Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20050508.htm

JOHN: TRUSTING IN JESUS AS MESSIAH AND GOD
Part IV: Trusting In Jesus For God's Fulness To Fill All Our Emptiness
(John 1:14-18)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Spiritual needs and hurts abound even among Christians:

(1) The article, "Porn Again" by Mark Bergin in the April 23, 2005 issue of World magazine, p. 38 noted that "Family Safe Media reports 53 percent of men belonging to the Christian organization Promise Keepers visit porn [internet web] sites every week." (brackets ours) Even "A Christianity Today Leadership Survey in 2001 reported 37 percent of pastors have viewed internet porn." (Ibid.)

With so many alleged Christian men and leaders subjecting themselves to this vice in their personal lives, one wonders how many marriages and homes in Christian circles may be at risk today!

(2) Dave Hunt printed a letter from a recipient of his newsletter who lives in the State of Washington who reported a great problem exists regarding the worship music in his church. He wrote: "Your [news]letters on 'Consumer Christianity' have really hit home. I thought it was just me. Maybe I was becoming too critical or nit-picky, but my heart was grieving, I was starving . . . I looked at the congregation . . . not many singing . . . I couldn't sing . . . [Our pastor had] brought in his own band . . . fired the worship leader . . . much was sacrificed to have perfect entertainment . . ." (signed,) LT (The Berean Call, April, 2005, p. 7) Obviously great spiritual needs exist in a churches that name the Name of Christ just when it comes to music!

(3) While typing up this sermon, I received a call from a believer who was concerned about an acquaintance who is being exposed to a legalistic Evangelical institution. Typical of many other church organizations, this group seeks to heed Scripture in the power of the sinful nature only to produce lots of related harmful effects.

(4) A week ago I spoke at length with a believer who is concerned about a very depressed Christian associate.

(5) A couple recently spoke to me of their concerns about the deep spiritual needs of a fellow acquaintance in a similar situation.



How do CHRISTIANS let alone UNBELIEVERS even meet that SUFFOCATING spiritual NEED within the heart that can surface and create so many kinds of problems in their lives?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "I or a friend has a VOID in his soul that fails to be met no matter what he tries to do to FILL it! He only knows restlessness, a short-temper, relationship problems and even deep gloom. What is the cause, and HOW can his need(s) ever be MET?"
  1. John wrote that he and Christ's Apostles had received SPIRITUAL FULNESS from Jesus by means of LOADS upon LOADS of GOD'S UNMERITED FAVOR that had been HEAPED on them:
    1. The "fulness" of Christ, the Word Who was sent from the Father, was supplied for the apostles as (lit. in the Greek N. T.) "grace instead of grace," Leon Wood, The Gospel of John (NICNT), p. 110.
    2. John meant Christ gave "'inexhaustible resources of grace ('grace upon grace') which the people of Christ find in Him, and on which they may freely draw' (F. F. Bruce, NICNT on Col. 1:19, n. 122)," Ibid.
    3. As "grace" [charis in the Greek N. T., cf. U. B. S. Grk. N. T., p. 322] refers to God's attitude and expressions of unmerited favor , John 1:16 reports that through Jesus, John and the other Apostles had received an infinite resource of God's attitude and gifts of unmerited favor from which they could fulfill their souls' deepest needs!
  2. This FULNESS was given EXPLICITLY to OVERCOME the deep VOID and DESTRUCTION of soul caused by SIN (as follows):
    1. In a previous message in this series, we learned the "Word" in John 1:1 was Jesus Whose life was the "light" that shone in the darkness (John 1:4) of human spiritual bankruptcy caused by sin (as follows):
      1. Jesus had come to John's people in spiritually dark Galilee as God's Word in the flesh to illumine those there who had replaced God's Scriptures for guidance from mediums, Isa . 8:19; 9:1; Mtt. 4:12-22.
      2. For rejecting Scripture, they were without hope [lacking dawn's dim light that gives hope of day's coming sunlight], Isa. 8:20 NIV!
      3. Thus, they had become destitute within, being hungry in heart (Isa. 8:21b ESV), distressed (8:21a ESV), ill-tempered (8:21c ESV), dysfunctional in relationships (8:21d ESV), depressed (8:22a ESV) and in "gloomy anguish" (8:22b; E. J. Young, Isaiah, v. I, p. 322)]!
    2. So, to save them from this wretchedness of soul, John 1:16-18 and Isaiah 9:1-2 show Jesus came to reveal God and His grace and truth that fills such needs created by such sin and its ruinous effects.
    3. The WAY Jesus did this is briefly, wonderfully describe in Isaiah 9:6.
  3. We thus examine more CLOSELY the WAY God's fulness is APPLIED through Christ to meet man's bankruptcy of soul:
    1. When one believes in Christ as his personal Savior from sin (John 3:16), God positionally gives him every spiritual blessing when He spiritually identifies him with Jesus Christ, Eph esians 1:3.
    2. Just ONE of those blessings is God's gift of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit by Whom a believer can live uprightly, Romans 8:3-4.
    3. In relying by faith on that Holy Spirit, the believer can heed Scripture, and God responds by filling all of the needs of his soul that are named in Isaiah 8:19-22 in accord to the teaching of Isaiah 9:6 (as follows):
      1. In RELYING on the Holy Spirit to HEED Scripture, a believer finds Christ is (lit.) "a wonder of a counsellor . . . counselling given by God . . ." [cf. E. J. Young, Isaiah, v. I, p. 334, note 76]; namely, Christ acts as his personal "Supernatural Counsellor" (Isa. 9:6) to supply him through Scripture's viewpoint conquest over all neurotic and psychotic outlooks so that he can live above the views of his own sin nature and the world, especially views of the errant demonic guidance from spiritists he once heeded, Isaiah 8:19-22.
      2. In RELYING on the Holy Spirit to HEED Scripture, a believer finds Christ acting as his Mighty God (Isa. 9:6), enabling him to live in love and joy above the power of his sin nature, demons or the world that once dragged down into gloom, Isaiah 8:19-22.
      3. In RELYING on the Holy Spirit to HEED Scripture, a believer finds Christ acting as his Eternal Father (Isa. 9:6), providing him through Scripture all the good guidance he needs for direction unto fulfilled living versus the destructive, errant guidance he once had from his sin nature, Satan and the world, Isaiah 8:19-22.
      4. In RELYING on the Holy Spirit to HEED Scripture, a believer finds Christ acting as his Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), supplying him rest of soul and composure of attitude versus the restless gloom of sin that once robbed his soul of peace, Isaiah 8:19-22.
Application: If we are needy within, (1) let us trust in Christ as Savior to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; 7:37-39. (2) As a BELIEVER, if we suffer from an inner void, (a) we must confess any sin that blocks fellowship with God (1 John 1:9), (b) rely on the Holy Spirit for power (Gal. 5:16) and (c) heed Scripture (1 John 2:3) to see CHRIST FILL our VOID in His great grace!

