WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.600 Well, what I want to do over the next few weeks is I want to take individual verses and squeeze the juice out of the orange. It's not my normal custom. My normal custom is to take a chunk of scripture. But it seems to me as you look through church history that God has particularly blessed certain verses in the preaching of God's word. And I want to try and preach on some of them. 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:34.079 And so John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. It is the most extraordinary summary of the gospel. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:54.000 The context is the meeting with religious Nicodemus who saw Jesus by night, whose heart was drawn to the Lord Jesus and yet he is ignorant about this foundational truth. And Jesus has to tell him, doesn't he, unless you're born again, you won't see the kingdom of God. You won't know God. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:13.120 And it's amazing the Lord Jesus uses the story of the brass serpent to do so. Of all the history in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus uses that story. Here's the scene. There's Moses and he's literally being surrounded by dying people who are dropping left and right. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:27.640 Whoever has been bitten by the snakes is destined to die. And yet Moses receives a message from God. God graciously provides a remedy for dying people who deserve to die. 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:38.180 And so Moses commands, commanded by God to raise up a serpent as high as he could. And Moses' simple message is, if you will but look on the serpent, you will live. 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:57.080 And the Bible says, whoever did that, whether they were old or young, whether they were close to the serpent or whether they were far off from the serpent, whether they'd just been bitten or whether they were on the verge of death, whoever looked on the serpent was healed at once. 00:01:58.460 --> 00:02:07.260 And so the Lord Jesus said, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:11.640 For God so loved. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:19.159 The Lord Jesus speaks of his Father's unspeakable, inexpressible love. 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:25.300 And so when Jesus says, God so loved, we know that he's referring to his Father. 00:02:25.860 --> 00:02:32.200 Because the next phrase says, doesn't it, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:34.280 So three things. 00:02:34.379 --> 00:02:35.859 Number one, the wonder of his love. 00:02:35.959 --> 00:02:37.319 Number two, the measure of his love. 00:02:37.379 --> 00:02:39.419 And number three, the promise of that love. 00:02:41.459 --> 00:02:44.079 So Christ is clearly speaking of the love of the Father. 00:02:45.339 --> 00:02:46.639 What do we know about God? 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.299 I said to you, who is God or what is God? 00:02:51.839 --> 00:02:55.659 I suspect most of you would say to me, God is love. 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.159 Twice the Apostle John makes that statement. 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:04.759 Nothing so defines the very being of God than the fact that God is love. 00:03:05.939 --> 00:03:13.759 And in order for you and I to understand this love, we need to ask ourselves, who is the object of God's love? 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:17.460 Now look with me at the last two verses of the chapter. 00:03:17.620 --> 00:03:18.259 Can you see there? 00:03:18.519 --> 00:03:21.240 The Father loves the Son. 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:29.700 And so you and I need to first understand, first and foremost, about the Bible, that God loves his Son. 00:03:30.700 --> 00:03:31.860 The Father loves his Son. 00:03:32.760 --> 00:03:43.580 The Father who is the infinite God, and who has an infinite love, and that love is given to his Son. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:48.820 His Father loves his Son with an infinite love. 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:53.840 He says, doesn't he, this is my Son, whom I love at the Baptist. 00:03:54.539 --> 00:03:58.120 This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased. 00:03:59.019 --> 00:04:06.240 So when the Lord Jesus talks about his Father's love, and whenever the Bible speaks of the Father's love, we must never lose sight of that. 00:04:07.859 --> 00:04:11.379 Here in our verse, it speaks of the Father's love towards sinners. 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:13.000 There's John 3 verse 16. 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:22.500 And so when God loves sinners, he loves them with the love with which he loves his Son. 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:37.199 God has eternally purposed, before the foundation of the world, that human beings, people like you and me, would be including in the showing of God's love. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:42.099 So God created man and woman in his own image. 00:04:42.979 --> 00:04:48.379 He created us to be the unique recipients of that love. 00:04:49.219 --> 00:04:54.399 We were created to be able to comprehend and respond to God's love. 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:59.339 It's what made man, human beings, so unique in creation. 00:04:59.539 --> 00:05:02.819 It's what makes man the crown jewel of God's world. 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:09.099 The very fact that God created man in the image of his Son. 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:16.259 He created human beings to resemble his only begotten Son. 00:05:17.699 --> 00:05:24.300 And so as the Father looked at human beings when he'd made them, he said they are very good. 00:05:24.659 --> 00:05:27.039 They are a reflection of his Son. 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:31.399 They are made in the image of God, and his heart can go out to them. 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.779 To that reflection of his Son. 