groom, Jesus Christ, that will go out into the byways and the hedges and compel all who will come in. 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:15.159 When you have been made full with the voice of Christ, the truth of the gospel that Jesus reveals, you won't be ashamed. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:17.199 You'll be happy to do whatever he calls you to do. 00:13:18.079 --> 00:13:21.019 And as a healthy church, we should be seeing that in our own lives. 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:25.679 We should be out there, at least some of us in the busy streets, open air preaching. 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:33.279 We should not be ashamed at some point to do an outdoor service and to simply worship the Lord, let the world may see. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:42.519 And we should also be disciplined with our giving and our expenditures as a church so that we can propempo, we can send. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:45.059 That's the Greek word for sending out missionaries. 00:13:45.059 --> 00:13:54.919 I've talked in the last two weeks with two different missionary team leaders, one in South Africa, one in the northern tip of Africa in an undisclosed country. 00:13:55.779 --> 00:14:03.179 Both, I just need to share this with you all at some point, both have a glorious vision for reaching the unreached people groups within Africa. 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:17.539 One is doing it directly with a team of five other families, and the other is doing it by these men and women coming from tribes, and they know those languages of those tribes, being discipled and being equipped now to go back to their own villages and translate the scripture. 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:21.179 Powerful work, and we need to be part of that here from Parker, Colorado. 00:14:21.579 --> 00:14:23.419 Our giving needs to be to support that. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:25.439 We need to do it sacrificially. 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:29.379 Whatever it looks like, whatever it takes, we need to be part of that, and we need to be praying for them. 00:14:29.379 --> 00:14:35.559 And it'll be a joy to see the groom, Jesus Christ, calling his bride from the whole world to himself. 00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:41.460 Well, the heavenly groom cares about purity, and he has identifiable groomsmen. 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:45.980 Number three, the groom attracts his bride. 00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:52.500 Picture the long aisle of a beautiful chapel, and there's the bride. 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:53.559 Her heart is pounding. 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:56.039 Her face is becoming flush. 00:14:56.039 --> 00:15:03.980 She is like a magnet, just drawn to the warm eyes and the smile of her groom who swallows hard when he sees her. 00:15:04.699 --> 00:15:07.939 That's what the church is when you behold Jesus Christ. 00:15:08.819 --> 00:15:10.639 The bride, who is the bride? 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:14.539 You are the bride if you are one who God has called to Jesus. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:15.939 Look at verse 29. 00:15:16.939 --> 00:15:19.459 From the lips of John the baptizer, verse 29, 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:23.679 the one who has the bride is the bridegroom. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:27.519 We are told in verse 26 that all were going to him. 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:27.899 Why? 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:29.699 Well, look at verse 28. 00:15:30.339 --> 00:15:34.839 It's the same reason John the baptizer loves Jesus, the groom from heaven, 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:37.620 because they have heard his voice. 00:15:38.199 --> 00:15:41.799 And they are full of joy at hearing the voice of Jesus Christ. 00:15:41.939 --> 00:15:42.659 He draws them. 00:15:42.959 --> 00:15:43.719 He attracts them. 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:45.859 He makes them to rejoice greatly. 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:51.560 How could you describe the attractiveness of our Lord Jesus Christ? 00:15:52.700 --> 00:15:56.519 If you had to do it in one word, you could say heavenly. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:00.759 Jesus has an attractiveness that is otherworldly. 00:16:01.560 --> 00:16:02.860 Look at verse 31. 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:05.860 That's how John the baptist reckons it. 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:06.259 He says, 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:09.319 He who comes from above is above all. 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:13.600 He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.080 But he who comes from heaven is above all. 00:16:17.819 --> 00:16:22.340 See, the bride, the church, is attracted to the heavenliness of the groom. 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:26.840 Jesus, he still lives and he still speaks to his church today. 00:16:27.740 --> 00:16:33.039 And when you hear the voice of Jesus, you recognize this is not something man could ever make up. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.000 He moves and talks in the pages of scripture. 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:42.819 And the way he treats people is above every other man, above everything else you could compare him to. 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.399 You see the heavenliness of Christ. