Leading with Mercy

Today we look at God's redeeming love as shown through John 3:14-16. We'll unpack the profound significance of faith in Jesus, emphasizing how His atoning death and resurrection bring forgiveness and true reconciliation with God. 

God's merciful nature and desire for all to be saved underpin the promise that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." This episode sheds light on the compassionate nature of God's salvation plan.

Evangelism isn't about enforcing rules; it's about sharing the love of a living God. We'll delve into the relational and compassionate approach to evangelism, highlighting the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ in leading this mission. 

Chapters

• 0:15 The Power of Redeeming Love
• 10:45 The Power of Spirituality and Relationship
• 24:04 Global Gratitude and Connection

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hello and welcome to the Redeeming Love Bible broadcast. My name is Phil Duddy, evangelist with Grace Baptist Tabernacle of King, north Carolina. Very glad to have you with me on the program today. As always, reach out to us. We would love to hear from you at redeemingthelostaticloudcom Today on the program.

Speaker 1: 0:31

We are going to go into John, chapter 3, and we're going to start reading the Word of God right at verse 14. John, chapter 3, verse 14. And here's how the Word of God reads verse 14,. And here's how the Word of God reads that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God and hallelujah and amen. Now we have here the will of God and the provision of God, the power of God to reconcile people to Himself, to save people from His wrath, that people might be born again, that people might have everlasting life.

Speaker 1: 1:39

Not only salvation, but everlasting life. And this is a life that is reconciled, restored to God, as though personal sin never broke that relationship. Personal sin never happened. And if you go back in the book of Genesis, this is a return, if you will, to relationship with God the way that God originally designed it to be. There's no sin in the way, there's no sin hindering. There is not an everlasting struggle, there's not an everlasting condemnation, there's not an everlasting labor, there's not an everlasting work. There's an everlasting life. And that everlasting life doesn't start in the sweet by and by Hallelujah, but that everlasting life begins at the very moment of salvation. And when somebody turns to Jesus, when somebody believes on Jesus, when somebody trusts Jesus, when somebody submits to Jesus, this everlasting life begins.

Speaker 1: 2:50

And I'm here to tell you today that that everlasting life is not a drudgery, that everlasting life is not full of stress, it's not full of anxiety, it's not full of tension, it's not full of conflict, that everlasting life is just simply life reconciled to God, that everlasting life is just simply life reconciled to God, with nothing in the way. And why is there nothing in the way? Because of the work that Jesus Christ himself finished on the cross when he shed his blood, when he died an atoning death for us and when he rose up again from the grave on that third day. That was a finished work, and Jesus became your personal sin. Jesus became my personal sin. Jesus became the personal sin of all the people you know around you and all the people in this world, all the people who have lived, all the people who are living now, all the people who shall live. Jesus Christ became sin on that cross and he died an atoning death. He died a death in your place and in my place, and that death satisfied God. That death satisfied God.

Speaker 1: 4:05

That is why God is faithful and just to forgive. He is faithful and just to forgive, to forgive, to forgive, to forgive anybody who trusts in Jesus Christ, anybody who trusts in Jesus, whosoever. And God's heart is not to condemn the world, but God's heart is that, through the world, the world through Jesus Christ might be saved, saved from his wrath, saved from the destruction that comes upon. Sin and sin are alike Now to be saved, to be restored, to be reconciled, to be brought back into relationship, brought back home, if you will, because you know, hallelujah, that's how God formed us to be. God formed us in His image and God formed us. God formed Adam to be in relationship with Him, and sin broke that him and sin broke that and sin broke that relationship. Sin there was a curse and there is a curse, and you don't really have to go too far in the world to encounter the consequences and results of that curse. Yet, at the same time, this is God's approach toward a fallen world, this is God's approach towards people who are actively living in sin, actively living against Him and actively not only living under the curse but embracing it. This is God's approach and he leads with mercy, he leads with a provision for reconciliation, he leads with a provision for forgiveness, he leads with a provision to restore humanity again to himself. And he also leads in a provision toward the creation at large as well, because we see in the book of Romans, even the creation itself it groans, the creation groans. Well, god said something to the world Amen, hallelujah. He said there's going to be a new heaven and there's going to be a new earth, and sin is not going to be a part of the picture in the new heaven and in the new earth. But fundamentally, this is God's approach.

