 and worship you for the glorious gospel of grace in our Lord Jesus Christ thank you Lord that you've saved us God thank you that in Christ you have made us accepted in the beloved and I pray God if there's anyone here that isn't saved how that you would save them for your glory the name of Jesus Christ our blessed God and Savior we pray amen you may be seated our sermon title this morning is believe in him believe in him and our text is John chapter 3 verse 16 what a great text amen and John chapter 3 verse 16 says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life one of those glorious texts in all of scripture a famous text but a text that is often taken out of context or a text that is often hijacked and deluded and corrupted in its meaning but in our study of John chapter 3 in the Lord's conversation here with Nicodemus so far this conversation has been set against a backdrop and it is a backdrop of man's depravity all men outside of Christ are born depraved Adam is our representative in the Bible says in Romans chapter 5 verse 12 that just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men because all have sin and sin has impacted sin has affected every aspect of who we are sin has caused our heart as the Bible says to be foolish to be darkened sin has caused our hearts our understanding to be defiled your understanding the Bible says is depraved we are feudal apart from Christ we are feudal in our thoughts professing to be wise all men outside of Christ are fools they're filled with all unrighteousness and we are spiritually blind and dead in our trespasses apart from the regenerating work of the spirit of God in the heart of man all men outside of Christ are totally depraved God's assessment of you and I apart from the regenerating work of his spirit is what is meant by the term total depravity it is a thorough or pervasive depravity that depravity is clearly seen in the thoughts and intents of man's heart apart from Christ in that they are always and continually evil mark chapter 7 verse 21 says for from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts adulteries fornications murders thefts covetousness wickedness deceit lewdness and evil eye blasphemy pride foolishness right just the the the stack of evidence against us is great all these evil things mark says come from within and defile a man the glorious truth however the glorious truth against the backdrop of that disgusting and deplorable reality is the history of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation that is the account of God's working in history to redeem a fallen man to himself why why is that the case why would God do this what it's for his own glory God for the praise and worship do his name and for the exaltation of his son has worked in history to redeem fallen man to himself but secondly it's because the Bible says in the Bible teaches that God is love that God is love this is not a sentimentalized or sappy or superficial kind of love this is a love that is governed by God's perfect holiness it is a love first for his own righteous character his own divine justice it is a love that is first concerned with his own glory it is a love that would not settle for anything less but that God would be just and that God would be holy and that God would be glorified God's holiness is of such perfection God's justice so pure so undefiled and man's sin is so much a horrid stain such an offensive blight on the character of God that to uphold his perfect justice and to preserve his perfect holiness God would be right and just to cast mankind into an eternal torment as punishment for their sin but the history of the Bible the history of the Bible from Genesis Revelation is not a story of a hopeless condemnation amen it's not a story whereby God only vindicates his holiness and justice by glorifying himself in man's eternal punishment the glorious truth of the Bible is that God from Genesis Revelation has been working in history to reverse the human tragedy of sin and to provide a means by which we may maybe saved it's for our good it's for his glory that's great love amen it's a love that upholds God is just but it's also a love that upholds God as the great justifier all in such a way that God alone gets all the glory there's only one way that that could be done it's only one way one way alone that God could be just and the justifier it would take an immeasurable love it would take an indescribable gift and it would take an indestructible faith an immeasurable love an indescribable gift and an indestructible faith first an immeasurable love a love so immeasurable as to be thoroughly and completely unconditional a love so great that flowing from it would be grace and mercy and kindness and compassion and patience all toward those that are thoroughly and completely undeserving in every way enemies of God by their wicked works but secondly that immeasurable love result in an indescribable gift the chasm or the rift between man and God created by our own sin against him is so great there can be no forgiveness no forgiveness of sin without the greatest of costs which is the shedding of blood the giving of that which is most valuable life to fully and finally repair the breach would take a sacrificial gift on the part of God so great and it's such so high so unimaginable a cost that it is described by the Bible as indescribable it would be a gift or a sacrifice of God's own son the only response that is warranted the only response possible to uphold the justice of God to uphold the holiness of God that is born out of the love mercy and grace of God is a response in faith and an indescribable faith this great salvation would have to be so completely the work of God alone that it would render man unable to boast of anything and that God whose chief consideration is his own glory would have all of the glory to himself the only appropriate response is a God gifted God empowered God preserved faith now all these points think about it for a moment this immeasurable love of God that indescribable gift that indestructible faith the