The Gospel of Life (John 5:40)

Introduction

Okay, this is going to sound a little bit odd this morning. Baptism without conversion. A lot, isn’t it? Is it possible? Is it possible for an individual to submit to the act of baptism and yet not really grasp or come to conversion to the Lord. Coming to Him for cleansing and forgiveness by His blood. As you think about that possibility, I think it is true about folks who we see baptized that it’s possible that they could be desiring a fix for something that’s less than ideal in their life, perhaps some need that they feel for God, their creator. They want a fix, but not being desirous of the fix that involves required change. Needed change in their life. Baptism is not just a religious act that fixes things.

For baptism to be in the name of Jesus, for baptism to convert us to the Lord, it must be preceded by a change of heart.

Repentance, a turning from sin and a turning to God and a turning to his will. And yet I think a lot of folks in our times, especially, might fall something short of that, in thinking that I need this religious experience. I believe in God. I believe he’s the author of the Bible, and I need to do something that pleases him and changes my course, something to which I can point and say, I’m a Christian because I was baptized, but shortly thereafter, we don’t see them anymore. They disappear. And somebody might be quick to say, oh, but the parable of the soul talks about that. The parable of sower talks about rocky soil. And yes, that sometimes happens, where immediately after a time of temptation, people fall away, and there’s no firm root in them.

And yes, that’s possible for an individual to be truly converted to the Lord and shortly thereafter fall away. I’m not denying that possibility, and I won’t always know what is the case. But what I’m concerned about that we don’t understand, the role baptism is designed to play in conversion to the Lord. And I think this is borne out in this concept or thought that a lot of folks who might submit to an ordinance of baptism, they may want all of the benefits of God’s promises without his required conditions for receiving them. Conversion to the Lord is the Lord’s business. He’s the one that determines it. He’s the one that adds us to the body, according to Acts chapter 2 and verse 47. And so it has to be on his terms.

And yet, as we look at the author of the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, the forgiveness of our sins, the hope of heaven, and all the things that go with obedience to the Lord, we think, yeah, I want that. You would be foolish to not want it.

But are we willing to embrace the conditions? The requirements, as we saw in Zacharias and Elizabeth this morning, as we emphasize that in our Bible class, their adherence to the commandments and requirements of the Lord. Because that’s what true conversion is all about. And I’m concerned that if this is our approach, that, well, the conditions, not really one all of those, but I do want the benefits. The danger in that kind of thinking, whether in Christ or without, is an attitude of minimum. So what’s the least that I can do to slip into heaven? What are the minimums that are required? And you start thinking in terms of minimums rather than maximums. More on that as we go along. And compromises. You know, that condition, that one works for me, I’ll do that one.

But this other one over here, I’m not so sure about that. And perhaps I can play both ends against the middle. In this approach to serving Jesus, sell out completely to the Lord. Yes. That’s the real gospel. And the scenes of this sermon actually came out of what is going to be a discussion in our Wednesday night study on marriage, divorce, and remarriage, about people who come to the knowledge of the truth and realize that they are living in adultery before God. They are in a marriage, but it’s a marriage that the New Testament labels adultery, and so now we have to think about how we’re going to fix that. And so, well, I shouldn’t have done it. Shouldn’t have done it. I know that wasn’t God’s will for marriage.

I read that in Matthew 19, but I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for that. And so I’m sorry for that, and I can continue in that marriage, whatever marriage it is, two, three, four, five, six, seven, you know, who was her name? Who was married all those times? The Hollywood actress. Liz Taylor, yeah, thank you. Drawing up like there. Liz Taylor. You know, it doesn’t matter if it’s the ninth husband, I’m coming to the Lord now and I repent, I’ve been wrong, all these, and so I can just stay in this one. Well, if the Bible calls it adultery, if you weren’t married, then you couldn’t continue in that if you were just having a relationship with someone else and not in a marriage relationship. If we you would have to repent or change from that adultery, would you not?

And so, whatever the Bible calls adultery, you must cease the act of it. And a lot of times that’s a sticking point for folks. Well, but I’m not, you know, again, okay, that’s one of the conditions, and I’m not so sure that I want to do that. I want to take you to a text in John chapter 5 that really is the theme of the lesson this morning. John chapter 5 and verse 40. When Jesus said to folks, two religious leaders of the day, he said, and this is a compelling context, he says, and you are unwilling, you see, it’s a matter of my will versus God’s will, and he says, You are unwilling to come to me, that you may have life. Now that’s what we’re talking about, and that’s the relevance of this topic to all of us here this morning.

