I suppose one of the responsibilities that rests on me, and I am a preacher by God's appointment,
! One of the responsibilities that rests on me is to make clear what preaching is.
! And so before we actually look at the passage, what I want you to turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 2.
I am going to, by the enabling of the Spirit I trust in your prayer and my prayer, and relying upon the Word of God,
I'm going to preach the Word, but I do want you to know what preaching is. I want you to remember that.
1 Corinthians 2, let me read the passage. It says,
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
Now the next part. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and in power.
Now listen carefully.
I cannot guarantee that today I can preach with the power of the Spirit.
Do you understand that? He chooses to do as he sees fit.
But it is my prayer.
I trust it's your prayer.
And we are desperately dependent upon the enabling of the Spirit of God in preaching the Word.
And you have a responsibility to engage in that task.
Amen?
With prayer.
Amen.
John chapter 3, verse 9 through 15.
You who know me know that I'm given to hyperbole.
That means exaggeration a little bit when it comes to the matter of preaching.
And I have to tell you that there are many Sundays or there are many weeks in the process of studying
that I will at one point or another say to the rest of the staff,
Man, this is a phenomenal text.
This is excellent.
And there are just times where my heart, when I'm bubbling in the office,
it's like I cannot, I'm an emotional person, just, you know, don't know me.
I am.
That's the way I am.
Hardwired.
And it just kind of comes out of me and it's like,
Oh, man, that's good.
And then I've got to wait until Sunday.
I mean, it's hard.
But I've got to tell you, this is one of the best passages.
It really is.
And this morning, what we are going to see in our study in John chapter 3,
beginning there in verse 9,
is the man who had come to Jesus kind of trying to understand.
He had a spiritual emptiness.
And so Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and he said,
Hey, talk to me about the kingdom.
And Jesus really cuts to the chase and nails him, right?
And then Jesus, as we will find in this passage, opens up
and he answers the simple question,
So how does a person get saved?
How does a person get saved?
And I have to tell you, there are some of you sitting here today
that are not saved.
There are some of you that are sitting here today.
I don't know where you are spiritually.
And some of you may have made a variety of different professions.
You said certain prayers or whatever.
But really, there is no evidence of a life's transforming power
that is a mark of the work of God.
And without question, one of the ambitions of a pastor's heart
is to bring the gospel with clarity and simplicity
and to do so with the enabling of the Spirit of God
so that people who are struggling in the dark hopelessness of their sin
would be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we look at John 3, verse 9,
let me begin by tracking the passage with you there in verse 9.
Nicodemus said to him,
How can these things be?
And Jesus answered him,
Are you the teacher of Israel?
And yet you do not understand these things?
Truly, truly, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen,
but you do not receive our testimony.
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe,
how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
No one has ever ascended into heaven
except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Will you join me in prayer?
Father God, it is our privilege this morning to gather freely
and to gather with just an unbelievable comfort
in the practical, physical issues.
But more importantly, we gather because of the work of your grace.
You're the one who in so many of our lives,
first of all, gave us that deep abiding sense of guilt and shame
and led us by conviction to the foot of the cross
where looking up we saw the Lord Jesus who had died in our place
and we understood that we, justly condemned,
had no hope except in him.
And you in your infinite mercy and love
were willing to sacrifice your own Son
to be the full payment for our sins.
And we believed and have everlasting life.
And you have taken us from being idolaters and pagans
to being worshipers of the one true God.
And as we study the Scriptures this morning,
we want our hearts to be filled,
to be joyful, to be encouraged.
And we pray, Lord, that those that are here today
that do not know Christ will be drawn by your grace
to know complete forgiveness for all of their sins
because of what Christ has done
and to trust him as their Lord and Savior.
And we're dependent upon you to do a great work today
in the preaching of your Word.
And it's application in the life of people.
And we ask this in Jesus' name.
Well, as we move our way through this text,
let me kind of break it down
and explain that the first part
is actually going to be some background,
and there's a reason for that.
I think it's always important for us
when we are studying Scripture
to take the time to get the frame
around which the lesson sits.
