Is God more likely to grant a prayer request if lots of people ask for it?

After reading the title of this post, you might be wondering, “Why is Pastor Tim bothering to write about a question that should so obviously be answered ‘yes?’ Of course God is more likely to grant a prayer request if many people ask for it!” Well, I’m writing this post because—from a biblical perspective—the answer to this question is NOT obviously “yes.” In fact, the answer is a definite “maybe, maybe not.”

Let me be perfectly clear on this point before I say anything else: there is nothing we can do to FORCE God to grant our prayer requests—absolutely nothing. We cannot, through any means, bind, coerce, manipulate, or otherwise control God’s decision about our prayer requests. Now to be sure, the Bible does mention human attitudes and actions that will accompany effective prayer. A short list would include repentance (Isaiah 59:1-2), confidence in God’s generosity and goodness (James 1:5-17), obedience (John 15:7-10), persistence (Luke 18:1-8), and treating your wife properly (1 Peter 3:7; yes, it actually says that, guys—look it up!). But here’s the irony—a lack of such attitudes and actions in your life will definitely hinder your prayers, but the presence of such attitudes and actions will not definitely get your requests answered!

Now, does the number of people making a request belong in the category I just mentioned? Will a lack of larger numbers definitely hinder your prayer request? Certainly not! On the flip side, though, will the presence of larger numbers definitely assist in your request getting answered? The MOST we can say is, “maybe, maybe not.”

The one passage I’m aware of that joins together prayer and numbers is 2 Corinthians 1:11 (Note: the statement in Matthew 18:20 about “two or three gathered” is NOT a general teaching about prayer.) In 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, Paul has been speaking of his hope that God will deliver him and his co-workers from physical danger. He writes in v. 11, “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” Paul’s stated desire is that a larger number of people will become thankful to God since they have also made the same prayer request. The request answered would thus be their request as well, and they would be grateful to have it answered. I certainly have to think that, all other things being equal, more gratitude to God is better than less gratitude to God. This thought could therefore be a good motive for us to share prayer requests with others.

But does God take the potential numerical impact of a request into account when deciding on an answer? This passage simply does not say, nor does any other passage of Scripture that comes to my mind. We had better be very cautious, therefore, before we assume that a greater number of requesters brings with it a greater likelihood of receiving the request.

I wrote this post today to help you in two specific ways.

1. To help you think twice before sharing sensitive information as a prayer request.

If you’ve attended church very long, you’re likely familiar with what some have jokingly called the “organ recital”—times for sharing prayer requests that often become dominated by health concerns. When we or someone we love is facing trouble of any kind, we often want to call in the prayer cavalry right away. We want to get the word out so that other people can start praying for that person.

Those of us who are very familiar with how churches often operate can easily forget that not everyone wants to have personal, sensitive information shared quickly or broadly. Some people don’t mind this information being shared for the purpose of prayer, but some people aren’t comfortable with it. We should respect their decision without thinking their request is less likely to be answered if it’s not broadcast.  In this day when companies bend over backwards to protect our personal information, we should do the same for our friends. Make sure you have permission before you share information!

2. To help you not lose hope for your own requests.

We’ve all seen lots of prayer requests go viral on social media. People all over the world get to praying for someone they don’t even know. It can be encouraging to someone to know they have that much interest in their need.

But have you wondered if your own requests are at a disadvantage if they don’t garner that much attention? Perhaps you even put your request out there, but few people seem to pay attention. Does that influence God? Is He swayed by the number of likes, shares, and re-tweets?

I see no reason to think He is. Rather, we are assured that the God who knows the number of hairs on your head is concerned about you on a personal level. He knows what you need before you even ask (Matthew 6:8)! He is listening to you even if no one else is, so don’t lose hope for your requests if they don’t gain much notice from others. God’s children may always come with confidence to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), even if no one re-tweets the fact that you were there.

Loving God By Loving Others--Life With God Series

            As I’ve grown more mature, I believe I’ve developed the ability to stay fairly patient with people who hurt me or insult me. But when someone hurts my children, that’s a totally different story! That’s when my claws come out, and it takes everything I’ve got not to lose my cool.

            When someone hurts my children, I take that personally, and I can’t just pretend like it’s no big deal. To put it another way, I can’t be good friends with someone who isn’t good to my children. If you want to be close to me, you have to treat my children well because I love them dearly.

            According to the Bible, your relationship with God contains that very same principle. As God’s child, if you want to have a close, friendly bond with him, you must show love to your brothers and sisters in Christ. The way you treat them will either help you get close to God or it will hinder you from doing so. In fact, as we’ll learn today, we cannot truly say that we love God well if we do not love his children.

