Jesus - Salvation for all Who Believe

Take your Bible and turn to John chapter 3 and just have your copy of God's Word open there and we will get to God's Word here in a few minutes Now I think most of you know here that for the past three weeks we've been Studying certain passages that all center around What bible theologians what scholars call the incarnation?

In all of these messages pertain to the doctrine of Christ all of these messages have been a lot more doctrinal They've been a lot more theological maybe than you know I was having a conversation with one of the men of the church and that was the topic of the conversation just how doctrinal This information has been we started off in philippians 2 we moved over to colossians chapter 3 We saw that god left heaven to become a man.

That is jesus And then we saw that jesus was the image of the invisible god now think for a minute about who we have In this jesus and how we have applied what we have studied We saw who this jesus is before during and after the Incarnation jesus was and is the creator god he came and he died in the place of man And then ultimately he was exalted to the highest of places because of his perfect obedience to the will of the father And this jesus was the exact representation of the invisible god And he has been exalted to the highest of places I said that he is the preeminent one the supreme one and all of this was for the glory of god Now in applying what we studied in philippians and colossians We have been challenged to make this jesus the centerpiece of our christmas Not some cheap manger scene jesus Not some cheap copy of this jesus and no matter how we celebrate our christmas We're all a little bit different.

We've been challenged to make this jesus the centerpiece of our christmas celebration Now last week in our message last week we made a shift in our application Not only must we make this jesus the center of our christmas celebration But we also must work hard at seeking after this jesus during the christmas season Remember our wise men in matthew chapter 2? We must be like those wise men. They sought after christ And we must desire to meet with christ. We meet with christ in his word. We meet with christ in prayer We must desire to seek him during this christmas season, but not just at christmas Not just at christmas and you know folks.

This is worship We worship the lord by seeking him in all of these ways and even more But last week we saw that man cannot seek god. I know that might seem contradictory to some of you Man cannot seek god all humanity has a problem that prevents them from seeking god Romans 3 there is this long list there in romans 3 that explains the utter sinfulness of all humanity Man does not understand spiritual things according to romans 3 Man does nothing good according to romans 3 now see that goodness is goodness according to god standard And man has become sinful in every way according to romans 3 and there in verse 19 Paul really puts an exclamation point on the sinfulness of humanity when he said lost mankind cannot even fear god Remember I call this the damnable dilemma This is a damnable dilemma for mankind.

Oh with the good news I'm thankful for the good news God forever ago chose to intervene in man's damnable dilemma God so loved the world We know that verse we're going to look at that verse in a little bit that he sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for man God sent his son to die in man's place. Remember the righteous dying for the unrighteous Simply we saw in hebrews 10 verses 1 to 18 that this jesus who was born in the manger Was and is the perfect sacrifice for sin?

There is no need to sacrifice the blood of bulls and goats anymore Christ was and is the perfect sacrifice for sin Now notice something Notice we have had one overarching work here in all that we've studied especially hebrews 10 verses 1 to 18 That is the work of god We've studied what god did This is all about what god has done to redeem mankind Man was and is in this damnable dilemma man cannot seek god man cannot understand spiritual matters man cannot even fear god But in hebrews chapter 10 verses 1 to 18, it's all about what god did It's all about what we would call sovereign grace to redeem man But next we need to see What man should do I kind of call this the other side of a rare coin I was meeting well the gentleman this past week and he was explaining to me how he had inherited Coins a coin collection from his father and you know, sometimes we can have very very rare coins But right here we have the rarest of coins.

We're dealing with the salvation of men And now we're going to see what man should do. This is the other side of this rare coin We need to examine what man is responsible to do before god. Yes, you see man is responsible man is responsible for god to believe the gospel man is responsible To believe in this christ that we've been studying about for his salvation We can never absolve man of his responsibility And that is the theme Of what we're going to study this morning.

