Why Darkness Doesn't Win

First, let me ask that you turn in your Bible to John chapter 1, and then I want you to join me in prayer.

John 1 · chapter mention

!

There is not a habit, a ritual, something that is scribed out as a preface, but it is the glad confession of your supremacy and your sufficiency,

and our absolute dependence upon you to work in making the word that you have given to us that is settled in the heavens clear and understandable and appreciated in the lives of your children.

So the declaration of the word is of the Lord, and the application and appreciation of the word is of the Lord, and we are dependent upon you today.

And we ask that you would be pleased to bless us with the work of the Holy Spirit, both in the preaching and the application of the word to our lives.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you, Aaron.

Now.

I called on Aaron earlier in the week.

I said, Aaron, would you mind doing a favor for me?

I think it has a place.

And he said, well, I've never played that before.

I said, you can handle it.

And I do appreciate Aaron doing that.

And there's a reason for it.

You know, when we hear those notes, what do we think?

We think that they are an introduction to the President of the United States coming out

because that is pretty much the fanfare that is played at any time when he is making a public appearance.

And it's kind of a signal that he is going to be out immediately.

We use similar signals that I don't know that they're always accepted,

but we do things like blinking the lights in the lobby.

You know why we do that?

Come on down.

You know, come in.

Okay.

Another thing we do, and I have been tempted to pipe music out into the lobby before we get started

because you're kind of cued that you're not going in until some music is happening

and then kind of drift in as you feel inclined.

And I thought, we'll play the music early and surprise you one time.

But here's what I know.

I'd only get away with it once.

And then what you would do is just kind of wait it out.

And so those kind of preparatory signals would not make much sense.

But the reason I had Aaron play this little line is I want you to understand clearly

that Jesus did not come into his public ministry unannounced and missed.

Now it's true, and we make much of it, and I think rightfully so,

that his birth was with relative anonymity.

He arrived in a little old town, and he ended up actually in a manger.

But I want you to understand that while his birth was that way,

his public ministry was not something that was characterized by stealth or secret.

And as we look at John 1, verse 6, and carry down to verse 13,

John 1:6

what I want you to understand.

Aaron, you can go sit with your honey.

She thinks you should be up there.

Hi, Megan.

I mean, you know, you're married, right?

Is he turning color just a little bit?

Okay.

Okay.

As we look at John 1, we look at verse 6 through 13.

I want you to understand that the God of this universe is not into secrets and surprises

and catching us unaware.

Everything he does, his justice, is something that is communicated clearly so that men are without excuse.

When ultimately they reject the sweetness of the gospel, they will never be able to say,

I didn't know.

I didn't hear.

And so this morning, as we look at this passage, we want to understand that Christ's coming was prophesied in the Old Testament.

It was announced by John the Baptist.

And yet, as we will see, John's ministry and the coming of the light, the Lord Jesus Christ, was largely rejected.

Does that mean that the darkness wins?

No.

Because as we are going to see later on towards the end of our lesson this morning,

what it says there in verse 12 and 13 is,

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.

I'm excited to be able to tell you that the darkness doesn't win, and that is a reminder of that reality.

Well, let's dive into the text and mark, first of all, John's great work.

We find it there in verses 6 through 8, and it says,

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

Now, the Bible makes it rather clear, if you read through any of the synoptic gospels,

that John was a rather unusual man.

For one, his dress and his diet was something that set him apart from the crowd.

But we find the thing that was most significant about him was not his dress and his diet,

but it really was the ministry that he had.

The scripture makes it very clear that he was Christ's forerunner,

or he was Christ's introducer or front man,

the one who came in front to make it very clear that someone important was coming.

I want you to understand that John's ministry was not something that he took upon himself simply as a career choice,

because it tells us there in verse 6,

there was a man sent.

The office and role that John engaged in was something that he received by divine appointment.

And I want you to understand that John was called by God to go before the Messiah

and to announce Christ's coming.

Just like if we heard that hail to the chief,

and we were in Washington, D.C., kind of sitting in a press club there,

waiting for the president to come out,

we would know that says, all right, all right, here he is.

John served in that capacity.

I want you to understand that in doing what John did,

he was fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.

And I want you to look at a couple different passages to fix that in your mind.

Go back, if you would, to Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

and then also in Luke chapter 3,

Luke 3 · chapter mention

and basically both of the passages are fairly similar.