And if this is a superbly,
supremely important lesson,
and it is,
it's always very important to take some time
to get our hands around,
okay, where is the passage set?
And so, as we look this morning,
we're going to look, first of all,
at the fact that salvation
is the supernatural work of God.
And that is actually what chapter 3,
verse 1 through 8 is all about.
You'll remember that in John chapter 1,
or John chapter 3, verse 1 through 3,
we have the account of Nicodemus
coming to Jesus by night,
and he comes with some spiritual concern.
Evidently, there was a prompting of the Spirit
to recognize a vacancy, an emptiness,
and there was nothing that he could really fill it with.
He was a supremely accomplished leader of the Jews.
He was a man who understood
the Old Testament completely,
and yet, despite all this,
he had it all together on the outside.
Inside, there was an emptiness.
And so, we find here that he comes,
and one of the things that we understand
is that he makes it clear
that the religion of self-help
will really never offer lasting spiritual comfort.
And that's what Nicodemus does
at the very beginning.
He comes, and he says,
hey, listen, let me ask you about the kingdom.
And despite the fact that he was on the Sanhedrin,
he was a Pharisee,
he was the top teacher,
or one of them anyway,
here he comes to Jesus,
and he says, listen,
I need to understand a little bit more.
And we read in verse 3
that true conversion
is more than improved behavior.
Hey, we've all decided on one occasion or another
that we need to do something
to clean up the mess.
Haven't we?
We've all looked at the ugliness
of what's going on in our life,
and we may on occasion
kind of excuse the fact
that we're not as bad
as some of the other people we know,
but the truth of the matter is
is that in the quiet inner part of our heart,
we know we're not where we need to be,
and so, all right,
I need to make some improvement,
go buy a couple self-help books,
and off I go.
Well, I want you to understand
that what Jesus makes clear here
is that true conversion
is a complete restart or a new birth.
It's the supernatural work of God alone.
And here was Nicodemus coming to Jesus,
and he said, hey,
why don't we talk a little bit about the kingdom?
And Jesus says, hey,
let's cut to the chase.
You can't get there from here.
You need to be reborn.
And in saying that,
he was talking to a person
who had reached the very pinnacle
of religious excellence.
He was top shelf.
And yet for all of that,
when he comes to Jesus
with this inner emptiness,
Jesus says,
you have to start all over again
because you can't make it by yourself.
And that brings us to another truth
in relationship to salvation
that we see in verse 7 and 8.
And I want you to mark what it says there.
It says,
do not marvel that I say to you,
you must be born again.
The wind blows
where it wishes
and you hear it sound.
You do not know
where it comes from
or where it goes.
So,
it is with everyone
that's born of the Spirit.
Now, here's the point
that Jesus is making.
He's saying,
you don't understand
all the ramifications
and dynamics
of the way
in which the wind functions.
How many of you here
are meteorologists?
Anybody here
a meteorologist?
I remember
a number of years ago
there was a young man
that was going to OSU
to be a meteorologist
and we always just tease him
of the fact
that someday
he was going to be on TV.
I don't see him there.
Chris, where are you?
You do this for a living, right?
Not on TV,
but Chris is a meteorologist
for AEP.
And here's how that plays out.
Chris has to predict
what the weather is
ahead of time
so that AEP knows
whether or not
they need to buy extra power.
And if he messes up,
it's not just an oh-so
it's okay.
If he messes up,
AEP ends up
with not enough electricity
for you to stay cool
or not enough gas
for you to stay warm.
And when that happens,
Chris is in trouble.
You got that?
Well, Jesus is talking
about meteorology here.
He says,
you know,
you don't understand
all about the wind
and all how it happens
and blah, blah, blah.
But you do at least
see the evidence
that the wind is there.
And he says,
let me help you
understand something.
There are some parts
of spiritual conversion
that you just,
you'll never get.
But you can see
the evidence, right?
You don't understand,
how did it happen?
I mean,
how many of you
figured out
why God chose you?
Anybody have that one down?
No.
But when Christ
in his grace
has called you
to the cross,
one of the undeniable
things that changes
is that you are
not the same person
that you used to be.