            This truth may rub you the wrong way if you are inclined to think of your relationship with God as an intensely personal sort of thing. It can be tempting to view our intimacy with God as being the sum total of nothing more than how much time we spend in prayer and how much time we spend in Bible study. If that’s true, then our relationships with other people don’t even factor into that equation.

            But the Bible forces us to factor other people into our relationship with God. Your relationship with the Lord certainly does have its personal elements, but what I hope you will see from God’s Word today is that it also has its interpersonal elements.

            Allow me to clarify one thing before we begin to look at some passages together. Some people have interpreted these passages as tests that you can use to measure whether or not you are truly born again. I do not interpret these passages in that way, and I would encourage you not to do so either. I think that interpretive approach has too many theological problems to be a good interpretation. Rather, I think these passages help me as a born-again person to measure whether I am walking in close friendship with the Lord or not. I would encourage you to keep these thoughts in mind as we proceed.

To Love God, You Must Love Others

            The Apostle John tells us in his characteristically blunt fashion in 1 John 4:20-21: “If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

            To John, the issue is cut and dry – if you think you’re loving God well but you hate your brother in Christ, you’re lying! You may not be trying to deceive yourself or anyone else, but that is the reality because loving your brother is part of what it means to love God. In the same way that staying faithful to your spouse is part of what it means to love them, loving your Christian family is part of what it means to love God.

            Now why does John place so much emphasis on sight and love? I think it’s because for John, love is truly expressed through the tangible sacrifices that we make for each other. I show love to you when I make a tangible sacrifice to meet the needs that I can see that you have. Notice what the Apostle wrote back in 3:16-18: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

            Also, the fact that we are physically together gives me extra motivation to love you. We’ve all heard that old phrase, “Out of sight, out of mind.” It’s easy to forget to think about someone if you don’t see them. But since I see you often, I can see it in your face when you’re sad about something, or I can see it when you might be in need of something that is necessary for life. The fact that I can see your needs should tug at my heartstrings and draw out the love that I am supposed to show to you.

            So I simply cannot claim that I am loving God well if I am not loving you well. This is easy to understand by comparison with our biological families. If I am causing pain and anguish for my siblings, how could I say, “I’m being a great child toward my parents?” That claim doesn’t fly with our biological families, and it doesn’t fly in the family of God either.

So we must love each other, and also…

We Must Forgive Each Other

            When we took a look at The Lord’s Prayer two weeks ago, we read these words from the Lord Jesus: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15).”

            In our day and age of cell phones, we’ve all had the experience of having poor reception. Perhaps we’re in an area with a weak signal, or something else might be causing interference. Whatever it is, when someone tries to get in touch with us, their call doesn’t get through because we have poor reception.

            Well, according to Christ, unforgiveness in my heart causes my prayer to have poor reception with God, so to speak. My behavior toward you has created a barrier in my interaction with God. It’s not enough for me to just faithfully follow my Bible reading plan or faithfully work through my prayer list. Until I correct my behavior toward you, that barrier will remain in my relationship with God.

            We saw the same kind of idea a few months ago when we were studying 1 Peter. In his instructions to husbands, Peter wrote this: “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).”

            So from these passages, it should be clear – your relationship with God is not just a private matter between you and the Lord. Certainly, some parts of it are, but the way that you behave toward other people also factors into that relationship and affects the degree to which you enjoy a close friendship with God.

            So if we want to have a good relationship with the Lord, we must also have good relationships with other people by loving them and forgiving them when need be. When we will do that, we will find not only a greater unity with the Lord, but a greater unity with each other as well, and that unity will serve as a powerful testimony to the world that the message we proclaim about Jesus is true.

The Power of Unity for Our Proclamation of Truth

            Did you know that Jesus literally prayed for you and me on the night before he died? Christians who weren’t even alive yet at that time – he had us on the mind, and he prayed for us. Notice what he said in John 17:20-23: “I do not ask for these only [meaning the 11 disciples, minus Judas], but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” That’s you and me and all believers who have not seen Jesus in the flesh but have believed in him through the apostles’ testimony in the Bible.

            And what was his desire for us on that night? “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.” Jesus prayed that we would have unity – the same kind of unity of mind, desire, and purpose that he has with God the Father.

            And why did he desire that unity for us? What purpose would such unity accomplish? “So that the world may believe that you have sent me.” When we live in unity, our fellowship has the power to convince people that Jesus truly is the son of God, sent into this world to save mankind.

            Can people learn that by reading about Jesus in the Bible? Certainly they can, but sadly, people have all sorts of ingenious ways of evading the plain truth that they read from these pages. But when they see us living in love, with a unity that our world has never achieved, they will not be able to deny that Jesus has the power to change the hearts of mankind, and the only way that he could have such power is if he is the Son of God.

            Jesus continued his prayer for us: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” How will we ever convince the world that we have been saved by a supernatural love if we cannot get along with each other? If they see us bickering and fighting with each other, why would they ever believe that we represent the God who is love itself?

