Monday, June 17, 2013

Super Summer Arkansas 2013

No less than 10 years ago God fed a desire for hiding His Word in my heart while on a 3-man mission team to Peru. While we weaved our way through the Andes Mountains, a dear brother-in-Christ, Matthew Burns, handed me his Bible and asked me to help him out as he tried to recite some Scripture he had memorized. Matt then proceeded to quote nearly the entire book of 2nd Timothy. His faithfulness to God with the discipline of Scripture memorization inspired and challenged me to trust Jesus to do the same in me. Within a few months I sat down with the intention of memorizing 2nd Timothy, like Matthew Burns, which took me 8 weeks of solid labor.

This year at Super Summer, a summer youth camp housed on the campus of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR, God blessed me with the opportunity to share His Word with a large group of youth, college volunteer staffers, and ministers from across the state of Arkansas. I pray that you may find encouragement and blessing from the service as a whole. Matt Papa served as the Lead Worshiper and Dr. Alvin Reid served as our Camp Pastor. My place between these two great men of God is right within the 50 minute mark of the service on the first video and 48 minute mark of the second.

Grace and peace to you.



Sunday, June 16, 2013 - Super Summer JV

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 - Super Summer Arkansas

Friday, February 24, 2012

Short Essay on Christology

Due to the nature of parenthood, work, and college, I have found it extremely difficult to take time updating GospelClarity.  With that said, I thought I might offer various papers/essays I have written for class as a means to bless others.  Here is my short essay on Christology from my Survey of Theology class with Liberty University.


Since the days following the New Testament writers there have been many individuals, and councils, who have sought to bring clarity to the complexity of the person of Jesus Christ.  The same question that Jesus asked of His disciple, Peter, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13) has been re-answered, and the answers redefined, many times over.  How do we respond to those who have unBiblical views regarding the divinity and humanity of Jesus; either in their rejection of the one or over-emphasis of the other?  The church must preserve and proclaim the gospel of the God-man, Jesus Christ.  With the witness of Scripture, and illumination of God, we too can stand and declare with Peter:  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).


Jesus Christ was fully man.  Scripture testifies to His humanity in a variety of instances.  Though His virgin birth was miraculous, Jesus was born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) like all men.  His body was made of flesh and bones (Lk. 24:39).  He wept (John 11:35).  Jesus was hungry and needed food to ultimately survive (Matt. 4:2).  He was thirsty (John 19:28), tempted (Matt. 4:1), grew in wisdom (Lk. 2:52), and like all men he died (Rom. 5:8).


If we only look to those instances that note Jesus’ humanity we have an incomplete picture of Him.  Jesus Christ was fully divine, God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity.  He was called God (John 20:28) and worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11).  Jesus is omniscient (John 21:17).  He has power over sin and disease (Matt. 9:6, 7), Satan and demons (Mk. 5:12, 13), death (Matt. 28:5-7; Mk. 5:35-42), disease (Matt. 9:6, 7), and nature (Matt. 8:23-27).  Because of His divinity, Jesus Christ can give the gift of eternal life (John 10:28).


The coming together of both the divinity and the humanity of Christ is known as the Hypostatic Union.  Jesus became fully God and fully man at the same time through the incarnation.  In other words, this is to say that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in His incarnation had forever united with His divine nature His human nature.  These would forever remain inseparable, “distinct, whole, and unchanged, without mixture or confusion, so that the one person, Jesus Christ, is truly God and truly man.”


Speaking of Jesus, Paul states to the church in Corinth that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Here Paul paints a beautiful picture of the incarnation which is a matter of vital importance.  Without the it there can be no salvation for humanity.  In the incarnation we have “one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all...” (1 Tim. 2:5-6a).  In Jesus mankind has the perfect mediator in that He represents both man to God and God to man.  As the God-man He is able to live the life we could never live and die the death we did not want to die.  Ultimately, Christ conquered the grave which no man could have ever done; except the God-man.


There is a danger in overemphasizing or denying the deity or humanity of Christ.  First and foremost, we become guilty of creating an idol.  We do so by worshiping a god that is suitable to us.  Designing a god that is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture is a matter of idolatry.  We can easily fall into the historical fallacies of Ebionitism, which stripped Jesus of His divinity.  They taught that Jesus was born as any man and received the power of the Holy Spirit at baptism.  At the opposite extreme of Ebionitism is docetism which stripped Christ of His humanity.  This was the argument that stated forcefully “that the humanity and sufferings of Christ were apparent rather than real.”  Each of these are foolish reasons for any person to accept.  Jesus without divinity is a mere man in his sin trying to save other hopeless sinners.  Jesus without humanity cannot represent those He came to save.  The two are “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation” as defined by The Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451). 


