John 1:1-12 – The Saddest Truth – Bible study

John 1:11-12 The Saddest Truth For the last few weeks, we have looked at the greatest of all truths. Jesus came. He came from heaven to earth. He came from infinity to finite. He came from glory to corruption. He came from life to death. He came. Today, I want to consider the saddest of all truths. It is the saddest truth in all of the world. It is the saddest truth throughout all of time. It is the fact that most people will reject Jesus. These people will never be saved. They will not be forgiven of their sins. They will never fellowship with God. They will not go to heavenever. They will burn in an awful hellforever. Jesus Himself challenged us all: Matt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Most people are on the broad road, entering at the wide gate. These verses and others explain what man is and where he is going, but they do not answer the one question that needs to be answered. Why? 1. Why does man continue his walk on the broad road? 2. Why do so many enter at the wide gate and not turn to enter at the narrow one? For a few moments, let us consider why people reject Jesus. These people can be divided into two categories. but I will describe them in three points. I. Deniers A. These are those who do not belief. 1. I believe this will be the largest group of people in hell, the unbelievers. 2. However, all unbelievers are certainly not alike. We can and should divide this group into more parts. B. Sub categories: 1. There are the "Dont knows", the ignorant, those who have never heard. a. I think this will be the largest of all groups in hell. b. That is so sad, but I believe most unbelievers will have never been plainly told who Jesus is. c. How many are there? It is hard to say but missions groups have been trying to estimate it. (1) They classify 6,700 ethnic groups as been unreached by the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2) That is 40% of all the people groups on the planet. (3) That is 1.5 billion people or one in five people in the world. (4) As bad as that number is, it is really worse when we consider what the criteria to be a "reached" group is. There are two possibilities. (a) To be counted as a reached group, only 2% of that group have to be considered true followers of Jesus Christ. That means 98% could still be lost but the people group would be considered "reached" for Jesus Christ. (b) Or 5% could belong to any kind of religion that associates itself with being Christian. (Mormonism, Catholicism, JW) That means 100% of them could be lost. https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/has_everyone_heard d. That may shock some of you, but it is what the Bible teaches. John 3:18 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. Joh 3:36 he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. 1Jo 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. e. Some would blame God as being cruel or unjust for this but this is not Gods doing. It is ours. (1) God made certain all knew He was in the Garden. (2) He called a people to be His kingdom of priests, the Jews. (3) They did not work out so well so He called another group of people to replace them, the church. (4) He gave the church (a) The command to tell everyone. (b) The Holy Ghost to give them power and understanding in telling everyone. (c) The written and preserved Message so that they would have the pure message to tell everyone. (d) The body of believers to train, encourage, and challenge the church to tell everyone. (e) And an average lifespan of several generations so that they would have time to tell everyone. f. Next week is our Faith Promise Sunday, when we commit and recommit to giving to professionals whose sole ministry is to travel the world and tell people about Jesus. (1) Every person here will have another opportunity to decide what their part will be in helping to get the message of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard. (2) If we do nothing, it will not be Gods fault that people who have never heard go to hell. It will be ours. Eze 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. (3) Friend, we need to both give and go. 2. Rejecters – Dont believe a. This is who we most often think of as the unbelievers. b. These are those who have heard who Jesus is but did not accept Him. (1) This is who John meant in our text, the Jews in Jesus lifetime and many since then. (2) The Jews in Jesus dayand many Gentileswere confronted with the message of who Jesus was and most simply did not believe it. c. This is a right that God has given to every human being. (1) It appears that God, in His sovereignty, had given to every human being enough will and wit that they are both capable and free to make their own choice in this matter. (2) Why? (a) I would say that God only wants those who want Him. (b) God can create beings that serve Him but when He made humans, He did so to create being that would choose to serve Him. (3) I have seen many in my years reject Jesus. (a) Some do not think there is a God, therefore they reject Jesus. The number of these has grown, I think, in my lifetime. Sadly, I find most of them have never thought out the impossibility of their own beliefs, but it is their choice to reject Christ. (b) Some think some other thing or being is a god. This is where many false religions fit in such as Buddha, Hinduism, the occult, even Satanism. Again, it is their choice to reject Christ. (c) Some actually believe our God is God but choose to reject Christ. I will talk more about this is a group to themselves; but for me, this in itself is also very sad. Yet is their choice to reject Christ. d. Do we have any part in helping the rejecters? (1) YES! (2) Our job is try to convince them to stop rejecting Jesus as God. (3) There are a variety of ways we can do that. (a) We can persuade them that God, our God, is real. There are both logical and Scriptural arguments for our God, His Son, and salvation. If you care about people, you can equip yourselves to challenge any false belief that another is using to excuse believing and accepting Jesus as Savior. This "internet thing" can be used for more than entertainment. Use it to LEARN and to help eternal souls. (b) We can proof Gods existence by a changed life. Nothing says God is alive more than the change that He makes in the life of a sinner. (c) He can keep reminding people that as long as they are alive, it is not too late. II. Deceived A. The second largest group in hell will be the deceived, those who thought they were saved but were not. 1. This group is so large that Jesus Himself gave them special mention. Matt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 2. These are the deceived. B. I have empathy for this group of people for like the rejecters, I was belonged to them. 1. Had it not been for continued exposure to the Word of God, I might be on my way to hell or already there. 2. There are many things that a person can be deceived about. 3. You may think you are thinner or plumper, prettier or uglier, smarter or dumber, more talented or less talented, blessed or less blessed than you are; but do not allow yourself to be deceived about salvation. C. There are two true marks which expose the deceived. 1. They lack true godly desires. 2. Their lives have not been changed. D. The truth: 1. Jesus Christ is the only Way to heaven. 2. You are not and never will deserve salvation. 3. You must come as you are. 4. You must trust what Jesus did for you on the cross and that alone for salvation. 5. You must repent of your sins and intend to surrender all to Him. 6. Once saved, your desire and behavior will be changed. E. These are truths and if you do not agree with them or did not believe them before I mentioned them, you have likely been deceived. III. Delayers A. These are part of the first group, the deniers and rejecters. B. The problem is that most of them really dont man to reject Jesus. Many of them really think they will get around to trusting Jesus one day. 1. One day after they have sowed their oaks. 2. One day after they have made their fortune. 3. One day after they had their fill of fun and pleasure. C. The only thing is their "one day" never comes. (Last week was Easter and many "delayers" go to church on Easter (and Christmas). They make their semi-annual pilgrimage to church to prove to themselves and others that one day they will get right with God. I hope they do but it is looking less and less likely, is it not? D. Some of you remember 9/11 and the many churches that were filled after that attack? Who were all of those people who filled the churches? It was the delayers. Some of them came as close as they ever will to making a decision for Christ but after a few weeks, you see what they decided. E. Delayers are talker, wishers, dreamers who have deluded themselves into thinking they will get saved "later," but in the end, they are deniers of Jesus Christ just like the atheists and they will spend eternity in the same hell as them. I probably do not know which road you are on or what gate you enter, but you will travel one of only two, the broad road with the wide gate or the narrow road with the straight gate. Which will it be?