In John chapter 3 in verse 16,
I'll read from there through verse 21. We'll focus on verses
17 and 18 tonight. John 3, 16, 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. He that believeth on him
is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. And this is the condemnation.
or this is the reason for the condemnation, that light has
come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light. because their deeds were evil.
For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither comes
to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that
doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God, or worked out in God, worked
out by God. So this is a great comfort to
us. If you look at the last verse there, looking ahead to next
week, that the works that believers that God looks upon and are accepted
for the believers are the works that God works out. And He works
in them His work, too. So all of that is very comforting,
and we'll go into that more next time. But let's look at verse
17. But beginning in verse 16, I want to first look at this
word world. Now it turns out the word world
here, and I've been through some studies on this in the past and
it bored me to tears, but the word world here, I just want
to point out here in John chapter 3, is the same word that is in
the original translated world throughout here. So it's not
like there are different words for the word world that we see
here in the King James Version. It's just the word world. But
if you look at verse 16, it says, For God so loved the world. In
verse 17, it says, God sent not his Son into the world, And then
in verse 17 again, it says, he didn't send him into the world
to condemn the world. And then in verse 18, he says,
or actually in verse 17 also, it says, but that the world through
him might be saved. And then in verse 19, this is
the condemnation that light has come into the world. All those
are the same word. So it's not like you could say,
well, maybe he means this because he used a different word and
he means that with another word, they're all the same word. And
that was the point I wanted to make here. And if you look into
a tool that I use sometimes, it's called the Blue Letter Bible.
It's free software. You can get it online. Just look
online. And it works with any browser, so it's very helpful.
But if you look in there, there's about seven, perhaps more, meanings
that are given to the word world. So the same word translated as
world can have at least seven different shades of meaning.
We have words like that in English, and I'll let you think about
them, but if you look in the dictionary, just about any word
has more than one meaning in the dictionary, and so it is
in the Bible. The word world can mean different
things. Well, what that tells us then
is that we can't, by looking at the word world, decide what
is really truly meant by the word by itself. And I have made
that mistake in the past where you take a single word and look
it up wherever it's used in the Bible and try to figure out how
that word is used and therefore establish doctrine. And Don Fortner
advised against doing that to establish doctrine, but always
in its wise counsel to refer to the context. and also refer
to the outer context of both the book that we're reading and
the entire scripture. So, not only taking his advice,
but the advice given to us from scripture itself, that the word
world can have different meanings. I want to point out first of
all, that Jesus came into the world. So he came into the world.
Now we think of the world as a physical place, and that is
what it means. We think of the world as the
earth and the atmosphere and all that's in the world, the
seas and the land and the animals and so on. But that's really
not what's meant here. He's not talking so much about
the physical animal plant world as much as it is the world of
men. So it says in Galatians chapter 4 verse 4, when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman,
made under the law, And so God prepared, God the Father, prepared
a body for His Son. The Son of God was born as a
man, and that is how He came into the world. He says this
in John 16, verse 28, I came forth from the Father and am
come into the world. So there you have the word used
in John 16, verse 28. He's talking about coming into
the world as a man, being born, the Son of God incarnate, enfleshed. It says in John 1, verse 14,
the Word was made flesh. That was coming into the world.
So to continue reading in John 16, verse 28, he said, I came
forth from the Father and am come into the world. Again, I
leave the world and go to the Father. So it's pretty clear
from John 16, 28, that Jesus coming into the world is the
same as he says here in John 3, 17, that God sent not his
Son into the world. So that's the coming into the
world, coming in as a man, born as a man under the law and among
men, living among men, being born as a baby, growing up to
full manhood. So in Ephesians chapter 1 verse
5 it says that God has predestinated his children to the adoption
of children or predestinated his elect to the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ and that the Lord Jesus in Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 14 was a partaker of flesh and blood. So this is
the way the Son of God came into the world. We think of it as,
you know, we've seen movies, we know what outer space is like,
so we think that he traveled from some distant place in the
universe into the world, but that's not the way it was. The
universe is in God. God is bigger than the universe.
So coming into the world required the son of God to lower himself
and to take on flesh and blood. So that's what this means. So
thus, I'm looking at the top of page two in the handout, into
the physical world of mankind the son of God came. The word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. He was born, he grew from
a baby into manhood. He spoke God's word to men. He
revealed God in his own person, Jesus of Nazareth. That's who
God is, as He revealed Him in His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, and
in His own words, and in His own works. Now, I mention those
three things, His words, His works, His own person, as the
revelation of God, because that's what a prophet does. If you remember
the Old Testament, and it's more prominent that a prophet would
speak how? by speaking His words. But also
it's true that God spoke through the prophet by what the prophet
experienced in his life. And so we have all kinds of things. Moses, for example, was a prophet.
