The Gospel according to John
chapter 3. John 3. I'd like to read verses 16 and
17. Probably not a more familiar passage of Scripture in all of
the Word of God. I'm sure this verse, John 3,
16, for sure, probably one of the most quoted and most misunderstood
verses in all the Word of God. John 3, verses 16 and 17. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved." Let's pray together. Our Father, this morning we call
upon You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, look into
and appeal into Your strength you who are our strength, your
comfort. Lord, I pray first for these
services. I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ
might be honored. I pray, Lord, that your people
might be comforted. I pray for these that have been
mentioned this morning, for Gene and his family, Bob and Margaret,
Darius, Lynn, Mary, Kelly, Lord, we thank You that we can pray
for one another. God forbid that we should sin
against You by not praying for one another. Lord, bless our
hearts, we ask. Help us. We need You. For Christ's sake, Amen. The verses that we deal with today set forth the
fundamental truth of all hope for mankind. This is all of the
hope that mankind has. The love of God. That's it. The love of Almighty
God. The election An irresistible
grace of God that is shown toward sinners is bound up in God's love for
mankind. We speak of God's electing grace,
preserving grace, but I'm telling you, the love of God is the heart of God's grace toward sinners. This is in Deuteronomy 4.37,
And because He loved thy fathers, therefore chose their seed after
them, and brought them out in His sight with His mighty power
out of Egypt. Because He loved the fathers,
that's what He said. He chose them. It's good and it's profitable
to have our memories refreshed with the love of God. This is the very truth set forth
by God Almighty. And if we lose sight of God's
love, love toward fallen creatures such as we are, we're going to
lose all joy and hope and peace and security. Almighty God loves mankind. And it's qualified. He loves them because he chose to love them. He loves them in Christ. Oh, the depth of the love of
God. God so loved. Oh, what a mass is said in that
word, so. God so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son. God so loved. And I've told you
this before, but this is absolutely imperative that we remember something. We do not preach because the
Scriptures does not set forth. that God Almighty loves the whole
entire arrangement of all, without any exclusion, men and women. You know better than that. The
Scripture does not teach that. What this Scripture teaches is
that God Almighty loves the human family, the order of human beings. He did not redeem angels, fallen
angels. He didn't redeem animals. God
so loved the arrangement, the order of mankind. And the giving of the only begotten The giving of the Lord Jesus
Christ was not that God might love Him. He loved Him and gave His only begotten Son. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world because God loved the order of men. Verse 14, we just looked at,
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. If justice is going to be satisfied, if those that the Father has
everlastingly loved are going to be saved, the Son must come
into this world. be lifted up. If sin is going
to be put away for God's sheep, Christ must come. God so loved the world, the arrangement,
the order. He loved mankind and absolutely
and eternally purposed that mankind would not be obliterated, condemned, that
all of mankind would not be cast into hell. Now you think, before
Adam ever fell, Almighty God had already, before the foundation
of the world out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue,
God Almighty had everlastingly chosen out of those that would
fall, mankind, Almighty God had already eternally chosen, elected,
selected a people that He absolutely chose
to set His affection on, not because of anything that He saw
in them. We were all cut out of the same
lump. Now stop just a moment and think
afresh. Why is it that I sit here today
and have any heart, any desire to want to hear the Gospel of
God's grace. Why is it that I have any longing
to hear afresh of the love of God? Why is it? Why do I love
Him? It's because He first loved you and purposed. that he was not
going to let mankind perish. 1 Peter 2.9 says, But you are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. I looked that word up. A reserve. preserved and kept
safe, people, that you should show forth the
praises of Him who has called you powerfully and excellently. Called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light. Now listen. I know what man by nature says. I know what they say. They said,
well, that has a sound to me of not being fair. That has a sound. You're saying
that out of every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue that God chose
a people that He was not going to let perish. That has a sound
to me that there's just a little bit too much unfairness about that whole thing. My question would be this. When Adam fell in the garden, God would have let all mankind
perish and he would have been right. And He would have put
all mankind in hell. And He would have been right.
And we would have been to the praise of His justice. We would have been to the praise
of His wrath. Whenever men say that God Almighty
is not fair because He chose a people, you remember this. It was the love of God and the
mercy of God and the compassion of God that He did not let all
of them perish. So when we start pointing a finger
at Almighty God, remember two things. Number one, men rebel
against God because they want to. They want to. But Almighty God,
in spite of man's rebellion has been pleased to save some in
spite of their rebellion. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. And those that He chose to show
mercy to, He did not at all put any trust in them. that His everlasting
purpose and will and love would be placed into their hands. He did not trust them. Job 15,
15, Behold, he puts no trust in his saints. Yea, the heavens
are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. God Almighty
does not trust His people that His will be accomplished.
