All right, John chapter three. So for those of you that haven't been with us, we've been
going through the book of John, that's our new Bible study on a Sunday evening. We did
chapter two obviously last week and started with chapter one the week before. We're up
to now John chapter three, great chapter of the Bible, famous chapter of the Bible, really
looking forward to this. So let's get going from verse number one. There was a man of
the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. So at this point you've basically
got two main sects of the Jews, you've got the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the Pharisees
are basically known for their putting importance on the so-called traditions of the elders,
teaching for doctrines and commandments of men basically. If you turn to Mark 7, let's
have a quick example of this. So the Gospel of Mark in chapter seven, and from verse three.
For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding
the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market except they wash, they
eat not. And many other things there be which they have received to hold, as a washing of
cups and pots, braes and vessels and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him,
Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with
unwashing hands? He answered and said unto them, Well have the Zaias prophesied of you
hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines, the commandment
of men. And basically this is the start, or this is continued nowadays, all the nonsense
that you see in what's known as the Talmud. And it's all this sort of rubbish, this sort
of order of doing things, all these, what they've taught as doctrines, the commandments
of men. And there's nothing new under the sun, this is probably going on from the beginning,
but this sort of, you know, they have crazy stuff like the side of the bed you get out
of and all this just bizarre stuff. And this guy Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a ruler or
leader of the Jews, and like we see the Pharisees here, this is the sort of stuff they believe.
Now, just because he's a ruler of these, at this point, obviously Jesus Christ has only
been on the scene, you know, physically as Jesus Christ in the flesh there, for not long.
We're right at the beginning of his ministry here. And he's not, obviously Nicodemus isn't
blaspheming the Holy Spirit at this point. In fact, it says in verse two, the same came
to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from
God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Because
sadly, nowadays, if you saw a leader of some sort of Talmudic Jew, you know, some sort
of synagogue where they're teaching that junk, the truth is that they're very lightly a reprobate
at this point, because they blaspheme the Holy Spirit. And we talked about this last
week. I'm not going to go into it again. But at this point, it doesn't look like Nicodemus
is that. In fact, we see something different as we go forward. So there is still a humbleness
about Nicodemus, isn't there, there? He said, Rabbi, Rabbi means master, really my master.
He's saying my master, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man could
do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. So he's kind of halfway there
already, isn't he, Nicodemus? He's acknowledging that he's from God, at least, but that's not
enough for salvation, is it? So that's not enough for salvation. And, you know, many
people, oh, yeah, we believe in Jesus. We believe Jesus is the Son of God, but they're
not saved, are they? But at this point, at least he's not the opposite and blaspheming
him and everything else. Okay, I believe that he does get saved, though. I believe Nicodemus
does get saved. The only other two times we see him, if you turn to John chapter 7, and
in verse 45, it says, John 7.45, Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees,
and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake
like this man. Then answered them, The Pharisees are ye also deceived? How many of the rulers
or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people, who knoweth not the law, are cursed.
Nicodemus saith unto them, He that came to Jesus by night, being one of them. Doth our
law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said
unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
And every man went unto his own house. So at this point, he's trying to defend Jesus
at the least here, and again, that's not saying that he's necessarily saved, but then turn
over to John 19, and this is the last time we see, and the only other time we see Nicodemus.
In John 19 and verse 38, this is after Jesus' death on the cross, and after this, Joseph
of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate
that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave, he came there for
the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night,
and bought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. Then took they the
body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices and manner of the Jews to
bury. And the place where he was crucified, there was a garden in the garden, a new sepulchre,
wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews'
preparation day, for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. Now that's a pretty bold move for
Nicodemus, isn't it, there, considering what happened, considering the persecution. So
I'd be amazed if he wasn't saved, maybe he wasn't. John 12 42 says, nevertheless, among
the chief rulers, also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not
confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. That's how I see that, but
again, we don't know for sure. But John chapter three, and from verse three, it says, Jesus
answered, said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when
he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered,
verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born
again. And this is one of the many scores of verse and passages that approve eternal
security and once saved, always saved. Okay, one of the many. Verse three there, he said,
Jesus answered to him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. So this is essential, isn't it, for seeing the kingdom
of God. This is essential, is being born again. Nicodemus saith unto him, so look at verse
four, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb and be born? He doesn't get it, does he? Verse five, Jesus answered, verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. So water and spirit, that's baptism, isn't it? No baptism? No, well verse
six clears that up, because verse six, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit. Born of water is born of the flesh. Okay, this
is what he's referring to, it's a physical birth, the birth of water comes out before
with the baby, usually before, it's talking about that physical birth, being born of water.
Hence he didn't say that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the water and the spirit is spirit, did he? And in fact, more specifically, wouldn't
it have been the other way round, by what these people teach, which is that he would
have said, I think in verse five there, are we? Verse five, he would have said, except
a man be born of the spirit and of water, because you get born again, and then people
get baptised. It's nothing to do with baptism, but how many false religions and, you know,
versions of Christianity like to go to this and say, look, you've got to get baptised?
Absolutely ridiculous. Okay, so spirit, he's saying here, that which is born of the flesh
is flesh, that's the water birth, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So
Jesus is talking about two births, the physical birth and the spiritual birth, in the same
way that you can't be physically born twice, Nicodemus cleared that up, didn't he, in the
earlier verse, you can't be spiritually born multiple times either, can you? Okay, again,
you can't enter back into your mother's womb in the same way you can't enter back into
death and then be reborn spiritually. Once born, always born, you could say, couldn't
be. Okay, we believe in once born, always born here, it's a new doctrine. But it is,
isn't it? And again, you're born once, you're born once physically, you're born once spiritually.