And remember, he used his rod. He smote the water and it was
turned to blood. He smote the Red Sea and it was
parted. He smote the rock, water came
out. He did all kinds of things. He not only spoke a word, but
God used his actions to convey the message. And that's significant
because the actions that Jesus did also conveyed the message
that he was bringing from God, the Father. His word and his
works convey the message and that message of who God is. and
especially his work that he experienced in our redemption. He accomplished
our redemption. That speaks to us who God is. So I'm looking again near the
top of page two, that as a prophet, He spoke and lived the message
God gave to him, making known God in God's character, in his
will and his word and by his work. And so we have it throughout
scripture that Jesus was said to be the prophet who would come
into the world, and he did. So he came into the world as
a man, grew up from babyhood to manhood and he spoke God's
word as God's son. He is the one, it says in Hebrews
1 chapter 1 verse 2, through whom God has spoken in these
last days. In these last days God has spoken to us in or by
his son. But He especially has spoken
to us in His sufferings and His death, and in His teaching, His
doctrine about His sufferings and His death. And this is what
we're reading about in John chapter 3. The doctrine of Christ crucified. Right? This is the truth that
the Lord Jesus revealed coming into the world. So we learn of
God the Father by him, as he says in John 14, chapter 14,
verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
comes to the Father but by me. The disciples asked him, if you
will show us the Father, that'll be enough for us. And he said,
have I been so long time with you and you haven't known me?
If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. This is God the Son
coming into the world. So in this first sense, the world
means more than just the universe, more than just the physical Earth,
And the world, it means those things, but more specifically,
he came into the world of mankind as a man in order to redeem his
people. So that's the second, that's
the first meaning here in John 3, verse 17, where it says, God
sent not his son into the world. And secondly, the context of
John chapter 3 verses 16 through 19, and within that use there
of the word world, there are those who are said to be, if
you'll look at them with me in John chapter 3 verse 16, for
God so loved the world, so they're said there are some in the world
who are loved, And some would teach that means everybody in
the world, but let's go on. He says, there are those who,
I'm sorry, in verse 16, there are those who are loved of God.
There are those who are saved in verse 17. Notice it says,
he didn't come to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. And then in the rest of it, in
verse 15, for example, there are those who believe on the
Son of God. Verse 16 says that whosoever
believeth in Him. Verse 16, whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish. And in verse 18, he that believeth
on Him. So all these places where it
says believe, there are those who are loved of God, saved,
believe on Him. And then in verse 18, there are
those in the world who are not condemned. And if I turn to page
three in the handout, it also goes on to point out that there
are those who do not perish, in verse 16, whoever believes
on the sun should not perish. And then also in verses 15, 16,
and 36, there are those who have been given everlasting life. So loved of God, believing the
sun, saved, not perishing, not condemned, given everlasting
life. There are those in the world.
But notice, within the same world in these verses that I just brought
out, there are those who are not believing. There are those
who are condemned, those who do perish, those who do not have
everlasting life. For example, look at verse 36.
He says, he that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the sun
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now, we
can only conclude that those people spoken of there are representative
of all the people in the world. Some do not believe and perish. They do not have life. They don't
have spiritual life. They do not have everlasting
life. And they're condemned by God. They're under the wrath
of God. Meanwhile, there are those who are loved of God, saved,
who do believe, who do not perish, are not condemned, and are given
everlasting life. And then, if you look, and I'm
still looking at page three, at the second bullet on page
three, in the broader scope of the Gospel of John, Jesus is
said to be the bread of life who gave his life for the world. If I were to read those verses
that I mentioned there, John 6 and verse 33, I'll read that,
it says, For the bread of God, Jesus said, the bread of God
is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the
world. And then also in verse 51 of
the same chapter, John 6, 51, Jesus said, I am the living bread
which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Okay, well think about this now.
Since Jesus, this is the third bullet on the page three of the
handout, since Jesus came to do the will of God, and I list
a lot of references there, let me just make a couple mentions
of them. In Psalm 40, he says, I delight to do thy will, O God,
yea, thy law is within my heart. And that's explained in Hebrews
10, that it was the will of God that his son would come into
the world and offer himself as a sacrifice. And by that offering
as a sacrifice, he would sanctify his people as the high priest,
their high priest. And he accomplished that will.
