Do you love darkness?
Notes
Transcript
John 3:16
John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3 verse 16 is the gospel in a nutshell isn’t it? It sounds glorious because it is. Amen? But if you emphasize the wrong part of the verse and you ignore the context it can have eternally damning effects. I hope that made you sit up in your seats and you are going to try your best to pay attention the next 30 minutes. Because how long will the side effects of an eternal decision last? FOREVER right? There is no second chance Hebrews 9
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
There is no purgatory, there are no second chances. You better pay attention and make sure you are getting this text correct while you still have breath in your lungs. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. But everyone is guaranteed death and then the judgement. This is why it is so important we understand John 3:16 in its context. If we rip it out of context, we can come to the conclusion, which many have that we just need to get people to believe in Jesus to be saved. I believe this can come from pure motives. There are lots of people in my life that I would love to see come to faith in Jesus. The thought of them spending eternity that is forever in eternal punishment suffering and separated from God. Breaks my heart. So I understand the temptation to boil the gospel down to a prayer. Just get the people I love to say they believe, pray a little pray, and then I can pronounce them saved and I can rest assured they will avoided death and hell and eternal pain and suffering and separation from God. But what does Jesus tell us. How does Jesus interpret whether you believe or not?
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
Jesus tells us how to examine if we believe or not. Doesn’t He. This is where it is vitally important to stay awake. What does Jesus say? He tells you to examine your deeds. Do you do wicked things? Do you love darkness? Now we need to slow down here. The enemy will tempt you to just repeat the Sunday school answer and move on. Start thinking about your plans for dinner and what you want to say to Bob after church and what you need to get down this week. Tell him to shut up! You need to focus right now it is of eternal importance. Focus you must hear the truth of God’s words. It doesn’t matter what I tell you salvation is it doesn’t matter what some pastor told you at an evangelistic service where he said come forward, or pray after me, or squeeze my hand. What does Jesus say? That is the only person’s opinion on salvation that matters. What does Jesus say? Recite John 3 verse 16. Jesus said who so ever believes how do you know you believe? This is the most vital question you will ever have to answer in your life. The only thing that matter is do you genuinely believe. Before you say yes and pack it up this morning listen to these two verses.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
and
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
This is scary, by default, our desires are deceitful and our hearts our deceitful so without the help of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word and prayer. What hope do we have? None. Our desires will deceive us our wicked hearts will lie to us. And we will claim to believe and live nothing like this Book and feel completely comfortable as we rush headlong into hell. This should scare you and this should jar you awake. This morning. Would you like a great example of how deceiving our hearts can be?
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Paul thought he was serving the Lord by arresting and murdering believers.
What hope to I get from this passage? Recite John 3 verse 16. If I believe. If I believe. And Jesus tells us how we know if we truly believe. Doesn’t He.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
I know my desires lie to me they are deceitful and I know my heart i deceitful so I am going to cry out to God with the David.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
I will seek God to reveal my heart. Do I love the light or darkness? Only God through His Word, His Spirit, and prayer can reveal to me if I genuinely love the light. My heart will lie to me. It will tell me that I do love the Lord while I walk in darkness and I will be blind to it. Only Lord Jesus and His Word can shine light into my heart and help me discern do I truly love the light or am I lying to myself. Remember do not leave here this morning thinking you love the light, seek the Lord and ask Him everyday to Search your heart and reveal hidden sin in your life. You will be surprised what He reveals to you if you honestly seek Him.
The last point I want to ponder this morning is who condemns?
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
In our human falleness, we love to condemn others don’t we. We love to pass judgments on others.Let’s look at the Pharisees they made it regular practice to condemn others didn’t they?
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
It is easy to look at the lives of others and condemn them. The Pharisees condemned Jesus to the point they crucified Him and He was perfect He did nothing wrong that is how warped and crocked the human heart is. And the scariest part is your heart is just as crooked and perverse. Who condemns you. Only you can condemn youself. And how?
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
God does not condemn people. God does not send people to hell. People send themselves to hell and how do they? They don’t believe and scariest part is you can fool yourself into think you believe when you really don’t.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’