The Effect Of A Savior - John 10:10

[0:00] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Calvary Chapel Charlotte. You can turn your Bibles to John chapter 10. We'll finish up kind of the series we've been doing of looking at the Savior. So next Sunday, we'll jump back into Exodus, line by line, verse by verse, through the book of Exodus.

[0:16] We've taken a break for most of the month of December, looking at the coming of the Savior. Our theme verse is Luke 2.11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

[0:30] And so we took a little time to look at our need for the Savior, the promise of the Savior, Christmas Eve, the arrival of the Savior. And then today we're going to look at, okay, the Savior's come.

[0:42] What does that mean for us? The effect of the Savior. And then next week, we will get back into just going through the Bible, jumping back into Exodus, right up to that point where it's the plague of the firstborn.

[0:55] So all of this ties in so well, as that's just a foreshadowing of Christ our Savior. But we looked at the need for a Savior. Why did man need a Savior? Well, we said that man was lost and man was separated and man was condemned, that we all have a contamination.

[1:09] We all have this condition of sin. And man needs a Savior because man can't save himself. This is a problem that I can't solve. I'm contaminated. I have sinned. I can't help you.

[1:20] I can't take away your sin because I already have sin. Man has no capacity to save himself. And so God, in his mercy and in his love, he looked down and he promised a Savior.

[1:30] He said, man, I see that you cannot save yourself. So right in the beginning, he promised a Savior would come. And that Savior we looked at was a very particular Savior. It couldn't just be anyone. He had to meet certain particulars.

[1:43] This person had to meet this criteria. And Jesus does that perfectly. Became a particular Savior because we're a particular people with a very specific need. And then we looked at Christmas Eve, the arrival of the Savior.

[1:56] That it was bright. That it was glorious. That God announced the Savior to the world. He didn't just come and then we didn't know he was here. That there was an announcement with that. And the Savior arrived as a light in the darkness.

[2:08] And we looked at what does that mean? It's not just a physical light, obviously. It's not just a light you turn on, the darkness is dispelled. But that there's a darkness, that darkness that's in each of us, which is sin, which is that condition.

[2:19] And so God sends his Savior. So God has promised a Savior for a people who needed a Savior. And then God faithfully sent that Savior. But what does that mean?

[2:31] Well, that's what we're going to look at today. We're going to look at the effect of a Savior. What does the effect of a Savior have in our lives? Well, what does that mean the Savior has come? Okay, I have this condition and he's come.

[2:42] Well, now what? And how does that affect my life? The word effect. Well, it kind of has the idea that for there to be an effect, there first has to be a what?

[2:54] There has to be a cause. The word effect means that which is produced by an agent or cause. An effect cannot exist apart from a cause.

[3:05] So the Savior has come. He is the cause. He is the agent. But what's that effect in our lives? That's what we're going to pick up in John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, Jesus, in the book of John, has been dealing with the Pharisees, speaking to them, because he's just healed a man born blind.

[3:23] And the Pharisees are like, well, who do you think you are? Well, then Jesus uses that to say to them, hey, guess what? It's not those that see that need to be healed. It's those that are blind. And because you say you see, you're actually blind.

[3:36] Because you say you see, you don't realize you're blind, that you need healing, that you need a Savior. You know, to realize that we're lost, that we're separated, that we're condemned, to realize I need a Savior is a wonderful thing, because that puts me in a position to receive the effect of a Savior.

[3:54] If I say, I don't need a Savior, I'm good. I'm good. Well, then I am not in a place where I can receive that. Sin, as horrible as it is, puts me in a place where I can then be saved, where I need a Savior.

[4:07] Jesus then begins to speak of how he's the shepherd to the sheep. He goes into this parable and he says, hey, I'm the shepherd of the sheep. I'm the good shepherd. I open the door. I lead the sheep in and out. I'm the one who keeps the sheepfold.