He said, marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Don't be amazed. Okay,
that's what he's saying, don't be amazed by this. Now, he then goes on, he says, verse
8, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and now here is the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
So the wind blows where it wants, isn't it? You can hear it, but you can't tell, you know,
where it comes from or goes to, can you? Okay, the wind, you don't know where it's coming
from, you don't know where it goes, you can't see it. And it's the same with the save, the
unsaved know they're there, but like, one, they can't understand them, can they? So one,
you don't understand it, you could say, but also I think there, really it's probably saying,
you know it's there, but you can't see it, you can't see salvation, can you? You can't
see, you can't know for sure someone saved, because really, only God knows, God knows
the heart, doesn't he? And here he's saying, he's saying, thou hearest the sound of it,
but canst not tell where it's cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born
of the Spirit. I think he's saying, you can't really see it, you don't know, you don't know,
you can't see salvation. And Nicodemus said unto him, how can these things be? Now, remember,
he's from a background which puts importance on which order you wash things, you know,
to basically be part of their religion, and that's how you justify yourself in God's eyes,
by following all these commandments of men, things that are seen. Verse 10, Jesus said
unto him, art thou master of Israel, and knowest not these things? So he should know, shouldn't
he? He should know that it's faith. Shouldn't Nicodemus know that? Yeah, he should know
that it's faith. Job knew, didn't he? Job 19.25 says, for I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. He knew there was a redeemer,
he knew that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Turn to Psalm 116, but
as early as Genesis 4.26, there was one way of salvation, wasn't there, that we see in
the Bible, and it's from the beginning. And to Seth to him also there was born a son,
and he called his name Enos, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Now Psalm
116 and verse 13 says, I will take, Psalm 116 verse 13, I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will take the cup of salvation, call upon the name
of the Lord. Now Isaiah 45.22 says, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is none else. These are all one-time events, aren't they? Calling
on the name, taking a cup, be ye saved. Not being saved, be ye saved. They're all one-time
events, it all happens once. And now Jesus is putting it in the language of the spiritual
rebirth, but it shouldn't be a surprise, should it? It shouldn't be a surprise if he really
understood and if he were saved, it wouldn't have been, would it? Verse 11, he says, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and
ye receive not our witness. And how often do we experience this, guys? How often do
we experience this? We speak the truth, we know it, don't we? We know it in our hearts.
When we go out and speak the truth, we testify or declare the facts, don't we? We testify
and declare the facts of salvation and so many won't receive it, will they? They just
won't receive it. You're testifying to them and these can be family and friends, family
and friends that know you well enough to know that you're sincere, to know that you're not
just some wind up, you're not lying, you're declaring facts to them, you're testifying
what you have seen and they receive not our witness. It's sad, isn't it? And it's hard
as well. It's hard because a lot of the time you talk to them, you know they know, really
deep down, they know that what you're speaking, they know that you're being sincere, they
know that you're speaking the truth but they don't receive it, do they? They don't receive
it and it can be hard. Verse 12, he said, if I have told you earthly things ye believe
not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? Remember Nicodemus has said,
how can these things be? And I think this is the answer to this question here and he's
basically saying, he's saying the answer is, well, the heavenly things, isn't it? That's
the answer. So how can these things be? But he's saying, look, if you don't believe, if
you don't believe that someone can be spiritually born again on this earth, then how shall he
believe if Jesus then explains the ins and outs of the spiritual rebirth being followed
by later bodily resurrection, etc. He's not going to understand that. So he's basically
saying, well, how are you going to understand? Verse 13, and no man hath ascended up to heaven
but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven. Men have been
carried up into heaven, but no one hath ascended himself other than Jesus Christ. He ascended
himself up into heaven. And it says here, even the son of man which is in heaven, how
is he currently in heaven then? How is he currently in heaven? Because he's God, he's
omnipresent, isn't he? Jesus Christ is God, just another verse which shows that, which
proves that. Do we need that after John 1-1? Well, hopefully not, but people do, it seems,
because they still won't accept that. Even the son of man which is in heaven, whilst
he's standing there talking to him on the earth. Psalm 139 says, if I ascend up into
heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell but hold, thou art there. God is everywhere.
Jesus Christ is God, which explains why in Luke 23, 43, you don't have to turn there,
he said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise to the thief on the cross. Yet, where did
Jesus Christ go for three days? He wasn't in heaven, he was in hell, wasn't he? Because
he's everywhere. Now, verse 14 says, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the son of man be lifted up. Okay, this is referring to Numbers 21, and
we'll just have a quick look at this. Numbers chapter 21. And just remember when you read
this, this is a picture, it's a picture of salvation. From verse 4, Numbers 21, 4. And
they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to come to the land of Edom, and
the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way, and the people spake against
God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loathes this light bread.
So they've basically got the hump now with the manna, haven't they? And it's something
we've got to be careful of as well because we see so, we get so many blessings, we see
so many blessings as we so quickly start moaning and complaining and getting annoyed with our
lives. We do, don't we? And maybe we don't verbally, I hope we don't, but many people
do, don't they? Verse 6, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they
bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore, the people came to Moses
and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto
the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the
Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come
to pass that everyone that is bitter, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses
made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent
had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. And of course, this is
a picture of salvation, but who ever looked at this and thought, Why a serpent? Or maybe
a serpent because 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He became sin for us, and there
I think he's becoming sin for us. That's a picture of salvation, isn't it? And that's
a great picture of salvation. And what does it say? That if a serpent had bitten any man,
when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. That's pretty easy, isn't it? Looking upon
that serpent, yeah? Looking upon that picture of Christ. Now, verse 15, where we are in
John 1 says, sorry, John 3 says, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life. If you'd been bitten by a venomous snake, I don't think you'd be wasting your
time looking at poles unless you believed or trusted that it would work, would you?
And we have to trust Jesus Christ, don't we? We have to trust it. There's no backup plan,
is there? There's no, well, I'll look at him once I've tried all my works or anything.