Speaker 1: 6:21

God's approach is mercy and His approach here in Jesus Christ is reconciliation, is mercy, is provision, so that people would not perish, would not perish in their sin, would not die in their sin, but have everlasting life. That's what John 3.16 says. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That's what John 3.16 says Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And you look around? That's God's will for everyone. That you see, that is God's desire for everyone. That you see that that individual, no matter how heinous their sin might be, no matter how damaging their sin might be to themselves, even to other people, god does not want people to perish. He does not want anybody to perish in their sin, no matter who that person is. And so he opens up this promise. He opens up this provision to whosoever. He opens up this provision to whosoever. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Speaker 1: 7:30

And this is the will of God, this is the approach of God, this is the stance of God, if you will, and amen and hallelujah. It ought to be our stance, it ought to be the church's stance. The gospel and the word of God should be given in this sort of redeeming love, and it should be given in this way, it should be given with this heart, it should be given for people and not against people. You know again whether that person has had somebody's sin run into them and that other person's sin had a direct effect, you know, and it really messed up their life. Well, god doesn't want the person who got hit by other people's sin to perish and at the same time, god doesn't want that. You know the person whose sin really really hurts people, the person who is violent, the person who is full of lust, the person who is full of adultery, person who's full of drunkenness, and you better believe that that sin hurts other people. But whether you've been hurt by somebody else's sin or whether your sin has hurt somebody else, this promise is still directed at you. You can't sing your way out of whosoever. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. This is God's. You know, and again I've said it before, this is God's stance.

Speaker 1: 9:06

God is in authority, he is King of Kings, he is Lord of Lords, and yet he's not hostile. He is in authority, he is King of Kings, he is Lord of Lords, and yet he is not legalistic, he's not a micromanager, he's not legalistic, he's not a micromanager, he's not stuffy, he's not overbearing. And we shouldn't be either. See, god came, jesus came. Jesus was born of a virgin. Jesus didn't just sort of sit up there at the throne and proclaim this over the earth. No, jesus came to the earth. He took upon Himself a body, came to the earth, he took upon himself a body. He took it upon himself to walk the very earth that is cursed. He was present at the cursing of the earth in Genesis, chapter 3,.

Speaker 1: 9:50

And here's Jesus. He's walking around on that same earth. He's interacting with people. He's interacting in John, chapter 3. He was a very, very, very religious man, and yet this religious man is not a born-again man. This religious man is yet in his sin, and yet here we've got God interacting with him. God's not browbeating, god's not hostile, god's not stuffy, god's not. You know, he's not just sitting up there in his ivory tower.

Speaker 1: 10:21

No, god is here and he is interacting with people in John, chapter 3. He is here and he is interacting with people while you're listening to this broadcast. He is here and he is interacting with people every single day. He interacts with people through the church. He interacts with people through just a witness that the sun rises and the sun sets. There's a natural created order to things.

Speaker 1: 10:45

God interacts with people. God interacts and God draws and draws, and draws and draws, and so and he doesn't do it in this hostile way and so, church, we shouldn't do it in a hostile way either. This is not a matter of correcting people's morals. It's not a matter of imposing some sort of structure or rules or laws or theology on people who don't share it. But no, this is interacting and this is introducing people. You know, by the foolishness of preaching. This is introducing people to a real, living God. We're introducing people who are real to a God who is real.

Speaker 1: 11:31

And it's not a hostile thing, it's not an overbearing thing, it's not a heavy thing, it's not, you know, but it's just real relationship, real Word of God, real Holy Spirit, drawing real people, convincing real people of real sin, convincing real people of real righteousness, convincing real people of real judgment, and drawing people to a real Savior who's really alive and who's really returning and whose blood matters. His blood is sufficient. The blood that he shed is sufficient for God not only to cover your sin, but also to forget your sin. It's the entire basis of the new heaven and the new earth. It's the entire basis of the new heaven and the new earth. It's the entire basis of every man, woman and child, you see, who is living in eternal life right now. And this is a real living thing, not a theological thing, not a moral thing, not a legal thing, but it's a real living, relational thing.