            But if we show them godly unity and love, we give tangible proof of the truthfulness of the Gospel message that we proclaim. So when we love each other, not only do we enjoy close friendship with God, not only do we enjoy close friendship with each other, but we also draw others into the same kind of relationship with God that we enjoy. For we who have received the love of God, should we desire anything less than to see others enjoy that love as well? May we display the unifying power of God’s love in our lives today!

How to Obey God: According to John--Parenting Series

            Its fascinating the way that living in a certain place can shape you in so many different ways. It can shape the way you think by shaping your values and the opinions that you hold or the goals and dreams that you have. You probably wouldn’t dream about becoming a rodeo champion if you grew up in the city, for instance.

            It can shape the way you talk as well. It may shape how fast you talk or what kind of vocabulary you use. You may say “soda” rather than “pop,” or even “soda, don’t ya know.” You might say “warsh” rather than “wash,” or use words like “perti’near.”

            The place you live may shape your hobbies, your habits, your wardrobe, and even the way you drive! In Kansas City, it wasn’t too hard to spot the people who weren’t used to “city driving.” They were usually the ones the rest of us were “politely gesturing” at.

            Today, we’re going to continue talking about how to obey God so we’ll know what kind of ideas we need to pass along to our kids as they grow up. We’re going to look at a word picture from the Apostle John. His word picture draws on this whole idea of finding a home somewhere and allowing it to shape your life. This word picture comes directly from the Lord Jesus, but the Apostle John is the only New Testament writer who took this idea and ran with it.

According to the Apostle John, how can we obey God’s commands?

            For John, the answer to this question is “by abiding in Christ.” The idea of that word is to remain somewhere, to stay there, to make yourself at home and put down roots and drink up the life of the place that you have chosen to call home. As I said, John took this word picture from Jesus, and Jesus placed it in an agricultural context by talking about how a branch draws its life from the vine to which it is attached.

            This idea is very similar to what we learned from Paul last week, but Paul used images taken from the world of law and the courtroom. Jesus and John, however, drew on this image taken from something that the people were involved in all the time—gardening. Its an image that I think all of us in an agricultural setting can really appreciate.

            John records Jesus’ teaching on this whole idea of abiding in John 15. Why don’t you turn there with me, please? I’d like to read vv. 1-11 and talk through them just briefly, then we’ll take a closer look at the blessings of abiding in Christ and the means of abiding in Christ. This passage is from the night before Jesus was crucified. As He was speaking in chapter 15, He was probably walking with His disciples from the upper room where they ate together to the Garden of Gethsemane where He was ultimately arrested. As they walked, they would have likely been passing some vineyards, so Jesus uses that setting to make a spiritual point.

            Let’s read and I’ll offer some brief comments [READ v. 1]. Jesus probably called Himself the “true” vine in contrast to the leaders and the people of Israel. In the same way that we use the bald eagle as a symbol of our country, the people of Israel used a vine as a symbol of their country. This picture was taken directly from the Old Testament, and it was supposed to mean that the nation was bearing God’s fruit in the world. But since they had rejected Jesus, they had rejected God, and so Jesus says that He is the true vine—the one who is truly bearing God’s fruit in this world.

            Let’s continue [READ v. 2]. I think “lifts up” is a better translation here than “takes away” for the branches that are not bearing fruit. I think Jesus is referring to the practice of elevating the vines on a trellis of some kind. In other words, I think the picture is of tender care rather than removal.

            Moving on…[READ vv. 3-6]. Some interpreters read v. 6 as a statement about false Christians or sinning Christians being thrown out into Hell for failing to abide in Christ. In my opinion, this cannot be because of the audience to whom Jesus is speaking. He is speaking these words only to the 11 faithful disciples. Judas had already left to commit his betrayal, so Jesus was speaking only to His faithful followers, whom he said in v. 3 were “already clean.” Thus, the command to abide is for those who are already clean! So abiding is not a way to become clean in the eyes of God, but the way to live as someone who already is clean.

            Let’s finish the passage now [READ vv. 7-11]. This is such a beautiful section of Scripture. You may have already noticed some blessings that Jesus connects with the idea of abiding. Remember that the idea of abiding is the idea of making a home somewhere and taking on the life of that place, just like a branch has its home in the vine to which it is attached and draws its very lifeblood from it. In our lives, we’re talking about finding a home in Jesus and letting Him shape the way we think and act and live—shaping our goals and motives and desires and dreams and the choices we make. Just as the branch simply produces the fruit of the vine, we are to produce the spiritual fruit that God desires to produce in this world. It’s the same idea that we learned from Paul last week, only through a different word picture. We are simply supposed to live out the life of Christ.

Let’s take a closer look now at the blessings of abiding.

