Well, take out your Bibles. We are... Coming tonight to one of the most famous verses of Scripture and also one of the most famous passages of Scripture. Tonight if you have your Bibles please turn to the Gospel of John chapter 3 verses 16 through 21. Now a few weeks ago at Easter I did a one sermon special on just John 3.16. This is not a repeat performance so if you were there for that night don't worry I'm not preaching the exact same message. But we're going to look at John 3.16 through 21 and the summary of the Gospel. So, please be upstanding as we read the Word of God together. If you do not have a Bible, the words will be up there on the screen for your convenience. God's Word says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. 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. And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. for everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed. 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. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's commit tonight's sermon to our great God in prayer. Lord, we thank you that we have the privilege of being able to come and fellowship as Christians, to hear your Word proclaimed. Father, we do pray that you would take your Word tonight, the Word which you have put your seal upon, Lord, the Word that you have spoken. Father, we pray you'll take that Word and apply it to our lives, that, Father, we would be changed, convicted, and challenged by your Word. Father, we do pray that you, by your Spirit, would illuminate the Scripture to us, that you would give us light and understanding as we read the Word of God together. And Father, as we unpack the Scripture, as we look at what is going on in your Holy Word, Father, I pray that you would cause my words to come to nothing, but you would allow your Word to go forth. That, Father, you would take out of this sermon that which you do not want to be preached. And Father, you would leave in that which is honouring to you. Lord, I do pray you would hide me behind your cross tonight. that Lord your word will go forth, your cross will go forth and that I'll be forgotten at the end. Father, I pray this message will be a blessing and encouragement to the saints but may it be a challenge and a means of converting those who do not know you. Father, we pray you'll do all these things for Jesus' holy name's sake. Amen. Please be seated. When I was 18, I was in Bible college. wasn't exactly a plan of my life to go into Bible college, but when God saved me, he had other plans. And when I was 18, I was actually a second year Bible college student. I entered when I was 17. But when I was 18, I had the duty of being able to preach a chapel service on my birthday, which I thought was pretty cool, because it was my 18th birthday, I get to go to the chapel and preach to my fellow students. But we had this new student who had come to our college, he was an older gentleman, well as an 18 year old I consider anyone over 40 an older gentleman, but he was about 45 and he had a passion for the gospel. He was really fired up about the truth of the scripture and the importance of evangelizing. While he had all these great things going for him, he also had some really bad things going for him. He was a Pom and a Kiwi. You can't get much worse. He held dual nationalities. So, he was an Englishman and a New Zealander. So, but anyway, you know, the best of men are men at best. He wasn't perfect, but he was really passionate about the Gospel. And he used to tell us all these stories about life in Britain and how Britain needed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he would tell us that before he was a Christian, he used to go to the soccer, or as he would call it, the football, to a barrack for his team. And whenever he went to the football and sat in the stadium, he would see someone in the crowd hold up a big sign saying John 3.16. And he told us that that used to confuse him. Here is a man who had no Christian background, his parents weren't Christian, he had no church upbringing, seeing a sign in the public arena saying John 3.16. He said his thoughts were these. He said when he saw that sign he thought there must be some man named John in the crowd who was to meet the sign carrying guy at 316. That's what he thought it meant or maybe it meant John meet me at unit 3 number 16. He had no concept of what this guy was trying to convey. He didn't make the connection that what that man had on the sign was actually a reference to scripture. It's a popular scripture though. It's the most popular scripture in all of the Bible. And tonight we're going to look at this scripture, but we're not going to look at it as a standalone. See, context is the key to understanding the Bible and John 3.16 is just the starting verse in a great discourse about what the gospel is and also about its benefits and the results of those who reject or receive it. So, we're going to look at John 3.16 tonight, the most quoted verse in all the scripture, the most memorised verse in all the Bible. We're going to look at it in the context of the wider narrative. Tonight, by God's grace, we're going to examine what the Word of God means. What is it the Apostle John is trying to convey to us here? What is it that John 2,000 years ago when writing was trying to tell believers in his day and also tell believers in our day? Well, hopefully we'll work that out by the end of the night. That John 3,16 is not the be all and end all. It is the start of a glorious account of our great God. who just describes who He is and then goes on to