3 and verses 18-21. Another passage of the Scriptures in Mark 6 and verse 6 tells us, And he marveled because of their unbelief. The Lord Jesus marveled at people's unbelief. Do you know what it is to marvel at something? It is to be stopped short in your tracks, to be unable to wrap the arms of your understanding around something. And so think of that, our Savior's human understanding brought to a standstill, amazement in the human soul of our Savior because of people's unbelief. This is the one thing concerning man about which it says that our Savior marveled. True also that he marveled at the great faith of the centurion. So two things then, great faith he marveled at and also he marveled at belief. We should agree with Jesus Christ today that unbelief on the part of man is something to marvel at. So believer, you should marvel at your unbelief today. You should marvel that it was so long that you stood out in prevailing unbelief against the truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. You should marvel at your remaining unbelief, which hinders the full exercise of faith. Jesus marveled at unbelief, and we are prone to marvel at the wrong thing. We're prone to be amazed at our inconsistencies. and at our infirmities. In one sense, it's not wrong to do so, but the most amazing thing is our inconstancy of faith upon the gospel promises that God has given us in his word. Today, the believer should learn to marvel why so much unbelief in me in the past and in the present. Unbeliever today, You need to learn to marvel at yourself that you will not believe the gospel of God. You will be speechless either sooner or later and unable to explain why you refuse to believe. Better to marvel now at yourself. Better to be taught by God today. What an astounding thing it is to not believe So in Mark 6, we have something of the Savior's experience in marveling at unbelief. Here in John 3, we have the Savior's doctrinal exposition of unbelief, the appalling wonder of gospel unbelief. And we'll consider three things this morning. So first of all, we'll consider the unbeliever's condemnation in verse 18. So condemnation can either be in the court of man or in the court of God. The condemnation that is being spoken of in verse 18 is the condemnation of God. Verse 18 is telling us a truth. It's not telling us a truth that we know by nature, but it's telling us something that is the undoubtable truth. Whatever people think, or whatever people feel to be the case. To the contrary, God is telling us there in verse 18, that the one who does not believe in the name of his son, that he is under the sentence of God, that the great God of heaven judges every unbeliever to be worthy of an eternity of hell for his sins. that God in all his being agrees with the condemnation of the unbeliever. This condemnation of the unbeliever, notice how it is contrasted. Verse 18 begins with that. He that believeth on him is not condemned. The contrast between the one who is not condemned and the one who is condemned. Notice that it isn't put where flesh and blood would think. The line between non-condemnation and condemnation, if we were to draw that line by the wisdom of the flesh, perhaps we would say, over here are the loving people who are not condemned. Over here are the good people who are not condemned, and over there are the unloving people, the not good people, and they are condemned. But verse 18 doesn't speak that way, does it? It's true that faith has fruits, and that charity or love is the fruit of faith, but where does God put the difference? He says, that he that believeth on him is not condemned. No man is good or loving by nature, but God is telling us about who the person that is justified, who is the person that is justified, that is not condemned, but accepted and accounted by God as righteous. That is the person that believes, that believes on the name of the Son. We are not justified by love. We are justified by faith, faith alone. Faith is the only thing that is put here in verse 18 as making the difference. Faith, why does it justify? It justifies because it rests upon Jesus Christ. Faith is not a work. that man does in order to fulfill a lowered obligation that God has placed upon us. As if God would say, well, you haven't kept the law, so I'll make it easier for you. If you can do this work of performing faith, then I will count that to be your righteousness. Not whatsoever. Faith rests upon the person whom God has sent into the world. And this, The shockwaves of this should be reverberating throughout the entire world. That God, in love, has sent his son into the world. That God made him to be a curse so that he might redeem them that were under the curse of the law, that God made him that knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Now, the one who believes upon Jesus Christ, condemnation cannot seize upon him, death and hell cannot seize upon him. He is under the perfect shelter of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Who are these people? In verse 18, the people who believe on him and who are not condemned. Well, there are people like Abraham who lie There are people like David who committed adultery and who lied and who committed murder. There are people like Peter who denied the Lord Jesus Christ. There are people like Manasseh who slew his sons to idols and who filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. There can be much guilt that a person incurs, but when he believes on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, He is not condemned. He cannot be condemned. This is wonderful good news. Now we're not saying the person who believes that there's nothing in that person to be condemned. Think about this carefully now. A believer in Christ may have sin. Does God ever approve of sin? No. However, there