Right?
And Jesus there
in seven and eight
is making this point.
True salvation
brings true change
that can be seen,
can be evidenced.
Now,
I want you to understand
that not all
the evidence
of grace
is manifested
in a moment.
But just as
Jesus' miraculous
healings
did leave
undeniable evidence
of the fact
that something
supernatural
had happened,
so you can be
certain of this,
genuine conversion
brings change
that can be noticed.
I can remember
on more than one occasion
praying for my grandchildren
and saying,
they need to be saved.
Do you know
what I was saying?
Does anybody have
an idea?
They needed
a little bit of help
besides just
parental encouragement.
Parents can deal
with the outside.
How many of you
understand that?
But at the end
of the day,
one of the greatest
allies in bringing
about genuine
change in a child's
life is not
good parenting,
good parenting
is important,
but the work
of the Holy Spirit.
Would you agree?
And so it's reasonable
for a grandparent
to pray,
oh,
they need
to be saved.
I want you
to understand
that this is important.
Jesus,
here in this passage,
is pointing out
that genuine conversion
brings undeniable evidence
of something being
different in our life.
So,
let me say this.
If you're here
this morning
as a professing believer
and you cannot
see any of the evidence
of the power
of the cross
playing out
in your life,
it would not
be wrong
for you to go back
and revisit
the question
of the authenticity
of your conversion.
Do you follow that?
I'm not all
that I
will be,
but because
of Christ,
I am not
who I used
to be.
And one of the
blessings that I
can track
in my life,
now 66,
is kind of look
at the fact
that even there
have been undulations.
How many of you
wouldn't know
what I mean
by undulations?
There have been
ups and downs.
But I can tell you,
I'm moving uphill
and that's the work
of God.
And Jesus says,
you know,
you don't understand
the wind,
but you do
see the evidence.
You don't understand
all about salvation,
but you can track
the evidence.
Well,
that brings us
to the question
that Nicodemus
asks
in verse 9.
How?
How can this
happen?
And what we find,
Jesus say,
second,
is very,
very important
because he's going
to come to the
answer later.
But the first thing
he wants us
to understand
is the authority
on which he gives
us the insight.
Salvation
salvation
is supernaturally
revealed.
Salvation
is supernaturally
revealed.
Look there.
Nicodemus
asked the question,
how can
these things
be?
Jesus answered
him,
are you
the,
come on,
help me out
here,
are you a teacher?
We got plenty
of them.
Are you
the teacher?
What's that?
You're the top
of the food chain.
Okay?
And Jesus
says to Nicodemus,
are you
the
teacher
of Israel?
This guy
was way up
there.
And here was a guy,
and by the way,
you know,
we were talking
with Pastor Andrew
about ordination.
He's not here
to defend himself
this morning,
so you can tell him
I said this,
but eventually,
Lord willing,
we will go about
having an ordination
council here,
and I can tell you
that the review
and the preparation
for his ordination
will be worse
than what he will
go through
when he's examined
by other pastors
because the inside
work is going to be
heavy lifting
for our young man,
right?
Okay?
But in the old days,
ordination councils
were just,
I mean,
here's what they would do.
They would say,
well,
you know what?
We would like you
to recite
Psalm 109.
The guy was expected
to be able
to do that cold turkey.
The expectations
and ordination
were phenomenal,
but that even paled
in relationship
to what a teacher
in Israel
was expected
to know
about the Old Testament.
Rumor has it
that,
and by the way,
they didn't want
to mess with
the scrolls,
but rumor has it
that if a rabbi
took a pin,
remember scrolls?
They were sheepskins.
They were kind of
sewed together
and they were
on these big rolls,
right?
And they would
take a little needle
and they would
kind of bore through
about four pages
and then they would
say to the rabbi,
what letter
of the Hebrew alphabet
is this pin
resting on?
They had to know
it pretty well.
You get that?
And so here
is Jesus,
and this is kind
of a backhanded slap.
Do you follow me?
Pow!
Are you the teacher
of Israel
and yet
you do not
understand these things?
Now,
verse 11,
truly,
pay attention.