As I look to Jesus Christ as my only hope for salvation, I am comforted by His humanity.  As the writer of Hebrews states: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (4:15).  I know that I will never face anything that my Lord has not already faced and defeated.  There is great comfort in Christ because I know I’m not alone, or the only one, to go through the temptations I face.  There is great hope in Christ because I know that my sins have been defeated and forgiven by Him.  He faced the cross for me and now I gladly carry mine to follow Him.

Bibliography
Blaising, C. “Hypostatic Union” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition, edited by Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker Acedemic, 2001.
Hall, J. H. “Chalcedon, Council of” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition, edited by Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker Acedemic, 2001. 
Wallace, R. S., and G. L. Green. “Christology. New Testament Christology” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition, edited by Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker Acedemic, 2001.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Sunnyside Theology


Beware! Down the street there is a beautiful childcare facility. They have everything. The biggest jungle-gym sets, the coolest spiraled slides, swings, and an amazing, but safe, water fountain. Oh, and the best rubber mulch for safety.  You walk in the front door and there are the most amazing murals of jungle animals that not only go up the walls but hang over you on the ceiling. You can tell that they got into the heart and mind of a child when designing this place.  The center of the main entry sports a little cabana that you can find animal crackers, goldfish crackers, and little peanut butter and jelly sandwich wedges in the shape of a heart; enough to spoil every kid’s appetite for mom’s labored over lasagna for supper.  They thought of everything when it comes to childcare.  Changing stations, plenty of hand sanitizer, toys galore, nap zones, and Baby Einstein DVDs.  It’s impossible for a child to resist this place.  To drive by this place one needs a portable DVD player with the latest Pixar movie in play to act as a sort of shielding smoke-screen. 
Beware! It’s almost as equally challenging for a parent to resist considering that they have the most innovative tools to for fine motor skills training along with the expertise of a fine staff of teachers, therapists, and counselors. It’s like a family there.  They are all parents first and professionals second.  Who wouldn’t love it?
Beware! The best thing about it, at least for lots of people around here, is that it promotes Christianity. Every worker and volunteer says they’ve “asked Jesus in their heart to be their Savior.”  They have children’s Bibles available. The average person on staff would say they view themselves more as a missionary to spread God’s love to the children of our area. They don’t hide behind this; Luke 18:16 is on the front sign and the website as well.
Beware! Outside of the Baby Einstein DVDs and Dora the Explorer the volunteers usually sit around on the clock to watch MTV’s the Real World, Grey’s Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives.  After a few hours of playing Bible song CDs you will hear staff favorites anywhere from Hank Williams, Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, to Lady Gaga. It gives them a glimpse into the world around us from a safe distance; a way to look in the world but not be of the world. The staff’s mission is different from most Christian parent’s way of doing things, but we shouldn’t judge them. After all, so many churches in the community stand behind them and even make up the majority of the volunteer staff. This place is not afraid to promote Jesus Christ to the community, has brought more jobs, raised property value, and I wouldn’t have my child anywhere else.
The place mentioned above does not exist…as far as I know. But it’s not too far off from some of the “greatest” churches in our land. “Beware” is a Biblical word said often by Jesus. Does it mean anything to us today? Are we fearful of standing up against the amazing childcare facility because we would sound intolerant, hypocritical, or like it’s my way or the highway? Are we afraid of being labeled judgmental toward the owners and staff because regardless of their claim to be “Christian” or having the support of so many local churches they are placing the toxic messages of the world into our impressionable children’s minds? It’s hard for me to believe that any Christian parent(s) would fall for such deception and would subject their children to the peril of such an environment.
You’ve Got a Friend in Me
It reminds me of Sunnyside Daycare in Toy Story 3. Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear wasn’t all he seemed to be either. On the outside he was a big huggin’ bear who smelled like strawberries, but on the inside he was nothing but fluff. There’s plenty of self-professing evangelicals like that as well who are being promoted by the Christian bookstores, have venti-sized congregations with their very own Starbucks, get all the media attention, give the world lots of hugs, smell like strawberries and are full of fluff. Beware! Having a large congregation with a Starbucks isn’t bad. But a big crowd, lots of books, a cool website, sweet building, and Christian bookstore promotion doesn’t always equal true Biblical Christianity. A great sermon, or “talk” as some would prefer, wrapped in a trendy wardrobe, creative illustrations, Bible degree, from a pastor, preacher, or visionary-casting speaker, who speaks about Jesus and the Bible doesn’t mean that he knows Jesus and the Bible.
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
