John: Human Accomplishments Cannot Earn You a Place in God’s KingdomThe most important thing Nicodemus couldn't earn.
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RORY CLARK Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
I’m Pastor Rory Clark welcoming you to a Bible lesson with Barah Ministries, an intimate online Christian community committed to learning the Word of God verse-by-verse.
I’m happy to teach the Word to those who want a deep, intimate and personal relationship with the Savior of the world and the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.
No matter where you are in the world, no matter how the Lord gets this Bible lesson to you, thanks for listening!
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TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Human Accomplishments Cannot Earn You a Place in God’s Kingdom
LESSON INTRODUCTION
As we continue our study of the Gospel of the apostle John in Chapters 3 and 4. we get a treat. We’ll see a demonstration of evangelism directly from the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
What is evangelism?
EVANGELISM The act of publicly sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with unbelievers. In John, Chapter 3 the Lord evangelizes a prominent and accomplished citizen…a member of the Sanhedrin…the ruling body of Israel…a man named Nicodemus. The Lord makes it clear in Matthew, Chapter 19, Verse 24 that evangelizing to those who have a resume of human accomplishments is difficult…
MATHEW 19:24 “I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to all of you…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
In today’s lesson we eavesdrop on a conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus, and it’s a primer on how to evangelize to those who think they are “all that.”
OPENING SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s hear some music!
When someone is one hundred percent interested in good things for you, the only choice is to love them. Kirk Franklin says it best in his song LOVE THEORY. When it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, Kirk says, “I don’t want to love nobody but You!” Amen to that!
Thanks to Alia Lonia and Asher James, members of the next generation of Bible studying believers, for the song recommendation. This song is absolutely breathtaking! Give a listen.
MUSIC - OPENING SONG Let’s Hear the Singing of the Lord’s Praises
LOVE THEORY Kirk Franklin
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful to You Heavenly Father for providing us with the absolute truth of the Word of God…
Father, thank you for creating a plan for all of us…us fallen ones…those who from the moment of our physical birth were ungodly, unrighteous sinners who needed a Savior…thank you for sending Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as a sin substitute for us when we were Your enemies…He paid for our sins because we couldn’t, and He made it possible for us to be saved…and thank you for our guide…God the Holy Spirit…who removes impurities from our thinking and who causes us to be enlightened about the power of the Godhead by putting it on display for others as the fruit of the Spirit…
...as we study the lesson today, help us marvel at the magic of being born again, a gift that keeps on giving for all eternity…
…we ask these things through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Human Accomplishments Cannot Earn You a Place in God’s Kingdom
LESSON PART ONE
Who is Jesus Christ?
The Gospel of John answers this question over and over again. John was the only apostle who had the courage to stick around when the Lord Jesus Christ was being led to the slaughter of crucifixion. He witnessed the Lord Jesus Christ hanging from the Cross with his own eyes.
John’s gospel makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God.
As we begin the study of John, Chapter 3 we’ll eavesdrop on a conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and the accomplished Pharisee Nicodemus. It’s one of two conversations we’ll witness in the next two chapters of our study of John’s gospel.
We learned of Nicodemus’ biography in our last lesson. Nicodemus is accomplished. Those who are accomplished often think their human accomplishments will impress God and give them an inside track to heaven, either through works or wealth. It won’t. Check out the similarities between Nicodemus’ resume and the apostle Paul’s resume. Philippians, Chapter 3, Verses 3 to 11…
PHILIPPIANS 3:3 …for we believers in Christ are the true circumcision (spiritual circumcision)… who worship in the filling of God the Holy Spirit…and whose glory is union with Christ Jesus…who put no confidence in the flesh…
PHILIPPIANS 3:4 …although I (Paul) myself might have confidence, even in the flesh! If anyone has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I ought to far more…
PHILIPPIANS 3:5 …I was circumcised the eighth day…I am of the nation of Israel…I am of the tribe of Benjamin…I am a Hebrew of Hebrews…as to the Mosaic Law, I am a Pharisee…
PHILIPPIANS 3:6 …as to zeal, I am a persecutor of the church…as to the righteousness which comes from following the Mosaic Law, I am found blameless.