[4:19] And picking up in verse 6 of John chapter 10, Jesus says, or it says, this parable spake Jesus unto them, to the Pharisees, about him being the good shepherd.

[4:33] But they did not understand what things they were, which he spake unto them. They didn't get it. Then said Jesus unto them, in verse 7, again, truly, truly, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

[4:45] All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. You know, again, we're going to talk at the men's conference, 1 Corinthians 11, that who we follow determines who we are and whose we are.

[5:00] Jesus is saying here, all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them and they didn't follow them. Well, the sheep didn't belong to them. They didn't follow them because they weren't theirs, and that's not who they were.

[5:11] But who we follow defines who we are and whose we are. And then in verse 9, we're going to start breaking this down. Jesus says, I am the door, and this is what ties into our topic of our Savior.

[5:25] By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. One door, one entrance, one shepherd, one Savior. Very specific and very singular. I am the door.

[5:37] By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture, using that analogy of the sheep. I was like, well, what does that mean? He'll go in, he'll go out and find pasture. Well, it's kind of just like an idiom or a figure of speech that just means every part of life.

[5:53] Whether you're in, whether you're in your house, whether you go out, whether you come in, that he is with you at all times. Or in this instance, he shall go in and out and find pasture. Psalm 121, verse 8 says, The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.

[6:08] That just means every area of life. God is fully encompassing that. Whether you go out or you come in, whether you are in a place where you're busy about your life or a place where you're able to just sit and commune with the Lord.

[6:20] The Lord says, hey, I'll preserve you. You're going out and you're coming in. Specifically in verse 9, Jesus says that if we enter in through this one door, this one entrance, this one shepherd, this one savior, that we will find pasture.

[6:35] Well, in our parable here with the sheep, what does pasture represent to a sheep? Man, it's life. It's fruitfulness. Pasture represents a fruitful place of life for the sheep.

[6:48] Jesus entering in through Jesus. The effect the Savior brings is fruitfulness and life. Verse 10, The thief comes not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

[7:00] We're not going to focus a lot on the thief, but there are many counterfeits. But there's only one source of life and salvation. The idea is the thief comes and says, hey, follow me, sheep. But they will always lead to a source that ends in destruction.

[7:15] It's dangerous to pursue life by any other means than the one source God gives us. Through that one door, that one shepherd, right? If we pursue life by any other means, what do we see here?

[7:28] The thief comes not but to steal, to kill, and destroy. He will steal your joy, he'll kill your peace, and he'll destroy your hope. That's what he'll end in. And you can kind of gauge, well, who am I following here?

[7:40] What is this direction? Where is it going? Is it ending in joy, in peace, in hope? Or is it ending in something other than a source of life? We're not going to focus on the thief.

[7:50] I am come, in verse 10. I am come. Why did the shepherd come? Why did the Savior come? What was the point of his arrival? That they might have life. That they might have it more abundantly.

[8:02] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He has come. It's a small word. What does that mean? To come means to arrive.

[8:13] It means to come from one place to another. It's such a small word, but it encompasses such a huge event. That Jesus, the good shepherd, he would arrive, he would come from one place to another, he would lay aside his glory, and come and be born, as we saw on Christmas Eve, in a manger.

[8:30] And then not to just be born into this world, but then to go down into death, to be rejected. There's a lot encompassing that one small word of come. I am come.

[8:41] I did all of that. All of that was done by me. For what purpose? That you could have life. That the effect would be that you might have life.

[8:53] 2 Corinthians 5.15 says, And he died for all, that they which live, the life that we now have in the Savior, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

[9:07] What does that mean? It means the effect that Jesus' death and resurrection had in my life, I have a capacity I never had before. I can now live not unto myself. I have the option to not have to follow this counterfeit.

[9:20] A new life that's independent from a life tainted by sin. That we have that capacity now in Christ. Galatians 2.20 I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I.

[9:33] Well, there's a change here. There's some new life that's come in. But Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[9:46] Jesus was crucified. I'm crucified with him. Nevertheless I live. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. What does that look like? What does this new life look like?