1. Bearing much fruit for God (v. 5)

            Look again at v. 5 [READ v. 5]. Its interesting that Jesus said apart from Him we can do nothing—nothing of any spiritual value. We tend to think that the choice to allow Jesus to work in us is like the choice between thriving and just getting by. We think, “Yeah, I know I could thrive if I got to know Jesus better, but I’m getting along okay in my spiritual life.” Well, according to Jesus, the choice is not between thriving and getting by—the choice is between thriving and nothing!

            If we are not allowing Jesus to do His work in us to change us, we will not accomplish anything of spiritual value. If we’re not living out the life of Christ the way that a branch carries the life of its vine, we are accomplishing nothing of spiritual value. But if we allow Jesus to shape us the way that the town we live in shapes us, we will bear much fruit for God.

2. Effective prayer (v. 7)

            Look again at v. 7 [READ v. 7]. Now I confess, when I read a statement like this, I’m the first person to start putting boundaries on it. I think, “surely it can’t mean ‘whatever you wish.’” Then, because I studied Greek in seminary, I think, “surely this is a mistranslation,” so I look at the Greek and it says, “whatever you wish!”

            Now of course, there are two conditions attached to this statement, and we’ll talk more about them in a minute, but let us allow verses like this to move us to prayer. In our parenting efforts, a verse like this should encourage us to pray about anything and everything that we desire for our kids. Are you trying to potty-train a child? Pray about it! Are they having a hard time with math? Pray about it! Are they struggling with motivation? Pray about it! Pray about anything and everything that you desire for your children.

            As you make your home in Christ and draw your lifeblood from Him by allowing His word to have a home in you, it will change the way you pray so that your prayers will become more effective. James 4:4 tells us that one of the reasons that we might not receive what we ask for is that we may ask for something with the wrong motives. But if we allow God’s Word to have a home in us, as this verse says, it will refine our motives and help us pray not only for the right things but for the right reasons as well.

3. Bringing glory to God (v. 8)

            This means that we will enhance God’s reputation and fame. God is already great and wonderful, but our behavior doesn’t always put His greatness on full display. But if we abide in Him, our lives will display His greatness [READ v. 8]. A “disciple” is an apprentice, someone who learns from a master. When we bear the fruit of God in our lives, it shows others that we have learned from Him, and they learn more about what He is like being seeing His fruit in our lives.

4. The knowledge of abiding in God’s love (v. 9-10)

            [READ vv. 9-10] God’s love for us does not change, but our knowledge of it can. If we sin against Him, we put a strain on that relationship, and if we start to experience His discipline, its very easy for Satan to tempt us to think that that discipline is an example of hatred rather than love. But if we obey God, Satan will have very few opportunities to make us doubt God’s love for us, and we will have our eyes open to the examples of God’s love that are all around us.

5. Fullness of joy (v. 11)

            [READ v. 11] By staying connected to Jesus, our joy will reach its fullness, but our joy will be drained if we do not stay connected to Jesus and bear His fruit. The negative consequences of our sin will make life feel like wearisome drag, a mind-numbing exercise in futility where we begin to question our purpose in life. But when we stay connected to Christ—when we make our home in Him—He begins to work in us and through us and we will receive joy from that relationship and from what it produces. That joy will keep building and building until it practically radiates from us!

Now if these are the blessings of abiding, what are the means of abiding? How do we do it?

1. By giving Christ’s words a home within us (v. 7)

            Christ tells us in v. 7 to let His words abide within us—to have a home in our hearts. Obviously, this revolves around knowing what He has taught, so we must study His teachings and internalize them.

            Does God’s Word have a home in your heart, or is it more like an occasional visitor? Have you made a home for yourself in God’s Word, or do you just drop in every so often? Think about the idea of living somewhere versus visiting. If you’re only visiting a place, it doesn’t shape your life the way I that mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. If you visit New England sometime, you won’t really develop a New England frame-of-mind; in fact, you’ll probably feel just a little uncomfortable until you get back home.

            Where you make your home will shape who you are. If you make your home in Christ and His teachings, they will shape who you are. Then, we fully abide in Christ…

2. By obeying the commands of Christ (v. 10)

            Once we’ve learned what Christ asks us to do, we must simply choose to do it. When we do, God’s power will work in our lives to produce His fruit, just as the life of the vine flows through the branch to produce its fruit. This may seem far too simple—just knowing Christ’s commands and then choosing to obey them—but this is really all there is to abiding in Him. There is a big temptation for us to make the Christian life seem far more complicated because then we can shift the blame for our sins onto something beside our own choices. So we may tell ourselves that there must be something that we still lack—perhaps some emotional experience with God or something that we didn’t receive in our upbringing—and then we can place the blame for our sins on those things.

