The Merciful Warnings of the Christ Part One

The merciful warnings of the Christ. We live in a culture that despises absolutes. The very idea that there's one way to God, one truth that defines reality, and one standard of righteousness is offensive to the modern mind.

Instead of embracing the hard but merciful truths of Christ, people today just like the Pharisees in Jesus' time, attempt to redefine God on their own terms. They want a Jesus who never warns, never judges, and never demands repentance.

But that is not the Jesus of Scripture. In John 8, 19 -30, Jesus confronts the religious leaders with the most serious warning possible, you will die in your sins. That is not the kind of language you hear in most churches today.

You think about like the seeker sensitive and cultural kind of church that we have in our modern times. A Christian brother recently shared a post with a striking image, and it was two pictures that were like on top of one another.

The top said, when you preach what people want to hear, and it was a congregation, it looked like a football stadium, just thousands of people. On the bottom, it says, when you preach the truth, and there was like 10 people in the pews.

He put this quote on top of it. He says, the devil isn't stupid. He infiltrates seminaries with a cancer, which grows over time until it kills the seminary. He also fills churches with the spiritually dead.

The spiritually dead don't know their church stinks. They see all the other zombies, and they think the church is successful. Ouch, that's a harsh quote, but I'm thinking like where is he wrong in that?

Like how do we judge success? I hope it isn't that the church has a large number, because then some of the biggest heretic, false teachers around must be the most successful churches. No, that's not it.

The original post that it said, if you preach what they want to hear, it shows this big crowd. If you preach the truth, very small crowd. It itself asked a question, and the question was this, what do we preach and why do we preach?

Whether we seek the favor of men and the glory of the world, which is an abomination before God, or the glory of God, that only Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Savior and Lord may be glorified and exalted above all creation.

And it made me think of where I live. I was thinking of the largest church in Billings, and I recently saw a clip that they had shared online, and the pastor was saying, the reason that you are struggling with your sin, or you have anxiety or remorse or guilt over your sin is because you need to hear God tell you that, and he's talking in this particular clip to some of the women in the church, that God says to you, you are my beloved daughter with whom I am well pleased.

And then he says the same thing for the men. You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Those words sound familiar? It's what God the Father said audibly from heaven at Jesus's baptism and transfiguration.

So if you're struggling with sin, if you have a tension or a conviction in your sin, you need to know that God tells you the same thing he told the son on the transfiguration. I'm like, what? How about repent of your sin and believe in the gospel?

Or even in our local town, the biggest church in town, speaking with one of the pastors at that congregation, he said, you know, our church really isn't for believers. It's just for all the unbelievers in town.

We want them to come and use our space. It's like a community center. So we know that throughout the week, there's just a bunch of unbelievers in the building, and that may be that way on Sunday. And if they hang around us enough and see that we're nice, then they'll believe.

I'm like, what?

How about repent and believe in the gospel? So imagine coming to church, and your salvation is whether I'm nice to you or not. Can you imagine that? That was shocking to me. Those are the biggest churches.

One of them is the biggest church in the state of Montana, and then one of them is the biggest church in our city. Our world has softened the message of Christ, turning the gospel into a little more than a self-help philosophy.

Instead of calling sinners to repentance, many preachers offer motivational talks about self-fulfillment or personal happiness. That's the problem with your sin, is you're not happy enough. You need to have more personal happiness.

But sadly, if you're here for a motivational talk, I'm sorry to disappoint you. That's not what you're gonna get today. Jesus didn't come to boost your self-esteem. He came to save you from sin, to rescue you from judgment, to warn you of the eternal consequences of rejecting him.

In this passage, Jesus exposes four fatal failures that lead to spiritual death. These same errors, so prevalent in his day, are just as widespread in our culture. There's arrogant assumption. This is the self-righteous trust in their own goodness rather than God's grace.

