Matthew, I appreciate you singing
that song. My topic this morning is, for God thus loved the world. Please find that text with me
in John 3 16. Read along with me in your text
while I give you a A literal translation of this simple verse,
For God thus loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that all who believe in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. In order to understand John 3.16,
we must first understand the world to whom John 3.16 was originally
addressed. It's true in this passage, and
it's true in most all the scriptures. We'll never come to a full understanding
of what any passage in the Bible means for us without first being
given to see what it meant to those who heard it or read it
first. You see, God's word is as deep
as the Lord God himself, because after all, it is his own self-revelation. And that's why the more we read
his word, the fuller its meaning becomes. God is infinite in his
wisdom, so it should not be surprising that the Bible is an infinite
book in its wisdom. You'll never fathom the depths
of God's word. The meaning, however, and the
message of the scriptures have never changed since the inspired
writers wrote them for the very first time. Now, pretty well
all variations, all human variations of Christianity have reached
this conclusion, that the meaning of the scriptures, the message
of the Bible, is whatever it means to you. I have been to
more religious services than I can count, Sunday school lessons
where the entire service was based on people giving what they
thought about that. Here's what this verse means
to me. Now, quite frankly, I'm not interested
in what this verse means to you. I'm not interested in what it
means to them. What I'm interested in is what it means to God and
what, when he spoke it to the people who heard it first, what
did they hear? If I understood what they heard, then I'll understand
what it means here and now for us. That little groundwork being
laid, I want us to study these three questions from this verse.
First of all, I want us to look at who does God love? How does
God love? And for whom did Christ die? Now, who does God love? This
verse clearly says God loved the world. Now, John spoke often
about God's love. 1 John is full of it. This book
is full of it. John 316, you'll actually find
restated, and if you'll turn with me there, hold your finger,
John 316, we'll be back. But it's actually John restated
again in his first epistle, 1 John chapter 2. He almost verbatim,
or at least he covers all the same thoughts that are in John
316. So 1 John chapter 2. Let's look
at verse 1. My little children, these things
I write unto you that you send not. If any man sin, or when
any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous, and he is the propitiation, the sin-bearing
substitute for our sins, not for ours only. Now, who was John
writing to? John was a Jew. His writings
were addressed to Jews. He has a Jewish audience. You
must understand that in order to understand what he's getting
ready to say here. When he says, and not for ours only, He's looking
at fellow Jews and says this perpetuation of Christ, this
sin bearing substitute, this one who put sins away was not
just for us, not just for our race. And what's he going to
want to say, but also for the sins of the whole world. Now you see two things going
on there. One, there is a both and, both for us and for them. Now we live in a day, in our
day, There is such an emphasis based on individual freedoms.
By the way, we've never had individual freedoms. This world has never
known a generation of individual freedoms. But our generation
thinks that that is what we have, that we have a right to individual
freedoms, and therefore they interpret the scriptures that
way. That's not the culture or the age in which the scriptures
were written. The scriptures were written to people who were
one of two kinds. There was one of two kinds of
people in this day. There were Jews and there were
the rest. Two classes of people, Jew and
Gentile. John was writing to Jews and
he says to Jews, not for ours only did Christ die. Not just
for people of the heritage of Abraham, but for the rest of
the world also. Now let me show you how that
word whole is used elsewhere most folks a whole world Christ
died for every last man woman one girl that's not what the
Scriptures teach look at Matthew 529. I think someone read this in another
gospel this morning back in the Senate. Matthew 529 we find this
same word whole and look at how it's used here. If your right
eye offends you pluck it out cast it from you throw it away
for its profitable it would be far better for you. that only
one of your members, your eye, one of your members perish and
not that your whole body be cast into hell. Do you see how that's
being used? One or the rest. This word whole is carries the
idea of the rest. When John says that he did not
give his life for our sins only, but for the rest of the world,
for the Gentiles as well. That's what he was saying. We
find the same word used in John four 53. Let me read that one
to you. And this is that parallel of that story where Christ had
healed a man's son at a great distance. And as he was going
home, his servants met him and told him your son lives. Then
he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better,
and they said to him, Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever
just left him. So the father knew that it was
at that same hour in which Jesus said unto him, Pronounce these
words, your son lives. He knew that that was the work
of the Son of God. And here's what that verse ends
with. And he, that is the man, he himself believed, and his
whole household. the rest of his he was part of
his household and the rest of his household believed as well.
