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00:00 The title of our sermon today is the Lord of love and fury.
00:07 And those two attributes of God are actually complimentary. Some think that
00:13 they are incompatible. But uh I'll tell you, I'd rather serve a God who loves us
00:19 enough to uphold justice and virtue, beauty, and truth
00:25 by judging and condemning evil rather than just winking and looking the other
00:33 way. I mean, what kind of God would do that? Uh some have a mushy concept of
00:41 love which actually judges God's or judges God's righteousness and
00:48 condemns it because they think God is not fair, God is not just or God is not
00:54 holy. God is just a God of love. And certainly this verse John 3:16
01:00 is about love. But if we look to some of the later verses in the reading today,
01:06 we'll discover that God also is a God of fury and wrath. CS Lewis said, "When we say that we're
01:13 bad, the wrath of God seems to be a a barbaric doctrine or barbarous doctrine.
01:21 But as soon as we perceive our own badness, it appears inevitable, a simple
01:27 and mere correlary to God's goodness." So the wrath of God and the love of God
01:34 are two sides of one coin so to speak.
01:40 Let me just advance here or slide and catch up. For God so loved the world
01:45 that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but
01:51 have everlasting life. Charles Haden Spurgeon said of this particular verse,
01:57 he was the the great uh preacher of yestery year from the uh I believe it was the Metropolitan Tabernacle in
02:04 London. He said, "If we never had another gleam of love from God's face
02:10 again, we could live on this one text alone." Another
02:16 famous preacher of that uh day, Henry Mohouse said uh and he had been invited
02:23 to speak at uh DL Moody, a great evangelist in the 1800s in America uh
02:28 based in Chicago. He preached for an entire week on that one verse, John
02:35 3:16, an entire week of messages from DL Moody's pullpit. And he said, 'I have
02:41 been trying to tell you how much God loves you. Suppose I could borrow Jacob's ladder. Suppose I could ascend
02:49 that shining stairway unto until my feet stood on the uh sapphire pavements of
02:56 the city of God. Suppose I could find Gabriel, the herald
03:02 angel who stands in the presence of God. Suppose I could say, "Tell me, Gabriel,
03:08 how much does God love the world?" I know what he would say. He would say,
03:16 "Henry Mohouse, God so loved the world that he gave his
03:22 only son that whoever believes in him should not
03:27 perish but have everlasting life." That is how much God loves the world.
03:38 This is considered to be one of the greatest Bible or Bible verses in all of time. And uh uh it's sometimes referred
03:47 to as the greatest gift. We're going to kind of go verse or word by word, phrase by phrase through this. And we're going
03:54 to look at one uh uh example of how this is the greatest gift.
04:01 God is the greatest lover. So loved to the greatest degree.
04:10 The world is the greatest number that he gave is the very greatest act.
04:18 His only son is the greatest gift that whosoever is the greatest invitation.
04:27 Believeth is the greatest simplicity in him who is the greatest person.
04:36 Should not perish is the greatest deliverance but makes the greatest difference.
04:44 have gives us the greatest certainty. Everlasting life is our greatest
04:51 possession. This is sometimes referred to as the
04:58 gospel in a single verse or a gospel in a nutshell. Uh I want to give you some
05:04 examples that I think you'll find interesting, maybe even amusing of uh
05:09 where we find this in American culture. Uh we have a few Americans here today and I'm sure they can attest to many
05:16 other examples. Uh it became a phenomenon in sports
05:23 in uh the 1980s with a guy named Rainbow Man whose real name was Roland Stewart.
05:31 And I'm going to skip a slide here. That's him. This guy used to show up at
05:37 football games and other sporting events. anything he could do to get on television. He would stand in the end
05:43 zone where the uh in American football, you kick the ball or you carry it across the goal, you kick it through the
05:49 goalpost. He would try to position himself where he was right there. So when the camera zoomed in, he would be
05:56 standing up with this big placard that said John 3:16 and and it would make
06:01 people wonder, you know, uh he became very famous for doing that. The the sad
06:07 thing is that uh probably almost 20 years later, he was absolutely certain
06:13 that the rapture was going to take place soon. And so he actually,
06:20 I guess you could say, kidnapped some people and held them in a hotel room and he put these placards on the windows
06:26 because he knew the press would show up and it was talking about God coming again and he was still uh trying to
06:32 witness, but uh he had a gun with him. that wasn't very smart. And uh so he was
06:37 accused of kidnapping and I think he's probably still in prison today. Uh so he
06:44 did get some notoriety because of the association with John 3:16.