Are you willing to come to him so that you may have life? Now, these were avid students of the Word of God. He said, You search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life. He didn’t say you peruse occasionally the scriptures. I mean, he talks about some intensity on their part. And he says, You search the scriptures because you think, okay, they’re convinced they’re okay, that they have life. And he says, You think that in them you have eternal life, but here’s where you’re missing it. Those scriptures that are so beloved by you, they were pointing to me. They testify of me. They wrote of me. Moses spoke of me, and you did not believe him. And thus you do not believe me, even though you revere the scriptures.

How does that happen? I love the passage in Acts 13. They read every Sabbath from the scriptures, but they’re not, they don’t get it. They can read it every Sabbath and not get it. How does that happen? Because their hearts are wrong. That’s why. It’s a heart issue, and that’s what I’m driving at this morning in this lesson. Your heart, my heart before the throne of God. He says, You do not have the love of God in yourselves. Verse 42. Oh, I love God. If you were to asked every one of those people, do you love God? They would have said, Yes, I love God. Not by God’s definition. Who did they really love? Themselves. And that’s evidenced by the previous statement as they sought glory from one another.

I’m a good pious religious person. I’m one of God’s covenant people. Pat me on the back, please. They received glory from one another. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? That tells us so much about how we come to Him. What did it say? We seek, we should seek the glory that is from the one and only God. We have to come to Jesus. We have to come to Him on His terms so that we might have life. I love that. Sometimes I think we just overlook a phrase like that. We’re talking about real living. From your Creator’s perspective. That we can feel that we’re alive, but we’re really dead.

The church in Sardis, yes, even people who had been baptized scripturally and had come to the Lord in the past, they had a name that they were alive, but they were dead.

And that’s what I want to sell to you this morning. Not a bill of goods. But to sell to you the message that brings you life.

1. Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?

In Hebrews chapter 12, talking about the chastising, the chastising or the discipline of the Lord. We talked about that a Sunday night two weeks ago. He said, He disciplines us for our good. Hebrews 12 and verse 10, that we may share his holiness. And while this discipline sometimes seems sorrowful and puts us through difficult paces in our circumstances, once we have been trained by it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. He’s talking about real life in Christ. I want to explore three questions this morning about the real life that is in Christ and how it is obtained. Number one. Why did Jesus come to earth? We’re studying this in our summary of the life of Christ in our Bible study on Sunday morning. And we just talked about John’s birth, and we’re going to focus next week on Jesus’ birth.

What’s the significance of all of that? The significance is it is the only means. And by only I mean only. There was no other way. The only means of undoing sin’s deadly disastrous effects. And I use two adjectives to describe its effects because I want us to get the point of how awful sin is and how undoing it is. Sin is deadly, it is disastrous. And it took the working out of the scheme of redemption all the way back from the Garden of Eden and sin being introduced into the world and the promise made to Abraham and several millennia passing before all the circumstances could be arranged so that our Savior could come into the world to fix this problem. And we need to try to appreciate the incarnation that is Jesus taking on flesh, carnage is the idea of meat, Jesus taking on flesh, and all that means.

And we ought to start with just how extraordinary is the fact that even came. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But he emptied himself. He took upon limitations that he had never experienced ever. God, limitless, infinite spirit, took on the confines and limitations of human flesh and babyhood, no less. And dealt with a growing intellect as we deal with that. One of the reasons why I think at the age of 12, we’re given that little insight into him being about his father’s business and how he has matured and developed in 12 years of life on earth. But he took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And I could talk all day about out of ivory palaces and into a world of love.

What a great song. The extraordinary descent that God would be housed in human flesh. And then the humiliation.

You give up your throne in glory with the Father, the joy that he had with the Father before the world was. And you come and you take human flesh among men who owe their lives and breath to you. And you are forsaken, you are rejected, even your closest disciples will deny you or flee. And you will be crucified. The worst kind of humiliation and death, even the death on the cross. And you’ll endure all of that.

Crowned with glory and honor. That by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things.

In bringing many sons to glory. And what did what was it fitting for him to do to perfect the author of their salvation? The author of our salvation through sufferings. And thus we can have the hope of sanctification that he goes on to talk about. By his wounds, our salvation has come. By his suffering, our freedom is one. And thus Jesus is exalted above everything and every one. As he ascended back to the Father, completing his work. Let’s sing it again, Scott.

Nor was to seek fullness Yes by whom our salvation has come yet by the summer our be done is one for God has he exalted your name He has been thrown upon us Jesus the name of all names God has He exalted your name He has been from you on heart Jesus the name of all name You were despised You were rejected like those who pass by Even the very case from the side Some of the suffering you let thy land to the life of I word The chose to be silent until nor was to seek from his salvation has come Yes by the suffering our freedom is one For God to draw name. He has enthroned you on high. Jesus the name of all name.

