Some years ago – never mind how long precisely – having little ambition and nothing particular to interest me around the house, I thought I would surf about a little upon the Internet.

Through the providence of God, I found a YouTube video of Paul Washer entitled, “Shocking Youth Message.” As I was engaged as a youth Sunday school teacher from time to time, I invested an hour and watched it. I suggest you do the same now if you haven’t seen it already. http://youtu.be/cncEhCvrVgQ.

If you don’t have the time, or if you’ve seen it before, just watch the first minute of this excerpt up until the point that Brother Paul silences the crowd.

Though just into my 40s and a generation removed from Washer’s audience, the Holy Spirit of God convicted me through his words, “I don’t know why you’re clapping. I’m talking about you.” The kids in the audience were in an emotional frenzy, going with their worldly feelings and not letting Washer’s biblical message penetrate their stony hearts. At least that’s what I think was going on inside them, because that was what was going on inside me. I was no different in my life. It took the startling words of a preacher clearly calling me a phony to shock me out of my complacency.

You see, I was a great Pharisee. I went to church every Sunday, I sang in the choir, I read scripture, I taught Sunday school, I attended Bible study, I donated time and money, I maintained the church website, I edited the church newsletter, I was an elder and I was certain that Christianity was something I did very well.

Please don’t miss that last statement: Christianity – was something – I did.

Could this be true of you as well? Is your Christian faith primarily something you do?

Like Nicodemus, I had heard about the things of God and I knew a lot about God, but I didn’t know God at all. Nicodemus was a bible teacher; he sang and read scripture in the temple; his faith was something that he did very well. But he couldn’t see or comprehend the kingdom of God. Nicodemus visited Jesus at night, ashamed to be seen with him in the daylight. In John 3:3, Jesus says to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus doesn’t get it in John 3:4, so Jesus spells it out for him in more detail in John 3:5-8, to which Nicodemus replies in verse 9, “How can these things be?”

It’s almost like Nicodemus is proving Jesus’ point for him. He obviously hasn’t been born again, therefore he doesn’t understand. It’s not that Nicodemus doesn’t want to understand, rather, he is incapable of understanding. His understanding is so tightly wrapped up in his religiosity that the truth cannot penetrate it.

I, too, was insulated from the truth. For me, the first crack in my stony heart (that I was aware of) was made through the words of Brother Paul Washer when I first seriously entertained the possibility that I wasn’t a ‘good Christian’ like I thought I was. Perhaps Jesus’ unexpected response to Nicodemus’ question was a shock to him too. In John 3:10, Jesus says, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Calling a high priest of the Jews a phony tends to have a shocking effect.

Could this be true of you as well? Are you a phony, masquerading as a Christian, wrapped up in religiosity?

I must confess that I still have a tendency to revert back to what comes most naturally to me. My default setting is a desire to earn my way to heaven by doing good works.

By relying on myself and what I do, I diminish Christ and what He did.

Reliance upon the person and work of Jesus through faith alone guarantees me reconciliation with God; reliance upon myself and my tainted works guarantees me a nice hot corner of hell all to myself.

And yet even this exposes yet another form of Pharisee-ism.

Because I know I shouldn’t rely on myself or my works, I sometimes think I’m smarter or more clever than others. Putting my old works into the dustbin (where they belong) are my “new good works.” But these new good works are just as filthy as my old ones, and I am still a Pharisee because I want them to count for something!

Counting nothing to my account should count for something, right?!?

Do you see how insane that is? I can’t get out from underneath it.

But King Jesus can get me out.

Ray Ortlund addresses this paradox better than I could:

With Jesus, we are saved.  Everything is going to be okay.  Without Jesus, we are damned.  Nothing will go right.

Forsake all fraudulent success.  Make Jesus your goal, your arrival, your identity, your comfort, your okayness, and he’ll gladly give himself to you — and on terms of grace.  But reach for anything else, and it will turn into its opposite and betray you.

John doesn’t give us a nicely wrapped-up ending to the encounter with Nicodemus. It just abruptly ends and we don’t hear of old Nic again until after Jesus is killed. In John 3:1-21 he visits Jesus at night so he cannot be seen by anyone. But in John 19:39, Nicodemus buys a load of burial spices and he, along with Joseph of Arimathea, prepares Jesus’ body for burial in the light of day. It seems that he was no longer ashamed to be counted as a servant of Christ.

In the end, I hope this means that Nicodemus was saved; because I need the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ as much as he did.

Could this be true of you as well?

Christianity isn’t about what you do. It’s about what Jesus has already done. Don’t ever lose that focus.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – Phil. 3:8-9

Click on the image to visit Challies’ site if you would like to download a hi-res pdf.

God expresses His love in Mark 10:21-22 and John 11:5-6 just as much as He does in John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. Mark 10:21-22

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. John 11:5-6

Verses 5 and 6 paraphrased: “Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Therefore, when he heard Lazarus was sick; he didn’t go to him right away. He waited around until he knew Lazarus was dead.” This makes no sense to our human sensibilities. Death is our greatest enemy, right? We want it to say, “Jesus loved them so much that he ran as fast as he could and healed Lazarus.” But it doesn’t say that. Instead, because of Jesus’ great love for them, He didn’t go right away. He put them through a miserable trial so the final outcome would make them even more joyful and bring God greater glory.

Jesus wanted to do something extraordinary for these friends he loved so dearly. He wanted to do something for them that he had never done for anyone else before, and would never do again. He brought his friend Lazarus back to life after four days in the tomb!

(Isaiah 54:7,8; 49:14-15; Romans 8:18)

How often does the love of God manifest itself in ways that are directly opposite what we expect?

How often do we thank God for this?

