Snakes and Salvation

I suppose one of the responsibilities that rests on me, and I am a preacher by God's appointment,

! One of the responsibilities that rests on me is to make clear what preaching is.

! And so before we actually look at the passage, what I want you to turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 2.

I am going to, by the enabling of the Spirit I trust in your prayer and my prayer, and relying upon the Word of God,

I'm going to preach the Word, but I do want you to know what preaching is. I want you to remember that.

1 Corinthians 2, let me read the passage. It says,

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

Now the next part. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom,

but in demonstration of the Spirit and in power.

Now listen carefully.

I cannot guarantee that today I can preach with the power of the Spirit.

Do you understand that? He chooses to do as he sees fit.

But it is my prayer.

I trust it's your prayer.

And we are desperately dependent upon the enabling of the Spirit of God in preaching the Word.

And you have a responsibility to engage in that task.

Amen?

With prayer.

Amen.

John chapter 3, verse 9 through 15.

John 3:9–15

You who know me know that I'm given to hyperbole.

That means exaggeration a little bit when it comes to the matter of preaching.

And I have to tell you that there are many Sundays or there are many weeks in the process of studying

that I will at one point or another say to the rest of the staff,

Man, this is a phenomenal text.

This is excellent.

And there are just times where my heart, when I'm bubbling in the office,

it's like I cannot, I'm an emotional person, just, you know, don't know me.

I am.

That's the way I am.

Hardwired.

And it just kind of comes out of me and it's like,

Oh, man, that's good.

And then I've got to wait until Sunday.

I mean, it's hard.

But I've got to tell you, this is one of the best passages.

It really is.

And this morning, what we are going to see in our study in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

beginning there in verse 9,

is the man who had come to Jesus kind of trying to understand.

He had a spiritual emptiness.

And so Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and he said,

Hey, talk to me about the kingdom.

And Jesus really cuts to the chase and nails him, right?

And then Jesus, as we will find in this passage, opens up

and he answers the simple question,

So how does a person get saved?

How does a person get saved?

And I have to tell you, there are some of you sitting here today

that are not saved.

There are some of you that are sitting here today.

I don't know where you are spiritually.

And some of you may have made a variety of different professions.

You said certain prayers or whatever.

But really, there is no evidence of a life's transforming power

that is a mark of the work of God.

And without question, one of the ambitions of a pastor's heart

is to bring the gospel with clarity and simplicity

and to do so with the enabling of the Spirit of God

so that people who are struggling in the dark hopelessness of their sin

would be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we look at John 3, verse 9,

John 3:9

let me begin by tracking the passage with you there in verse 9.

Nicodemus said to him,

How can these things be?

And Jesus answered him,

Are you the teacher of Israel?

And yet you do not understand these things?

Truly, truly, I say to you,

we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen,

but you do not receive our testimony.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe,

how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ever ascended into heaven

except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Will you join me in prayer?

Father God, it is our privilege this morning to gather freely

and to gather with just an unbelievable comfort

in the practical, physical issues.

But more importantly, we gather because of the work of your grace.

You're the one who in so many of our lives,

first of all, gave us that deep abiding sense of guilt and shame

and led us by conviction to the foot of the cross

where looking up we saw the Lord Jesus who had died in our place

and we understood that we, justly condemned,

had no hope except in him.

And you in your infinite mercy and love

were willing to sacrifice your own Son

to be the full payment for our sins.

And we believed and have everlasting life.

And you have taken us from being idolaters and pagans

to being worshipers of the one true God.

And as we study the Scriptures this morning,

we want our hearts to be filled,

to be joyful, to be encouraged.

And we pray, Lord, that those that are here today

that do not know Christ will be drawn by your grace

to know complete forgiveness for all of their sins

because of what Christ has done

and to trust him as their Lord and Savior.

And we're dependent upon you to do a great work today

in the preaching of your Word.

And it's application in the life of people.

And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Well, as we move our way through this text,

let me kind of break it down

and explain that the first part

is actually going to be some background,

and there's a reason for that.