Speaker 1: 12:36

And we do a lot of harm to ourselves, we do a lot of harm to ourselves, we do a lot of harm to others If we try to carry out this work of an evangelist and we're frustrated. We try to carry out this work of an evangelist and we're hostile and we're full of lust and we're full of despair and we're full of stress about whether we wonder if we said the right thing or did the right thing, full of stress about whether we wonder if we said the right thing or did the right thing, and we harm ourselves and we also affect other people in that, humanly, we've got to realize that this type of love, this type of compassion, this type of mercy, this type of grace and this truth, because you know, as we even flip back a couple chapters in John, you can see that Jesus came and he was full of grace and he was full this truth, because you know, as we even flip back a couple chapters in John you can see that Jesus came and he was full of grace and he was full of truth and amen. Those two do not contradict. But when we try to, humanly we just aren't sufficient for it, and that's what we've got to see. In the flesh, nobody is sufficient for it. But in the Spirit we are fully sufficient for this. This type of relationship, this type of outreach, this type of evangelism that I'm describing just very, very simply.

Speaker 1: 13:59

Looking at John, chapter 3, humanly this is not possible. In the flesh this is not possible. But our sufficiency, church, our sufficiency is in the Holy Spirit. Our sufficiency is in Jesus Christ, our head. Our sufficiency is in Jesus Christ, our head, jesus Christ in whom our lives are hid, jesus Christ in whom the Father gives us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Our sufficiency is in the Father. Our sufficiency is not found in our charisma. It's not found in our appearance. It's not found in our charisma. It's not found in our appearance, it's not found in our public speaking ability, it's not found in any sort of scientific training that you could possibly get to learn how to read people. It's not sufficient in that, it's not sufficient in anything of the world or of the flesh. But I'm telling you, the sufficiency is in the Lord himself Because, amen, you got to look at us, anyone who's born again.

Speaker 1: 15:10

The Lord lovingly drew you to salvation. The Lord is in you. The Lord is walking with you and you know, maybe so that you're not resisting, you're not fighting, you're not kicking, you're not screaming, but you're walking with the Lord. Amen. But you know he's, you know he's walking, he's leading you, he's walking before you, you're following him and the spirit is bearing fruit in you. You go from a cold, angry, scared person to somebody who is loving, charitable and bold, and the Spirit works that in you. The Spirit bears that fruit in you. You go from someone who's full of lust to someone who's full of love, to someone who's full of greed, to someone who is a cheerful giver. You go from one thing to another, you go from death to life. And the Lord brought you there, and amen, the Lord brought you there. And so the Lord's going to bring this person next to you there, and that's how he's going to do it. He's going to do it in the spirit, he's going to do it in the power of the Holy Ghost, he's going to do it in the Spirit. He's going to do it in the power of the Holy Ghost. He's going to do it through the blood of Jesus. He's going to do it by the will and the provision of the Father. That is how he's going to do it.

Speaker 1: 16:28

Anybody who ever got saved, ever got born again, ever received eternal life. We all received it the same way. We maybe had some different lives and some different situations leading up to the cross, but we all ended up at the same cross. We all ended up believing on the same Jesus. We all ended up under the same blood. We all ended up receiving the same Holy Spirit. We all ended up being adopted by the same Father. We all got saved the same way. We all got saved the same way. And so we've got to recognize that the Lord lovingly provides for the needs of even His enemies, and he also fully, lovingly, abundantly provides for us.

Speaker 1: 17:13

And so don't rely on your flesh, don't rely on your effort, don't rely on your charisma, don't rely on your logic, don't rely on your effort, don't rely on your charisma, don't rely on your logic, don't rely on your apologetic skill, don't rely on your theological knowledge, don't rely on your historical knowledge, don't rely on your denomination, don't rely on your suit, don't rely on your dress, don't rely on your hairstyle, don't rely on your music, don't rely on your money, don't rely on your hairstyle, don't rely on your music, don't rely on your money, don't rely on your position, don't rely on anything like that. Um, but trust the Holy Ghost. Um, trust the Holy Ghost, trust Jesus, trust the Father, trust the Lord. All capital letters L-O-R-D. Trust. I am that. I am Because he's not. He's not just barely sufficient, he's abundantly sufficient. That's where your life is, that's where your calling comes from. That's where your anointing comes from. That's where your life is. That's where your calling comes from, that's where your anointing comes from. That's where your gifting comes from. He's not only the one who gives it to you, he helps you use it. He's not only the one who helps you use it, he's the one who sustains it and he's the one who makes you fruitful. Amen, we got to rely on Him and again I got to say it again.