            But in reality, abiding in Christ is just a matter of learning what to do and choosing to do it. That’s not to say that its easy to obey Christ, its just not complicated—that’s all! Its not easy because we have sinful desires that pull us in the other direction, but if we will choose to obey Christ, the fruit of holiness will flourish and leave little room for the weeds of sin to thrive.

            Perhaps you can see how this idea of abiding is similar to what we learned from Paul last week. To Paul, we are Christ’s ambassadors, living with His very identity upon us and living out His life in this world. To John, we are like branches that Christ, as the vine, as sent out into the world to bear His fruit. The result is the same, only the pictures are different, but that’s helpful because they resonate with us in different ways.

            The world of nature all around us provides us with many opportunities to pass this idea of abiding onto our kids. As they work with us in the garden or on the farm, or as we take walks together, we can pass this lesson down to our kids and shape the way that they think about themselves and their purpose in this world. By molding that self-image and sense of purpose, we will set them up for a very fruitful life, indeed.

Safe in the Father's Arms--Eternal Security series

Most children feel a natural sense of security when their father is around. They feel safe from whatever threats and dangers might come their way. There is something about masculinity that communicates strength, and children pick up on that and take comfort in it.

Dad’s strength can also give a child a certain measure of boldness and confidence in what their Father can do. You’ll probably never hear two children fight about whether “my mom can beat up your mom,” but you just might overhear them fighting about who’s dad is the strongest.

Now, in the same way that we look to our earthly fathers for a sense of security, we can also look to our heavenly Father for a sense of security in our salvation. We’ve learned over the last few weeks that salvation is a gift from God—He has done the work to provide it, and He gives it to us as a gift when we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior by faith. And since salvation is a work of God, He also does the work to keep our salvation secure.

Over the next two weeks, we’re going to look at each person of the Trinity and focus on that person’s work to secure our salvation. This morning we will consider the work of God the Father, and we’ll answer the question:

How does God the Father secure our salvation?

I. He has chosen us and given us a certain destiny

This point refers to a doctrine known as the doctrine of election, which attempts to explain verses which state that God has chosen believers to be His own people and has marked out a clear destiny for them. This doctrine has been fiercely debated among Christians over the years, but its important to realize that no one really disputes the fact that God has chosen believers—they disagree over how God made His choice. Did He look down through the corridors of time and choose those whom He knew would choose Him, or did He make the choice of His own will and then lead those chosen people to faith?

The question of how God made the choice is open to debate, but we should recognize that the Bible plainly tells us that believers have been chosen by God. Take a look at just a few of the verses that state this doctrine:

• Eph. 1:3-4—“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…”

• 1 Thess. 1:4-5—“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction.

• 2 Thess. 2:13—“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”

• 1 Peter 1:1-2—“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappodocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…”

These are just a few of the verses that mention this doctrine of election, and I mention this doctrine today because of the implications of it that are stated in Romans 8:28-30. Turn there with me if you would and let’s look at these verses [READ Rom. 8:28-30].

This is an incredible set of verses that gives us a summary of a plan that stretches from eternity past to eternity future. So when God chose believers, He chose us with a definite plan and destiny in mind for them. Notice two things about these verses that apply to all that we’ve been discussing about eternal security. First, in each stage of salvation that is mentioned in vv. 29-30, the same group of people are mentioned as going through each stage [READ vv. 29-30]. Many people have called these verses “the golden chain of salvation,” because all of these stages are linked together in God’s plan. Thus, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you have been chosen by God, and if you have been chosen then your destiny with respect to heaven and hell has been settled! If you are on this “golden chain of salvation,” you will be on it all the way through to the end.

Second, notice that each stage of salvation mentioned here is mentioned in the past tense—even our eventual glorification, which hasn’t happened yet on the timeline of history. Nevertheless, even that future event is mentioned here in the past tense, which would suggest that our glorification—our entrance into heaven—is a settled fact, even though it hasn’t happened yet.

So God is working out a plan that will see our salvation through from beginning to end. This plan involves our justification, which is the second work of God for us to consider today.

II. He has declared that His legal case against us is closed

This is the meaning of the fancy-sounding theological term “justification.” It means that God—as our Judge—declares that all of His demands against our sin have been met. Sometimes in our world, when a person finishes a prison sentence or pays a fine, we say that their debt to society has been paid. What we mean is that in the eyes of the justice system, that person has no more legal requirements against them. Their completed punishment or payment has satisfied the law of the land, and that case is closed.

That’s exactly what God declares when He declares that we are justified! Everything that His law requires as a penalty against our sins has been met—not by us, but by Jesus through His sacrificial death on the cross. We receive the benefit of His sacrificial death when we accept Him as our Savior, and when we do, God renders the verdict that we are justified because all of His demands have been met!

