Do Not Remain In Darkness!

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

We've made it to the end of John chapter 12, not to the end of our sermon series,

John 12 · chapter mention

but the end of the first half of John's Gospel.

So when you found it there in your Bibles, our text this morning is John 12, 36 through 50.

If you would stand and follow along as I read the Word of God.

You know, every week I ask you to have your Bibles open.

And this week especially, I mean, we're going to be jumping around several places.

So please, John 12, 36 through 50, let's stand in reverence of the Word of God.

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him.

So that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.

Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Therefore, they could not believe.

For again, Isaiah said, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart.

Lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him.

But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the synagogue.

For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

And Jesus cried out and said,

Whoever believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me.

And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him.

For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge.

The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

For I have not spoken on my own authority,

But the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment.

What to say and what to speak.

And I know that his commandment is eternal life.

What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.

This is God's word.

A lamp for our feet and a light for our path.

If you would be seated, let's pray once more.

Father,

Father,

We ask now as I stand here to preach your word.

Would you work through me, a weak servant,

To do infinite good for this people.

I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I wonder if that was a new song for you.

God moves in a mysterious way.

I listen for the ways that y'all sing.

And you actually do pretty good singing new songs.

And so sometimes it's hard for me to tell.

I could tell this morning.

That was a new one for you.

I love the lyrics that we just sang.

God moves in a mysterious way.

His wonders to perform.

He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.

Blind unbelief is sure to err.

And scan his work in vain.

God is his own interpreter.

And he will make it plain.

Church, our passage this morning is difficult.

This is, there's no way around it.

This is a hard text.

I'll confess to you this week as I studied and prepared this text.

We've preached maybe 30 something sermons in John so far.

This was the hardest text that I had to study.

Up to this point in the gospel of John.

We may not love everything that this passage says.

We may not understand everything that this passage has to say.

But we trust in God's way and God's time that God is his own interpreter.

And he will make it plain.

We've come to the end of the first half of John's gospel.

And here as John ends the first half, chapters 1 through 12, brings that first half to a close,

he zooms out of the narrative and he starts to provide a bit of commentary for us.

John's aim throughout the book, you remember, he's writing these things that we might believe

that Jesus is the Christ.

And by believing that we might have life in his name.

That's the point of the book.

All are invited to believe.

And yet John has shown us not all believe.

He told us all the way back in chapter 1, verses 11 and 12.

He, Jesus, came to his own people, the Jews, and his own people did not receive him.

This is shocking.

This unbelief, this rejection.

It demands an explanation.

But, verse 12, the glorious invitation of the gospel to all who did receive him, who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God.

All are invited to believe, yet not all believe.

So this morning, as we look at this passage together, I want to ask two questions about belief in Jesus.

This will be our outline this morning.

Two questions about belief in Jesus.

Question number one, why don't they believe?

Question number two, will you?

Question number one, why don't they believe?

Question number two, will you?

First, why don't they believe?

How do we explain unbelief?

Verses 36 through 43 are a condemnation of the unbelief of the Jewish people.

We saw last week, Jesus, he called them, he invited them,

while you have the light, believe in the light, that you, even you, may become sons of light.

Yet we know that by and large, the Jewish people rejected Jesus.

And so John says that when Jesus had said these things, he departed.

He hid himself from them.

This withdrawal from them is in itself judgment on their unbelief.

One of the major obstacles for the Jews in John's day, as well as in our day, to belief in Jesus,

is the question, well, why should we believe that Jesus is the Messiah

if all of the Jews, most of the Jews who saw him, who heard him, who were closest and nearest to Jesus, rejected him?

If they rejected him, why should we believe him?

Why did they not believe?

It's a good question.

And John answers that question in two ways.

And we're going to see them both here.

The one reason they don't believe is because in their sin, they have chosen willfully to reject the Messiah.

There is no excuse for this.

They are guilty for this decision.

The light of the world walked among them, but instead they rejected the light of the world and chose to live in darkness.

They have loved the darkness rather than the light because their works are evil.

That's what John told us, Jesus told us in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

That's reason number one.

They are willfully in their sin choosing to reject the light.

But he gives us a second reason here.