It's one or the other, isn't it? We have to trust Jesus Christ. Now, verse 16, For God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. What an amazing verse. And that's some love, isn't
it? God made a way for us, the world. He so loved the world, he made that way, that he
gave his only begotten Son. And what an amazing thing to do. And remember from chapter 1,
he's the only begotten from the dead, yeah? Okay, we saw that, we had a look at that chapter
1 where it called him the only begotten son there as well. Now, the NIV, so unless if
you're not aware here, there are 400 or so, so-called versions of the Bible in English,
which is absolutely ridiculous as God said that he'd preserve every single word. And
they all say something different, okay? And the NIV says he gave his one and only son.
And pretty similar, so the NIV is a new international version. You've got the new living translation
that says something similar, the English Standard Version, the New American Standard
Bible, the New Revised Standard Version, they all say the same. And then you've got the
Revised Standard Version which says he gave his only son, okay? So now it's his only son.
But John 1.12 that we looked at two weeks ago says, but as many as received him to then
gave you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe in his name. So isn't
everyone here a son of God? If you believed on the name of Jesus Christ, Romans 8.14 says,
for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. So it's a lie. It's
a lie, isn't it? So I don't see how someone can get saved from an NIV John 3.16 saying
that he gave his one and only son because it's a lie. It's not a truth. It's wrong.
It's false. And the Word of God doesn't lie. God doesn't lie, does he? So how do people
still look at, like you could, and I've shown people, I've shown people stuff like this,
people who claim to be Christians, claim it's grace through faith. I've shown them
dozens and dozens of verses. I used to have lists in one of my old Bibles and just, they'll
look at it, blank face, blank face, blank face. Well, look at this one. You know, blank
face, blank face. And then you have one which is only a minor difference. Oh, well, look
at that. That's not really a big difference. What are you talking about? What about the
rest of it? Well, yeah, well, I don't know. I mean, the King James are right. What are
you talking about? There's so much error, so much error. And how can that be the Word
of God? But I don't think anyone here needs to convince you of that. Okay, so John 3.16,
he said, whosoever. That's anyone, right? Yeah? Whosoever is anyone. Everyone has that
opportunity at the beginning, don't they? The beginning of their lives. They all have
that opportunity. Whosoever. It's not some select elect or anything else. It's whosoever.
And again, John 1 should put Calvinism to bed. John 3 should hopefully nail its coffin.
But unfortunately, no, they don't like really reading the Bible, do they? They like just
reading commentaries and scholars and the rest of it. Believeth. That's pretty simple,
isn't it? Whosoever believeth. There's no process there. There's nothing else. It's
whosoever believeth. Right, how about should not? Should not. Now, of course, there are
the work salvationists that try to make this conditional. Have you ever heard that before?
I've seen this stuff before. Well, should not perish. Like it means, well, they might
not or they hopefully won't depending on what happens next. But that's because we don't
speak like this now. But look at the first use of this phrase. So turn to Genesis 38.
So right at the beginning, Genesis 38.
Okay, have a look at from verse six, Genesis 38 six. And Judah took a wife at Ur, his firstborn,
whose name was Tamar. And Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the
Lord slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, go in unto thy brother's wife and marry her and
raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his. That's that phrase
there, should not be his. And it came to pass when he went in unto his brother's wife that
he spilled it on the ground lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which
he did displeased the Lord, wherefore he slew him also. So his brother has died and Judah
wants only to do what ends up written in the law in Deuteronomy 25. We see this. He's basically
taking on the dead brother's family or dead brother's wife and raising a family to his name.
So he wants him to have and raise children with his brother's wife to continue the brother's name.
But look at verse 9 there. Verse 9, And Onan knew that seed should not be his. This wasn't
conditional, was it? So how we would say it now, so here he's just saying basically this,
like that seed, it's not, well it depends, it might be his or it might not, no, it should not.
Basically the way we'd say it now is would not. That's how we would say that now, would not.
So he's saying here, he's saying that Onan knew that the seed would not be his. And in John 3 16,
Or whosoever believeth in him would not perish, is how we would say that in our common,
in our modern vernacular. It's not that all should not, it depends what happens, no,
would not, should not. That's how that was written in those days regularly as well,
how that English was written. Should not perish, would not perish is how we'd say that.
It's not, and it says here, but have, have everlasting life. It's not might have,
it will have, isn't it? Should not perish, but have. If you have everlasting life,
you can't lose it, can you? You can't have something that's everlasting and then not
have it, depending on what you do. It wasn't everlasting, was it? And I know a lot of us
explain this on the doors, but you've got to hammer that home, haven't you? Because
how often, how often do we hear this? And the truth is you'll have people that try and put
that doubt in your mind, that try and stop you being asked of it. Yeah, you're not going to lose
your faith. Everyone here who's saved, you can't lose that, but because you have everlasting life,
but people will try the work salvationists and it's everywhere, isn't it? It's everywhere,
but if you have everlasting life, you can't lose it. It wasn't everlasting.
And John 6 47 says that in a nutshell, verily, verily, I simply, he that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. Simple, simple. There you go. A few words. He that believeth on me,
Jesus speaking, hath present tense everlasting life. If you have it, you cannot lose it.
And why this, this verse is so powerful, so much in there, isn't there? So much truth in there,
so much gospel in there. But how many from church backgrounds, you knock on their door,
you start preaching the gospel, you get to John 3 16, they're reciting it with you.
Oh yeah, I know that one. Oh, what you got to do to go to heaven? I'll be a good person.
How does that happen? It's, it's, it's odd, isn't it? But it's a veil, isn't it? And they just,
they just cannot understand it. They cannot understand it until you preach it and you explain
it to them. And that's why we need a preacher to go out and preach the word of God. Cause even
something that you think is as simple as John 3 16, it's just clear, isn't it? But someone needs
a spirit filled man or woman, a God to preach it to them. Okay. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. What a great verse verse 17 for God sent not his son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. See the world is already
condemned by sin. Yeah. The world's condemned already by sin. All of sin for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Okay. Everyone sinned. They're all, they already come short
of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. Yeah. So people aren't going to hell for
rejecting Jesus Christ. That's not the sin they're going to hell for. They're going to hell because
of the many, many sins they've done. Yeah. That's the truth. Because people like to kind of talk
about, well, what about this person over in this place that hasn't heard the gospel? No, they're
going to hell because they've willfully sinned probably pretty much most days of their life.