Jesus this jesus that we have been studying He is the salvation for all of those who would Believe and that's the title of the message the theme of everything that we are going to study Now I know it's quite a few verses but I want us to read them together Now as I progress through unpacking the verses I might not read them. I might and so if I Touch on a verse and it strikes you jot that down I want us to be good bible students.

We always want to take what the lord has given us When we worship together and go study it and get all that we can get let's start in verse 11 And I want us to go to the end of the chapter verse 21 Jesus is speaking here Truly truly I say to you we speak that which we know and bear witness of that which we have seen And you do not receive our witness If I told you earthly things and you do not believe how should you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

And no one has ascended into heaven, but he the son of man And as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up That whoever believes may in him have eternal life Verse 16 for god so loved the world that he that's god The father gave his only begotten son. That's jesus that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life For god did not send the son into the world to judge the world but that the world should be saved through him He who believes in him is not judged He who does not believe has been judged already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god And this is the judgment that the light is come into the world and men love the darkness rather than the light For their deeds were evil For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light least his deeds should be exposed But he who practices the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest As having been wrought in god are from god Now just like with last week's messages Last week's message in hebrews.

There is some background information that we need to see And if we grasp this background information This will help us understand the teaching that we're going to look at. I kind of jotted it like this context Context is king folks. He got to understand context to understand teaching But in john chapter 3 starting in verse 1 we have this famous meeting between two men Jesus the god man in nicodemus Of course, we have jesus the promised messiah of god who has spoken of all throughout the old testament god in the flesh We know who this jesus is because we've been studying him for quite a few weeks But then we have nicodemus And nicodemus was one of the top religious leaders of the day.

John identifies nicodemus as a Pharisee Now the Pharisees were were a religious party of the jews and they were very zealous for religious purity According to the mosaic law and their jewish traditions Simply they were seen as the very center of orthodox judaism And they had a very very big influence on the people of israel John also identifies nicodemus as a ruler of the jews This meant that he was a member of what's called the sanhedrin now the sanhedrin was comprised of the jewish high priest The chief priests the family heads of israel or the elders and then the scribes Simply the sanhedrin was the ruling body of the jews And this is a very brief explanation, but this helps us see who this nicodemus was It is no understatement to say that he was the top religious leader of his day He was of the top group that had a big influence on the nation and the people of israel But verse 2 says that nicodemus came to meet jesus At night some of you are familiar with that passage Now opinions abound as to why jesus nicodemus, excuse me wanted to meet with jesus At night now, we really do not know why Truthfully john simply does not say why but you know, I think it's a plausible explanation To say that he simply wanted some one-on-one time with jesus now why we don't know But I think it's plausible to say that he wanted one-on-one time with jesus By this point in his ministry his earthly ministry.

Jesus was extremely popular So getting some one-on-one time would have been almost impossible But whatever the reason we have nicodemus This great religious leader in the day and he is seeking this one-on-one time with jesus. That's what's happening here So we have the promised messiah of god God in the flesh and nicodemus one of the top religious leaders of the day in this nicodemus seeks a meeting with jesus Now there's a lot we could say about all of this There's a whole lot that we can study here But basically we have two things happening to me.

This is the broadest of breakdowns of what's happening here First we have nicodemus coming and he is entrenched in his external religion He is entrenched in this external religion He comes with the religion of the jews which says the jews were right with god because of their blood See they were descendants of abraham and they would say before jesus We are right with god because we are descendants of abraham They also said they were right with god because of their heritage.

See they were god's chosen people the nation of israel But then they also said they were right with god because of their religious rituals They followed the law the mosaic law and even the traditions which ensured that they kept the law of god Simply he was coming entrenched in this religion this religious system of works We've studied all about this religious system in our study through the sermon on the mount He is coming before jesus believing that he is right with god because of his Inherence to this religious system of external works But then we have jesus Who simply says to nicodemus you are not right with god?