show something about us, our nature and our response. However, before we get into the Word, I must point something out here. In many Bibles, when you read this passage, you'll see they are in red letters. John 3, 16 to 21 in many Bibles is a red letter verse. However, scholars tend to agree that this was not actually spoken by Jesus and therefore should not be red lettered. They say it's the Apostle John writing a narrative, an account of the conversation that just went on before. They say that 16 to 21 is actually John summarizing what Jesus said to Nicodemus in verses 1 through 15. If it is the Word of Jesus, it's Scripture. If it is the Word of John, it's still Scripture. Because all Scripture, not just the red letters, are breathed out by God. Every word in this book is from God's Holy Mouth. So, it doesn't matter if John spoke it and wrote it or Jesus spoke it, it's still Scripture. So, may God tonight speak to us via this Scripture. May He apply it to our lives that we may be equipped for every good work. Tonight's sermon is going to be a break from my traditions and from my Baptist traditions. You know, the Baptist tradition is you have a three-point sermon. Yet taught in Bible college, have a three-point sermon. I don't have a three-point sermon tonight. I only have a two-point, so I'm not very Baptist tonight. But the two points we're going to look at is this. First, we're going to look at the Gospel offer and its benefits, verses 16 through 18. And secondly, we're going to look at the response to the Gospel and the reason for the response, verses 19 to 21. We're going to cover a wide wide spectrum tonight. We're going to start off God, God's love, God's gift, man's response, man's nature. How then shall we live if we respond to this gospel? We're going to cover a wide variety of issues, but that is what John is trying to convey in this passage. So, with that in mind, let's look at our first point, the gospel offer and its benefits. It kind of goes without saying to say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has benefits. You know, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when we trust in Jesus, when we turn from our sins and trust in Him who died upon the cross for sinners and who rose again from the dead, when we trust in Him, our lives are radically transformed. We have benefits in our lives that we did not have before. For instance, when we become a Christian, God promises joy and peace and happiness, the fruit of the Spirit. When we become a Christian, we have the forgiveness of sin in heaven when we die. These are benefits from the gospel. But the benefits of the gospel should not just impact us. A society that believes in the gospel should be forever changed by the gospel power. Communities where Christians are active are often better communities than those that don't have Christians who are active. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has benefits to the individual who believes, but also for the community as a whole. Everything should change when we come to the Gospel of Christ. We cannot come to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and leave the same way as when we heard it. Be it Christian or non-Christian, if a Christian hears the Gospel of Christ, we should be changed as a Christian. If a non-Christian hears the Gospel of Christ, he should be changed. He may reject it, but he still has the knowledge of what Christ has done. His life is forever changed. And in this passage, we read the Gospel summary and we see some of the benefits for the individual. Let's look at the Scripture, 16 to 18. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but in order the world might be saved through Him. 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." The passage starts off with a grand statement doesn't it? For God so loved. God is not a distant God. God is a God who is interested in society and interested in the world that He has created. It starts off this passage by showing us the loving kindness and the mercy of God. For God so loved the world. God loves the world, but of course when we hear that we need to question, how does God love the world? Is God some sort of heavenly Santa Claus who just sits back and looks in the world and says, I love you? How does God love the world? How is it that God shows love towards us? If you look at the original languages of John 3, the original Greek, it says, the literal construct goes something like this, God loves the world in this way and then goes on to list in which way He loves the world. He loves the world in this way, that he gave Christ. If you want to understand how God loves the world, look at Christ. The Bible confirms that in Romans 5 verse 8 and says that God shows his love towards us and that while we're still yet sinners, Christ died for us. The love of God is always in connection with the cross. That's how God shows his love towards us, the cross of Calvary. God loves, God gives, and God gives us the greatest gift, Jesus Christ. Now, when we say God loves, we're not, our society doesn't really have a concept of love anymore. Love in our society seems to be all about self and what you can get out of it, or the soppy boyfriend-girlfriend sort of love, you know, the ones you see in the movies. That's not the love being described here. God is not a heavenly boyfriend just wishing to see us all the time. The love that God shows towards us is a agape love, that is a love that is self-sacrificing. It's a love that thinks of other. It's a love that sacrifices self for the object of the love. And we clearly see God self-sacrificing