I think it's always important for us

when we are studying Scripture

to take the time to get the frame

around which the lesson sits.

And if this is a superbly,

supremely important lesson,

and it is,

it's always very important to take some time

to get our hands around,

okay, where is the passage set?

And so, as we look this morning,

we're going to look, first of all,

at the fact that salvation

is the supernatural work of God.

And that is actually what chapter 3,

verse 1 through 8 is all about.

You'll remember that in John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

or John chapter 3, verse 1 through 3,

John 3:1–3

we have the account of Nicodemus

coming to Jesus by night,

and he comes with some spiritual concern.

Evidently, there was a prompting of the Spirit

to recognize a vacancy, an emptiness,

and there was nothing that he could really fill it with.

He was a supremely accomplished leader of the Jews.

He was a man who understood

the Old Testament completely,

and yet, despite all this,

he had it all together on the outside.

Inside, there was an emptiness.

And so, we find here that he comes,

and one of the things that we understand

is that he makes it clear

that the religion of self-help

will really never offer lasting spiritual comfort.

And that's what Nicodemus does

at the very beginning.

He comes, and he says,

hey, listen, let me ask you about the kingdom.

And despite the fact that he was on the Sanhedrin,

he was a Pharisee,

he was the top teacher,

or one of them anyway,

here he comes to Jesus,

and he says, listen,

I need to understand a little bit more.

And we read in verse 3

that true conversion

is more than improved behavior.

Hey, we've all decided on one occasion or another

that we need to do something

to clean up the mess.

Haven't we?

We've all looked at the ugliness

of what's going on in our life,

and we may on occasion

kind of excuse the fact

that we're not as bad

as some of the other people we know,

but the truth of the matter is

is that in the quiet inner part of our heart,

we know we're not where we need to be,

and so, all right,

I need to make some improvement,

go buy a couple self-help books,

and off I go.

Well, I want you to understand

that what Jesus makes clear here

is that true conversion

is a complete restart or a new birth.

It's the supernatural work of God alone.

And here was Nicodemus coming to Jesus,

and he said, hey,

why don't we talk a little bit about the kingdom?

And Jesus says, hey,

let's cut to the chase.

You can't get there from here.

You need to be reborn.

And in saying that,

he was talking to a person

who had reached the very pinnacle

of religious excellence.

He was top shelf.

And yet for all of that,

when he comes to Jesus

with this inner emptiness,

Jesus says,

you have to start all over again

because you can't make it by yourself.

And that brings us to another truth

in relationship to salvation

that we see in verse 7 and 8.

And I want you to mark what it says there.

It says,

do not marvel that I say to you,

you must be born again.

The wind blows

where it wishes

and you hear it sound.

You do not know

where it comes from

or where it goes.

So,

it is with everyone

that's born of the Spirit.

Now, here's the point

that Jesus is making.

He's saying,

you don't understand

all the ramifications

and dynamics

of the way

in which the wind functions.

How many of you here

are meteorologists?

Anybody here

a meteorologist?

I remember

a number of years ago

there was a young man

that was going to OSU

to be a meteorologist

and we always just tease him

of the fact

that someday

he was going to be on TV.

I don't see him there.

Chris, where are you?

You do this for a living, right?

Not on TV,

but Chris is a meteorologist

for AEP.

And here's how that plays out.

Chris has to predict

what the weather is

ahead of time

so that AEP knows

whether or not

they need to buy extra power.

And if he messes up,

it's not just an oh-so

it's okay.

If he messes up,

AEP ends up

with not enough electricity

for you to stay cool

or not enough gas

for you to stay warm.

And when that happens,

Chris is in trouble.

You got that?

Well, Jesus is talking

about meteorology here.

He says,

you know,

you don't understand

all about the wind

and all how it happens

and blah, blah, blah.

But you do at least

see the evidence

that the wind is there.

And he says,

let me help you

understand something.

There are some parts

of spiritual conversion

that you just,

you'll never get.

But you can see

the evidence, right?

You don't understand,

how did it happen?

