In John 3, our text is one verse. Verse 16. John 3, 16. It says, 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. We always need to remember two
things about the Word of God. Two things. The first one is
this. All of the scriptures from Genesis
1-1 to Revelation 22-21 are in perfect agreement with each other. That's the first thing, all of
them. They were all written by the same person, Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1, 20 and 21 says, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This was all written by the Spirit
of God, every bit of it. God just used men to pen it. That's it. All right, now the
second thing that we need to remember is this. I change. There are things I thought ten
years ago that I may or may not think now. I change. But the Lord Jesus Christ changes
not. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. The things
he thought before the foundation of the world, are the exact same
things he thinks today, and they're going to be the exact same thing
he thinks a hundred million years from now. Exactly. He is not
going to change. Do you know how comforting it
is to know people and interact with people who don't change? You know, you can just always
count on them. They're just kind of always the same way. Well, the Lord
will not change. Never. The Scriptures He wrote
do not contradict themselves, and they will never change. Never. Now just listen to some of this.
We're going to turn a little bit this morning, and the reason
is because it's John 3.16. You know, everybody holds to
John 3.16. So we're going to turn. But listen
to a few Scriptures. He said, Come unto Me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And then in John 6, He said,
No man can come. Was He contradicting Himself?
No. Alright, in Revelation 22, He
said, Whosoever will, And then in John 5, He said,
You will not. The problem is not with God.
It's with man. That's the problem. Alright,
now first I want us to see John 3.16 in context with all of the
Scripture. And then I want us to see John
3.16. That was written to us. So it says in verse 16, for God
so loved, loved. He said in 1 John 4, God is love. All right, and many people take
that by itself and they believe God loves everybody. God is love. He loves everybody. Well, to be true to our God,
He didn't love Esau, did He? Just because of that one man,
just that one man, it would be lying on God to say that He loves
everybody. It's not true. He didn't love
Esau. Alright, now turn with me to
Malachi chapter 1, last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 1. Verse 1 says, The burden of the
word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith
the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou
loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated
Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the
dragons of the wilderness, Whereas Edom, that's Esau, that's his
people, that's his nation, his land. Edom saith, we are impoverished,
but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down. and they shall call them the
border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord
hath indignation forever." The whole people. That word indignation
means enraged. It means to abhor. The whole
people. All right, now turn over to Psalm
5. Psalm chapter 5. Verse 4 says, For thou art not a God that hath
pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The
foolish shall not stand in thy sight, Thou hatest all workers
of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak leasing. The Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man. He's pretty clear on that, isn't
he? He's pretty clear. Now don't turn, just listen to
this one. Psalm 45 verses 6 and 7 say this, Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Hatest. Proverbs 6 verses 16 to 19, it
says this, These six things doth the Lord
hate. That's pretty interesting, isn't
it? Let's just go ahead and list
them. These six things doth the Lord hate. Number seven is an
abomination unto Him. Alright, here they are. A proud
look. A lying tongue. Hands that shed
innocent blood. and heart that deviseth wicked
imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false
witness that speaketh lies. And here's number seven. He that
soweth discord among brethren. Oh, man. That one got me. That one got me. Hates it. He hates it. Alright, now just listen to two
more. Just listen to them. Amos chapter 5 says this, verse
21 it says, I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not
smell in your solemn assemblies. I won't smell. Though you offer
me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept
them. Neither will I regard the peace
offerings of your fat beast. Take thou away from me the noise
of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vows."
I'm not even going to listen to your songs. I hate it all. I hate it all. Everything you
have to offer me, all of your works, I hate it all. I hate it all. One more. Zechariah 8 verse 17, he said,
Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor,
and love no false oath, for all these are things that I hate,
saith the Lord. Don't let anybody, I don't care
where you are or who they are, don't let anybody ignorantly
tell you God doesn't hate. Let's read His Word. You know,
we turn to a lot of Scriptures because it proves it in the Word.