06:50 This fellow is a man named Tim Thibo. He kind of revived this John 3:16 pop
06:56 culture uh by actually putting the verse John 3:16 in what's called iblack,
07:03 another American football uh example. He was the quarterback for the uh
07:09 University of Florida in 2007 somewhere along about that time and later went on
07:15 to quarterback in uh professional football for the Denver Broncos and some others. didn't have much of a a
07:22 professional career. But sometime after he started wearing this uh eye black,
07:28 the uh NCAA, which governs American University football, passed a rule
07:33 called the Tim Tibo rule that said you can no longer have messages on your eye
07:38 black. Now, the reason for that eye black is if you're in the bright lights like these or you're looking uh into the
07:46 sun, it helps cut down on the glare so you're not blinded. And Tim Tibo became
07:51 very very famous because of this example. Uh he actually had a very
07:57 interesting thing uh incident some three years later. They call it the John or the uh the 3:16 game after John 3:16 and
08:06 his association. And I just want to give you a couple examples of what happened in that particular game, three years to
08:14 the day later from his first wearing the uh the John 3:16 iblack. By the way, Tim
08:20 Tibo was born uh to missionary parents. And so he had instilled in him from a
08:26 very young age this love of John 3:16. Uh, interestingly enough, one of his
08:31 teammates was a famous American football player by the name of uh, Aaron Hernandez, who uh, played for the uh,
08:40 really famous team uh, the New England Patriots, which have probably won more Super Bowls than any other team. Uh,
08:49 Aaron Hernandez uh, was a bit of a renegade to say the least. uh was actually accused and tried
08:56 and found guilty of murder uh I think in 2015 or somewhere thereabouts. He spent
09:02 a little time in prison and then he hanged himself with a linen from his
09:08 jail cell and he had written on his head John 3:16
09:14 and I think he became aware of this verse because of seeing the life of Tim Thibo his teammate in the 200789
09:23 uh time frame. So, we have a lot of examples of that. But back to Tim Tibo's
09:29 316 game. Uh, going into that game, Denver had lost by an average of 16
09:35 points uh the three games that were preceding that. Excuse me, three uh by
09:42 an average of 16 points for the three games times 16 points. It's a bit of a
09:47 stretch, but you get it. And they refer to that game as the 316 game. After the
09:53 game, media sources noted Tibo's passing yardage for the game. It was 316 yards
10:02 and the yards per completion of each pass 31.6
10:08 yards. Uh the only interception of the game was thrown by the Steelers, the Pittsburgh
10:15 Steelers, Ben Rothllessber Rothllessberger, and it was thrown on the third down with 16 yards to go. Uh
10:24 Pittsburgh's time of possession for that game was 31 minutes and 6 seconds, 3:16.
10:33 The Neielson ratings for that game were a share of the active audience 31.6.
10:42 One of the NBC producers was told about these uh coincidences and he said, "I'm
10:50 converting uh because of of his testimony." Now, the interesting thing when he won this
10:55 in a playoff game or wore this rather in a playoff game leading up to the Super Bowl, the next day there were 94 million
11:05 Google hits on John 3:16 because he took a stand as a Christian
11:12 and put that on his iBlack. People were wondering what that what is that about?
11:17 You know, many people not ever familiar, but they heard the gospel message. 94
11:23 million times because of the stand that he took. So coincidental,
11:29 I don't know. You uh you ask yourself that question. Another example is a West
11:36 Coast burger chain. I believe it's West Coast. I mo mostly know of it in California and uh Arizona and places out
11:43 west. Uh but it's called In-N-Out Burger. And as you can see on the bottom
11:49 inside of their drink cup, they have printed John 3:16.
11:55 Another example is often found throughout maybe
12:00 primarily the southern part of the US. Uh it's often referred to as the Bible
12:06 belt. uh you can drive along and it's not that infrequent that you can actually see a billboard or placard a a
12:14 roadside sign that makes some reference to go uh John 3:16. I've seen it in
12:20 several states myself. In my former life, I used to do a lot of driving and traveling. And uh I think I've seen it
12:27 probably in at least 11 different states that I traveled in and sometimes many times in the state, but it's not limited
12:33 to the Bible belt. Just outside of uh Effingham, Illinois, where my wife and I
12:39 used to live in St. Louis, so it's about 90 minutes uh west of St. Louis, there's
12:44 a huge clo cross that may be at least 50 meters high and and very broad. And uh
12:52 it's a cross obviously representing Christ and and his uh sacrifice. But somewhere just beyond that particular
12:59 location is a sign on the on the roadside with John 3:16. So it's an
13:06 attribute of uh or let's say it's an example of how uh popular John 3:16 is.