He trusts one person. He trusts His Son. He trusts
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father was the first one
to trust Christ. The Father trusted Christ. Only God Almighty could save
a people. Only God Almighty could please
God Almighty. The Father hath chosen us in
Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love." Marvelously. The Word
of God. Christ Himself made flesh and
dwelt among us in the fullness of time. The Lord Jesus Christ
was made manifest. God. God Himself, the Son, who
stood as the surety, He who has made a curse for us to deliver
us from the curse of the law. Listen. That verse we looked
at last week. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Christ's doing, living, and dying
is the only ground upon which God Almighty could be just, and therefore, by and through
Him, justify a people. Do you know the difference between
salvation by grace and salvation by works? Now, you think about this. Wherein
do we differ? What is the difference between
what we preach? If somebody were to ask you,
what a few people there at Katie Baptist Church, All of the stuff you're talking
about, about election, predestination, and you say that salvation is
of the Lord. And we say salvation is of the
Lord, too. It's just that we just have to
exercise it. What's the difference? What is the difference between
salvation by grace and salvation by works? Because I'm going to
tell you something, herein lies the difference. False religion
treats salvation to be that which proceeds from within a man. Salvation by grace, by the grace
of God, proclaims salvation to be found totally outside of a
man. If Almighty God has been pleased
to save a sinner, He saves that sinner totally apart from anything
that you do. Justification by the grace of
God. Justification takes place Totally. Here's what it is. Almighty God
chose a people. Gave them and trusted them to
the Son. Now, God Almighty looks totally
at the Lord Jesus Christ. All those for whom He stands,
He represents. God Almighty looks at Him. and everything that is required
for their salvation and justification. Justification, now, is the declaration
of absolute innocence, holiness, no blame, no guilt, nothing,
nothing. This is justification. God Almighty
looks totally at the Lord Jesus Christ as the representative and surety
of all of God's elect, and whatever God Almighty considers him to
be, to have accomplished, to have done, to satisfy, that right
there is charged to them. When He said, This is My beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased, everyone in Him, the same statement
was made. They are His body. That's salvation
by grace. We did not start it. We didn't
accomplish it. We didn't finish it. We don't
keep it. We believe it. We believe it. And even our belief does not
merit anything. We're not saved because of our
faith. God gives us faith to believe
that God saved us. That's salvation by grace. We're
here. Aren't you thankful? You didn't
merit it. You can't keep it. And thanks
be unto God, you can't lose it. You can't lose it. We're kept
by the power of God. I'm persuaded, either life or
death, height, nothing, nothing, nothing. I'm telling you why
I struggle and struggle and struggle, struggle to keep a mind that's
studying correctly, praying correctly, longing to have an honorable
conversation, manner of walk. And I get to thinking about myself
and I think, how, how can I be so, so, how can I think this? How can
I? God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son, and whosoever believed Oh, not one that's able to perform
some self-righteous work, not the one that's most sensitive
to the needs of society, not the one that's most able to resist
temptation, but whosoever believeth. Believeth that salvation is totally
bound up in God's Son. As I said, the devils believe
that there is a God. But whosoever believeth that
salvation is totally all of grace, not of any works of righteousness
that I have done, no confidence in the flesh, whosoever believeth,
whosoever believeth that no part, no merit is in me, whosoever
believeth that when Christ died, He died as my substitute. He
lived, He lived as my representative, my surety. Whosoever believeth
in Him, whosoever believeth, not in me, not in my work, not
in my walk, not in my profession, not in my Bible study, not in
my prayer, whosoever believeth in Him. I'm telling you, the
very heart of salvation by grace is the love of God toward the
world, the order of man, to a people that God has chosen and He will
not let them perish. He will not. You will be with
me. But Lord, I can't. My son has. But Lord, I'm so frail, I'm so
charged and robed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Robed
in Him. Oh, I think about that prodigal
son, righteous living, spent all of his eating husk, coming
to his daddy. That boy is going to get honest
about it. I've sinned against heaven. I have sinned against
you. I am not worthy to be called
your son. It had all of it fixed up. You put the best robe on that
boy. You put some shoes on that boy's
feet. And you put the ring of my authority,
my household, you put the ring on that boy's finger. and you
kill the fatted calf." This is my son. Can you even begin? I think about
what that boy would think. Everything that I've done has
been against my dad. That's what he said. Everything
that I've even thought about was rebellious. Almighty God, soul of the world,
He gave His only begotten Son, whosoever believeth in Him."
That's the key. Whosoever believeth in Him. Remember, that excludes you. Whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world. Now, we don't say that there
was nothing in this world. That wasn't condemnable. There
was absolute everything in this world that was condemnable. Psalm 14, 2 and 3, the Lord looked
down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God. They were all gone aside,
all together become filthy. Stinking, that's what it means.
They all stink. There was none that doeth good,
no, not one. The Scriptures does not say that
there was nothing in this world that wasn't condemnable, but that God sent not His Son
into this world to condemn the world. Condemnation wasn't the reason
for Christ coming into the world. God could have condemned this
world without sending Christ. God could have condemned this
world. He didn't send Him into this world to condemn the world.
but that the world through Him, because of Him, through, because
of, might be saved. Listen, there's no uncertainty
when it comes to God's purpose of accomplishing His will. Isaiah
46, 9 and 10, Remember the former things of old. I am God. There's
none else. I'm God and there's none else
like me. Declaring the end from the beginning. and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." This morning we were freshly
reminded of the frailty of this life when Almighty God says it's time. I mean, it's over. It's over. The only comfort that we have
is that God Almighty has mercy. If you hear His voice this morning,
and He said, My sheep hear My voice, If you hear His voice, I know, I've never, you know,
I've heard, I've had people actually tell me that they talked to the
Lord and they actually heard Him with this ear. I've never
talked to Him and heard Him with this ear, not with this ear.
But He says that there's ears that He gives, ears to hear.
He says that the sheep hear His voice. And I'm telling you, He
does not mock His people. When He says, My sheep hear My
voice, I'm telling you, there is an ear that God's people have. There are eyes that God's people
have that the world doesn't know anything about. And they hear
His voice. And it is the voice of God's
power. It's the voice of God's mercy.
It's the voice of God's compassion. You cannot tell somebody that
does not hear by faith what it is to hear the voice of God.
You can't tell them. But I'm telling you this. He
said, My sheep hear My voice. Now, if you hear His voice, if
you hear His voice, call upon Him. Come to Him. You'll follow after Him. You
know how I know that? He said, My sheep hear My voice.
I know them. They follow Me. They come to
Me. And all that cometh to Me, I
will in no wise cast out. Oh, if God gives a man, a woman,
a heart to come to Him by faith, Almighty God has shown them mercy.
May the Lord bless these words to our heart. For Christ's sake,
Amen.