You see, it's a dichotomy that's being spoken of by this word
hole. It's not meant to be all-inclusive. You must read the scriptures
in its own language. It's not that Christ died for
every last sinner to ever tread upon the planet. He died, the
message of the scriptures is that he died for Jews and he
died for Gentiles as well. Now, In Galatians, we found this
word very clearly used in this manner. In Galatians 5, 3, for
I testify again, Paul writes to them, I testify again to everyone
who is circumcised, everyone who allows himself to be circumcised
as an additional necessity to the blood of Christ. I'm telling
him that he is a debtor to do the whole law. He thought he
could just do one law. So, if I just do this one law,
if I go through this ritual of circumcision, then I'm good.
I'm trusting Christ. I've got this ritual out of the
way. I'm good. I'm good to go. And he said,
well, I'm just telling you this. If you want to do one law, you're
obligated to do the rest of the law as well. And that's the way
this is being used here in 1 John 2. Christ is the propitiation for
our sins, John writes to his fellow Jews. Yes, he was. There
are many Jews. Thank God for that. Many Jews
that Christ died for. Many Jews that he saved. But
he said, not for us only. Not for us only, but for the
rest of the world as well. Non-Jews as well. Never meant
to be taken and understood as for everyone. He said the same. John also wrote the same in Revelation
5.9. Let me read that one to you.
You, speaking to the Lamb of God, you are worthy to take the
book and to open the seals thereof, for you were slain and redeemed
us to God by your blood out of, not every one of them, but out
of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. You and I don't think
much of that. We read right over those verses.
We read just right on past them because By and large, the church
today is a Gentile church. It's not a surprising thing that
God is saving non-Jews. I don't know if there's a Jew
in the house this morning. It's not a surprising thing to us,
but it was to them. We must understand the scriptures
in light of the day in which it was written. It was a big
deal. It was a big deal. Go back to John, chapter one.
Back in the Gospel of John, chapter one, this was a theme that came
often up for John because it was such a big deal in his day.
John chapter 1 verse 6, there was a man sent from God
whose name was John. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the light, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
what does it say? That all men might believe through
him. It was a big deal. He was writing
to a Jewish audience. He was looking to Jews who thought
that God would have... Jehovah has nothing to do with non-Jews.
And he says no. He became a witness to the light
that all men, not just Jewish men, but the Gentile people as
well. Look on down in verse 8 and 9.
He comes back on this theme again. He was not that light. John the
Baptist was not the light. But was sent to bear witness
of that light. Now that light, the Lord Jesus, was the true
light. who likes every man. Every man. He's not talking.
Remember the context. He's not speaking about every
individual in the congregation. He's not talking about every
individual in the nation. He's not talking about every
individual in the world. He's talking about not just Jews,
but every kind of man, even non-Jews. It was a great, it was a, it
was a momentous message. It was a tremendous message back
then. Look on down in verse 11 through 13. This is his message
to Jews. He's speaking to Jews clearly
in this passage. Christ came into his own, that
is his own things, his own creation. And his own, as in that case,
it's his own people. Those of his own blood. Those
of the seed of Abraham. He came to his own people. And
they received him not. And as many as received him. To them gave he power to become
sons of God, even to those who believe on his name. He's always
been just saving believers. Look at what it says. He's describing
them in such a way that their Jewishness is totally eradicated,
taken out of the equation who were born. Not a blood. Not a blood. This isn't a matter
of your Jewishness, John writes. It's not a matter of being born
to a Jewish mother and a Jewish father, not a blood. Nor of the
will of the flesh. The will of the flesh is the
very heart of law keeping. You're not born of God because
you kept the law. He's talking to Jews. It's clearly
aimed at a Jewish audience. Nor of the will of a man. He's
talking about going through some ritual or having some pronouncement
made by a Jewish priest. It's not of what he does for
you. It's not about being Jewish. Well, how did these people, how
were they born? They were born of God. Not just Jews, but Gentiles
as well. John 1.16, he puts all that together
and he says, And of Christ's fullness have we all received. Not all men inclusive, but Jews
and Gentiles alike, people from every kind, nation and tribe
and tongue. Thus love the world, the world. John also writes in verse twenty
nine of chapter one, he speaks and he does this often. This
seems to be the heart of his message. Whenever you saw John
the Baptist preaching, he spoke this message. Behold, the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now, turn off our
generation's interpretation of this verse for us. He's talking
to Jewish people. He's addressing a Jewish audience,
and he's saying, look at what God is doing. He's saving the
Gentiles. Oh, my. He takes away the sin
of the world, not just the Jews. In John 4.42, I'd like for us
to look at that one. This one clearly sets forth the
meaning of this passage in its cultural and historical context.