PHILIPPIANS 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
PHILIPPIANS 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss when compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count the things lost but human excrement so that I may gain a relationship with Christ…
PHILIPPIANS 3:9 …and I (Paul) pray I may be found…because of my union with Christ…as not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Mosaic Law…but having that righteousness which is imputed through faith in Christ…the righteousness which comes from God the Father on the basis of faith in Christ…
PHILIPPIANS 3:10 …that I (Paul) may know Jesus and the power of His resurrection from the dead and the fellowship of His sufferings…being conformed to His death…
PHILIPPIANS 3:11 …in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead myself.
Paul came to the correct conclusion. He described his resume as skubala… the Greek word translated refuse…dung…rubbish…garbage…human excrement… and feces. In our slang we call it shit. Paul is saying that when he compares his human accomplishments to having a relationship with Christ, his resume is shit. More people on earth need to take advantage of this revelation from God. Nicodemus was in that number.
So in John Chapters 3 and 4, the Lord is evangelizing to two unbelievers…to Nicodemus who is accomplished and to a Samaritan woman He meets at Jacob’s well who is not accomplished at all. In fact, she is pitied and despised by those around her.
In these two chapters the Lord demonstrates how to handle sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, whether we are dealing with those who are accomplished or those who are not.
The Lord’s motivation is clear…He wants EVERYONE to be saved. Let’s hear today’s passage of study.
As you have been taught, there were no chapter breaks in the original language of Scripture. So the end of Chapter 2 is a build up for the passage we’ll study today. We start with John, Chapter 2, Verses 23 to 25 and continue with John Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 13…
JOHN 2:23 Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the Feast many believed in His name because of observing His signs which He was doing.
JOHN 2:24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to men, for He knew what was in all men…
JOHN 2:25 …and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.
JOHN 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews…
JOHN 3:2 …this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher…for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
JOHN 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
JOHN 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
JOHN 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
JOHN 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh…and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
JOHN 3:7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
JOHN 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going…so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
JOHN 3:9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?”
JOHN 3:10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?”
JOHN 3:11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.”
JOHN 3:12 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
JOHN 3:13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.”
Let’s study the passage verse-by-verse beginning at John, Chapter 2, Verse 23 to see how the Lord educates this unbeliever…
JOHN 2:23 Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the Feast…many believed in His name because of observing His signs which He was doing.
Jesus celebrated the Passover because He was Jewish. He followed the Mosaic Law to the letter (after all, He wrote it) and He completed the Mosaic Law to perfection…every jot and every tittle. He did what no other man was able to do. He completely fulfilled of the Mosaic Law down to the smallest detail.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s life on earth was a period in divine history called The Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. A dispensation is a divine time period. There are seven of them. The Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union occurred immediately before the current dispensation…The Church Age.
The term “hypostatic union” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ being 100% God and 100% man in one Person.
Those who were listening to Jesus “believed in his name” which means they believed things about Him. It did not mean they believed IN Him. What does it mean to believe?
BELIEVE To accept something as true…to think something is likely…or to place your faith and trust in a person or idea.
To be saved, we must believe IN Jesus for salvation.
John, Chapter 2, Verses 24 and 25…
JOHN 2:24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to men, for He knew what was in all men…
JOHN 2:25 …and Jesus did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.
Jesus knew the entire human race and every individual intimately because He created them all! He knew that just because they “believed” what they were seeing did not mean they believed in Him and invested their faith in Him for salvation. Jesus knows our hearts. Being impressed with signs is not necessarily having faith in Jesus’ Person for salvation.
Jesus did signs so people would get to know Him and believe in Him for SALVATION, accepting the gospel offer of salvation as a free gift from the grace of God. Yet Jesus knew men are fickle. He knew that “nothing good dwells in us” because of the flesh in us. The apostle Paul taught us that in Romans, Chapter 7, Verse 18 when he said…
ROMANS 7:18 I (Paul) know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…for the willingness to do good…the wishing to do good…IS present in me…but the actual doing of good is not present in me.
A Pastor teaches the Word of God to a group of people and then swindles his congregation out of MIL for a private jet.>
With Jesus’s knowledge of man as the introduction to His interaction with Nicodemus, we move on to John, Chapter 3, Verses 1 and 2… JOHN 3:1 Now there was A MAN of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews…
JOHN 3:2 …and this MAN came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher…for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
When John calls Nicodemus a MAN he is saying John that Nicodemus in only human. He’s a natural man. He doesn’t understand spiritual things. He is respected by humans because of his accomplishments, but in God’s eyes Nicodemus is an ungodly, unrighteous unbeliever…a sinner who needs a Savior…just like all of us from birth.