the glory that is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ all explained beautifully in one simple but extraordinarily profound verse John chapter 3 verse 16 for God so loved the world but he gave his only begotten son and whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life Martin Luther called John 3 16 the gospel in miniature God is the master of understatement the master of the economy of words so much profound truth packed in such a few words we could spend weeks and weeks and weeks talking about this verse alone it's glorious so how are we to respond to these glorious truths how are we to how are we to respond how we how do we think about these things maybe you've heard a great piece of music and you've had your heart stirred right your emotion stirred you think about that great piece of music maybe you listen to it over and over again because of the way that it makes you feel gospel is nothing like that it should stir our emotions it should stir our affections but it should change our life maybe you've seen fireworks before right you just odd by the fireworks you leave the fireworks displayed just thoroughly impressed and you go back to your life as it once was we should look at the gospel and be impressed we should look at the gospel in just glory and how wondrous it is but it should transform who we are we're not just sit back and simply ponder the love of God how great God is and what God has done we should respond with faith and be transformed by the power of the gospel you must believe in him this glorious gospel these glorious truths demand that response it is the only appropriate response you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ John writes this gospel spend these words that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you might have life in his name this belief in Jesus Christ is not merely mental it's not merely intellectual it's not merely and only emotional believing here is the way the Bible communicates genuine saving faith you must entrust yourself to him for salvation you must entrust yourself to him in order to follow Christ by faith we'll see that as we get into our text so we begin we need to understand first the context of our verse here the context in which John 3 16 is found John 3 16 is an explanation of an illustration given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ in verses 14 and 15 in verse 14 Jesus Christ begins to recount for us the historical account that we see in numbers chapter 21 numbers chapter 21 is where the Israelites in the wilderness grumbled and complained against God I think about the foolishness of that all that the Lord had done for them and they grumbled and complained against God in judgment against them God sent fiery serpents among the people and many of the people were bitten by the serpents and died however Moses comes between God and the people to intercede for the people and in an act of great mercy in a great act of love toward a stiff necked and rebellious people God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and to put the bronze serpent at the top of a pole and to raise that pole so that whoever is bitten would believe God look to the bronze serpent the remedy that God has provided that they would be saved from the serpents now Jesus says in verse 15 in the same manner the son of man must be lifted up in the same manner Jesus Christ must be crucified sacrificed on Calvary's cross so that those believing in God and the salvation that God has provided may look to God's provision may look to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith trusting him alone for salvation and that placing that saving belief in Christ they wouldn't perish but have everlasting life in all of that all of that is because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life we see in verse 16 that this glorious act of mercy this glorious act of grace on the part of God begins with an immeasurable love an immeasurable love for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son literally there the verse begins so loved God the world that word so means in the same manner in the same manner now ask yourself in the same manner as what it's in the same way that God demonstrated love for those wicked hard hardest hard-hearted rebellious complaining grumbling Israelites by providing for them their rescue from the serpents God demonstrated love in the same way toward the world in raising up Christ remembering the illustration think about the illustration for God so loved the world think about what so loved the world then is emphasizing numbers 21 in the account of God saving the people from the fiery serpents is drawing attention first to the total depravity of the people if you read that account in numbers 21 it is drawing attention to the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites now imagine for a moment they've been led by the strong arm of God out of Egypt God punished judged their oppressors with 10 plagues took them through the Red Sea on dry land destroyed the pursuing armies of Pharaoh God fed them with manna out of heaven gave them meat to eat brought water out of a rock they heard his audible voice he gave him gave them his law on Mount Sinai he gave them the pillar of fire by night in the cloud by day and led them through the wilderness God chose in of himself to love the children of Israel not because there was anything lovable in them but simply because God chose to shed his love on them look at all that God has done and then yet in great sin in great rebellion they complain and grumble against him their rebellion is shocking as their rebellion is and that is the point of that passage how shocking the rebellion the sin of Israel was against their God as shocking as their rebellion is it can only be eclipsed by the great love and mercy of God in saving them rather than blowing them up on the spot right in the same manner God loved the world in the same manner the sin of this wicked world against God your sin my sin so absurdly and wickedly and pervasively evil so offensive to God