Transcription downloaded from https://archives.bafreechurch.org.uk/sermons/30755/john-316/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Wesley's famous text was a very obscure one. It was Zechariah 3 verse 2. Is this man not a burning stick snatched from the fire? [0:14] As a very small child, Wesley's home went on fire and he was taken miraculously from the fire. [0:25] Throughout his life had a sense that God had saved him from that fire. So this text was particularly precious to him. [0:36] John Newton's favourite text, understandably, was Romans 5 verse 20. For sin increased, grace increased much more. [0:48] The slave trader who turned to become a Christian by the grace of God. Luther's favourite text was Romans 1 verse 17. [1:02] The just will live by faith. Or in the NIV, the righteous will live by faith. And that's the point he had to make to his church of the day. [1:14] That it's by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we're saved. Each of these individuals had their own reason. Surely today's text is the universal favourite. [1:31] We see it on billboards. We see it all over the place. It's in songs. It's recited by millions of people throughout the world. [1:44] It's the gospel in a nutshell. It's an amazing text. St. Augustine said, God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love. [2:01] And I find that tremendously encouraging this morning. That the love of God is so amazing. Karl Barth, the great Swiss theologian. [2:13] One of the finest minds that the 20th century produced. Was asked by an American. You can just picture an American asking this question. [2:24] What is the greatest thought that has ever gone through your mind? The great man paused for a moment. [2:36] And with great simplicity he said this. With great grace. Jesus loves me. This I know. [2:47] For the Bible tells me so. Ephesians 2 verses 4 to 5 talks of the great love of God towards us. [2:59] God who is rich in mercy has made us alive in Christ Jesus. The word great is a word that is perhaps devalued in the society that we live in. [3:14] And great doesn't even begin to express the love of God. We talk of a great day out. We talk of having great fun at some activity. [3:26] We talk of a great party. We talk of going on holiday and having a great holiday. But this. The greatness of God's love. [3:38] The word greatness. Can't even express it. Greater love. Scripture says. Had no man than this. Jesus. [3:49] Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Who is uniquely. Eternally. And divinely. The son of God. Led down. His life for us. Came in love. [4:01] And died on a cross. And rose. On the third day. Moody. The great. Nineteenth century. A preacher. [4:12] Was in England. And. He was introduced to a young man called Henry Moorhouse. And. He said to young Moorhouse. If you're ever over in Chicago. [4:25] You. Come. And preach for me. In my congregation. And. A few months later. Of course. Moody never expected Moorhouse to come. [4:38] But. He arrived in Chicago. And. Moody was. Away in one of his preaching engagements. For a couple of weeks. And. The elders thought. Well. We'll give the young man a chance. [4:50] Let him preach. And he preached on. John chapter 3. And verse 16. And night after night. He ended up. Preaching. On John 3. [5:01] 16. At special meeting. After special meeting. Of course. The great man came back. And said. What's going on here? This young man. Preaching in my pulpit. [5:12] Every night. On John 3. 16. His wife said to him. Well. He's a better preacher than you. He preaches. On the love. And the mercy of God. [5:23] You'll need to come and hear him. And. Skeptical Moody. Came along. And heard the young man. Man preach. And he came into a deeper. Understanding. [5:35] Of what the love. And the mercy. Of God. Is about. It's something. Amazing. It's something. That is. Not just great. [5:46] But infinite. It lies. Beyond. The probing eye. Of men and women. The correct word. The correct word. Is that it's. [5:57] It's unfastened. Larger. Than the whole universe. The love. That's talked of. In John chapter 3. And verse 16. [6:09] It surpasses. The knowledge. Of men and women. In the 21st century. It's such a great thing. Such an infinite thing. This love. Love. And