Reason number two, why they don't believe.

He says they don't believe because God has hardened their hearts.

So they could not believe, verse 39 tells us.

Now the first reason John gives, that's easier for us to understand, isn't it?

We grasp that a little bit better.

We have an easier time understanding reason number one.

But in explaining the unthinkable rejection of Jesus by his own people,

John gives us both explanations here.

They have willfully rejected the Messiah in their own sin.

And in God's infinite wisdom, this willful rejection was all part of his good, sovereign plan.

Now again, we've seen this throughout the Gospel of John.

This isn't new information for us.

But again, in this passage, we're coming right up against the tension, the biblical tension,

between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.

And you remember, we believe both.

The Bible teaches both.

Our responsibility as Christians is to submit ourselves to the truth of this Word,

not to reduce it to our level of understanding.

Some things in this Bible, some things in the Word of God,

what he reveals to us, remain a mystery.

Which means they're bigger and broader and more mysterious than our limited understanding can grasp.

Nevertheless, he teaches both.

And so we believe both.

Let's look at both of these reasons here.

Reason number one why the Jews didn't believe is because they willfully rejected the light.

And whatever the reason for their unbelief, the answer cannot be that they didn't have enough evidence.

John tells us in verse 37, he says,

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him.

Just recap what we've seen in the first 12 chapters of John's Gospel.

This should stun us.

Seven signs of his divinity.

Seven signs played out right there in the public eye before them.

Do you remember what they were?

He turned water into wine.

Cleansed the temple.

Healed the nobleman's son.

Healed the lame man.

Fed the 5,000.

Gave sight to the blind man.

Raised Lazarus up from the dead.

And all while declaring, speaking, saying openly, clearly,

I am the bread of life.

I am the light of the world.

I am the gate for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life.

The evidence is overwhelming.

Yet, they choose willingly to reject him.

This rejection, of course, is no surprise to God.

And it shouldn't be a surprise to us either.

If we're familiar with our Old Testament,

the rejection of the Jewish people to the Word and the power of God is nothing new.

John says in verse 38,

this rejection was, in fact, a fulfillment of prophecy.

So he helps us to understand this unbelief by quoting from two passages in Isaiah.

This is why I need your Bibles open, because we're going to be flipping there.

Keep your place in John chapter 12, but flip over to Isaiah chapter 53.

John 12 · chapter mention Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

And this is the first quotation he gives us.

You know this passage well.

It's the passage of the suffering servant.

Isaiah chapter 53, verse 1.

Isaiah 53:1

That's the first verse quoted there in John.

Again, I'm rambling, so you can get there.

I want your eyes on the page.

He says,

Isaiah was lamenting the fact that his message,

the message given him by God to be declared to the Jewish people,

was in Isaiah's day, by and large, rejected.

John quotes that passage, copies and pastes it into Jesus' day,

and says,

Nothing has changed.

The words of Christ are clear.

Whom has believed what he has heard?

And the signs, the arm of the Lord has been clear.

To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

And yet, you have rejected it.

700 years of history of the Jewish people,

and nothing has changed.

John says,

The Jewish people have been rejecting God's word and God's power for centuries.

This rejection of Jesus in John's day was preceded and prefigured

by another rejection in Isaiah's day.

This is nothing new.

Not only this, he goes a little further.

John says,

This specific rejection of the Messiah,

it's not only preceded,

it's prophesied by Isaiah 53.

This specific rejection of this specific individual,

Jesus Christ,

was prophesied 700 years before it happened.

Look there, Isaiah 53, verse 2.

Isaiah 53:2

He says,

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And as one from whom men hide their faces,

he was despised,

and we esteemed him not.

Now, we don't know exactly what Jesus looked like physically.

We don't know.

But Isaiah draws our attention to something significant here

that we should understand,

is that Jesus was not attractive.

You know, all of the images,

you know what I'm talking about.

The television shows,

any movie representation of Jesus,

they all normally,

there is an attractive man,

nice, clean, fair skin,

nice, straight, white teeth,

a beautiful smile,

long, luscious locks of hair,

perfectly kept beard,

muscles for days,

blue eyes,

soft, beautiful eyes.