that in this context our wickedness the wickedness of this world may only be eclipsed by how great the love and mercy of God that he would provide for our salvation rather than blowing us up on the spot God so loved the world in the same manner God didn't have to make provision for our sin but he did he didn't have to make provision for our sin how great and wondrous the love of God you see that the magnitude of God's love isn't being here primarily explained or emphasized by its scope in that it extends to a great number of people it certainly does it extends to people from every tribe tongue and nation it's not extending only to the Jews also to the Gentiles people from every tribe tongue and nation an immeasurable an innumerable mass of humanity that the Lord has saved it's being primarily described here by its perfection perfectly and totally independent of how unlovable its object is there's not anything lovely about us right the Bible says even our good is as a filthy rag God's love is so completely unconditional so completely sacrificial and it's a choice of God's own sovereign will perfectly glorifying God alone grounded exclusively in God alone and look at the great love with which he loved us not only did he love us with an immeasurable love a great love but he gave his own son he gave his own son look at what it cost God to redeem man to himself this is an immeasurable immeasurable love he did that for a world that did not know him for a world that rejected him rebelled against him and killed him it's an immeasurable love we can only truly understand the love of God God's amazing love toward us when we further understand how unlovely we are and then all of that only in the light of Jesus Christ on the cross you know both of those truths must be urgently pressed and preached all the time throughout history this verse has been torn out of its context and one half of the truth has been taught and it leads to error both truths must be taught and urgently pressed urgently preached upon all people we need constant reminding of our depravity constant reminding of our sin our rebellion against him and constant reminding of the great love and mercy and grace and compassion and patience of God listen how Paul puts these both together the scripture puts them together all the time and this is one of them the more obvious examples of that in Titus chapter 3 verse 3 Paul says the Titus for we ourselves were also once foolish now listen to the diagnosis of man once foolish disobedient deceived serving various lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful hating one another but listen when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us through the washing of regeneration the renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us sparingly no a abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that having been justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life you know if you preach the love of God without its contrast with the wickedness of man you get a prideful self-righteous people who may admire the love of God but see no need in themselves of a Savior both truths must be preached must be pressed upon people all the time mark chapter 2 verse 17 Jesus said those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick he said I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance if you preach the wickedness of man without its hope for redemption in the love and mercy of God then you get a despairing discouraged disheartened hopeless faithless legalistic people striving in their own strength for right standing with God sounds like Islam doesn't it Paul said again to Titus in chapter 2 verse 11 for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching that grace teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts that we should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age looking for the blessed what blessed hope the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works you know from the standpoint of those rebellious and dying Israelites in the wilderness that day in numbers 21 God showed love toward all of them didn't any provided a rescue for anyone who would look to the bronze serpent the bronze serpent was raised for anyone to look but there was no other remedy I want you to get this it was an act of mercy toward all of them whether they looked or whether they didn't whether they believed in God whether they trusted in the provision that God had sent or if they didn't here in John chapter 3 verse 16 this love of God is said to be directed to the world in the same way there's much error in thinking in theology with respect to this verse we need to be clear about this the world here in John chapter 3 verse 16 in context is the mass of fallen and lost humanity it is a general term world is a general term used for humanity fallen humanity in a general sense this is the world of chapter 1 verse 10 that did not know him made up of lost people this is the world of chapter 3 verse 17 that his son was sent into this is the world of chapter 3 verse 19 that the light has come into where men love darkness rather than the light this is what is referred to by the world in John chapter 3 verse 16 there are two errors that people often come to when they consider this verse one is that God loves only those who believe and he hates everyone who has lost but he has only hatred for the wicked and only love for those who believe that's one erroneous way of thinking the second is that God loves everyone indiscriminately in exactly the same way now it's biblically true I want to understand this it's biblically true that God hates Jacob I loved Esau I have hated right Romans chapter 9 verse 13 in Psalm chapter 5 verse 5 the Bible says that God hates all workers of iniquity in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 19 God hates the one who sows discord among the brethren and he hates the false witness that speaks lies and so on however we got to understand it is also equally true that God shows love and compassion toward lost people in Mark's account