John 4.34, the reference says 5.34, it should say 4.34. In that text of scripture, Jesus
said, it is my meat to do the will of him that sent me and
to finish his work. And you can go through those
references and you'll see that Jesus emphasizes that it was
his father's will Since a child, in Luke 2.49, he said to his
parents, Joseph and Mary, he said, don't you know I must be
about my father's business? And so throughout these references
here, you'll see that Jesus' work was to do his father's will.
And so, doing the will of God, And that will, as I just read
in John 6, verse 33 and 51, was his father's will, and it included,
it was specifically, and most pointedly, it was to give his
life for the life of the world. That's why he came. So he knew
And he knows at all times what the will of God is, right? And
he always knows what he's going to do, right? Remember on Sunday,
when he asked Philip, what are we going to do to feed all these
people? It says right after that, for he himself knew what he would
do. So he always knows what he's
going to do at all times. And he always does his father's
will. And all that God does is according to his own will. The
counsel of his own will is all that guides him. Therefore, since
he came to give his life for the life of the world, and that
only some in the world have eternal life and are raised again according
to the will of God, and I'll read the verse about that, therefore
the word world in some cases in the scriptures must refer
to those given to Christ and therefore believe on the Son
of God and are given eternal life, whereas in other cases
those in the world are already condemned and perishing and not
given everlasting life. Let me read this in John chapter
6. In verse 37, he says, all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. That's the life. That's the eternal
life. And he goes on, and this is the
will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son
and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. Therefore, when we read verse
51 of the same chapter, and he says, I am the living bread which
came down from heaven. If any man eat this bread, he
shall live forever. The bread that I will give is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. He's talking
about the same context, isn't he? those who are given life,
those for whom he laid down his life, those he gives himself
in laying down his life to by faith eat and drink of him and
therefore live, that's the world he came to save. In other words,
the word world here when used by Jesus Christ in this context,
in John chapter 3, referring to their salvation, their faith,
not perishing, not being condemned, given everlasting life, has to
refer to God's elect, the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
therefore they believe, therefore they're born of God and given
this everlasting life. This is the Father's will, this
is the will Christ came to do, this is the will He knew He would
do, and that's what He's talking about to Nicodemus here in these
verses in John 3, verses 16 through 19. All right, I want to look at
the last bullet on the bottom of page three of the handout. And I admit that I modified the
handout after I sent it out because I had extra time, since I had
to send it out in time. So I apologize. I will put an
updated copy for you. When I upload the sermon to Sermon
Audio, you can get it from there. But anyway, at the bottom of
page three, you may be off. But the people here locally have
an updated copy. As God promised Abraham, remember
what God's promise was to Abraham? He called him out of Ur the Chaldee.
Remember, out of Chaldees? And what did he say to him shortly
after that? He said to him, in thee and in
thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed. Remember
that? That was right out of Genesis chapter 12 verse 3. And in Acts
7, Stephen, he said in his sermon there that this was God's call
to Abraham even before he left his land in Ur of the Chaldees.
So God told him this, and in Galatians 3 that is explained
to us that was God preaching the gospel to Abraham. What was
the gospel? In thee shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. In thee and in thy seed, Christ.
So what is that blessing? Well, Galatians 3 tells us it
was the blessing of justification by the blood and righteousness
of Christ. It was the blessing of the Spirit of God given to
those who were so justified. In Galatians 3, 13 and 14, it
says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles. The blessing of the Spirit might be poured out on
the Gentiles. And then in Galatians 3 he goes
on to show that the blessings given to Abraham include all
those blessings and they're all given to all who believe Christ. So what God said to Abraham,
in thee, Abraham, and in thy seed, Christ, all the families
of the earth shall be blessed. What is he saying there? He's
saying the same thing Jesus is teaching here. He's telling us
that God so loved the world, the world of all the families
of the earth, not every individual, but everyone in Christ, chosen
in Christ, given to Christ, therefore believing Christ as Abraham.