There's earthly focus. Those consumed with the world chase fleeting pleasures instead of eternal reward. There's stubborn rejection. The spiritually blind deny Christ as the one true savior. And then there's deliberate denial.

The willfully ignorant turn away from God's truth, God's absolute truth. This is not just a warning for the Pharisees. It is a warning for every person who hears the gospel. And the question is simple.

Will you believe Christ and be saved? Simple question. Or will you reject him and die in your sins? Jesus's words are not meant to scare us without reason. They are a merciful plea to turn from darkness and to come to the light.

So as we walk through this passage, let's examine our hearts. Have you truly embraced Christ? Or are you still holding onto the fatal failures that lead to spiritual death? John 8, 19 through 30 focuses on Jesus's identity and authority.

This passage emphasizes the themes of knowing the Father, spiritual blindness, belief, and ultimate judgment. In John 8, Jesus is engaged in this confrontation with the Pharisees. They challenge his testimony.

But Jesus firmly declares that he is sent by the Father and that to know him is to know God the Father. In the immediate context of our passage, he exposes their ignorance of God that's demonstrated by their rejection of him.

This section aligns perfectly with the truth that if we knew Christ better, we would know God the Father better. And furthermore, Jesus's life and mission were actually governed by the Father's sovereign timing, reinforcing that our times are in God's hands, not man's.

Consider the immediate context of this passage. Even in your law, it has been written that the witness of two men is true. I am he who bears witness about myself and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.

Verses 17 and 18. Here, of course, Jesus appeals to the legal principle of two witnesses establishing the truth. Deuteronomy 19. His witness and the Father's witness confirm his identity as the Messiah.

However, the Pharisees reject him, demonstrating that they do not truly know God. Many claim to believe in God, but they reject Jesus. They reject the demands that he makes on their life. However, Jesus makes it clear.

If we do not know him, we do not know the Father. Romans 1 .21 warns that those who reject God's truth become vain in their imaginations. The Pharisees had a distorted view of God because they refused to accept Christ.

Likewise, when people reject Christ today, they create false views of God, either making him distant and unknowable or shaping him to fit their personal desires. We must guard against forming ideas about God really apart from the Bible.

If we form ideas about God apart from Christ in the scripture, we can get really off track really fast. A Christ-less understanding of God leads to idolatry, deception. You can just be fooled by anything.

The more we study Christ's word and his works recorded in his word, the clearer our understanding of God becomes. These religious leaders who prided themselves on knowing God were utterly lost because they rejected Christ.

Religious knowledge without a relationship with Christ leads to spiritual blindness. We must not rely on tradition or intellect alone, but truly trust Christ. If we have to rely on the word of God, not our own intellect or the traditions we were raised with.

When we encounter skeptics, we should remember that spiritual blindness can only be healed by God's grace through the truth of Christ. In verses 19 through 30, Jesus directly challenges the Pharisees about his identity and his authority.

Their rejection of him reveals their spiritual blindness and their separation from the Father. This passage highlights several key themes, truly knowing God, the danger of spiritual ignorance, the necessity of belief in Christ and the certainty of divine judgment.

Jesus' merciful warnings call every listener to examine their hearts. Do you recognize him as the Son of God or are you still walking in darkness? Four fatal failures that lead to spiritual death. Number one, prideful presumption.

We'll see that in verses 19 through 22. The self-righteous trust in their own works rather than Christ. Number two, present priorities. Verse 23, the earthly minded live for this world instead of the eternal.

Number three, persistent unbelief. Verse 24, the unbelieving reject Jesus as the only way to salvation. And number four, purposeful ignorance. Verses 25 through 29, really 25 through 30. The intellectually dishonest refuse to acknowledge the truth.

And so we'll look at just the first two this morning. Let's think about the biblical background here, the temple treasury, the temple treasury. It's located in the court of women. It was a significant area in the temple where offerings were collected and designated receptacles and where Jesus often taught publicly.