then. [6:22] There's a giving. The giving of the son. How much. Does God love you this morning? Enough. To give his son. Is the answer to that. [6:34] And almost every text. In the New Testament. Talking about. The love of God the Father. Talks. Of the cross. The amazing love. [6:45] That sent Christ. To the cross. What an amazing. Demonstration. Of love. No wonder. Wesley said. In his great hymn. [6:56] Love so amazing. So divine. Shall have. My soul. My life. My all. I want this morning. [7:07] To take a couple of examples. In talking of. The love. And the giving of God. From believe it or not. The Old Testament. And. [7:18] It's amazing. To me. Every time I consider it. The way. In which. The Old Testament. Is just a shadow. Of the New Testament. [7:29] A shadow. Of things to come. So the scripture tells us. And it's. Just amazing. At the things we have. In the Old Testament. And one of the examples. [7:40] In talking about. The love of Christ. That I'm going to use. This morning. Is. A. Hosea. You don't need to turn it up. But. You read. [7:51] Of this. Great. And frightening. Account. Of the love of God. In Hosea's. Chapter 1. And 2. It's a love. [8:02] That nothing. Will alter. Is the message. Of Hosea. And. A. God. Through Hosea. [8:13] Makes his point. Concerning. His loving. Nature. He says. To Hosea. The prophet. Go. And marry. This loose woman. [8:25] Called. Gomer. Her. I find it amazing. That God. Would ask Hosea. To do this. She'll be unfaithful. God tells him. [8:37] Hard to dig in. But you. Hosea. Must love her. To the end. And Hosea. I'm going to demonstrate. My love. Through your relationship. [8:49] With her. You play God. She plays. The part. Of Israel. In. This. Israel. Runs from me. [9:00] Israel. Takes other lovers. Yet. My love. Is constant. A son. Comes along. His name is. Jezreel. Which means. [9:11] Scattered. A daughter. Is then born. Her name is. Loruma. Which means. Not pitied. Another. [9:21] Son. I think it is. Loami. Which means. Not. My. People. The story. So far. Is. [9:32] A bit like. A plot. From. EastEnders. Or one of these. Dreadful. Soaps. But by the end. Jezreel. Becomes. Planted. [9:42] Because there were two. Meanings. Of. Scattered. One was to scatter. Seed. Was to plant. So. Jezreel's name. Changed to planted. [9:53] Loruma. Changed to rumma. From not pitied. To pitied. Loami. Becomes. Ami. Or my people. Instead of. Not. [10:04] My people. True to form. Eh. Gomer. Leaves. Hosea. And takes a series of lovers. The first partner. No doubt. Could give her. [10:15] A Rolls Royce. And a fur coat. And. Great. Prosperity. The second. Partner. Maybe a fur line. Collar. And fake jewellery. [10:27] And the third. Partner. Maybe. A Skoda. Maybe I shouldn't. Say a Skoda. Because they're so good now. I should maybe say. A Lada. And an overdraft. And then. [10:39] Eh. She. Ends up. With a. Partner. Who couldn't even. Feed. Or clothe her. And she's hungry. God tells Hosea. [10:50] To go. And buy. Her back. To go. And. Eh. Give her. Silver. And gold. He must have been very well off. For a prophet. To have. [11:00] The money. To give her. I think it demonstrates to us. Among other things. That. Even when we run from him. God. Pays. The bills. [11:12] And God. Ultimately. Whatever. Your abilities are. God. Has given you. These. Abilities. Whatever you achieve. God. Has given you. [11:23] The ability. To achieve it. Take the great artist. Who gave. That great artist. The ability. He or she has. In the first place. [11:34] Take the wealthiest. Of landowners. Who. Distributed. The land. In that way. In the first place. Who allowed it. God. [11:45] Who is sovereign. Allowed it. And then. Gomer. Goes off again. And sinks. To even. [11:55] Lower debts. Than we could imagine. She becomes. A slave. What does God say. To Hosea. Go. [12:06] And buy her back. Hosea. Slaves. Were sold. In the market. Market. Naked. And a good looking woman. [12:17] Always commanded. More money. In the auction ring. And the bidding. Was strong. That day. Think of the degradation. Of it. [12:29] Sometimes people tell me. About. The good old days. And I think. In. There's many areas. Of life. In which. We're a lot more. [12:40] Civilized. Than people. Were in the past. Although there are. A lot of bad things. In. Society. And I think. Of. Part of my job. [12:52] Is to go to. Car auctions. Think of. The times. When. Maybe a car. With a value. Of 80 or 100. Thousand. Will go through. [13:02] The auction. And. There's a hush. Comes over the place. Because normally. The cars are maybe. Between 5 and 15 thousand. And there's not much. [13:13] That more than that. Perhaps it's. A top of the range. Range Rover. Or a Bentley. How much. For this car. 50. [13:24] 55. 