Our sermon title this morning is believe and be saved believe and be saved and we are in John chapter 3 and Looking at the section of scripture that runs from verse 17 through verse 21 Where the Bible says for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world But that the world through him might be saved You know he who believes in him is not condemned But he who does not believe is condemned already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men loved Darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light Let's his deeds should be exposed But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God As we've worked through this passage Recounting for us a conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus in John chapter 3 We've been swept along through a a very very important transition In verses 1 through 8 we saw God's sovereignty Beautifully displayed in the work of the spirit as it relates to the new birth or birth from above God's sovereignty in the new birth We are born not of the will of flesh nor of the will of man, but born of God It's not something that you do It's something that God does in you something that God does to you the wind of the spirit so to speak Blows where it wishes you hear the sound of it You cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes and so is everyone who is born of the spirit So that is clearly and inarguably an example of the sovereignty of God In salvation now as we work through the passage however We've been confronted with a corresponding truth that is also very clearly taught in the word of God from verses 9 to 21 An obvious emphasis woven into the fabric of this passage as we've as we've been working through it Is the emphasis on the responsibility of man the responsibility of man to believe In the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved Now you put those two things together God's sovereignty man's responsibility And you get a passage scripture many passages of scripture that beautifully depict that foundational truth of our Christian faith that we have been saved by grace Through faith that one sentence encapsulates that truth God's sovereignty man's responsibility for by grace You have been saved through faith now think about the last three sermons that we've sat through let's listen to One you must believe Two you must believe in him and today you must believe and be saved This is man's responsibility to believe to exercise faith woven into this passage It's not going to be by works of righteousness, which you have done But according to his mercy that you are saved It won't be because of your morality that Jesus saves you It's not going to be because you're a good person and that you're good is somehow going to outweigh your bad Nicodemus was obsessively moral You won't go to heaven because you're religious Nicodemus was obsessively religious It won't be because of some experience you had or some prayer that you prayed Or some candle that you lit or some bead that you rubbed or some saint that you invoked Not some sacrament you performed. It's not going to be because of some isle that you walked some tears that you shed Not going to be because of some vision you had or some gibberish that came out of your mouth Or because you helped a little old lady across the street or because you imagine in your own mind that god would never send you to hell You must believe on the name of the lord jesus christ to be saved For by grace you have been saved through faith And the wondrous truth of that Is that both the grace and the faith are not of yourselves They are the gifts of god and not of works lest anyone should boast Philippians 129 says for to you it has been granted on behalf of christ not only to believe in him But also to suffer for his sake and listen To be sure that you are saved To be sure that you are saved you must not only believe in him But you must know what that faith is and what it looks like little children the bible says let no one deceive you Please have not least of all don't let your heart deceive you that heart Which is wickedly deceitful above all things and desperately wicked in verses one through eight Nicodemus is confronted with the necessity Of new birth from above he must be born again He must be made alive in christ from being dead in trespasses In verses nine through 21 Nicodemus is confronted here with his own unbelief he's not received the witness of jesus christ And here he is pressed by the lord with the necessity that men believe to be saved So we dig in today into verses 17 through 21 It's important that we see those verses within their context as we work through john 3 16 We witness the immeasurable love of god Immeasurable certainly in its scope that it extends to all the mass of humanity the immeasurable scope of the love of god But also in its perfection So immeasurable in its perfection as to be completely independent completely unconditional Originating within the will and good pleasure of god alone in other words not motivated by anything in its object Its object is Unlovely its object is thoroughly undeserving And then lastly god Wondrously demonstrating that immeasurable love in providing an indescribable gift That indescribable gift wouldn't be a bull or a goat That indescribable gift is his own unique Radically distinctive matchless unequaled only begotten son And for the bible says in verse 16 god in this manner Loved the world so that he gave his unique unequaled radically distinctive unmatched son That all believing ones in him should not perish but have everlasting life And we know from verses 14 and 15 in the passages that we've looked at That this involved the raising up of the son of man and like the serpent in the wilderness and this is speaking of The crucifixion of god's own son He is the only savior Raised up for anyone and all who would look to him in faith to be saved The gospel call is a general call to all In that sense he is the savior of the world the propitiation for the sins of the world And as paul said there is one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus who gave himself a ransom for all So he was sent So that all who would look to him in faith would be saved But he died For all believing ones in him That all believing ones in him should not perish but have everlasting life if you're going to escape the wrath of god If you're going to have everlasting life You must believe and be saved. So as we work through verses 17 to 21 We're going to see this one in the mission of the sun The mission of the sun The mission of the sun and his first coming is to seeking to save that which is lost rather than to judge rather than to condemn Now is the time for all men everywhere to repent. Now is the time to believe and be saved There will be a time when the lord jesus christ comes back to execute judgment act 17 Says that god has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness By the man whom he has ordained and he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead Now is the time today is the day for you to believe and be saved And that is on the authority of god's word seen in the mission of the sun But two we'll see the condition of the world in verses 18 and 19 The sun comes into a world that is wandering around blind and stumbling in the darkness a world that loves darkness Rather than the light because its deeds are evil. It's a world that does not know him And thirdly we'll see all of this in the exhibition of your heart in verses 20 and 21 We'll see the effects or the fruits of both saving faith And unbelief in the practitioners of evil and in the doers of the truth The mission of the sun the condition of the world in the exhibition of your heart Examine your heart before him This morning ask yourself do you see fruits of genuine saving faith? The fruits are there for you to see whether you are in god or not Whether the works that you do are in god or whether they are of your father the devil And lord by his grace and mercy makes that abundantly