Look at John 4.42. This is at the end of that episode,
where Christ has spoken to the Samaritan woman at the well,
people that the Jews knew absolutely God was not dealing with. And
now look at what was said in verse 42. These were the people
who had heard the Samaritan woman, and they came and heard Christ
for themselves, and they exclaimed, Now we believe, not because of
what you said, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that
this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. even us
Samaritans, that Jews would not have a thing to do with. Do you
understand in the context in which John 3.16 was written?
It's written to Jews to show that God is not limiting his
saving ability and his saving love to Jews only, but to Gentiles. I know for us that may not mean
anything in our present cultural perspective, but it means much
to me because I'm a Gentile. born of a long line of Gentiles.
I'm not sure if we have a single drop of Jewish blood in our heritage. I'm glad that the world means
both Jew and Gentile alike, and I'm looking at a bunch of other
people who ought to share that happiness with me. Now, it is
interesting, if you look at this, John is the single book in the
New Testament that uses this word, world, the most. First John is the one is the
third most often that you find it in and the only one has a
little more is maybe one or two instances more in First Corinthians,
which Paul wrote. Gentiles, on the other hand,
that word Gentiles is the word for nations is not used at all
in any of John's writings. He just didn't use it. He would
not discriminate between God's people by saying Gentile. That's
a bad word, very discriminatory word. We use words like that
still in our society, they discriminate between people. He did not use
that. And he just used a very inclusive term that just says
we're just all sinners saved by the grace of God. God just
loved the world and he did not discriminate between Jew and
Gentile. That's the message of John 3,
16. There is nothing in the text. There is nothing in the historical
context. There is nothing at all in the language of this passage
to even suggest that God was trying to save every last man,
woman, boy and girl on the planet. It does not teach that. It's
not there. Be true and honest and open with
your scriptures. Don't make them mean what you
want it to mean, what it mean to them. Those people were ecstatic. I don't have time to rehearse
it right now, but it would be an excellent, it would be an
excellent education for you this afternoon to read Acts chapters
10 and 11. at just how big a deal it was
to them back then as to whether or not the question of whether
or not God would even save a Gentile. It was a big issue. We will do
this. Look at Acts 15. Here Peter is
summarizing his experience in the house of that Gentile, Cornelius. And here's how he summarizes
it, and it shows just how big a deal It was that God would
even think about saving a Gentile. Acts 15, let's look at verse
7. When there had been much disputing,
they had a whole meeting over this question, is God going to
save a Gentile? Surely not. When there had been
much disputing, arguing, going back and forth, Peter rose up
and said unto them, men, brethren, you know how that a good while
ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles, by my mouth,
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows
the hearts bore them witness, giving even them the Holy Spirit,
just like he did to us. And he put this was fighting
words, by the way, this was not an easy meeting. He put no difference,
no difference. I'm a pure blood, no difference. He put no difference between
us and them. purifying their hearts by faith. He just saved him and caused
him to trust Christ alone. Now, therefore, why tempt God
to put a yoke, speaking of a law, a set of laws upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers were we were able
to bear? Why are we going to say, okay, if God's going to
save you, you're going to have to keep these laws. Why would we do that?
But we believe that through the grace not the law, the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they."
That was a message that had never been heard before. And it was
a difficult message, and many that day did not receive it.
You can read that this afternoon. Now, who does God love? God loves the world. Who is the
world? Both Jews and Gentiles alike,
without discrepancy. How does God love? God's so loved,
people emphasize when they read that verse, for God's loved you
so much, they say. It's a bad interpretation, and
it's even worse translation. The false god of modern religion
is nothing but a helpless failure, offering his son to whomever
would take pity on him. How many times have you heard
this? For God loved the world so much that he gave his only
begotten son for you that if you'll just believe on him, It'll
work. He'll save you if you'll just
let him. Oh my. And then he steps back. God steps
back with all of this gushing love. And he sits back and waits
for you to decide whether he's going to have what he wants.
What a foolish understanding of God in the first place. But
foolish of that scripture. That has nothing to do with that.
