If you have your Bibles, go ahead and reach down and grab them, and you can open them up to the gospel according to John chapter 2. John chapter 2. So we've been slowly but surely working our way through the beginning of John's gospel here. The last section of text we looked at in John was the incident of our Lord cleansing the temple at Passover. Today we'll be looking primarily at the final three verses of John chapter two. However, in order to properly situate ourselves and to remind ourselves where we are in this narrative, to give ourselves some context, I'm going to begin our reading of God's word at verse 13. So turn with me in your Bibles, if you're not there already, to John chapter two, beginning in verse 13, and we'll read to the end of the chapter. This is the word of the Lord. The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple, he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. So the Jews said to him, what sign do you show us for doing these things? Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days? but he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Let's bow our heads. God, we thank you so much for giving us this word. Lord, we thank you for your wisdom in providing us exactly what we need to know you and trust you and love you. God, we just ask your blessing on this time of preaching and of hearing your word preached right now. Lord, let us just hear directly from you. Lord, open my mouth to speak your truth. And Lord, if I'm about to say anything contrary to your word, God, just divert my mind, make me, get me back on the right path or stop my mouth, Lord. God, open our minds and our hearts to hear your gospel now and bless our time, Lord, in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. Well, there are two main points today that I wanna draw out of our passage. I'm gonna go ahead and tell you what they are so that you know where we're going in this message. Number one, Jesus is selective with whom he entrusts himself. Jesus is selective with whom he entrusts himself. And number two, Jesus knows the hearts of all people. Jesus knows the hearts of all people. So let's go ahead and dive right into our first point today. Jesus is selective with whom he entrusts himself. The scripture passage we read says that many people, many people believed in Jesus's name when they saw the signs that he was doing. This would normally, I think, be regarded as a good thing in our minds. Ah, people are believing in Christ. They're seeing him work these wonders and they're believing in him. The apostle John, the one who wrote this gospel, later at the end in John 20, actually says that Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." So John tells us that he recorded that the Apostle John wrote down these signs, these miracles that Jesus performed for the express purpose that people might believe, that people might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they might receive eternal life. The signs, as we've discussed, were not an end unto themselves. Just like any other sign, it pointed to something greater. And these signs were pointing to Jesus's identity as the Lord and Savior of the world. They were intended to lead people to belief in Christ. Even today, those of us who are reading John's Gospel, who are reading indeed the entire Bible, ought to be drawn to belief in Christ because, in part, of these signs which our Lord performed. He was a wonder-working Savior. This man raised people from the dead. He gave sight to the blind. He turned water into wine. He healed the lame. We must say this truly must be the Son of God. This truly must be the Messiah. So the explicit purpose of these signs is to lead people to faith, to believe in His name. He did not do many of these signs, Jesus, He did not do many of these signs merely for the immediate benefit they produced. What I mean is Jesus didn't only turn the water into wine so that the wedding party would keep going and everyone would have a good time. Though, of course, he wanted that to be the case, that mattered to him. He is an abundant provider of good gifts, even earthly gifts. He's not only a provider of spiritual things, he provides for us all things for our life and for our enjoyment. Jesus didn't feed the 5,000 merely because the people were hungry, though that also mattered to him greatly. In fact, the Bible tells us that one of Jesus's reasons for feeding the masses, for healing those who are sick, is because he had compassion on them. He had compassion on those who were suffering. That's not only spiritual suffering. He had compassion on those who were suffering from bodily affliction, suffering from hunger, suffering from sadness. He had compassion, but All the physical signs and miracles that Jesus worked while he was here on earth were intended primarily, first and foremost, to glorify God, to show himself to be the Messiah who would save his people from their sins, and to lead people to trust in him for salvation. That was the main intent of Jesus performing these signs. So you would think, or at least I thought, I would think, that when the Apostle John tells us in chapter two, verse 23 of our text today, that quote, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing, you'd think this would be regarded as a good thing. Jesus did signs to lead people to faith. Many people believed in him. That sounds great. that must mean people are being saved, we think. But interestingly, that's not what John tells us is happening here. Because as soon as John tells us in verse 23, that many people believed in the name of Jesus, he goes on to say this in verse 24. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them. Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to those who believed in him. And at this point we might say, what? Jesus, these people saw you working the wonders. They believed in your name, which you've commanded them to do, but you don't entrust yourself to them? Why is that? What does that even mean? Now, I'm not a Greek scholar. I did not do very good. in Greek in seminary. I think I was running on just prayers and gracious professors, and I think I poured out most of my Greek knowledge in the ink that went on to my final exam. I'm not fluent. I'm so grateful that God has graciously given some of his children, including us, the gift of reading his word in our own language. I'm so grateful that he has blessed many of his people like Hannah that we heard from last week with this to me, unreal seeming ability to know other languages and to be able to translate God's Word so the lost sheep can be gathered in. I'm so grateful for that. Your English Bibles are real Bibles. I want to emphasize that. There's not anything missing from your Bibles. It is the very Word of God. As the translators of the King James Version state, a translation of the scriptures, even a poor translation, or in their language they say, even the meanest translation, which just means even the worst possible translation, a translation of the scriptures does not only contain the word of God, but is the word of God itself. That is a truth that the church has taught and preached for centuries, that a translation of the word of God is the word of God. It's not like you have to read Greek or Hebrew to truly understand what the Bible is saying. Now I say all that preface to say, while that is abundantly true, there is still a great benefit from having some knowledge of the Greek New Testament. And the reason I'm pointing that out now is there is something that I think in the Greek jumps out in verses 23 and 24, that when you read it in English, isn't quite so clear. And that is namely this, that the word used for the people's belief, many believed in his name, the word used for belief in verse 23 is the same word used for Jesus not entrusting himself to people in verse 24. So the translators could have said, if they wanted a more wooden translation, it might be a little awkward, they could have said, many people believed in Jesus's name, but Jesus did not believe in them. Interesting way of putting it. But belief and trust are so closely linked in the Bible. The concept of believing in Jesus and trusting in Jesus, they're so closely linked concepts that they could be interchangeable. And we might say, well, what is going on here? What does it mean Jesus did not believe in them? The people saw something in Jesus that made them believe in him. Did he see something about the people that made him not believe in them, we might ask? Did he see something in them that made him not entrust himself to them? We might even stop here and say, wait, I thought if someone believed in Jesus, then they were automatically saved. Isn't that how it works? Well, no, we cannot manipulate or determine God's sovereign will in saving whom he will save. It is absolutely true. It is gospel truth, one of the sweetest gospel truths in existence, that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. But it is also true that many will say to him on that final day, on that great day of judgment, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and do many mighty works in your name? And then Jesus will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Those people on judgment day who were told by Jesus that He never knew them, those people believed in Jesus's name. We know that because they call Him Lord. And they don't even just call Him Lord once, they call Him Lord twice, emphasizing that they believe He is the sovereign King. But Jesus doesn't know them. They believe in Jesus, but Jesus doesn't believe in them, we could even say. He never entrusted himself to them. Now, I don't want to go off on a rabbit trail, but in case anyone's wondering, why didn't he do that in this instance? We know in this specific instance, the reason is because they were trying to justify themselves by their works. They weren't saying, Lord, Lord, save me a sinner. Lord, Lord, I'm just an unprofitable servant. Lord, Lord, I deserve hell, but God be gracious to me. Lord, Lord, blot out my uncleanness, purge me with hyssop. Lord, wash me, then I'll be whiter than snow." They're not saying that. They're saying, Lord, Lord, look at all these things I did for you. Don't I deserve heaven? Lord, I did these works and these works