We don't know exactly what Jesus looked like,

but Isaiah tells us,

clues us in,

that to the physical eye only,

he was nothing special.

He was not anything special to look at.

No form or majesty that we should look at him,

no beauty that we should desire him.

There was nothing impressive about Jesus

to the natural, physical eye.

Why does this matter?

Because when Jesus arrives on the scene 700 years later,

what happens?

The Jews look at him with natural,

physical eyes,

and they are utterly unimpressed.

What are they looking for?

They're looking for a Messiah with a capital M.

Someone tall and strong and capable,

a political leader,

a military leader,

someone with charisma,

who can gather the people and overthrow the Romans.

They're looking with physical eyes only,

and they're unimpressed by what they see.

Well, Jesus comes in on a donkey,

humble,

and lowly.

They see him with physical eyes only,

and so they reject him.

But John explains to us in verse 42

that the issue,

it even goes deeper than that.

It goes deeper than simple physical sight.

Their rejection of the Messiah ultimately

is because they love the glory of man

more than the glory of God.

Look there to verse 42.

John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

Flip back there for me.

John says,

some of the authorities believed in him,

but we should be skeptical

of the genuineness of this belief

because he goes on to say

that they wouldn't confess it

because they feared the Pharisees.

Why?

Verse 43.

Because they love the glory that comes from man

more than the glory that comes from God.

This is a scathing indictment,

and it's true of every non-believer on the planet.

This is the root of all unbelief.

It's love.

The unbelief is not primarily an intellectual issue.

Not mainly.

It's a heart issue.

You can put all the evidence you want

in front of an unbeliever.

Seven signs.

Resurrection from the dead.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

Yet if their eyes are spiritually blind

and their heart is spiritually dead,

they will not love the glory of God.

They will prefer the darkness

and love the glory of man.

They do as Romans 1 describes.

They exchange the truth about God

for a lie and worship and serve

created things rather than the Creator.

From the heart,

they worship and serve whatever it is

that they perceive to be beautiful.

All of us do.

All of us do.

You know, we often wonder

about our unbelieving friends and family.

We just wish.

We don't understand.

We think they've heard the Word.

They've seen the power of God at work.

Why won't they believe?

I think this tells us that

what they need is not necessarily

more evidence.

The only hope for a non-believer

is that God by His grace

would give them a new heart

that loves His glory more than their sin.

Answer number one.

Why don't they believe?

John says in the blindness of their sin

they don't see the beauty of Christ

and they love the darkness

rather than the light.

So they don't believe.

But John doesn't leave it there, does he?

He goes on.

He gives us a second reason

for their unbelief.

He says,

God has blinded their eyes

and hardened their hearts.

John 12 verse 39.

John 12:39

He says,

Therefore they could not believe.

Could not believe.

For again, Isaiah said,

He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart

lest they see with their eyes

and understand with their heart

and turn

and I would heal them.

The unbelief of these Jews,

it was not just prophesied by Isaiah.

John says it was purposed

in the wise plan of God.

Here in verse 40,

John gives us a second quotation from Isaiah.

This time from Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

If you flip back there with me

to Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

you ought to know this passage as well.

This is Isaiah's vision of the glory of God.

Do you remember what happened?

He sees the glory of the Lord

and what does he do?

He falls down on his knees

and he says,

Woe is me.

I am unclean.

I am sinful.

We are a people of unclean lips.

We need atonement.

We need forgiveness.

And this vision of the glory of the Lord,

it changes his life.

He volunteers.

He says,

Here am I, Lord.

Send me out.

I want to go tell everyone.

Let me be your messenger.

Send me out to your people.

I want to tell them about your glory.

And so he's sent.

But the Lord tells him in Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

he says,

Go and say to this people,

what does he say?

Keep on hearing,

but do not understand.

Keep on seeing,

but do not perceive.

Make the heart of this people dull

and their eyes heavy

and blind their eyes,

lest they see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts

and turn and be healed.

Isaiah is sent to proclaim a message

of sin and judgment for sin

and glory.

And God says,

Be prepared because this message,

as you preach it,

will not be received.

In fact,

the message itself

will harden and blind those who hear it.