In Mark 10:21-22, the Bible says that Jesus felt a love for the rich young man who came to him seeking the way to eternal life. How did he show his love for the young man? He did this in a way similar to that of Mary and Martha; he put a trial before him. It was certainly not what the man (or the disciples for that matter) expected. Don’t you think that Mary and Martha expected Jesus to immediately come and heal Lazarus?

The point of this trial seems to be a test of whether the rich young man really wanted to be a part of the Kingdom of heaven or not. There is nothing you can lose in this life (including this life itself) that Christ cannot give back to you twofold or more in the next. (Job 42:10, Matthew 19:29)

Jesus spoke the truth in love for the benefit of the young man’s soul, but the man wasn’t willing to bear the cost of discipleship. Unlike the account of Lazarus’ resurrection, this one doesn’t have a happy ending. The young man went away grieving, because the cost was too high. From a salvation perspective, the rich young man committed suicide that day. He stood in the presence of the light of the world, and chose darkness. He stood before Him who was life itself, and chose death.

And Jesus let him walk away.

This is the natural state of the heart of every person on earth. Do we have free will? A right to choose? Yes we do – and we choose sin and death over love and life every single time. We have no ability, unless acted upon by God, to choose to love and trust Him. Even Martha and Mary failed to believe when Jesus tarried so long (John 11:21, 32).

In both cases, Jesus used these events to teach a lesson to His disciples. In both cases the lesson was the same. Believe, trust and obey, and you will have eternal life in His Kingdom (Jer. 39:18; Ezek. 36:26-7; John 11:40, 14:1; Rom. 15:13).

Isn’t that what John 3:16 is all about?

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day. – Abraham Lincoln

Drive me to my knees, Lord Jesus. Drive me to my knees.

• You hear my Pharisaical prayers; thanking you that I am not like other sinners.
• You see me try to hide my selfishness; camouflaging it with pious works.
• You know the pride that wells up in my heart; like a spring of acrid water from the stony ground.

Drive me to my knees, Holy Spirit. Drive me to my knees.

• You hear my feeble pleas and groanings; and understand what’s in my heart.
• You see my sinful self as I really am; not as I present myself to the world.
• You know my confessions are incomplete; I’m not even aware of all the sins I should repent from.

Drive me to my knees, Dear Father. Drive me to my knees.

• You hear my hurtful words against Your image bearers.
• You see my shameful acts that reflect so poorly upon You.
• You know me better than I know myself.

Drive me to my knees, O God. Drive me to my knees.

Beware of no one more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us. – C.H. Spurgeon

Drive me to my knees, O Lord; so I can know Your grace.
Listen to my pleas, Dear Lord; and let me seek Your face.
Take my sins away, O Lord; as east is from the west.
Drive me to my knees, Dear Lord; in You I find true rest.

James 4:10 – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Matthew 25:31-34: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

v. 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

v. 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Question: Do you believe this?

Do you believe that Jesus is coming again and that He will judge both the living and the dead?

Do you believe that He will separate all humanity into two groups?

Do you believe that one group will go away to eternal torment and the other to eternal life in the presence of God?

A simple yes or no is required. Either you believe it or you don’t.

If you don’t believe it and you call yourself a Christian, you either need to repent for your unbelief or stop calling yourself a Christian. I’m serious. You shame the name of Christ if you disbelieve His own testimony of what will happen at the end of days.

If you do believe it but don’t engage in personal evangelism, you either need to repent for your unbelief or stop calling yourself a Christian. I’m even more serious now. You shame the name of Christ even more if you say you believe his testimony, but disobey his commandments (John 3:36).

I think that there are only a few Christians who personally engage in evangelism to the extent they can. If you are doing so, may God strengthen you and bless your efforts.

Matthew 28:19-20 – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

In all likelihood, most of the readership of this little article believe that Jesus means what He says but, for some reason, don’t give much effort to personal evangelism. If this is the case with you, as it is with me, then we have some repenting to do.

If we really believed what Jesus said about a final judgment and eternity in either heaven or hell, then we would be far less complacent about our unbelieving co-workers, neighbors and family members.  But many of us don’t really believe Jesus, even though we say we do. The proof is found in our action or inaction in the face of certain death and torment for those on the judge’s left.

O Father in Heaven: Your ways are so far above and beyond my ways. Except for your amazing grace, I would be counted among the goats. Forgive my unbelief and strengthen me to share the Good News with those who need to hear it. Embolden me to speak the truth with love and humility to my family, friends and neighbors. For the sake of Christ Jesus and his unforgettable work on the cross, grant that I might become a better witnesses to the transcendent love that is you, O God. Amen.

CLICKING THE IMAGE WILL OPEN ‘THE STORY’ IN A NEW WINDOW.

Whether you are a long-time believer, an unbeliever or anywhere in between, I think you will enjoy this story. It is a true story that never gets old or boring, that always refreshes and renews.

Forget about them. Jesus wants you.

Do you think you’re too bad for God to love? Do you think you need to clean up your act before you can get right with God?

Forget about that. Jesus wants you.

He wants you just as you are. He wants you to come to him in honesty and brokenness and tell him you know what you are, a sinner. You’re a mess; God already knows that, and He’s forgiven worse than you. The Bible says He will not break a bruised reed or quench a barely glowing wick. (Matthew 12:20 ESV) Come to him in humility and apologize for the mess you’ve made. Jesus did not condemn a woman caught in adultery; He forgave her and told her to go and sin no more. He promises to do the same for you when you repent and believe.

Christians may look down on you or ignore you, Christ doesn’t.

Churches might make you feel unwelcome, Jesus won’t.

I hope you won’t judge Christ by a church that happens to use His name, or by those who call themselves Christians. The church can’t save your soul and Christians can’t forgive your sins. Jesus can do all that and heal you of whatever sins and griefs you bear.

Jesus wants you. Please, give Him a chance.