But I draw attention to them so that you can see that this issue of John's ministry

was something that the Spirit of God considered to be very important

and wants us not to miss it.

John chapter 3, verse 1 through 3.

John 3:1–3

In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah,

when he said,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Prepare the way of the Lord.

Make his path straight.

And then over in Luke,

we find a very similar statement made by Luke.

Luke chapter 3, verse 2 through 5.

Luke 3:2–5

During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,

the word of God came to John,

the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan,

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

the voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Prepare the way of the Lord.

Make his path straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

I want you to understand,

if you were to read through the Gospels

and get an idea of John's ministry,

what you would recognize is this,

is that John came and made it undeniably clear

that he was not the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,

but he was the forerunner.

He was coming in advance and making the ministry of Jesus that was coming to be clear.

He called people to repentance,

and in calling people to repentance,

he made it quite clear that what they had been involved in,

in their behavior and practice,

and the religious culture that they were living,

it was not adequate.

The superficiality of their performance in their religious Jewish issues was not sufficient,

and it was a call,

it's time to repent and make things right in your heart.

I want you to thank me just for a moment about the message that John preached.

We find that John made it very, very clear that the Messiah's coming

was one that required things to be changed in the environment in which he was speaking.

Now, I want you to understand that when he makes this statement,

and look in your mind, just go back to the passage in Luke,

I'm going to reference it.

It says,

Make his path straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked become straight.

It is talking about an ancient practice that characterized

when a king would come to visit some little berg.

What would happen is that the king,

anticipating showing up at Columbus, so to speak,

would send out his advance man,

and his advance man would come into the community and say,

By the way, King so-and-so is going to arrive on August the 29th,

and he is going to come from Port Columbus,

and he's going to come down such and such a path,

and we want you to be ready when he comes.

I think about, over the years,

the number of times that, while I've been here,

we've had a president or one of the presidential hopefuls

show up here in Columbus,

and guess what happens when a president

or someone who is campaigning to become president

shows up in Columbus?

Guess what happens?

How many of you have been caught in the traffic before?

You know, you decide you're going from point A to point B,

and you find out that there are all these police officers

that are being paid double time or whatever else it is,

and they are blocking off the traffic,

and you want to go this way, and guess what?

No, you're going this way.

Well, in the old days,

in order to have things ready for the king,

what they had to do was take care of potholes.

They had to kind of straighten out the road,

you know, get everything right.

The king was going to go from point A to point B,

and it was going to be a smooth path.

It was going to have no bumps in it.

Everything was going to be just zip,

and so the village would all kind of come out

and fill in the potholes

and make everything just perfect.

By the way, if they didn't, guess what happened?

The king would be bumping along, you see.

And pretty soon, heads would roll.

That was the ancient world.

And so Isaiah says,

I want you to know that there will be a messenger

that is going to come in front of the Messiah,

and the Messiah is going to expect that things be in order.

I want you to understand that John 1.8

makes it very clear that John's coming

and John's life was all wrapped up in his ministry.

It says there in verse 7,

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light

that all might believe through him.

John's focus was in no way upon himself.

Every time John had an opportunity,

he made it clear that the hero of the story

was the Lord Jesus Christ who was coming.

He was the one who would be the Savior of the world,

and John's ministry was always pointing attention

to the coming Messiah.

In verse 8, it says,

He was not the light,

but came to bear witness about the light.

One of the undeniable truths about a faithful witness

is that the witness is not the hero of the story,

and John never allowed anybody

to attach any of the significance or glory

to what he was doing to himself.

Now, it's interesting to stop and think about this,

that John's ministry was atypical

from many of the prophets

that were used in a very dramatic and significant way.

I think about two in particular.

One would be Elijah,

and the other would be Moses.

In both cases,

along with their public ministry,

there were also some pretty dramatic what?

Miracles.

John was significant

only in his messianic preaching

and his call for repentance,

and it was so powerful

through the power of the Spirit of God

that he brought profound conviction.

Remember?

People coming out to be baptized,

people one after,

just droves of them coming out,

and so some of the religious leaders in Jerusalem

sent people down to say,

All right, John,

are you that prophet?

Are you the one who is the forerunner?

Are you coming to...

He says,

Hey, listen,

no, I'm not that prophet.

Talking about what Moses had predicted

about the coming of the Messiah.

He says,

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Make straight the way of the Lord.

All of John's life,

all that he was engaged in,

was wrapped up in pointing to Christ.