clear in the fruit that are wicked or righteous hearts produce Are they done in god or are they done in your flesh? Are they done in the power of the spirit? You must believe and be saved Right, let's take a look at point number one the mission of the sun and this comes in verse 17 Where the bible says for god Did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved So now god in a glorious Act of immeasurable love toward humanity Sent his son into the world on a mission That mission described by jesus himself in luke 19 is to seek and to save that which was lost Not to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved You know paul said to young pastor timothy This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that jesus christ came into the world to save Sinners of whom i am chief i think about that for a moment jesus christ came into the world to save sinners And yet there are those who think to themselves my sin is too great the lord jesus christ certainly couldn't save me Or they think to themselves God is just propping me up like pharaoh so that he can glorify himself in my condemnation. Those are un Bibla that's stinking thinking that's not the god of the bible and that's not the mission for which christ came Jesus christ came into the world to save sinners in that if you are not saved today If you've not put your faith and trust in jesus christ You should rejoice that the lord Holds out for you that free will free grace offering of his love and mercy So that you may be saved in the lord jesus christ if you put your trust in faith in him Not that he's come into the world to condemn you or to judge you Believe on the lord jesus christ and be saved now that mission Would have been new news to many jews All right, they didn't they didn't expect that jesus would come into the world to save They expect the the messiah to come to judge They weren't expecting the suffering servant. They were expecting a ruling king who would rule with a wrought iron a rod of iron And crush all of those gentiles and all of those romans and all of those pagans They wouldn't have expected the messiah to come in judgment But secondly, they would have never expected to find themselves under judgment or under condemnation The jews by and large believed themselves to be righteous Um, they were god's chosen people. They were keeping god's laws.  They were self-righteous hypocrites They couldn't bear the thought of god actually showing an immeasurable love and mercy toward Gentiles sort of had the attitude right of jonah on the hillside overlooking the city of neneva Just couldn't imagine that these people were going to be saved The pagan nations around the jews weren't any better off They were idolatrous. They were murderous. They were blind Paul and aphesians 2 calls them far off Strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without god in the world. That's the bible's assessment of everyone else The world of today Is no better either is it? No better off rampant wickedness romans 1 says we're given up to uncleanness The world in the lusts of its heart idolatry sexual immorality homosexuality read the other day 45 million babies Aborted on an annual basis worldwide since 1980 1.4 billion that's billion with a b Babies murdered So would god be just To send jesus christ into the world to judge it Absolutely Absolutely. He's done it before right Jude 14 warns behold The lord comes with 10 thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all To convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds Which they have committed in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against them You get the point In fact, all of judgment all of this judgment has been committed Into the hands of christ flip the page to john chapter 5 john chapter 5 And drop down to verse 22 John chapter 5 look down at verse 22 listen to this For the father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the sun There will come a day when jesus christ will come back to execute judgment now. It's not that time There will come a day when he'll come back to execute judgment verse 23 That all all should honor the son just as they honor the father He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him Most assuredly I say to you he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life You see the repetition That's the message and he shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death into life Most assuredly I say to you the hour is coming and now is When the dead will hear the voice of the son of god and those who hear will live For as the father has life in himself So he has granted the son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment also Because he is the son. Excuse me of man Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth Those who have done good To the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation Now listen to those words for a few moments. This is exactly what pastor jimmy was talking about this morning In the call to repentance the connection will see this in this passage between faith and works unbelief and works Those who have done good to the resurrection of life those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation I can of myself do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgment Jesus christ says is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of the father who sent me To anyone who Doesn't believe that god would do this that doesn't believe that jesus christ would come to execute judgment peter tells them to remember the flood Right. He's done it before This world is no better off than that one which was destroyed by water Scoffers come and they mock say where's the promise of his coming? Listen, jesus christ is coming back and when jesus christ comes back. He's coming back to judge this wicked world So that leads us To an obvious answer to a very obvious question verse 17 Says that jesus christ has come not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved Save from what? Saved from what exactly? You're saved from the wrath of god Saved from god saved from god's wrath Saved from that judgment from the condemnation and judgment of god at the hands of the lord jesus christ I want you to notice something Thinking about that. I want you to notice something from the train of thought that we see In verses 17 through 21 and that is this The loving purpose of god In sending his son on a mission to seek and to save that which was lost is emphasized And thought of within the context of a deserved judgment The loving purpose of god in sending his son on a mission to seek and to save that which is lost is emphasized and thought of within the context of a deserved judgment salvation And judgment are flip sides of the same coin and this is going to be important to understand It should be the thought of divine judgment That drives you It should be the thought of a deserved divine judgment That drives you to ponder the great love And grace and mercy and compassion and patience of god in salvation It is a reality no matter how hard people try to suppress this truth No matter how people strive to do away with the reality of hell Every one of us must contend with the reality of god's impending judgment Have you ever been to a funeral and talked to family members? Everyone is in heaven. Yeah, yeah, I felt like I was an axe murder. Yeah, he's in a better place now Everyone goes to heaven.  Listen to these words. These are both these concepts put together Therefore paul says let it be known to you brethren That through this man through jesus christ is preached to you the forgiveness of sins amen Right through jesus christ is preached to you the forgiveness of sin and by him Everyone who believes Is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of moses And then the next verse beware Therefore lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you Behold you despisers Listen if you don't believe in the lord jesus christ You are a despiser of the lord jesus christ. There is no middle ground Behold you despisers marvel and perish for I will work a work in your days a work Which you will no means believe the one were to declare it to you People just don't believe in the judgment of god the condemnation of god.  