I believe we can rest assured that God will never reverse this verdict that He makes when we are saved, and I think Romans 8:33 communicates this. Paul puts our minds into a courtroom setting here and he writes [READ Rom. 8:33]. In this courtroom setting, Paul is asking who could possibly serve as a prosecutor against us. Who could step into God’s courtroom and press charges against us and win the case if God is the judge and He has already said we’re justified? Such a prosecutor would have to prove to God that He had been wrong in His original verdict, and I think we can safely say that is impossible.

III. He has willed to keep us secure through His sovereign will and power

In the Gospel of John, we find some amazing statements about God’s sovereign will in salvation and what He intended to accomplish by sending Jesus Christ into the world. One statement that is particularly relevant for the discussion of eternal security is John 6:38-40 [READ John 6:38-40].

In v. 39, the picture is that God the Father has taken believers and given them to Jesus for safe-keeping. This same picture is mentioned in John 10:27-29 [READ John 10:27-29].

In my opinion, these verses are a strong affirmation that we will never lose our salvation, but I should mention some of my Christian brothers and sisters who do believe that we can lose our salvation have said that these verses only tell us that no one else can rob us of our salvation, but the possibility still exists that we could reject our salvation and thus lose it. I cannot agree with that conclusion for two reasons: first, Jesus makes a strong statement in v. 28 when He says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” In the Greek text that lies behind our English Bibles, Jesus uses of the strongest possible ways of saying “no” to something. The Christian Standard Bible puts it this way: “I give them eternal life—and they will never perish, ever!” Now I think we can all agree that Jesus can speak only the truth; however, if someone eternally perished after receiving eternal life from Jesus, this statement could not be true. But I think we have to conclude that it is true because it was spoken by Jesus.

Second, I cannot agree with the conclusion that we can lose our salvation because we have to remember the limitations of our own will. We cannot always undo the effects of our previous choices simply by choosing to do so. Sometimes our choices set a course of events in motion that we cannot undo simply through our own will. Missed opportunities are a perfect example of this. Think of a high school student who is offered a scholarship by a college, but for some reason, the student chooses not to accept the scholarship. Most colleges then move on and offer the scholarship to someone else, so if the student later changes his or her mind, that opportunity may be gone. The effects of the original choice remain even though the student now desires something different.

Now, you may be thinking, “Okay, I get that example—but salvation is a gift, right? Can’t I reject a gift?” Well, on the human level, we can. If you give me a gift, I can later choose to give it back to you or just get rid of it altogether. But when we consider our salvation, we have to remember one of the lessons we learned last week—God’s gift of salvation involves promises on His part. These are promises that He intends to keep regardless of our faithfulness to Him. As 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.”

Ultimately, I think we must simply take Jesus at His Word—all who receive eternal life from Him will never perish. That is also because of the final work of God the Father that we need to look at this morning.

IV. He has poured out His enduring love upon us

I take the wording for this point from Romans 5:5, which says that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Paul then goes on in that chapter to describe the depths of God’s love for us. Why don’t you turn with me to Romans 5? [READ vv. 6-10]

These verses highlight the change that has taken place in our relationship with God, and they use an argument from the lesser to the greater to point out how confident that we can be that we will be saved from God’s wrath. As these verses state, we used to be God’s enemies, and even in that condition He loved us enough to die for us. But now, we are no longer His enemies—we are reconciled to Him, which means that we’re back on friendly terms. So if He loved us enough to die for us while we were His enemies, how much more can we count on Him to save us from His wrath now that we are His friends? If that’s what God’s love compels Him to do for His enemies, then surely His friends are in a much better position to always be safe from His wrath.
But is there anything that can separate us from the love of God? Paul answers this question just a few chapters over in Romans 8:35-39 [READ Rom. 8:35-39].

What can I add to that but to say, “Praise God for His amazing love!”

A Victory For All People--Easter Through the Eyes of Nicodemus

(The following is my sermon from Easter Sunday. It was presented in a style called a first-person sermon. This kind of sermon is one in which I play the role of a biblical character from the Bible.)

Good morning! It is such a privilege to be here with you this morning. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a day like this—a day where millions of people around the world remember and worship Yeshua ben Yosef, the Lord Jesus, and His glorious resurrection. And to think that people in a land that I didn’t even know about would be worshipping Him—it is all so overwhelming!

My name is Nicodemus, and I am here today to tell you about my story. You may wonder why I am here instead of someone like Peter or John. Many people don’t realize that I became a believer in Jesus because of the events surrounding his crucifixion. Did you know that? Well, if you didn’t, I only have myself to blame, because I was slow to come to faith in Jesus, and I was intimidated to share my true thoughts about Him.