13:15 Uh here's another example. It's a fashion chain, a uh a retail fashion
13:21 chain that has 723 stores throughout the United States. And
13:27 on the bottom of all of their shopping bags, they have this verse, John 3:16,
13:32 printed. I I don't think there's anything like that in Malaysia, is there? That that you know of? Uh I I I
13:39 don't think so. Uh, and while this is all interesting and it's it's uh uh
13:45 amusing, it does not do justice to the heart of God and his mission here on
13:51 earth in saving mankind from his fallen, sinful, and depraved condition. God is
13:59 love and God loved the world. When God sent his son into the world, he knew it was
14:06 going to end up as a bloody sacrifice. And that sacrifice was going to take
14:12 place on a cruel and humiliating cross.
14:17 In fact, our uh deliverance encompasses in John 3:16 both the idea
14:26 of the blood and the cross.
14:31 I just want to share with you this uh slide here. Uh God so loved the world
14:37 that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I
14:43 spoke a few weeks back uh about Hebrews chapter 9 and one of the central verses
14:50 in that passage of scripture was without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. And I talked a bit uh
14:58 throughout that day about the blood of Christ and and what that accomplishes
15:04 for the believer. But there is also the aspect of the cross of Christ. The blood and the cross
15:11 both. When I was about 20 years old, which was about 38 years ago, maybe 19,
15:17 uh I came across a book by an author, Chinese writer by the name of Watchman Knee, who I think lived between
15:25 somewhere around the 1920s maybe to 30s and 40s in China. And he wrote a book
15:30 called the normal Christian life. And uh many uh believers closer to that time
15:37 and and on into though the time I read the book uh cite this as one of the most
15:43 pivotal and influential books in their lives in their formation of some of
15:48 their early Christian thinking. And I want to share with you uh uh something
15:53 that he says in that book. He states the blood deals with what we
15:59 have done. And while we shall see that the cross also deals with what we are,
16:05 what we do, what we have done and what we are, we need the blood for forgiveness,
16:11 but we need the cross for deliverance. So in our uh salvation, we have both
16:18 forgiveness and deliverance. We see that the uh that objectively the blood deals
16:23 with our sins plural. The Lord Jesus has borne them on the cross for our us as
16:29 our substitute and has thereby obtained for us forgiveness, justice, and
16:36 reconciliation. But we must now go a step further in the plan of God to understand how he deals
16:43 with the sin principle within us. The blood can wash away my sins, but it
16:51 cannot wash away my old man. that old nature which we refer to as the flesh
16:58 that needs the cross to crucify me. You know when you see the symbol of the
17:03 cross throughout the Bible, it always is representative of death. And do you
17:08 remember the verse when Jesus said, "No man can be my disciple if he doesn't take up his cross and follow me." It
17:15 means you can't be a disciple unless you're willing to put the self, the old man, your old nature to death in
17:23 cooperation with God. The blood deals with the sins, but the cross itself
17:30 deals with the sinner. We're apt to think that we have or what
17:36 we have done is very, very bad, our sins, but that we ourselves are not so
17:41 bad. Is that true of your experience? I mean there are some people who are very
17:47 deeply self-loathing and maybe even to the extent that they are not mentally
17:53 healthy. Uh we've we've know of those type of people that exist. But you know
17:58 generally speaking we all know we're sin and what's that little phrase that we
18:05 use? Well I'm just human. You know after all I'm just human. So, we do uh things
18:13 that are in violation of God's law and we say it's not such a big deal really.
18:21 I mean, it's only a little small white lie. It was only a little money. I was
18:27 only unfaithful to my wife just just that one time and and really it didn't
18:33 go that far. See how we minimize sin
18:39 and sin is a principle that lives in us that was passed to us from Adam.
18:45 So there is something that's wrong with us and God is taking great pains to show us that we are wrong fundamentally
18:52 wrong. The root trouble is the sinner or the root trouble is the sinner. He must
18:58 be dealt with. Our sins are dealt with by the blood as in the forgiveness of
19:03 sins. And ourselves we are dealt with by the power of the cross. By the cross.
19:11 The blood procures our pardon for what we have done.
19:16 The the cross procures our deliverance from what we are. I think that's a
19:23 beautiful beautiful characterization of the role of the blood and the cross.