I mean,

how many of you

figured out

why God chose you?

Anybody have that one down?

No.

But when Christ

in his grace

has called you

to the cross,

one of the undeniable

things that changes

is that you are

not the same person

that you used to be.

Right?

And Jesus there

in seven and eight

is making this point.

True salvation

brings true change

that can be seen,

can be evidenced.

Now,

I want you to understand

that not all

the evidence

of grace

is manifested

in a moment.

But just as

Jesus' miraculous

healings

did leave

undeniable evidence

of the fact

that something

supernatural

had happened,

so you can be

certain of this,

genuine conversion

brings change

that can be noticed.

I can remember

on more than one occasion

praying for my grandchildren

and saying,

they need to be saved.

Do you know

what I was saying?

Does anybody have

an idea?

They needed

a little bit of help

besides just

parental encouragement.

Parents can deal

with the outside.

How many of you

understand that?

But at the end

of the day,

one of the greatest

allies in bringing

about genuine

change in a child's

life is not

good parenting,

good parenting

is important,

but the work

of the Holy Spirit.

Would you agree?

And so it's reasonable

for a grandparent

to pray,

oh,

they need

to be saved.

I want you

to understand

that this is important.

Jesus,

here in this passage,

is pointing out

that genuine conversion

brings undeniable evidence

of something being

different in our life.

So,

let me say this.

If you're here

this morning

as a professing believer

and you cannot

see any of the evidence

of the power

of the cross

playing out

in your life,

it would not

be wrong

for you to go back

and revisit

the question

of the authenticity

of your conversion.

Do you follow that?

I'm not all

that I

will be,

but because

of Christ,

I am not

who I used

to be.

And one of the

blessings that I

can track

in my life,

now 66,

is kind of look

at the fact

that even there

have been undulations.

How many of you

wouldn't know

what I mean

by undulations?

There have been

ups and downs.

But I can tell you,

I'm moving uphill

and that's the work

of God.

And Jesus says,

you know,

you don't understand

the wind,

but you do

see the evidence.

You don't understand

all about salvation,

but you can track

the evidence.

Well,

that brings us

to the question

that Nicodemus

asks

in verse 9.

How?

How?

How?

How can this

happen?

And what we find,

Jesus say,

second,

is very,

very important

because he's going

to come to the

answer later.

But the first thing

he wants us

to understand

is the authority

on which he gives

us the insight.

Salvation

salvation

is supernaturally

revealed.

Salvation

is supernaturally

revealed.

Look there.

Nicodemus

asked the question,

how can

these things

be?

Jesus answered

him,

are you

the,

the,

the,

the,

the,

the,

the,

the,

the,

come on,

help me out

here,

are you a teacher?

We got plenty

of them.

Are you

the teacher?

What's that?

You're the top

of the food chain.

Okay?

And Jesus

says to Nicodemus,

are you

the

teacher

of Israel?

This guy

was way up

there.

And here was a guy,

and by the way,

you know,

we were talking

with Pastor Andrew

about ordination.

He's not here

to defend himself

this morning,

so you can tell him

I said this,

but eventually,

Lord willing,

we will go about

having an ordination

council here,

and I can tell you

that the review

and the preparation

for his ordination

will be worse

than what he will

go through

when he's examined

by other pastors

because the inside

work is going to be

heavy lifting

for our young man,

right?

Okay?

But in the old days,

ordination councils

were just,

I mean,

here's what they would do.

They would say,

well,

you know what?

We would like you

to recite

Psalm 109.

The guy was expected

to be able

to do that cold turkey.

The expectations

and ordination

were phenomenal,

but that even paled

in relationship

to what a teacher

in Israel

was expected

to know

about the Old Testament.

Rumor has it

that,

and by the way,

they didn't want

to mess with

the scrolls,

but rumor has it

that if a rabbi

took a pin,

remember scrolls?

They were sheepskins.

They were kind of

sewed together

and they were

on these big rolls,

right?

And they would

take a little needle

and they would

kind of bore through

about four pages

and then they would

say to the rabbi,

what letter

of the Hebrew alphabet

is this pin

resting on?