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:41.159 And that is what makes the fall in Genesis chapter 3 so vile and so wretched. 00:05:42.899 --> 00:05:47.479 Because yes, Adam disobeyed the command of his Father in Heaven. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:53.439 But the great crime of Adam was that he despised the love of his Creator. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:57.339 It wasn't just the breaking of the rules. 00:05:58.699 --> 00:06:01.879 Ultimately, Adam stepped on his Father's heart. 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:04.600 He turned his back on the God who created him. 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:07.100 The devil knew what he was doing. 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:09.899 The devil is a brilliant theologian, isn't he? 00:06:10.019 --> 00:06:14.459 The devil understood that man was the crown of God's creation. 00:06:14.899 --> 00:06:18.139 Human beings were the special object of God's delight. 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:27.319 And Satan knew that in his intense hatred for God, he knew the best way to strike at God was to turn man against his Maker. 00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:38.800 And so that sentence, you know God said on the day you break it, our relationship will surely die. 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:45.319 And death is the appropriate punishment always when a covenant is broken. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:51.040 A covenant is a binding together of two parties. 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:58.120 And death means a separation, a tearing apart. 00:06:59.139 --> 00:07:05.379 On the day, God says, you break this covenant which belongs together, we will be separated. 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:07.519 We will be separated. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:09.120 And so we see that in Genesis 3. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:11.560 Your body and soul are separated. 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:16.519 That is the consequence of the breach of this covenant. 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:19.500 So Adam is expelled, isn't he, from the presence of his Maker. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:28.199 And man, who is the delight of the Father's heart, suddenly becomes the object of God's wrath. 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:36.840 Because the anger of God is the response of a God of love towards sin. 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:44.099 A God who loves his Son can only respond in one way to the despising of his love. 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:45.859 And it is holy wrath. 00:07:47.599 --> 00:07:50.939 And that's why, in the last verse of John chapter 3, can you see it? 00:07:52.099 --> 00:07:54.379 Jesus gives us the bottom line of the Gospel. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:58.139 And he says, whoever believes in the Son has a turn in life. 00:07:58.219 --> 00:08:00.319 Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:02.819 But the wrath of God remains on him. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:04.239 It's present tense. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:09.259 Paul says, by nature we are children of wrath. 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:12.500 By nature. 00:08:14.100 --> 00:08:17.540 And so when you understand that, when you understand the whole Bible context, 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:19.500 you come back to John 3.16, can you see it? 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:24.980 And it is astonishing that God does not say, for God so hated the world. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:27.939 It says, for God so loved the world. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:31.720 How are we to interpret the word world? 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:32.799 What does that mean? 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:38.699 Well, we must use the word world in the way that John used it. 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:41.419 And John understood it when he wrote his Gospel. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:42.599 And his epistles. 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:52.379 He witnessed, didn't he, the remarkable phenomenon of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus going into the Gentile world. 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:57.159 And he saw the mighty work of the Holy Spirit conquering Gentiles. 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:58.919 And they turned to God. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:02.000 Gentiles became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.639 And John is astonished to observe the Gospel. 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:08.460 It's not just for Jews, but it's for the whole world. 00:09:08.580 --> 00:09:09.899 For different types of people. 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:17.100 I think the most natural reading of the word world is the world of Jews and Gentiles. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:25.180 God so loved the world of rebellious Jews and Gentiles that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:09:25.179 --> 00:09:32.259 Jesus is describing fallen humanity with a generic term. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:35.639 He's so loved. 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:40.779 And the contrast is the world in rebellion against him. 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:45.080 It's not talking about every single individual human being. 00:09:45.199 --> 00:09:47.699 It's talking about a world that has rebelled against God. 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:49.740 He so loved humanity. 00:09:50.580 --> 00:09:56.519 He so loved human beings that by nature were children of wrath that had no desire after God. 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:58.620 That they wanted nothing to do with him. 00:09:58.939 --> 00:10:02.379 He so loved them that he sent his one and only son to the world. 