I believe in heaven.  I believe in god, but I don't believe in his judgment God says god says in jeremiah chapter 19 verse three that he will bring a Traffi of judgment so shocking and so severe that whoever hears of it both of his ears will tingle So what's the point? What's the point?  You know you rejoice. Thank you for returning my pen You walk out in front of a runaway bus And someone pushes you out of the way of that bus You rejoice That your life has been saved thank you for saving my life But when the lord of glory comes And dies when you deserve the punishment Demonstrating an immeasurable love toward you taking upon himself the wrath that you rightly deserve And saves your soul your eternal soul from an eternal hell You cry out praise beats of god and you rush to christ you flee to the cross for salvation You trust in him alone Leaving your sin behind Repenting turning from your sin hating even the the the garment defiled by the flesh Do you get it Listen to god sending his own Son into the world So that lost and wretched sinners could escape The condemnation that hangs over your head Can escape the judgment of almighty god who is holy and who is just What wondrous mercy What amazing grace right God sending his son into the world on a mission to seek and to save that which is lost Does not delay that judgment it actually brings it closer Does not delay that judgment it brings it closer in the parable Of the wicked vine dressers from matthew 21 Jesus himself said and last of all He sent his son Last of all What happens next in that parable is that the owner comes bringing a final judgment on those wicked vine dressers There's nothing Nothing today There's nothing that stands between you and the imminent return of the lord jesus christ to execute judgment on this wicked world Observe the judgment That is coming and flee to christ Observe the condemnation that if you are outside of christ today that hangs over your head and flee to the cross for salvation If you're here today and you're a christian Then glory In the overwhelming work that god has done to save you from that judgment and serve him this life is a vapor You have an inheritance waiting for you in heaven Let jesus when jesus comes find you working in faith That judgment too that we see in verse 17 alluded to there Isn't only a future expectation That judgment's not only a future expectation. It's also a present concern if you're not in christ If you're not in christ that judgment that condemnation must be a present reality to you a present concern John 3 18 says that he who does not believe is condemned already Condemned already if you've never turned from your sin and put your trust alone in christ to save you from the wrath to come Will you do it now? Listen, will you do it now?  Praise be to god for this indescribable gift Rejoice in what the lord has done don't grumble Like those in the wilderness who died Hebrews 10 39 says we are not of those who draw back to perdition But of those who believed in the saving of the soul Don't retreat and neglect Don't act as though live as though you have already attained the prize you press on Look at what the lord has done Persevere to the end and be saved But secondly, you know, we We see the condition of the world. We see the mission of the sun. We see the condition of the world And that's in verse 18 here in verse 18 the bible says he who believes in him Is not condemned But he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god And this is the condemnation That the light has come into the world and that men loved darkness rather than light Because their deeds were evil and we see the problem Clearly stated in verse 18, right He does not believe he's condemned already. We see the problem clearly stated in verse 18 We see the explanation clearly stated in verse 19 because men love darkness rather than light Their deeds were evil So the condition of this world The condition of every person in it apart from a saving belief or apart from saving faith in christ Is that they are condemned And it's very important to understand They are condemned Already that word condemned in the greek there is in the perfect tense It is a completed done deal. It's done condemned already. You've been condemned if you're not in christ You are condemned already because you've not believed your default position From the point of your conception Is condemnation David said in sin my mother conceived me You came into this world as an unbeliever You came into this world as an unbeliever.  You've already been sentenced There's not another Verdict that's going to be rendered The judgment is taking place you are condemned Why Why It's because you have not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god So no matter how you feel about it. That's what the bible teaches Ultimately the one Unforgivable sin is unbelief All sin flows from that one Because of unbelief you are condemned already And if you continue in unbelief you will eventually perish eternally So think about it this way Everyone in the world is born on the green mile Right death row walk in the mile Everyone is born on death row walk in the green mile if three On the green mile Are saved Because god causes them to be born again of his spirit Draws them to himself makes them alive in christ grants them repentance and faith Nothing changes with the other seven. They're on the green mile. They're condemned already. Does it make sense? They're condemned already there is great hope though For them at the beginning of verse 18 Even though there's this condemnation. They're already condemned There's a great hope a great promise even in verse 18 at the beginning Where it says he who believes in him is not condemned that word believes there is a present active participle It's an ongoing. It's a current reality A believing that keeps on believing that's believing that's believing. It's just believing it's living a life of belief He who is believing in him is not condemned Romans 8 right there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus No condemnation if you're in christ jesus So that brings up a very important question. What is the what does it mean then to believe? What is faith? What's faith? your theologians for Centuries now have talked about faith in three parts. There's knowledge or noticia in the latin There's a scent or a census and then there's fiducia Knowledge is the intellectual part of faith if you will It's a knowledge of the faith who christ is What christ is done the content of our faith? It's a knowledge of faith a census or a scent Is believing that knowledge believing those facts jesus christ came he lived a perfect sinless life perfectly Satisfying the just demands of god for righteous obedience to his law He went as a perfect Sinless sacrifice to the cross where he died Bearing both the punishment that sinners rightly deserve for their own sin and satisfying the wrath of god becoming a Propitiation for those who would repent and believe if you believe all of that is true god raised him from the dead That is a scent that is belief that all of that is true But knowledge and a scent is followed up by fiducia followed up by commitment If those things are true and you believe them Then that component of faith is a commitment then to him to follow him.  