19:29 In John 3:16, John 3:17 says, "For God did not send
19:34 his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." The mission of
19:42 God was not to condemn the world. We sometimes hear a lot of preaching that
19:48 is heavy. It's condemning and people feel bad. And and there is a place for
19:53 feeling bad and and having a sorrow for your sin. Uh sometimes we talk about guilt and in
20:01 the America it's very uh popular to talk about how the the Catholic Church uses
20:06 guilt as a tool to make people comply. But I want to tell you there there is a
20:12 place for guilt in the life of a a Christian. When I say that what I'm trying to say is that there is a guilt
20:19 which leads and produces despair and leads to hopelessness.
20:25 And that guilt comes from the devil. And there is another guilt that leads to
20:32 hope and a repentant heart, a godly sorrow for sin. And that guilt comes
20:38 from God. And that may be something that's helpful to you uh as you deal
20:44 with your own walk with the Lord and in life. I want you to know that God uh his
20:50 mission on earth and sending Christ was not a rejection mission. He didn't come
20:58 to tell us all we're going to hell and there's nothing you can do about it that you're uh ungodly uh reprobate uh some
21:07 of these things may be true but that's not the end of the story. God's message was a message of reconciliation
21:14 of redemption because of the blood of Christ. His message is an inclusive message.
21:21 It's one of the love of God. It is about life from above for all those who are
21:26 perishing. Some examples that we see throughout the uh the Bible is uh when Jesus dealt with
21:33 the adulterous woman, the woman who was taken in the very act the Bible tells us of adultery. taken in the very act of
21:41 committing adultery. And uh Jesus didn't condemn her. They
21:46 were going to stone her. And he rebuked the people that were picking up the stones to kill her. And he said, "Let uh
21:54 those of you who are without sin cast the first stone." Then when he spoke further to the woman, he said, "Uh I I
22:01 don't condemn you. Go and sin no more." Uh recently the Reverend Billy Graham
22:06 died and uh perhaps more than any other preacher of modern times. He spoke to
22:11 more people throughout the world and his message was the message of the love of God of redemption. it wasn't overly uh
22:21 critical and condemning and a lot of other Christians in the states uh maybe
22:26 some more of the conservative uh type of uh Christians actually condemned him for
22:31 not being more stringent on the need for repentance and uh uh nevertheless you
22:38 can see the results of his ministry all around the world. God not only wants to save you from your
22:44 sins, but he also wants to save you from the effects of those sins here and now
22:51 and in the life hereafter. Uh you'll remember that Jesus also dealt with blind men, lame people. He healed many.
22:59 Uh some of those were people who uh they didn't endure their physical infirmity
23:05 because of uh sin. Uh but some others were injured. uh even a a lady died and
23:11 was raised to life. Uh the Samaritan woman who had been married many many times uh when confronted by Jesus, he
23:19 told her, you know, what she had done, he knew, but he told her, "Go and sin no
23:25 more." And so his message wasn't primarily primarily a message of
23:31 condemnation and rejection. Though just like the love of God and the furer of
23:37 the wrath of God, both are equally true. So he wants to save us from the effects
23:42 of sin both here and now and eventually in uh the hereafter.
23:51 John 3:18 says, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
23:56 but whoever does not believe is condemned already." I want you to note
24:01 there's two groups of people in here. And I'm going to come back to that in a moment. There is a group that believes
24:08 and it says they are not condemned. The second group is a group that do not
24:14 believe and they're condemned already. And so that's very important distinction
24:20 that I'll make. And why are they condemned already? Because he has not believed in the name
24:28 of the only son of God. The Bible tells us there is salvation in no other than
24:34 Jesus because there is no other name given among men whereby we must be
24:39 saved. Not all who are perishing want this uh
24:46 promise from John 3:16 of eternal life or do they trust the one who offers it?
24:52 And so there is in reality a judgment, a dividing line between those who trust
24:58 the one who comes bearing the love of God and those who cannot place their
25:03 trust in him or will not. The inclusive love of God will not force itself upon
25:08 those who choose to opt out or to ignore it.
25:14 You know this whole section of scripture sometimes uh is referred to as the great divide. In the US, we have something
25:21 called the continental divide. And uh basically, it's a it's a shift, a
25:28 elevation on the continent that runs north to south or pretty much through
25:33 the US. I've never seen it myself, but I'm told that if a house is positioned
25:39 correctly, we have gabled roofs, pointed roofs there, that if it should rain, and
25:46 this house is on the center line of the continental divide, if the water runs to
25:51 one side, it'll eventually run into the Pacific Ocean. And if it falls on the
25:57 other side of the roof, it'll eventually run into the Atlantic Ocean on either
26:02 coast. That's what this section of scripture is in Bible doctrine. It's the love of God,
26:09 the message of reconciliation and redemption through the blood of Christ
26:14 uh shed on the cross. And it's also a message of God's fury and wrath because
26:20 of those who are enemies of God, those who are condemned because they do not believe because they reject the name of
26:28 the only son of God, Jesus Christ. And so, let's be clear that God is a God of
26:35 love, but he's also a God of wrath and a God of vengeance. And we'll look at that
26:41 a little bit more in a moment. One of the things that I wanted to point out in this section goes back to those two
26:47 groups. The first group is he who believes. What does it say about those
26:53 who believe? It says they're not condemned, but whoever does not believe is
26:60 condemned already. So, we have the second group, the non-believer. They're condemned.