I mean he torpedoes everything nicodemus is and hoped in he is not right with god He says because of your religious works Jesus blasts all that nicodemus is and all that he is trusting in Jesus says repeatedly that a man must be born again. Jesus says over and over with practical yet profound Illustration that man needs a radical transformation on the inside that must be brought about by god Jesus teaches that man must be born of the spirit of god theologians and scholars call this regeneration He must be regenerated because he is spiritually dead.

Remember the damnable dilemma Well, what happened Nicodemus was incredulous Oh, he was extremely distrustful He was very doubtful of the whole thing. He was believing in every way and the sad thing is this Everything jesus was teaching was thoroughly biblical. This was nothing new This teaching on the new birth is thoroughly old testament and jesus says to nicodemus. You should know all this He's basically saying what's wrong with you.

You should know all this Simply nicodemus came to jesus in his religious works And jesus bluntly purposefully forcefully shove nicodemus religious works aside and he used his own old testament scriptures to tell him that he needed a radical internal Transformation from god so as to be right with god and he says you should know all these things nicodemus What's wrong with you? And nicodemus left in total unbelief he struggled to abandon his self-righteous religious works. He struggled to believe in jesus As the messiah of god and he went away not right with god.

He walked away in total unbelief And that's the background That's the background of everything that we're going to look at in examining this thing jesus Creation for all those who would believe now I want us to examine Three major truths that are taught in these verses. This is really the major truths of the Outline and just like with these messages. We really will not cover all that is here One man said to me last week after we got through with hebrews the pastor you sure did cover a lot We really did and I believe we can cover a lot successfully this morning And I believe the lord will use What we study together?

So number one, I want us to look at man's problem of unbelief Man's problem of unbelief. We read these verses earlier truly. Truly. I'll say to you We speak that which we know and bear witness of that which we have seen and you do not receive our witness If I told you of earthly things and you do not believe how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things are Greater things now, let me explain what is happening at this point in the meeting between jesus and nicodemus By the time we get to these verses verse 11 and 12 There's really no longer a two-way conversation After what I call this collision in verse 9 and 10 John does not record nicodemus responding anymore Well, this is what we have Verses 3 to 8 jesus explains the need for a man to be born again of the spirit of god in verse 9 Nicodemus says how can this happen?

I mean, how can this be? Jesus then rebukes nicodemus of this horrible ignorance. Remember jesus says you are one of the greatest teachers of the land You know the old testament scriptures and you don't know this Jesus then progresses in explaining the root problem here this unbelief First I want us to see nicodemus refuses to accept their testimony. That's what verse 11 says Nicodemus refuses to accept their testimony here.

Jesus is speaking of not only his testimony But of the testimony of others jesus uses personal pronouns here in the verse we an hour Here jesus is speaking of john the baptist who was the forerunner of jesus John the baptist paved the way for the coming messiah and nicodemus would have been very very knowledgeable Of john's ministry and also the message of john Also, jesus would be speaking of his chosen disciples and other true followers who did testify that jesus was the messiah Of god and nicodemus would have known of those true followers of christ Nicodemus may have even heard disciples these disciples declare that jesus was the promised messiah So we have nicodemus rejecting the testimony of many concerning christ And jesus was not only exposing nicodemus and his refusal to accept their testimony When he says you do not receive our witness.

Jesus is using a personal pronoun here In our language. Jesus is looking at nicodemus and he's saying something just like this You you and all your people do not receive our witness in our testimony Jesus was pointing out the nicodemus The other religious leaders and pretty much the entire nation as a whole were rejecting their testimony in many ways Nicodemus was a representative of the entire jewish religious system that refused to accept the testimony That declared jesus as the messiah of god So pretty much the entire nation refused the testimony Concerning christ from so so many and nicodemus was a representative of that group But then second nicodemus refuses to believe What had been thoroughly explained?

He refused to believe what was thoroughly explained and this is all part of man's problem of unbelief back at verse 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe How shall you believe if I give to you or tell you heavenly things? Here jesus gives nicodemus a harsh rebuke Let me put this in different words that will help us see what jesus is saying. Jesus said something like this I told you what needs to take place here on earth in a man and you refuse to believe it So how can I tell you a bigger greater heavenly things? Jesus is saying something like this nicodemus.