I have no righteousness of my own I must have the righteousness of jesus christ to be right with god and to flee the wrath to come It's an entrustment of all that I am to all that he is It's a commitment of myself to him to follow him to obey him to live for him to follow what he says Fiducia and we see this understanding of belief Clearly in verse 18's connection to verses 19 through 21 And I want to impact this for us beginning with verse 19 In verse 19 we see an explanation for the desperate Condition of this world Although light has come into the world that's jesus's incarnation Men loved darkness instead and that's speaking of the condition of man's heart. They love darkness. It's natural Right. They love the darkness And then it says because their deeds were evil speaking of the fruit Of that condition Why don't people believe in christ to be saved? Why don't people believe in christ to be saved because they love their sin? They love their sin. That's their nature Outside of christ your nature is bent towards sin It loves has no interest in the things of god has every interest in pleasing itself Indulging itself reveling in wickedness, right? They need a new heart They need the new birth they need to be born again from above they need god to change their nature change their heart Take out that heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. They need grace They need the grace of god and it's that grace of god that teaches us to deny ungodliness. We need that grace from god Just as faith Always bears on its surface the marks of the grace of god in obedience and the obedience of the of the believer unbelief always bears on its surface The marks of disobedience as the fruit of unbelief The unbelieving one with a heart for darkness is revealed or exposed by evil deeds That's why the bible says ultimately That we will be fully and finally judged by our works We'll be fully and finally judged by our works Unbelief in the heart is revealed by her wicked children. Okay in revelation 20 john describes The great white throne judgment listen to these words john says i saw the dead small and great standing before god and books were open And another book was open which is the book of life And the dead were judged according to their works By the things which were written in the books The sea gave up the dead who are in it and death and hades delivered up the dead who are in them And they were judged each one according to his works. You get that? And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire This very thing this idea of being judged by works explained by jesus himself in matthew chapter 25 turn there with me matthew chapter 25 This is with respect to the judgment of the sheep and goats Judged by works matthew chapter 25 And looked at verse 31 Matthew 25 31 here jesus says When the son of man comes in his glory And all the holy angels with him Then he will sit on the throne of his glory All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another As a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats He'll set on the on the sheep on his right hand But the goats on his left Then the king will say to those on his right hand come You blessed of my father Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Why why? For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was a stranger You took me in I was naked and you clothed me.  I was in prison. You came to me And the righteous are going to answer him and saying lord When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothed you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them assuredly I say to you In as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren. You did it to me Well, that's is that that jesus christ preaching a salvation by works No, this is a salvation that works What are the works here? They did good Those things as john three will say here in a moment those things done in god works done as a fruit of faith And they're judged if you will according to those works those works are the evidence That they are in christ by repentant faith Those fruits demonstrate genuine saving belief in christ It's the fruit on the tree Also works the other way look at verse 41 Then he'll also say to those on the left hand Depart from me you cursed Into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. This is judgment This is judgment For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty. You gave me no drink I was a stranger You did not take me in naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit me Then they also will answer him saying lord Right lord lord Right from matthew chapter 7 When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them saying assuredly I say to you in as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these You did not do it to me and these will go away into ever lasting.  Someone were to tell it to them. They cannot believe it So what are your works? Examine yourself. What are your works? Your deeds good or evil It's important That you understand the connection Between belief or unbelief with good or evil works They have the relationships pastor jimmy said Of fruit and the tree the tree and its fruit if the tree is genuine saving faith Its fruit will be good fruit good works If the tree is bitter wormwood then its works will be its fruit will be evil We looked at the mission of the sun We looked then at the condition of the world Next we have to look at the exhibition of our heart Verse 20 Back in john chapter 3 Everyone practicing evil hates the light does not come to the light less as deeds should be exposed But he who does the truth Comes to the light That his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in god The first thing I want you to notice here is the absolute lack of any neutrality at all There is no third option. There are two options here, right? There is no third There is no such thing as the carnal christian. There are two options here Two contrasting positions and two positions only Everyone verse 20 practicing evil.  It's not that they dislike the light Everyone who practices evil hates the light. That's God's diagnosis of your whether you think it or not. You think well, I don't hate. Yes, you do That's what the bible says that describes the condition of your heart. Yes, you do. I'm not a hater of god. Yes, you are You're outside of christ.   There is no middle ground It's an act of hate to not believe in the only begotten son of god Everyone practicing evil hates the light.   He wants Darkness if you're not in christ you Have no interest in the things of god Which means you're a hater of the things of god you want things just the way they are You want your darkness over the light because you love your sin But here's the second position by contrast He who does the truth verse 21 Not simply hears not simply understands But does right we're used to hearing of Telling the truth speaking the truth hearing the truth But this is not one who hears or understands or tells only this is one who does the truth This is referring to obeying the truth of god's word Goes to speak of that fruit of obedience the fruit of genuine saving faith He who does the truth comes to the light I'm not in the sense of showing off. He doesn't go you know It flaunt his works showing off his good works but In union with christ right in communion with him Don't we with our our deepest desire The deepest intentions of our heart want to be pleasing to him, right? You come to christ in union with christ Hating your sin Turning from your sin wanting to be rid of your sin Come to christ just desiring that god would see the work of his spirit in you, right? Desiring that your fruit would be pleasing to him That you would be more like your savior more like your lord you would be conformed more into the image of christ You want god to see That your life that your works that fruit is that they're done in god You come to the light didn't david pray right in psalm 139 verse 23 search me This is the prayer of a believer, right? Search me. Oh god and know my heart try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me And lead me in the way everlasting It's the prayer of the christian's heart God Test me try me God rip that sin out of my heart Lead me in the way everlasting. That's not the earnest prayer of the wicked The believer wants their deeds to be seen as done in god Not done in our own strength when we stand before god god's not going to look at bill or nancy or jill or