And I just wonder,

stop just for a minute

and think about your own life.

So how significant is the issue

of you making clear

the ministry and significance of Christ

for your heart and life?

How central is it?

I want you to stop and think for a moment.

Go, if you would,

to 2 Corinthians.

Let's cut over there for a second

and just mark what Paul has to say

about the ministry of believers.

He says that we are ambassadors for Christ.

There in verse 20,

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 20,

2 Corinthians 5:20

it says,

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ.

God making his appeal through us,

we implore you.

Now listen to me.

What does it mean to implore?

What does it mean to implore?

It means to beg with an earnestness

because in practical terms,

we implore when we know

what the outcome is going to be

if individuals refuse the gospel.

someone shared with me earlier today

the blessing that an individual

who has been prayed for

for many, many, many years

came to know Christ this Thursday.

Came to know the Lord Jesus Christ

against the backdrop of cancer

and an understanding of their life

being very frail and very tentative.

And in that space,

God's spirit brought conviction.

And I guarantee you,

over the years,

those who have loved this individual

have pled and pled and pled

and God graciously saved him.

So here it says that

we implore you in Christ's stead,

be reconciled to God.

So as you think about the ministry

that John the Baptist had

and go back there, if you will,

to John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

you mark that John came.

What did he do?

He says, hey, listen,

I am here to let you know

that the Messiah is coming

and when he comes,

he is to be listened to

and attended to.

Well, you would think

that when you had

hail to the chief being played,

that people would at least act

like they expect the president

to come in

and show due deference and respect.

When you look there in verse 9,

it says the true light,

which enlightens everyone,

was coming into the world.

He was in the world

and the world was made through him,

yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own

and his own people

did not receive him.

And so the second thing we see

is first of all,

John's ministry of making Jesus clear

and his coming evident.

But secondly,

we want to understand

that the light of Christ was rejected.

You can't say that John

didn't make the coming

of Christ clear.

His ministry, public,

every aspect of what he was engaged in

was driving towards the point.

The Lord Jesus,

the Messiah is coming.

And when Jesus showed up

on the scene,

remember what John the Baptist said?

We're going to look at it later.

It says,

Behold the Lamb of God

that comes to what?

Take away the sins of the world.

That's the one.

And I want you to understand

that John the Baptist

did his job faithfully.

And in the face

of doing his job faithfully,

we can be certain

that no one in that day

would ever have been able to say,

I didn't know

that that was the Messiah

and that his coming

was of any significance to me.

You can imagine,

given the unbearable burden of sin

and the darkness of the world

that was in that day

and we see it in our day as well,

you would just stop to think

that just the streaming indication of light

would draw people to it.

It says there,

He was not the light

but came to bear witness about the light.

There is a light

and the light is valuable

and you are to be drawn to it

and yet,

when the light came into the world,

the light was not received by the world.

The light showed up

and yet it was intentionally rejected by all.

So I want you to stop and recognize

that what the Bible is telling us

to this point is that

some 2,000 years ago,

the Lord Jesus Christ

burst into the blackness

of a sin-torn world

and He brought hope and salvation for all.

That's what He did.

And when John wrote,

He gives light to everyone,

what He was making clear

is that the Lord Jesus came

to allow the gospel ministry

and the impact of salvation through Him

to be available to all people.

Now I want you to recognize

that the hope of salvation

in the thinking of Jews

was limited to guess who?

Jews.

And their idea was that,

well, okay,

if you want salvation,

guess what you have to do?

You have to become a Jew.

The hope of salvation

through the finished work of Christ

was not something that was limited

to the circumcised Jew

that wore robes

and bells on their robe or whatever.

The promise of salvation

was to all who came by faith,

convicted of their sin

and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ

died in their place

to pay the penalty for sin

and to satisfy the judgment of God.

The amazing thing that we find

in this passage is this.

The world that desperately needed

and still needs salvation

and the Jews as well

who had received incredible blessings

through being Abraham's children

both equally rejected the light.

Look at what it says there.

He came into the world

and the world was made through him

and yet the world did not know him.

It's not, I don't know him.

It's just saying I don't want him.

And verse 11,

he came to his own.

He came to the Jews.

And what was the response of the Jews

when they recognized

this is the one that has come

according to promise,

according to prophecy,

they said I don't want him.

I don't want to have anything

to do with him.