[9:57] The effect of the Savior resulted in new life for those who would put their trust in him, for those who would come under his salvation. But what does that look like? I think we're going to look at three aspects.

[10:10] The effect of the Savior resulted in a life that is internal, it's eternal, and it's universal. And in John chapter 10 here, where Jesus says, I am come that they might have life.

[10:23] Well, what is that life? What is the quality of that life? What is the aspects of that life? What does that encompass? Does it just mean health and wealth? Does it just mean new cars and trains, planes, and airplanes? What does it mean that Jesus has come to give us life?

[10:37] Well, in Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel is prophesying of something that God has promised to his people, ultimately to Israel. But through Israel's rejection of their Savior, it's opened, we know, to the whole world.

[10:53] In Ezekiel 36, beginning in verse 26, the prophet writes, speaking for the Lord, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.

[11:05] And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart, I mean, out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart of flesh. Just as we looked at light as coming to the darkness, that the contrast of Jesus coming to the world, God sending his Savior, is like light shining in the darkness.

[11:21] Darkness can't overwhelm light. Light overcomes darkness. It is qualitatively 100% different. In the same way, the comparison here of what this new spirit is within us, it's like the heart that we have, our natural heart, it's like a heart of stone.

[11:37] You know, you've heard it said you can't get blood out of a rock. Well, those stone hearts don't pump very well, right? And Jesus, or the prophet Ezekiel is saying here, the Lord is saying, hey, the new heart I give you, it's about as different between a stone heart and a heart that's alive.

[11:51] That's how different it is. That I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. Again, a capacity we never had before.

[12:02] All of a sudden, this new life, the effect of the Savior, holy cow, I can walk in the statutes, keep his judgments, and do them. You're not going to do that without that new heart, without that new life.

[12:14] In John 14, Jesus is speaking to his disciples. Picking up in verse 16, if you want to turn there, I'll just read it to you. And he's talking to his disciples, he's telling his apostles, hey, I'm going to go away.

[12:25] And if I go away, you know, it's needful I go away, there's a reason for that. They're like, we don't want you to go. But he says in verse 16, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever.

[12:39] Imagine being the 12 apostles. Well, you're down to 11 now, because Judas has run out to go and sell Jesus. If you have a doctrinal question, if you wake up in the night with a nightmare, if you're not sure how you should treat someone or act, you have Jesus right there.

[12:55] You go to Jesus, and you say, hey, Jesus, I know it says this, but what do you think it really, you know, you have Jesus. What a comfort. What a comfort to have Jesus when you're struggling or wrestling, to go right there and be like, hey, you got a minute, Jesus?

[13:08] I don't know about that Peter. I think we should cut him loose. He keeps talking, but he says he's going to go away. But he says, I'm going to send you another comfort. I'll pray the Father.

[13:19] Verse 17, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not, neither knows him, so it's not something external, but you know him, for he dwells with you and he shall be in you.

[13:32] I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. So Jesus is saying, we have this promise that, hey, he's sending the Holy Spirit to do an internal work. The new life, the effect of what Jesus did is internal.

[13:42] And yet he also says, oh, I'm also going to come to you. And then verse 23, if you continue further down, if a man loved me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.

[13:54] Father, Son, and Holy Spirit abiding with us, in us. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise that Jesus says, hey, by the way, I won't leave you comfortless. I myself will eventually come back.

[14:06] I'm going to come to you. Our ultimate comfort as we look forward to his return. Romans 13, 14 tells us that because of this new life, this inward work of the Spirit, says, put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof because we now can.

[14:25] I couldn't live that before apart from Christ. But because of the new work that he's done, this internal work, a work that's of the Spirit, I now have a new capacity to live that out. Paul would write in 1 Corinthians, man, there was a time, he says, where you made provision for us for the flesh.