27:06 In my way of thinking, my wife tells me I'm a numbers guy, a kind of black and white, eitheror type of guy. There's a
27:14 group missing here. What about the group that believes
27:22 they're not condemned? There's a group who does not believe and they're condemned. Where do you put the
27:28 group that believes but are not a member of the church
27:33 or maybe the right church? Okay. And every church thinks they're
27:38 the right church. Okay. What do you do with the person that believes
27:44 but has not yet been baptized? Or the person who believes but has never
27:51 spoken in tongues? Are you going to put those people and
27:58 others like it who no matter what the work of righteousness is that they have
28:03 not completed? Are you going to put them among the condemned?
28:10 I I think the start of that verse is very clear and this should clear up a lot of Bible doctrine for you about what
28:16 different churches teach that is necessary for salvation. Whoever believes in him is not
28:23 condemned. Are you going to put yourself in the place of God to say that if this
28:29 person believes, but they don't believe quite like you, and they haven't done these things, they
28:35 haven't taken all the sacraments, they haven't been baptized, they haven't spoke in tongues or any other list of
28:41 what we would call or refer to as good works, are those people going to hell?
28:47 I think we dare not do that. I mean, the plain truth of the scripture is
28:53 that belief is all that's necessary for salvation. There may be a few verses
28:59 that are a little confusion and open to interpretation. I know one of them when I was a young man was Acts 2:38
29:07 that says that you have to believe and be baptized. You have to repent and be
29:12 baptized for the remission of sins. And as I understand it, you can do
29:19 something for, you know, you can go to the store for
29:24 food and groceries. And in that case it means in order to get or obtain
29:31 something or you can go for which means because of
29:39 John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son is
29:45 that for there because he's saying in order to obtain
29:51 salvation God sent his son into the
29:56 No, in that case he's saying because of and it's the because of what preceded
30:02 that in the discussion with Nicodemus that God said for this reason because of
30:08 this God sent his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth in him should
30:14 not perish but have everlasting life. Uh Acts 4:12 I think I've already
30:19 referenced this. It says, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among
30:25 men by which we must be saved." And Philippians 2:9-11 says, "Therefore, God
30:31 has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name,
30:37 so that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should
30:45 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Jesus himself
30:51 said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
30:57 father but by me. And now John 3:19
31:03 says, "And this is the judgment that God has come into the world." And people love their darkness rather than the
31:10 light because their deeds were evil. We're kind of a good news bad news situation through this uh section of
31:17 scripture. And this really verse 18 and forward really starts uh part of the bad
31:24 news side of the story. More often than not, the deeds that are done in the dark have become so habitual
31:31 to us, so commonplace, so much a part of our everyday life that we barely
31:36 recognize that this way of life is out of sync with Jesus.
31:42 Yet believing in Jesus, trusting in him, well, doesn't that mean being in sync
31:48 with him? living in harmony with God's principles
31:53 and in the love, the extraordinary love that God has manifest for the world
31:58 through his son Jesus Christ. You know, we live in a day and a time in
32:05 a culture here and elsewhere around the world where sin is no longer exceedingly
32:10 sinful. we don't really feel that bad about our sins that we need to repent and and
32:18 continually repent. And I trust that there are going to be
32:24 some of you here today that as we continue the sermon, you're going to hear that little small voice of God
32:30 through the Holy Spirit speak to your heart, to your circumstance, to your situation.
32:36 And I hope that uh in listening you'll be obedient to what he tells you to do.
32:44 Jesus came as uh well let me read this uh and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love
32:50 the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
32:57 Jesus came as the light. He came to reveal God and his truth. Jesus is the
33:04 standard by which all men will be judged. He came to shine the light of
33:09 the glorious gospel to a lost and dying world. Here Jesus reveals the lusts and the
33:16 desires of men. They love darkness rather than light. They refuse to come to the light because they desire to
33:23 please the flesh. Many today refuse the Lord because they
33:28 enjoy their sinful lifestyle too much to give it up for salvation.