Okay, does that make sense? They are the justified, the redeemed,
those given the same inheritance as Abraham, all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, as it says in Ephesians 1.3 and following. Or like in 2 Timothy 1.9, who
he has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Therefore,
what God said to Abraham, According to Galatians 3, is the same thing
he says to all of his people and that was given before the
world began to us in Christ. And it was spoken to Abraham,
recorded and explained throughout the rest of scripture. And that's
what Jesus is talking. He's not introducing a new doctrine
here. He's explaining the scriptures. He's explaining these fundamental
things spoken to Abraham now to Nicodemus, who claimed to
be a child of Abraham, a son of Abraham, in the nation of
Israel, but he didn't understand the promise. The promise was
not to the physical nation of the Jews. It was to all the families
of the earth blessed in Christ, therefore called the world that
God loved, the world that God blessed with faith, the world
that God saved, the world God did not condemn because they
were chosen in Christ and considered in Christ from before the foundation
of the world. And therefore they were given
eternal life, everlasting life, all the blessings of God God
gave to Abraham. So I encourage you to read that
bullet on page 4. But just as Abraham had two sons,
and remember his two sons, there was Ishmael first and then Isaac.
Ishmael was born from Hagar. He was the son of what? He was
the son of the bondwoman. Isaac was born of Sarah. He was
the son of the free woman. And the free woman in Galatians
chapter 4 represents what? The Church of God. The Jerusalem
which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. But
Hagar represents the mother, or the city of Jerusalem on earth,
which is the religious world. And all who come to God are trying
to come to God by their works. That's what God explains. Ishmael
and Isaac ask. It's a deep explanation, a deep
meaning by those two boys, but that's the way God did it. He
arranged scripture and history to teach this to us. And he teaches
the same thing through Esau and Jacob, two boys, two sons, actually
twins to the same parents, Isaac and Rebekah. So just as Abraham
and Sarah, or Abraham had two sons, one by Hagar, one by Sarah,
and only one was chosen, one was a son of promise, the other
one was not a son of promise, he was a bond son. And Isaac
had two sons. One was Esau, who was hated,
and one was Jacob, who was loved. And just as Adam and Eve had
Cain and Abel, and Abel was accepted by God because of the sacrifice,
and Cain was rejected because he envied and hated and killed
his brother. Therefore, God is showing us in these cases that
there are always two cultures, two groups of people throughout
time and history in the world. And Christ came, according to
Scripture, throughout Scripture consistently. He redeemed us
out of every kindred, tribe, every tongue, people, and nation. Revelation 5, verse 9. Remember? So those are the things we see
from Scripture. Not every person. but every child
of promise, everyone chosen in Christ and given to Christ. And
as I pointed out on Sunday, we might think ourselves, what about
me? And I just want to mention this in passing. What about me?
Because this is a question we all have or should have. What
about me? Am I one of the elect? How do
I know I was predestinated to eternal life, ordained to eternal
life, given to Christ? How do I know that? Ephesians
2.8, what does it say? For by grace you are saved through
what? through faith, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So faith is the evidence that we're saved. It's the means by
which we come to the understanding and persuasion of what Christ
has done, and resting our all on Christ is evidence that God's
Spirit has given us life, given us life. All right? Now, on page
five, in the first bullet on page five, So it was of the elect
who, according to God's predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge, were
loved from everlasting. That's who was loved from everlasting.
Jeremiah 31.3, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I what? Drawn thee. Who are drawn? Those who are loved. Who come? Those who are drawn. Who does
Jesus not cast out? All the Father gives to Him.
Who come to Him? Why do they come? Because they're
drawn of the Father, taught of the Father. So it was the elect
who were, by the predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, were loved from everlasting and loved to the end. John 13,
verse 1, Jesus says there, having loved his own. having loved his
own, he loved them to the end. And that's true of all of God's
people. That's why he says those things in scripture, as a comfort
to all believers. It's not said specifically of
Jacob. Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated, because God wanted to just set these boys forth
and say, yeah, I love one of these guys, and I hated the other
one. He's teaching us a very fundamental and broad principle.
This is true of all of God's elect. All who are in heaven
at the end were elected by God and loved by God from eternity.
And all the rest were not. They were hated. And God says
in Romans 9, verses 11 through 13, the reason He did this is
so that it might not be by works, but that it might be by grace.
And aren't you thankful that it's by grace? Because if it's
not of grace, none of us can be saved. But because it is of
grace, all of God's elect shall be saved. By grace means it depends
on Christ alone, God's power, not our goodness or our strength. So let me re-read some of this
now in the first bullet on the top of page five. It was of the
elect who, according to God's predetermined counsel and foreknowledge,
were loved from everlasting, loved to the end, and loved of
God the Father in Christ as his adopted children, who were adopted
by Christ, and that the world, I'm sorry, that, quote, the world
refers in general to these people. But it is of the elect Gentile
world, in particular, that Jesus is referring to in John 3.16-17. Now, let me re-read John 3.16-17. 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. For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. Why do you say then that
in particular, specifically, Jesus is referring to the Gentile
elect here in verses 16 and 17? Why do you make that claim? Well,
as I just mentioned, God's promise to Abraham said what? In thee
and in thy seed, Christ, shall all the families of the earth
be blessed. There was only one family. That
was called the nation of Israel. That was just considered one
family. It was the family of Jacob, the children of Israel.