This setting is significant because it highlights the contrast between the Pharisees' material concerns and Jesus' spiritual message. As he declared himself the light of the world in a place associated with both wealth and religious devotion.

John notes that Jesus spoke these words in the temple treasury, a heavily guarded area. Despite the hostility against him, no one seized him because his hour had not yet come. And this demonstrates that Jesus' life was under the sovereign control of the father.

The Pharisees could do nothing to him before the appointed time. Our lives are also in God's hands. No enemy can harm us before God's appointed time. And no friend can extend our life beyond his will.

Psalm 31 declares, my times are in your hand. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us there is an appointed time for everything and there is a time for every matter under heaven. Jesus lived by this principle. He moved according to the father's will, not human threats or pressures.

We have the benefit of reading this eyewitness account on the other side of the historical reality of the crucifixion and resurrection. But think about it, the context of just these first few verses, 17 through 20, teaches us two profound truths.

Knowing Christ is essential to knowing the father. Those who reject Christ fall into vain imaginations about God. And our lives are in God's hands. Just as Jesus' enemies could not harm him before the appointed time, nothing can happen to us outside of God's sovereign will.

And that's the background of our passage this morning. And we can just think about this. How should we respond to this truth? Well, here's a few things. We can seek to know Christ more deeply through his word.

For in knowing him, we know the father. We can rest in God's sovereignty. Rest in God's sovereignty over your life. Trust that your times are in his hands and he is working all things for his purposes.

Boldly proclaim Christ, even in a world that rejects him, knowing that our mission is in God's hands just as Christ's was. May we live with confidence and faith, knowing that to know Christ is to know the father and to trust in his timing is to walk in peace.

And now let's enter this passage with that in mind. In verses 19 through 30, Jesus challenges the Pharisees on the truth of his role and his power. Their refusal to accept him exposes their spiritual blindness and disconnection from the father.

Jesus's merciful warnings call every listener to examine their hearts. Four fatal failures that lead to spiritual death. Number one, prideful presumption, the self-righteous trust in their own works rather than Christ.

Verses 19 through 22, prideful presumption. Brothers and sisters, our text today brings us face to face with one of the most sobering realities of scripture, spiritual blindness. In verse 19, we witness a direct confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees.

They ask, where is your father? Not in earnest, not in earnest desire to understand, but in mocking derision. Their question drips with skepticism, betraying their hardened hearts. They were not seeking the truth.

They were reinforcing their rejection of it. And Jesus, with penetrating clarity, exposes their ignorance. You neither know me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. The Pharisees, as they had done many times before, approached Jesus's words with a purely earthly mindset.

They heard him speak of his father, but their understanding was shackled by human reasoning. Their question, where is your father, reveals their failure to grasp the divine reality of Jesus's mission.

They could not see that Christ stood before them as the perfect revelation of God. And how often do people make the same mistake? How often do we attempt to fit divine truths into the confines of human logic?

But it just will never work. The unbeliever, the natural man, apart from the work of the Spirit, cannot understand the things of God. Paul says it like this, 1 Corinthians 2, but a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.

And he cannot understand them because they are spiritually examined. Without divine illumination, people are left with mere speculation, stumbling in the dark while the light of the world stands before them.

And notice the arrogance embedded in the Pharisees' question. They did not merely misunderstand Jesus, they dismissed him. This is a dismissal. They ridiculed his claim of divine origin, refusing to accept that he had come from heaven.

Their rejection was not due to a lack of evidence, but to the hardness of their hearts. And this is the tragedy of self-righteousness. The Pharisees trusted in their own wisdom, their own tradition, and their own works.

And in doing so, they shut their eyes to the only one who could lead them to the Father. And the same pride persists today. People convince themselves they don't need Christ because they're good enough.

They measure themselves against others instead of the perfect holiness of God. But pride is a veil that darkens the heart, keeping people from seeing their desperate need for a Savior. Jesus' response in verse 19 is profound.