Lesson: Christ's gives the means for anyone with deep NEEDS of the SOUL that are created by his sin nature, Satan or the evil world to have those needs MET with GOD'S VAST FULNESS in GOD'S GRACE!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 One of the members of our Church recently provided me with a gift of a large amount of red cedar mulch for my flower gardens. He had repeatedly asked if he could give me some, and as I did need it, I felt it was right to agree to let him minister in giving me the mulch.

It turned out I could use only half of the amount he dumped in my driveway, so after applying the mulch to my gardens, I walked over to our neighbors to the south to ask if they could use what remained.

When the lady of the house answered the doorbell and I briefly shared with her about the extra mulch, she became ecstatic and said, "Yes, yes, I'll take all you have!" She went on to explain how she had been trying to get the time to haul some in for herself but had been held up by trials with her pool that was being installed in her back yard. She explained she had almost cried when she found the city required an electrical permit for her pool pump, so she had been frustrated in not getting the time to obtain any mulch due to all the paper work stuff!

She laid out a tarp for the mulch before going back into the house to care for her small children. Well, I had over 8 wheelbarrow loads to bring, so what I dumped began to fill up the tarp. After several runs, she came out to say, "I didn't know there was so much!"

I responded, "Is it all right for me to keep bringing it?" to which she said, "I'll use it all -- don't worry if it spills over the tarp!"

I then said, "I was given the mulch by a friend in construction, so there's no charge for it!" She stood there and quietly said, "Wow!"

When I had dumped the last load and was heading home, she stuck her head out of the door where she was supervising her children to call out, "Thank you so-o-o much!" I replied, "You're welcome!"

As I pushed the empty wheelbarrow down my driveway, I couldn't help but think of John 1:16 where John reported getting God's "grace 'loaded' upon grace"! Like our neighbor who had so desired red cedar mulch only to be thrwarted by her burden with the town over her pool only then to be given 8 wheelbarrow loads of it stacked up to where it overflowed her tarp, and that FREE of charge , so God in His fulness stands ready FREELY to unload load upon load of unmerited favor upon us to meet our deepest needs of the soul! All we are to say to Him is what our neighbor told me: "I'll take all you have!"

May we come to Christ with our needs of the soul and ask Him for ALL He HAS and get His load upon load of provisions!