I told you man's greatest need while on earth and you Refuse to believe that so how can I explain to you the things that are not of this earth? Jesus is doing two things here He is not falling for nicodemus and his surface shallow profession back in verse two that was a surface profession And he that is jesus is exposing his unbelieving heart concerning man's deepest need So nicodemus refuses to believe what had been so clearly explained and get this get this Jesus was simply taking his old testament scriptures And that is what nicodemus should have known So jesus is exposing nicodemus And his response to this teaching concerning man's greatest need and what was his response? unbelief unbelief total unbelief Nicodemus refused to believe he refused to believe the old testament He refused to believe the testimony in the teaching of jesus He refused to believe the testimony of so many others.

It's unbelief That was nicodemus greatest problem and that is man's greatest problem even today Now every now and then When you run across something that someone else points out You know, it just flips the switch for you To be honest with you in my study this week I ran across something that just just turned on the light bulb from me And this will help us see really what's happening here I ran across something as I was studying in some john mccarther material and he's explaining about nicodemus unbelief now John mccarther points out that there are actually two sides to his unbelief.

I'm going to take what he says and really put it in my own words first with nicodemus there was intellectual Unbelief there's an intellectual side to his unbelief. This is simple Nicodemus acknowledged that jesus was sent from god as a teacher from god, but he refused to believe that he was the messiah of god You see that it was an intellectual unbelief.

He saw jesus as a teacher from god, but not god in the flesh And then second there was this spiritual side to his unbelief this gets a little deeper Nicodemus was steeped in his pride because he was steeped in his religion his religion of works And he was just like all the other religious leaders. We have studied all throughout the sermon on the mount He was steeped in his self-righteousness in his self-centeredness his works-based religion Simply he refused to admit that he was a sinner He refused to embrace the fact that he needed the new birth He refused to admit that he was truly living in darkness He refused to admit that he needed the only true light of the world and that was jesus And he was staring at him face to face So you see His unbelief it was intellectual and it was spiritual That's good insight and this shows us that man's problem is great.

His unbelief was great And you know nicodemus his unbelief is the same problem we have today There are some of you here your unbelief is intellectual You believe certain things about the bible, but you discount certain things from the bible Oh you believe certain truths about the bible But you discount those things that really highlight who you are and what you are and what you've always been You see when we get into the portions of scripture that really shine a light on your lostness And your false religion and your sin that you embrace and you always run to oh you reject that see that is intellectual unbelief But then there's some even here today your unbelief is spiritual because you refuse to let go of your religion Listen all mankind have some kind of religious works And see you refuse to let go of your religion your your religious works and embrace the fact that you are lost and in darkness And you need a savior see your unbelief is spiritual as well as intellectual So man Has a problem Nicodemus had a problem.

It was unbelief And there could be somebody here this morning. You have a problem of unbelief and you're much so much like nicodemus in many ways Well, then number two our second major truth. We see god's answer for man's problem We see god's answer For man problem and that is unbelief as well and we see this in verses 13 217 now here. Jesus continues with this one-on-one Conversation here.

We do not have any dialogue back from nicodemus and he gives a lot but this is all centered on God's answer from man's problem and it's all centered around unbelief But here jesus moves From talking directly to nicodemus and his personal problem to explaining god's answer for the problem What I mean is this he is not using personal pronouns anymore, but he's still talking to nicodemus Now notice what he says to nicodemus. There are three things he says first Jesus explains the son's sacrifice To nicodemus.