is that in the person who believes which is condemned as being disallowed and unlawful, but the person who believes is never condemned. Furthermore, this person who believes is his faith perfect in its degree. There's nothing said here about that, but it is simply said that he believes on the name of the Son. believer in our Lord Jesus Christ today, you should sing and rejoice. You should sing Psalm 32, blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, against whom the Lord will not impute his iniquity. Perhaps people come up to you and they ask you, how are you doing today? Have you ever given the answer, Well, I'm rejoicing today because God sent a sin bearer into the world and he has carried off my sins and I've believed upon him and there's no condemnation for me. That's the way it should be for a Christian. Sometimes we get caught up in looking too much at ourselves. We ought to sing and rejoice. No condemnation to the one that believes on Jesus Christ. And that's actually the best thing that we can do for our unbelieving neighbors as well, is to sing and rejoice in this privilege. that we possess by faith. So the unbeliever's condemnation, notice how first of all, that's a contrasted condemnation, contrasted with the absolute non-condemnation of the believer. But then we're told that the condemnation of the unbeliever, we are told about how it is a just and righteous condemnation. Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Now the Law condemns all men, and the Gospel condemns some men. The Law comes and it says, Thou art an adulterer, for thy filthy heart lusts, thou art condemned. The Law comes and says, I see your covetous heart, and I condemn you. The Law says, I see your itching hands trying to take, your hands with curled fingers always grabbing and grasping for yourself that are not open to give. You're a thief, I condemn you. I see your heart covetousness. I see that you're an idolater, that self is your God, mammon is your God, and I condemn you. The law condemns everyone. And then the gospel comes. Whom does the gospel condemn? not everyone, but only the ones who won't believe in the name of the Son. He that believeth not is condemned. Now see how heavy this is, how weighty this is, because what is the proper reason for which God sent his Son into the world? To save the world, not to condemn the world, according to verse 17. Jesus says, later in this gospel, that he's not He doesn't accuse people to the Father. Chapter 5, verse 45. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. Our Lord Jesus is saying, Moses, he was the chief minister of the law. It's the law's job to accuse and to condemn people. That's not even the proper work. of the gospel and of the coming of Christ. However, here's the thing. To the one who won't believe in Christ, the gospel has nothing to say to reverse the condemnation of the law. The gospel, when not received in faith and love, leaves the man where he was before the bar of God's justice in the law. And all of this is happening while the remedy is within reach. Because in the gospel, the gospel agrees with everything the law says. It says, yea and amen to what the law has said. But it also says, if you will but turn unto me and come unto me, I will pardon you. And so to refuse this, it becomes a personal affront against the Son of God. Notice this now, that to refuse the gospel is a personal affront to Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. See how he is referred to there in verse 18, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Only begotten, what does that mean? It's pointing us towards the doctrine of the Trinity. It's telling us that there's one God, but that the first person of the Trinity eternally communicated His divine essence to the second person. He's only begotten, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. It tells us that God is Holy Trinity, and that the second person of the Trinity has come and has communicated His personhood, His divine personhood, to a human nature, so that now He's the God-man. And in our nature, He was crucified, buried, raised, ascended to heaven. And we are under the gospel, and we have heard the name of the only begotten Son of God. Understand that. If someone were to trample upon your name or to abuse your name, you'd be highly provoked and offended by that. But notice now that God, the triune God, when the gospel comes to you, he puts, if I may say so, he puts his only begotten son into your hands. You hear his name. And if you will not believe upon him, This is a personal affront against the only begotten Son. That sheds some light for us that's important. What is faith, after all? Is it right to say that faith is the ascent of the mind to propositions? Of course it is, but it's more than that. It's not simply assenting to propositions. It's trusting upon a person. You see, that's the heinous nature of unbelief. Refusal to trust upon a person. It's not just that the Word of God is true, and therefore you should agree with it. Of course, that's the case. But it's also true that the Word of God is good. that here is a promise of mercy which stands, which is yea and amen by the lifeblood of this person, the only begotten Son. To refuse is to insult this person. And so the damnation of the unbeliever is just. This is a swift condemnation. It says that whosoever He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He is condemned before he is aware of it. That is, while he is sleeping in his unbelief, the condemnation of the last day has already come upon his head. God is slow to anger, but unbelief of the gospel provokes a God who is slow to anger to bring his condemnation down now already. Verse 36 says he that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Is that not a terrible thought? to