In the last lesson we got a brief biography of Nicodemus. We introduced him as “Mr. All That.” When someone is “all that” he is exceptionally cool, attractive, talented, or important. You’ll remember a friend of mine told me that I am NOT “all that.”
Nicodemus saw himself as important, yet he was blinded by his religion, Judaism. As we know, religion is Satan’s strategy against the human race. It’s designed to make us indifferent or antagonistic to God.
Nicodemus was a significant person in the eyes of people, but he was spiritually dead. How lucky Nicodemus gets to talk to the One who can change his spiritually dead status.
So in John Chapter 3, Jesus deals with “Mr. All That.” In John Chapter 4, Jesus deals with “Mrs. NOT All That,” the Samaritan woman at the well…an insignificant person in the eyes of people.
Jesus’ message to the human race in these two chapters is that it doesn’t matter where you are on the human social scale. All men and women are born with the exact same problem…spiritual death. Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 10 and 11…
ROMANS 3:10 …as it is written, “There is no creature who is righteous in the eyes of God…not even one…
ROMANS 3:11 There is no creature who understands God or any divine thing…there is no creature who seeks a relationship with God…
Human accomplishments cannot earn you a place in God’s kingdom. Nicodemus is displaying complete ignorance. He is not recognizing the Messiah who is standing right in front of him.
By the way, there is nothing to read into the “by night” comment in Verse 2. It was just the time of day.
When Nicodemus says, “You have come from God,” he infers that Jesus is not God. Yet Jesus Christ IS God and Nicodemus didn’t recognize it.
If you are one of those people who think, “I believe Jesus was an actual person who lived on the earth…I believe Jesus is a great teacher…but I don’t believe He is God…and I don’t believe He is the Messiah…and I don’t believe He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” that is not a salvation request.
When Nicodemus says, “You’re a teacher,” he infers Jesus is not the Sovereign God of the Universe. Jesus was much more than a teacher and a rabbi and a Person who has God with Him. He is the Son of God…He is the Messiah…and Nicodemus, the learned one, should have known. Nicodemus was about to find out that in God’s eyes he isn’t “all that.”
When we return from the break, we’ll request an offering and then we’ll keep studying the first section of John, Chapter 3.
FIVE-MINUTE BREAK GRAVES INTO GARDENS Elevation Worship and Brandon Lake
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Human Accomplishments Cannot Earn You a Place in God’s Kingdom OFFERING INTRODUCTION
God the Father loves all of His creatures unconditionally, and He loves us so much, that He GAVE His Son to save us. God the Father is not conflicted about giving. Are you? First John, Chapter 3, Verses 17 and 18 say this…
FIRST JOHN 3:17 …whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him…how does the unconditional love of God abide in this person?
FIRST JOHN 3:18 Little children (believers in Christ) … let us not love unconditionally with word or with tongue (because love is not talk) … but let us love unconditionally with deeds and in truth.
Let this be a time in your life when you realize what God the Father is able to do with what we give. Realize the importance of giving. It makes life an amazing experience for those in need. Be generous with the gifts your God has given you… your time gifts…your talent gifts…AND your treasure gifts.
Let’s listen to Deacon Denny Goodall present one of his always thoughtful and always inspiring offering messages.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
COLOSSIANS 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit according to the traditions of men…according to the elementary principles of the world…rather than according to the thinking and the principles of Christ.
OFFERING VERSE
COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of Deity dwells in human form…
OFFERING VERSE
COLOSSIANS 2:10 And in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority.
OFFERING SONG THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU Instrumental Version
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Human Accomplishments Cannot Earn You a Place in God’s Kingdom
LESSON PART TWO
Imagine Jesus talking to Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, just as He is talking to Nicodemus. Gates is one of the top twenty richest people in the world, a man who is worth 5 billion dollars (even after a divorce). The interest on his fortune kicks off .5 billion a year without ever touching the 5 billion.
Yet when Bill Gates dies, all of this wealth stays here, and he goes to the Lake of Fire if he never bothers to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Human accomplishments cannot earn you a place in God’s kingdom.
Jesus would be treating Bill Gates much like He is treating Nicodemus, with a total interest in getting him to accept the free gift of salvation. In John, Chapter 3, Verse 3 the Lord begins evangelizing to Nicodemus. Here comes a blindside!