If you knew me, you would know my Father also. This is the essence of the gospel. To know Christ is to know God. To reject Christ is to remain estranged from the Father. And there is no neutral ground here.

Jesus is not just a teacher of God's truth. He is the truth itself. I am the way, I am the way, I am the truth, I'm the life. No one comes to him but through me. Capital T, he is the truth. He is the exact representation of the Father.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews puts it like this in chapter one, referring to Christ, who is the radiance of his glory. Christ is the radiance of the Father's glory and the exact representation of his nature.

And he upholds all things by the word of his power. Those who look to Christ in faith are led straight to the Father, while those who reject him remain lost. The Pharisees prided themselves on their knowledge of God.

Think about it. Yet, they were blind to God, the one standing before them. They claimed to see, but in reality, they were in utter darkness. And the same warning applies to us today. If we attempt to know God apart from Christ, we are merely wandering in a spiritual labyrinth.

Only through the Son can we be lifted to the Father. Jesus' words are not just a rebuke to the Pharisees. They are a merciful warning to everyone who hears these words. He exposes spiritual blindness so that we might seek true sight.

Pride and self-reliance lead only to separation from God, but humility, humility before Christ opens the door to the Father. Where do you stand today? Do you know Christ? Do you trust in him alone? Or are you still clinging to your own self-righteousness?

The Pharisees had the truth standing in front of them, and they rejected it. May that not be said of us. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord Jesus that we may truly know the Father and walk in his light.

Jesus confronts prideful presumption. As Jesus stood in the treasury of the temple surrounded by religious leaders and worshipers, his words carried profound weight. This was no ordinary location. It was a highly frequented place where offerings were given, a place of devotion, a place of tradition, yet it was here in the heart of religious practice that the Son of God issued a direct challenge to the self-righteousness of the Pharisees.

They prided themselves on their knowledge of the law and their control over the temple, yet they were blind to the very one whom the law pointed to. The Apostle John, under divine inspiration, draws our attention to an astounding reality.

Despite the Pharisees' growing hostility, Jesus remained unharmed. Though they had sought to seize him before, look at chapter seven, verse 44. This isn't the first time. Their efforts were continually frustrated.

Why?

Because his hour had not yet come. This is not simply a historical footnote, but a declaration of divine sovereignty. The rulers of the temple believed they had authority, but their power was nothing in contrast to God's perfect plan.

No scheme of men, no decree of the religious elite could alter the timeline ordained by the Father. Here we see the blindness of prideful presumption. The Pharisees trusted in their position. They trusted in their ability to dictate the affairs of the temple, but they could not recognize the one who stood before them.

They claimed to know God the Father, yet they rejected his son. This is the great tragedy of self-righteousness. It hardens the heart against the truth. And so Christ's words stand as a warning to all who hear.

To reject him is to remain in darkness. Yet, in his mercy, he continues to speak, calling each soul to examine their own heart. Do we trust in our own works, or do we trust in Christ? In modern culture, just think about this.

Success is often measured by what? Wealth, status, self-sufficiency. Many people believe that as long as they work hard, they earn enough, they maintain a good reputation, they are secure. But this is a dangerous presumption, much like the Pharisees in verse 20, who trusted in their religious status rather than recognizing the Savior standing before them.

I once heard a story about a wealthy businessman. This person spent his entire life accumulating wealth, pursuing prestige. He was disciplined, he was charitable, and highly respected in his community.

He prided himself on his ability to provide for his family, and even gave generously to charities. However, his trust was in his own accomplishments rather than in Christ. And so imagine, one evening, he attended a high-profile gala, confident in his place among the elite.

During the event, a man approached him and began speaking about the brevity of life and the need for a Savior. The businessman brushed him off, believing his life was well-ordered, secure, and in no need of spiritual warnings.

But that very night, tragedy struck. Driving home in his luxury car, he suffered a sudden heart attack and crashed. In an instant, everything he had built, his wealth, reputation, and achievements, they were meaningless.