If not most hours of their life and, and all have sinned and Jesus, it's not that Jesus
Christ came into condemn, but that the world through him might be saved. We don't deserve
salvation. Something we can get a bit funny about here, or not here, you know, ourselves, but, but
amongst sort of versions of Christianity, everyone deserves a chance. No, we don't deserve it.
God loved us enough to offer us it, didn't he? God loved us enough to offer us it,
but it's a choice. It's a choice. There's no automatic. There's no, you're just going to get
saved because even, you know, you might pray for your family, friends, that's good, but really you
should be praying for that opportunity. You should be praying for the most receptive time, for them
to be humble enough, for other blocks to be put out of their, their, their way for them to have
the maximum chance of being saved. But you can't say, pray for someone to be saved and they're
going to be saved. They still have the choice, don't they? Everyone has that choice. And yeah,
we should be praying for people, don't get me wrong, you know, I pray for unsaved family and
friends, you know, most days of my life, but, but I'm praying for them. I'm praying for that
opportunity. I'm praying for someone else. If I've, if they're not giving me that opportunity,
they won't let me preach the Gospel to them. I'm praying for all those things. I'm not praying
that they will just automatically get saved. And here he says, for God sent not something
through the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved, might be saved.
And again, Calvinism, another nail in the coffin, isn't it? The world by him might be saved.
Verse 18, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
If you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, death, burial and resurrection, paying for all of your
past, present and future sins, you are saved. Okay. You are saved. You are not condemned
because you have believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Okay. That's it. You're not
condemned. You're, you're, you're, you're, you have eternal life. You have it. But if you haven't,
if you're still trusting in your, your works, your good deeds and how many religions, how many
versions of Christianity, how many people claim they're saved and then start telling you about
the good deeds. If you're still trusting in your good deeds, your genetics, you know, well, I come
from the line of whatever so-called, you know, of the 12 tribes or something else. Yeah. You know,
you're saved. You're baptism. Some people trust in that, don't they? Well, I got baptized. You
hear that? You knock on the door. Yeah. Yeah. I got baptized. I got christened or whatever else
as a baby. So yeah. Or you repenting of your sins, whether you repented of your sins and that's a bit
of a bizarre one. Oh yeah, I repented my sins or that they continue repenting. You're not saved, are
you? You keeping the faith. How about that one? We hear that one a lot, don't we? Well, as long as I
keep the faith, as long as I confess, as long as I, you know, don't stop believing. Well, then you never
had everlasting life, did you? Asking forgiveness if you sin. That one you get a lot, don't you? So,
so that a lot, we get, we get a lot of Pentecostals, don't we? That you knock on the door. Well, as long
as I ask for forgiveness, well, you're not saved because you don't have everlasting life if you
think you can lose it. And again, I don't think most people here are unaware of that but, but
it's something, especially when we're going out preaching the Gospel, that we need to be really
clear on, don't we? No, well, I'm a Christian or well, I, I'm, yeah, yeah, it's Jesus Christ, it's faith.
Well, yeah, but what do you really believe? What do you believe? Do you believe you can lose your
salvation? Because that's the main one, isn't it? Because you have not believed that Jesus Christ is
enough. That's what you're basically saying, aren't you? You, these people have not believed that Jesus
Christ is enough. They've not believed that Jesus Christ dying, going to hell for three days, was
enough to pay for their sins. And really, it just comes down to pride, doesn't it, really? It comes
down to pride, self-righteousness, wanting to believe that, that you can somehow earn it, that you
can somehow do enough to keep it, do enough to get it in the first place. And no, you got to get, you
got to get rid of all that, all of that. Saveth a bit of a contrite heart. You are still
condemned for your sins if you believe that there is, there is anything, anything you have to do
other than believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 19, and this is a condemnation that light is coming
to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
The light was there and it's still there, it's still hearing us, isn't it? Okay, still hearing us.
We are now the light of the world. In John 12 32, Jesus says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me. So Jesus Christ was lifted up, he draws all men, doesn't he? He draws
all men, that light draws all men. And often when you think of this verse, you think of what we
consider to be vile sins, don't you? Men loved, you know, darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil and maybe what we call that. But what about the evil, like I said, self-righteousness,
the self-righteousness in false religion that stops billions, billions worldwide from coming
to the light. That is pretty evil, isn't it? Pretty evil to believe that you're somehow good enough,
that Jesus Christ wasn't enough, that you are good enough, you're good enough to make your way
to heaven, to earn your way, to keep yourself going there. Men love the darkness of false religion,
don't they? They love it. You can show someone who claims to be a Bible-believing Christian,
you can show him clearly from the Word of God and they go, no, I'll stick to my religion,
or I'll stick to what I was told, I'll stick to what I believe. Well, we all believe our own way,
or we all, well, we all have our own version. What do you mean, version? I'm reading you straight
from the Word of God. Oh no, no, yeah, well, you know, we disagree to disagree on that then.
So what? But you claim to be a Bible-believing Christian, it's just unbelievable, isn't it?
But really, that is wicked, isn't it? That is evil. That's evil. You're just rejecting everything
God says. Well, I like this bit, I like a little bit of that, but I won't have the rest of it.
But again, there are many that avoid the truth of the Gospel because they don't want to acknowledge
their sin. There is that, isn't there? There are many that don't, they don't even want to hear it.