when we look at the cross of Calvary. When we look at what Jesus Christ had to go through. When we think about how on the cross he was beaten and marred more than any man. When we think about how on the cross God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. When we think on the cross, he was mocked, he was beaten, he was ridiculed. When we think upon the cross, we see that God's love was not one of, what can I get out of this? But rather it was a self-sacrificing love. God loved us even though we had sinned. Even though we by nature are rebels and enemies of God for our mind of wicked work, God in love sacrificed himself on the cross. God in love, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for sinners. God loves the world in this way. He sent Christ to die on the cross. But when John says here, God loves the world, he was targeting a Jewish mindset. Jesus just spoke to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus being a ruler of the Jews, the teacher of the Jews, had the concept that their nation alone were the only ones that could be saved. It was a thing that the Jews were known for, their elitism. But when John says, for God so loved the world, he's showing that, guess what? Salvation is not just for one particular national group. It's not just for Israel, but it's for the people of the world. It's open to every tribe, nation and tongue. The Jews had the mindset, we and we alone are chosen. No one else can get into God's kingdom. No one else is worthy of God's love. But when John says, for God so loved the world, he's saying it extends beyond our borders of Israel. It extends to the nations out there. I guess, for God so loved the world can be summarized like this. For God so loved the United Kingdom. For God so loved the USA. For God so loved Iraq, for God so loved Russia, for God so loved New Zealand, for God so loved Australia. God loves the nations of the world, for God so loved, list whatever nation you want. The nations that we had listed up there before that have been downloading sermons from this church, God loves them and he will save people from every nation, tribe and tongue. God loves the world that he gave his only son. Some Bibles don't say only son, they'll say words like this, only begotten son or his one and only son. They're trying to convey this meaning which is consistent. God loves and that he gave his only unique son. Jesus is unique. He's not like any other religious figure in the world. He is the unique one. He is the son of Almighty God. Scholars tend to say the best rendering of John 3.16 goes like this, God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only unique son, that the believing ones would not perish but have eternal life. God has given the only unique son. There is no one in this world, there is no one who can come into this world who is to be compared to Christ. He and He alone, according to the Scripture, is the one to whom we are to believe for our eternal salvation. He is the only one who can accomplish our salvation. Jesus is not one God among the gods. Jesus is the only unique one, the only true God. He doesn't even compare to the wannabe religious leaders or false messiahs of the world. Jesus Christ is the unique Saviour. And that's what this verse is showing us. That there is only one Saviour. There is only one gift that came from God in love to save the world and that was the unique Son, Jesus Christ. There are not multiple ways of salvation. There are not multiple paths to God. There is but one path. Jesus Christ the righteous. The Bible tells us that there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ, the unique one, is the only one that can forgive our sins. For He and He alone must save us. There are many religious leaders on the horizon of the world. Buddha is not unique. Muhammad is not unique. Krishna and the Hindu deities are not unique. The Pope is not unique. They're all false saviors, false ways to God. There's only one true way, Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts, the apostles said this, there is no other name given unto heaven by which men must be saved. The only way of salvation is this unique son that was sent from God in love. Jesus himself said that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no man can come to the father except by me. Jesus is unique. He's the only unique one that can save us from all our sin. He and he alone is the only one that can give us hope. God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only unique son, that the believing ones would not perish but have eternal life. If we as Christians would put our trust in this verse 100%, we would have joy unspeakable. For this reason, we look to what Christ has done and it should fill us with great joy that God loved us enough to send Christ. But if we're not a Christian, if you're not one who has trusted in Christ, think upon the statement, God loves the world. He sent Christ into the world that if you would believe, you would not perish but have eternal life. If we would cast our cares upon Christ, if we would cast our sins upon Christ, if we would trust in His promise, we would have eternal life. Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ purchased the redemption for God's elect. He died on the cross for sinners, and three days later He arose again from the dead, defeating sin and death. so that if we would believe, if we would turn, if we would trust in Him, we would have eternal life. The unique Saviour came to save. That was the purpose of Jesus' coming. He came to save His people from their sins, as it says in Matthew 1.21. See, Jesus didn't come to condemn. At His first coming, Jesus did not come into this world to condemn people. He came to save people. Does not the scripture say, we looked at at the start, For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order the world might be saved through him. The mission of Jesus when he came to earth 2,000 years ago was not one of condemnation. He didn't come to condemn people to hell, but rather he came to save people. However, the next time Christ comes, the next time Jesus Christ comes, the second coming of Jesus Christ, he will return as judge. And at that time, there will be condemnation for those that believe not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first time was salvation. The second time is judgment. The first time was mercy, holding back the judgment we so rightly deserve. The second time, no mercy will be shown upon those who obey not God. Jesus Christ came to call sinners unto himself. He came not to condemn but to save. Jesus described his mission in Luke 5.32 when he says, I have not come to call the righteous but I have come to call sinners to repentance. Jesus came to call people to turn from their sins and trust in him. And again, this statement challenges the Jewish ideals. This statement challenged the Judaic principles of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They believed that when the Messiah would come, he would come to save them and them alone, but to condemn all the heathens. Jesus doesn't do that. John tells us that he did not come to condemn but he came to save. The Jews would have been reeling at this sort of statement. It struck at the core of their man-centered theology. The Saviour had come to save not to condemn. That was Jesus' message 2,000 years ago. I've come not to condemn but to save and that would be his message tonight to you. I've not come to condemn, but I've come to save. Jesus Christ has been saving people for 2,000 years. He's not going to stop tonight. If you don't know Christ, then come to Him. Come to Him and the condemnation you're already in will be gone. Christ won't condemn you. He'll forgive you your sins if you would repent and trust in Him. Would you come to Christ tonight if you've never been to Him? The Bible then goes on to say, whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in Him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Listen again to the Word of God. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already. because he is not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Here we get introduced to two different types of people and John's going to play out the two different types of people for the rest of this passage. The first group are those who are not condemned. The second group are those who are condemned already. Which group are you in tonight? So, who are these people who are not condemned? The Bible gives us a clear answer. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned. Those who would turn from their sin and trust in Jesus are not condemned in the sight of God. Why? Because on the cross Jesus paid it all. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So many Christians will say, live in fear and worry. I have a friend who lives this way. He has this fear that if he slips up, if he sins, he falls instantly under the condemnation of God and he's going to go to hell. That's not true for the Christian. The Christian slips up and we have a defence attorney. We have Jesus Christ, the advocate who stands before the Father, who lives to make intercession for us. When we sin as a Christian, when we slip up and we realize that what we've done is wrong, there's still no condemnation. For on the cross, Jesus was condemned in the place of the Christian. On the cross, Jesus took all our condemnation. So, if we would believe, we will not be condemned. The verse does not say, if you believe, you won't be condemned for a time and then later you will be condemned when you slip up. It doesn't say that. It says, if you would believe, you will not be condemned. If you would trust in Christ, there is no condemnation. Saints, we cannot be condemned. We can't be condemned if you're a believer. By all rights, we should. By all rights, we should be condemned by God because we have sinned against Him. But God, in love, doesn't condemn us, not because of anything we have done, but He doesn't condemn us because of what Christ has done. Because Jesus was condemned in our place. Because Jesus was condemned and rose again. And when we believe in Him, we won't be condemned either. We won't be condemned. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned. Now, it should be noted here that when we see the word believe, it doesn't just mean intellectual assent, okay? It doesn't just go, yeah, I believe Jesus existed, I'm sweet to go. It's not what it's getting at. The word believe means to trust inexplicably. It's like a man who jumps out of an aeroplane, he trusts in a parachute to save him. And that's what it's like with Jesus. You trust in him and who he is to save you. Last night I was in the city witnessing, I got to witness to a Hindu man. And if you ever want a confused religious worldview, talk to a Hindu man. I was confused by the end of what he was saying. I don't think he knew what he believed. But when I was talking about this passage, I was saying that Jesus is the only unique saviour. He is the only one who can take us from condemnation to life. He is the saviour. You see, I believe in Jesus. Really, you believe in Jesus? He goes, yeah, Jesus is up there with the other manifestations of God. I said, well, no, you don't. You might have an intellectual belief that Jesus existed. He goes, yes, that's right. Hang on, but do you believe and trust that He must save you? No. Do you believe and trust that He is God? No. Do you believe and trust that He is the only hope for the world? No. Do you believe and trust that what He said and taught is true? No. I'm sorry, you don't believe. You don't trust in Christ. You trust in an intellectual Christ. Jesus existed. It's an intellectual belief. But we need to go beyond the intellectual belief and trust in Christ alone. And whoever believes or trusts in him is not condemned. The second type of person in this passage is the condemned man. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. All those out in the world who do not know Christ, all non-Christians in the world, the Bible says they are condemned already. We were once condemned. But when we believed in Christ, we passed from the condemnation. The world is condemned. And oftentimes people accuse Christians of being condemning because we say you must turn to Christ and live. We can't condemn a condemned man. The world is condemned already because they have not believed in the Son of God. Their position is not one to be envied, it's a fearful position for they're under the condemnation of the wrath of God. And it's with this knowledge that the world is condemned, it's with this knowledge that the people who do not know Christ are under His wrath, that we in love should go and minister to them. We should take the message of the Gospel to them, that if they would believe, if they would trust in Christ, they would pass from their condemnation. There's a sign at the back of the church that says, reach one more for Jesus. May we reach beyond one more. May we reach a generation with those of the gospel of Jesus Christ. See, people are naturally condemned. It comes naturally. We are born in sin. Our hearts are wicked. By nature we drink in sin as if it is water. We are condemned because we are sinful by nature. And then we have the greatest act of rebellion. We don't believe in the Son of God. We don't trust in Jesus. That is by far the greatest condemnation, is it not? We're condemned because of our sin, but when we hear Christ presented, if we reject Him, reject Him, how much more would our condemnation be? How fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God after we reject the Saviour. That Hindu man last night fits into this condemned category because he believed Jesus among the gods. He didn't accept him as the only unique son of God. And because of that rejection, he was condemned already. So tonight, my question for you is, have you looked to Christ? Have you looked to Jesus Christ? If you have not looked to Jesus Christ, then you are condemned. But if you have looked to Jesus Christ, you are not condemned. But rather, you are in the Beloved. God cares for you and nothing will snatch you from His hand. If you trust in Christ, you'll be saved for eternity. For those whom Christ saves, He saves to the uttermost. Second point tonight. It seems weird to say second and final point. Second and final point, the response to the gospel and its reason, verses 19 through 21. So far, as we've seen, we've seen the different things presented, we've seen the gospel and we've seen people who get condemned and people who aren't condemned when they believe in Christ. But the question we need to ask is this, how do you, there's only two ways we can respond to this message of the gospel. How will you respond? And what do you think the world will do? How is it? How do the people of the world respond to the claims of Christ? How do people respond to God's love? How do people respond to the claims in the person of Jesus Christ? Verse 19 to 21 says, there are two ways in which people act. There are two ways in which people act. There's only two ways we can handle the gospel of Christ. Some will believe and some will reject. That's the two ways. Verse 19, 21 says, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and the people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed. 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." Again, two groups. John's carrying over the groups here, the condemned and the not condemned. The first group here are the condemned ones, those who will not come to the light, See, the people who are condemned utterly refuse to acknowledge Jesus. They, by nature, hate Him. They will long to see Him destroyed. You know, if Jesus Christ appeared again today and people had their way, I'm convinced they would crucify Him afresh. You want to see the hatred for Jesus? Go to the Queen Street Mall on a Saturday night. Go and share the Gospel with people and you'll find they absolutely abhor Jesus Christ. If they had their way, Jesus would be killed and so would you for preaching Him. People hate Christ. And that's what this verse is saying. People won't come to the light because they love darkness. People won't come to Jesus because they hate Him and love their sin. In my role as an evangelistic minister, I was involved in a young evangelist mentoring program. I had to put a year's worth of mentoring by a senior evangelist and one of the events that we did was we have all the other young evangelists get together for a night and we sit around, we basically have a chinwag and we sit there and we have a talk and people were talking about this issue, the response to the Gospel. And something all the young evangelists said was this, oh people love Jesus, everyone in the world loves Jesus, we just need to preach the