fred and say Look at those marvelous works that they did No, he's gonna look at them and say look at the marvelous work of my spirit in them Those works are not done in our own strength. They're wrought by god's spirit in the genuine believer This reveals a very important point Because one avoids the light And another comes to the light or because one practices evil and another one practices righteousness is not as a result of physiology Not as a result of psychology It's not because one is dumb and the other one is smart It's not as a result of environment It's not because of baptism Or because you participated in some sacrament It's not because you made a decision to accept christ and someone else did not Why? Why did you accept christ if you believe that and someone else did not? Is it because you're smarter than they are? No, no, no, no not smarter than they are Is it because you're more righteous? Oh, certainly not every no christian would say I'm more righteous than they are Why isn't it? You've done the smart thing. They've done the dumb thing Right, you've done the righteous thing They've done the unrighteous thing See if you believe that you have something about which you can boast And it is not of works less anyone should boast before god God gets the glory for that salvation is of the lord Salvation is not of works as anyone can boast it all comes down to whether or not you were in god In christ you were only in christ through repentant faith in christ Turning from your sin and believing him to be saved This biblical reality That disobedience is the fruit that bears evidence of an unbelieving heart and the biblical reality That obedience and the power of the spirit is the fruit that bears evidence of a believer's heart Is why the bible can say things like this first john chapter 2 verse 3 Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar And the truth is not in him first john chapter 3 verse 4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in christ in him There is no sin whoever abides in him does not sin whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him Little children john pleads with you listen little children Let no one deceive you he who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous He who sins is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning For this purpose the son of god was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil Whoever has been born of god born from above right new birth Whoever has been born of god not of the will of the flesh nor the will of man But of god whoever has been born of god does not sin or make a practice of sin For his seed remains in him and he cannot make a practice of sin Because he has been born from above. He's been born of god In this the children of god and the children of the devil are manifest Whoever does not practice righteousness. They can't be any clear right cannot be any clear Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of god nor is he who does not love his brother This is the grace of god to you if you will honestly judge yourself now You know we read romans chapter 8 verse 1 a little while ago There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus Listen to the rest of that verse Who do not walk or live right make a lifestyle who do not walk according to the flesh But according to the spirit If you walk according to the spirit you're going to put to death the deeds of the body and you're going to Be sentenced to that genuine saving faith by fruits of the spirit Listen to paul Speaking of those in the last days God's going to send them strong delusion. This is the great apostasy right god's going to send them strong delusion That they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned Who did not believe the truth? But had pleasure in unrighteousness see the connection there They were condemned because they did not believe in the son of god Their unbelief is evidenced by their pleasure in unrighteousness their pleasure in evil deeds Their pleasure in godless works Flip over to john chapter 3 quickly and look at verse 36 john chapter 3 down at verse 36 Very interesting here This will be interesting to those who have a king james bible in their hand John chapter 3 verse 36 Listen, he who believes peace to you on believing He who believes peace to you on is believing He who believes in the sun has everlasting life Same teaching right same point if you believe in the sun you have everlasting life And he who does not believe A pay phone that's a different word You look at in english he who believes in the sun has everlasting life He who does not believe the sun shall not see life. It's a different word peace to you on means believe a pay phone means obey obey He who believes in the sun has everlasting life and he who does not obey The sun shall not see life But the wrath of god abides on him. Is that a salvation by works? No, it's a salvation that works. This is a faith that produces fruit This is the testimony of god's word. Do you see it? This is a teaching of salvation that works. It is a salvation It is a faith It is a grace and spirit empowered belief that produces good works The bible says in ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 14 For god shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil You can't look at some prayer you prayed.  We would do it if that would work, right? But the spirit of god through the word of god must do that work on your heart Will you believe on the lord jesus christ and allow him to do that? Don't rely on past fervency live for christ faithfully fervently now Look at your life now first kranz 11 Verse 31 paul says for if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged But when we are judged we are chastened by the lord that we may not be condemned with the lord with the world Judge yourself now remember The gospel is so glorious in its extent That everyone even the most wicked of sinners who believes Will be saved but it is narrow so narrow that That most moral Of unbelievers is condemned already If you're outside of christ today, you are condemned But the great grace and mercy of god is not fully and finally condemned God in great love toward you in great mercy In compassion has made a way of escape You're condemned if you're not in christ, but it's not necessary that you stay there It's not necessary that you stay there Maybe you say to yourself i'm gonna think about it Thinking about it won't do This is charles virgin said you'll think your way into hell Maybe you say i'm gonna pray about it. The bible doesn't tell you to pray about it The bible doesn't tell you to pray about it Now is the accepted time god says behold now is the day of salvation Sin and belief are irrational sin and unbelief are irrational sin and unbelief are self destructive They are deceptive If you're in sin Here today you need to if you're a christian and in sin you need to doubt whether you're in christ You're not entitled to assurance when you're in unrepentant sin Repent now trust christ now Commit to him Follow him in faith Bearing the fruits of faith It's an old hymn Today the savior calls For refuge fly The storm of justice falls and death is nigh Amen Let's pray Father in heaven god praise you and thank you for these these verses This truth god thank you that it's so clear god thank you Even still our hearts are so deceptive god i pray that you would Lay these truths on our heart with such clarity That the unbelieving here today one here today Would not be able to sleep a wink Would not be able to escape their accusing conscience Would not have rest Until they flee the wrath of god and believe in the lord jesus christ to be saved I pray here for that Christian who may be Lethargic or in their sin Lord that they would Press on Living wholeheartedly for you persevere to the end and be saved God do your mighty work through your word honor your word today god glorify yourself in Working in the hearts of your people Working on the stony ground heart of that unbeliever for your eternal praise and worship in jesus name. We pray amen