They don't want to hear it, or when they do hear it, they don't want that light shining them. I
had a brutally honest 10-year-old boy a while back, and that's quite young for it, a 10-year-old boy
who basically said to me, after I went through the whole Gospel with him, talked to him a bit
about chastisement, etc, and to explain that to him, and he basically said that, no, I don't
really want to get chastised by God in life. So what are you talking about? You know, and I've
tried to explain to him about hell again, no, no. I mean, that's pretty, at 10 years old, that's,
you know, and I made it clear, I made it really clear where he's going, but no, I'm happy to live
my life and go to hell, basically, and, you know, I was trying to make it clear what, how bad hell
is, and he doesn't want to get chastised, doesn't basically want the light shone on his sin, and I
wasn't going heavy on the chastisement, by the way, in case you're sitting there thinking,
what are you telling him's going to happen? You know, but, but no, he just wouldn't have it,
and they hate the light, don't they, and every sole winner here is going to experience that when
you go out, people that just literally hate the light don't know they hate it. The hatred for
trying to show someone how to get saved, isn't it bizarre? Isn't it bizarre, really, when you
look at it like that, you're just going to someone's door going, I'd just like to show you
how you can be sure you're going to heaven, or, you know, are you sure you're going to heaven? I
could show you, like, the hate, the anger, the animosity that comes from people, it's just
absolutely ridiculous, really, isn't it? When you look at it like that, how can you be that angry
that I'm trying to show you how, how to go to heaven? You could decide you don't believe it,
but what's so bad about that? But we're talking about salvation here, aren't we? But this can
also apply to us saved Christians with the word of God, can't it? Psalm 119, 105, you don't have
to turn there, it says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. When we're living
right, we love the word, we love the preaching, don't we, a lot of the time, we love hearing the
word preached when we're living right, we love the word, verse 21 in John 3, but he that doeth
truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Give us the light when we're living right, eh? Give us that light, we're like, yeah, let me come
to the light, I want to hear that preaching, show us how we're living for God, show everyone else
how we're getting it right, that's, you know, some people like that, we maybe will be sharing those
verses that confirm our lifestyle choices, choose the sermons that slap us on the back,
and there can be that fear of that with YouTube Christianity, can't there? You pick and choose
the sermons, maybe stop that one that's really not giving you that slap on the back for making
those right choices, but what about when our deeds are being reproved by the word of God?
Are we sharing those verses, sharing that verse that really reproves you and your lifestyle,
your sin? Are we enjoying those sermons, are we choosing those sermons? Are you looking at
those sermon titles and choosing the one that's reproving you? We should be, shouldn't we?
We should be, but does everyone do that, do you think? For example, I was thinking about this,
yeah, like the most popular sermon I've preached was Salaam Kamara is unqualified and a thief,
yeah, I mean I'm up to nearly 700 views, I'm in the big time here, yeah, I'll just keep checking
in there, oh, I'm a few more here, yeah, okay, but, and you know, when I preached it, people
enjoyed that in here as well, you know, there's a lot of amens and, you know, afterwards people
really enjoyed that sermon, but, and it does need preaching, don't get me wrong, yeah, false prophets
and people that are doing things like that, they need preaching against, don't they, and we're told
to do that, reprove, rebuke, but is there that much of an immediate benefit to us, would you say,
that sermon? Did anyone get any of me? I hope no one here was just about to go and become a false
pastor and just decide to self-ordain or was about to ring up Donnie Romero and see if he had
ordained him as a pastor or, you know, encourage him and send him a few grand, so I don't, I don't,
I doubt it, I doubt that was going on, but, but I don't think, yeah, other than those sort of
situations, I don't think anyone here was necessarily getting that benefit, maybe a
couple here were thinking about going down to an unqualified church, they were getting the hump
and maybe that just reproved them at the time, but, you know, when you preach the other sermons,
they're treating the house of God with respect or the wives submit, you know, husbands love your wives
and all these other things, I tell you what, they don't get half as many views, they don't get the
slaps on the back, they don't get, they don't get, oh great sermon and everything else, because,
you know, it is easier, isn't it, when it's not focusing the light on us, when it's not shining
the light on us, and you'd sometimes get the old grooves and grumbles and stuff, you know,
you sit a bit, you know, in, in, when you're preaching, but verse 21 says, when we're saved,
we should want to come to the light, so we should, really, we should desire that preacher, we should
desire the preaching that convicts us, we should desire the preacher that calls out our sin,
shouldn't we, because we want to improve, don't we, we should come to the light, we should want
to come to the light, and verse 22 says, after these things came Jesus and his disciples into
the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized. Now John 4 2 says, though Jesus
himself baptized not, excuse me, but his disciples, right, so Jesus didn't baptize, verse 23, and John
also was baptizing in Enon near to Salem, because there was much water there, and they came and were
baptized, so why was he baptizing in Enon? Because there was much water there, why would you need much
water there if you're sprinkling water on people, eh? Just so much sprinkling, it just gets everywhere,
you just run out quickly, don't you? You know, you can just be careful, you just sprinkle over the
area you're getting the water from, so if you're biblically baptizing and not, you know, wearing
a dress and sprinkling water around the place, like sadly what most people think of as, as
baptism and what they call christening as well in this country, you know, around clouds of incense
and bizarre chanting and graven images everywhere and everything else, but if you're doing it
probably you need much water according to the Bible, don't you? That's why he's baptizing there,
because there was much water. So turn to Acts 8, and just quickly, just to remind you of this,
turn Acts 8 while I read Matthew 3 16. Matthew 3 16, and Jesus when he was baptized went up straight
way out of the water, and lo the heavens were open unto him and he saw the spirit of God descending
like a dove and lighting upon him. So Jesus went up straight way out of the water. I think Jesus
would have shown us a correct way, wouldn't he? Along with, along with John the Baptist. Acts 8
and 38, Acts 8 38, and he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him, and when they were come up out of the water
the spirit of the Lord called away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way
rejoicing. Okay, now you could go on for a while about this, but verse 38, see they went both into
the water. Okay, verse 39, up out of the water. Baptism, full immersion, needs much water, and
that's why we, when we baptize, and hopefully we'll be doing a lot of baptism soon, when we do
baptize it, it will obviously be full immersion, and if you've been sprinkled water by someone,
whether you are saved or not, or especially, and also if you were baptized when you were unsaved
in some way or another, whether it was in water or not, then you need, you need baptizing. Okay,
you need baptizing after salvation. Okay, but you know, like we've talked about before, many people
worry, well I don't know if that, you know, before I was at this church, I'm not sure. I personally
believe if you were saved and you've gone and got baptized, I don't think you have to go back and,
you know, really make sure, because you can't know for sure, can you? You can't know for sure,
really. So for me, yeah, but after salvation you need to get baptized, and hopefully once
you get past the Thompson here, we're going to be getting some baptisms going, so those of you that
aren't, get ready, hopefully it's in the summer, eh? Because Southland can be good in the summer,
can't it? Oh wow, in the winter. When were we, when was Ireland, you guys that got baptized in
Ireland? What, what, was it April? It looked pretty, it was pretty cold just standing there.