When you see
a truly,
truly,
or if you're
in the King James,
it's verily,
verily,
do you know
what that is?
That's a little bit
like the teacher
who grabs
the chalk
and says,
this will be
on the test.
It's pay attention time.
Jesus says,
I say to you,
we speak of what
we know
and bear witness
of what we have seen,
but you do not
receive our testimony.
Now,
let's go back
and let's pay
a little attention
because it helps
to pay attention.
Earlier in John
chapter 3,
Jesus in verse 3
says,
truly,
I say to you,
and then in verse 5,
truly,
I say to you,
and we find
that he is speaking
in the first person.
Now,
he goes to the plural,
we.
Who's the we?
There are times
when my wife
will say,
we need to pick that up
and I say,
we do?
I go ahead
and pick it up,
but I want you
to understand
that sometimes
the other side of me
says,
do you have a mouse
in your pocket?
You know,
it's like,
where's the we?
When Jesus says,
we,
he is not just using
the divine plural,
he is speaking clearly
and accurately
for our sake.
Where's the we?
In the Old Testament,
in order to have
a matter verified,
you had to have
more than what?
One witness.
We meets the requirement.
Who are the witnesses?
As you look at this passage,
here is the Old Testament
scholar saying,
how does a man get saved?
And Jesus says,
what's the problem
with you,
Bubba?
Don't you understand
that there are ample
witnesses to this issue
of salvation?
Well,
let's deal with the facts.
The we
is the two-fold testimony
on salvation.
First of all,
the Bible reveals the truth.
And we know this
because of what we find
there in verse 10 and 11.
Here was a teacher
of the Old Testament,
particularly one who was
atop of the heap,
and Jesus says,
you ought to have got
this by now.
Now,
I want you to understand
that earlier
in John 3,
you'll remember in verse 6,
and let's go back
just for a moment
to verse 6,
when Jesus says this,
that which is born
of the flesh
is flesh,
and that which is born
of the Spirit
is Spirit.
You remember also
that he said,
that which is born
of water
and of the Spirit.
And when he makes
that statement,
Jesus,
speaking to the
Old Testament scholar,
was making a recitation,
or he was relying
upon Ezekiel chapter 36.
And he expected
Nicodemus
to understand
that reference.
So now here he says,
hey, listen,
we,
for one,
the Old Testament
speaks of salvation
through faith alone.
But there's a second testimony
that has to be accepted
or understood
or at least heard,
and that is that
the Son of Man
or Son of God
reveals the truth.
What we have next
in verse 13
is here is Jesus
pointing out
that he,
in his divine nature,
is allowed to speak
with authority
about what heaven is.
Verse 13,
No one has ascended
into heaven
except he who descended
from heaven,
and who does he say
that is?
The Son of Man.
He's talking about himself.
He says,
I'm the one.
We got the Old Testament
who's telling you
the truth about salvation,
but there is another person,
and it's me
and who I am.
I'm the Son of Man,
Son of God,
and I have authority
to speak about heaven
because I came down
from there.
A little side shot.
How many of you,
well,
I don't want to have you
raise your hands,
so let's just kind of
stay with it this way.
Any of you heard
of Don Piper?
Not John Piper,
Don Piper.
Don Piper wrote
a very popular,
it was a bestseller
for a little while.
You can find it
on the used discounts,
and you know,
it's where those books
now go after they're done
making money.
And Don Piper,
had a bad accident,
and he had a dream
that he went to heaven,
and so, hey,
if you want to sell books,
have some kind
of catastrophic event,
and then say you came
back from the dead,
and people will buy
your book.
And then there's
a better one,
well, it's a newer one.
We have Todd Burpo.
Anybody heard Todd Burpo?
I mean, there's a movie,
Todd Burpo.
Heaven is for real.
I want to tell you
a little secret.
If you believe the Bible,
you can't believe Todd Burpo.
Let me say that again slowly
because I said it too fast.
If you believe the Bible,
you can't believe Todd Burpo's
explanation of what heaven is.
Why would I say that?
Well, take your finger.
I'm being a little testy here,
but bear with me, okay?