JOHN 3:3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you, unless one is born again (born from above…the new birth) he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is telling Nicodemus he is not “born again.” He is telling Nicodemus he cannot see what is right in front of him, the King of the Universe. He is telling Nicodemus he is spiritually blind and not on track to see the kingdom of heaven.
Nicodemus doesn’t understand this spiritual truth as a natural man…so Nicodemus turns into a comedienne…John, Chapter 3, Verse 4…
JOHN 3:4 Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” It isn’t funny. Nicodemus is fixated on physical birth. Jesus is talking about spiritual birth. Since Nicodemus didn’t really understand the idea of being born again, the Lord gives him another way to look at it in John, Chapter 3, Verse 5…
JOHN 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
In this verse, water is a reference to The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the water of the Word of God. Spirit is a reference to the baptism of God the Holy Spirit. So unless a person hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ and responds positively to it resulting in the baptism of Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Water baptism has nothing to do with being born again. A lot of people haven’t figured that out.
Water baptism is said to be, “An outward sign of an inner decision.” For what end? To impress men?
Parents are baptizing babies. Why? Because parents think they can make the baby’s decision for them. I wonder how many people are in the Lake of Fire who were certain they were Christians because they were “water baptized” as babies. Yet they never made their own decision to believe in Christ.
Judaism teaches that you can get into heaven by keeping the Mosaic Law (good deeds). As a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus was teaching, “Obey the Mosaic Law…keep the feasts…do animal sacrifices…and you can be saved.
Unfortunately, those he was teaching couldn’t keep the Mosaic Law, so not one of them could get into heaven by that method. Jesus made it clear in Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 20…
MATTHEW 5:20 “For I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees (which is self-righteousness), you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
People thought the scribes and Pharisees were righteous and they were not. They were ungodly, unrighteous, unbelievers…sinners who needed a Savior. Without the new birth you can’t get into the kingdom of God. John, Chapter 3, Verse 6…
JOHN 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh…and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Said another way…
JOHN 3:6 Flesh gives birth to flesh…God the Holy Spirit gives birth to spirit (the spiritual life).
Human birth is one thing…the spiritual birth is what matters.
Flesh only can produce its own kind. Humanity reproduces fallen humanity. Being spiritual is something God does for you. Flesh cannot make itself born again. Flesh (the human family) cannot birth anyone into God’s family (the spiritual family).
Believers in Christ place no confidence in the flesh…the part of us that was left in us after salvation…John, Chapter 1, Verses 12 and 13…
JOHN 1:12 But as many as accepted the offer to believe in Jesus, to them Jesus gave the right to become children of God the Father, to everyone who believes in His name…
JOHN 1:13 …those who were the born-again ones…not born of blood…nor born of the will of the flesh…nor born of the will of man…but who are the born-again ones of God (the spiritually alive ones).
Nicodemus is astonished and mortified by Jesus’ revelation. He’s thinking, “If this is true, I’ve been wasting my life!” Yep! You have. You had to learn the hard way that your accomplishments mean little. In John, Chapter 3, Verse 7 the Lord tells Nicodemus…
JOHN 3:7 “Do not be amazed (shocked) that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
Human accomplishments cannot earn you a place in God’s kingdom. Therefore, let your salvation be the result of God’s gift to you. Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9…
EPHESIANS 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith in Christ alone…and that grace and that faith and that salvation is not from the source of yourselves…it is a gift of God…
EPHESIANS 2:9 …it is not as a result of your works (done in self-righteousness) … so that no one may boast (about saving himself).
We’ll complete the study of this passage in our next lesson.
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE The Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation Offer to the Human Race
The final ten minutes of this lesson could be the ten most important minutes of your life. You’ll be introduced to the good news concerning how you can spend all eternity in heaven when you close your eyes in this life. We want you to know that…
GOD WANTS YOU! He Wants You Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
…and what He wants for you is that you make the most important decision of your life.
If you are an atheist, this gospel message is for you.
Atheism is the rejection of the existence of deities. This gospel message is the hope that if you are atheist, which is your choice, you haven’t stopped looking for evidence of the existence of God. The God who created you wants a relationship with you.
It is unlikely you would think of yourself as a fool. But in Psalm 14, Verse 1, the Lord says…
PSALM 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
Atheists say there is no God. The Lord thinks that’s foolish. So is there a God? That’s a question everyone who comes to the earth must answer. Answering questions requires research to find evidence that reveals the truth. Beliefs are only true to the degree that they are the same as the truth.