and these works. But the Apostle Paul tells us that no one will be justified by works of the law. That's why they're not saved. They didn't have heart religion. They weren't trusting in Jesus's work, even though they believed in him with their minds. Here's another example of belief in Jesus not saving a person. The apostle James says in chapter two of his epistle, you believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Hmm. James says, don't think because you believe some correct things about God and about Christ that that automatically means you are one of God's children. The demons themselves know correct theology. Think about that. The demons have better mental theology than anyone in this room. They do, but it never penetrated to their hearts. These are people that know things about God that we are confused about, and yet God designed hell for them, for the devil and his angels. They know full well who Jesus is, and far from giving them comfort that they know about Jesus, it makes them afraid. The demons are afraid because of the things they know about Christ, because they know they will be judged by him. Some people, some people today, maybe you know some of them, maybe some people in your family or some of your friends, they do really believe in Jesus in their heads. They have no doubt in their minds that Jesus is the son of God, but they aren't saved. And they don't have a godly fear of judgment either. That means, and think about this, that means if someone believes in Christ, but doesn't trust and love him with his or her heart and is not afraid of judgment. That means that their faith is even more deficient than demonic faith because even the demons have a fear of God and of his coming judgment. That sounds crazy. That sounds crazy that our faith could be worse off than the faith of the demons. But I think that's what James is telling us here. So we can and must believe the promises of God. Everyone that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is absolute truth. And we also must realize that there will be some who call upon the name of the Lord who will not be saved. Now, how in the world do those things go together? How does that make any sense? Is there a contradiction in God's word? And I think we would say with the apostle Paul, by no means. There is no contradiction in God's word, but it leads us to our second point in the sermon day. And this will uncover a little bit why this would be the case. Jesus knows the hearts of all people. Jesus knows the hearts of all people. Look back at our text with me. John chapter two, beginning at verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. So right within those three verses, John tells us the key of how to understand this conundrum that is before us, that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and that some who will profess faith in Christ will not be saved. It tells us why Jesus did not entrust himself to these people who believed in his name. Why did he not? These people, they're seeing the signs and they believe in Jesus. And we don't know the exact content of their faith, but they believe something. And it seems they believe something even correct. about Christ. They likely believe that he's the Messiah. They believe that he is sent from heaven, but their belief is only up here, only in their heads. Their belief never penetrated down to their heart. That's the problem. Their belief in Christ was not in their hearts. That's why Jesus did not entrust himself to them. He knew what was in man. That's a reference to our hearts. He knew what was in man. Just like the demons who believe that Jesus is Lord in their heads while rejecting his Lordship in their hearts, or just like those people in Matthew 7 that are prophesied about on judgment day who say, Lord, Lord, they believed and did many of the right things, so-called, but they never trusted Christ in their heart of hearts. you can believe the right things about God and still go to hell. There will be many, many people I fear, many people who get baptized, who are raised in Christian homes, who come to church weekly, who call themselves Christians, who will not spend eternity in the glorious, happy presence of our Lord and Savior. This is because Christianity is not just a set of beliefs you affirm. You can't become a Christian just by having good theology. You can't become a Christian just by reading all the right books and knowing all the right things. At its core, being a Christian means that you have been born again such that your heart has been transformed to truly love God, to truly trust in Jesus Christ, to know that he died for your sins and that he rose again on the third day. It is a heart relationship with Jesus, not only as your creator and judge, but also as your Redeemer, your Savior, and the Bible even says, as your friend and brother. It is that relationship with Christ that saves you. Christianity is absolutely a religion. I know we've all heard in our current day, people say, well, it's not a religion, it's a relationship. And I appreciate what people that say that are trying to emphasize when they say that. It's the same thing that I'm trying to explain right now. It's not what you know, that's another phrase. It's not what you know, it's who you know. That's right. It's not what you know, it's who you know. But nevertheless, Christianity is still a religion as well as a relationship. Christianity is in fact the religion. It's the only true religion. Everything else is an aberration. Everything else is a misinterpretation, is man-made religion. Christianity is God sent and God revealed religion. And there are absolutely certain theological truths that you have to get right. You cannot be wrong on everything. You have to believe. The Bible tells us that God is one. That is crucial. That is imperative. If you were to call yourself a Christian, you have to believe that God is one. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. You have to believe in the resurrection. but no amount of head knowledge, no amount of working for God, no amount of doing nice, good, godly things or anything like that can make you a child of God. You are only a child of God if he knows you and entrusts himself to you. And you are confirmed that he does this by him giving you a new heart, a heart that wants good things and that hates sin. A heart that loves God and loves what God loves. And therefore a heart that hates what God hates. A heart that knows that he is your only hope for salvation. I have made many, many, many sins. I will continue to do so, I know. But I am confident that when I stand before the Lord on Judgment Day, I will not try to justify myself by my works. Why do I know that? Because right now, I feel too guilty. to stand before God in my own works. So certainly when I'm in His presence face to face, I will feel too guilty to stand before God in my own works. I know that. My heart's testifying within me that I'm not right in my flesh before God. You have that heart that gives you the correct frame of mind that shows you that you are a sinner. but also that gives you great hope that Jesus died for sinners just like you. And then he raised you up with him and seated you in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, and that he has prepared a place for you in heaven with his father. Jesus said, in my father's house, there are many mansions. Think of that. In one house, there are many mansions. What a house that must be in the heavens we have waiting for us. The great Puritan pastor, William Perkins, sometimes thought of as a father of the Puritans, tells us that every man must be settled without doubt that he was the man that crucified Christ. That's the difference in people that are trying to justify themselves before God and people that know that they are sinners. Every man must be convinced, or woman we could say, that he or she is the man or woman that crucified Christ. You must know that your sins were so great that the Son of God had to die for your atonement, but that his love for you was so great that he did so willingly and lovingly for you. He did so willingly and lovingly for you. Jesus knows what your heart really loves. You can fool people. A lot of people do. You can even fool yourself sometimes. even though you're suppressing the truth, and you know deep, deep, deep down what the truth is, but you cannot fool God. Just like in our scripture reading today, man looks at the outward things, but what does God look at? God looks at the heart. God sees straight through all our pretended vain imaginations of our self-righteousness, and he sees straight through to your heart, and he sees one of two things. He either sees the heart of Christ within you, or he sees a blackened and diseased and dead heart that hates him. Those are the only two options. Brothers and sisters, there is one who can understand the heart of every man and woman and child. He can see right to our inner being, and that should scare sinners, and that should comfort saints. That should comfort us who are in Christ by faith. Our text today tells us in verse 25 that Jesus needed no one to bear witness about man. That means, that tells us that Jesus did not need anyone else's testimony about you to know who you are. He didn't need anyone to give him the info before he understood anything about you. Jesus knew that these people who believed in him at the Passover feast, because of the miracles he performed, he knew they were not his children. He knows his own. We've talked about before what it practically means for Jesus to be fully God and fully man. Remember, Jesus was and is a real man. He's not just wearing a human suit. He is a real man. He really grew in his mother's womb. He really needed his parents to care for him, and he really had to obey his parents. He really played with his friends and his family members, and he giggled and smiled just like every little three or four-year-old boy would. He really had to learn. He had to learn how to walk and talk, and he had to learn how to do all types of things for his father, I'm sure, for carpentry, and he had to learn all the types of things that we learn. But also, It is equally true that he really was and really is God. He is the one who created the world. He is the one also who