They had to know

it pretty well.

You get that?

And so here

is Jesus,

and this is kind

of a backhanded slap.

Do you follow me?

Pow!

Are you the teacher

of Israel

and yet

you do not

understand these things?

Now,

verse 11,

truly,

truly,

pay attention.

When you see

a truly,

truly,

or if you're

in the King James,

it's verily,

verily,

do you know

what that is?

That's a little bit

like the teacher

who grabs

the chalk

and says,

this will be

on the test.

It's pay attention time.

Jesus says,

I say to you,

we speak of what

we know

and bear witness

of what we have seen,

but you do not

receive our testimony.

Now,

let's go back

and let's pay

a little attention

because it helps

to pay attention.

Earlier in John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

Jesus in verse 3

says,

truly,

truly,

I say to you,

and then in verse 5,

truly,

truly,

I say to you,

and we find

that he is speaking

in the first person.

Now,

he goes to the plural,

we.

Who's the we?

There are times

when my wife

will say,

we need to pick that up

and I say,

we do?

I go ahead

and pick it up,

but I want you

to understand

that sometimes

the other side of me

says,

do you have a mouse

in your pocket?

You know,

it's like,

where's the we?

When Jesus says,

we,

he is not just using

the divine plural,

he is speaking clearly

and accurately

for our sake.

Where's the we?

In the Old Testament,

in order to have

a matter verified,

you had to have

more than what?

One witness.

We meets the requirement.

Who are the witnesses?

As you look at this passage,

here is the Old Testament

scholar saying,

how does a man get saved?

And Jesus says,

what's the problem

with you,

Bubba?

Don't you understand

that there are ample

witnesses to this issue

of salvation?

Well,

let's deal with the facts.

The we

is the two-fold testimony

on salvation.

First of all,

the Bible reveals the truth.

And we know this

because of what we find

there in verse 10 and 11.

Here was a teacher

of the Old Testament,

particularly one who was

atop of the heap,

and Jesus says,

you ought to have got

this by now.

Now,

I want you to understand

that earlier

in John 3,

you'll remember in verse 6,

and let's go back

just for a moment

to verse 6,

when Jesus says this,

that which is born

of the flesh

is flesh,

and that which is born

of the Spirit

is Spirit.

You remember also

that he said,

that which is born

of water

and of the Spirit.

And when he makes

that statement,

Jesus,

speaking to the

Old Testament scholar,

was making a recitation,

or he was relying

upon Ezekiel chapter 36.

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

And he expected

Nicodemus

to understand

that reference.

So now here he says,

hey, listen,

we,

for one,

the Old Testament

speaks of salvation

through faith alone.

But there's a second testimony

that has to be accepted

or understood

or at least heard,

and that is that

the Son of Man

or Son of God

reveals the truth.

What we have next

in verse 13

is here is Jesus

pointing out

that he,

in his divine nature,

is allowed to speak

with authority

about what heaven is.

Verse 13,

No one has ascended

into heaven

except he who descended

from heaven,

and who does he say

that is?

The Son of Man.

He's talking about himself.

He says,

I'm the one.

We got the Old Testament

who's telling you

the truth about salvation,

but there is another person,

and it's me

and who I am.

I'm the Son of Man,

Son of God,

and I have authority

to speak about heaven

because I came down

from there.

A little side shot.

How many of you,

well,

I don't want to have you

raise your hands,

so let's just kind of

stay with it this way.

Any of you heard

of Don Piper?

Not John Piper,

Don Piper.

Don Piper wrote

a very popular,

it was a bestseller

for a little while.

You can find it

on the used discounts,

and you know,

it's where those books

now go after they're done

making money.

And Don Piper,

had a bad accident,

and he had a dream

that he went to heaven,

and so, hey,

if you want to sell books,

have some kind

of catastrophic event,

and then say you came

back from the dead,

and people will buy

your book.

And then there's

a better one,

well, it's a newer one.

We have Todd Burpo.