I was already baptized, I was standing there watching you guys thinking, wow,
good on you, you know, you guys had some conviction there. Yeah, that looked cold, okay.
Uh, verse 24, for John was not yet cast into prison. Now Luke 3 19 tells us why John was
cast into prison, so John the Baptist, Baptist was cast into prison eventually. Luke 3 19,
you can turn there if you like, it says, but Herod the tetrarch being reproved for him,
by him, for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done. Now
don't miss the second bit, because a lot of time we see this, we talk about, yeah,
approving him for, you know, the wicked sin of, of adultery and, and, you know, whether it was
divorce and, and, but it was adultery either way, but John reproved him for all the evils
that he had done, didn't he? And how many of these lame passers do you, do you hear claim,
don't, don't talk about anything about the government, you can't, can't mention any of
the sins, a massive list of heinous sins committed by governments around the world. Oh no, no,
Romans 13, no, you know, I can't talk about the government. Well, John the Baptist did,
didn't he? Yeah, for all the evils which Herod had done, and I bet there was quite a lot of evils,
so he must have let him have it, that must have been a long sermon, but for Herod that must have
been a long old sermon, and he let him, let him have it, and, and this is the greatest man that
lived according to Jesus, obviously apart from Jesus, and Jesus also reproved the leaders,
didn't he? What did he call Herod? That fox, didn't he? Herod that fox, tell that fox, he said,
um, and we should too, shouldn't we? So those of us preaching the word of God should be preaching
the truth and preaching against the wickedness of our governments, of our so-called leaders and
rulers, and, and when, when, when the word calls for it, and the word calls for it a lot, we should
be preaching against them, shouldn't we? And letting people know about the sin that they're
committing, and, and as we see, John the Baptist did that and ended up being cast into prison.
Okay, then verse 25, then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews
about purifying. This is probably because of the obsessive cleaning that we mentioned earlier,
because they love a bit of purifying. Um, verse 26, they came under John and said unto him,
Rabbi, he that, that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou barest witness, behold the same
baptizeth and all men come to him. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except it be
given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ,
but that I am sent before him. He that had the bride is a bridegroom, but the friend of the
bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's
voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. So
have a look at verse 26 there, and they came unto John and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee
beyond Jordan to whom thou barest witness, behold the same baptizeth and all men come to him. Now,
in context of the following verses, it sounds like John's disciples were almost maybe complaining
that everyone is going to Jesus now. I don't know if possibly it sounds like that because he's
trying to explain, explain how he doesn't have a problem. In fact, he's rejoicing about that.
Verse 27, John answers, said a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. So
John is saying that it's ordained of God, isn't it, that they now go to Jesus. Verse 28, ye
yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. And
they witnessed him saying that he was sent before, and we saw that in John 1. Verse 29,
he that hath the bride is a bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth
and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is
fulfilled. So John isn't bitter at all, is he? You'd hope not, wouldn't you? And obviously he's not.
He's referring to Jesus as the bridegroom and himself as a friend that is rejoicing greatly
to hear Jesus' voice. And now look at verse 30. He must increase, but I must decrease.
So remember John's job was to come before him to make straight the way of the Lord, wasn't it? Now
all men are coming to Jesus. And we can apply this to our own personal discipling of people,
can't we? Okay, we can apply this verse especially to our own personal discipling.
Jesus must increase and we must decrease, yeah? And I think this is a good verse to have in your
mind, that Jesus must increase and we must decrease. But how's Jesus going to increase
most when we're discipling people? And I would say not necessarily by sending them hours and
hours and hours of NIFB sermons, okay? And hear me out here, okay, like we all love good preaching
and I want to listen to good preachers, I still listen to good preachers, I listen to different
preachers. Okay, that's great. We've all learned some good doctrine for good preaching, but
you've got to learn to read and study the Word of God, okay? We have to, everyone here has to learn
to do that. And that's studying and that's basically increasing Jesus Christ himself, I think,
rather than the preacher, basically, that you're having to have everything talked by. Because what
happens, I've been around people that have listened to literally hundreds of hours of good
preaching online, yeah, they've listened to loads of it, but the majority of stuff that they actually
remember is usually the stuff they listened to in the last week or two, okay? Because when you're
just listening, you're listening and especially a lot of the time we're not really, it's not that
we're studying, it's not that a lot of people have got their Bible out, they're making their notes,
they're studying, a lot of the time they're listening to it, traveling, working and nothing
wrong with that. You know, I love listening to good preaching, okay, but you have to get to the
point where it's not, right, what did that pastor say? What did that preacher say? What did I
remember? What did I remember was said? Because those people, what happens a lot of the time,
when you ask them a question, their answer is, let me find a sermon. And that's the truth, isn't it?
Let me find a sermon, because they still haven't got to the point where Jesus increased enough
where they can get their Bible out and find an answer to it, because all they can do is point
you to sermons and nothing wrong, you know, listening to a sermon's good, but in the same way then,
the result we want for our disciples is to Jesus to increase and the reliance on the prophet to
decrease, yeah? That's what he's saying here, isn't he? I believe, that's the application I get
from that and not only do we want to be like that, but we want to get like that with the people that
we're, sorry, the people that we're discipling to get to that point as well. Now, again,
sending and preaching is good, but where do they need to be for Jesus to increase most?