[14:41] He says, such were some of you. There was a time where that's who you were, but no longer. But you are washed. You are sanctified. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

[14:53] You are. I mean, I don't feel very washed sometimes. Well, the Word tells me I am. I don't feel very justified sometimes. And Lord knows, sometimes I don't act very sanctified. But we have the promise of the Word of God here, the definitive statement that you are.

[15:08] And because we are, we then don't work for our salvation, right? But we work out the salvation that God has already worked in us. It's a done deal. On the cross, Jesus said, it's finished. Because it's finished, I now have that capacity because the work He's done in my life.

[15:23] Whoa. I can now say, well, I was that, but I'm washed, but I'm sanctified, but I'm justified. The effect of the Savior at the end of that verse there we see is by the Spirit of God.

[15:35] That internal work is by the Spirit of God that He gives us. And it has to be internal because the Spirit is internal. The Spirit is not something we can see. We know from 2 Corinthians 4 that while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

[15:52] Because if we look at the things which are seen, well, they're temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal. So this internal, unseen work of the Spirit, it's also eternal, isn't it?

[16:04] This new life, this effect that the Savior brings where Jesus says, I've come to give you life. What kind of life? Oh, well, an internal life. A life of the Spirit, but also an eternal one.

[16:15] Ephesians 1.13 says, speaking of Jesus, in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation. We heard the word of truth.

[16:26] We heard the gospel of our salvation. What was the next step? In whom also after that you believed. You believed. And belief then allowed you to enter into the salvation where the Holy Spirit then seals you with the Spirit of promise.

[16:43] That seal is eternal because the Holy Spirit's eternal. So the internal work that the Spirit does, that's also eternal. Right? I have come to give you life, the Good Shepherd says, and life more abundantly.

[16:56] Interesting word. More abundantly in the Greek means more than necessary, exceeding, in this case, exceeding the natural, and something more. Well, he came to give us life.

[17:06] This amazing, new, refreshing work of the Holy Spirit in my life that gives me that I am washed, I am justified, I am sanctified. And on top of that, Jesus says, oh, I've come to give you life more abundantly. I've come to give you life in excess.

[17:18] More than is necessary. Something so much more than the natural. Something that is beyond this world that lasts into eternity. The effect of the promised Savior for those who were lost.

[17:33] If we continue down in John 27, if you look down the page a little bit, I mean John chapter 10, I'm sorry, in verse 27, Jesus says, again reiterating this, he says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.

[17:54] Well, I love how the Bible defines itself. You read something, I wonder what that means. What does eternal life mean? Jesus means you'll never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

[18:06] And my Father, which gave them to me, he's greater than all. And no man's able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. So what does it mean to have eternal life? It means you won't perish and it means that you are securely held by Jesus and by his Father.

[18:19] And he said, that's not something you can undo. That is not something that man has the capacity to undo. Any more than I have the capacity to save myself, I have no capacity to keep myself and I have no capacity to undo the work that Jesus did.

[18:32] My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[18:49] Well, if that everlasting life in any way, shape, or form could end, by definition it is not what? It's not everlasting. It's not eternal. Don't ever let anybody tell you that the work that Jesus did and the salvation he brings, that you have the capacity in anything, in any way, shape, or form that you do that can undo the work that he's done.

[19:10] It's eternal life. He says, you're not gonna perish. And whenever you think, God, I can't hold on, I don't got anything in hand. He's like, oh, I got it in hand. And guess what? Around that hand then is the Father's hand and Jesus, you know, we know the word says that he stretched out his hand and he stretched out the universe.

[19:27] How big is the universe? It's like about that big. Romans 6.23, speaking of our condition, we looked at this when we talked about that we were lost. The wages of sin is death.

[19:40] My condition is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord, not temporary life. Life and life more abundantly. Our salvation is an eternal work because it was effected by an eternal God.

[19:55] A man couldn't do that. I could go down into death. Even if I was sinless, even if man was sinless, if a sinless man could be born and maintain his sinless state and die, he couldn't effect an eternal work because he's not an eternal being.