What was the message?

Flip back to John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

and make the connection with me.

What was the message that Isaiah preached?

Look at John 12 verse 41.

John 12:41

What does it say?

Isaiah said these things

because he saw his glory

and spoke of him.

Whose glory?

Whose glory is John pointing us to

here in this passage?

John, I believe,

is telling us that

Isaiah saw the glory

of the Son of God.

It was Jesus' glory

that Isaiah beheld.

Isaiah beheld the glory

of the Son of God.

He preached of the glory

of the Son of God.

He preached a message

of the glory of the Messiah.

That's who he saw.

That's who he proclaimed.

He proclaimed a glory

of a man of sorrows

acquainted with grief.

Not the Messiah they wanted.

Not the Messiah they thought was coming.

Not the strong-armed military leader

conquering king.

A message of a Messiah

who will come and suffer

for the sins of his people

because their sin has earned judgment.

God knowingly,

purposefully sent

an unimpressive,

undesirable,

even an offensive Messiah.

The one who didn't play

by the Jewish customs,

didn't come from the Jewish schools,

didn't look like what they thought

the Messiah would look like.

He did so purposefully,

sovereignly,

knowing that apart

from a gracious change of heart,

this Christ would be rejected.

Therefore, John says,

they could not believe.

But this rejection

was purposeful

in the mind of God.

But we need to ask,

why would God do this?

Why would God

work out His plan of redemption

in this way?

And here again,

to be perfectly honest with you,

I don't completely know the answer.

This is a mystery.

Paul calls the gospel a mystery.

Who can know the mind of God?

God moves in mysterious ways.

But I do have a few thoughts.

As I was studying this passage,

I flipped through a few commentaries,

especially in difficult passages like this.

I love to read people

who are smarter than me,

which gives me a lot of material

to sift through.

And I found one this week

from D.A. Carson,

who I love.

I love D.A. Carson.

He listed out four considerations.

Four considerations.

If it's okay with you,

I'm going to summarize his points

because he writes

like he's smarter than me.

So four considerations.

Consideration number one.

God's sovereignty

is never contrary

to human responsibility.

God's sovereignty

is never contrary

to human responsibility.

I hope we've seen this.

And yes, again,

this is beyond our comprehension.

Our minds can't reconcile

this completely,

but the Bible holds both together

and so should we.

No one is sent to hell

in innocence

or against their will.

We, in our natural state,

apart from the grace of God,

our default mode

is to love the darkness

and hate the glory of God.

All of us are guilty.

Consideration number two.

God's hardening of sinners

is giving them

exactly what they want.

God's hardening of sinners

is giving them

exactly what they want.

A willful rejection of God,

it brings about His judgment

and is, at the same time,

it is His judgment.

Unbelief not only earns

the judgment of God,

but persistent unbelief

is the judgment of God.

Often, the way that God judges

a sinner's love of darkness

is by saying,

you can have exactly what you want.

Jesus, the light of the world,

hides Himself.

Consideration number three.

God's sovereignty and salvation

is the only hope we have.

God's sovereignty over salvation

is the only hope we have.

If God is not in complete control,

why do we pray

and ask Him to save the lost?

God's sovereignty and salvation

combined with His heart of mercy,

combined with His inclination

towards grace,

combined with His desire

to save sinners

seen supremely at the cross of Christ,

His reason for hope

and confidence

and prayer

and faithfulness in evangelism.

It's the only hope that we have

that any sinner might be saved.

Consideration number four.

God has a plan for good.

The mystery of the gospel,

the plan from before the ages began,

was for the Son of God

to enter into His own creation,

to live perfectly

in the place of sinners,

to die in the place of sinners

and to rise from the grave,

to offer eternal life to the world.

His rejection at the hands of the Jews

is in ways beyond our comprehension,

all part of the plan.

In God's wisdom,

as Paul argues in Romans,

through their trespass,

salvation has come to the Gentiles.

Through their trespass,

salvation has come to you

and to me.

The Great Commission,

that to go therefore

and make disciples of all nations,

is made possible in the wisdom of God

by the rejection of the Jewish Messiah.