The same God who said, “beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female” (Deut. 4:16), also said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). The same God who said, “Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations” (Deut. 29:18), also cautioned His disciples and said, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod” (Mark 8:15).  The apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:3-4,
“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.” (Italics and underlines mine, ESV)
Beware! Don’t take these warnings lightly.
Regarding 1 Timothy 6:3, John MacArthur states, “Paul identifies 3 characteristics of false teachers: 1) they “advocate a different doctrine” – a different teaching that contradicts God’s revelation in Scripture; 2) they do “not agree with sound words” – they do not accept sound, healthy teaching, specifically the teaching contained in Scripture (2 Peter 3:16); and 3) they reject “doctrine conforming to godliness” – teaching not based on Scripture will always result in an unholy life. Instead of godliness, false teachers will be marked by sin” (MacArthur Study Bible).
When referring to false teachers, don’t be naïve, Paul speaks of the “false brethren” in Galatians 2.  Jesus speaks of wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). This is not a difficult matter to find references for in the New Testament. We’re not just talking about avoiding the snake-handling church on the back road.  We are saying to avoid, beware, be cautious that they are not in your midst leading you! They could be leading you, not within your own church family but through their books and/or television “Christian” programs. Scripture makes it clear: When you see a sheep with sharp teeth…it’s a wolf rockin’ a sheep’s fit! Don’t just get away from them – warn everyone else to as well! Stand up, point and yell, “FIRE”! Grab somebody and run for the exit sign, put the book down, turn the program off!
Don’t be afraid to hold the pastor’s and/or author’s doctrine to the fire of the infallible word of God. It is unchanging. 
When you hear or read of new “truths” and special “revelations”…BEWARE!
When you hear the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers preaching…BEWARE!
When you hear them talk about “seed money”…BEWARE!
When you see the self-help books, heaven and hell revelation books, Your Best Life Now books on the shelves in the Christian bookstores…BEWARE!
When it’s a church or preacher who carries the label of “emerging” and “emergent”…BEWARE!
Just because a man, or an angel, calls it the gospel and uses the name Jesus doesn’t mean it’s the same gospel and the same Jesus…BEWARE!
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).
Band of False Brothers
Don’t be afraid to say names.  It’s not judgmental; it’s Biblical. I don’t just say to my children, “Beware of the kids who are rebellious toward their authorities, who do drugs, sleep around, etc.”  I say that, and if I know one, I’ll call them out by name.  Watch out for that specific person because they will hurt you, they will lead you astray, etc. Jesus did it.  He called the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes and Herod out. Beware of them, He said. Paul did it. He called names. Know what you believe and watch out: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," (2 Tim. 2:15-19a). Phygelus and Hermogenes turned away and Paul let everyone know (2 Tim. 1:15). Demas left in love with the world and Paul let everyone know (2 Tim. 4:10). Why would they do this? The same reason we say don’t listen to so and so’s CD or don’t watch any movies with so and so in them. They are toxic to the health of your faith in Christ. 
Do you know what the word “beware” means in the Greek?  It means, “BEWARE!”

Thursday, February 17, 2011

True Surround Sound

Every true Christian cringes at the thought of how they fall short of living a life worthy of the gospel to which they were called.  Paul said, and God says, in Philippians 1:27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel”.  Like real surgery, many of us would rather be sedated and knocked out right about now rather than facing the living and active word of God awake!
The gospel not only reveals to us our inadequacy before God in that we come up short of the righteousness He demands, it also humbles the proud.  It not only humbles the proud but exalts the repentant.  It not only exalts the repentant to new life in Jesus Christ, it declares the guilty to be blameless and righteous.  The gospel not only transforms us positionally in our relationship to God, but it transforms us from the inside out that it may accomplish the same in others.  He wills trials and circumstances in life to accomplish the will of His word to shape us and conform us into the image of Christ.  Not so that we can stand in the mirror all day and marvel at the extreme makeover, but so that we can reflect Him to the world.  Sanctification, this process that God has ordained to accomplish the glorious reflection of His Son upon our soul and into the world, is something that we must ask more and more for if we are to know Him more and make Him known.
Just as the holiness of God is reflected in His character and His visible manifestations, He is transforming His people to reflect His holiness in their character and visibly in their humble service through word and deed.  The apostle Paul is such a great human example of a man transformed from a bold blasphemer to a bold preacher.  We can see how God shaped his life and the world around him to further the message of Christ through him so that the gospel would move.  Not only did the gospel have an impact on the world but upon the church as well.  Paul says,
“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14)
Let us lie upon the examination table of God and allow the scalpel of His Word to do open heart surgery. 