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:51.599 It's because God has opened your eyes and caused you to behold Jesus Christ, the groom, 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:56.599 coming for the church, his bride, coming from heaven to draw you to him. 00:16:57.459 --> 00:17:01.919 And then you can read the Song of Solomon's chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:08.259 And you can recognize, if you're the beloved church, you can recognize your lover, Jesus Christ, 00:17:08.740 --> 00:17:11.240 as an apple tree among the trees of the forest. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:13.279 And you can say, like Solomon, 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:16.759 So is my beloved among all the world. 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:20.299 And like the bride, as she beheld the groom, she said, 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:25.139 With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:30.519 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:35.139 That's the bride being attracted to Jesus Christ, the groom. 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:42.940 And number four, the groom exchanges seals, exchanges signet rings with his bride. 00:17:43.879 --> 00:17:46.480 So I want to show you this exchange. 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:49.900 First look with me at verse 33. 00:17:49.900 --> 00:18:00.280 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:07.320 To set your seal means that if you're someone who owns property, you would have a signet ring. 00:18:07.800 --> 00:18:09.200 This is your ring, your signature. 00:18:10.100 --> 00:18:13.900 And in a document that would be folded over, wet wax would be dripped there. 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.840 You would take your signet ring and press it onto that wax. 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:21.779 So you are setting your seal when you testify that this is true. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:27.259 And so when you receive the gospel, when you receive the words of Jesus Christ as life-giving for you, 00:18:27.339 --> 00:18:32.839 you are setting your seal that God is true, and God is faithful to his covenant promise. 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:40.159 Now, I want to show you how you do not set your seal to God until God first sets his seal to you. 00:18:40.879 --> 00:18:42.119 And now look at verse 32. 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:49.479 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:53.219 See, no one would go up and set their seal to God. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:59.219 You might be thinking, well, who is it that possibly could receive this testimony from Christ as true? 00:19:00.059 --> 00:19:03.619 How do you know whether you are a true believer? 00:19:03.619 --> 00:19:15.859 I believe that right here in these next three verses, Jesus shows you exactly how God does this miracle of causing someone who is spiritually dead to open their eyes and believe Jesus Christ. 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:17.279 Look at verse 34. 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:22.899 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God. 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:31.180 So the first way that God opens your heart and your eyes to believe his truth is when you hear the word of God preached to you. 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:38.220 It's because Jesus Christ is still preaching and interceding so that everyone he purchased will believe in him. 00:19:39.280 --> 00:19:44.000 You must hear the call of Christ as the words of God himself on your life. 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:46.680 For he gives the spirit without measure. 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:52.360 So when you hear the gospel proclaimed, it's the Holy Spirit ministering the word of God to your soul. 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:54.660 Not just measured out just enough. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.600 It's flooding over you. 00:19:56.940 --> 00:20:00.900 The spirit washes the truth of God over your entire being. 00:20:01.060 --> 00:20:02.019 Look at verse 35. 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:08.960 The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:10.860 Why are all the people going to Jesus? 00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:15.859 Why is the spirit causing all those people to believe this word from Christ as true? 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:19.839 It's because the father gave the bride to the groom. 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:26.419 God the father gave the church to his son, Jesus Christ, the heavenly groom. 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:35.639 Without Christ, you already have the wrath of our good, holy, and just God against your sinful, rebellious soul. 00:20:35.639 --> 00:20:36.679 Look at verse 36. 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:43.980 Whoever believes in the son has in the present right now, you have now inside of you the life of the age to come. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:45.840 Eternal life begins now. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:50.680 But whoever does not obey the son shall not see life. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.940 But the wrath of God remains on him. 00:20:55.779 --> 00:20:57.560 This is the work of regeneration. 00:20:58.100 --> 00:21:00.440 Like God explained, Jesus explained to Nicodemus. 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:01.539 Now he's showing you now. 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:13.740 If Nicodemus was the culmination of man's religion and being a law keeper, he's going to go down to the opposite end now to show you who God is powerful to regenerate and draw to the groom. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:15.940 And that's the Samaritan woman. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:19.680 But I want to circle back to why there is an exchange of seals. 00:21:19.859 --> 00:21:21.599 Please turn in your Bible to Ephesians. 00:21:22.879 --> 00:21:24.779 Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13. 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:32.000 And as you turn there, I want to show you a couple of things. 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:35.660 So the Lord Jesus Christ gave two ordinances. 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:37.700 He commanded his church to do two things. 00:21:37.819 --> 00:21:38.859 One is to baptize. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:42.379 And the other is that we remember him with the Lord's Supper. 00:21:42.899 --> 00:21:45.799 So the Lord's Supper and baptism, they're both signs. 00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:49.160 A sign, like a stop sign, it points to the thing signified. 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:53.339 So baptism points to our union with Christ. 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:56.939 The Lord's Supper is a sign that points to our communion with God. 00:21:57.879 --> 00:21:58.059 All right. 00:21:58.159 --> 00:22:06.159 Now, baptism, we are, we are, the union with Christ comes when he regenerates you and the Holy Spirit breathes life into you. 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:08.720 You have the fullness of the Holy Spirit washing over you. 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:10.099 The Spirit without measure. 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:12.980 When you are made alive in Christ, you are united to Christ. 00:22:13.179 --> 00:22:14.980 The moment he regenerates you. 00:22:15.379 --> 00:22:16.899 Look at Ephesians 1 verse 13. 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:22.040 Paul, writing to the church, he says, 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:35.119 In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, what happened? 00:22:35.659 --> 00:22:39.899 You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:42.840 So the same steps. 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:43.600 Did you catch that? 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:48.680 When you heard the word of truth, but you didn't just hear it as a message for anyone out there. 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:51.840 You heard it as the gospel of your salvation. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:23:03.279 You then receive the promised Holy Spirit as God's seal, as the signet ring of the King, the creator of heaven, who will not break his word. 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.220 So that's the first ring that's given to the bride. 00:23:06.439 --> 00:23:07.439 It's the Holy Spirit. 00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:10.119 He seals the believer in Christ. 00:23:10.879 --> 00:23:12.740 And then, and so that's the picture of baptism. 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:14.279 That's why we only baptize once. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:15.459 You were sealed. 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:16.819 You were united to Christ. 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:23.179 But then, when you come up and you take the Lord's Supper, the Bible says you are proclaiming Christ and him crucified. 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:28.419 You are now setting your seal to the work of Christ on your behalf. 00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:30.159 He sealed you with the Spirit. 00:23:30.439 --> 00:23:33.779 Now you set your seal to the fact that God is true. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:35.379 How do you know that? 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:36.579 You point to Christ. 00:23:38.399 --> 00:23:42.339 So the heavenly groom exchanges seals with his bride. 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:51.240 I don't want you to leave here wondering if he has given you a new heart, if God has set his seal to you. 00:23:51.939 --> 00:23:55.059 And you know why it's such a gift when we have the Holy Spirit? 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:59.159 It's because the Holy Spirit does not stop working. 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:01.699 The Holy Spirit fills you. 00:24:01.819 --> 00:24:04.819 It's the Spirit without measure to breathe life into your dead soul. 00:24:05.159 --> 00:24:08.059 But then the Spirit keeps bearing fruit in your life. 00:24:08.059 --> 00:24:10.440 And the Bible teaches this. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:20.659 How can you know that you have the Spirit of God sealing you into Christ and that you can set your seal to God's truth of salvation through Christ alone? 00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:24.899 Well, in the words of the Canons of Dorp, this is what the Bible teaches. 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:31.279 When you can observe in your life the fruit of the Spirit described in God's Word, 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:35.339 what are some things you want to be looking for to know if you have the seal of the Spirit? 00:24:35.339 --> 00:24:39.659 You should see a true faith in Christ. 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:45.740 That you don't put your faith in your own good works or your own merit to be in the presence of God. 00:24:45.939 --> 00:24:49.679 Your faith is in the work of Jesus Christ for you alone. 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:54.980 The Spirit also gives a true believer a childlike fear of God. 00:24:55.459 --> 00:24:58.599 It's a fear that sees God the Creator as your Holy Father. 