60. 65. 65. Thousand. A real hush. Comes over the place. And even the wee neds. Who do a bit of driving. [13:35] Are totally quiet. And totally in awe. And all eyes. On. The. Man. The two men. The two well dressed men. Who are. [13:46] Bidding. For this car. 65. 67 and a half. 70. [13:57] 71. 72. Someone else comes in. 75. 77. 79. 79 and a half. Sold. [14:08] To that man over there. And things soon go back to normal. So here we have. This woman. Being auctioned. [14:19] Three. Shekels of silver. Five. Seven. Nine. Eleven. [14:31] Thirteen. Fourteen. Fourteen and a half. Fifteen. And a voice from the back. Fifteen shekels. [14:43] And a bushel. Of barley. Hammer goes down. Sold. To Hosea. He bought. His wife. Back. God told Hosea. [14:56] To. Buy her. Everything. She needed. And. As she. As she. [15:07] He took her away. He clothed her. There's an amazing fact. This morning. That the Christian believer. Is described. As being clothed. [15:17] In the righteousness. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is your status. If you're a Christian. You're clothed. In his. Righteousness. [15:28] Yes. We sin. Yes. We go astray. But we're clothed. In the righteousness. Of. The Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. It's an amazing. [15:40] Thing. This. The unchanging. Love of God. You and I. Before we came to Christ. Were. Slaves. Placed on the auction. [15:51] Block. What were we slaves to? We're slaves. To sin. What am I did? For this soul. Jesus Christ. [16:03] Comes along. To the slave market. Of sin. And he says. I'll buy them back. For my blood. And the hammer goes down. [16:16] Sold. To Jesus Christ. For his blood. You've been bought. With the blood. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the love. Of Christ. What's our. [16:28] Reaction. To the fact. That. God loves us. In this way. It's surely. To fall. At the. Feet. Of Christ. God. [16:39] Commends. His love. Towards us. Perhaps. This morning. You can say. You believe. In Jesus. But your vision. Of him. Has dimmed. [16:53] Jesus. Loves us. In such. An amazing. Way. That our minds. Can't. Take it in. So that's the love. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. [17:05] I want very briefly. To talk. About. The gift. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. Talked about here. And I want to talk about. That word. In the text. [17:16] Whoever. Believes. So the gift. The gift. Of Jesus. Is the very best. That God. Had to give. The one who is equal. [17:28] With God. The one who shares. All his attributes. The only. Begotten. In another translation. Has him as. The unique. [17:40] Son. Of God. The only son. In the universe. Therefore. God gifted. Himself. [17:51] To the world. In a very real sense. Not only. Is it a great gift. It's an eternal gift. The gift. Was planned. [18:02] Before the foundation. Of the world. Isaiah 53. Verse 10. Yet. It was the Lord's will. To crush him. And to put him. [18:13] To death. Acts 2. Verse 3. Handed over. To you. By God's set purpose. And foreknowledge. And you. [18:23] With the help. Of wicked men. Put him to death. Nailing him. To the cross. Revelation 13. Verse 8. The lamb. [18:36] Slain. Before the foundation. Of the world. Believe me. The fall of mankind. Didn't take God. By surprise. [18:47] He didn't plan. After. The event. Before. He set the universe. In motion. He determined. That his son. [18:59] Had to die. On the cross. And in talking about. This gift. And this giving. As promised. We go to the old testament. [19:10] Again. We look at the experience. Of Abraham. The old testament. The shadow. Of things to come. Here was Abraham. [19:21] 86 years old. His first son. Had been. Well. He had his first son. Born to a slave girl. [19:33] Called Hagar. You must have thought. Well. God has promised. Me a son. That