Jesus explains the son's sacrifice look at verse 13 and 14 And no one has ascended to heaven or into heaven, but he who descended from heaven Even the son of man and as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness Even so must the son of man be lifted up Here jesus speaks to Who he is and what he has come to earth to do Who he is and what he has come to earth to do verse 13 is all about the fact that jesus is not a mere man He is not a simple human teacher He is the one from heaven who descended from heaven and he will ascend back to heaven And then verse 14 is all about what jesus has come down to earth to do And again, he's using nicodemus own copy of god's word the old testament and nicodemus certainly knew the story of the serpent of the pole and that's found in numbers chapter 21 and here jesus is saying something like this to nicodemus using his own copy of god's word He's saying something like this Just like when moses lifted up the serpent made a brass on a pole when the israelites were bitten by the snakes for their sin So must the son of man be lifted up?

Jesus was saying something like this to nicodemus Just as those sin bitten israelites needed to look under the brass serpent to live Mankind needs to look on to me on the cross and live So jesus was explaining to nicodemus that the story of the brass serpent there in numbers 21 It was a picture of the son's ultimate sacrifice on the cross But notice how jesus points out nicodemus responsibility Look at verse 15 again That whosoever believes may have eternal life Jesus is saying that whoever looks to the son on the cross Whoever looks to the son on the cross and they believe and they trust and they commit their life to christ They will have eternal life.

So jesus points out nicodemus responsibility to believe in the son's sacrifice on the cross for the sin of man And then the second observation Jesus explains the father's love Jesus explains the father's love to nicodemus look at verse 16 For god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish But have eternal life Of course, we have one of the most famous the most well-known bible verses And here in this verse verse 16 God the son clearly expresses God the father's love for the world Now this is not god loving man's sin.

Don't make that mistake And this is not god loving this evil world system that is anti god anti bible anti man No, that's not what we have here We have here god's love for people So much so that he would choose to sin his unique one his only one his only son to die as a Substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of men But notice how jesus points out nicodemus responsibility here What does he say in verse 16 and whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life? Jesus is saying that whoever receives what god the father has done whoever trusts whoever commits their life to christ What god the son has done this great love for man.

They shall receive what eternal life? So jesus points out nicodemus And his responsibility again, and that is to believe in the provision and the love of god the father And of course that provision is jesus And then the third observation still dealing with god's answer from man's problem Third jesus explains the father's desire to nicodemus Jesus explains the father's desire look at verse 17 For god did not send the son into the world to judge the world But that the world should be saved through him Here we see jesus explaining that which is at the center of god's heart And listen folks never doubt that which is at the center of god's heart god's love for people He does not desire that people perish And he is not some cruel Universalist dictator.

No, he is a loving heavenly father And jesus is showing that he desires to save what jew and gentile alike now a question here We must ask this Will everyone be saved? No Everyone will not be saved this verse does not speak to or teach some type of universalism This verse expresses the heart of god that he desires to redeem people So we see jesus explaining the desires the heart of god the father to nicodemus And so after jesus exposes Nicodemus problem remember he was all about unbelief He calls nicodemus to believe Jesus calls nicodemus to believe on his sacrificial death on the cross He speaks of the cross from the old testament and then later he demonstrates this teaching by dying right before his eyes And he then calls on nicodemus to believe because god's great love for mankind two times Two times jesus says whoever believes look at the invitation to nicodemus Whoever believes and is followed by jesus explanation that god desires to save lost humanity not judge humanity And not only is this god's answer for nicodemus In his problem of unbelief This is god's answer for any and for all Who are in unbelief?

This is not just God's answer for nicodemus and his unbelief This is god's answer for any and all who are in their unbelief If if if if that unbelieving person would believe and trust and commit their life To christ and all that christ has done for them on the cross then they shall receive what eternal life Remember our song we didn't sing it last week I quoted from it Remember our song once and for all Some of you know that it's an oldie It's an old baptist song and it's a good one written by philip bliss in the 1870s And he was written based on so much that is called in hebrews chapter 10 But oh you tell me if this doesn't echo what we see in john chapter 3.