The word so is not so much. It's the word thus. Look at a
couple of verses in this passage. Look at John 3.8. It's not how
much God loved the world, it's how God loved the world. John
3, 8, we find that little phrase there, thus, he's talking about
how you can't control the wind, you can't see it, you don't know
where it's coming from, where it's going. And he says, thus,
so in this manner is everyone who is born of the Spirit. That's
how God saves people. Look at verse 14, the same way
Christ has just been discussing about Moses raising up the serpent
on the pole. And he says, so thus, in this
manner, must the Son of Man be lifted up for God thus loved
the world. This is a verse. It's a it's
a descriptive. It's a describing verse. It teaches
us how God loved the world. And it's very instructive. The
message of John 316 is not that God loves sinners so much. That
he made it possible for everyone to be saved, but that he loved
his chosen ones, believers, in such a manner that they could
not be lost. That's the message of John 3.16.
Look with me if you would in Romans chapter 8 for a minute.
Romans chapter 8 verse 31. Here's the love of God. Here's
the effectiveness. the invincibleness of the love
of God. Romans 8, 31, what shall we say then to these things?
If God be for us, if God loves you, who can be against us? He who, here's his love, he who
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, not for all,
but for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things the love of God ensures that what
Christ did for his people cannot end in failure. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who are God's elect? They're
the ones he loves. They're the ones he set his affection
on from the foundation of the world. Who shall lay anything
to those that God loves? It's God who justifies. Who's
he who condemns? It's Christ that died. Yeah,
rather that is risen again. He proved that who he died for
was successful because God raised him from the dead. He didn't
leave him dead. Who was even at the right hand of God making
intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or
famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it's written. For
your sake were killed all the day long, were accounted as sheep
for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us." There is the
love of God. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, good angels,
nor bad angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from what? The love of God. The love of
God is the foundation of his kingdom. The rule and reign of
God in this world is His love. It's the power of His love. How
can we dare say that God loved every single person, but He can't
save them? You'll not find a God like that
in the Scriptures. Every one God loves, He saves. He saves. Here's what John 3.16
teaches. Every sinner God loves, Christ
died for. Every sinner God loves, he makes
a believer in Christ, and he does so in such a manner that
not one of them can be lost. No sinner upon whom the true
and living God has placed his divine affection will ever die
lost. For the blood of Christ once
shed in propitiation for the sins of any believer, Jew or
Gentile, even the holy God of justice cannot refuse. In God's
love, then, sinners find a secure refuge, not just a vain hope,
a divine permanent bond of unfailing mercy that neither our sin, nor
Satan, nor self can undo. For God loved the world in this
manner. He gave his only begotten Son, the God-man, so that every
believer in Christ not die, but have everlasting life. for whom
in the Christ. According to John six three sixteen
for whom the Christ. For whosoever chooses. Whosoever
chooses to believe in that the ones he died for, or did he just
die for everyone, so that if they do choose it will be on
reserve for making make they can have the blessing. Let me. Let me make this clear. Whosoever
part is actually not in this verse. I understand why it was
put there, but grammatically speaking, the whosoever is not
in this verse like it is in John chapter ten. Look at a verse
with me in John chapter ten. I'll show you a whosoever verse.
John chapter ten, I'm sorry, Romans chapter ten. Romans chapter
ten, verse eleven. Let me show you a true whosoever
verse. Verse eleven, Romans ten. And for the Scripture says, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between Jew and Greek. Do you see that? There's that
same theme again. Whosoever is not every individual has a possibility. It's Jew or Gentile. Literally,
that verse, if you translate that verse, it's for all, whoever
they might be. It was an absolutely essential
qualification that they needed to put into their message back
then because people didn't believe that. Jewish people could not
believe that God would save a Gentile. And he said, I'm telling you,
all whoever they might be, wherever they're from, all whoever call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jew or Gentile makes
no difference to God. Now, for whom then did Christ
die? You see, Romans 10 isn't a reference
to the supposed possibility of salvation, but rather addresses
that same Jewish prejudice spoken against in John 3.16. Jew or
Gentile, slave or free, male or female, whoever calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, here's the only problem
about that in our world. Somehow people have come to think
that believing on Christ is the condition we meet for including
ourselves in the scope of Christ's atonement. Believing is not a
condition. It does not come first. It is
not like people say, if you, then God, if you will repent,
if you will believe, if you will come, then God will save you.
The Bible's never said that. Oh, no. Believing is not the
condition we made. It's the result of Christ having
met the condition. It's if he Bad for me! It's because God loved me! And
if I come to Him, it's because the Holy Spirit drew me! It's
not if I've been He, it's if He's been I! If He'll come and
get me, I'll come! If He gives me life, I'll live!