33:34 Just keep in mind that this life is brief. It's uncertain. The scripture tells us it's like a vapor that soon
33:42 disappears. It's like grass that withers and is cut down. And I want to ask you,
33:49 what pleasure in this life? What possession
33:55 is so worthwhile that you're prepared to go to hell for it?
34:02 That's the reason some people don't come to Christ because their deeds are evil and they love it. They love it.
34:11 Do you know the problem with Christians? While we're still in this flesh, we struggle against that old man, our old
34:18 nature that the cross so effectively deals with. And sometimes we find ourselves doing things that are not
34:25 pleasing to God. And that also has to be reconciled.
34:33 John 3:20 says, "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does
34:38 not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed." Kind of reminds me
34:44 of Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden of Eden, hiding from the presence of God because they knew what they did was
34:51 wrong and they did not want to be exposed. Isn't that how we often respond to sin?
34:58 You know, I don't know a lot of Shakespeare. I don't want to appear overly uh intellectual or uh culturally
35:05 sophisticated, but I do have this one particular verse from uh Shakespeare that I like to quote
35:12 because it really represents what life outside of Christ or without Christ
35:18 looks like. And trust me, McBth is not telling this story, but I think this
35:25 example is apppropo. He says, uh, life is but a walking
35:30 shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.
35:38 Life is like that. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and
35:45 signifying nothing. Let me ask you a question. When you're standing at your grave, or you won't be standing at your
35:52 grave, hopefully when those of your friends and loved
35:57 ones are standing at your grave, what is it that you want them to say about you?
36:04 That you live for and loved Jesus Christ or you were a great businessman?
36:12 that you were a a good mother perhaps or some other good attribute or do you
36:20 want people to know that you love Jesus Christ and you're in heaven? I think that's something we should pause and
36:27 think about. Romans 1:18 says,
36:33 "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
36:38 and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." Do you get the
36:45 picture? These who do not believe, they're alienated from God in their minds by their wicked works.
36:53 Romans 5:10 says, 'For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
36:59 of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his
37:05 life, enemies of God. Colossians 1:22
37:11 and uh 121 and 22 says, "And you who were once alienated
37:17 and hostile enemies in your mind doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in the
37:24 body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above
37:29 reproach before him."
37:35 Hebrews 2 says, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"
37:41 Verse three, Hebrews 10:31, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
37:47 a living God." We've heard so much about the love of God and so little about the wrath of
37:55 God, it actually has become dangerous. We've got that mushy thinking that God
38:02 is not a God of holiness and righteousness. That God does not hate sin. His son died for sin. If you were
38:10 the only sinner who ever lived, God would have still died for you. He
38:17 loves you that much. The verse here, Revelation 20 11-15, I'm just going to
38:23 summarize. It is the final judgment. It is the second death. The scripture tells
38:28 us that death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. That Satan and his minions
38:36 will be bound for eternity in the lake of fire. This is called the the final
38:41 judgment. For those lifeg group leaders, we are doing questions
38:47 uh for each life group session after the Sunday sermon. If you download this from
38:52 the church website, you'll see in the last two slides, which you won't see today, those eight questions that refer
38:59 back to uh these slides in various areas. John 3:21 says, and it's our last verse,
39:07 but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen
39:12 that his work has been carried out in God.
39:17 Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." In John 8:12, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will
39:23 have the light of life, eternal life."
39:29 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he be gave that he uh gave his only
39:35 begotten son that whoever believes in him should have everlasting life." The only life that God knows anything about
39:41 is eternal life. We know life in a very limited duration,
39:47 but that was not God's original plan. As believers, we're obligated to let our
39:53 light shine. It says in uh Matthew 5:16, "In the same way, let your light shine uh before
40:00 others so that you may they may see your good works and give glory to your father
40:05 in heaven." I'm going to close with a few thoughts that I want you to consider today.
40:14 We have a loving savior, a seeking savior.
40:20 He wants you and he loves you and he gave himself for you. Luke 19:10 says,
40:27 "For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost."
40:33 He's seeking you this morning. Perhaps you're here and you're not a believer.
40:39 You haven't believed into Jesus Christ. You haven't placed your faith. You
40:45 haven't repented of your sins. I suspect a good many of you, if not most of you, are not in that camp. You're in the
40:51 first camp. You're among those who believe. But I'd like to ask you this.
40:56 How's your walk with the Lord? Do you have that passionate and intimate
41:02 love? Do you feel like you're in vital union and fellowship with Christ?