What do the words say? Free from the law, oh happy condition Jesus has bled and there is remission Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall Grace has redeemed us once and for all that's god's grace his sovereign grace now notice once For all oh sinner receive it once and for all oh friend now believe it cling to the cross Your burden will fall christ has redeemed us once and for all So my invitation for you is this Please dear sinner, please Please look to god's answer for your sin problem Look to christ and believe and commit your life to him holding nothing back holding nothing back So number three As we continue I want us to see the results of man's unbelief verses 18 to 21 It's all about the results and jesus is explaining all of this to nicodemus the results Of man's unbelief.

Let's look at these verses He who believes in him is not judged He who does not believe has been judged already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god And this is the judgment that the light is coming to the world And men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil For everyone who does not for everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light Least his deeds should be exposed but he who practices the truth comes to the light and his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in god Again, jesus is still teaching nicodemus Concerning his need for the new birth.

Remember his great need Jesus is still explaining to nicodemus that the answer for his sin problem is belief And he needs to purposely he needs to willingly do what believe? But now Jesus takes this father He explains to nicodemus what will happen if he remains in his unbelief And this definitely applies to all who die in unbelief John mccarthur puts it very well. He says and i'm quoting for all who respond to the gospel with unbelief Their final doom is set by divine judgment Notice that jesus speaks of twos here two types of men two reactions by men and two reactions by god First jesus speaks of two classes of men verse 18.

It's all about two classes of men Look at the verse he who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already Jesus says that all of humanity are divided up in two groups two classes not race No, not race. They're not divided by class. They're not divided by nationality. No god himself divides mankind into two groups those who believe in jesus and those who do not believe in jesus now this phrase to believe It's more than this intellectual belief.

This speaks to trust in committing one's life to Trusting in jesus and being committed to jesus as the savior their lord of life And in this verse we seek god's reactions Judgment Judgment as john mccarthur said it their doom is set their doom is set. They're in unbelief Their doom is set by divine judgment those who refuse to believe they refuse to trust in christ They refuse to commit their lives to jesus what they are judged already It's as if the gavel has been struck in heaven and their one heartbeat away They live in that doom and they're waiting on that divine judgment.

But but those who have believed are not judged Their judgment was placed on christ You hear that folks their judgment was placed on christ as he died on the cross in their place So we see the Two classes of men and then second jesus speaks to two reactions by men That's what verse 19 and 20 are all about And this is the judgment That the light is coming to the world and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil for everyone Who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light at least his deeds should be exposed But he who practices the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest as having been wrought in God Here jesus says that light has come into the dark world And he is the light Jesus is that light but men have reacted in one of two ways Some men love their darkness and sin rather than the light They do not come into the light because they are evil and they hate the light they refuse to come into the light because their evil Deeds will be exposed now notice this list here.

They love darkness their deeds are evil They hate the light they refuse to come into the light. Oh, but some love the light Some love the light They are the ones who practice truth and they come into the light They desire to come into the light so that their deeds may be made known as having been wrought in god So we see the results of the unbelief here Men are divided into two classes of men those who believe and those who don't believe those who believe and those who don't believe Those who believe in christ they hope and they trust in christ They commit themselves to christ and they are not judged.

Why because christ received their judgment on the cross But those who love their evil ways they're in darkness They refuse to come into the light They refuse to come into the light who is jesus and they refuse to believe they refuse to believe and live They just cling to their darkness and their sinful deeds And you know folks We need to see that there are still just two classes of men There are only two classes of men I was reminded of this years and years ago I had a great aunt that lived to be pretty old all of the folks on my mother's side lived to be old They all lived into their late 90s and very good health And I never forget years ago.

I went to church with my aunt teeny She was the only one on that side of the family who was a baptist and I never forget one time after I had first come to christ I gathered up the nerve to witness to aunt teeny and oh her face glowed She told me about how she came to faith in christ how god saved her And I remember I went to church with aunt teeny one time and we're walking up the steps of of woodville baptist church there And there are two entrances And I don't know which one I chose.