Anybody heard Todd Burpo?

I mean, there's a movie,

Todd Burpo.

Heaven is for real.

I want to tell you

a little secret.

If you believe the Bible,

you can't believe Todd Burpo.

Let me say that again slowly

because I said it too fast.

If you believe the Bible,

you can't believe Todd Burpo's

explanation of what heaven is.

Why would I say that?

Well, take your finger.

I'm being a little testy here,

but bear with me, okay?

I want you to put your finger

on verse 13

and read that in the English

to yourself.

No one has ascended

into heaven

except he who descended

from heaven,

the Son of Man.

What does that tell you

about what Todd Burpo

wrote about?

Hello?

It's a great fantasy.

What I think heaven's like.

Would that sell books?

What do you think?

Nah.

But when you say,

I died,

I went there,

I see a big blue Holy Spirit

and I see blah, blah, blah.

I was like, yeah.

You know what?

You can stack them all together.

Jesus on this side says,

nobody else has been there.

I came down

and I'm going to tell you

the truth.

So you got your choice.

Just don't go buy

the extra books.

Stick with this one.

So here we are.

Jesus says,

I want you to understand

this is how

you understand

the issue of salvation.

You've got the word of God

and you've got me.

I want you to turn back

just for a moment

to John chapter 1,

John 1:18

verse 18.

John chapter 1,

John 1:18

verse 18,

it says,

no one has ever seen God.

There's another shot

for Don Piper

and Todd Burpo.

No one has ever seen God,

the only God

who is at the Father's side.

He has made him known.

In John's opening lesson,

what we find here

is that Jesus says,

you know,

I'm the light,

the truth,

and I'm the one,

I am the only one

who reveals the truth

of salvation

and eternity.

Christ is the only one

who has descended

from heaven

and so can speak

accurately.

And so I want you

to understand

as Jesus begins

to answer the question

that Nicodemus asked,

how do you get saved?

Nicodemus hears this response.

Well, number one,

you have to believe

what the Old Testament says

and number two,

you better believe

what I have to tell you.

So let's move forward

into what we understand now

in the remaining part

of the passage

where we find Jesus

to make it clear

that salvation

is something

that starts with sin

and looks to Jesus.

And so I want you

to look

at Numbers chapter 21,

Numbers 21:1–9

verse 1 through 9.

I saw a picture

on Facebook

of a friend of mine

who's a pastor.

He'd gone to

Answers in Genesis

and he and his grandchildren

were down there

and I guess they have

a pet boa constrictor

that is down there

for entertainment.

You know,

there were about

six or seven of them

holding this pet boa

and this large snake

was draped over

all their shoulders

and they were sitting

there grinning.

I do not grin

when I am in the proximity

of snakes.

Snakes and me

are like death.

One of us

is going to die.

Now you know

I grew up in India

and growing up in India

there was never

any question

when you saw a snake,

are you one of those

that causes death

or are you just

one of these little things

that goes around

eating eggs and bugs

and stuff like that?

When you saw a snake

you grabbed something long

and you kept on hitting it

until it was dead.

Snakes were hated.

Numbers chapter 21.

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

verse 21.

We kind of pick up here

after verse 3.

They had a little bit

of difficulty

in the journey

and in this particular case

it says from Mont Hor

verse 4

they set out

by the way of the Red Sea

to go around

the land of Edom

and the people

became impatient

on the way.

Hello?

How many would like

to get there already?

Okay.

I would.

And verse 5

when we get impatient

there is a tendency

to do verse 5.

And the people

spoke against God

and against Moses.

Now listen to what

they had to say.

Why have you brought us

out up out of Egypt

to die in the wilderness

and for there is no food

and no water

there is no food

and we loathe this food.

Now how can you put

those two together

logically?

Do you follow me?

We have no food

we have no water

and we hate the stuff

you're feeding us.

How many of you

understand the logic

that's kind of

not working?

Who?

Verse 6

So then the Lord

sent fiery serpents

among the people

and they bit the people

so that many people

of Israel died.

Now this was

a supernatural

snake rodeo.