He has to draw to my Jesus the name of all name. You were inspired.

Such was the my clicker. Actually, I was gonna go there, Daniel. Okay.

2. How Do We Come to Him?

He who is highly exalted. We’ve talked about what he had to do to undo sin’s deadly, disastrous effect. How do we come to him? When you consider that he tasted death for all of us for our sins. The only fitting response is to come to him in godly sorrow. We know from 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10 that it’s godly sorrow that produces repentance. On the day of Pentecost, after they realized they were responsible for putting the Lord to death, this Jesus whom you crucified, God hath made him both Lord and Christ as we son. That’s right. It says they were pierced to their hearts. And said, Men and brethren, what shall we do? If we could just get more people to ask that question.

But Peter answered, repent. And really, this is part one of another whole sermon that probably needs to be preached about repentance in coming to the Lord and what all that involves. Repent and be converted. That your sins may be wiped away, and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. The standards of righteousness we’ve not lived. And this caused all of this. This was the only means of fixing all of this. And if we’re going to get the fix that Jesus provided, then we’re going to have to turn from that which has caused the problem in the first place and set our faces toward righteousness. So that’s how we come to him. Rebellion against God is no small matter. So what does life in him mean?

3. What Does Life in Him Mean?

What does it look like? What is embracing the fix, coming to him that we might have life with the proper heart and with the proper attitude? It is nothing less than I am going to commit myself to the fact that Jesus is Lord. I’m going to let him reign because he reigns. I’m going to let him reign in my heart and dictate my movements and my thinking. This is what all real salvation looks like. One brother made this as an evangelism recommendation. He said, How about telling your friend this? You cannot become a Christian unless you lose your life. If you try to live life for your own happiness, you will not be a disciple of Christ. You cannot be a Christian unless you give up all that you have, unless you deny yourself, unless you put Christ ahead of all relationships.

In other words, following Christ will ruin your life. Now, that’s not true ultimately, but he will ruin your life. Perhaps the way you have designs on living it, he’s going to put a den into that. Because we must die in order to live.

Oh, it’ll make better families. And it will. It’s not that hard. You don’t have to do that. Yeah, you’ve got to change. And probably in ways when you obey the gospel you’ve not even seen yet. It’s not a one time change decision. There’s still a lot to be learned.

We gather here to learn to die with our Savior.

Life equals Jesus is Lord. I don’t want there to be among any of us baptized people who are converted to the Lord. Or anyone who tries to come to Him with the attitude, you know, the Lord’s fortunate to have me on board. I chose the Lord.

Reminds me of a sign when I was preaching at Eastside in Baytown, the denomination across the street. And the sign we saw on the way to services that morning that simply said, give Jesus a chance. And that struck me funny when I saw it. And I understand the concept that a lot of folks will try a lot of different things to make their lives better, and perhaps they need to look to the one place where they can find real answers for living. Give Jesus a chance. But I’m a little bit concerned with that from this standpoint. Jesus died to give me a chance. And that ought always to be our understanding of what we’ve come to in Christ. It is by God’s grace and mercy that I’m a part of this at all.

The Lord is glad when I choose his side and choose to be his follower. But I have only allowed this because of what he did, and I have come to him, and I am saying yes to his will. Not my own any longer. It’s gotten me in a mess. And you know, whenever I assert my will, I’ve noticed that it still does. When I assert my will over his, it gets me into a mess again. Coming to Jesus means yes to his will. We sing it.

But I’ve got to tell you, my stubborn will doesn’t like to yield. And as Paul said, I buffet my body and make it my slave. Lest after I preach to others I myself should be disqualified. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. It’s one of the great statements in Jesus’ ministry. I tell you, if this is true, first of all, if this isn’t true, none of this is true. And if this is true, this statement, this is one of the most incredible statements that has ever been made by any person. It either smacks of outright arrogance and foolishness, or it is truth. Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. And he said this much in John 5 earlier when he said, No one can, if you come to me, I will give you life.

What does that mean? Jesus is the way. He is the path. He is the example. He’s the pattern. He has shown us the way of the cross, and he expects us to embrace that way of self-sacrifice and self-denial. He illumines what it means to truly live before God. And we’re ever learning to think like he thought and behave like he behaved as he lived. He is the path. He is the way. And first century Christians were called people of the way. Perhaps derogatorily by some, but used by Paul to describe people who had committed themselves to Jesus. Truth. Speaks to substance. The essence of everything. He is the essence of it all. The life. The fullness of being. That will eventuate into eternal living. In the presence of our God forever.

Conclusion

Will you come to him that you might have life on his terms? And will you embrace his will, which is indeed the sweet will of God? You’re subject to the invitation. Come now, let’s sing together.