I hope that on this Easter Sunday, you won’t mind listening to the recollections of an old man. I know that many of you have a busy day ahead of you. I’ve been told that many of you will hunt for candy-filled eggs in your yard later today. You must have some strange chickens in your country! And I still can’t believe that many of you eat ham on a day that honors a Jewish man! But if you will bear with me for a little while, I would like to tell you how I came to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who saves us from our sins!

When Jesus first began to make Himself known to the public, I was a member of the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin. It was similar to the Supreme Court that you have in your country, except we had seventy members instead of nine. Our council was divided primarily into two factions—the Sadducees and the Pharisees. I was a proud member of the Pharisees. Our factions were divided more or less over two issues. The first was our belief in the doctrine of what you call today the “Old Testament.” We Pharisees took great pride in preserving and following everything that God had spoken to our people through Moses and the prophets, but the Sadducees weren’t very interested in what they considered to be “religious superstitions.”

Our second point of disagreement was the way in which we related to the Roman Empire. Our people were ruled by the Romans at that time, and the Sadducees were willing to be more welcoming of their authority. We Pharisees, on the other hand—you might say that we tolerated the Romans, mostly because we felt like we had no other choice. But we longed for the day when God would send the Messiah, whom He had promised in the Old Testament, who would come and set up a kingdom based on God’s rule, not Roman rule.

That is why many of us among the Pharisees were intrigued when we heard about Jesus. He had certainly made a splash when He became a public figure. During the Passover feast that year, Jesus came to celebrate in Jerusalem, as all Jewish men were required to do. But when He arrived in town, He went to the Temple and began to chase out all of the people who were selling animals and all of the people who were exchanging foreign money for Jewish money. He kept saying that the Temple was His Father’s house and that it was supposed to be a place for prayer, not a marketplace.

And if that wasn’t enough to draw attention, He then started to teach people about God and heal them of various diseases. We were very curious about Jesus, but we didn’t know what to make of Him. We knew that He had been praised by John the Baptist, but that was kind of a mixed blessing to us Pharisees. After all, John had called us a brood of vipers when we visited him, so a lot of us were offended by him.

Still, when we considered Jesus, we couldn’t deny that God was with Him because of the power that He had to perform miracles. We decided that we needed to find out more about Him, so I decided to go and speak to Him personally. However, at that time, I didn’t feel like I could afford to be publicly associated with Him, so I went and spoke to Him at night when there was less of a chance that I would be discovered. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was necessarily giving my approval of this man. This is the story that many of you know from John 3.

When I went to visit Jesus, I wanted to approach Him with more than just common courtesy. I wanted to communicate respect, so I addressed Him as “rabbi,” which was the title given to honored teachers. I greeted Him and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him.”

He listened to my greeting and He was courteous, but His response made it clear that He wasn’t interested in sitting around and exchanging pleasantries. It was as if He said, “You call me a teacher, do you? Well, then, here’s what you need to learn!” He said to me, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

I have to admit, I was kind of taken aback by these words. I didn’t understand quite what He meant by them, but by the way that He introduced His statement, I knew that He considered this to be a very important lesson. He was clearly talking about the way to find a place in the kingdom that the Messiah would set up, but what did He mean that we had to be born again? I and the Pharisees believed that following the Law and our traditions was the way to enter the kingdom of God, be He seemed to be saying that something totally different was necessary.

An awkward silence hung in the air as I thought about these words. I didn’t know quite what to say, so I tried to break the silence with some sarcastic humor. I said, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

My words were ill-conceived, but I didn’t know what else to say. I was relieved but even more perplexed when Jesus went on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus was indeed a good teacher, because He stayed right with the main point! But I was still a poor student, because I didn’t understand what He was saying. Jesus seemed to be saying that a spiritual cleansing was necessary to enter the kingdom of God. It wasn’t until later that I remembered that God had said the same thing through the prophet Ezekiel. He spoke through the prophet about a spiritual cleansing, and He said, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you…And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezek 36:25–27).”

That’s what Jesus was talking about—the need to be cleansed from our sins. But I didn’t understand at the time. He explained it further, but in exasperation I said, “How can these things be?” Then Jesus said something that cut me to the heart. He said, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” He was right—I should have understood what He was saying, but I didn’t. He even connected His lesson to a story about Moses from the Old Testament, but I wouldn’t understand that until later.

I left my conversation with Jesus confused, but with a heart-felt respect for Him. I never personally spoke to Him again, but you can be sure that I followed His every move. All of us Pharisees did, especially as He continued to teach and heal the people. Many of the Pharisees turned against Him because He started to publicly criticize us. He called us hypocrites; He told the people that we said all the right things, but we didn’t do them. We talked about honoring God, but as He put it, we had put our own traditions in place of God’s Law, so we were no longer serving God but simply our own pride.