Hello and welcome to Finding Respect in the Chaos. I'm think Tech Hawaii. I'm so glad you guys have joined us today. I'm here with ready for this everybody sitting down Miss United States you guys this is big. Amanda Smith is here with me today and I want you guys to welcome her. Thank you so much for coming today. Thank you so much for having me I'm excited to talk about what I do and what's going on. I love having inspiring stories to share with you guys here. And as most of you know this is a safe place for survivors of abuse to tell their stories and a place for advocates to share important resources and more than anything to show other people out there that there's hope and healing on the other side of abuse and you can overcome with the right help and the right resources. Everyone can overcome this you are not alone. So we have an amazing story and let's get right to your story Amanda so excited to share this with you. Could you tell us just a little bit about your past if you wouldn't mind. So we get a little bit of a background and we can really appreciate all the amazing things you're doing now. Yeah so when let's see where should I start when I was a kid. I fell in love with the food network. I remember watching it on the TV screen. And I was fascinated by all these chefs who were able to cook these amazing dishes. Not just that a lot of them had sustainable foods they were using foods from farmers markets or they would talk about it so I was getting a lot of that knowledge through actual food network which was really cool. The second thing was I was I had bad allergies growing up. I had dairy allergies I was constantly bloated I was always getting sick.   So I always knew that I had something that was different like I wasn't like my sisters who could eat hot dogs and hamburgers or Taco Bell the time. And that's what we ate you know every typical kid would eat something like that. I always knew I had to be different when it came to food and at that age you know I always had I was told myself I want to be that person who helps others you know connect with food and you know you don't have to have allergies all the time right I mean at that age I was probably 12 when I realized okay I need to tell my parents I can't have that kind of food and I started just kind of eating what you know like the vegetables my mom would serve or you know different things in the house. I would still eat the junk you know I wasn't 100% all there of course I'm 12. But I was really inspired by the food network to push forward and to to look at what kind of ingredients they were using and I would sneak peek whatever my step mom was cooking at the time and my grandma cooked a lot when I was a kid we used to go down there to LA I was raised in Bakersfield California, but born in Torrance California. My grandparents lived in the LA area in Carson California and we'd always go visit them on the weekends or when we could for the month and my grandma had tons of Filipino food. That was my favorite right all the good yummy stuff and my favorite thing was beef in broccoli. That's all I would eat with her. But yeah that's the humble beginnings of when I really realized that I love food. I absolutely love it. And so I know you've got and I can't wait to start talking about the men who be chef that you start your school age kids but can we. If you wouldn't mind sharing just a little bit more about some of the things that happened when you were younger that has sort of brought you to the place that you are now. Yeah yeah so when I was a kid my parents were you know about three years old they became divorced you know they were I don't know what their problem was all I know is that one cheated on another or supposedly. Or you know my mom was 16 years old when she had me and didn't really understand the dynamics of having kids and you know that's a young age and. You know she had a second child maybe at 18 closer to 18 years old and now she had two kids at 18 and there was a lot of shuffling or not watching us or you know leaving us in different areas that weren't really safe.  My dad was still working and trying to make it you know you know financially and my mom just got into really bad relationships so it was always you know. One thing after another drugs it doesn't matter alcohol you know abuse she was abused. You know there was some of that we seen when we were young I don't remember it per se but it happened and my dad ended up marrying an alcoholic and a drug addict. As well and she was mentally and emotional there's different types of abuse obviously and mentally and emotionally and then there was physical sometimes as well where you know anybody like that it's like walking on eggshells and not knowing you know I was the people pleaser. I was raised to be that way like how do I you know get food on the table or how do I make sure I have a next meal or I want to feel safe and so I would always do things for people I over gave. And that trickled down into my adulthood which I had to have a lot of therapy for and to realize. Oh that's why I was doing what I was doing and not stepping back and taking care of myself and getting into bad relationships right. So I mean the point of this is that you can become resilient. If you realize what the problem is and get the help you need and don't be afraid to ask like if you feel something in your gut isn't right. It probably isn't right. Right. So I. Yeah it took a lot of lessons. A lot of bad relationships alcoholics people who were you know drug like I said drugs I thought it was normal. This was normal to me that relationship would include drugs and alcohol. Wow well you certainly have overcome all of that and went on to be an amazing well Miss United States which I think you definitely deserve the honor so I'm very glad that you got it. The title because you definitely deserve it. And now you did you start men and honey chef before on your pageant stuff or was that after your pageant stuff. Actually it was before and it was right before I ran for the Mrs division because I was previously married been divorced for five years. That kind of led into when I had my kids. I became more inspired to want to cook healthy for them because I remember when I was a kid not feeling good when I would eat super bad so I literally I literally created this program for schools. I wrote a curriculum and I just taught it and filmed it and got my kids involved and it just became super popular. And I thought well I might as well put it into the pageantry because it's a great platform and you know worldwide not just for my kids or the schools here in Hawaii. It's great for everybody around the world because we can use sustainable foods and so many honey chef literally means little chef and so I teach kids and families how to cook with sustainable foods grown in the Hawaiian islands. Now I'm starting to it has now expanded not just to my kids in the local community, but now to the Department of Education at Chief is Kamakahelei I teach the after school program there. You know teaching kids how to cook with sustainable foods partnering with other programs and you know getting really close to the community at large right and now that I have a global platform I'm able to. Now I'm shifting and pivoting into online classes so I'm creating an online course. It's a six module course for people to join in it doesn't matter if you're in your family or in a classroom. All they would need is the supplies supply it click online, do a quick donation and you've got your whole curriculum ready to go where everything is. As you want to go flow through on our little platform or online and that's it you know and then if you want to subscribe to the you know this is kind of how we're doing it if you want to subscribe to it. We'll give you monthly updates on what's next and what's coming up you know with mini honey chef as far as recipes and new techniques. Sure so okay so Miss United States will be the United States pageant company I don't know what it's called program. It's under Misses United States so originally the we've been around where the second we've been around for a long time maybe 35 years. So they've been around and how it all started was you know we have you know this wonderful woman. She started this program to highlight people like me who are excited about sharing platforms like this or businesses or things that they run.  