I think I started to go to the left and she said oh no The goats go to the left The sheep go to the right How was she being serious I don't know Here's my point. There's only two classes of men You're either a sheep or you're either a goat One of the two And listen those who are in christ they believe They trust in christ. They've come to the light and they love the light and listen They desire to live in the light who is christ and they want to live in his word and his works and everything about christ And then there are the others the goats. They hate the light They love their sin.

They love their deeds of darkness They are living in unbelief and oh they might say that they believe in christ But their deeds and their loves scream otherwise. Let me say that again They may say they love christ But their deeds and their love scream otherwise They love and they live in the darkness not the light of christ not the light of his word And not his work You know folks Earlier, I said that verses nine and ten were a collision of sorts this spiritual collision Nicodemus speaks up and just says, you know, what about all this and oh jesus put him right into this place There's this collision.

There's this crossroads And everybody must come to a crossroads I remember years ago When I served at first babbitt church in ellisville, mississippi as a youth pastor. I preached a lot In every church i've ever served. I always preached a lot and I never forget after being there years Years, there was a night when a man in the church stood up and gave a testimony And he looked at me and he told me I was in shock.

I always resented you I resented for what you preached I resented for how you preached and he went on to explain that how I preached made him feel lost and undone He did not have a biblical testimony and right there before god and everybody he explained that every time I preached He came to a crossroads a crossroads a crossroads a spiritual collision Some of you right here you're at a spiritual collision You're at a spiritual collision And you need to see the results of man's unbelief Judgment And listen folks.

It's a beautiful thing to go to a funeral of a believer But it's a oh so sad thing to go to a funeral Of someone who's died in their unbelief. Listen, sir, ma'am young person don't die in your unbelief Don't leave in your unbelief Now as we think To how we've been challenged in this christmas series Remember we need to work hard to make jesus the centerpiece of this christmas celebration Yes This jesus the jesus we have been studying the incarnation God who has come in the flesh and we must work hard to make this jesus Oh the center of our christmas celebration.

I did that this week in the mud I had a day off coming I took one of my daughter's deer hunting a little And one morning I was walking to the deer stand Bright and early in the morning. Oh, it was bitter cold and there was a great frost on the ground And the sky was clear and I stood right there in the mud and I looked up And I paused and I gazed at those stars and I remembered what we studied and I said lord You designed those stars you created those stars and you sustained those stars And then my eye caught something there's a plane And I said lord You created that You designed that you gave men the ability to create it and design it and you sustain it right into the air And I stood right there and I worship this god in the mud And so whatever we do in our christmas celebration with our family with time off it worked We must honor this lord jesus this god who came in the flesh Listen we must seek him.

What did those wise men do they sought after christ? We must draw near to him in his word and in prayer and in communion and in obedience Listen, we must draw near to him. But oh remember our damnable dilemma The only way we can do that is because christ was the perfect sacrifice for sin He was my perfect sacrifice And we seek him by coming to him in true belief Jesus is the savior of all who would believe have you believed? Have you believed have you believed in this jesus who is the perfect sacrifice for sin? And listen folks, this is impossible It's impossible It's impossible.

Well, what did jesus the lord jesus say through gabriel to mary? What is impossible with man is possible with god and listen god can give you a new heart God can give you a new nature God can give you a new will and god for can forgive you of all of the guilt And all of the sin that you have been carrying around for all of these years Some of you need to make christmas great again By believing in christ trusting in christ and being saved To being born again And listen don't hold on to your empty religion like nicodemus did He walked away folks in unbelief Please don't leave in unbelief Remember the invitation from our song?

Oh friend Please receive it Now this concludes our series Jesus the incarnation of god We borrowed that term from our president donald trump. Remember he wants to make America great again. Well, we want to make christmas great again So let's make christmas great again this year and not just this year in the years to come by celebrating and worshiping This jesus and all that we do this Christmas let's pray we're gonna commit this to the lord and then we're gonna sing a wonderful new christmas song as we dismiss. Let's pray.