And as we saw last week in John

and also in Romans,

fallen mankind does not simply

reject the light out of ignorance

but rejects the light

out of an intentional hardening

of the heart that says

I do not want what Christ has to offer.

Sinful men willingly choose

to reject the light

because of the blackness

and darkness of their heart.

I remind you of what it says

in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

It says that they refuse the light.

Why?

Because their deeds are evil.

They don't want to come to grips

with the reality

of the condition of their soul

and when the light turns on

instead of saying I need that light

I desperately recognize

the condition of my heart.

They say hey I don't want that.

I refuse it.

So let's take up the final piece

of our study this morning

and understand what we find there

in verse 12 and 13.

Here's the reality.

God sent John the Baptist

as the forerunner,

as an announcer to make it clear

to the unbelieving world

I am sending my Messiah,

the Savior of the world

and he is available to all.

He's the light.

He's the life.

He's the one in whom alone

you have opportunity

of complete deliverance

for all of your sin

and the hope of eternity.

And in the face of that

beautiful, wonderful message

the unbelieving world

and unbelieving Jews said

hey I don't want anything

to do with that.

No thank you.

Well, does darkness win?

Does darkness win?

You look there in verse 12

it says,

But to all who did receive him

who believed in his name

he gave the right

to become the children of God

who were born not of blood

nor of the will of the flesh

nor of the will of man

but of God.

And so as we look at

verse 12 and 13

what we are seeing here

is the absolute undeniable miracle

that salvation is.

I want you to listen

to the sweet truth that follows

because some have received him

that's what it says

and some will receive him

still in this day.

Some have believed in him

and those who have believed in him

have become the children of God.

So let me put together

verse 12 and 13

11 and 12 this way

say that verse 11

announces what faith does

and verse 12

tells us how faith comes.

Verse 11 says

what faith does

verse 12 says

how faith comes.

It would be easy

to look around

in the world today

and all you got to do

is listen to the news

and everywhere you turn

you are just almost overwhelmed

by the unbelievable darkness

and cruelty of the world we see.

Isn't that right?

It's not just in Syria

and Iraq

where people are suffering

for their faith.

It's not just in the Sudan

and places where

where women are being

grossly abused

because they're believers.

These are not just

the only places

where the darkness

of sin exists

and the brutality

of the heart

of unregenerate men

and women

comes to the fore.

Everywhere you look

you see the ugliness

of the darkness

of men's souls.

And as you look at that

you understand

man it is a horrible world

that we live in

and yet we understand

as it says there

in verse 12

it says

verse 11

and 12

it says

but to all who did receive him

who believed in his name

he gave the right

he gave the right

to become the children of God.

It's amazing at all

that any

any at all

get the message

and receive the truth

and come to the light.

and because of this response

to the truth

they become the children of God.

To receive and believe

is to respond

to the truth of our sin.

To receive the truth

means to accept it

and say

I believe that that is right

about me

and I am in a desperate condition

and I can't do anything about it.

Not too long ago

talking with an individual

about the issue

of their salvation

and the reality

of the condition

of their soul

and as we really got down

to the nitty gritty

it came out that

well this person's idea

was that

hey listen

I'm doing the best I can

and the best that I can

is good enough.

Well I want to tell you this

if mankind

could get to heaven

on the basis

of their own good efforts

then Jesus would never

have had to come

and his dying on the cross

was an absolute waste

and exercise in futility.

Jesus came

because we cannot

save ourselves.

And I want you

to understand

the blessing

that comes

with being God's child

turn over if you will

you're in John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

but turn if you will

to 1 John chapter 3

1 John 3 · chapter mention

1 John chapter 3

1 John 3 · chapter mention

towards the very end

of the Bible

but listen to what it says

in 1 John chapter 3

1 John 3:1

verse 1

and 2

it says

see what kind of love

the Father

has given to us

that we should be called

the children of God.

and so we are

and I want you

to recognize

this morning

when that passage

penned by John

says

see what manner

he was kind of saying

wow

look at that

that we should be called

the children of God.

Does it get any better

than that?

And the answer is

no.