As Paul says again in Romans 11,

a partial hardening has come upon Israel

until the fullness of the Gentiles

has come in

and in this way,

all Israel will be saved.

There are a hundred sermons to preach

from that verse,

but just know this.

God is not sitting on His hands

hoping that His plan of salvation

just works out on its own.

God is working it out

and it will not fail.

And the wisdom of God,

the rejection of Israel,

opens up the invitation

for all the world

to hear and believe

the message of the gospel

and receive eternal life.

Which brings us

to question number two.

Will you believe it?

Will you believe it?

Verse 44,

as you're reading this passage,

it just sort of comes out of nowhere,

doesn't it?

It seems sudden.

It seems abrupt.

We don't know where Jesus went.

We don't know where He's hidden Himself.

We don't know who He's speaking to here.

But I think that that is part of the point.

John's wrapping up this section

of this gospel

and Jesus is calling out

to anyone who would hear.

He's speaking to you this morning.

He says,

whoever believes in Me,

believes not in Me,

but in Him who sent Me.

Whoever sees Me,

sees Him who sent Me.

I have come into this world as light

so that whoever believes in Me

may not remain in darkness.

This is a free and broad

and gracious and wide invitation

to anyone who would hear

that you are welcome

to come to Christ.

You are invited

to have your sins forgiven,

to be washed clean,

to be made right with God,

to be made new

and to receive eternal life.

See, from God's perspective,

He alone knows who will be saved

because He alone

is the one who works salvation.

It's His work.

We don't have that perspective.

From our perspective,

we don't share God's sovereign knowledge

of all things.

We don't know who will be saved

and who will reject the Gospel.

So what do we do?

We do as Christ does

in these verses.

We call sinners to faith in Christ.

We go to the ends of the earth

and we scatter the seed of the Gospel

broadly, freely,

with confidence

that rejection does not stop

the plan of God.

Some seed will fall on rocky soil.

Some seed will grow up among the thorns.

But we praise God

that some seed will bear fruit.

So we go.

Now our privilege

in light of the sovereignty of God

is to proclaim the message of Jesus

as freely

and as broadly

and as openly

as we possibly can,

trusting that even through weak vessels

like us,

God will work salvation.

Him we proclaim.

Warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we might present

everyone mature in Christ.

For all who call upon the name of the Lord

will be saved.

This is our message, church.

Will you believe it?

And will you call upon His name

and be saved?

The late Scottish pastor, John Murray,

He says it much better than I can.

Listen to this.

Imagine it with a Scottish accent.

He says,

It is by the sovereign grace

that He is so freely offered.

Sovereign grace

is not then incompatible

with the free offer of the gospel.

It is rather sovereign grace

that makes the gospel free.

The fount of grace freely offered

is grace sovereignly devised and framed.

And not only is sovereign grace

the fount,

but sovereign grace

is also the stream on the bosom

of which Christ is born

to the very door

of our responsibility

and opportunity.

To change the figure,

but a little,

it is upon the crest

of the wave

of the sovereignty of God

that the free

and full overtures

of Christ in the gospel

break upon the shores

of lost humanity.

Isn't that beautiful?

We want everyone

to listen and consider

and believe what Jesus says

about Himself here

in verses 44 through 50.

Look there with me.

What does He say?

He says,

To believe in Jesus

is to believe in God.

You cannot have one

without the other.

Whoever believes in Me

believes not in Me,

but in Him who sent Me.

Jesus Christ was sent by God

to be the revelation

of God in the world.

The living Word of God

made flesh.

Jesus says,

I and the Father are one.

I am the way,

the truth,

the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through Me.

Will you believe this?

He says,

To see Jesus

is to see God.

Whoever sees Me

sees Him who sent Me.

We'll see you in a few weeks,

Lord willing.

As we get to John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

Philip asks Him,

Lord,

just show us the Father

and it's enough for us.

You remember this conversation?

And how did Jesus respond?

Have I been with you so long

and yet you still don't know Me,

Philip?

Whoever has seen Me

has seen the Father.

Will you believe this?

Will you look to Jesus

not just as a man,

not just as a prophet,

not just as a moral example,

but look to Him

as the very Son of God

Himself in the flesh?