But there were 12 tribes and so on and that. But in the earth
itself, across the whole world, there's lots of tongues, lots
of nations and people, kindred, so on. So he's talking about
them because according to John Gill, and I read what he wrote
from these Jewish writers, these Jewish theologians, they believed
that when Christ came, he was going to deliver the Jews from
their worldly oppressors like Pharaoh and the Babylonians and
so on, but he was also going to destroy the Gentiles because
they were obviously their enemies. And so when Jesus speaks this
to Nicodemus, it completely knocks him off of his theological horse,
doesn't it? Because he thought that he was
somehow privileged by his race or by his genealogy. But it wasn't so. You're not
born again by blood or by the will of man or by the will of
the flesh. You're born of God, of God, of
God's will. And so it's showing us that just
like Jesus explained in John 6 where we were Sunday, everyone
who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of Man lives. It's not just the nation of Israel.
They ate the manna and died because they ate it in unbelief. But
anyone who eats in faith, whether Jew or Gentile, they live. But
the point here is that in casting the net over the Gentiles as
those who were also loved of God, not all Gentiles, not all
Jews, but the Gentiles specifically who were loved of God, he's taking
man's pride and he's shoving it down into the dust. so that
no one can stand before God and say, it was because of me. It wasn't. It was all because
of God's grace. And this is the teaching of scripture.
This is the reason, I think, that the Jews killed Christians
in the beginning. They hated this message. Look
at the book of Galatians. They wanted to circumcise the
Galatians, who were Gentiles, just so they could call them
Jews. They put them under their own rule. and this is throughout
the New Testament, because this tension between works religion
and grace, salvation by Christ, whether it be over circumcision,
or the Jews' religion, or some other religion, like the free
works religion of our day, it's always the issue. Okay? So, God is going to save the
Gentile elect, and that's the teaching of John 3, 16 and 17. So notice at the bottom of page
five, last bullet, for all these people the Lord loved and sent
his son to save. All these, the father delivered
up and did not spare his son. Remember Romans 8.32? If God
has not spared His Son but delivered Him up for us all, therefore,
seeing God the Father would so love and give Christ for them,
what does He say? What's the conclusion in Romans
8.32? Therefore, He shall without fail give all things to them
with Christ. Now that, that is grace, isn't
it? Giving to us what Jesus Christ
earned. It makes us say, wonder, is it
even possible that that's true? Unbelievable. Yeah, it is unbelievable
because God said it and we in our pride think we have to have
a contribution to make here. We can't find any comfort if
it's all of grace. We can only find comfort somehow
if we've done some small part in it. And that's the reason
we don't have assurance, is because we can't see it's all of grace.
But when God gives us this eyes to see that it's all of grace,
all because of Christ, all because of what God has done in him,
then we can have complete assurance. It's not of me, therefore I can
look to Christ. I have warrant from God's word
to trust Christ for everything. Okay? So, these elect, these
redeemed, they're not condemned. Why? Why are we not condemned? Jesus said in John 3.17, For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved. Why are we not condemned?
Well, let me read it to you in Romans chapter 8. He says these
words, I know they're familiar to you, but I have to read these
things over and over again because they're so good and to confirm
what we claim. Romans 8 verse 1, therefore,
there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
What does it mean to have no condemnation? It means to be
justified. It means to be declared by God
righteous in His sight, to be accepted in the presence of His
glory without fault. That's what it means to be justified.
That is glorious. Look at verse 34. Who is he that
condemneth? Remember, Jesus is in the presence
of his enemies. They bring a woman taken in the
act of adultery. They set her in the midst, and
they begin to accuse Jesus. What are you going to do? Moses
said, we've got to stone her. What do you say? And you know
this. End of the story. He says what he says. He writes
what he writes. And they all leave, except the
woman. And he says to the woman, where
are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? Notice
how the master, teacher, Ask the question so he can draw a
point on the conclusion, the answer. Neither do I condemn
thee. What a wonderful claim. Romans
8.34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Is he
going to condemn one for whom he died? Ask yourself that question. Is the Lord Jesus Christ going
to condemn one for whom he died? What does this text of scripture
say here? It raises the question, the Spirit
of God for us, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that
died. Okay, that answers it, doesn't
it? It's enough. Yea rather, let's go further.