He had spent his life securing his earthly future, but had neglected the most important thing, his soul. Like the Pharisees standing in the temple treasury, many today hear Jesus' merciful warnings, but they refuse to listen, relying instead on their own works.

They believe they are safe because of their moral behavior, religious activity, or financial success. Yet Jesus calls each of us to examine our hearts. Do we trust in our own works, or do we trust in him?

The businessman's story serves as a modern-day reminder that true security is not in what we have. True security is in who we know, Jesus Christ, the only way to the Father, the merciful warnings of the Christ.

As Jesus stood before the Pharisees, he delivered a warning filled with both urgency and sorrow. Listen to these words, I am going away and you will seek me and will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.

These words, though similar to his previous statements in chapter seven, verses 33 and 34, carried a far graver tone. Here, a week later from those verses, Christ not only proclaims his impending departure, his death, resurrection, and ascension, but also declares the tragic consequences of rejecting him.

The religious leaders who prided themselves on their spiritual knowledge failed to recognize that their rejection of Jesus would ultimately seal their separation from God. Jesus's words serve as a dire warning to all who presume upon their own righteousness.

The Pharisees believed they were secure in their heritage and religious works, but their spiritual blindness kept them from seeing the only one who could save them. Their rejection was not passive ignorance, but willful defiance.

They would one day realize their need for a Messiah, but it would be too late, too late. The time for repentance would have passed and they would die in their sin. Forever separated from the merciful grace of God.

Jesus's statement, I am going away, is not merely a reference to his physical departure, but a revelation of their missed opportunity. Just as in previous encounters, Christ speaks not only of his leaving, but of the deep consequences that follow rejecting him.

The message of the gospel is never neutral. It either brings life or it brings death. The Apostle Paul put it like this in his second letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter two, to the one an aroma from death to death and to the other an aroma from life to life.

The Pharisees would come to understand the gravity of their loss, but too late as their hearts were hardened beyond repentance. You will seek me and you will die in your sin. This phrase highlights the futility of an unbelieving search for God.

The Pharisees like many today would desire deliverance when faced with crisis, yet their seeking would be desperate rather than redemptive. True seeking requires humility, faith and repentance, a willingness to accept Christ as he is rather than as we wish him to be.

The unbeliever often desires a God who conforms to their own expectations, but Jesus never compromises his identity to fit human desires. Even today, people put off responding to Christ believing they have more time.

They assume they can turn to him whenever it becomes convenient. And as a pastor, it's utterly heartbreaking. I've heard this so many times from friends and loved ones. I know what I'm doing is wrong.

I'm not ready to stop yet. I know I need to get right with God, but I'll do it later. It's like, and you know, you just have to be wise with your words. But one person that told me that, I have a really good relationship, and I said, you're playing Russian roulette.

What are you, you're gambling with your life. Oh, open up your eyes. Just trying to plead to that person. You know, it's like the life-giving water is right there and you're dying of thirst. So you'd rather die than accept Christ.

Just utterly tragic. The warnings that people ignore. Yeah, not realizing that such an attitude leads to spiritual peril. The scripture warns us repeatedly that the time for salvation is now. It's not later, it's not tomorrow.

It's now, it's today. Paul puts it like this, 2 Corinthians 6. He's actually quoting Isaiah. For God says, at the acceptable time, I listened to you. And on the day of salvation, I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time.

Behold, now is the day of salvation. When Christ calls, we must answer. If we continue in resistance, the day will come when he withdraws his invitation, leaving only judgment. Jesus warns that their sin will be the cause of their destruction.

You will die in your sins. This phrase signifies more than physical death. It represents eternal separation from the love and mercy of God due to persistent unbelief. The nature of their sin was not just moral failure, but it was rebellion against God's truth.

The Pharisees refused to submit to the very one who could save them, proving that self-righteousness is a deadly deception. Christ's merciful warning is a call to immediate response. When he knocks, we must open.