Where do they need to be? Church, yeah? They need to be in the house of God, the pillar and ground
of the truth, yeah? Okay, so to get them in church, the local New Testament church, and
fortunately now we have a New Testament church in this country that we can say,
yeah, this is a church, okay? But for someone to get there, for someone to get to church,
you know, sometimes it can be hard when you get to the point where you're just literally relying
on YouTube, you're just watching, that becomes your thing, you're just kind of like a YouTube
church goer, and for many people they find it really hard to then go to church, don't they?
Okay, now I'm not saying I'll like ban them, they can't listen to any preaching,
like you can't listen to a thing unless you come to church, but I think we need,
like our main emphasis has to be encouraging them to church, I don't care how much doctrine they
hear, if they don't go to church they're going to be a weak Christian, they're going to be a
lame Christian, they're probably not going to do very much for God, are they? If they're not in
church, because we all know without church you're in the wilderness, aren't you? You're in the
wilderness hoping to bump into that guy with the camel's hair, aren't you? You're hoping to bump
into that good bit, but the truth is we're out in the wilderness when we're not in church,
and all of us have been at points like that, or been in bad churches, and even in a bad church
you're kind of still not in the wilderness really, are you? So our goal, our goal isn't it,
is for people that we've got saved to come to church, that's our ultimate goal, isn't it?
Okay, and let's be honest, you, every single person here, could probably show enough verses
to show God telling them to come to church, it doesn't matter how many great preachers they
hear telling them the same thing, if that's not convicting them, the word of God, if you can't
convict them, then them listening to a load of preachers online is not going to get them to come
to church. In fact, a lot of the time I think it could possibly do the opposite, because people
just start to rely on their online preacher, they just become an online churchgoer, and that's what
happens, and I think that's a bit of a, kind of one of the unfortunate, like, negative side effects
of online preaching, of having it live, is that there are people, there are people we've saved
that I know because I speak to someone who kind of make the choice to sit at home and listen instead,
that you're not at church sitting at home listening, are you?
And this is what happens, I think, some I think possibly become dysfunctional when it comes to
going to church, and, you know, you've heard preachers talk about this, and again, you know,
I'm fairly new to this, but I think that you can become someone who gets so used to
your, you know, your guy online, you know, your favourite personality, and if he starts to annoy
you, he says something you don't like, you shift to the next guy, you know, then he becomes your
personality, your YouTube preacher, and then maybe it'll go to the next guy because he didn't like
the way he did something, he made, really, a lot of the time it's because he's preached something
that's hit you a bit, and prickled you a little bit, or it's something that, oh, well, that made
you feel a bit insecure or something else, you go to the next guy, and then you become a bit of
a dysfunctional church member, you haven't got your pause button at church, have you?
You haven't got your pause button, oh yeah, I'll listen to the end, then you don't, you go to
something else which kind of makes you feel a bit better, you know, you don't have the food there,
you don't have the, you can't sit there in your pajamas, men, yeah, or your 90s, ladies, yeah,
okay, you can't sit there in your pajamas, or your 90s, sitting there with your pause
buttons and everything else, can you? And, you know, with your home comforts and everything and
all of that, and at church when it's getting preached at you, you kind of got to take note then,
don't you? Okay, and look, what, I'm not saying, look, don't send anyone any sermons, like, that's
good, but really, guys, get him to the church, yeah, anyone gets saved in this country, we're trying to
get him to our church, aren't we? We're not trying to get him to be, you know, the latest NIFB YouTube
addict, okay, like, cool, and some, a lot of us probably have been there to some degree, and amen,
we're in church, yeah, great, and hopefully we can all be not dysfunctional in church, because like I
said, I think there can be problems with it, and people do find it hard, and they might be looking,
going, well, it's not pastor, you know, so-and-so up there, so I don't know why I want to listen to him,
because God told you to, you know, because, because pastor Thompson's got me to lead the church and
preach the word of God to you, okay, it doesn't matter if I'm not pastor, you know, Jimenez, or
pastor Anderson, or pastor Shelley, it doesn't matter, because that's what God's told you to do,
but it can be hard when you come from the YouTube, the great preachers, and everything else, and it's
like, right, now I'm at my local church, okay, and that happens everywhere, doesn't it? So really, when
we're going out, we get, we're trying to get Jesus to increase in their life, and that's one, at the
church, but two, to get them to start eventually with time, and that will come from being at church,
from growing as a Christian, to be able to rely on their Bible, because the truth is, people who are
sitting at home, watching YouTube, I would say the vast majority of them can't, can't, they can't find
them, in general, much more than a few favourite verses, they can't explain things, that Jesus will
not increase in their life, and they'll always rely on that prophet, they'll always rely on that preacher.
Um, okay, and that's what we're, that's what we're training our disciples to be, that's what we want to,
so, so point with that, when you get someone saved, and you manage to get past that kind of, that,
that thorny ground, Christian, that sadly a lot of them are, and you get to that point where they
actually know, they want to talk to you, they want to, they're happy to respond to your messages, your
emails, your calls, whatever else, and you, they want to be discipled, your ultimate goal is to
encourage them to come to church, isn't it? And yeah, it might take them a while, it might take a
little while, and sure, send them some preaching and everything else, but like I said, they listen to,
to three thousand hours of the best pastors, you know, that we know, and don't come to church, then
I don't think they're going to be much of a better Christian, okay, that's what, that's what I think,
so I think, get in the church, and if it means that they listen to some of our stuff, and it means that
they, we, we have, we've prayed hard for this church, we've persevered for this church, we've got this
church, let's build this church, eh, let's build this church. Matthew 18 20 says, for where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them, so where they, where is Jesus
going to increase most? Here, in this building, yeah, in this church, let's get them to this church.