think that there could be a person in this room upon whom the wrath of God is presently abiding, that there could be a person in this room over whom the Lord at this moment sits as judge, a person who is condemned already, who has come to the bar of the last day, over whom God says, you have refused to receive my son in faith and love, and I condemn you as worthy of hell to be punished without mercy. Is that not a terrible thought? He that believeth not is condemned already. Unbeliever, what is it that keeps you out of hell? Your life is like a thin thread And it's only the mere forbearance of God that keeps you out of the hell that you deserve, that you are sentenced as being worthy of. You're condemned already now. Think about your breath. In the beginning, God breathed into the man's nostrils the breath of life. Now that doesn't mean that your breath is your soul. But it does mean that breathing in and out, in and out, in and out, that's the thing that keeps the connection between your soul and your body. It's the thing that keeps you alive. When the breath departs, the soul also departs. Our life stands in our nostrils, moment by moment, in, out, in, out. What a terrible thought to think of a person Breathing in and out with his life ready to fly away who is now already condemned and He's heard the name of the only begotten Son The remedy has been put into his hands and he has refused it Just imagine a man who is standing underneath of a water tower There's a tremendous amount of water above his head, what is the only thing that is keeping him from being flooded and inundated? There is some kind of gate or something, and if that is open, then he becomes inundated immediately with the waters. That's the position of the unbeliever. You see, the greatest danger for the unbeliever is to justify himself. Man is so addicted to justifying himself. Man wants to draw the line somewhere else other than where God has drawn it. He wants to say, well, I'm pretty decent in this and that way. At least I have an outward respect to the things of God. Can it really be required of me to believe upon and to love the Lord Jesus Christ? Can living faith be required of me? Stop justifying yourself when God has condemned you already for your unbelief. Oh, dear unbelieving friend today, agree with God and condemn yourself for your unbelief. Run without delay to our Lord Jesus Christ. See that this is a message for now, a message for today. a word for those who are already condemned, showing you to flee to Jesus Christ, to run unto Him, to shelter under Him for the mercy of God. The unbelievers' condemnation. This is one thing in our text. May God impress it upon us. But secondly, the unbelievers' perversity. Verses 19 through 20. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and so forth. Perversity, that means turning around opposite to what's good and to what's right. Perversity means turning your back on the direction you should be facing. It's similar to the word we have in our Bibles of being froward. rebellious, opposed. God is highlighting why the condemnation of the unbeliever is just. And this is the condemnation. Here's why this heavy condemnation hangs. Because, well, the unbeliever, how do we know who he is anyways? What are the marks? Identifying marks. of the unbeliever who is now presently hanging by a thread over hell under God's condemnation. Well, he's turning away from light. He's turning away from a light that is available. Verse 19, and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world. And men love darkness rather than light. This is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. coming into the world in the fullness of time. That the world by nature is lost in darkness, following the deceptions and lies of Satan. Jesus came down from heaven to come into our world. So think about yourself. How much effort do you make to avail yourself of the light which has come into our world? Woe to the man who cannot be bothered to get out of his bed and open his Bible. Can you not get out of your bed when Jesus came from heaven? Light has come into the world? What about your attendance at public worship? There's a thousand different circumstances. There are hindrances that come up, et cetera. And those are real things. But I want you to think about this. How much effort did Jesus make to come into the world? Light has come into the world. How much distance will you cross? How much weakness of your flesh will you overcome? Will you prioritize coming to the place where light is? Think about even how many places there are in the face of the planet where you could hear the gospel preached. Comparatively, few. Do you come to the light? Are you availing yourself? of your opportunities to have the light of the world. Generations passed away in darkness, like we were reading about in Genesis chapter 10. Descendants of Japheth, descendants of Ham, even most of the descendants of Shem. There was a thin line of descent where the light was possessed. If generations after generations passed away, How much of our own lifetime will we give to pursuing the light? If you're thinking, I'll give something later in life to pursuing the light, you're not thinking like God. Don't let your lifetime pass away in indifference. Because this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world. and men love darkness rather than light. If you can't be bothered to pursue light that's available to you, God condemns you. There's also the fact that the unbeliever, he turns away from reproving light because it says, lest his deeds should be reproved. God says, come now and let us reason together. God is willing to show you things. When we read this word reproved, we shouldn't think, well, you know, God is just a fault finder, or God just delights in pointing