I want you to put your finger
on verse 13
and read that in the English
to yourself.
No one has ascended
into heaven
except he who descended
from heaven,
the Son of Man.
What does that tell you
about what Todd Burpo
wrote about?
Hello?
It's a great fantasy.
What I think heaven's like.
Would that sell books?
What do you think?
Nah.
But when you say,
I died,
I went there,
I see a big blue Holy Spirit
and I see blah, blah, blah.
I was like, yeah.
You know what?
You can stack them all together.
Jesus on this side says,
nobody else has been there.
I came down
and I'm going to tell you
the truth.
So you got your choice.
Just don't go buy
the extra books.
Stick with this one.
So here we are.
Jesus says,
I want you to understand
this is how
you understand
the issue of salvation.
You've got the word of God
and you've got me.
I want you to turn back
just for a moment
to John chapter 1,
verse 18.
John chapter 1,
verse 18,
it says,
no one has ever seen God.
There's another shot
for Don Piper
and Todd Burpo.
No one has ever seen God,
the only God
who is at the Father's side.
He has made him known.
In John's opening lesson,
what we find here
is that Jesus says,
you know,
I'm the light,
the truth,
and I'm the one,
I am the only one
who reveals the truth
of salvation
and eternity.
Christ is the only one
who has descended
from heaven
and so can speak
accurately.
And so I want you
to understand
as Jesus begins
to answer the question
that Nicodemus asked,
how do you get saved?
Nicodemus hears this response.
Well, number one,
you have to believe
what the Old Testament says
and number two,
you better believe
what I have to tell you.
So let's move forward
into what we understand now
in the remaining part
of the passage
where we find Jesus
to make it clear
that salvation
is something
that starts with sin
and looks to Jesus.
And so I want you
to look
at Numbers chapter 21,
verse 1 through 9.
I saw a picture
on Facebook
of a friend of mine
who's a pastor.
He'd gone to
Answers in Genesis
and he and his grandchildren
were down there
and I guess they have
a pet boa constrictor
that is down there
for entertainment.
You know,
there were about
six or seven of them
holding this pet boa
and this large snake
was draped over
all their shoulders
and they were sitting
there grinning.
I do not grin
when I am in the proximity
of snakes.
Snakes and me
are like death.
One of us
is going to die.
Now you know
I grew up in India
and growing up in India
there was never
any question
when you saw a snake,
are you one of those
that causes death
or are you just
one of these little things
that goes around
eating eggs and bugs
and stuff like that?
When you saw a snake
you grabbed something long
and you kept on hitting it
until it was dead.
Snakes were hated.
Numbers chapter 21.
verse 21.
We kind of pick up here
after verse 3.
They had a little bit
of difficulty
in the journey
and in this particular case
it says from Mont Hor
verse 4
they set out
by the way of the Red Sea
to go around
the land of Edom
and the people
became impatient
on the way.
Hello?
How many would like
to get there already?
Okay.
I would.
And verse 5
when we get impatient
there is a tendency
to do verse 5.
And the people
spoke against God
and against Moses.
Now listen to what
they had to say.
Why have you brought us
out up out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness
and for there is no food
and no water
there is no food
and we loathe this food.
Now how can you put
those two together
logically?
Do you follow me?
We have no food
we have no water
and we hate the stuff
you're feeding us.
How many of you
understand the logic
that's kind of
not working?
Who?
Verse 6
So then the Lord
sent fiery serpents
among the people
and they bit the people
so that many people
of Israel died.
Now this was
a supernatural
snake rodeo.
Do you follow that?
I mean they came out
of all over the place.
Remember the quail
that came?
They were fussing
about not having meat
and God just brought
just a whole flock.
I mean it says
that they ate meat
until they kind of
got sick of it.
Some of them
died there too.
So here they are.
We have all
how many of you
just love snakes?
Put your hand down.
I hate snakes.
Do you hate snakes?
All the snake haters
stand up.
No forget it.
That's alright.
Okay listen.
I mean here they are
out of nowhere
snakes all over the place
and biting people
and people dying.