a nation. Would come out of. But he's given me a son. [19:45] To a slave girl. And then at. The age of a hundred. When. I think Sarah was in her nineties. Abraham was a hundred. Sarah gave birth. [19:57] To Isaac. A great gift. A promised gift. And at the roundabout. The age of a hundred and fifteen. God said to him. That he had to sacrifice. [20:10] This great gift. Of a son. And at one level. God was. Testing his faith. Of course. But at a greater level. [20:23] It was a shadow. Of Christ. It was a test. Of his spiritual. Perception. And devotion. To God. But also. [20:34] A shadow. Of Christ. It's an amazing story. I find it. Very frightening. That God should test. [20:46] Abraham. In this way. Yet it fits so perfectly. With John chapter 3. And verse 16. Think of the reasoning. [20:56] That went through. That old man's life. Mind. As he. Went towards. Mount. Moriah. You must have thought. Well. God gave him to me. [21:07] In a supernatural manner. He'll surely bring him. Back to life. When I sacrifice him. Yet again. How. Can God. [21:18] Fulfill. His great promise. To me. Of that nation. Coming through him. What must he have said. To his son. As he headed. Towards. [21:28] Mount. Moriah. And he told the servants. At the bottom of Mount. Moriah. We'll take. The wood. Up. He clearly. Believed. That a miracle. Would take place. [21:40] How do we know that? We know it. From Hebrews. Chapter 11. Which. Describes. Something. Of what went. What went. Through his mind. God. Tested him. [21:51] He. Passed. The test. Of faith. And earned. His. Place. In the hall. Of fame. Of people. Of faith. In Hebrews. But just. As a knife. [22:02] Was about. To fall. There was. The ram. Caught. In the thicket. And he was stopped. By. God. And I believe. [22:13] That. A fat knife. Was stopped. From going down. He looked. Two thousand years. Later. On. And saw. [22:25] The Lord. Jesus Christ. And saw. That. One day. God. Would sacrifice. His. Son. On the cross. [22:35] He saw. The gift. That we see. So clearly. Today. And it's an interesting point. That here we are. In the twenty-first. [22:45] Century. Nearly. Two thousand years. From the death. Of Christ. Christ. And Abraham. As he held that knife. [22:56] Looked forward. Two thousand years. To. The coming. Of Christ. God's love. Is the same as it was. In Abraham's day. [23:08] God's. Amazing love. Towards. His people. The day. That God. Who'd his son. To death. On the cross. The ultimate gift. [23:20] Was given. In giving his son. To death. God met. Your needs. And my needs. In a perfect way. But what are these needs. [23:32] This morning. The great need. Is to live. And not. To die. Jesus Christ. Very topically. Comes along. This morning. [23:42] And says this. I. Am the resurrection. And the life. He who believes in me. Will live. Even though he dies. [23:53] And whoever lives. And believes in me. Will never. Die. These words are. Later in the book of John. John 11. Verses 25. To verse. [24:04] 26. He meets. Your needs. Perfectly. You're going to die. That death. For you and me. Is a passing incident. [24:16] Because. Of this gift. Death. Itself. Has been conquered. Through the cross. We need to be made. [24:26] New men and women. And Jesus Christ. Does that. We fall short. Of what God. Intended us to be. Jesus. Jesus. Conforms us. [24:38] To God's image. Romans 8. 29. He is completing. A great restoration work. Today then. I'm talking about. [24:48] The greatest gift. The world. Has ever been offered. Let me ask you. And ask you. Very pointedly. And personally. [24:59] This morning. How have you responded. To this. Great. Gift. You bowed. At the feet. Of Jesus. [25:10] 2nd Corinthians. 