out all the things that are wrong with me. Not so. Rather, to reprove is to convince someone of their fault, to reason with them. until you can see it for yourself. And so here's another mark of the unbeliever, is that he turns away from reproving light. He's content to just stay at a surface level, but when it comes to matters of the heart, does he truly seek first the kingdom of God? Or does he love to engage in the worship of God? He doesn't want to be exposed. He hides. He's content to give some outward tokens of adherence to the truth. He turns away from reproving light. And when he's turning away from light, he's turning away from God, because God is light. He does what is evil. And this word here, the second time that this word evil is used in verse 20, for everyone that doeth evil or doeth what is worthless. So that's God's description of man living apart from him. Man unwilling to really have his heart and conscience and life searched. Turning from God, living for himself, and his life is worthless. It consists of things that will be burned up and pass away like chaff. What about yourself? Do you turn away from being searched? Are you hiding? Or are you wanting to be searched by God? Do you invite God to search you? Do you say like David, search me, oh God, and know my thoughts. Try me and see if there be any wicked way in me. Do you say with the psalmist, let the righteous man smite me. I shall count it as the precious ointment. Do you want to know God correcting you, reproving you, leading you? Well, that's a sign that you love the light. Also we see that the unbeliever turns away from light that is lovely. He loves darkness rather than light. That implies that there's something in the light that should be loved. A light that should be loved. Now light is reproving. Light exposes. If you come into the kitchen, or risen, and it's dark outside, and you turn on all the lights, then your eyes are dazzled. There's something about light which strikes us, exposes us. It can be overwhelming at first, but that's not the only thing about light. Also, the light that is reproving is also a light that is refreshing. You see that the unbeliever, he's turning away from the best thing that possibly could happen. He's turning away from the light of God's countenance. When we say that God is light, one thing about light is that light, it doesn't remain all shut up and enclosed. Even in the natural sun in the heavens, light doesn't remain enclosed in the sun, but that it pours forth upon the face of the earth. And that shows us something about God. is in Jesus Christ a son of righteousness. He is willing to give of himself to you. He is willing to impart that which can satisfy, delight, and refresh your soul. But the unbeliever does not want that. He loves his sin more than he loves the light of God's countenance. And that underscores, doesn't it, Message of this chapter, that ye must be born again. Because by nature, man is addicted to sin. Even when he's exposed to the name of the only begotten Son of God. Unless God intervenes by his spirit, he will always turn to darkness. We need a power from on high. And it is a power that is promised. the power of the Spirit to take away hearts of stone and to give hearts of flesh. We have a promise that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to all those who ask Him much more than an earthly father gives good gifts to his children. Do you see in yourself an aversion to the light? Ask God for His Holy Spirit. Have you been turned so that you love the light and you desire communion with God rather than to remain hidden in sin? Then you need to bless Him. You need to praise Him all your days. What a rare and choice mercy that is to you. Why were you not left? under the very name of the only begotten Son, still turning back and back to the darkness, only for God's mercy's sake. So the Lord Jesus, he shows us the unbelievers' perversity there in the second place. And thirdly, this morning, we see something of the believers' blessedness. Verse 21, after all of this that we have said, here we have a description of the believer. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Several things about the blessedness of the believer, and they shine out by contrast against this dark. background. The first is the believer's sincerity. It says, he that doeth truth. Now we might expect it to be said here, he that doeth good. And of course that's true, that the believer does things that are morally good. But that's not the particular contrast or the emphasis that's being made. Rather it is that he does Truth. So, sincerity is the evidence of true and saving faith. I think that there's a great deal of comfort in this fact for the believer. To be sound and sincere and right in your aims. That means that you have faith and you have turned to the light. God is not here saying, He's not so much saying, examine what degree of goodness you've attained to, but He is turning your attention to this question. Do you do truth? Does the inside match the outside? Are you sincerely aiming at the glory of God? in all your actions, the glory of a God who's been merciful to you. It's something very important to realize that the believer comes short of what his aims are. One passage that says that is Romans chapter seven, the good that I would, that I do not. I find it to be a law. When I go to do good, sin lies close at hand and it hinders me. It's not even unique to Romans chapter seven. We look at Romans 7, we might think, well, here Paul is saying, I am carnal, sold under sin. How could he possibly be a Christian when he's saying those words? Well, but just take that and compare it to the words of Job. Job says, I am vile. Job says, I abhor myself. There are times when the Christian in his sense of things, he sees so much