“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” (v.12)

Ask myself:  Do trials and circumstances in my life serve to advance the gospel?
As a servant of Christ Jesus I must examine my life to see whether I am willfully bending to the Potter’s tool.  He’s going to accomplish His purposes; they never fail.  But are we prayerfully and submissively demonstrating our faith in our actions and reactions to trials, victories and failures.  It’s easy to praise Him in the victories of the gospel and the blessings of life, but what about when the Lord takes away?  Is His name still blessed to us?  When we fail do we turn inward or upward?  How do we react to surprising news or events?  Do we come unglued or do we cling tight to Him?  In every trial and circumstance in life we have the unique privilege of being partakers of grace and advancing the gospel.  In Paul’s case, he was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, but the divine word of God cannot be imprisoned (2 Timothy 2:9).  Paul recognized that his sufferings did not serve as a wet rag on top of his fire, but as diesel-soaked kindling.

“so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” (v.13)

Ask myself:  Do my words make my gospel obvious to the world around me?
1 Peter 4:11 says that we are to speak as if we are speaking the very words of God…so that in all things God may be glorified.  The way I respond to trials and circumstances will be heard by the words I speak and whether or not my hope is in Christ alone.  Have you ever heard a Christian speak about God, His word, or something in general in life in such a way that would be repelling to the world around them?  Not that the gospel was a stumbling for the world around them but that they were a stumbling for the world around them.  We must not unnecessarily become a stumbling for the world.  Let it be said of the gospel but not us!  In the context of what Paul is telling us is that people know he is suffering on behalf of Christ because his witness is obvious.  He didn’t just fall upon hard times and told people about Jesus along the way (although that is good).  Paul’s suffering for the sake of the gospel was the very catalyst that propelled the gospel further throughout the area.  The whole imperial guard was exposed to the truth of Christ because Paul kept witnessing to his guards every time a new one showed up!

“And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (v.14)

Ask myself:  Do I display a confidence in Christ that presses the church toward greater confidence in Christ?
The idea of spreading our influence for Christ is often limited in our thinking to the lost world.  But we must remember that the church is greatly affected by our faithfulness, or lack thereof, to Christ and His gospel.  Paul’s confidence in Christ throughout his suffering, displayed in his boldness to preserve and proclaim the gospel, was a shot of adrenaline throughout the church.  When we witness people who are radical about their faith in Christ, who strive to follow Christ like an Old Testament prophet and early church disciple, we want to know Jesus like they do.  We want to experience the word of God like they do.  We want to build treasures in heaven like they do.  Hebrews 11 faithfulness inspires Hebrews 12 endurance!  The body of Christ-the church, not the individual believer, is the tool the gospel uses in advancing the kingdom of God.  So we return to our first verse mentioned in this blog, Philippians 1:27, which says, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel”. 
So let us strive side by side for the faith of the gospel, church.  Amen and amen!  Come, Lord Jesus. Come.  Find Your church ready, radical, and on the move.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

“O Lord, Bend Me”

The herald of the gospel must bend.  Not to the world.  Not to relativism.  Not to empty philosophies.  The herald of the gospel must bend to the gospel.  The apostle Paul declared to the church in Corinth:
 
“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17).

Evan Roberts, June 8, 1878 – September 29, 1951
The ESV Study Bible notes that “The art of rhetorical persuasion was highly valued in the Greco-Roman world, and professional orators frequented large cities like Corinth, giving impressive displays of their ability to entertain and instruct.”  See, the gospel “is the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16), but it is emptied of its power to ignite faith in the heart of the lost (Rom. 10:17) when it is a different gospel altogether.  Sadly, the same professional orators frequent our churches, cities, and airwaves.  They give a good speech, tell the best jokes, know more about popular culture, and fill small congregations, stadiums, and certain religious networks with their smooth talk, impressive sets, tremendous stage presence, and empty gospel.  For them we must pray that they may forsake their ways and receive a bending of the Lord to the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It was in the early 20th century when Evan Roberts, the renowned Welsh revivalist, heard the Reverend Seth Joshua pray, “Bend us, o Lord,” he could think nothing else other than “O Lord, bend me!”  This was the prayer that became the catalyst to Evan’s conversion.  It was defining of his ministry.  May we, the heralds of the powerful gospel of Christ, the only gospel, join Roberts in praying “O Lord, bend me!” 
  