And so that was the main purpose I knew I had entered the right pageant when they talked about platform all day and that's what I do so it's it's pretty phenomenal I really love this system they've been extremely supportive of my platform. You know whatever I needed they were there and we've done tons and tons of interviews and now they're actually helping me and backing me on this whole new project on what can we do to help you know how do we promote you and so we've got people around the world joining in so this is going to be amazing. Again mini honey chef the online classes are going to be launched in October. So look out for that. Until then I'm just doing a private cooking lessons. So great. And you know this actually gives you that sort of in with kids too so that if there's further services that these kids need. They're seeing you sort of on a personal basis. Because we're talking about something so intimate as food and how you eat right so that you they're going to be more likely to open up and talk about other things that might be going on in their lives. Bring that educational you know community in with you to help about right. So that's amazing I love that now you're on on the island of Kauai right. That's correct so I'm on the island of Kauai. I'm 36 years old and I live on the east side of the island. That's awesome I love that we're talking to each other from two different islands. That's so great. Well so often we kind of get stuck in our own little bubble right. And I think who has been all of Hawaii right and I know I've got a no no across the ocean that way is you know Kauai and over there is Maui and I remember that we're all one state here. That's right we're all family. One big family and when we can get that like you are right now all joined together. Then we can move out from there to and start to influence the mainland and other countries and and all of that. And I think that's an important factor that you're doing that. I've always known that Hawaii is has been a huge highlight because we are the the state in general that is kind of like we're we have to be modeled by does that make sense like we are our sustainability like if everything were to crash down over there. And in the mainland we would still be running because we have running water naturally we have the capability to actually supply food for people here in Hawaii. And as much as we think that we can't we can we can grow food extremely easily here we can share it easily we've always done it. And that's the beauty of Hawaii. I agree. One of the reasons I moved here was for the better the healthier food the healthier lifestyle. All of that with a lupus and Crohn's disease so all of my autoimmune has been a tough fight for a lot of years.  Fruits. Closer energetically I think people don't realize that and this is why I've started many chef is that energetically we're all made of that substance called energy right. And if we're eating from plants and for eating you know things that are sourced from your land or anything that's around you. You're ultimately going to be super healthy it doesn't matter. And you know that's the beautiful way we can go outside and pick our own food and forage. And so if we're not learning how to cook with it if you feel a little lost my job is to make you feel comfortable doing it. And that's why I created mini chef is so people feel comfortable teaching their kids how to cook comfortable with farmers market finds that they don't get so stuck on the the whole thing of I need to go to Costco today. Does that make sense. Oh yes. Absolutely. That's what I meant by I don't really get a lot of stuff at the grocery store so much anymore. I mean it's great it's a great luxury right. It is a really good luxury to have but I mean cleaning products and paper products and things like that. But to be honest I get most of my food across the street. We are so abundant and you know I think of abundance as what we're growing outside. If you want to become abundant what people think it's about money it's really about what's your growing in your yard and how you're actually fulfilling yourself with the really good food right we want the good healthy food around us. Right. Absolutely. My my last guest was that was on is a girl I went to high school with who is removing landmines from the earth everywhere in like 30 different countries and replacing it not just pulling the landmines out but replacing it with agribusiness so that farmers are able to go out on farm their land again and they are and now they've got a business and they can sell. Incredible. I love that. That's the best story. People who are doing extreme things deserve praise. They deserve you know the the footage the the knowing that you're changing the world. You know one step at a time and that includes the farmers who work their butt off like people don't realize how hard it is. You know when I visit these farmers. I see people working out there in that hot sun. And they're dedicated that's their way that's their their light to shine to give back to humanity is to plant the food you know wait for it to harvest pick it for them and then share it you know it's not really about money for them it's about the passion. And you know everybody has a gift to share doesn't have to be famous you know we're all not all famous we're not going to be there but what we can do is serve our people and that's enough right that's enough if you serve other people that you're living in your purpose. I absolutely agree with that about 100%. Yep, and we don't realize and we don't give farmers enough credit, I think. Monsanto came in and sort of know mega organized everything and put with this big. I don't even know how to describe it exactly but we know that Monsanto has his hands and so many things, although he's not over on Kauai didn't you guys like Monsanto have GMO companies here and a lot of these lands are made for testing they're testing the corn they're testing the different things that they can grow. I can see where they're coming from again we have to have perspective on everything and stepping back and using our observer. The testing is really about you know did the plants become resilient to this chemical or this right or these elements and can we grow food and become resilient on food. You know there's all kinds of different factors I get where they're coming from I understand it isn't needed. No and they know that. So, but see that's where I turn and I say no pivot because that's not what our lands are really made from if you look back into history. People survived off of food off the land for many, many years without having a GMO company do it for us. You know, the whole thing is that we need to produce mass amount of food, we're actually wasting food. And so people don't realize you know when it comes to sustainability, it's not just about the food people kind of like oh become sustainable it's more than that it's the land you're working with the animals it's the packaging it's where the fuel comes from right. And so all of that those are all factors we really need to look into. And now more than ever with COVID-19 and this whole scare going on with all these colds people are thinking of different ways how do we become sustainable now because we can't rely on the government anymore right. We can financially but what are we going to do how are we going to pivot our lives to become better and to rely on ourselves versus becoming entitled to America. Absolutely.  