How many of you
remember the old
black and white movies
when a guy got bit
by a snake
and he took his knife
and he cut himself
and just sucked the blood out
and spit it over
to the side?
Doesn't work.
Does not work.
And before Hollywood
people just died.
You know it's like
just dead.
Snake bite.
Left and right.
And so the people
this is nice.
Verse 7
look at it.
The people came to Moses
and said
we have sinned.
Hello.
Have you ever
wondered
why God brings
some things
into some of our lives
that sometimes
to get our attention?
And this time
the people at least
did the math
and they figured out
that what was going on
was because of their sin
and they said
yeah yeah
we've done wrong.
We've sinned.
And he said
pray to the Lord
that he would take away
the serpents from us.
So Moses prayed
for the people
and the Lord said
to Moses
make a fiery serpent
and set it on a pole
everybody who is bitten
when he sees it
shall live.
I've got to speed forward
a little bit.
In this case
what happened
is that Moses
made a serpent
kind of a
facsimile
or whatever
of a snake
and put it up
on a pole
high
and then he went
through the camp
and he said
listen
if you've been bit
by a snake
look at this
and you won't die.
And those
who looked
lived.
now
let's
take that
picture
and go back
if you will
to John
chapter 3
because it's important
for us to make
this connection.
Now listen
here is
Nicodemus
coming to Jesus
and he said
help me understand
you mean
I can't work
my way into heaven
by being a good Jew
and keeping the law
and you know
being a Pharisee
and being a teacher
and you know
I'm a pretty good person
at least I'm better
than the guy
across the street
you know
I'm alright
and he says
no no no
you can't do it
that way
well how
how
oh
do you remember
Nicodemus
the story
about the time
that God sent
serpents
into the camp
and a lot of them
were dying
and Moses
made a bronze
snake
and put it up
on a stick
remember that story
yeah yeah yeah
oh okay
we got that one
and then Jesus
says this
look there
as Moses
lifted up
the serpent
in the wilderness
so must
the son
of man
be lifted up
that whosoever
believes
on him
may have
eternal life
so what really
was happening
in the old
testament
when the Jew
looked at that
snake
on a stick
on a pole
some of you
are thinking
hot dog
on a stick
so that's why
he changed it
so you know
when you looked
at a snake
on a pole
what was happening
what was the
significance of that
I want you to
understand
first of all
there was an
admission of guilt
many many
people
had been bitten
by the snakes
all over the place
and Moses
said to them
if you are
willing to look
at that snake
up there on the
pole
you'll live
in essence
what looking at
the snake
represented
is saying
hey
I have sinned
and I deserve
death by snake
but amazingly
they also
understood
that there was
faith
in God's
promise
of undeserved
grace
now can you
understand
the simplicity
the absolute
almost
illogical
connection
between
getting bit
by a snake
which is very
real
and looking
at something
in the air
and being
saved
it seems
counterintuitive
doesn't it
so what do I
have to do
to be saved
I've been bit
by a snake
you got to do
something for me
and we do
understand
that the
Hollywood deal
of cutting
your skin
and spitting
out the blood
doesn't work
so what do I
do
you look
all you do
is look
I want you
to turn to
one other
passage
this morning
I love
this one
this is a
great one
Luke chapter
23
verse 40
and 43
Jesus is
hanging
on the
cross
he is
hanging
between
two thieves
do you
follow that
I want you
to look
in your
Bible
I want you
to put
your eyes
on this
Luke
put your
eyes
on this
passage
one of the
criminals
verse 39
this is one
of the
criminals
one of the
criminals
who were
hanged
railed
at him
saying
are you
not the
Christ
save
yourself
and us
but the
other
rebuked
him
saying
do you
not fear
God