9. Verse 15. Thanks. Be. To God. For his. Indescribable. Gift. And then. [25:23] To move. Swiftly. On. To our final point. The text. Says. That. God. So loved. The world. He gave. His only begotten son. That whoever. [25:35] Believes. Whosoever. Believes. If we take. The authorized. Version. And I. Think of it. In the authorized. Version. Whosoever. Believes. [25:47] And talking about this. I. Go back. A lot of years. Getting on for 30. Probably. Going to. Coming back. [25:59] From. A youth conference. A free church. Youth conference. And. At the time. David. Meridus. Lived in Skye. I was thinking. A real problem. [26:09] I worked with. My father. In a garage. In Wester Ross. And. I said. I've got a real problem. With the old man. He won't. Park. With a load. Of old cars. [26:20] From as far back. As the 1940s. I can't. Persuade him. At all. David Meridus. Said to me. I've got the answer. I know. [26:30] A scrap man. In Skye. Who's been converted. Why don't you. Persuade your father. To have him along. And so. I persuaded. My father. [26:41] To give this chap. Along. And he was. A very recent. Convert. To the faith. An Aberdeen man. Just by coincidence. And. [26:53] Theological. Arguments. Raged. From that day on. And. We'd come up. From the garage. My father worked. At their home. And. We'd go up. [27:04] And we'd be taking off. Our boiler suits. And. There wasn't much. Work done. By. Angus. Neil. Or my father. In the afternoon. And. [27:14] Angus. Neil. Was. A very small man. Is a very small man. And. Gold. Fillings. In his teeth. And. He. Came in. As he was taking his boiler suit off. [27:26] Pointed at my father. And said. Remember. Finley. Whosoever. Remember. The free offer. Of the gospel. And the argument. [27:37] Of course. The previous day. Had been. Calvinism. Had been. The sovereignty. Of God. And I think. My father. Is a sort of fellow. If you were to cut. [27:48] His veins. Burning bushes. Would come out. A real. Calvinist. And. As they argued. I thought. Well. I agree. [27:59] With both of them. Agree. Exactly. With what my father. Is saying. It's great. To be grounded. In reformation. Thinking. To be grounded. [28:10] In the shorter. Catechism. As I said. To the kids. But there is. The free offer. Of the gospel. It's a wonderful thing. Leave. [28:22] Election. Up to God. There's an offer here. That. Whosoever. Believes. Whosoever. Has faith. [28:32] Has the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11. And verse 6. Says. Without faith. It's impossible. To please. To please. God. Ephesians 2. By grace. [28:43] You've been saved. Through. Faith. The word belief. Means. Faith. And the word faith. Is used 98 times. Throughout the gospel. [28:55] Of John. And John claims. In John 20. 30 and 31. That the whole. Of the gospel. Of John. The purpose of it. [29:07] Is to bring us. To faith. In. The Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately. In the days we live in. Faith. Is devalued. [29:18] Just like. Other words. Like the word. Great. Faith. Is devalued. And. Perhaps. A trade union. Is arguing. [29:29] With workers. And the news. Reader says. Both. Parties. Are acting. In. Good faith. And it's come to be. A bit of a wishy-washy. [29:40] Thing. It's got overtone. Of wishful. Thinking. And the world. Out there. If you're a Christian believer. Will think of your faith. As being. [29:51] Something. A bit. Wishy-washy. A bit. Pie in the sky. A bit. Hopeful. It concerns. What cannot. Be seen. [30:02] Now. It's become. Something. That people. Want. To hold on to. Without. Evidence. And it cuts. [30:14] Across. The teaching. Of scripture. Hebrews. 11. And 1. Says. Faith. Is being. Sure. Of what we hope. For. And certain. Of what we do not. [30:24] See. We must. Tell the world. Out there. That our faith. Is real. That we are certain. About this. Faith. [30:36] Scripture. Tells us. Is the evidence. Of things. Of things. Not seen. In a very real sense. Your faith. Is a title deed. [30:47] To heaven itself. And how precious. Our faith is to us. My faith is certainly. Precious. To me. Now. [30:59] In this world. Title deeds. Might. Go missing. We've got a parking space. Next to. Dunblane Free Church. And. [31:10] There were people. Indiscriminately. Parking. In it. And we thought. We'll have to do something. About this. And. The people. Next door. Said. Well no. It's our. [31:21] Piece of ground. You can't. Park there. No. It's ours. And. We thought. Well the answer is. To get the title deeds. So. We phoned up. [31:31] Edinburgh. To get the title deeds. No. We don't have them. We phoned up. Simpson and Marlach. The church's law agents. Do you have the title deeds? No. You must have them. [31:42] And. We were. Went round and round. In circles. Eventually. In amongst the old papers. I'll only go back. To the early 90s. I found a letter. [31:53] That showed. For sure. That