Gospel to them. And I said, I respectfully disagree to that. They said, no, trust me, everyone loves Jesus. No, they don't. John here says they don't. The Bible is clear, people won't come to the light because they love their wickedness. See, this passage does not even allow people to like Jesus. There's no possibility for people liking Jesus in this verse. There's not even a possibility for people being neutral about Jesus in this verse. With Jesus, it's either all or nothing. You either love him or you're against him. You're either in the light or in the darkness. There's no middle ground. The text shows us clearly that people won't come to Jesus Christ since they love darkness. They hate Christ and do wicked deeds. You want to know why some people won't come to Jesus? Here's your answer. They love darkness. And we think that's horrible. That is absolutely horrible. Is there any way to reach them? Absolutely. With the light. We at one point were these people. If you were a Christian now, at some point in your life, you were the one who hated Christ. You were the one who lived in darkness and would not come to the light. But at some point, if you're a Christian now, God, by His grace, drew you to Jesus Christ. And when you looked upon Christ, when you looked upon the cross of Calvary and you saw the empty tomb, By faith you were saved. And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. Christ is the light. Christ is the light. He has come into the world and people love the darkness, not him. It was true 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ walked the earth How did the people back then respond to Jesus? They nailed him to a cross. And it's true to us today. The world around us does not love Jesus Christ. If you want to see it more locally, go witnessing on Saturday morning in Banyo. People won't come to the light. God offers the free gift of salvation, but men and women say, that's not for me. I don't want anything to do with it. We had three people drive past in cars yesterday and yell abuse at us from their car windows. They don't like the light. One man said he wanted the Bible because he wanted to take it to the toilet not to read but to wipe himself with. They don't like the light, they hate the light and they won't come to the light lest their deeds be exposed as being evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed. Those who refuse Christ hate Christ. Those who refuse Christ hate him absolutely. They won't come to Christ because they don't want to give up their sin. People love sin. I've met people I've spoken to who have agreed to the gospel. When I presented them, they've agreed that it's true, but then said statements like, I'd rather live my life of sin first. They love sin more than they love the precious Saviour. And that's true for anyone who won't come to Christ. You love that which will kill you, instead of the one that can save you. But we must be careful not to condemn these people ourselves. It's no use us going around saying, guess what, you hate Christ so I'm going to reject you. No, we hated Christ too, but God saved us. So take the gospel of Jesus Christ to them and pray that God would work supernaturally in their hearts, that he would save them for his glory and his glory alone. The second group of people here are the Christians. We've had the non-Christians, what they do, they love their sin, but now we have to the Christians, those who have believed in the Son, and it tells us how we as Christians should act. But whoever does what is true comes to light so they may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out from God or of God. The Christian is one who has been born again, They are the one who has been regenerated by the Spirit of God and as a result, they do that which is true and they embrace the light of Jesus Christ. They embrace the truth of Jesus in repentance and faith. But notice from this verse, the person who does that, the person who believes in Christ, who is not condemned, the one who walks in the light, does works and it's clearly seen. We as Christians must produce fruit. we must produce good works in keeping with our confession of faith. There is no way that we can be an undercover Christian. We must be growing in holiness, we must be conformed into the image of Christ, we must be doing good deeds. There's a preaching story that goes around about a minister who one day saw someone in his congregation who hadn't been there for years and at the end the minister grabbed the guy and shook him by his hand and said, You signed up to God's army. You better be doing God's army's work. You better be out there growing in the truth of the scripture. You better be telling people about Jesus, growing in holiness. You're in God's army. You've enlisted. Do your work." And the man turned to the minister and said, yes, but as with all armies, there's a secret service and I'm in God's secret service. His mind was that he could be an undercover Christian. One who could hide from growing in truth. Hide from doing good deeds. But the Bible says, if you have faith, you must produce works. And that's what we see in this passage. In this verse, the one who is in the truth, the one who has come to the light, has works. And people see it and say, that has clearly come from God. As Christians, we must produce fruit. But let me stress something here. Good works do not and cannot save us. Okay, we don't do good works and good deeds to be saved and to earn favour with God. We cannot earn favour with God. Jesus Christ purchased our favour. We cannot do anything to get right with God. We