[20:08] He's still a man. Our salvation was eternal because it was effected by an eternal God. This internal work that God has done is eternal because our God's eternal.

[20:19] Psalm 90 verse 2, before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world, there's nothing here and yet from everlasting to everlasting you are God. How? What's the start of everlasting?

[20:31] And then all the way to the end of everlasting. How big is that? I don't know. That's when my mind goes, I don't know, but there's God from everlasting to everlasting and what he offers us, he says, hey, you want to enter into that eternity?

[20:45] Man, come and dwell with me. Come dwell in this everlasting life. John 17, 3. And this is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

[20:57] My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. This work of God, this work that he wants to do in our lives, man, it's not just some kind of like abstract thing. It's by relationship.

[21:08] It's through coming to know the Savior and the effect that he has in our lives. You say, well, that's wonderful. That's amazing. An internal, eternal work of God. Great, but who's that for?

[21:19] I mean, we live in a world that there's elites in this world that they have opportunities that you and I are never going to have. They get things that you and I will never get. Like, man, well, I'm sure it's probably for those, you know, upper class or it's probably for those maybe, you know, who've never had a felony or maybe it's for those who, who is this for?

[21:40] I mean, I'm sure this is from some specific group of people. John 3, 16. We just read it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever.

[21:55] The means of salvation may be exclusive and it is very exclusive, the means of salvation. Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be that find it. Narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that go therein.

[22:08] It's very exclusive, the means of salvation, but the effects of salvation are available to all who would partake of them. Revelation 22, 17. The spirit and the bride say come and let him that hears say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will.

[22:26] Let him take the water of life freely. It doesn't take much to be a whosoever. That's a pretty low bar to be a whosoever. The salvation that God offers to us is universal but what that doesn't mean while it's available to all and while the effect is available to all it does not mean that it is universal and that all men are saved.

[22:48] All men and women are saved because of the work Jesus did. That universal effect of salvation that we all have an opportunity as a whosoever to enter into there's an option there.

[22:59] There's a choice. In Revelation if we backed up a little bit in Revelation from 22 into verse 20 in verse 15 we're told and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

[23:11] So there's another whosoever and whosoever will reject this. Whosoever will not receive this. Whosoever will say no I don't like the Pharisees I'm not blind. I'm not sick.

[23:24] I don't need I'm not a sinner. Well then you don't need to see you don't need to be healed and you don't need to be saved. Right? Those whosoever's they were not written in the book of life.

[23:34] They were cast into the lake of fire. The effect of the Savior resulted in life that's internal that's eternal and it's universal for anyone.

[23:47] You know there's a I don't know if I'd call it a wing of the church we'll call it a feather feather of the church that says that the atonement is limited that Jesus didn't come to die for whosoever.

[23:59] That's not true. Jesus only came to die it was only effective for those that he chose to be saved. Only those of us who are saved. Well we were the ones he came to die for. But again the Bible is so wonderful in that it answers the Bible will answer every false doctrine that's out there.

[24:15] If you're wondering man go to the word. 1 John 2.2 and he is the propitiation the satisfaction the completion that which is necessary for our sins. Oh and not for ours only.

[24:27] Not for the elect not for the church only but also for the sins of the whole world. Every whosoever. This internal eternal universal salvation is available to all.

[24:40] Jesus doesn't withhold that from anyone who would enter into it. He's no respecter of persons. And so the next question we have to ask is why? Why would God do this?

[24:52] Why all of this? Why did he enter into our world to die there? Why did he look down on us who are lost who are separated and condemned and say you know what I've got an answer for that?

[25:03] I'm going to come so that you might have life. And encompassed in that little word and that little space between come and that we have life is 30 years of him living as a man. 30 years of dealing with sinners.

[25:15] Three years in ministry was some interesting fellows. And then to be rejected. To be crucified. Why would he do that? Turn over to 1 John chapter 4.