41:09 Or are you making provisions for the flesh which the Bible tells us not to do? Are you not taking the benefit and
41:15 the power of the cross to crucify yourself? The scripture tells us that we should make no provision for the flesh
41:22 to fulfill the lust thereof. We need to crucify the flesh.
41:27 Some of you are probably I'm wondering if someone here is not at
41:34 the point in their walk maybe you've been a Christian for a long time and you
41:39 just say, you know, I just I can't do it anymore. I really down at a heart level
41:46 don't believe that God is good, that God answers prayer, that God forgives sin.
41:53 My walk with the Lord is not what I thought it was going to be. Well, you know something?
41:59 If your closeness to the Lord is not what it ought to be, guess who moved?
42:07 It wasn't God. It was you. And so, I want you to think about that.
42:14 I'm going to close with this verse, which is one of my favorite from the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Solomon was
42:21 writing to his son. Solomon was a king just like Jesus is a king. Solomon was a
42:28 king. And he was writing to his sons when he pinned this phrase, "My son,
42:34 give me thine heart." And it's not just a situation because it
42:40 is God's word and it's useful to us for instruction. It's not just Solomon speaking to his
42:47 son, but it's God speaking to each one of us sitting here today. And he says to
42:52 us, "Give me thine heart."
42:58 God wants your heart. The heart of God is searching for you
43:04 today. He's searching you out. Perhaps he's speaking to you now. And his heart
43:09 will not be quieted until he has found you or restored you.
43:16 God wants you. He wants all of you. So much so that the eternal God of uh
43:23 all heaven of eternity humbled himself and entered
43:28 our world as a young uh baby child in the manger.
43:35 He was born in a crib just to die on a cross. A humiliating, agonizing death.
43:43 And he did that for you. The word of God says to us today, "Give
43:49 me thine heart." God is pleading for your heart
43:56 either to become a believer or perhaps to be restored.
44:03 Usually, it's the created that says to the creator, "Give me." Isn't that a lot
44:09 of what our prayers are about? God, give me health. God, give me
44:16 wealth. God, give me relief from my pain and suffering.
44:23 God, give me this, give me that. God, forgive me, give me forgiveness.
44:31 That's the majority of our prayers. But this verse,
44:37 give me thine heart, puts God in the place of being the creator who says to
44:44 the created, give me. God wants something from you today.
44:52 The great benefactor has become the great petitioner. The great giver is asking to become the
44:60 receiver. Almighty God wants to be in the place of a receiver, a receiver of
45:06 your soul, your affection, your heart. Give me thine heart. He is the owner who
45:14 desires to become the tenant. He wants to take up his residence in your life.
45:20 He is the provider who is becoming the beggar, the supplicant.
45:26 He is the satisfier who is becoming the seeker.
45:31 The door is seeking entrance into your heart.
45:37 The living water is thirsty. The bread of life is hungry. The way pursues you
45:45 because he desires an intimate relationship with you. The prince of
45:51 peace himself is now the warrior of God fighting for your heart. Where do you
45:59 stand? Why does God do this? There's only one answer to that question
46:06 and that answer is because he loves you. That answer is found in John 3:16.
46:15 Yet you may ask, uh, who am I that God should love me? I'm just a a nobody. I'm
46:24 not consequential in the scheme of things. Nobody knows me. I'm perhaps a poor little boy or a girl who no one
46:32 loves or even notices. Maybe you've lied or cheated uh or
46:38 stolen something or been unfaithful to your wife, your family, your business.
46:44 to your vow of commitment to God. Perhaps you've turned your back on God
46:49 and he still says, "Give me your heart." You may be here and you're just a weary,
46:55 sinick soul. You're the very one God is seeking to
47:02 rescue and restore today.
47:08 It's not somebody else. It's you. It's today. It's here. It's now.
47:17 You hear his voice. I don't know who that is among this audience, but surely in a group this size, somebody hears the
47:26 voice of the Lord. But you say, "I don't believe God actually loves me." Well,
47:32 then give me one valid reason, one just one reason why God would want your
47:38 heart. He's too rich for us to make him any
47:43 richer. He's too great for us to make him any greater.
47:50 He's too strong for us to make him any stronger. And he's too good for us to make him any better.
47:58 He's too glorious for us to give him any more glory than he already has.
48:04 He's too faithful to ever stop pursuing you. He's too steadfast and strong to ever
48:11 let you go. Tell me then, why would God want you?
48:18 Simply because he loves you. And love seeks after love. Do you all
48:25 remember your first genuine love experience? Do you remember what went on
48:30 in your heart? I mean, there was a a stimulation and an
48:36 interest and a joy and a freshness about that relationship. You just could not
48:42 avoid spending time with that person who was the object of your love.