Do you follow that?

I mean they came out

of all over the place.

Remember the quail

that came?

They were fussing

about not having meat

and God just brought

just a whole flock.

I mean it says

that they ate meat

until they kind of

got sick of it.

Some of them

died there too.

So here they are.

We have all

how many of you

just love snakes?

Put your hand down.

I hate snakes.

Do you hate snakes?

All the snake haters

stand up.

No forget it.

That's alright.

Okay listen.

I mean here they are

out of nowhere

snakes all over the place

and biting people

and people dying.

How many of you

remember the old

black and white movies

when a guy got bit

by a snake

and he took his knife

and he cut himself

and just sucked the blood out

and spit it over

to the side?

Doesn't work.

Does not work.

And before Hollywood

people just died.

You know it's like

just dead.

Snake bite.

Left and right.

And so the people

this is nice.

Verse 7

look at it.

The people came to Moses

and said

we have sinned.

Hello.

Have you ever

wondered

why God brings

some things

into some of our lives

that sometimes

to get our attention?

And this time

the people at least

did the math

and they figured out

that what was going on

was because of their sin

and they said

yeah yeah

we've done wrong.

We've sinned.

And he said

pray to the Lord

that he would take away

the serpents from us.

So Moses prayed

for the people

and the Lord said

to Moses

make a fiery serpent

and set it on a pole

everybody who is bitten

when he sees it

shall live.

I've got to speed forward

a little bit.

In this case

what happened

is that Moses

made a serpent

kind of a

facsimile

or whatever

of a snake

and put it up

on a pole

high

and then he went

through the camp

and he said

listen

if you've been bit

by a snake

look at this

and you won't die.

And those

who looked

lived.

now

let's

take that

picture

and go back

if you will

to John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

because it's important

for us to make

this connection.