He says throughout this whole book, this is what I hate. This is who I hate. And I'll
tell you who that is. It's everybody outside of Jesus
Christ. That's who it is. I don't want
to be outside of Christ. Do you? I don't. Come the end of all this, you
know, here I stand, here we are. Come the end of all this, I just
don't want to be outside of Christ. I don't care what I've done,
what I've not done. I just don't want to be found
outside of Jesus Christ. Just put me in Christ and I'll
be okay. I don't want to be under the
wrath of God. Alright, now go back with me to our text. John
chapter 3. The first thing people say out of
context is, God loves everybody. John 3.16, God loves everybody. That's out of context. Alright,
it says in John 3.16, For God so loved the Word, The world. The second people believe and
they say out of context is, Christ died for everybody. God loves everybody and Christ
died for everybody. The world. Now, I want us to
look at two runs of Scripture. I told you we were going to look
at a little bit of Scripture. And I want us to look at them back
to back to see what the Word has to say about this in context
with itself, all right? Now, you can turn to them or
you don't have to. Totally up to you. I'll call them out. Here's
the first one, Matthew 4, verse 17. This is the vital difference.
You know, what we're looking at right here, this is the vital
difference. In Matthew 4, verse 17, it says,
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's what He preached. That's
what He told every person He preached to. Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. Okay? Now here's the second scripture. It's 2 Peter 3 verse 9. This is what it says. 2 Peter 3 verse 9 says, The Lord
is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness.
but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance." He preached repent to everybody.
And it says right there, He's not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. All. Christ died for everybody. No? Alright, here's the next
one. It's Revelation chapter 2. Verse 20, Revelation 2 verse
20 says, Notwithstanding, I have a few
things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants
to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent
of her fornication, and she repented not. I gave her space to repent. That's
what the Lord said. And she repented not. Again,
the problem is not with God, it's with man. He told everybody, repent. He's
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
That's what it says. He gave her space, but she repented
not. Alright, now listen to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter two
says this. This is verse four. Despises
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. God has to lead a sinner to repentance. The commandment is repent. We can't keep it. We won't keep
it. God must lead a sinner to repentance. If He wanted all to repent, He
would have led all to repentance. The key back in 2 Peter 3 is
the word us-word. Usward. He's long-suffering to
usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. All right, now listen to this.
1 John 2, verse 19 says, They went out from us. For they were not of us. For
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us. But they went out, that they
might be made manifest. They were not all of us." You
see that? Us word. Those whom God has led
to repentance. Are us better than they? No. No. It's just God who shows mercy
on whom He will. That's it. Now I want to give you one more
short run and then we're done. Okay? One more very, very, very
short run. Because the reason why I'm doing
this is because we have a lot of questions. How do you answer
John 3.16? Somebody comes up to you and says, well, John 3.16
says this. How do you answer that? Alright,
now we just read 1 John 2.19. This is 1 John 2.2. It says this, And He is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world." 1 John 2.2. He's the propitiation for our
sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world. Alright, now I have a reference
right there. I've got a margin in my Bible and I have a reference
to John chapter 11. And John chapter 11 verses 51
and 52 says this, This spake he not of himself,
that's talking about a man named Caiaphas. This spake he not of
himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that
Jesus should die for that nation, the nation of Israel, the nation
of the Jews, and not for that nation only, but that also he
should gather together in one the children of God that were
scattered abroad." That's what it says. Scattered. A little here and
a little there. The children of God. He told
some, you're of your father the devil. That's who your father
is. God is not your father. He said,
your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. You don't, because
God is not your father. Abraham was. Right? Well, in the Sermon on the Mount,
He said that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. And He said in John 17, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world. but
for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine." So we
see John 3.16 in the context of Scripture, don't we? We have
to take all of the Scriptures collectively to see what does
He mean for God? So look, the world, right? We see that. Okay, now, to us
who believe, to us who believe, let's enjoy John 3.16 together,
okay? Some of these Scriptures that religion holds to, we can
almost kind of want to, well, you know, John 3.16 is, I love
John 3.16. I love it. I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not. God is love. God is love. An eternity with Him is going
to be an eternity in love. Love. Isn't that wonderful? God is love. God is not hate. He's not. He hates everything that is not