If He puts my sins away, they're gone! It's not what I do with
Christ, it's what He did with me! And if you're saved today,
it's because of what He did for you. And if you've come to Christ
and said, Lord, here's my offering. I'm giving you my repentance.
I'm giving you my belief. I'm giving you my walk and I'm
giving you my devotion. Now, will you save me? You will
never be saved. God will not give you glory like
that. He will not allow you to walk away hand in hand doing
your thing. Me and Jesus got a good thing
going. It's either all Christ or it's not Christ at all. Not
Christ at all. That God gave his only begotten
son, literally, here's what it says. John 3, 16. God gave his
only begotten son, that each one believing on him. Now, what
does that say? Well, it says right there, if
you believe, there's no if in the verse. Not in the original,
not in the, there's no if in the verse. He gave his life for
believers. What's that mean, Mark? I mean,
that he did not give his life for unbelievers. No blood of
Christ could ever be shed and not be fulfilled with salvation.
Where do unbelievers go? They suffer the wrath of God
in eternal torment. Why? Because they were never
atoned for. Look at what Christ said. Christ
said, I lay down, John 10, 15, I lay down my life for the sheep.
You will not find one verse in all the scriptures that say he
laid down his life for goats. Not one goat has ever been saved. You know, we don't even preach
to goats. Now it's true. This is a, this is a dividing
message. There may be goats here. And you may be sitting there
shaking the head of your heart and saying, you know, I don't want to have
that foolishness. That's all right. You're a goat. You'll
never see it. And I'm not preaching to you.
I do feel for you. I feel very sorry for you. There
may be some sheep here that are not that are not saved sheep.
They've not been brought to life in Christ Jesus. And you may
be thinking like a goat, just like we do by nature, saying
the same thing. That couldn't be right. That
couldn't be right. That couldn't be right. But if you're a sheep,
you'll find yourself in John 3, 16 one day. You'll find yourself
being a believer in a message you hate that gives God all the
glory and gives you none. Because it's the way it is. Christ
died for believers. I lay down my life for the sheep,
and he went on down in that same John 10, 26, and said, and you
don't believe because you're not of my sheep. You're not of
my sheep. It's not up to what you do with
me. It's what I do with you. And he decided not to do anything
with you. And you say that's not fair. It seems very just to me. It
would have been tremendously just for me, for you, for everyone
in this house. It would have been very just
of God to have sent us straight to hell, except for one thing.
It would have been unjust because Christ wore my sins in his body
on the tree. And that's the only thing that
made it unjust for God to slam me into hell is because Christ
died for me. It's not fair that he didn't
die for all. No fair is that he should have sent us all to
hell. It's grace that he died for anybody. It's not our decision
to make. That's what's wrong with this
society we live in. That's what's wrong with our human minds. It's
not our decision. It's not up to us. We got no
right to choose. We bow before God. Only those
who bow before God and say, Lord, I don't know what you chose.
You did that before the foundation of the world. It was a long time
ago that Christ shed his blood and it can't be undone or redone.
I don't know if he died for me or not. I don't know if this
is the Holy Spirit drawing me or if I'm just trying to make
sure that I feel like I'm going to get in one way or the other
by adopting a new set of doctrines. Lord, I don't know. Just have
mercy on me. And I can tell you without even having to think
twice about it, God has never not saved any one of those people.
Never, never has. It does not say that whosoever
chooses to believe in him will not perish, it says that each
one believing will not perish. They will have everlasting life.
Well, this thing about choosing to believe, let me show you very
quickly, look back in chapter 2 of John. I want to hurry up and
finish just shortly. John chapter 2, verse 23, here's
Christ's thoughts about those who think they're going to be
saved by their choice. Now, when Christ was in Jerusalem at the
Passover, in the feast day, Many believed in his name. That sounds
good. They decided to believe in Christ.
They said, Well, I think there's enough evidence here. I think
there's enough miracles going on. And what he says makes sense
to me. I'm going to believe. Many believed in his name when
they saw the miracles which he did. Look at that. How could
he not be the Christ? I mean, I'm seeing evidence here. But Jesus
did not commit. That's the same word that's translated
believed in the previous verse. They said they believed in Christ,
but he didn't believe in them. He didn't commit himself to them.
He didn't entrust himself to them because he knew all. Notice
that the man is in a palace. He knew all of those people.
