Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Saved: From Condemnation (Inscription 50)*
*John 3:16-20*
*/May 1, 2011/*
* *
*Prep: *
· John 3-4
· 034, 036
Intro~/Communication card:
· Sunday School teachers and helpers
For the next *three* *weeks* we’ll discover what it means to be saved.
We have this *flat* idea of *salvation*: Going to Heaven – we treat it as the finish line, not the *starting* *point*.
· We will be going through *John*, which is my favorite Gospel.
Prayer
*Scripture reading: John 3:16-20*
Jesus doesn’t condemn
Q Who do you think is in greater *danger* of *Hell*, the town’s most *respected* *pastor* or the *used* *up* *cocktail* *waitress*?
Q Who is in greater need of *God’s* gr*a*ce, the *religious* guy or the *sinner*?
Q Which one of those are *you*?
Let’s pick up from where we left off last week, with John 3:16:
*John 3:16-18 * For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Q What does *condemned* mean?
We think of it as “strongly disapprove,” but the Biblical meaning is to *judge* and *find* *guilty*.
It is a judge saying “guilty as charged.”
It says that Jesus did not *come* to condemn, but that everyone who doesn’t believe in him is *condemned* *already*.
All of us are *naturally* *condemned*; we are all guilty to start with, guilty of rebelling against God, and Jesus comes to *stop* the *condemnation*.
· So Jesus didn’t come to condemn (we’d already got that taken care of), but to *remove* *condemnation* – if we believe in him.
Spotlight on sin
But for someone who came to bring forgiveness, not condemnation, he sure made a lot of *enemies*.
He was *extremely* *polarizing*.
Some people loved him, others hated him.
· By his very *presence*, he reminded people of something they *wanted* to *forget*, namely that they were in *fact* *condemned*.
*John 3:19-20 * 19 This is the verdict: Light [Jesus] has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
· We (Christians and not) *love* our *sin* and *hate* the *light* that shows it.
Darkness support groups
Don’t believe me?
Let me show you on a *small* *scale*:
Think back to a time when you were *doing* or *wanted* to do something you knew you *shouldn’t* do (it might be now).
It could be a *big* thing, like leaving your *spouse* or it could have been a *little* thing, like *nursing* a *grudge*.
*Which* *friends* did you gravitate towards?
The ones who “*support*” you, encourage you to do what you wanted to do.
· “You are so *right*!
You have a right to be *happy*!
I can’t believe he...” (Of course *they* want *your* *support* too.)
And which ones did you *avoid*?
The ones who *call* *you* on your crap, “I can’t believe our boss said that to me!” “You kind of deserved it.”
So you move on to the *next* *person*!
· We love *darkness*, we want people who will *huddle* in the darkness and tell us that it is *perfectly* *fine*.
So we all tell each other *nice* *little* *lies* thinking it because we *love* each other, but it is *closer* to *hate* – it is actually *selfishness*.
· And that is just a *little* *light* – through humans God shines little glimpses of light.
two choices
But imagine walking with *Jesus* – more light than the noon day sun, *shining* through all the *excuses*, the *self*-*justification*, the *hidden* *motives*, and showing just how *black* our hearts are.
· When we are faced with the light of Jesus, there are two responses: *self*-*deception* or *despair*.
This is what I mean: According to Jesus, we all *deserve* to be condemned.
As an exercise, *say* with me “*I deserve condemnation*.”
· We can divide this room into *two* *groups*: Those who deeply *believe* what they just said and those who *don’t*.
Some of you know that you *deserve* *condemnation*, you have a voice whispering in your ear that you are not *worthy*, that God does *not* *love* you, that you are *worthless*.
On the other hand, some of you don’t *really* *believe* it.
You might know it, *mentally* *agree* with it, but you don’t really *feel* you deserve condemnation.
· Or you think that this idea of *innate* *sin* is one of the bigger and most *dangerous* *deceptions* of Christianity.
Q *Which* *one* are you?
In John 3 and 4 Jesus talks to two different people, who were as different from each other as possible.
One was the respected *pastor* and the used-up *cocktail* *waitress*.
A pretty good guy
*John 3:1-3 * NIV ¶ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God.
For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Notice Jesus didn’t answer the question, “Let’s *cut* the *crap*, you need to repent, because you are going to Hell.”
This came as quite a shock to Ol’ Nic he thought that because he was a good Torah-following Jew, he was safe, he was *pretty* *good*.
· Jesus had this habit of *comforting* the *broken*, but *breaking* the *comfortable*.
Jesus had to show him, like the other *Pharisees* just *how* *black* their hearts were, how much they needed Jesus.
· If you *lust* in your heart, it is as if you committed adultery.
· If you *hate*, it’s like murder.
· If you *fast* to impress others, it’s useless.
· You are *whitewashed* *tombs*, pretty on the outside, ugly inside.
It was *to* *Nicodemus* Jesus said, “The *light* *shines* in the darkness, but you love the darkness.”
A pretty good guy
If you don’t *feel* that you *deserve* *condemnation*, then you are more like *Nic* than you want to believe.
But *deep* *down*, you know it’s a *lie*.
You know that you are not that nice of a person.
Every now and again *something* *breaks* *through* the surface and shows how ugly your heart is.
Then you *shove* it back down, *downplay* it and go back to pretending you’re a good guy.
· How do I know?
Because I just *described* *myself*.
I was the good kid who never did *anything* *wrong*.
Never mind that I was *arrogant*, *self*-*righteous*, and *self*-*centered*, I never *did* anything wrong and that was my *identity*.
Sure, I *knew* that “all have sinned and fallen short” and that I was a sinner, but I did not *feel* it with any *conviction*.
I felt like a *good* *Christian*.
· Story: *DTS*~/*Kicking* *Scott* when he tricked me, making *excuses* as to convince myself I wasn’t bad.
After that I went back to my dorm and went to bed early, *miserable*.
Because I had *hurt* another person?
*No*, because I had just done a “*bad* *thing*” in front of a *bunch* of *Christians*.
· That was not *repentance*, it was a *wounded* *pride*.
So what?
Q Okay, you say, I don’t *feel* I deserve condemnation.
So wWhat?
I’m a Christian so I know *intellectually* I am a sinner.
Here is the “so what,” Jesus may have *forgiven* me for my *anger* and my *pride* that day, but I didn’t *learn* anything that day, other than how to *better* *hide* my sin.
Every time Jesus *shines* the light on your *sin* you can either *recognize* your *darkness* and genuinely *repents* or you can *deceive* yourself and *harden* your heart.
· If it weren’t for serving at *churches* that *encouraged* *transparency*, I might be a *pompous*, *black*-*hearted* *Pharisee*.
You are *reinforcing* *external* actions, not *internal* *holiness*.
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