No.

there was a day

when each of you here

that at one point

did not know

the Lord Jesus Christ

were a child of Satan

were doomed

to eternal destruction

were under the slave

grip of Satan

and were doing

pretty much everything

he wanted you to do

and God in his kindness

and his mercy

came to help you

see the darkness

of your condition

and he opened your eyes

and he gave life

to a dead heart

and he brought salvation

to you

and he made you

his child

he blessed you

and John says

hey let me tell you

something

those who did receive him

who believed in his name

he gave the right

to become the children

of God

well we understand

what faith does

it receives

but let's also think

about how this comes about

how does faith come

so as you look

at verse 13

you find three

very interesting

statements

that the apostle

makes that we need

to mark

he says there

he says

who were born

not of blood

not of blood

there are some

different opinions

of what blood

has to do

with this issue

and some would say

that it has to do

with physical birth

I would take it

to mean

that this statement

is talking about

the fact that

salvation

was not something

that came about

because of a certain

ethnicity

why do you think

what do you think

the Jews thought

about salvation

they thought

that because

they were Jews

they had what

salvation

one of the rabbis

taught that

Abraham camped

towards the very end

of the slide

down towards hell

and when he saw

someone skittering

down towards

eternal hell

and he noticed

that the person

was circumcised

he'd snatched that guy

because Jews

didn't go to hell

and here is

John saying

hey listen

let me tell you

something

salvation is not

something that comes

because of your

ethnicity

now we're sitting

here and we're

thinking well

I'm not a Jew

but you know

it's pretty easy

to get caught up

in the idea

well why am I saved

oh I tell you

what I love

those testimonies

I grew up

in a Christian

home

so

that's a good

thing

but do people

get to heaven

because they grew

up in a Christian

home and the answer

is not on your

life

not of blood

secondly we find

there it says

nor of the will

of the flesh

that word flesh

is talking about

the emotions

and so

salvation is not

a birthright

it's not a matter

of emotional stirring

and I want to

make it clear

for a person

who is passionate

about preaching

the gospel

and has no hesitation

of being moved

emotionally

when I appeal

to people

to come to Christ

I want you

to understand

nevertheless

that salvation

is not

an emotional

decision

I've been moved

to all kinds

of things

and we need

to be very careful

that we understand

that ultimately

the issue

of salvation

is not just

a matter of

having had

an emotional

experience

now some of us

grew up

in an environment

where if they

didn't have

an adequate number

at the altar

guess what

they would

do

well let me

give you a little

rendition of it

now as we are

singing verse 19

of just as I am

okay

and if nobody

comes for I want

the organist

this morning

I want to get

on those keys

I want you to

play it quietly

and there's some

of you out here

that if you don't

come I'm coming

down

you know

listen

can you be

moved emotionally

to make decisions

and the answer

is you bet

you

but in the

unbelieving world

we have three

days in which

to reverse

our decision

how many of you

understand that

I can sell you

a vacuum sweeper

that you think

is going to take

you to heaven

but three days

later you may

decide you don't

want it

and you can

say no

emotion

doesn't save us

furthermore

it says there

in verse 13

nor of the

will of man

that's talking

about

the intellect

so

why did you

come to Christ

well

I was figuring

it out

I read the

Bible

it just

made sense

to me

bada bada

bing

I decided

I'd be a

Christian

you follow

that

I'm

all for

apologetics

but nobody

has ever

come to

Christ

simply

on the

basis

of an

apologetic

argument

do you

follow

that

dead

men

do not

come

to life

just

because

the

intellectual

argument

for the

reality

of God

is so

persuasive

that they

are

absolutely

crushed

by the

weight

of

intellect

no

so

how are

men

saved

let me

read it

to you

who were

born

not of

blood

nor of the

will of the

flesh

nor of

will of

man

but

of

God

let me

have you

look at a

companion

passage

I'm

fired up

about

this

so just

bear with

me

turn in

your

Bible

can we

ever get

away from

the book

of Ephesians

I don't

think so

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

the idea

that salvation

is something

that we

can be

manipulated

emotionally

into deciding

about

or we

can be

persuaded

intellectually

into deciding

about

has no

basis

in the

scriptures

because in

the Bible

it makes it

clear that

salvation

is of

the Lord

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

we start

out with

some pretty

ugly news

it says

but you

were dead

in the

trespasses

and sins

by the

way

verse

number 9

of just

as I

am

does it

do

anything

for a

dead

carcass

lying in

a

funeral

home

and the

answer

is

no

no

no

putting

Josh

McDowell's

evidence

that demands

a verdict

on top

of the

casket

does that

cause the

person

to rise

up

no

no

no

but the

God who

saves

was the

one who

spoke

and brought

life