will judge all flesh on judgment day. He is omniscient. That's a word that means he knows everything. He is omnipotent. And that means he is all powerful or almighty. He is omnipresent. And that means he is everywhere. And at this point, I think we might think, I understood the stuff about Jesus being man, but how could Jesus be everywhere if he's walking around on one plot of land in the Middle East? How could he be all knowing if he had to learn things like how to talk and how to walk? How could he be omnipotent if he died on the cross? We might think things like that sometimes. Jesus wasn't all knowing when he was a five-year-old, was he? He wasn't everywhere at once. Well, these are important questions for us to ask and ones that we need correct answers for. When the Son of God became man, he did not cease to be the Son of God. Rather, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians, he humbled himself. Jesus humbled himself. He did not cease to be all-knowing because he is all-knowing, but he voluntarily laid down that access to his complete knowledge of everything. That's part of his humility and his humiliation. He voluntarily set aside all the knowledge he had in heaven. He laid it down for us. He did not cease to be everywhere at once. Remember, God is one. Jesus Christ was still everywhere at once by his Holy Spirit, but he, in bodily form, laid aside. any ability to be everywhere, and he chose to be in one place at one time. Jesus did not cease to be all powerful or almighty. He could have called 12 legions of angels when he was on the cross, and they would have carried him right down. He could have just come down himself. He did not cease to be almighty, but he voluntarily laid down his access to that power when he became a man. He did not lose one iota of any of his divine attributes when he became a man, but he chose not to use them. He chose not to use them, at least not in their fullness. while he was on earth. But we know the Bible is clear that even in his humility, even in setting aside his glory and the access to some of his power, we know that Jesus always knew who his children were. That is one piece of knowledge that he did not set aside. Jesus knew who his children were. We've seen this already a couple times just in the two chapters we've covered in the Gospel of John. Jesus shows that he knew Nathanael before he met him. Remember, Nathanael standing on the fig tree. And Jesus said, behold, an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. He knew his character. He knew Peter before he met Peter, and he knew the role that he would fill in his kingdom. We see this truth continue, in fact, throughout the gospels. Jesus knows his own people and he knows his enemies. He sees their hearts. He knows his sheep and he knows the wolves. A few weeks ago, I took a trip up to Pennsylvania and I drove through Virginia. a more eventful drive than I wanted it to be. And I drove through West Virginia and I drove through Maryland and before I got where I was going in Pennsylvania. Well, suppose as I was driving up Virginia, I decided to myself, you know what? I've got some extra time. I'm just going to pop over to DC really quick. I love history. There's lots of cool things to see there. I just, I want to go. And you know what? I really would love to just go to the White House and just sit down and just chat with Joe Biden for a little bit. I would just love to do that. What if I was thinking that and I said, okay, I'm going to just veer off course and I'm going to stop right there on Pennsylvania Avenue and I'm just going to sit down and talk to Joe Biden. He really needs some help. Okay. He needs just an ordinary everyday Christian to come here and just set him straight. Say, what are you doing? And I think maybe if I just sat down and talked to him, maybe, maybe, just maybe I could get through to him. And so I just pull my car up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and I get out and I lock the car and I start to walk up toward the steps of the White House. But before I even get anywhere close to the front doors, A, I'm sure there's probably a sniper rifle trained on me already. And B, I'm confident that someone in a black suit is gonna come up to me and say, sir, what are you doing here? And I might say, oh, it's okay. It's okay. I know Joe Biden and I could list all types of fun facts about Joe Biden. I know he loves trains. I know he loves ice cream. I know he's from Scranton. You know, I could say all the things that I ever wanted to about knowledge about Joe Biden. But friends, it doesn't matter how much I say I know the president, how many interesting facts I know about his life and about his career and about his policies, how much I want to get in the White House. It does not matter. None of that matters unless Joe Biden says, I know James Howard Lynch. I'm not going to get into that White House. I'm not going to no matter how much I know or think I know or think I believe. in Joe Biden. Unless he says, I know James Howard Lynch, then I'm not getting in. And how much more is that the case with our heavenly Lord? It does not matter how much