the title deeds. Were held. In the free church offices. In Edinburgh. And went. Through there. Or Alistair. [32:04] Or minister did. He got the title deeds. And demonstrated. That the piece of ground. Belonged. To the and lane. Free church. Now it's true that. [32:15] Some stupid office worker. Will always. Mislay. Title deeds. But God. Who is infallible. [32:26] Will never. Misplace. Title deeds. And coming. Coming to Christ. In faith. You are in. The Lord Jesus Christ. God. [32:37] Is omnipotent. And infallible. He's the only being. In the universe. Who's entirely. Reliable. First John. Five. [32:48] Verse nine. Says. We accept. Man's testimony. But God's testimony. Is greater. So you've got a great thing. In having faith. [32:59] In the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me ask you. Do you believe this morning. That you're a sinner. Perhaps not much. [33:10] Of a sinner. But every sin. Will send you. To lost eternity. By a just. And holy God. [33:21] Who hates. Loves. And detests sin. And in saying. You're not much. Of a sinner. Cast your mind. Back. [33:32] To the big scare. There was. Over canned foods. With poison. One small. Amount. Of botulism. I think it was. Put into. A can. [33:43] Of tinned food. Ruined. The whole. Can. And a huge. Scare. And supermarket. Shelves. You'll remember. [33:54] Were cleared. And all that was concerned. A tiny. Amount. Of poison. A tiny. Amount. Of sin. Sends you. [34:05] To lost. Eternity. And that's why. God. Had to give. Such a great. Gift. He had to give. His son. Perhaps. [34:17] You're saying. This morning. Well. Yes. I hear. What you're saying. I've got. Faith. Faith. But it's weak. And it's small. And however small it is. [34:29] However small your faith is. And however little you know about the word of God. That faith. Will bring you. To heaven itself. [34:41] And that's what's so great. About the gospel. It's not. Excluded. To some. Few. People. A call of the gospel. Goes out. [34:52] To the whole of Aberdeen. This morning. And as we witness. For Christ. We witness. To all men and women. Everywhere. That. [35:04] He loved us. And gave himself. For us. And that we. This morning. Are free. Through his love. And to bring in. At the end. [35:15] The resurrection. Bit. Because. He was the first. To rise. From the dead. He takes us. With him. We too. [35:26] Through his. Finished work. We've risen. With Christ. In the spiritual sense. At the moment. That we're going to. Go through death. [35:37] And Christ. Is going to. In a very real sense. Raise each one of us. From the dead. And our future. Is in his. Nearer presence. [35:48] I trust. That. Every one of us. Gathered here. This morning. Will. Be found. In the presence. Ultimately. [36:00] Of the lamb. In the midst. Of the throne. We'll leave it there. Our time is. Much more than up. And. Our closing. Psalm. Is Psalm 92. [36:10] 92. It's Psalm 92. And from verse 12. It's a traditional version. [36:21] You'll find it on page 352. Sorry. Page 353. To render thanks unto the Lord. [36:34] It is a comely thing. And to thy name. O thou most high. Do you praise aloud to sing. Thy loving kindness. To show forth. When shines the morning light. And to declare thy faithfulness. [36:47] With pleasure. Every night. Verses. A. I'm sorry. I've. I've got it wrong. It's from verse 12. It should be. [36:58] I was thinking. That wasn't. Wasn't as relevant. As. To the sermon. As it should be. So I think. We. We better make it. From verse 12. Because I think. It is relevant. [37:09] To. To what we've been saying. Psalm 92. In verse 12. And it is. On page 353. But like the palm tree. Flourishing. Shall be the righteous one. [37:20] He shall like. Through the cedar grow. That is. In Lebanon. Verses 12. To the end of this great psalm. To God's praise. Lord our God. [37:32] We thank thee. For. The greatness. Of the gospel. For its simplicity. We pray. That. Each one of us. Might be found in Christ. Not having our own righteousness. [37:44] Part us then. With thy blessing. For we ask it. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [37:55] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [38:05] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.H所以. [38:16] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.