remember the rich young ruler in Mark chapter 10 very interesting tucked away in verse 21 Mark says in 10 21 that Jesus in speaking with the rich young ruler a lost man that Jesus loved him and in an act of love he's sharing the gospel with him the second great commandment is what to love your neighbor as yourself in Luke chapter 10 a lawyer wanting to justify himself ask Jesus then well who's my neighbor and what did Jesus do he told him the parable of the good Samaritan in the parable of the good Samaritan who was his neighbor everyone who ever he came across anyone he came across was his neighbor Jesus himself said that we're to love our enemies right in 1st Timothy chapter 2 we are to pray for all men which is good and acceptable in the sight of God who desires all men to be saved it is the desired will of God that all men are saved God has two desires a will of desire and a will of decree and God's will of desire he desires that men are saved God says he takes no death no pleasure in the death of the wicked takes no pleasure in the death of one who dies but that wicked man would turn from his wicked ways and live it is the love and compassion of God that wicked men would repent finally there's no greater act of love than the giving of the gospel no greater act of love than the gospel God's offer free offer of the gospel to all men everywhere is a glorious act of love toward them God doesn't do this in condemnation if you've been here week after weekend and week out and you've heard the gospel time and time again God doesn't preach the gospel to you in condemnation Jesus Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world Jesus Christ came into the world that the world might be saved through him it is a great great an act of grace an act of mercy an act of love on the part of God to spread the gospel he offers the gospel freely in love and commands all men everywhere to repent this is a loving act doesn't Paul say to the Corinthians you are to plead with lost people as though God were pleading through you that is a heart of love a heart of compassion on the part of God towards those who are lost that need a savior the gospel offer is a sincere offer it's a sincere offer on the part of God to lost people they might be saved so those who would say that the world in John chapter 3 verse 16 is referring only to believers without distinction to race I want you to think about it in verse 16 he so loved the world and that phrase whoever believed are not equal terms for God's so loved the world that whoever believes in him they're speaking of two different things that which is expressed by the one is not expressed by the other and I'll leave you to ponder that secondly the world of verse 17 is inclusive of both he who believes and the he who does not believe of verse 18 the world is inclusive of those who believe and those who do not believe thirdly there's a part of the world that rejects the light and is condemned in verse 19 again the world being made up of those who believe and those who do not believe so you can't say the context here demands that the world in the love expressed in John 3 16 is a general love toward all humanity it's a general love toward all humanity those who believe that the world means that God loves everyone the same John 3 16 is not teaching a universal salvation not teaching universalism the context here clearly teaches that unbelievers will perish will face judgment and eternal punishment for their sin the bible also clearly teaches a particular or electing love reserved for those that God chooses no one would fault me for saying that i love you but i love my wife in a very particular way amen there's a particular love for my wife that i don't have for all of you i love you but not the way that i love my wife no one faults that there is a distinguishing love but there is love nonetheless for God toward lost people and there's a particular electing love for his elect but listen just like Moses raises up the only remedy for those that were bitten by the serpent God raises up the only remedy before the whole world Jesus Christ was raised up to be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world to be the ransom for the whole world to be the mediator for the whole world to be the savior of the world in the sense that he is the only one he is the only reconciler he is the only repairer of the breach he is the only mediator he is the only propitiation he is the only ransom he is the only son of god He is the only savior in the sense that he is the only one who can. He's the only savior for the entire world. Whether men will look to him in faith and be saved or whether men will reject that glorious gift of God's love and die and go to hell. He is the only one. God in that sense has sent his son for the mass of sinful, fallen, lost humanity. It is the greatest act of love imaginable. It is an immeasurable love. If men are going to be saved they must look to Christ alone. And how great is the love of God for this sinful world that he gave his only one of a kind begotten son. John MacArthur said that God so loved the world wicked though it was. And despite the fact that nothing in the world was worthy of his love he nevertheless loved the world of humanity so much that he gave his only begotten son the dearest sacrifice that he could make. I would submit to you that is an understatement. So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The end result of God's love is therefore the gospel message. The free offer of life and mercy to anyone who believes. In other words, the gospel. An indiscriminate offer of divine mercy to everyone without exception. Manifest God's compassionate love and unfamed loving kindness to all humanity. It is a great love. Immeasurable love. That is the love with which he's loved us. You know that him that we sang. The love of God. It's written by a man named Frederick Lehman. And the third verse is just staggering in its thought. In its scope. Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made? Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man ascribed by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole. Those stretched from sky to sky. It's an immeasurable love. Immeasurable love. You know just like those Israelites. Think for a moment about all that God has done for you. Think about the love that God has shown you. If you're here today in Christ. Think about the love that God has shown to you. But if you're here today and you're not saved. Think about the love that God has shown toward you. You're here today. You hear the gospel being preached. You have a Bible in your hand. You have genuine bloodbought brothers and sisters around you that care for your soul. That care whether you go to heaven or to hell. You have all the resources available at your fingertips. Think about the grace and mercy and kindness and compassion. Think about the patience that God has had for you that you've not been killed already. Maybe you think to yourself. God is planning to condemn me. Or that my sin is too great. My heart is too cold. Listen Jesus Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world. He came. The world through him might be saved. That you might be saved. God desires all men to be saved. And that's you. It's the desire of God that you would be saved. Not the desire of God that you would die and perish in your sins. That is what has motivated God's love for you. God's patience toward you. God's compassion toward you to this point. Are you going to grumble and complain against God like those wicked Israelites in the desert? To say that God's brought me out here to kill me and glorify himself in my condemnation. It's not the God of the Bible. He comes to you with immeasurable love in the gospel. And he calls you to repentance. Calls you to faith in his son that you might believe in him for eternal life. Let me also give you a warning in this. There's a warning here. God loving the world is not an excuse for presumption. Don't be presumptuous with God. Believing that because of God's love that you can live in your sin and believe that you'll somehow make it into heaven. Don't be presumptuous with God. You'd better understand the Bible. Presumption upon God's love will leave you standing before him on judgment day crying out Lord Lord while he casts you into hell. I was witnessing to a man on the campus last week and he was banking on the love of God that he could live as he wants to and still get into heaven. Love of God. God's not going to send anyone to hell. But God's love is governed by God's holiness, God's justice. And we'll see the biblical balance of that next week as we get into verses 17 through 21. Second point on your notes, it's an indescribable gift. His immeasurable love is demonstrated with an indescribable gift. The greatest gift of God to the world is the gospel in which God delivered up or sacrificed or endured the loss of. That's what that word means. His only monogamous, radically distinctive, unique, without equal, one of a kind son. The only man who is ever perfectly worthy of God's love. Paul describes it as indescribable, too glorious to be able to be expressed in words. In 1 Corinthians chapter five verse 21, God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. It is only through Christ that we come to know the love of God and that we come to know God. The word there for only be gotten, better translated unique or one of a kind. It does not mean that Jesus Christ was created or that Jesus Christ came into being. The Bible never teaches that and any responsible or reasonable person would see that as error, would see that as a false teaching. Christ's uniqueness is another aspect that points to the greatness of the gift. Jesus Christ was not a created being. Jesus Christ was the incarnate one. As such, he is God in the flesh. When God gave the gift of Jesus Christ, he is giving himself as a great gift, an indescribable gift. All the promises of God are yes. All the promises of God are yes and amen in him. Think about your need and think about the gift that supplies that need. You need a perfect substitute. You need a perfect substitute. Jesus Christ is a perfect substitute. No sin. Word thought or deed lived perfectly satisfying the just and righteous demands of God for holy living. Perfectly lived for God. You need a wrath satisfying sacrifice. You don't want the wrath of God to be poured out on you. The wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ. The punishment that you rightly deserve, Jesus Christ being God in the flesh was able to endure that eternal punishment in himself on the tree for those that would believe in the gospel. He takes the punishment you rightly deserve. You need someone who can conquer death, who has power over death. And Jesus Christ conquered the grave, conquered death. You need a savior. Jesus Christ is the only and perfect savior. It is an amazing gift. So what will you do? What will you do that that gift now is being offered to you? If you're here today, you've never turned from your sin and put your faith in Christ, what are you going to do? That gift is offered freely to you. Are you going to sit there indifferent? Are you going to sit there cold hearted? Or will you look at the gift? Will you look at the love that is shown to you and be grateful to God and receive that gift trusting him? Receive that gift in faith, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you turn? Or will you continue to make excuses? Don't make excuses. This is a glorious gift. This is an immeasurable love. Follow Christ in faith. Just trust him. You must believe in him. And all this, we're talking about faith. Point three is this is an indestructible faith. Whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Hebrews chapter 11 says that without faith it is impossible to believe God. Ephesians chapter two says that we are saved by grace through faith. To believe in him and to have faith in him are expressing the exact same thing. God's grace and mercy is only available for those who believe in Christ. Now, literally there in verse 16, it says all believing ones. That all believing ones in him