Yeah, so I have, you know, 5050 with my ex husband. And so it's been actually kind of cool because the kids get tired of being one spot in the house all day or, you know, well, over here I live by a bike path. And so I'm taking them biking I'm taking them hiking I'm taking them out. There's no people around us. We're just adventuring here on Koi so of course wearing masks and we're keeping social distancing because I do think that there is obviously a virus going around people so the protection is is to make sure your kids are living and going outside and still being a kid and not keeping them cooped into the house, making sure that they're reading, making sure that they're learning something new every single time. Not just that they're learning practical skills about cooking and that's what mom does so I'm teaching him that we've been doing a lot of videos on sharing recipes with farmers market finds. Malama Kauai you heard of them Malama Kauai. I have not know they have supported me since day one they've been giving me CSA bags farmers market finds and said hey, can you post a video and share with us and what you're doing for the recipe and I said absolutely. So I was doing that so that way it perpetuated information not just to my kids or anybody who knows me to the whole island themselves so that way they can see kids cooking and then they can feel more comfortable with you know sustainable food, but it's just a way to give back. I think that's an important distinction to that you're making here that you're not just saying here kids, we're going to give you this food. It doesn't matter how we need it or where we got it from, but it's good for you take it right right right and the thing is the stigma, the stigma is is that parents get a little scared and I want to talk about this they're like well I want to do this recipe but that's so detailed and I'm getting a little nervous I said well and I talked to a group of moms the other day and I said, tell me what makes you nervous when you cook with your kids they said well a I don't know how to teach them and be I don't know what I'm cooking. So even if they are healthy they're like well how do I create healthy dishes because our generations including ourselves, we've been given ding dongs like you said or you know hot dogs and things that are easily accessible food. So how do we change the dynamic the dynamic for people and the way to do it is to actually teach people to feel comfortable and to know that it's okay you go to the fires market takes five minutes take your kids go to the house. Look up the vegetable and start cooking like just let them participate that's the number one thing and allow them to use knives that's another thing nine line knives on Amazon.com. There, they were 595 I bought a whole kit and the kids actually learn right and so if you want to learn more information on how to cut with a nylon knife or if you want to get more comfortable with eating sustainable foods, then you're going to go to many honey chef.org, you're going to find out. I love that. I know my kids used to say that whenever I would go away for a conference or something, they would go yay we can watch forbidden movies and eat forbidden food, because they couldn't eat it when I was home right and be stuff like pizza and all that kind of junk food. I'm not saying get rid of it all I'm just saying you know pull back a little bit and teach a practical skill and become comfortable, your kids are going to want to eat what you're cooking it doesn't matter if it's super healthy or broccoli or whatever. They're going to want to try it I've seen kids do it nine times out of 10 filming them, even though they don't like it, they'll spit it out they're trying it. And so that makes me happy it doesn't matter my son has done it so many times I'm like nope keep it raw. We're not taking that out we're not going to fluff anything with many honey chef it's all about being real and sharing that hey look he tried it he spit it out but you're going to try it to watch. You know so it's it's a it's a cool thing too right so yeah so the whole thing the practical math skills you're going to learn practical math. You're going to get some confident kids who are comfortable with using knives and also parents. Right. I know that my kids have both grown up well three all three my boys have grown up to be chefs. One of them is a professional chef even, and he's all about it's got to be healthy it's got to be good I'm not going to give people a bunch of junk and I think. Now why did you have that attitude when you were younger.  I love it yeah and then so you know with many when he chef of the platform I took it into 2015 I started running and you know the Mrs division all the way up till before I got divorced and you know I would always get first runner up and you know I just I like the idea of being able to advertise what I'm doing. On a bigger stage so when I joined in one last time after I got divorced I was like okay I'm going to try to see if I can make states at least and as a divorce woman. And lo and behold I became Miss Hawaii and on a walk who I flew out there with my daughter. We won and I was so happy. Then I had to prepare for nationals and I was like well I'm just going to play it by year I'm not I had no intention of winning. And so, by the time I got to Las Vegas, it was July or August when I was out there last year. I remember going there was a day late and I didn't get to meet all the girls I did that on purpose because I don't want to feel nervous. I was a little scared, but then I went into, you know, the whole meeting that I was supposed to go to pick up our packets and all that. And then I felt oddly comfortable, which was not like me because I'm very shy with other people. And, but I love doing TV hosting and all that right by the time we got to the center stage we're doing prelims and all that. I was a little shocked because the next day they were calling out the numbers right like okay, we're at top five and once you hit top five, you have to give a speech, right. So I was up there, I was up there and I was like, I did not prepare these girls are nervous or sweating. And I'm like, whatever, I'm just going to do what I do and talk about it and if they don't like it that's okay because I'm already used to being first runner up right. Yes. And so by the time I got to top three and then top two, I was like, is this really happening. And then I won eventually. I'm glad you did because you definitely deserve it and your platform is just amazing and the fact that changes for kids is what's so important. I'm all about let's teach the kids, let's teach them young about all of it about, you know, no more abuse for kids, no more, no more bad food, no more, you know, bad eating and even those kind of things alone. Just those two things alone can radically change the life of a kid and they progress into adulthood. Yeah, you're teaching life skills for a lifetime. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, we've only got a couple minutes left.  Yeah, things that you want us to know that we didn't have a chance to talk about yet. Yeah, so if you guys want to follow me you can follow me on Facebook at mini Hoonie chef M E and E chef. Or you can go to my Instagram. It's under sustainable you Hawaii. That's pretty easy to remember. You can follow my journey there. But I just want to say thank you guys for inviting me and I hope that you know what we're sharing is inspiring kids and families out there. Oh, I know that it is and I want to thank you so much for coming on Amanda and I'm going to keep an eye on you so I'm going to invite you back in October after everything gets up and running and we'll see how it's all going and you'll have to come and share with us. Maybe October. I'll meet you in October. There we go. Sounds like a wonderful plan. I like that. See you later. Take care and I want to thank everyone for coming and joining us today for finding respect in the chaos here on think tech Hawaii. Please join us every other Wednesday at two o'clock. We'll see you then.