Speaker 1: 18:32

There's a lot of harm that you can do to yourself. You can get really stressed out, you can give yourself a lot of anxiety, you can give yourself a lot of grief, you can cause yourself a lot of frustration if you rely on the flesh, lot of frustration if you rely on the flesh. But even so, god is good enough to show you. Hey, you're relying on the flesh and he's not going to throw you away, but he's going to draw you, he's going to mature you, he's going to grow you up, he's going to prune you so that your life can be grown in the right way. And, trusting and relying on Him, we harm ourselves if we rely on the flesh.

Speaker 1: 19:18

We also impact and do harm to other people, and that's something we've got to realize. We always affect other people. We always affect other people Even if you're a Christian and you never talk to anybody through the day. You never interact with anybody through the day, just hypothetically. Well, you're affecting other people because you've got the gift of eternal life and amen. You know God needs somebody else out there working in the fields, and so you affect other people constantly. We do, we all do. You know. Well, you know, none of us are islands. We we always run into other people, other people always run into us.

Speaker 1: 20:01

And so so may it be that you know, you see people a little bit differently, maybe that you see people the way that God sees people and he sees somebody over there. That person is just a second of faith away from being saved. That person is just a second of faith away from receiving eternal life, being born again, setting off a celebration in heaven the likes of which we don't understand yet. Amen. But you know, even the angel, they all rejoice whenever one person turns to Jesus Christ, whenever one person repents, whenever one person trusts him. They all rejoice and everyone you see is, you know, just a moment away from that. And the Lord has a reconciliation for them and the Lord has a gifting for them, the Lord has a calling for them, the Lord has a healing for them and the Lord has a work of reconciliation and restoration to do in their lives and in their family's lives and their friends' lives. God has something good. He has blessings stacked on, blessings ready to give that person.

Speaker 1: 21:18

And really you can take it this far. The only reason a person goes through life without eternal life, goes through life embracing sin, goes through life, you know, not saved, not born again, hostile and angry to God. You know God made all the provision for that person to be born again and the only reason they're not born again is because it's refused because the God-given belief, the God-given faith is placed elsewhere. It's not placed in Jesus Christ, it's placed somewhere else. That's the only reason a person is not saved, any given person. And we've got to have this heart to be peacemakers. We've got to have this heart. You know blessed are be peacemakers. We've got to have this heart. You know blessed are the peacemakers. We've got to have this heart, fishers of men. We've got to have this heart to reconcile, because God has a heart to reconcile.

Speaker 1: 22:25

We live in an age of unparalleled grace and so we ourselves. May we hear and believe and submit to the Lord. He cares for us and it's really only through faith, submission, love and obedience to the Lord that he makes us into charitable, bold people. We don't get this through the world, we don't get this through education, we don't get this through study, we don't get this through anything other than receiving it from the Lord.

Speaker 1: 22:57

And the good news is, if you don't have it, if you don't have it, if you're not walking in this, well, god has made every provision for you. And may you hear Him and may you receive Him. Hear His Word, receive His Word, take in his word. You know, get involved with a spirit-filled, jesus-loving, vibrant church, no matter where you happen to be. I mean, if you're close by, come on over. Amen. You know we in King, north Carolina, even if you're not close by, come on over. We'd love to meet you in person. But you need to be involved in that kind of church, you need to be involved in the word of God, you need to be involved walking and talking with the Lord. And the reality is, if you're born again today, you're in 24-7 relationship with the Lord. He's done everything and the Lord has done a great, great work, and so the question is how do you respond to that? And may he find faith today.

Speaker 1: 24:04

And I want to thank you so much for listening to this podcast and thank you so much for being a part of it. Thank you so much for supporting it. It's been a tremendous, tremendous blessing to be able to put it out there to you and to know that there are people listening not only in America, but around the world as well. But we pray for you as an audience. We want you to know that you matter to us, we're thankful for you and we want to hear from you. Share with us what's going on in your life, share with us how we can be praying for you, redeeming the Lost at iCloudcom is the address here at the program.

Speaker 1: 24:43

You can also reach us at GBTMinistriescom. We're a ministry of Grace Baptist Tabernacle. We're located in King, north Carolina. You can find service times and service locations just like I mentioned. We would love to see you in person, feel welcome, feel expected and know that we are looking forward to actually meeting you in person. And thank you again for supporting us here at the program and may the Lord richly, richly bless you. Amen.