Sermon Tone Analysis

Announcement

Starting a sermon series this Wednesday night entitled Eggshells.

Thriving Through Change and Challenging Relationships.

I want to encourage you to join us.

My Pastor used to say, “Change Is Here To Stay!”

Navigating change the relationship challenges that come from it is a key skill few people learn to do well.

And yet, it is almost an inevitable result of faithful service to the Lord.

Understanding how we grow and the relational challenges that come from that growth are critical to successfully navigating the seasons of life and the opportunities that God brings us.

So I want to encourage you to join us this Wednesday as we start this new series entitled EggShells.

One of the most sobering topics in all of scripture is that of the fate of those who have never heard the gospel.

In fact, it is so distressing to consider that people would go to hell even though they have never heard of the son of God who died to save them is frankly, gut-wrenching.

And yet it is not a question we can ignore.

And surprisingly- it is a topic clarified by the most popular verse in the Bible and yet most Christians never see it.

So I want you to look with me this morning at John 3:16-18.

Lost

When the Bible speaks of being lost, it is referring to a person being separated from God by their slavery to sin and spiritually dead.

On the day of judgment, God will not ask our opinions.

W. M. McCafferty, a professor at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, TX, was asked the question: “Will those who have never heard of Christ be lost?”

He replied, “The question is incorrect.

Those who have never heard of Christ are already lost.

The only hope that they have is if they hear about Christ.”

Men are not lost because they have not heard the gospel.

Men are lost because they have sinned against God.

Men Have No Excuse- Whether They Have Heard Or Not

All Men Have Violated The Law Of Their Own Conscience

All Men Have Fallen Short

All Men Deserve Eternal Death

God Will Punish All Who Do Not Obey The Gospel

Anyone Who Calls On Christ Will Be Saved

What happens to those who have never heard of Christ.

Let us look again to John 3:16

Whoever believes shall not perish

Whoever does not believe stands condemned already

Men are already lost.

God offers each person a choice- to believe or not believe.

Because all men have sinned, all men are destined for hell.

The good news is that

“The good news is only good news if it arrives in time.”

Lady in Pannai Cardu who died a few days after the team visited

What if there is an honest, good person on the other side of the world who never hears the gospel?

There isn’t.

I went there.

I asked them if they sinned.

They laughed and raised their hand and confessed that they had sinned.

In fact they agreed that anyone who claimed not to have sinned was probably crazy.

Its funny- in the west we blame that Eastern religion for corrupting our society.

In the India they blame the technology of the west for corrupting their society.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think Americans were sinning long before the Indian Gurus flooded American in 60’s.

And India has thousands of ancient temples decorated with naked women- indicating they were pretty good at sinning long before we sent Playboy to them.

The truth is we are all just really good at sinning and blaming others.

Its been happening since God asked Adam why he disobeyed.

And unless our sin is removed, we will perish for it

Person holding trash can.

Good deeds don’t take away their trash can.

Giving money doesn’t take away their trash can.

Only asking Christ to forgive them can remove their trash can- their sin.

And the only way our sin can be removed is if we believe in Christ.

This is why it is so critical that we obey the Great Commission and preach the Gospel to all nations.

They can only be saved if they hear.

And they can only hear if someone goes and tells them.

The fact that 2000 years after the death of Christ men are still waiting to hear the Gospel is not God’s fault.

He has done everything necessary for salvation.

The fault is ours.

Love

God loved the world.

In fact, God loved us so much He gave the most precious treasure He could give- the life of His son- to save us, to rescue us from the slavery of sin and bring us back into the family of God.

God does not want anyone to go to hell.

Listen to 2 Peter 3:9:

God will allow men the freedom to reject Him, though He does not want this.

Sovereignty Illustration

-Boundaries on each side represent God’s sovereignty over all of creation

-Internal boundaries represent the realm over which God in His sovereignty has given man freewill.

This enables man to truly worship and love God- because love and worship are acts of a free will.

But that freewill also allows man to reject God and disobey him.

In the midst of the realm of man’s freewill, God’s redemptive purposes will ultimately be accomplished.

However, not all that occurs within that realm is God’s will.

“That whoever believes in Him...”

If God controls every human decision, then in my opinion John 3:16 is a farce- because we cannot choose since God has already chosen for us.

Further, every sin ever committed is actually just God making people sin- since nothing can happen outside of His will if many has no free will.

Thus God becomes the force behind every murder, rape, abortion, abuse, etc.

This is simply ridiculous.

Now those who emphasize this position are well intentioned and often acknowledge the difficulty of their position- attributing these difficult points to God’s secret knowledge.

They are believers.

They love God.

They are wonderfully committed to their conviction that God is sovereign overall the world- a point with which I would whole heartedly agree.

I would submit to you however, that in His sovereignty God has given man a measure of free will- a realm in which man has the freedom to resist and even reject the will of God.

God knows which among humanity will believe and which will not.

And in His foreknowledge He predestines those who will believe to be saved.

On the other hand- if God’s will is not always accomplished and if God is not willing that any should perish, and if there are some who never hear in order to believe, and if there are Christians who disobey God’s plan for them to preach the Gospel- then we must accept that there are people that God wants to be saved that will not be saved.

Further- it is not God’s fault they are not saved- it is ours.

God has done everything necessary for their salvation.

There is a place where God’s will is always done- it is called heaven.

It is an amazing place.

There is no sickness, no crime, no abuse, no tears, no sorrow.

And the only way to get into that place is to ask Christ to save you.

Lordship

We are bought with the blood of Jesus to be His ambassadors, His messengers to a lost and dying world.

If we are not doing this, we are robbing God of what is rightfully His.

We don’t preach the gospel and invite people to Christ because:

they need it