we think we know Jesus. If he does not know us, then we are not truly his children, and we will not enjoy his fellowship, and we will not be getting into his father's house. We do not only have to believe in Jesus, he has to, as it were, believe in us, entrust himself to us. So what do we do from here? If we can't generate new hearts for ourselves, if we can't make Jesus know us, if just believing in Jesus in our minds isn't enough, what do we do? How can anyone, we might say, be saved? Well, the Bible would tell us that with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. First, we do need to believe in our minds that Jesus is who he says he is. He is the Lord. He is God. He is our Savior. He died on the cross to pay for our sins, and he rose victorious on the third day. And we need to confess our sins before God, and we need to ask, knowing we can't give ourselves a new birth, we need to ask, just like Lydia did, God, open my heart. We need to ask God that he would open our hearts. We need to put all our hope in Christ. We need to put all our eggs in the one basket of Jesus Christ, not holding anything back. Do not hedge your bets. Just put everything on Christ. And I say that, but I know that every single one of us, myself included, sometimes we snap right back. into wondering if we truly believed. Could it be that simple? Do I really just ask the Lord to open my heart and trust in Him and lean on to Him? Is my faith really real or was it just that head knowledge? I think every Christian at some point in their lives asked themselves that question. One of my great heroes of the faith, one of the godliest men through a book that I've ever encountered John Bunyan. He asked that question for his entire life. Even on his deathbed, he was praying for his salvation. This man, who through his writings has led perhaps millions of people to saving faith in Christ. He still had that question, am I really saved? We might be asking that. But like I told you last week, the godly Scottish pastor, Robert Murray McShane, has something to say about this type of thinking. He said, for every one look you take at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. If you're concerned your faith may not be real, then yes, self-examination can be good. But do one look of self-examination and then 10 looks at Jesus Christ. There's nothing wrong with examining ourselves. The Bible tells us to do that. but just focusing on ourselves, that's not faith. Faith doesn't consist in looking in yourself and trying to figure out if you're right. Faith consists in looking straight to Christ, look unto Him, look unto Christ, all the ends of the earth and be saved. Look to Christ, worship Christ, plead with Christ, trust in Christ. That is how one becomes a child of God. When God opens our heart and gives us the eyes of faith and we look to Christ and we see both a fearful judge and also a loving advocate and friend who saves us from our sins. Having a special experience will not save you. You don't need to trust in an experience you once had. You don't need to trust in walking down an aisle and talking to a pastor. You don't need to trust in the fact that you were baptized. You cannot put your faith in an experience. Don't put your faith in your family and being raised in a godly Christian home or in going to a godly church. Put your trust in your Lord and Savior in Christ alone. You can pray to him right now, that he would open your heart and that he would save you. He will not cast away those who in sincerity of their hearts seek him. He will not turn away anyone who truly believes him in their heart. Brothers and sisters, it is a mystery. It is a deep mystery to our brains how God's sovereign choice in who he saves, and our responsibility to trust in Him go together. I don't know how to make it work out in my head, but I trust. I trust that God is true, that every word of His Bible is true. We cannot look into the mind of God, brothers and sisters. We cannot pull down the Lamb's Book of Life from a shelf and flip through the pages and confirm that our names in there. We do not have that access. The secret things of the Lord belongs to God. But what he has revealed is for us and for our children forever. And we are called and commanded by him to trust in his promises even today. God will not lose a single one of his children. He will hold them all securely in his hand until judgment day. And then he will bring all of his children home to eternal happiness with him. Trust in Jesus today and trust in him every day and know that every single person who calls upon the Lord will be saved. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you, Lord, that it is not up to us to save ourselves. God, we thank you that you are the one who absolutely, effectually saves all of your children. God, open our hearts, open our hearts anew. Give us a fresh, Lord, just a trust in you, a fresh dose of faith, Lord, like Elisha prayed, a double portion of your spirit, God. Lord, we want all of you God, lead us in repentance and faith and continue to bless us as we seek to worship you now and receive your grace. In Christ's name, amen.