Verse 31, he that cometh from above is above all, he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of
the earth, he that cometh from heaven is above all. Right, John knows his place, doesn't he, hasn't got
all puffed up, yeah, he knows his place, he hasn't got puffed up, he knows who Jesus Christ is. Verse 32,
and what he hath seen and heard, that he testify, that no man receiveth his testimony. So Jesus is
obviously testifying the truth here, isn't he? Verse 33, he that hath received his testimony is set to
his seal, that God is true. So when someone receives the Gospel, they're acknowledging
that God is true, aren't they? They're acknowledging that God is true and acknowledging that the Word of
God is true. When you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, you're accepting
that the Word of God is true, aren't you? When you believe, when you put your faith, you're accepting
that what you've been preached is a Word of God and it's true, and I believe when you preach that
to people, they get convicted, they know it's the Word of God, don't they? They know it's the Word of
God, and some of them will reject, but if you're putting your faith in Jesus Christ, you're
accepting it now. Yet saved believers are world over still want to reject so much of this Bible,
don't they? Saved Christians are world over, they will get saved, they like that bit,
that grace through faith bit, that's pretty good, isn't it, that bit? I like that bit,
but I don't know about the rest, I don't know about some of the harder bits of the Bible,
but what's that about? You've just acknowledged that God is true, acknowledge that this Word of
God is true, the living Word, you know, in the beginning was a Word, the Word was with God,
the Word was God, we got this Word, we've accepted it, we've acknowledged it, we've put our faith in it
for salvation, if you're really saved, then you've put your faith in what this Word of God says,
yet then when it tells you about sodomites, well I don't know about that because, you know, cousin
whoever, you know, is a flaming sodomite, so I'll avoid that bit, don't like that bit, or like we
were talking about earlier, you know, the roles in marriage, and so many other bits of this
Bible, so many parts of this Bible that people don't want to accept, don't want to acknowledge,
but no, it's not a pick and mix, is it? It's not, you accept it, you put your faith in Jesus Christ,
well then that means that this Bible is true, isn't it? This Word of God is true,
and that means every single bit of it, every single word of it is true, how can you trust
the bits about salvation? Verse 34, for he whom God have sent speaketh the words of God, for God
giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. So Jesus wasn't just speaking some words of God, was he?
He was a hundred percent human, a hundred percent God, he was filled a hundred percent with the
Holy Spirit, and every word of his is pure, every word of God is pure, isn't it? Every word of Jesus
Christ was pure. Verse 35, the Father loveth the Son and has given all things into his hand.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. And there's eternal security again,
there's once saved, always saved again, hath, is present tense, has everlasting life. He that
believeth on the Son has everlasting life. You are saved, it's a done deal if you believe on the Son,
if you have believed on the Son, that's it, job done. If you don't believe the Son, if you haven't
put your faith on the Son of God and Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter how many old ladies you walk
across the street, does it? It doesn't matter how many, it doesn't matter if you literally just park
up near the old people's home and just walk them across the street all day, you ain't going to
heaven, okay? It doesn't matter how lovely you are, how good you are, how nice you are, you know how
nice you are to sodomites and the rest of it, you're not going to heaven. How much money you
leave to your false church, doesn't matter, does it Roman Catholics? It doesn't matter,
you know these sinatras and the rest of them that leave millions and millions to these wicked false
churches, you're not going to heaven if you haven't believed on the name of the only begotten Son.
But he says here, but the wrath of God abideth on him, the wrath, not the begrudging punishment,
no I'm just going to have to punish them, punish them, that's not what it says does it,
not that oh well I just, well I suppose I got in my hands the tide, no the wrath of God, it's wrath,
the wrath of God is waiting for you, like that is sobering for the unsaved person, it's wrath,
it's anger at everything you've ever done, everything you've ever thought, every wicked
thought you've had, the wrath of God abideth on you. Have a look at Nahum chapter 1.
Nahum chapter 1, so it's just after Micah if you're wondering and before Habakkuk
towards the end of your Old Testaments, Nahum chapter 1 and verse 2,
God is jealous and the Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth and is furious,
the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
That's the Lord, that's God, that's our God,
yeah that's not Morgan Freeman the sky daddy, yeah, hanging up there in the clouds just cuddling
everyone, that's not our Lord is it, that's a lie, that's a lie from the pit of hell that's trying
to convince people that it's just the sort of everyone apart from the people that you think
shouldn't go to heaven, are going to heaven, that's not God is it, like we see the long-haired hippie
wearing the dress who's just cuddling and walking around saying peace man, that's not God,
God is jealous, the Lord revengeth and he's furious, he's furious with every single sin,
the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. If anyone
here and we're not going to do an altar call but if anyone here seriously if you haven't put your
faith in Jesus Christ you haven't trusted in him alone for your salvation then believe me
the wrath of God abideth on you and you just need to get down, get on your knees and just ask God,
just ask him, just put your faith in him, his death, burial, his resurrections pay for all your
sins, all you have to do is ask him and trust him and on that let's pray.
Father I thank you for your word, thank you for for such a powerful, powerful chapter,
what a powerful gospel, what a powerful book, but John chapter 3, thank you for just making it so
clear that once we are saved, once we are born again there's no second spiritual birth,
once we have everlasting life we have it, you cannot lose it, thank you that that's
you cannot lose it, thank you that that you've made it so clear, thank you that you've made
such an easy way to be saved and thank you that that even though none no one here deserves
salvation that you've offered it freely to us and and that we've we've taken it, we thank you for
that, we thank you for sending your son to to die for us and please help us to get that truth out
to people, please help us to to get out there and get people saved, to get to just preach the gospel
to be strong as a church, to grow as a church, to get more and more soldiers out there on the
streets just preaching the gospel and bringing people to faith and we thank you for that,
help us with our weeks going forward, help us to get home safely and soundly tonight, help us to
have a good week and to put you at the centre of it, for you to just keep increasing in our lives
and help us to to rely on you, rely on your word, not not just on on our favourite preachers
and and we pray that you'll just help us in all these areas, help us to get back here
back here next week to carry on worshipping you and serving you and in Jesus name we pray, Amen.