[25:27] We'll end over in 1 John. In 1 John chapter 4 we're going to John is talking about the love that God has for us our interaction with that.

[25:44] We're going to pick up in verse 9 where John who wrote the book of John who gave us that account back in John chapter 10 the gospel of John well later in life he'd write 1 John and he writes this in 1 John chapter 4 verse 9 in this was manifested the love of God toward us manifested to be revealed to be exposed to be made known to be seen this is how God made known his love this is how God revealed his love this is how God exposed his love to us because that God sent his only begotten son to the world that we might what?

[26:17] That we might live through him. Why an internal eternal salvation? So that we might know an internal and an eternal and a universal love of God that God said I wanted to make manifest my love towards you I want to display I want you to know the love of God and the only way you can do that is through the Savior that the Son will be brought into the world and we might live through him.

[26:41] One singular act of love opened the door for all to enter in in this was the love of God manifested. You know sometimes we can feel like man maybe God's out to get us our natural state of that internal witness that says man I'm a sinner and I know what I deserve and I can think God's out to get me.

[27:00] Maybe you've grown up in a system that said God's out to get you if you don't do A, B, C, D 1, 2, 3, 4 right? God is out to get me but that doesn't make any sense because if you remember we looked at in Romans 6, 23 the wages of sin is death so I'm already under judgment I'm already under condemnation remember Jesus said when he spoke to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 he said I didn't come into the world to condemn the world but the world might be saved the world already lies under condemnation if God wanted to just punish us all he would have to do is leave us as we are we are already under condemnation but that's not why he came he didn't come to put a heavy trip on us or to beat us down over our sin God's desire for lost man is not punishment but rescue that's why he came that he might show and make manifest that wonderful internal eternal universal love of God the Savior comes for the purpose of life for those of us who are already we're already under death verse 10 here in his love not that we loved

[28:02] God nothing we initiated God initiates salvation and then God supplies the means of satisfying that salvation here in his love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins the satisfaction the completion the fulfillment that which is needed to satisfy the effect of sin the Savior came with the effect of life God initiated salvation and then God supplied the means of satisfying that salvation it's not that we loved him not that we initiated this he did John 4 19 says though that we love him though because he first loved us one of the effects of the Savior the love of God working in our hearts now transforming us giving us a love for people for the lost for those that you might never have a love for otherwise as he says in verse 11 beloved if God so love us excuse me we ought also to love one another the effect of an internal an eternal and a salvation available for all is outworked in the same way that we're told that God loved us it's meant to be outworked sacrificially beloved if God so loved us by giving his son to be the propitiation for our sins well then we ought also to love one another because the love of God is shed abroad in my heart now and if the love of God is working internally it should then be displayed externally the effect of this internal salvation is outworked sacrificially no man has seen

[29:39] God at any time if we love one another well God dwells in us and his love is perfected in us I love first John it's one of my favorite books but he writes things a little backwards you could read that and think well so if I love God God dwells in me but if I oh man so I gotta work real hard to love him no that's not what it's saying we love him why because he first loved us oh he initiates that and then what I find I have the love of God in my heart that wasn't there before but the effect of the Savior is now God's love is in there and then I see well God is dwelling in me God is perfecting his love in me it's becoming a complete a whole a mature thing we see God then how well no man's seen God but if we love one another oh so I'm gonna see God in you not that we're little gods but we see the love of God outworked and displayed through one another we see God through the work of the Savior in each of us love for one another is an external evidence of salvation how do I know if I'm saved

[30:40] I put my faith in Christ what is the witness of that one of those witnesses is an external evidence of that is our love for one another oh I don't like people I don't like hanging around God's no they're kind of weird I always want to pray for you I want to say things like praise the Lord you know it's kind of weird I don't like that well an external evidence of our salvation now let's not reverse it okay so to be saved I have to be around God's people not at all if you're saved you're gonna want to be around God's people fellowship gives an opportunity for us to evidence the love of God in our lives when we fellowship we are giving God the opportunity to give us the witness and evidence that yes yes this is the work he has done I have the evidence in my life of salvation because when I'm with God's people and I fellowship there's a love there for them that wasn't before verse 13 then speaks of an inward evidence hereby know we that we dwell in him how do we know if we dwell in God well he and he and us because he gives us of his spirit the spirit of God is the internal evidence of our salvation and the two work so perfectly together don't they the Holy Spirit gives a witness at the very core of our being that we are in God