48:50 I've recently gotten to experience that. Uh my wife and I were just talking. We've been married less than three
48:56 years. Most of our time has been here in Malaysia. We spent maybe seven months as
49:02 a married couple in the US before we came here to start this international school.
49:08 And I remember even at 55 or 56
49:14 when we met, wow, it was electricity. I mean, it was exciting.
49:22 And that's what first love is. But I ask you, if that love is not
49:28 returned, what does it do for me? Put yourself
49:34 just for a moment in the place of God. He's done all of these things. The Bible tells us he's blessed us with all
49:41 spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus in Colossians chapter 1. God is not going to do anything else for you than he has
49:48 already done by giving you his son. If you reject that relationship,
49:56 what hope is there for you? The Bible says, "How shall we escape if
50:01 we neglect so great a salvation?" In 2 Corinthians 6:2, he says, "For in a
50:07 favorable time I have listened to you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable
50:16 time. Behold, now is the day of salvation." And I would hasten to add
50:21 that now is the day for your repentance if you are not walking with God.
50:30 Which camp are you in? The believer or the non-believer? And if you're in the camp of the believer, are you walking
50:36 with God? Listen to Hebrews 4:7. And I'll close with this and I'll ask the the uh team
50:42 to come forward to lead us in our final song. Hebrews 4:7 says, "He appoints a certain
50:50 day. Today, if you hear his voice, do not
50:56 harden your heart." Won't you come to Jesus today? If you're
51:02 living in the power of your own will, of your flesh, if you're living in that old
51:07 man, that old nature as a Christian who constantly sacrifices himself to pursue
51:15 the lusts of the flesh, God wants to give you a heart that is soft and
51:23 submissive to him. And he can do that today. The Bible says that just as we
51:29 receive Christ Jesus, so we should walk in him. And we receive him by a
51:35 submissive acknowledgment of who he is and what he's done. God wants to do that
51:42 for you today. So, as we begin our uh last song,
51:49 I'm going to ask uh some of the ministers to come forward. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads
51:56 and while they're singing, I'm going to say a brief prayer. But I want you to keep your heads bowed, your eyes closed.
52:02 Don't look around. This is an intimate moment between you and God. Every head
52:08 bowed, every eye closed, please. And I want to ask you,
52:15 if God has spoken to you today, I want you to just simply raise your
52:20 hand and lower it right back down. I know this is probably not a a common thing in an Asian setting,
52:28 but if God spoke to you, do not harden your heart. Listen to him. Obey him.
52:36 What is he asking you to do? Is there anyone here that'd say,
52:41 "Brother Jeff, I think I've heard from God today. My heart is stirred. There
52:48 seems to be a quickening. My emotions are engaged. My my brain is
52:54 engaged. God is speaking to me and he's telling me something. He wants a change
53:00 in my life. He wants to give me salvation. Or in the case of a believer,
53:06 he may want you to renew your commitment to walk with him in dedication, in
53:12 holiness, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anyone here? Simply raise your hand. Yes, I see that one. and any
53:20 others just quickly raise your hand and lower it back down. Several hands, four or five hands going up.
53:29 That's the first step of obedience to God. To just acknowledge, just to be honest with God, not to put on any
53:36 pretense, not to hide behind your shyness or your reluctance to be
53:43 exposed, but just obedient to God. Is there anyone else? Our
53:51 group is going to sing. While they're singing, I want to ask you to just think about the message today.
53:58 What God has said to you. The word of God is powerful. It's quick
54:05 and it's sharp. And it cuts a man. And perhaps today you
54:11 feel like, you know, your heart has been cut. It's been touched. Is there anyone else that
54:18 would join this group to say, "Yes, I see your hand." Anyone else that would say, "Brother Jeff, pray for me.
54:25 Pray for me that God would speak to me." Thank you. I see your hand, brother.
54:31 Lord Jesus, I just come to you now. Lord, I ask you to mix faith with what
54:37 you've heard or what these people have heard. I ask you to give them the faith
54:43 and the confidence to take a step for Jesus.
54:48 And so I'm going to ask some of our brothers and sisters here, ministers, leaders of the church. I just need maybe
54:55 two ladies, two men that'll come and be available for prayer with anyone that should come forward. I want to ask you
55:03 if you raised your hand today and you've renewed a commitment to God or you've made a commitment to God, I want to ask
55:10 you to come forward and our brothers and sisters here will pray with you. Brother Desmond, would you mind
55:17 Julia? Anyone here you raised your hand and you said I'd like to come forward today pray
55:25 with a brother or [Music]