This kind of talk enraged many of my colleagues, so we ordered that Jesus be arrested and brought to us. This story is recorded at the end of John 7. We sent some officers to arrest Jesus, but they came back to us empty-handed. When we asked why, they simply said, “No one ever spoke like this man!” It was clear that they had been impressed by Him as well. My colleagues, however, were not impressed, and they began to insult the officers and the crowds of common people who were believing in Jesus.

It was clear that most of my colleagues in the Sanhedrin had already condemned Jesus. This really did not sit well with me, because we hadn’t even given Jesus a hearing yet. We were disregarding our own Law, which we supposedly cared so much about, so I stood up and said, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

I saw maybe one or two sympathetic nods in the crowd, but otherwise it was clear that my objection had fallen on deaf ears. They began to insult me as well, suggesting that I was prejudiced and ignorant. I wish now that I had stood my ground, but I was ashamed to be humiliated in front of my colleagues. So, I fell silent.

Little did I know that I would later have another opportunity to speak up for Jesus before that Sanhedrin; that is, after he was betrayed by Judas and arrested. But in that moment, I cowered, and said nothing. I still was not a follower of Jesus, but I knew that whole trial was a sham. An amateur student of our Law could have seen how illegal the whole thing was! But it didn’t matter, because Jesus didn’t stand a chance of getting a fair trial. I still regret that I didn’t speak out against this injustice, but in hindsight, I know that—incredibly—it was all part of God’s plan.

As you know, the trials came to their pre-determined verdict, and after some more shady maneuvering, we got Pilate to allow Jesus to be crucified. I had really had my fill of this whole ordeal, but many of my colleagues went out to watch His crucifixion, and I felt myself compelled to go with them. I could have gone my whole life without seeing another crucifixion, but for some reason I felt drawn to go along.

When I arrived at the crucifixion site—a place called Golgotha—they had already crucified two other men, and they were preparing to lift Jesus’ cross up into place between them. When His cross was set into position, Jesus was lifted up high off the ground, and something that he had said during our conversation came back to me at that moment. He told me that he had to be lifted up, as Moses had lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. You see, in the Old Testament, there was a time when the people of Israel had sinned against God, and God brought His judgment against the people by sending poisonous snakes into their camp. But God told Moses to make a bronze model of a snake and put it high up on a pole in the camp, and whoever would have the faith to look at the snake would be delivered from God’s judgment—or in other words, they would be cleansed from their sin.

And then I realized—this was what Jesus was talking about! The new birth, the spiritual cleansing, gaining entrance to God’s kingdom, it all revolved around this moment—and it was playing out right before my eyes! Jesus had been lifted up, and He was dying on that cross, but somehow His death would make that spiritual cleansing—that forgiveness—possible, for as He said, whoever believes in Him would have eternal life.

I’m not sure that I could have explained all of that at the moment, but somehow I knew that what Jesus said was true. I needed to be spiritually cleansed; I needed to be born again, and somehow His death was making that possible for me if I would only believe in Him. And so I did. Even though I didn’t know what that would mean for me in the days to come, I believed.

I stayed there at the foot of the cross until Jesus passed away. Most of my colleagues shouted at Him and insulted Him, and encouraged the crowd to do the same. But there were a handful of us who remained silent and watched. One of my colleagues, Joseph of Arimathea, must of seen that something profound was on mind, because he came over and put his hand on my shoulder. I had hesitated to speak up for Jesus in the past, but I couldn’t keep quiet anymore about what Jesus had said, and so I told Joseph about my conversation with Jesus, and that I now believed in Him.

Then I heard something that I never expected—Joseph said that he, too, believed in Jesus. In fact, he had for quite some time, but he had kept quiet because of fear of the rest of the Sanhedrin. But he said he could no longer hide his love for Jesus, and that he was about to make a bold move. He said that he couldn’t stand the thought that Jesus’ body might end up in the common grave for crucified criminals, so he was going to ask Pilate to give the body to him.

This was bold indeed, because then everyone would know that he was a follower of Jesus, but I thought it was a great way to honor Him. I asked Joseph if I could join him, and he agreed. We would have to hurry because it was almost the day of Sabbath, when we would have to cease all of our work, so Joseph went and spoke to Pilate and I gathered up the linen fabric and the spices that we would need to give Jesus a proper burial. You can read about this in John 19.

You know, I love the way that our brother John recorded my involvement in all of this. There in John 19:39, he reminds you that I was the one who had come to Jesus by night, under the cover of darkness. It’s true—I had been afraid back then to associate with Jesus, but I was no longer afraid. I had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He had come into the world to save us from our sins. And when he rose from the dead, everything I believed was confirmed.

I had received new life and forgiveness of my sins from Jesus. I was born again. No, I never re-entered the womb to be born a second time. I was spiritually cleansed, and you can be cleansed as well if you will simply believe in Jesus.