Delay is dangerous, for the time of grace does not last forever. The lesson from verse 21 is clear. We must not rely on our own righteousness, but come to Christ in humble faith. Will you heed his merciful call, or will you remain in the blindness of your own self-reliance?

In verse 22, the Jewish leaders respond to Christ's declaration that they would die in their sin and be unable to follow him where he was going, but rather than humbling themselves before his warning, they mockingly ask him, surely he will not kill himself, will he?

Just a mocking, you can hear the sarcasm, the just dripping disdain. Their response is not one of genuine inquiry, but of derision and spiritual blindness. Their scoffing reveals both their hardness of heart and their inability to grasp the spiritual weight of Christ's words.

Rather than recognizing Jesus as the son of God, they resort to ridicule. Jewish tradition regarded self-inflicted death as a grievous offense, condemning such individuals to the worst depths of judgment.

The historian Josephus talks about this a little bit in his work, Jewish Wars. You can find this in the Jewish tradition. And so with this in mind, their question is laced with irony and contempt. They suggest that if Jesus were to take his own life, he would be beyond their reach, as if their own righteousness secured their eternal destiny.

Do you see that?

However, their words are tragically misplaced. It was not Christ who would take his own life in shame, but rather God delivered him to be slain according to his sovereign decree. Acts chapter two records it like this.

Jesus was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put to death. As the good shepherd, he willingly laid down his life, not as one condemned, but as the atoning sacrifice for his people.

Jesus' words later in this eyewitness account, John 10, no one takes it away from me, but from myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from my father.

Jesus' words in verse 21, you will die in your sin, carry eternal weight. The singular sin points to their rejection of him as the Messiah because they refuse to receive the son they would not share in his redeeming work.

Their mockery betrays their tragic condition. Hardened by unbelief, they cannot perceive their desperate need for salvation. Their taunts mirror the same rebellious spirit found in the world today. Those who scoff at Christ's warnings, indifferent to divine judgment, yet scripture affirms that their laughter is hollow.

What do I mean by that? Their souls are pierced by an unseen dread. It is God who puts the thought of eternity into the heart of man. May we heed Christ's warnings, repent of unbelief, and trust in the one who alone grants eternal life.

Prideful presumption. I thought this first point was well illustrated by the story of the lighthouse and the drowning man. There was once a man who set out on a nighttime voyage across a vast ocean, a treacherous sea, confident in his experience and skills.

He ignored the warnings of a seasoned sailor who cautioned him about the dangerous waters ahead. "'Stay close to the lighthouse,' the old sailor urged. "'It will guide you safely to shore.'. But the man scoffed.

"'I've sailed these waters before. "'I know what I'm doing.' He said, steering his boat away from the beam of light that cut through the darkness, he relied on his own instincts, believing his knowledge and skill were sufficient to bring him home safely.

Hours passed and the sea grew more violent. Waves crashed over his boat. Soon he found himself tossed into the cold, merciless waters. Grasping for breath, gasping, no air, he spotted the distant glow of the lighthouse, the very light he had disregarded.

Desperately, he tried to swim toward it, but the currents were too strong. Too late, he realized that the warning had been an act of mercy, not restriction. His arrogance had blinded him to the very thing that could have saved him.

In verses 19 through 22, the Pharisees were like that drowning man. They ignored Christ's merciful warnings, refusing to acknowledge that he was the light, capital L, that could lead them to the Father.

They mocked him, dismissed him, relied on their own understanding, believing that they had no need for salvation. How many today are doing the same thing? Christ is the lighthouse calling sinners to safety, yet like the Pharisees, many refuse to listen, believing their own morality, their own intelligence, or good works are enough.

But Jesus's words stand as a warning. You will die in your sin. Ignoring the lighthouse doesn't make the rocks disappear. Rejecting Christ doesn't remove the reality of judgment. It doesn't. The question is, will you heed the merciful warning, or will you, like that drowning man, realize too late that the light, Jesus, was your only hope?