Would you plead

with your non-believing friends?

Will you see Jesus

for who He is?

He says,

To believe in Jesus

is to be in the light

and to reject Him

is to remain in darkness.

The call of the Gospel is this.

Would you come out

of your sinful darkness?

Would you turn from your sin?

Would you not remain in darkness?

Would you leave it behind?

Would you love the glory of God

more than the glory of man?

Would you love the light

more than the darkness?

He can do it.

He can change your heart

so you love what's eternally good

and turn from what's eternally foolish.

Would you come to the light?

We call them to believe

and to come to Christ.

And we call them with urgency

because he says

to reject Jesus

is to reject God.

If anyone hears my words

and does not keep them,

I do not judge them

for I did not come

to judge the world

but to save the world.

The one who rejects me

and does not receive my words

has a judge.

The word that I have spoken

will judge him

on the last day.

For I have not spoken

on my own authority

but the Father who sent me

has Himself given me

a commandment

what to say

and what to speak.

You cannot love God

and reject Jesus.

Despite what our

Jehovah's Witness friends say

when they come knocking

on the door,

you cannot say you know God

and yet deny that Jesus

is who He says He is.

If you reject Jesus,

you reject God.

And Jesus says

if you leave here

rejecting my words,

I'm not here to judge you

just yet

but when I return,

these very words

that you have rejected

will be the grounds

of your judgment

on the last day.

To reject Jesus

is to reject God

but

He says

to receive Jesus

is to receive

eternal life.

Look there to verse 50.

He says,

I know,

He says in verse 50

that His commandment

is eternal life.

Will you believe this?

The invitation of the gospel

is free and available

for any sinner

who hears and heeds

the call of Christ

to come to me

all who are weary

and heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

Will you believe this?

Church,

Church,

I love

this difficult passage

because it helps us

to see that God's

sovereignty

and salvation

and the free offer

of the gospel

go hand in hand.

They are friends.

And we may not fully grasp

the mystery

of how these truths

work together

but please don't make

the mistake

of reducing God's mystery

to our level

of understanding.

God is sovereign.

We are responsible.

And the offer

of the gospel

is freely made

to any sinner

who would hear.

You may have heard

of William Carey.

He's known as

the father of modern missions.

Do you know that name?

He came to a gathering

of other Baptist pastors

and he said,

brothers,

if we founded

a missionary society

and we worked together,

if we pulled our funds together

and put our minds together,

we could reach

the ends of the earth

with the gospel.

We could establish

the Baptist missionary society

and we could reach

the ends of the world.

And the chairman

of the council replied,

he said,

son,

sit down.

When God is pleased

to convert the heathen,

he will do it

without your help

or mine.

Thankfully,

William Carey

had a much more accurate

theology of God's sovereignty

and the mission of evangelism

than the chairman.

He went to the nations

with confidence

in a sovereign God

with a zeal

to share the gospel

with the lost.

Listen to what he wrote

in 1805

as we close.

He said,

we are firmly persuaded

that Paul might plant

in Apollos water

in vain

in any part of the world

did not God

give the increase.

We are sure

that only those

ordained to eternal life

will believe

and that God alone

can add to the church

such as shall be saved.

Nevertheless,

we cannot but observe

with admiration

that Paul,

the great champion

for the glorious doctrine

of free and sovereign grace,

was the most conspicuous

for his personal zeal

in the word

of persuading men

to be reconciled

to God.

In this respect,

he is a noble example

for our imitation.

Let's pray.

God,

we praise you

for your wisdom.

We praise you

for your power,

for your sovereignty

that while we

don't necessarily

understand

how you work,

Lord,

the mystery of salvation,

we trust

and we know

that you are good

and you are sovereign

working all things out

according to the counsel

of your will.

And we pray,

Lord,

if there are any here

who are rejecting

the message

of the gospel

and living in unbelief,

we pray

that you would

even now

turn their hearts

to love

the glory of God.

We pray

for our non-believing

friends and family

and neighbors,

those in our community

who don't know you

to the ends of the earth.

We pray,

God,

by your grace,

would you save them,

turn them to Christ,

we ask,

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.