do good deeds because God has saved us. You know, a duck quacks because it's a duck. You don't quack to become a duck. A duck does that which is natural to them. And a Christian does good deeds because it should come naturally to them. When they've been converted, we produce fruit. We bring forth fruit, keeping with our repentance. We do it so God can be glorified. That's the reason for our fruit. We don't do it for self. We don't do it to say, hey, look at me. I've done this. No, we do good works for God and His glory. In Matthew 5, 14 to 16, Jesus says, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all those in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Our good works serve to bring Him glory. That's the only reason we do it, for His glory. That's our whole purpose, to bring Him glory. We get saved, God gets glorified. We go to heaven, God gets glorified. We do works in our community, we bring forth fruit, we do it for His glory, so the world around us might praise God and know that they should praise the Living God. The non-Christians do evil and hate the light, but we as Christians do the opposite. We come to the light, we do good deeds and we keep in the light. There should be a clear distinction really between us and the world. There should be a clear distinction between the Christians and the non-Christians. The believer and the non-believer should be clearly defined. We as Christians must not live like the world lives. We must not act the same as a non-Christian. Because if you've been saved, if you're a new creation, you do good works, you're in the light, you don't fellowship with the darkness. You don't do the works of darkness. Our pleasures in life should not come from the same source of the world. They should not come from the same sinful desires the world has, but rather our joy and pleasure should be found in Christ. There should be a clear distinction. People should be able to spot and see the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. The church should act that way. The church should not be a religious version of the world. It is to be separate. It is to be holy. It is to be set apart unto God. For us to act like the world for joy would be like an angel of heaven stepping down to hell for his own enjoyment. It shouldn't happen. And we as Christians should do good deeds and live as Christians. But whoever does that, whoever does what is true comes to the light. So it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. There's two ways to live here. You either live like the world or you live like one who's been saved. Which way are you living? Tonight we've seen the gospel call. We've seen the love of God shown to the world. We've seen that the believing ones, those who trust in Christ would not perish. We've seen that you're condemned if you don't believe in Christ, you're under the wrath of God. But then we've also seen that if you trust in Christ, if you trust in His salvation that is all of grace, you won't be condemned. We've seen that the people reject Christ not on the reason that they're angry with God or God has wronged them, but they reject Christ because they love sin and they won't come to the light lest their deeds be exposed. But we've also seen the Christians live opposite. The Christian comes to Christ and they bring forth good fruits. No longer condemned, but they serve Christ. So what group are you in tonight? There's only two groups to be in. Just like State of Origin, it's either New South Wales or Queensland. You can't be going for Victoria. And it's the same with this. Two groups, the condemned or the non-condemned. Which one are you in? Are you living like a Christian? Are you desiring to be holy as He is holy? Are you bringing forth fruit, keeping with your repentance? Or are you barren and fruitless? Maybe you're a non-Christian tonight. And if that's the case, let me stress this to you. You are currently under the condemnation and judgment of God. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. If you're under condemnation, if you're under the judgment of God, look to the empty cross. Look to the empty tomb. Look to Jesus Christ and be saved. Turn from your sins and come to him tonight. So which camp are you in this evening? The condemned or the non-condemned? The Christian or the non-Christian? The lovers of light or lovers of darkness? Something to ponder. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you that you in love sent Jesus Christ into this world. We thank you that even though we were your enemies, even though we deserve judgment, even though we had done wrong, you sent Christ. Father, help us to always focus on Christ, help us to remember Christ of who he is and what he has done. May we love him, serve him, obey him and honour him all the days of our lives. Father, I pray that we as Christians would know that we are no longer condemned, that because we are in Christ, we are not under condemnation. But Lord, I pray for those who do not know you, those who are still under condemnation. Father, reveal the light to them. Please bring them to Christ that they may live. Father, if there be someone here tonight that does not know Christ, I pray that right now you would convict them of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. that Lord Jesus you'd be revealed to them and that they would come to you trusting in Jesus Christ alone. Father, I pray that you'd be glorified in our lives, that we'd bring forth fruit in keeping with our repentance and that you'd be praised forever. We pray all these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.