That is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God and
who also makes intercession for us. He's not going to condemn
those for whom he advocates, for whom he makes intercession.
When they have no strength and they're sinful in themselves,
he goes to the father bearing their case. They have no strength.
They have no reason for boasting, no goodness to bring. And he
pleads for them. And he offers himself, not offering
himself again, but he presents himself, having offered his blood
at Calvary, and now his blood having been accepted, he brings
it again to remembrance. Isn't that what Isaiah 43, 26
says? He says, as I mentioned in the bulletin last week, put
me in remembrance. That's what our intercessor does.
He brings to God, and he can't help but remember, God can't
forget, but it's for our comfort. He draws these pictures for us.
The Lord Jesus there on the right hand of God pleading for us,
neither shall God condemn us because he's the one who justified
us. Okay? So, they're not condemned. Romans,
I'm sorry, John chapter 3, verse 17. God sent his son into the
world, did not send him to condemn the world, but that the world
through him might be saved. That's the reason they're saved. That's
the reason they're not condemned, because Christ died for them.
But there's something else that's being said here. At his first
coming, the Lord Jesus didn't condemn the world, did he? There
were reasons for condemning the world. But he didn't condemn
them then. Remember, the religious Jews, the Scribes
and the Pharisees were constantly trying to find fault in his words
and his actions. They were looking for something.
They hated him without a cause. And he concludes these words
in John chapter 15. Let me just read them to you.
He said, if I had not spoken, if I had not come, verse 22,
John chapter 15, if I had not come and spoken to them, they
had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin.
He that hates me hates my father also. If I had not done among
them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin,
but now they have both seen and hated. both me and my father,
and this comes to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that
is written in their law. They hated me without a cause."
There it is. They deserved to be condemned,
didn't they? But Jesus says, I didn't come
to bring the world under the judgment of their condemnation
at that time. He says in Matthew 18, verse
11, the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
That's why he came the first time. But he's coming again,
and then he will judge the world in righteousness. Remember Acts
17? The Apostle Paul spoke to those
at Mars Hill. He says, there's coming a day
when God is going to judge the world by that man, the one he
sent. But at this time, in his first
coming, no. At the second coming, yes, that's when the judgment
will fall. But at his first coming, what
is he coming to do? Look at verse 17, John 3, 17.
Not to condemn, but that the world through him might be saved.
All in the world, given to Christ, the children of promise, the
elect of God, committed to him, those drawn by the Father, coming
to Christ, he will not cast out, he will save them. He was given
this commandment by his Father to lay down his life for the
sheep. So what do we learn here about the love of God? I'm in
the middle of page 6. We learn, as I mentioned last time, that
God's love is saving. He came to save, right? God's
love is redeeming. He says in Ephesians chapter
1 how he chose us in Christ and he made us accepted in the Beloved. The loved one, that's Christ,
we're accepted in him, and then he says right after that in verse
seven that we were forgiven our sins by the redeeming blood of
Christ. All those things are together. Third, God's love is
eternal. In its commencement, when it
began, it was from eternity. And the objects of God's love
never change. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end. And he says in Romans chapter
8, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. He doesn't separate us for our
sins. That's the reason Christ came,
to save us from our sins. That's the big enemy. and he
doesn't save us, nothing can separate us from his love outside
of us, not the angels, not the devils, not the world, not the
present life we're in, not the future life, not life, nor death,
not anything, not troubles, not temptations, not persecutions,
not nakedness, not peril, not sword, nothing. Even death itself
and the grave will prove to serve Christ's purpose to save his
people because he will give them the victory over death and the
grave. And so also, I'm on page seven
now of the handout, God's Love is Unchanging, in its degree. I mentioned this, I think, in
the handout at our last Bible study, but I don't think we got
to it. Think about this. The love God
has revealed to his people before their conversion, in the degree
of that love, which is greater? That love, the revelation of
that love, or the revelation of his love after our conversion? John Gill raised this question
in a sermon he preached a long time ago. I've learned a lot
from it. Think about the revelation of God's love before our conversion.