[31:51] I don't have to have someone tell me well I can you know I won't it's gonna cross me I'm not gonna do that we don't need a priest or anybody telling us that yes you know you are in God you are saved I don't need that I have the Holy Spirit that at the very core of my being says yes I am in Christ yes I have come under the effects of the Savior in the same way that sin witnesses at the very core of who I am says I need a Savior no man needs to be told they need a Savior they know they need a Savior now you can cover that up you can lie to yourself you know I think of where Timothy says that in the last days that they shall turn away from the truth and they shall heap after their own lusts their own desires they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and the wording there heaped themselves is literally to pile to pile to pile to pile and it's like almost like they have to just keep piling on to try and drown out the truth because I can't I can't accept that every man knows at the very core of his being that they're a sinner that they're lost that they're separated from God well then God does their work and the Holy Spirit comes in and the very core of my being says yep this is the internal evidence that you are saved in verse 14 and we have seen and do testify that the father sent the son to do what to be the savior of the world so that we might know the love of God

[33:13] God's desire to save man wasn't just because he wanted a weekend project it wasn't just because he thought well poor them no it was because God's love he's like I just can't help myself I mean there's somebody who's lost and my heart's to save God sent his son to be the savior of the world and we do testify to that our lives are a witness to what God has done that God desires to save all and we testify how three things by the word where did we learn all this how do we know all this because of God's word I wouldn't have known any of this except by his word we testify by the word and like we just read through that love the love that is manifested from God through us we testify to the fact that God has sent his son to be a savior that you too can come under the effect of the savior the whole world can come under the effects of the savior we testify by God's word God's love we testify by the spirit by something more than ourselves by some a work that's in us that can withstand whatever the world throws at us Jesus promising the disciples before he leaves he says hey man they're going to drag you before rulers and kings and authorities they're going to do that as a witness to me to give you an opportunity to witness don't worry about ahead of time what you're going to speak and what you're going to say now understand the context of that if you get dragged before a ruler or an authority or a king you don't have to worry about what you're going to say but yes I do have to study before I come up here

[34:37] I'm not just winging it but the Lord will give you what you need at that time to be a testimony and you look through history you look through the word you look in Acts and the people that God had put on display to say hey man you have the word you have my love and you have the spirit you're going to be a witness to me there's nothing that can come against that we testify that God desires to save all and that testimony stands sure we'll end with verse 15 whosoever back to our word whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God God dwells in him and he in God an internal and eternal work available to all the effect of the savior is not just a removal of sin it doesn't just take away sin but we have an opportunity to have a renewed relationship with God we have an opportunity to dwell with God something we never had before we gain more in Christ than we've ever lost in Adam when Adam fell and he put us in this state where we are separated we are lost we're condemned

[35:44] I think if we could only get back to the garden that would be great man I don't want to go back to the garden I want to go to the new garden we gain more in Christ than we've ever lost in Adam Adam did not have God dwelling in him Adam did not have God dwelling with him at all times we do we do through what Jesus did the effect of the savior is not just a removal of sin removal of sin it's a renewal of our relationship to God and that is why we celebrate every Christmas and hopefully all year long the arrival of the savior because of the work that he did on our behalf that we now are able to experience the manifest love of God a love that's internal eternal and for all Ephesians 2 8 for by grace you are saved through faith let not of yourselves it's the gift of God it's a pretty low bar a pretty low bar for how we enter into this amazing salvation how do I come out of the effects of this salvation that's for everyone for by grace you are saved verse 15 1 John whosoever shall confess to confess means to say the same thing as to come in agreement with