love. He hates everything outside of
God. But God loves love. He loves it. Our text John 3.16 says, For
God so loved. That word so means we will never
be able to measure it. Never. We'll never understand the magnitude
of it. Never. You know, we love lots
of things. We love lots of things. But when your heart is in love,
you know the difference. You remember when you dated some
people and you thought you were in love until love came? There's
a difference. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I'm miserable. Why? I'm in love. It just hurts. In a good way. It's all-consuming. The whole time you're at work,
what are you thinking about? It's all you want. It's all you want. Everything
I thought was important to me, I drop it and move. I'll live in a cardboard box
if I have to. Just give me her. Well, the Lord God has professed
His love to us in the only way that we can fathom it. For God
so loved. Can you imagine that? Even though
I cannot fathom it, I enjoy just trying to think about how much
He loves me. Do you ever just try to think
about, I wonder if I could get a hold of just how much He loves
me. It says right here in verse 16,
for God so loved, loved. Our God has no beginning, no
beginning. I just can't fathom that. You
know, you think, well, I can't put a date on it, but it just
kind of fades out into black. No, I mean, you cannot. You can't fathom it. No beginning. And I don't know how long it
was from never, ever, ever, ever, never beginning until the time
that He made the earth. I don't know how long that was. And I don't know exactly how
long it was from the time He said, ìLet there be light,î till
the time He made man. But I do know that He has loved
me with an everlasting love. I know that. He loved me eternally, way before the foundation of
the world. If I belong to Him, He has never
not known me, and He's never not loved me. Never. Now listen to this. He did not
send His Son in order to love me. He sent His Son because He
loved me. Turn with me over to Romans 5. Romans 5, look at verse 8. But God commendeth His love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians says, even when we
were dead in sins, He quickened us together with Christ. Our text says, For God so loved
the world, this world, fallen man, the angels fell. He didn't love them. He didn't redeem them. The angels,
His angels that were already in glory with Him, they fell. He didn't love them. He loved
the world. And His mercy and His goodness
and love has been extended not only to the Jews up until the
time He came. It was the Jews. They were His
chosen people. And Christ came and He said,
I've got good news. It's not to the Jews only. It's
also to the Greeks. You know what that includes?
The rest of the world. That's everybody else. Every nation, tribe, kindred,
and tongue. And now he says, you go tell
the good news. Go preach the gospel unto all
the world. Verse 16 says in our text, for
God so loved the world that He gave. Now you know, we talk about
man by nature. I always say that. Man by nature,
right? Well, that is God by nature. That's God by nature. He gave. He gives. True love gives. Now, I know beyond the shadow
of a doubt that Irene loves me. I know you do. And I love you. Because every
time I go to her restaurant, when I get there, the salad's
already in the spot. All the dressings are out. And
the whole time I'm eating, Irene's bringing more food. I'm thinking,
you've got to be kidding me. Y'all got enough? Oh, yeah. I
think I might need a box. So she brings a box, and I put
it in there, and we're saying, thanks Irene, we eat for two
days on that. It gives, and it gives, and it
gives. True love gives. How much does love give? All
of it. I'll give you all of it. Every
bit of it. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, the Son that was always His delight. He gave the most precious thing
He had. He gave what was of infinite
value. God spared not the highest gift,
His only begotten Son. What He actually gave was His
other self. That's what He gave. Our Lord
said, I and my Father are one. When He gave His Son, He gave
Himself. He gave His all. Just listen
to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2 verses 6-8 says,
"...who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Greater
love hath no man than this, that he lay down his own life for
his friend. That's amazing. Amazing love. How can it be? Why would he do that? We know,
we say it all the time, everything He does is on purpose. Why would
He do that? What was His purpose in that?
Our text, John 3.16 says, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish. That was the purpose. All of God's people are not going
to perish. They're not. It's not going to
happen. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now how can you tell who He's
done this for? It's not the whole world, right? How can you tell who He's done
this for? They believe in Him. They believe in Him. You know,
that sounds so simple. All you got to do is believe.
Men don't, do they? They could even say they do,
but they don't. They don't. Only God's people
believe in Him. All who believe in Him are recipients
of mercy and grace. Verse 16 says, For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish. That's mercy. That's mercy. Not getting what I deserve. That's mercy. But look at this, it says they're
going to have everlasting life. Everlasting life. I can't fathom that. I just can't
fathom that. Never gonna die? Everlasting
life? What a benefit of God's love.
That's the benefit of God's love. It's the grace of God. The mercy
and the grace of God. John said, Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us. Isn't that wonderful? Thanks be to God. Stand together
with me.