And that's what I've captured here, some of those things that
come to mind. God's love to us before our conversion,
it's at the highest possible level. And because God's love
never changed, we expect that. His love before our conversion,
unlike our love for the people we love, was just the same as
it was after our conversion. And we might think, well, If
that's the case, then there's no reason in us for the love
of God. And we would be thinking right by thinking that, because
there is no reason in us for the love of God. It's always
in Himself. But notice what is true about His love, the revelation
of His love for us before our conversion. In the middle of
page seven, we were chosen in Christ. We were adopted by God
the Father as His sons before the foundation of the world.
There was a kingdom prepared for us before the foundation
of the world, and as the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world, Christ was given in sacrifice to redeem us from our
sins before time began. We were also predestinated Remember, in Romans 8, verse
29, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. And those
he predestinated, then he also called. Those he called, he justified
and glorified. All that was done in the past.
Because those words there are all used in the past. Glorified? It hasn't happened yet. But remember,
God calls those things which be not as though they were. So
it is in God's purpose. We were justified, glorified,
all before the world began. And God made a covenant, an eternal
covenant with us in Christ before. Think about these things, promises.
everlasting, unchanging, unfailing, spiritual, heavenly blessings
of eternal life, being chosen in Christ, given to Christ, clothed
in His righteousness, washed in His blood, given all things
with Christ, sons of God, the Spirit of God given to us, God
Himself our God, by covenant relation, all these things, intimate,
we were called the body of Christ. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. He purchased the church with
his own blood. All these things are spoken of us, even before
our conversion. So if God so loved us then, he
argues from that point, if he loved us then, how will he not
also love us now, in life and in death? His love can't fail.
Nothing can stop it. God is love. As he cannot change,
as he is holy, so his love cannot change, so his love is holy.
Okay, I'm looking on page eight now. He gave us his spirit, all
these things. The second thing, not the second,
but another thing I've listed here in the middle of page eight
about God's love is that he is giving, he's giving, giving,
giving, giving. God gave himself in covenant
relation to his people. He called us his children, he
made us his father by Jesus Christ before the world began. He gave
Himself as our God. He said, I will be a God to you.
You will be my people. He gave His Son for us. And He
also delivered Him up for us. He gave. And Christ gave Himself.
The Apostle Paul said, the Son of God who loved me and gave
Himself for me. The Son of God. He doesn't just
say the Son of Man, which would be enough. But the Son of God
loved me and gave himself for me. And he gave us his spirit,
and he gives us eternal life. He gives us a kingdom that he
prepared for us before the foundation of the world. He orders everything
in our life for our good and to his glory. And he even turns
the evil into good and for our salvation. This is God giving,
isn't it? And on the bottom of page eight,
God's love is without repentance. He doesn't give and regret it. God never regrets one thing he
ever did. The lady told Charles Spurgeon,
it's a good thing God chose me before I was born, because if
he had not chosen me before I was born, he never would have chosen
me. Well, that's the way that people think of it, but that's
not the way God thinks of it. He sees everything from eternity,
and that's the way it is. He never has any regrets. He
never loses anything. We think, well, we messed things
up for God when we sinned and therefore we somehow thwarted
His purposes and He had to change course and direction in order
to set things right. No, He didn't. This was always
His plan. He didn't lose anything. It was
always His intention to restore what we by our sinning took away
more than restore it by the Lord Jesus Christ." That's what Psalm
69, verse 4 says. I restored that which I took
not away. The law said don't steal. We stole. Christ put it
back and more. He restored it back like Zacchaeus,
more than fourfold. He restored it all. Like David's
men, they chased after those heathens who came to Ziklag.
The Malachi's came to Ziklag and stole their wife and children
and all their goods. And the Lord said, you shall
surely bring back. And they brought back everything.
Nothing was lost. Everything was restored. OK? Now, the other thing we see in
Scripture on top of page 8 is that He made an everlasting covenant
with Christ and with us as our covenant head. And notice the
things God calls His people in Scripture. He calls them His
sheep, His church, His people, His children, His chosen generation
or chosen nation. He calls us his near kinsmen,
all these things, and then he says he laid his life down for
these people, his sheep. He purchased his church with
his own blood. He gave himself for his people, those he loved,
and seen all these things that God did before our conversion.
We know that his love in its degree doesn't change, has no
end to its duration. It goes on forever and ever,
and we will spend eternity learning the love of God. The Apostle
Paul even prays in Ephesians chapter 3 that we might know
the love that passes knowledge. Remember Ephesians 3 around verse
17? That's an amazing thing and the
Apostle prayed for it. In 1 John 4, I'm going to read
this to you, 1 John chapter 4. He says this, these are comforting
words. Notice in your own experience,
who are those that you gravitate toward in life? Well, you say,
well, I gravitate towards the athlete, the hero guys, you know,
that army guys. Nobody can really hurt him, you
know, he's so strong and tough and he'll go into any battle.