Words from the past still speak as if they were written tomorrow.  Let us consider the words of Spurgeon in his lecture excerpt below:

(The following is an excerpt from a lecture entitled “Faith” by Charles Spurgeon which was delivered at the Conference of Ministers and Students educated at the Pastors’ College, Tuesday 16 April 1872.)

“Dear brethren, you and I believe in the doctrines of the gospel. We have received the certainties of revealed truth. These are things which are verily believed among us. We do not bow down before men's theories of truth, nor do we admit that theology consists in "views" and "opinions." We declare that there are certain verities, essential, abiding, eternal, from which it is ruinous to swerve.

I am deeply grieved to hear so many ministers talk as if the faith were a variable quantity, a matter of daily formation, a nose of wax to be constantly reshaped, a cloud driven by the wind. So do not I believe! I have been charged with being a mere echo of the Puritans, but I had rather be the echo of truth, than the voice of falsehood.

It may be want of intellect which prevents our departing from the good old way, but even this is better than want of grace, which lies at the bottom of men's perpetual chopping and changing of their beliefs.

Rest assured that there is nothing new in theology except that which is false; and that the facts of theology are to-day what they were eighteen hundred years ago. But in these days, the self-styled "men of progress" who commenced with preaching the gospel degenerate as they advance, and their divinity, like the snail, melts as it proceeds; I hope it will never be so with any of us.


I have likened the career of certain divines to the journey of a Roman wine cask from the vineyard to the city. It starts from the wine-press as the pure juice of the grape, but at the first halting-place the drivers of the cart must needs quench their thirst, and when they come to a fountain they substitute water for what they have drank. In the next village there are numbers of lovers of wine who beg or buy a little, and the discreet carrier dilutes again. The watering is repeated, till, on its entrance into Rome, the fluid is remarkably different from that which originally started from the vineyard.

There is a way of doctoring the gospel in much the same manner. A little truth is given up, and then a little more, and men fill up the vacuum with opinions, inferences, speculations, and dreams, till their wine is mixed with water, and the water none of the best. Many preachers—and I speak it with sorrow—have built a tower of theological speculations, upon which they sit like Nero, fiddling the tune of their own philosophy while the world is burning with sin and misery. They are playing with the toys of speculation while men's souls are being lost.

Much of human wisdom is a mere coverlet for the absence of vital godliness. I went into railway carriages of the first class in Italy which were lined with very pretty crochet-work, and I thought the voyagers highly honoured, since no doubt some delicate fingers had sumptuously furnished the cars for them. The crochet work was simply put on to cover the grease and dirt of the cloth. A great deal that is now preached of very pretty sentimentalism and religiousness is a mere crochet-work covering for detestable heresies long since disproved, which dared not appear again without a disguise for their hideousness.

With words of human wisdom and speculations of their own invention men disguise falsehood and deceive many. Be it ours to give to the people what God gives to us. Be ye each of you as Micaiah, who declared: "As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord saith unto me that will I speak." If it be folly to keep to what we find in Scripture, and if it be madness to believe in verbal inspiration, we purpose to remain fools to the end of the chapter, and hope to be among the foolish things which God has chosen.”

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Gospel in Miniature

“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.”

Martin Luther, reformer of the 16th century, called John 3:16 “the heart of the Bible – the Gospel in miniature.”

“God” – (The greatest LOVER)
“So loved” – (The greatest DEGREE)
“The world” – (The greatest NUMBER)
“That He gave” – (The greatest ACT)
“His only begotten Son” – (The greatest GIFT)
“That whosoever” – (The greatest INVITATION)
“Believeth” – (The greatest SIMPLICITY)
“In Him” – (The Greatest PERSON)
“Should not perish” – (The greatest DELIVERANCE)
“But” – (The greatest DIFFERENCE)
“Have” – (The greatest CERTAINTY)
“Everlasting Life” – (The greatest POSSESSION)

These 25 words will never be exhausted by time, sermons, or signs in the end zone.  Let it be proclaimed from Christ to Nicodemus to the Nations!