should not perish but have everlasting life. This is an ongoing, persevering, continual belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that look of faith, that trusting of Christ. It's that looking to him, trusting him alone for salvation. It's that simple reception. But then it's that reception, that belief that bears fruit. Looking at this from a negative perspective, if you believe in him, you won't perish. That means then that if you are currently unbelieving, you're condemned already. Your default state, your default position is one of condemnation. That's exactly what verse 18 says. Means you are condemned already because of your sin. If you were to die now, then unbelieving you would perish. And as eternal, as the life is, that eternal perishing, that judgment is also eternal. It's final and eternal. However, again, the purpose of the sun and his first coming was not to condemn but to save. To look at this faith from the positive perspective, those who believe in him, who exercise genuine saving faith will not perish, but they'll have eternal life. There is a promise here to those who believe in him of eternal life because it is a promise. It is a guarantee. It's a promise. It's a guarantee. It means you cannot lose it. It is a promise. There's a promise here that those who believe in him will never perish. That means that genuine salvation can never be lost. You can't lose your salvation. Believers will be preserved by God and will persevere to the end and be saved, and they're kept by God's power. This is God's grace, God's love, God's mercy again, and that he preserves those who are his. Listen to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. It's an amazing, amazing gift, and it is an indestructible faith. So what does it mean to believe in him? What does it mean to believe in him? This is getting to the very point for which John wrote his gospel. You must, in believing in Christ, you must entrust yourself to him for salvation. You must entrust yourself to him for salvation. This is no mere emotional response only. This is a response that is grounded in truth. It's grounded in who Christ is, what Christ has done. It is not a subjective belief only. Our faith is built on evidence, built on grounds of truth, built on objectivity. It is placing yourself completely at the disposal of the Lord Jesus Christ with a spiritual hope, with spiritual convictions rooted and grounded in the Word of God. You decide to believe in him despite what goes on around you or despite what goes on in you. You place yourself completely and trust yourself completely to Christ. Listen to the example of Jesus Christ. He's our great example. Listen to his example from 1 Peter chapter 2. Peter says, to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow with steps. Here's how you should follow him. He says, Jesus Christ committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously. Jesus Christ committed himself to God in the same way that we're to commit ourselves to Jesus Christ. Whatever our circumstances, whatever your sin, whatever your lot in life, you are to give yourself to him. You are to entrust yourself to him. You are to rely upon him and be at his complete disposal. You put your faith and trust in Christ. In the same way that Christ gave himself over to the purposes and plans of God, in faith you give yourself over to the purposes and plans of Christ. You just believe him. You trust him in all the circumstances of your life, no matter what crops up. Are these subjective feelings only? No. No, they'll be feelings. They'll be emotions. But it's this kind of faith that is a self-denying faith. It is this kind of faith that is an obedient faith because you trust Christ and Christ is completely for your good. Works together all things for your good. To believe in Christ is to put off those old appetites that once enslaved us and you do that by trusting in Christ. It means to confront temptation with a courageous faith, choosing Christ as Moses did rather than the passing pleasures of sin, right, Hebrews chapter 11. True faith denies the will of the flesh. True faith denies the will of the world, denies the will of the devil for the will of Christ who has saved you. It is putting Christ first, preeminent in your life, choosing Christ over sin. It's to say, not my will, but your will be done. And to do that in all things. And in that it's going to bear the fruit of obedience. There's a great promise here in verse 16. If you do that, you will entrust all of who you are, entrust everything that you are, entrust yourself to all that he is, all that he has taught, all that he has done, all that he says. If you entrust yourself to Christ in genuine faith in him, and the promise is eternal life, John chapter 6 verse 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. It's a glorious promise from the Lord. This is in a measurable love. Amen. It's an indescribable gift. And it is a persevering, preserved, indestructible faith. It's a glorious salvation. The only right response is to believe in him. You must believe, will you do it right now? Believe in him. Entrust yourself completely to him. Turn from that life that you've already wrecked. And put yourself in the hands of God and trust yourself to him. And you have an amazing gift, everlasting life, eternal life, forgiveness of sins, pardoned, washed, clean. It's a glorious salvation. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we praise you and thank you. Thank you Lord for this great salvation you've provided in Christ. We praise you, thank you for the great love with which you've loved us. Thank you Lord for this indescribable gift. And thank you Lord for granting us faith and repentance. Lord, when we were dead in our sins and trespasses that you caused us by your spirit to be born again, granted us faith and repentance. God, thank you for the work that you do to redeem us to yourself that we might be accepted in the beloved. We might worship and praise you forever more for your glory. God, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.