The time to respond is now, before the waves pull you under. Jesus's merciful warnings. They call every listener to examine their hearts. Four fatal failures that lead to spiritual death. Number one, prideful presumption.

The self-righteous trust in their own works rather than Christ. And number two, present priorities. The earthly-minded live for this world instead of the eternal. Verse 23, present priorities. In verse 23, Jesus makes a striking distinction between himself and his opponents.

You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. This is not merely a statement about location. This is about nature, about the spiritual condition of those who reject Christ.

The Jewish leaders, though they were outwardly religious, remained bound to the fallen system of this world, unable to perceive the truth of the gospel. Their opposition to Jesus was not a mere intellectual disagreement, in other words.

It was the manifestation of their slavery to sin. Jesus's words are not just descriptive. They're confrontational. He exposes the spiritual blindness of his hearers and declares the absolute necessity of divine intervention for salvation.

Yet tragically, many in his day, just like today, dismissed his words, choosing instead to mock, to scoff, to ignore his warnings. And sadly, many preachers today soften Christ's warnings. Trying to make the gospel more palatable by removing its sharper edges.

But Jesus never softened his message to make it easier to accept. His words are life. His words are life, and to neglect them is to remain in darkness. And Jesus draws a sharp line between two realities, the realm from above and the realm from below.

The phrase from below refers to the fallen, sinful world. A world that exists in rebellion against God, controlled by Satan. Our author here, the Apostle John, in his letters to the church, he says in 1 John 5, we know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

This world is not just the physical earth, but the entire corrupt system of human thought and behavior that opposes God's truth. The Apostle Paul makes it very clear in his letter to the church in Ephesus.

Ephesians chapter two, Paul says this, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we also formally conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Those who belong to this world are not neutral toward Christ. They are hostile toward him. They're hostile to him. They cannot comprehend his words because their hearts are darkened by sin. Again, Paul, second Corinthians four, he puts it like this, in whose case the Lord of this age, lowercase l, Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The wisdom of the world is opposed to the wisdom of God. And apart from divine grace, man remains spiritually dead. In contrast, Jesus declares, I am from above. I am from above. He is not of this world.

His origin is heavenly and so is his authority. He does not think as the world thinks or operate according to its principles. The gospel he proclaims is not shaped by human philosophy, but by divine revelation.

The divide is absolute. No one can belong to both realms at once. This is the necessity of divine regeneration. Left to themselves, no one can escape the system of this world. No man naturally comes to Christ.

The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. Paul says it like this in his letter to the church in Rome, Romans eight, because the mind set on the flesh is at enmity toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.

Apart from the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, all men remain bound in sin, rejecting the truth of the gospel. This is why salvation is not the result of human willpower or mere intellectual persuasion.

Jesus makes it clear that no one can come to him unless the Father wills it. Looking back a couple chapters, John chapter six, the words of the Lord, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Faith is not something we manufacture. It is a gift of God's grace. The natural man does not seek after God. What does he actually do? The Bible says he runs from him. It is only when the Holy Spirit awakens the sinner, opens his blind eyes, and grants him a new heart that he can truly believe.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus did not shy away from warning people of the consequences of rejecting him. He was full of grace, and he was full of truth. This is how the apostle starts his eyewitness account.

Going back to the very first chapter of John, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. He never hesitated to declare hard realities, truths that many, even today, find offensive.

Think about it like this. He spoke of hell more than he spoke of heaven. This is not the Jesus that's being preached in many pulpits around this country and the world. Jesus warned of judgment, the necessity of repentance, and of the utter futility of trusting in human righteousness.

Yet, in our day, many preachers dilute these warnings. They hesitate to speak of sin, judgment, and the wrath of God for fear of offending their congregations. I hope you're listening. Are you offended today?

I hope you are. Praise God, wake up. This is real. You wanna go to a church and hear a motivational speech and hear how great you are? I want the truth from God.