evil within. But still, focus on this question. Are you sincere in aiming at the glory of God, however much you fall short in your practice? The unbeliever, the best part of the unbeliever, is his outside. The worst part is his inside. He's rotten at the core. The believer, it's opposite. His best part is the inside. His desires and aims. The worst part is his outside, where he comes short of what he would be. It's actually a very precious truth. It's possible to live, to truly live for God. He that doeth truth. Hang on in your mind to those simple words. There are people who do truth Sometimes the believer is he's in a conflict within himself. He he looks back perhaps on a previous season of his life He looks back on a previous season of his life having attained a greater light about the way that things should be and he looks back and he wonders was there even anything there at all that was genuine and But we, believers, we far too often wrongly accuse ourselves in such things. Were you doing truth? Were you sincerely seeking God? Then God recognized that. That's the fruit of faith, a faith that lays hold upon the true God, a faith that comes to him by Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. So the believer's sincerity, that's one thing. Another thing is the believer's communion or fellowship. It says, he that doeth truth cometh to the light. This has to do with his communion with God, because God is light. Jesus is the son of righteousness. And truly, our best And nearest approaches to God come when we're drawing away from the things of the world. When we're, as it were, opening the petals of the soul to receive the warming beams of the light of God's countenance. It's an indescribable sweetness, but it's something that the believer knows something about, because God who is light is also God who is love. to come to the light is, well, to be suspicious of ourselves and to come to be instructed and to not make assumptions or assume that we're right and to be willing to be instructed by the Lord and corrected about things, but it's also to come to receive the warming beams of the countenance of the Lord. We have that blessing from the lips of Aaron, don't we? The Lord bless thee and keep thee, make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Are you one who comes to the light? You see, you'll know for sure, because whenever you've come to the light, you'll want more of that. There's nothing that you crave more than having more of the light. Like David in Psalm 27, that his one desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. This is a mark of the believer. He comes to the light. And also that he gives all glory to God. He comes to the light, and why is that? That his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Now this is a wonderful statement. We tend to think the believer tends to think wrongly about God. We tend to have legal ideas about God. We tend to think, well, coming to the light, that's only going to mean that all of my sins are going to be exposed. And it is true that that happens when we draw near to God. because he is perfect light and in him there is no darkness. We need to be willing for God to expose our sins, but notice that that's not the end of coming to the light, but what is being made manifest when the believer comes to the light? Well, that his deeds are wrought in God. That's the thing that's made manifest. The believer has a desire for God to receive glory from his work in the believer. He wants it to be known that God has wrought in his life. It's even a surprising kind of phrase, isn't it? That his deeds are wrought in God. We might expect it to say wrought through God. And of course, that's the truth. That's something like the sense of it. But it says wrought in God because the believer's strength is outside of himself. And the believer wants to give glory to God. He knows that he's an instrument, a vessel into which God has poured grace. but he desires to show forth the praises of what God has done in him. This means that, at least it means this, that sometimes we will talk about what God has done in us, coming to the light that our deeds may be made manifest. We shouldn't think with a false sense of humility, you know, I can never talk about anything that I have done. because I'll automatically be doing it out of pride. Why does it have to be out of pride? Why could you not give all glory to God for it? You can say, here's what I am by nature, here's what I was by nature, but God has worked in me. Praise to his name, he gave me strength to do things I never could have done. And then God receives the glory from it. Well, God is drawing a line, isn't he? In his word, he's showing us the difference. The vast difference between the believer and the unbeliever. He is showing us the difference between darkness and light. May we be given each one to take these things to heart. Dangers always come on the heels of God's Word. Because the believer will be under a temptation to take those things that pertain to the unbeliever and to say, oh, this is what applies to me. The unbeliever will be under temptation to take the things that apply to the believer and say, well, this is my portion. But may the Lord enable us each one to take our portion from his word today to the glory of his name. Amen. And would you pray, stand with me for prayer. Oh Lord, our God and our Father in heaven, thou art great, thou art gracious, Please teach us, please bring profit from thy word that's been preached this morning. We pray that these, even the deeds of preaching and of hearing, that they may prove to have been wrought in God, that they may stand and abide even everlastingly. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. As we remain standing as able, let's sing to the Lord from Psalm 36. Yeah.