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:08.019 This world that conspires against him. 00:10:09.139 --> 00:10:11.579 That conspires against the Father's anointed. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:12.759 Sound 2 verse 2. 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:19.299 So what this text is saying. 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:23.340 Is that God so loved a world that hates his son. 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:27.360 A world that has no use for his son. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.019 A world that despises his son and wants no part in his son. 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:38.379 And God the Father who loves his son with a love that is beyond our comprehension. 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:41.360 Loves fallen wretched humanity. 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:46.840 And so he has decided to redeem people like you and I. 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:48.480 Rebels. 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:50.580 God. 00:10:51.780 --> 00:10:53.139 And wicked humanity. 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:54.840 And mentioned in one breath. 00:10:56.780 --> 00:10:58.860 Now before I go on I want to make this personal to you. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:02.780 Because ultimately I think you can put your name in John 3.16. 00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:05.040 Think about that. 00:11:06.660 --> 00:11:07.820 Paul says, doesn't he? 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.240 That he loved me and he gave himself for me. 00:11:13.300 --> 00:11:15.080 And so can I ask you to do that? 00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:16.460 Can you do that in John 3.16? 00:11:16.460 --> 00:11:18.300 For God so loved Paul Levy. 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:22.699 And let me ask you this question. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:23.579 Why should he love you? 00:11:25.500 --> 00:11:27.579 Why should you be the object of God's love? 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:30.299 Who were you at one time? 00:11:30.359 --> 00:11:31.299 Before God found you. 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:32.939 Before God visited his salvation. 00:11:33.339 --> 00:11:35.339 You too lived in enmity towards God. 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:38.759 With a heart that was hostile to him and his son. 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:45.919 The Bible tells us that God has loved you with an everlasting love. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:50.059 He's loved you with a love that never began. 00:11:51.939 --> 00:11:54.259 And so for his people he loves them with a love that will never end. 00:11:54.259 --> 00:12:01.059 There was never a moment in God's eternal existence when he didn't love you. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:04.759 He's always loved you. 00:12:06.819 --> 00:12:09.700 You have a place in his will, in his heart from all eternity. 00:12:11.819 --> 00:12:15.460 And so this little verse that we trot out so quickly, don't we? 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:16.960 We must be filled with wonder. 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:21.259 That God so loved the world, rebellious humanity. 00:12:21.259 --> 00:12:21.819 Yes. 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:25.500 But we must know specifically that that love included us. 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:27.399 How can that be? 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:28.240 A God who is holy. 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:32.340 A God who is so holy that the angels, they cover their faces at him. 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:39.600 How can this God allow his name to be mentioned in one breath with godless humanity? 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:40.720 How can it be? 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:43.039 Does God have to compromise himself? 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:44.539 Does God have to bend his rule? 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:47.179 It's an absolute impossibility, isn't it? 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:48.480 He is of pure eyes. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.340 It's so pure are his eyes that he can't even look on evil. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.940 God is so just that he must deal with every sin that has ever been committed. 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:00.759 This is a God with whom there's no compromise. 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:04.360 And so let's secondly see the measure of his love. 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:05.700 The measure of that love. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:07.500 How much did he love the world? 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:08.980 Well, the text is obvious, isn't it? 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:12.220 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:18.279 The father gave the son of his love. 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:23.899 The father gave the eternal object of his love. 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:28.740 He gave the one who had been his delight for all eternity. 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:42.399 So, Galatians tells us, in the fullness of time, at the right time, in order to save human beings, in order to redeem them, God gives his only begotten son to become the sacrifice for sin. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:48.039 He gave him sacrificially. 00:13:49.379 --> 00:13:54.259 That God knew that there was only one way to resolve this great dilemma. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.500 How shall I pardon rebellious human beings? 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:02.059 How can human beings be reconciled to me? 