Now listen

here is

Nicodemus

coming to Jesus

and he said

help me understand

you mean

I can't work

my way into heaven

by being a good Jew

and keeping the law

and you know

being a Pharisee

and being a teacher

and you know

I'm a pretty good person

at least I'm better

than the guy

across the street

you know

I'm alright

and he says

no no no

you can't do it

that way

well how

how

oh

do you remember

Nicodemus

the story

about the time

that God sent

serpents

into the camp

and a lot of them

were dying

and Moses

made a bronze

snake

and put it up

on a stick

remember that story

yeah yeah yeah

oh okay

we got that one

and then Jesus

says this

look there

as Moses

lifted up

the serpent

in the wilderness

so must

the son

of man

be lifted up

that whosoever

believes

on him

may have

eternal life

so what really

was happening

in the old

testament

when the Jew

looked at that

snake

on a stick

on a pole

some of you

are thinking

hot dog

on a stick

so that's why

he changed it

so you know

when you looked

at a snake

on a pole

what was happening

what was the

significance of that

I want you to

understand

first of all

there was an

admission of guilt

many many

people

had been bitten

by the snakes

all over the place

and Moses

said to them

if you are

willing to look

at that snake

up there on the

pole

you'll live

in essence

what looking at

the snake

represented

is saying

hey

I have sinned

and I deserve

death by snake

but amazingly

they also

understood

that there was

faith

in God's

promise

of undeserved

grace

now can you

understand

the simplicity

the absolute

almost

illogical

connection

between

getting bit

by a snake

which is very

real

and looking

at something

in the air

and being

saved

it seems

counterintuitive

doesn't it

so what do I

have to do

to be saved

I've been bit

by a snake

you got to do

something for me

and we do

understand

that the

Hollywood deal

of cutting

your skin

and spitting

out the blood

doesn't work

so what do I

do

you look

all you do

is look

I want you

to turn to

one other

passage

this morning

I love

this one

this is a

great one

Luke chapter

Luke 23:40

23

verse 40

and 43

Jesus is

hanging

on the

cross

he is

hanging

between

two thieves

do you

follow that

I want you

to look

in your

Bible

I want you

to put

your eyes

on this

Luke

put your

eyes

on this

passage

one of the

criminals

verse 39

this is one

of the

criminals

one of the

criminals

who were

hanged

railed

at him

saying

are you

not the

Christ

save

yourself

and us

but the

other

rebuked

him

saying

do you

not fear

God

since you

are under

the same

sentence

of condemnation

now listen

to verse 41

we indeed

justly

for we

are receiving

the due

reward

of our

deeds

do you

know what

he was

saying

we deserve

to be

on this

cross

because

what has

happened

to us

is justice

we're

receiving

the

right

and truthful

penalty

for our

rebellious

behavior

but not

Jesus

and then

he says

there in

verse 42

he says

Jesus

remember

me

when you

come into

your

kingdom

so

what

Jesus

is saying

over there

in John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

follows this

pattern

he says

listen

in order

to be

saved

in order

to have

the burden

and the

death

that is

certain

because of

your sin

in order

to have

the sting

of sin

removed

and to

have new

life

what you

have to

do

first of

all

is look

to see

the clear

justice

of God

executed

against

you

you

know

where

the

starting

point

of

salvation

is

it

is

having

the

humility

to

say

I

have

sinned

against

God

and I

deserve

eternal

death

there are

some of you

sitting here

this morning

that have

never been

willing

to say

that

I

have

sinned

against

God

and I

deserve

eternal

death

but that's

not the

end of

the

story

because

when

Jesus

says

what he

does

in

John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

he

points

out

that

those

who

would

look

to

him

lifted

up

and

would

believe

on

him

what

he

was

saying

is

this

is

that

those

who

come

to

me

admit

that

they

are

justly

judged

for

their

sin

but

then

are

willing

to

say

I

believe

Jesus

took

my

place

and

died

my

death

when

he

was

hanging

on

the

cross

he

wasn't

dying

for

his

sins

he

was

dying

for

yours

and

there

he

hung

a

willing

sacrifice

in

your

place

and

salvation

means

saying

first of

all

I

deserve

that

but

I

look

and

I

see

that

Jesus

has

already

satisfied

my

debt

and

he's

paid

my

price

and

I

accept

that

he

has

taken

my

place

and

I

call

him

to be

my

Lord

and

my

Savior

do you

know why

I love

this

passage

because

it is

so

clear

in

its

gospel

presentation

I

a

sinner

stand

justly

condemned

before

a

holy

God

for

the

arrogant

stubborn

hardness

of my

heart

against

the

righteousness

of a

holy

God

and

he

willingly

brought

his

son

down

from

heaven

and

put

him

on

the

cross

to be

the

perfect

sacrifice

for

my

sins

and

for

your

sins

but

that

sacrifice

is

not

applied

apart

from

a

humility

that

says

that's

what

I

deserve

but

I

believe

God

in

his

mercy

and

his

kindness

willingly

put

Jesus

in

my

place

and

Jesus

has

died

for

my

sins

and

I

believe

him

and

I

receive

him

as

my

Lord

and

Savior

can

I

tell

you

the

purpose

of

preaching

is

to

put

you

on

the

spot

of

saying

yes

or

no

to

God

does

that

make

sense

huh

I

mean

here's

the

truth

there

are

some

of

you

here

that

need

Christ

there

are

some

of

you

here

that

know

Christ

but

your

heart

has

grown

cold

to

the

beauty

and

the

simplicity

and

the

awesomeness

of the

gospel

he

wants

us

to do

something

about

that

I'm

going

to

leave

that

in

the

hands

of

the

Holy

Spirit

but

I

would

plead

with

you

this

morning

do

not

walk

out

of

here

and

say

no

when

the

spirit

of

the

living

God

is

prompting

your

heart

to

take

care

of

the

burden

you

have

let's

pray

father

God

this

morning

as we

study

the

scriptures

together

we

we

revel

we

glory

in

the

cross

that

you

would

willingly

send

your

son

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

to

die

in

our

place

to

die

our

death

to

bear

the

full

weight

of

our

wicked

rebellion

against

you

and

you

and

your

unbelievable

kindness