[36:57] John 10 10 I am come that they might have life and life more abundantly now we know what that means that more abundant life the effect of the savior in our lives more than necessary exceeding the natural something more Paul would write in 1 Corinthians 3 the church in Corinth had a lot of issues thankfully they did because then Paul had to write 1 and 2 Corinthians and we have a lot of information on how to deal with issues one of them was they had all these schisms infections and cliques and well I'd like to listen to this teacher or I'd like to listen to this guy and he said listen all things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death are things present are things to come and they're all yours and you are Christ and Christ is God's it's all there it's all available freely because of what Jesus did it's all yours 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1 having therefore these promises dearly beloved it's all ours will let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God oh I knew it here it comes now you gotta live holy you gotta make sure to read your Bible 10 minutes a day and you gotta give and you gotta be that's not what it means at all saying because you have that promise of what the Savior did in your life you can now cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit you can now live a life before God that's holy and that is an amazing thing that we get to live out every day you know we look at that little word come where Jesus as the good shepherd he said

[38:35] I am come that they might have life and they might have it in abundance the word come means to arrive from one place to go to one place and also means to return and we know that just as Jesus came he is coming isn't he our good shepherd who promised that he would come did come and we have that same promise that the good shepherd said that he would come again in Hebrews 9 verse 8 I'm sorry verse 28 so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many well we've just looked at that we just spent a couple weeks looking at that going through the foundations again looking at what that means in our lives and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation what do you mean without sin what does that mean it just simply means he's not coming for the purpose of sin he came the first time for the purpose of bearing the sins of many but this next time he's not coming for the purpose of sin what's the purpose of his next coming salvation that he comes to complete the salvation that he's promised us yes the Savior's come but he came for me he came that I could live under the effects of the Savior you know in 1 Corinthians chapter 10

[39:55] Paul writes he said the cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ in other words we get to partake in this we can now enter in to fellowship and communion with God for we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread that we have an opportunity now to be part of something we never could have been before but I wonder if we're living in the fullness of that you know I hope that all of you here that you've entered into that salvation that you've experienced the effect of the Savior in your life and if not then today is the day today is the day that you can know that you're the whosoever man that whosoever will can take the water of life freely can never perish and can have eternal life you don't have to be a whosoever whose name's not written in the Lamb's book of life who's cast in the lake of fire all the work's been done all you have to do as Jesus says

[40:55] I came they might have life all you have to do is confess that Jesus is the Son of God just that he is who he said he is he came to save sinners of who we are chiefest but then I wonder do I still in my own effort think that there's something I have to do to please God am I still trying to work for a salvation that God says has already been done just let it work out in your life that internal work am I trying to figure out how to externally make it happen something that God's done eternally I'm trying now in the temporal to struggle through the work that God has done is finished and it's complete we live under the effects of the Savior and again it's not just to remove sin but it's to renew our relationships with God let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Jesus took that life and said oh I'm going to use that to help you to give you so we come boldly to the table we come boldly to the throne of grace not because we got it all together but that's where we find mercy that's where we find help you know the the message of the of the cross the hope that we have it's not somber but it is serious man it is a serious thing and and there should be a gravity about it but it's a joy just as Jesus came to say

[42:31] I gave you life and life more abundantly and he said hey in my presence is fullness of joy well that means an eternal presence with eternal joy if you have put your trust in him then I can say to you you have received that salvation you and I we've been saved we're not lost anymore we're not under condemnation we're not separated we are saved and we have the opportunity to live in that and live that out father we thank you lord for sending your son to be the savior of the world lord it is a it is a heavy thing to look at the cross and to look at the effect of the savior in our lives well lord is a joyous thing because lord death is defeated sin is no more and in front of us is the hope of the resurrected life that Jesus is coming to receive us and the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together to meet the lord in the air and there we shall ever be with the lord amen