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:10.859 And the only one solution, Christ tells us that from all eternity, he has been the father's willing servant. 00:14:11.439 --> 00:14:13.679 Who delights to do his father's will. 00:14:15.419 --> 00:14:23.159 That he willingly took upon himself to become the sacrifice for sin in the fullness of time. 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:27.259 And God knew that there was no other way to resolve this dilemma. 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:33.779 The Bible says to you this lunchtime, God will by no means clear the guilty. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:45.879 And therefore, because he can find no means to clear the guilty, the only solution was that his son, the son of God, at just the right time, would become the son of man. 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:50.419 In order to become the substitute of guilty Jews and Gentiles. 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:57.000 So that on that basis, a world, you and I, which are in rebellion against God, can be reconciled to God. 00:14:57.259 --> 00:15:05.840 And so God would be freely able to love Jews and Gentiles who are totally unlovable in themselves, through the son of his love. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:12.399 There had to come a solution in which the love of God would be vindicated. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.480 And also his justice would be vindicated. 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:19.639 What is the justice of God? 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:25.740 Well, it's just that attribute that upholds and vindicates the integrity of his love. 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.000 So think about it. 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:36.960 If human beings had never sinned, we would never have experienced the negative aspect of God's justice. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:49.240 But now that we are transgressors, now that we have sinned against the love of God, the justice of God requires the punishment of sinners. 00:15:50.920 --> 00:15:52.500 And so a way had to be found. 00:15:52.500 --> 00:16:01.620 In order for God to love this world and to save sinners and to reconcile sinners to himself, a way had to be found. 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:05.500 And that was accomplished on the cross of Calvary. 00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:07.500 So the cross of Calvary. 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:17.440 So the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ has its origin in the eternal council of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 00:16:18.860 --> 00:16:24.000 It is the divinely appointed symbol of the curse. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:31.220 The cross was appointed by God as the place where love and justice would meet. 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:34.139 So think of it. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:39.240 There hangs the eternal Son of God who is also the Son of Man. 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:46.879 The one who is eternal and the infinite object of the Father's love. 00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:51.720 That Son experiences the full reality of hell. 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:55.419 So that he is utterly forsaken by God. 00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:58.759 And so he cries out, does he? 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:02.680 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:08.039 What's the Father's great objective? 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:09.399 What is God's great objective? 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.599 The Father's great objective is to glorify the Son. 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:18.319 The Father who loves the Son. 00:17:19.379 --> 00:17:23.279 The Father who has declared that from heaven, this is my Son whom I love. 00:17:24.619 --> 00:17:30.659 On that day, he subjected that same Son to his wrath. 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:34.900 I wish I could explain it. 00:17:36.120 --> 00:17:39.700 Martin Luther said, God's forsaken by God who can understand it. 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:45.519 And yet it is precisely in that way that God paved the way. 00:17:46.600 --> 00:17:49.200 That he could freely bestow his love. 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:53.299 That love with which he loves his Son, he can give to you this lunchtime. 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:59.000 His Son as the substitute of sinners became the object of his wrath. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:06.980 So that on the basis of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, God can now freely love his people. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:14.200 However, the Father must have loved the words of Christ on the cross. 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:15.900 It is finished. 00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:18.960 I have borne your wrath. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:21.980 I have paid the price. 00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:27.019 Let me read to you from 1 John chapter 4 and verse 10. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:28.259 It says this. 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:29.839 It says, 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:31.200 In this is love. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:33.700 Not that we have loved God. 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:36.039 But that he loved us. 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:40.400 And sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:45.080 That is what defines the measure of God's love. 00:18:47.340 --> 00:18:51.200 He so loved the world that he gave the Son of his love. 00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:57.360 That we might be the recipients of that amazing and astounding love. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:03.199 And on the basis of that sacrifice, the finished work of Christ. 00:19:03.399 --> 00:19:06.859 God is well pleased with that. 00:19:07.939 --> 00:19:09.479 And he makes a promise to sinners. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:10.419 So can you see that promise? 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:11.219 That's the third point. 00:19:11.339 --> 00:19:13.519 The third is the promise of that love. 00:19:14.439 --> 00:19:16.599 For God so loved the world that he gave his Son. 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:20.339 That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 00:19:20.339 --> 00:19:26.539 And so God promises to you and I that if we will put our trust in the Son. 00:19:27.539 --> 00:19:29.819 We will get the exact opposite of what we deserve. 00:19:31.539 --> 00:19:34.019 And that is the amazing nature of the grace of God. 00:19:34.159 --> 00:19:36.240 Grace is often defined, doesn't it? 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:38.579 As the unmerited favour of God. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:40.539 It's getting what you don't deserve. 00:19:41.679 --> 00:19:45.039 In other words, God gives his goodness to us when we don't deserve it. 00:19:45.299 --> 00:19:46.919 We forfeit the favour of God. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:48.720 But I want to say to you, it's much more than that. 00:19:50.339 --> 00:19:54.279 It is that God gives us the exact opposite of what we deserve. 00:19:55.419 --> 00:19:58.079 What we deserve is damnation. 00:19:59.459 --> 00:20:00.699 And look what he offers. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:01.939 He offers life. 00:20:05.179 --> 00:20:06.919 What we deserve is wrath. 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:11.159 What we deserve is to be forever banished from his presence. 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:16.859 But in his Son, he welcomes us into his presence. 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:21.759 And that is the astounding truth expressed by this invitation. 00:20:21.879 --> 00:20:23.319 He promises us eternal life. 00:20:23.399 --> 00:20:25.839 So we thought of Adam, didn't we, in the Garden of Eden. 00:20:27.539 --> 00:20:30.019 Who broke that covenant with God. 00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:35.240 And on the day you eat of it, you will surely die. 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:43.139 But those who believe in the Son, are restored back into covenant with God. 00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:49.020 And who in Christ enjoy union and communion and friendship with God. 00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:52.400 God promises you that if you believe in my Son, he says. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:58.360 If you trust in my Son, I promise you, I will bring you into an eternal relationship with myself. 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:00.060 And I will restore you. 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:02.819 It is so simple, isn't it? 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:03.960 And so profound. 00:21:04.679 --> 00:21:05.379 Can you see what it says? 00:21:05.419 --> 00:21:06.879 It says whoever believes in him. 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:09.519 Whoever trusts in him. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:11.779 Whoever looks to him. 00:21:12.399 --> 00:21:13.940 Whoever relies on him. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.960 Whoever touches the ham of his garment will not perish. 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:19.819 But have everlasting life. 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:28.539 Why is it that God promises such extraordinary blessing, eternal life. 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:32.939 For something so simple. 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:36.019 Why? 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:37.419 Because the Father loves his Son. 00:21:37.419 --> 00:21:38.079 That's why. 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:48.259 You cannot honour the Father more than by believing in his Son. 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:55.159 There is nothing that so stirs the Father in the very depths of his being. 00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:58.659 As when human beings believe in his Son. 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:00.939 Nothing pleases God more. 00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:05.700 And so this afternoon, whether your faith is weak or strong, it doesn't matter. 00:22:07.399 --> 00:22:10.839 Because God does not save you because of how strong your faith is. 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:15.720 God saves you because of the object of your faith. 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:20.620 And so let's go back to that scene from the book of Numbers. 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:24.779 There's a bit in Israelite who's only a few breaths away from dying. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.519 And whose eyes are fading. 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:31.400 And he catches a glimpse of that serpent. 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:32.740 And he was healed at once. 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:36.240 That's the point I'm making. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:39.019 Weak faith. 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:41.079 Strong faith. 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:43.920 Have this in common. 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:45.200 The same object. 00:22:46.859 --> 00:22:49.879 And God is so, so pleased. 00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:52.259 When you believe in his Son. 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:55.420 Listen to John 12, 48. 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:57.240 The one who rejects me, Jesus says. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.180 And does not receive my word. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.220 Has a judge. 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:04.139 The word that I've spoken will judge him on the last day. 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:07.600 For I have not spoken on my own authority. 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:10.320 But the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment. 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:11.620 What to say and what to speak. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:14.180 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:16.200 What I say therefore. 00:23:16.540 --> 00:23:18.820 I say all that the Father has told me. 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:22.160 Can you see from that verse and from other verses. 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:25.360 That our greatest sin. 00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:28.840 Is the rejection of Jesus Christ the Son. 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:36.339 That is the greatest sin of all. 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:40.939 The rejection of the only begotten Son. 00:23:42.179 --> 00:23:44.839 Who is freely offered to us by his Father in the Gospel. 00:23:46.179 --> 00:23:47.619 God offers his Son to sinners. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:50.240 Promising that if they believe in him they will not perish. 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:56.399 God cannot be honoured anymore this afternoon. 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:01.679 Than when we believe in his Son. 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:06.819 When we believe in his Son we endorse who God is. 00:24:08.159 --> 00:24:12.720 That's really what verse 33 is talking about in John 3. 00:24:14.379 --> 00:24:16.399 It's talking about when it's set there isn't it. 00:24:16.419 --> 00:24:17.220 Verse 33. 00:24:17.699 --> 00:24:20.839 Whoever received his testimony sets his seal to this that God is true. 00:24:22.220 --> 00:24:26.399 We are endorsing that entire witness of what God has said in his word. 00:24:26.639 --> 00:24:28.119 That we are to believe in his Son. 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:31.519 That's why Jesus said in John 6 verse 14. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:32.740 For this is the will of my Father. 00:24:32.819 --> 00:24:34.220 That everyone who looks on the Son. 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:36.559 And believes in him should have eternal life. 00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:37.720 It gives hope. 00:24:40.639 --> 00:24:41.859 And so will you believe. 00:24:44.299 --> 00:24:45.740 Let me read to you from Numbers 21. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:47.220 The Lord said to Moses make a snake. 00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:47.939 Put it on a pole. 00:24:48.639 --> 00:24:50.019 And anyone who is bitten on it. 00:24:50.299 --> 00:24:51.199 Bitten by the snake. 00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:52.199 Can look at it and live. 00:24:52.500 --> 00:24:53.859 So Moses made a bronze snake. 00:24:53.939 --> 00:24:54.819 And put it on a pole. 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:56.819 That when anyone was bitten by a snake. 00:24:56.899 --> 00:24:58.099 And looked at the bronze snake. 00:24:58.299 --> 00:24:59.519 They lived. 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:06.859 You see the only thing that will disqualify you from eternal life is unbelief. 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:11.579 Your sin cannot disqualify you. 00:25:11.579 --> 00:25:12.099 That's the promise. 00:25:12.159 --> 00:25:13.619 The promise is free and unconditional. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:17.939 It invites you to come with all your guilt and pollution and corruption and baggage. 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:21.279 And God will freely pardon you. 00:25:24.080 --> 00:25:25.320 If you will trust Christ. 00:25:25.380 --> 00:25:27.460 Now how can God promise such amazing blessings? 00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:29.019 Because he loves his Son. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:32.740 Through this man. 00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:35.320 It preached the forgiveness of sins. 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:38.160 This is the God who says in Isaiah 1. 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:39.940 To a wicked and ungrateful people. 00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:41.460 Come let us reason together. 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:43.480 Though your sins be red like scarlet. 00:25:43.580 --> 00:25:45.600 I will make them white as snow. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:49.139 And so let's finish with this. 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:52.659 It is true that you cannot honour God more. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:55.839 By believing in his Son. 00:25:56.379 --> 00:25:58.819 You can't honour God any more than that. 00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:02.419 But you cannot dishonour him more. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:07.339 And you cannot provoke him to greater wrath than by rejecting his Son. 00:26:09.639 --> 00:26:10.839 And so John 3.36. 00:26:10.959 --> 00:26:13.419 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. 00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:17.300 Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:20.400 But the wrath of God remains on him. 00:26:23.060 --> 00:26:24.480 Do you love the Father's Son? 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:28.000 Do you love the one the Father loves? 00:26:28.100 --> 00:26:29.000 Have you trusted in him? 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:32.100 Can you rely on him? 00:26:34.300 --> 00:26:36.160 Well if you do you have eternal life. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:39.060 And if you don't. 00:26:40.980 --> 00:26:42.500 Well you're one breath away from hell. 00:26:43.380 --> 00:26:43.900 Let's pray.