He knew every last one of them. They said they believed in him,
but he knew who they were. He knew that they didn't. He knew
them all. and needed not that any should
testify of man, not men in general, nor these who were standing before
him, for he knew what was in man. They could not choose to
be saved. All we'll ever choose as sinners
is to choose to glorify ourselves at God's expense. No. Thank God, believing is not a
choice. We'd never make it if it were.
John 3.16 neither says nor teaches. That God loved the world so much
that he gave his son so that everyone could be saved. But
what it does say is that God loved believers in such a manner
that they must be saved. That they not die for their own
sins, but have everlasting life because Christ died for their
sins. That's the teaching of John 3, 16. Believing is not
our choice. Thank God it's not. It's not
within our power. Look there in John 3, verse 5. Look at what
Christ said about our ability to believe. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Can you cause yourself
to be born? Well, that which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Can you decide to be born? Don't be surprised that I said
unto you, you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it wants
to, and you can hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where
it's coming from or where it's going, and so is everyone. who
was born of the spirit. No, it's not a matter of you
deciding to believe a few doctrines. You think you've got it sorted
out in your head and you think I'm going to go with that one.
They call on. You said if I would call, you
would say, God never said that. Oh, no. God says, and then we
call. John chapter three, verse 18
addresses this same inability of ours to come or to call or
to believe. He who believes on him is not
condemned. But he who believes not is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the
world. And men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. Listen, while I'm
even preaching this message this morning, I guarantee there's
people here who find this offensive. And even those of us who are
saved, is there not something left of your sinful flesh? There's
something that's in your heart of flesh that says, you know,
But I really think I can do a little. I really think I can help God
a little. That flesh will never die. It
will always be there. We know better, but it's still
there. For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither
comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. There's
where we are apart from grace. But he who doeth truth comes
to the light. He made the right decision. No,
he didn't. But he comes to the life that is these may be made
manifest that they are wrought, and that literally says that
they are having been worked out in God. If I came, it's because
God worked it out. God made it happen. God produced
every step I took when I came to Christ. It was not me. It
was him. It must be him, for we would
never come. Wherever God's love is then,
you will always find this. You always find Christ's effectual
sacrifice always present. I want to close by reading a
few verses with you from Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5,
we'll begin reading with verse 5. What a wonderful presentation
of the love of God. makes not a shame, that is all
who hope in Christ will never be put to shame. Because of this,
the love of God. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given unto us. We know something
about his love because he saved us when we weren't even looking
to be saved. For when we were yet without
strength, no ability, no ability to repent, No ability to believe,
no ability to come to Christ, no ability to hear the truth
in God's word, no ability. When we were in that condition
in due time, in God's time, Christ died for the ungodly. Or scarcely for a righteous man.
I think that's picturing a Pharisee. Almost never for a Pharisee would
someone die. Perhaps for a good man, maybe
a kind person, someone would dare to die. But that has nothing
to do with in no way similar to the love of God. God commends
his love toward us. Here's the love of God. In that
while we were still sinners, God haters, haters of the gospel,
hater of God's people, hater of Christ and his effectual death,
when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than that. That's enough. Christ died for
us. If Christ died for you, you must be saved. But much more
than that. There's the past in verse 8, here's the future in
verse 9, much more than being now justified. How are we justified? Well, because we made a decision.
No, we're justified when he died. Being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him. How effectual is
the blood of Christ? Everyone he died for must be saved. There'll
be no wrath on them. There was the past in verse 8,
there's the future in verse 9, and here's the present in verse
10. For if, while we were enemies, God-haters, haters of the gospel,
haters of Christ, haters of John 3, 16, as it really is, the effectual
redemption of Christ based on the love of God. For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
if that's what happened for us on the cross, all of God's anger
toward us went away, if that's what happened, he says, These bifocals mess me up. For if, being enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, so much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his wrath. And not only so,
but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, here's
the present, by whom we have now received. And that word is
laid hold on. We have now laid hold on the
very Lord Jesus Christ and wrapped our arms around his feet, and
said, Thank you for saving me. Thank you for shedding your blood
for me. Thank you that God chose me and you for the foundation
of the world, for had you not, I would have never come to you.
Here's the gospel. For God thus loved the world,
Jews and Gentiles alike, maybe even you, that he gave his only
begotten son, that all who believe on him absolutely not perish,
but have everlasting life. Oh, may God be merciful today
and call some sinner to take him on his terms this morning.
Let's pray.