That's the guy I want to be like him. But when you really get
it down and draw the string tight, you gravitate towards those who
love you. Notice this in 1 John 4, verse
16, it says, We have known and believed the love that God has
to us. And how do we know it? Well,
in verse 9 he says this, And this was manifested, the love
of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through him and hear in
his love. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Now, so it's all about the atoning
work of Christ. That's the love of God towards
us. But here in verse 16, he says, we've known this and we
believe this, the love of God he has to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth in love
dwells in God and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because
as he is, so are we in this world. There's no fear in love. Perfect
love casts out fear because fear has torment. He that feareth
is not made perfect in love, but we love him because he first
loved us. So here we see that God's love
to us gives us the greatest confidence and assurance, doesn't it? If
He loved us and gave His Son for us when we were yet sinners,
made propitiation, satisfying His own justice, taking away
His wrath by removing our sins before His face and perfecting
us in the sanctifying work of the Lord Jesus Christ before
we were ever born, and had nothing to do with it, how can God's
love ever fail? Okay, let's go on. We don't have
much time here to continue this, but you can read this. I'll send
out the updated copy and I'll let you read this. I want to
think of some conclusions, though, on page 9, which I may not have
gotten to all of you. I don't remember which parts
of this I changed later, but on page 9, think of the conclusion
that would result if the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for
those who ultimately perish who are ultimately condemned and
who are not given everlasting life. Think of the results, the
conclusion that we would have to face if this were the truth
of the way things are, as is mostly claimed throughout the
world today, that God loved the world. People will say, the best
verse in the Bible is that God loved the world. dot, dot, dot,
you know. That's the part they focus on.
So we want to focus on that. What would the conclusion be?
Well, here's one, and I didn't think of this on my own, but
I've heard it and it rings true. If God loves everyone and if
Christ died for everyone, then what difference did the love
of God or the death of Christ make between those who were saved
and those who perish? If God's love is the same and
Christ died for all equally, And if the Spirit of God calls
all people through the preaching of the gospel, then what difference
did all those things make in the conversion of those or those
who are saved from those who perish? We would have to say,
we'd have to conclude, wouldn't we, that the difference had to
be found in the person, something they did, something inherent
in them. But nothing could be further
from the truth. According to scripture, no flesh shall glory
in his presence. So if God's love isn't distinguishing
then it's not enough to save sinners, because sinners have
not within them what's needed to save themselves. It has to
be distinguishing. And secondly, here's another
conclusion, if God loved all and Christ loved all the same
and died for all the same, why even mention his love? and his
purchase of blood, of the church, or of the sheep, or of his people,
or of his own, or his brethren, his children, his nation, his
redeemed. Why even talk about a distinguishing characteristic?
Why even talk about those who are called of the Lord, if there's
no difference, if God loves everyone the same? That's a conclusion
we have. Why would there even be a statement
like this in the Bible? Unto him who loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. If there was no difference in
God's love, there would be no reason for distinguishing, would
there? It says in John 11 that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and
Lazarus. But if he loved everybody, why
mention that? Well, of course he loves them. They're just like
everybody else to him. He loves everybody the same.
No, he doesn't. He specifically loved them. And
that's why his love for them was precious. If your wife said,
honey, I love you, but she loves every other man, what good is
that? Or the converse is true. If you told your wife, I love
you, but you love every other woman equally, she's not going
to have any value for your love. And she's not going to trust
your love either. But the Lord Jesus Christ loved the Church
and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and purify
and present it to Himself, a glorious Church. Who are those presented
to Christ? the church. Why are they presented
to him glorious? Because he gave himself for them.
So it has to be distinguishing. And the third thing is, is if
God knows all of his works from before the foundation of the
world, and if he prepared a kingdom for those and gave them that
kingdom in the end, then he must have known from the beginning
those who would be saved in the end. So that At the end of time,
those who are standing before the Lord Jesus Christ on his
right hand are no surprise to him, because known unto God are
all his works from the foundation of the world, and he works all
things according to the counsel of his own will, and he prepared
a kingdom for them. So there's no surprise to the
Lord Jesus Christ that he actually was successful, is there? that
God the Father's will was actually done because He gave it to His
Son to do it, He isn't going to fail. No, He gives eternal
life to all those that He ordained to eternal life, and therefore
He gives them faith, and He works that grace in them. And so I'm
going to stop there.