from death

and here's

what it

says

you were

dead in

trespasses

and sin

kind of

skipping

ahead

it says

there in

verse 5

by grace

you were

saved

and then

in verse

7

and verse

8 it

says

for by grace

you have

been saved

through faith

and so that

we don't

get confused

with the

natural

tendency

of

kind of

taking a

little bit

of credit

to

ourself

here's

what it

says

in verse

8 the

latter part

and this

is not

of your

own

doing

it is

the

what

the gift

of God

not the

result of

works

so that

no may

boast

god

god

god

god

god

and if we who are sitting here this morning

stop to consider the reality of our salvation

and the fact that we who once were the children of slavery

once the children of Satan

to recognize that we enjoy personal relationship

with the Lord and creator of this universe

it is because salvation is of the Lord

and he in his grace saved us

so what obligation does that bring to us

do you know what it does

first of all to be individuals who with gladness proclaim

the wonder and majesty of our Savior

we ought to spend the rest of our life

in a spirit of thanksgiving say wow

I can't believe he loves me and he's given me salvation

and I want the rest of you to find out about the one I love

secondly

because we have been saved by his grace

we also have a burden and an obligation

to live lives that do not complicate the gospel

do you follow what I'm saying

hey listen

if you live like a skunk

Monday through Saturday

you don't have much power to do anything

other than drive people away

from the sweetness of the gospel

if your vocabulary is a shame to the Lord Jesus Christ

where you work

don't expect to have much of an impact

on people who desperately need Christ

and we who have been saved by the Lord Jesus

have a longing

to see the one who has loved us

and the one who has saved us

high and exalted and lifted up

and we want to be able to say

that's the one I love

that's the one who can save

and so let me close

with this question

first of all

do you know him

are you sitting here today

as one who by the grace of God

has come to know the Lord Jesus Christ

then here's the truth

you have been saved for a purpose

like John the Baptist

of saying

come to the Lord Jesus

that you might have forgiveness

for all of your sins

and if you're here today

and you do not know Christ

you may have grown up

in a Christian home

you may have been baptized

you may know all the Bible verses

but here's the truth of the matter

you have never had

the transforming power

of the gospel

change your life

bring conviction

and then deliverance

and salvation

and you've never been able to

in reality say

Jesus is my savior

and I know him

I would plead with you

this morning

where you sit

you humble yourself

and say

I need Jesus desperately

I'm fooling myself

and I'm not going to do it anymore

and you plead with him

to save you

where you sit

let's bow our heads

our father God

this morning

we are very thankful

for the blessing

of your word

that makes it clear

that the Lord Jesus

is the light of the world

we're thankful

that salvation

is something

that you do

first of all

by convicting us

of our sin

and bringing us

to the point

of seeing the absolute

darkness

and bankruptcy

of our soul

and in the misery

of that conviction

you graciously lift up

the truth

that the Lord Jesus Christ

came into the world

to save sinners

and he paid the penalty

for my sin

and for all of our sins

and he offers salvation

to whosoever

will call upon

the name of the Lord

and I would plead

with you father

this morning

that you would honor

your son

by drawing to the cross

those that are here

that are broken

in their sin

and desperately need

the Lord Jesus

we ask this in Jesus name

Amen

I'm going to ask

that you stand together

as we sing in closing

let's stand

and if you're here

this morning

and the spirit of God

is addressing an issue

you need to care for

publicly

it might be

that you're here

and you need Christ

as your personal savior

I don't know

the condition of your heart

but the spirit of God does

and if you're here

and you need Christ

to save you

then you humble yourself

and cry out for him

to do that

and if you want to share

that with us

you come forward

and have somebody

pray with you

and encourage you

from the scriptures

it might be

that you're here

and you are

a child of God

but you've not connected

to a body of believers

and let me tell you something

being part of the local church

is important

and you're willing

to humble yourself

and say

I'm willing to take that step

you come forward

it might be

that you need to be baptized

in obedience

you've come to faith

but you've never publicly

made that an issue

that you have acted upon

with baptism

and I encourage you

to take care of that

as we sing this song

in closing

what can take a dying man

and raise him up to life again

what can heal a wounded soul

what can make us white a stone

what can fill the emptiness

what can mend our brokenness

brokenness

mighty awesome

wonderful

is the holy cross

mighty is the power of the cross

mighty is the power of the cross

mighty is the power of the cross

what can lead the cross

what restores our faith in God

what reveals the Father's love

what can lead the wayward home

what can melt a heart of stone

what can free the guilty ones

what can save and own