00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:05.439 You fear Him with reverence and you love Him and you want to live your life in response of gratitude to Him. 00:25:05.939 --> 00:25:08.480 But it is a fear that does not take His law lightly. 00:25:09.019 --> 00:25:10.859 You want to please your Heavenly Father. 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:16.399 That's a sign of the Spirit changing your rebellious heart, giving you a love that is otherworldly. 00:25:17.779 --> 00:25:21.799 You will also have a godly sorrow for your own sin. 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:27.339 A godly sorrow from sin is a gift from the Holy Spirit to the true believer. 00:25:28.399 --> 00:25:34.819 So why do we read from the law and have a moment of confession if we're believers, if we're Christians in a church? 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:38.879 It's because that's how the Spirit continues to purify His bride. 00:25:39.399 --> 00:25:40.500 He is preparing you. 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:43.539 He's showing you this godly sorrow for sin. 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:46.460 It's killing off the sin of the flesh. 00:25:46.879 --> 00:25:52.759 And it's replacing that sin with more and more love for God that only Jesus Christ could put into your heart. 00:25:54.460 --> 00:26:03.299 Jesus had said in Matthew 6 that the only people who are blessed are those who hunger and thirst for His righteousness. 00:26:04.379 --> 00:26:11.980 Only those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God that God alone can give you are the ones who will be satisfied. 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:12.819 That's the promise. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:17.399 If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, God will satisfy you. 00:26:17.980 --> 00:26:24.000 And if you have the Holy Spirit in you, the more of God that you get, the more you will hunger for God. 00:26:24.379 --> 00:26:29.079 If you thirst to be more and more right with Jesus Christ, your Savior, as your groom, 00:26:29.980 --> 00:26:35.899 then the closer you get to Jesus, the more you enjoy that communion with Him through the ministry of the church, 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:39.500 through your reading of His Word, through your time in prayer and communion, 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:45.559 the more thirsty you will be for even more of those living waters that come from Christ alone. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:52.440 And if you're seeing some of these things in your life, never perfectly but always in increasing measure, 00:26:52.440 --> 00:27:02.259 then you can have confidence and assurance that God saw you as filthy and untouchable as you are, 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:03.980 as you probably feel your sins to be. 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.580 And He said, come to the groom from heaven. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:08.880 He is for you. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:13.240 Put your faith, your hope, and your trust in Him. 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:17.140 And now the Holy Spirit brings the fruit of Christ. 00:27:17.580 --> 00:27:19.400 And He holds it up in your life. 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:21.860 And He says, see how good Jesus is. 00:27:22.120 --> 00:27:23.840 He is bearing the fruit of the Spirit. 00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:25.380 These are gifts from Him. 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:30.220 He purchased these gifts for you so you can know that you belong to God. 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:35.440 Well, this is part one, the heavenly groom. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:40.360 Next time we come back to the Gospel of John, we're going to pick up on the same message. 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:47.079 I believe it's one continuous theme, and I want to show you His unlikely bride so that you can be encouraged. 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:50.299 And what I want you to remember is this. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:57.759 The unlikeliness of the bride confirms the heavenliness of the groom. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:04.480 So if you're feeling today, there's no way God can continue to love me, continue to forgive me. 00:28:04.879 --> 00:28:09.879 The more unlikely you are, the more you see how little of God's favor you deserve. 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:18.339 That just really points to the heavenliness, the otherworldliness, the divine love of God in Jesus Christ for you. 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:24.319 Well, let's close in a word of prayer and then prepare our hearts for the Lord's Supper. 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:54.299 Let's pray. 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:57.659 May your spirit purify us as your bride. 00:28:58.139 --> 00:29:00.819 Prepare us for your great wedding feast in heaven. 00:29:01.159 --> 00:29:08.960 And give us strength to wait anxiously until we can finally behold our heavenly groom, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:13.859 God Himself who took on flesh to save His church. 00:29:13.859 --> 00:29:15.379 We praise you, Lord. 00:29:15.379 --> 00:29:21.799 May you be glorified in the life of this congregation today and with every day that you give us to live on earth. 00:29:21.939 --> 00:29:23.699 Until we're with you in glory, we ask. 00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:24.359 Amen.