since you
are under
the same
sentence
of condemnation
now listen
to verse 41
we indeed
justly
for we
are receiving
the due
reward
of our
deeds
do you
know what
he was
saying
we deserve
to be
on this
cross
because
what has
happened
to us
is justice
we're
receiving
the
right
and truthful
penalty
for our
rebellious
behavior
but not
Jesus
and then
he says
there in
verse 42
he says
Jesus
remember
me
when you
come into
your
kingdom
so
what
Jesus
is saying
over there
in John
chapter 3
follows this
pattern
he says
listen
in order
to be
saved
in order
to have
the burden
and the
death
that is
certain
because of
your sin
in order
to have
the sting
of sin
removed
and to
have new
life
what you
have to
do
first of
all
is look
to see
the clear
justice
of God
executed
against
you
know
where
the
starting
point
of
salvation
is
it
is
having
the
humility
to
say
I
have
sinned
against
God
and I
deserve
eternal
death
there are
some of you
sitting here
this morning
that have
never been
willing
to say
that
I
have
sinned
against
God
and I
deserve
eternal
death
but that's
not the
end of
the
story
because
when
Jesus
says
what he
does
in
John
chapter
3
he
points
out
that
those
who
would
look
to
him
lifted
up
and
would
believe
on
him
what
he
was
saying
is
this
is
that
those
who
come
to
me
admit
that
they
are
justly
judged
for
their
sin
but
then
are
willing
to
say
I
believe
Jesus
took
my
place
and
died
my
death
when
he
was
hanging
on
the
cross
he
wasn't
dying
for
his
sins
he
was
dying
for
yours
and
there
he
hung
a
willing
sacrifice
in
your
place
and
salvation
means
saying
first of
all
I
deserve
that
but
I
look
and
I
see
that
Jesus
has
already
satisfied
my
debt
and
he's
paid
my
price
and
I
accept
that
he
has
taken
my
place
and
I
call
him
to be
my
Lord
and
my
Savior
do you
know why
I love
this
passage
because
it is
so
clear
in
its
gospel
presentation
I
a
sinner
stand
justly
condemned
before
a
holy
God
for
the
arrogant
stubborn
hardness
of my
heart
against
the
righteousness
of a
holy
God
and
he
willingly
brought
his
son
down
from
heaven
and
put
him
on
the
cross
to be
the
perfect
sacrifice
for
my
sins
and
for
your
sins
but
that
sacrifice
is
not
applied
apart
from
a
humility
that
says
that's
what
I
deserve
but
I
believe
God
in
his
mercy
and
his
kindness
willingly
put
Jesus
in
my
place
and
Jesus
has
died
for
my
sins
and
I
believe
him
and
I
receive
him
as
my
Lord
and
Savior
can
I
tell
you
the
purpose
of
preaching
is
to
put
you
on
the
spot
of
saying
yes
or
no
to
God
does
that
make
sense
huh
I
mean
here's
the
truth
there
are
some
of
you
here
that
need
Christ
there
are
some
of
you
here
that
know
Christ
but
your
heart
has
grown
cold
to
the
beauty
and
the
simplicity
and
the
awesomeness
of the
gospel
he
wants
us
to do
something
about
that
I'm
going
to
leave
that
in
the
hands
of
the
Holy
Spirit
but
I
would
plead
with
you
this
morning
do
not
walk
out
of
here
and
say
no
when
the
spirit
of
the
living
God
is
prompting
your
heart
to
take
care
of
the
burden
you
have
let's
pray
father
God
this
morning
as we
study
the
scriptures
together
we
revel
we
glory
in
the
cross
that
you
would
willingly
send
your
son
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
to
die
in
our
place
to
die
our
death
to
bear
the
full
weight
of
our
wicked
rebellion
against
you
and
you
and
your
unbelievable
kindness
and mercy
offer
salvation
to
whoever
will
believe
that
you're
a God
that is
that way
I
pray for
those
that are
here
this
morning
that
do
not
know
Christ
that
this
morning
your
spirit
would
break
through
the
hard
veneer
of
their
stubborn
self
righteousness
bring
them
to
see
the
hopelessness
of
their
sin
and
the
satisfaction
of
calvary
where
jesus
died
for
their
sin
and
cause
them
to
cry
out
in
faith
believing
that
jesus
is
indeed
the
satisfaction
for
the
penalty
and
to
receive
him
as
lord
and
savior
we
ask
this
in
your
precious
name
amen
to
!
to