Christians have done the research. Our faith in God is not blind. Our faith is not a set of beliefs. Our faith is not opinion. Faith is what anyone has after doing research to uncover evidence of what is true. I have faith that an American Airlines pilot knows how to get a plane off the ground and land it safely in any destination, because I have flown over ten million miles with American Airlines. I have first-hand knowledge of their competence. When I book a flight with them, I have faith they will get me to my destination.
There are many sources of evidence about God’s existence, and the Bible is one of them. The Bible suggests an answer to the question, “Is there a God?” But there are other things you need to know.
Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 12 illuminates a problem for the whole human race including you…
ROMANS 5:12 …through one man…Adam…sin entered into the world…and spiritual death entered the world through his sin…so spiritual death spread to all men…because all men were considered by God to have sinned when Adam sinned.
You were born in a state of sin. Just so you don’t blame Adam for your plight, you commit personal sins as well according to Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 23…
ROMANS 3:23 …all creatures have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 10 says…
ROMANS 3:10 …it is written, “There is no creature who is righteous (that is, free from sin) … not even one…”
Your spiritually dead condition at physical birth IS NOT YOUR FAULT, but it is your circumstance.
Because you are born spiritually dead, you require spiritual life. The only Being who can gift you with spiritual life is God.
So where do you get your evidence about the existence of God? Who are your guides? Famous atheist Bertrand Russell says, “There can’t be a practical reason for believing what isn’t true.” He applied this to Christianity, but it applies to atheism as well.
Christians aren’t guided by atheists, or any group of people, or any set of beliefs. Christians are guided by truth. The Lord says in Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Verse 16…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:16a All Scripture is God breathed…
In John, Chapter 17, Verse 17…in a prayer to His Father…the Lord Jesus Christ says…
JOHN 17:17b (Father)…Your Word is truth.
The Lord says the human writers of Scripture wrote down exactly what He wanted them to write, the truth, revealing His thoughts to the human race. If what the Lord is thinking and saying is true, we have a source for accuracy.
What is God’s plan for the human race? First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST TIMOTHY 2:3 This is what is good and acceptable in the sight of the God who is our Savior (the Lord Jesus Christ)…
FIRST TIMOTHY 2:4 …who wants all men to be saved and who wants all men to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Here’s the truth from the Lord Himself. The ONE WAY…the ONLY WAY to get to heaven is through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…
JOHN 14:6 Jesus said to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation) … and I am the truth (through the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Word of God) … and I am the resurrection life (eternal life) … and no one comes to God the Father in heaven but through believing in Me.”
Who is this God who saves you? The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3 For I (Paul) delivered to all of you as of primary importance the gospel message I also received from God…that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 …and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Old Testament Scriptures…
RIGHT WHERE YOU SIT…RIGHT NOW…RIGHT THIS MOMENT you can go from atheist to believer in Christ with a single, simple thought. Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…
ACTS 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved by God…you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
To BELIEVE means to accept God’s word for what it takes to be saved. So, accept the invitation and heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment…but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead, the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
The Lord wants a RELATIONSHIP with you because He doesn’t want ANYONE, not even atheists, to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 says…
SECOND PETER 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation as some accuse Him of… instead, He is patient toward unbelievers…not wishing for any of you to perish in the Lake of Fire…but for all of you to come to repentance (which is a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).
So if you’re an atheist, keep on doing the research. You will find overwhelming evidence there is a God. He’s the designer who created the heavens, and the earth, and the moon, and the stars, and YOU! Keep on looking until you find your God!
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE The Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation Offer to the Human Race
CLOSING SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s close with music! Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28 says…
ROMANS 8:28 And we believers in Christ KNOW that God the Father causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God the Father (Christians)…to those (born again ones) who are called according to God the Father’s purpose.
Whether there is tragedy or triumph in the lives of us believers in Christ, we always KNOW that the Lord will turn what seem to be defeat into victory. Why? Mac Powell says it’s because we are His NEW CREATION.
MUSIC - CLOSING SONG Let’s Hear the Singing of the Lord’s Praises
NEW CREATION Mac Powell CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
Almighty God and Father…
…thank you for gifting us with a so great salvation we cannot earn…thank you for teaching us how to evangelize to those who think they are “all that” …
…give us the courage to evangelize to the accomplished people in our lives…help us to let them know that self-righteousness is no righteousness at all…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
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