Let's open the scriptures to
the book of John, chapter 3. It's good to be back with you
and to see your untanned faces. I do like nice sunshine, warmth. It's delightful. But, you know,
we have to put up with the cooler weather. But you didn't have
cold weather while we were gone. And so that was good. We had
a great trip. Really, really a great trip. And I'll give you an update this
coming Lord's Day about the trip. But let's get to work here this
evening in John chapter 3. And this is the subject God so
loved the world. In chapter 3 and verse 14, we
see the Savior lifted up to die. He said to Nicodemus, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. He had to be lifted up to die.
God's eternal purpose ordained it. Our sinful condition required
it. He had to die. If God's going
to be just and justify the ungodly, the Savior had to be lifted up
as our substitute as the sacrifice for sin in order to give Himself
a ransom for us. We get this evening to the 16th
verse. Here's the origin of that death. This is the reason that God sent
His Son. The reason is His love. God's love. We must never think
that the Lord Jesus entered into this world in order to induce
God to love us. To induce God to be favorable
or to be merciful to us. You see, God's always been merciful
to us. He's always been gracious to
us. And He's always loved us. And as to the death, of the Lord
Jesus. The reason He died was not so
God could love us. God already loved us. The reason
He died was because God ordained that He would die and He died
because the Lord in old eternity, He loved us with an everlasting
love. I guess when we look at John
3, 6, John 3.16, we're looking at the most misused, the most
abused verse of the Bible. It reads, 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. And most people, when they look
at this verse, and you know, most people in religion have
memorized this verse. And most people in religion,
they think they know the meaning of this verse. When they look
at it, they believe that God loves everybody. without exception. Most think this sets forth his
universal love, love for everybody. Well, if God loves everybody
who has ever lived, then that love was not successful as far
as those who perish. That is, if you embrace this
doctrine, this actual heretical teaching of universal love, then
you must say that God loves those who have even perished in their
sins. The doctrine of universal love
says that God loves all those who are saved and God loves all
those who perish. God loves all those who wind
up in glory. And God loves all those who wind
up in hell. And they say things like this,
the universalists say things like this, God loves all sinners,
but He hates their sin. And of course the teaching of
universal love goes what we might call hand in hand with universal
redemption. And so many believe those that
God loved, which is all mankind, He sent His Son into the world
to die for them, to die for all mankind. They use as a text of
scripture, they use this one for universal love, they use
one in Hebrews the second chapter for universal redemption. that
the Lord Jesus came into this world and He tested death for
every man. That's the belief of universal
redemption. And then that leads to another
heresy. There's universal love, universal
redemption. Then there's the universal desire
of the Spirit of God to save everybody. And the proof text
for that is 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse number 9. God's not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
And in each of those scriptures, this one for God the Father's
universal love, that one in Hebrews the second chapter for God the
Son's universal redemption, And in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse
9, for God the Spirit's universal desire to save everybody, in
each of these scriptures there is a denial of the context. The 2 Peter chapter 3 passage,
God's not willing that any should perish, that's just a half verse. Because the first part of the
verse says, before he says, God is not willing, it says, God
is merciful, He's long-suffering to us-ward. To us-ward. Who are the us-ward? They're
the beloved of God. Who are the us-ward? They're
the elect of God. As you read in 2 Peter chapter
3, in the first verse, Peter writes to the beloved of the
Lord. He writes to those who are the elect. So the Spirit
of God doesn't desire and He's not endeavoring to save everybody. The Scripture is not saying that
God is not willing that everybody should perish, but that everybody
should come to repentance. That's not what it's saying.
God the Spirit is not willing that any of His elect should
perish. God is not willing, God does
not decree that those who are His beloved from old eternity,
He is not willing that any of them should die in their sins,
but that they would be saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So that passage, if you take
it in the context, in 2 Peter chapter 3, it is not teaching
the universal work or the desire of the Spirit of God. the passage
in Hebrews the second chapter about universal redemption. That
is also taken out of context because as it says a little further
in Hebrews the second chapter, He's writing to those brethren
whom God gave to Him. The Lord Jesus did indeed come
into this world and He did taste death. in its bitterness. He tasted death. He tasted that
death that we ought to partook of forever. He tasted it Himself
and He drank the cup of God's bitter wrath. He drank it dry,
but only for God's elect. Read the context in Hebrews,
the second chapter. He's talking about the brethren.
He's talking about those whom God gave Him. And in this scripture,
this is not teaching the love, the universal love of God the
Father. Even as 2 Peter chapter 3 and
verse 9 is not talking about the universal will of the Spirit
to save everybody or the will of the Spirit to save everybody
in the universe, neither is Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9. about
God the Son's universal work of redemption, it's about specific
redemption, successful redemption, and right here in John chapter
3, this is not God the Father's universal love. What our Lord
is setting forth is that God's love extends beyond the bounds
of Israel. There is the world of God's elect. There are a people in this world
of every nation, every kindred, every tribe and every tongue.
They are the beloved of God. God didn't start loving these
people when the Lord Jesus died for them. The Lord Jesus died
for them because God loved them. The Lord didn't begin to love
these people when the Spirit of God dealt with us in His convincing
grace. The Spirit of God dealt with
us and with these elect in convincing grace because of the love of
God. God has a people in the world. They are the beloved of
the Lord. He has always loved them. There
was nothing within these people to draw God's love. but rather
everything in these people to repel God's love. But God doesn't
love these people because of anything in them or because of
anything done by them. He loves these people because
He willed to love these people. And as God did not love these
people because of anything that they would or would not do, God
never stops loving these people because of something they do
or because of something they do not do. And you and I who
are the recipients of God's saving grace, we indeed find great consolation
in this. What's the evidence of the love
of God as far as our experience is concerned? Well, the evidence
of God's love as to our experience, He brings us to faith. There
is no other way that you can know, there's no way you can
ever be assured that God loves you, and that the Lord Jesus
died for you, and that He paid your debt, and that He brought
in for you everlasting righteousness. There's no way you can be sure
of that except in this way, the Spirit of God brings you to flee
by faith to Jesus Christ as your hope of glory. And if he does
that, you'll know you're the beloved of God. And you'll know Christ Jesus
died for you. I have no right to stand before
a group of people mixed with believers and unbelievers and
say to everybody, God loves you and Jesus died for you. I have
no right to say that. I have nothing in the Scriptures
that leads me to say that. God has not commanded me to say
that. But I can say to God's people.
I can say to those who believe. I can say to those who find sweet
rest for their souls in the Lord Jesus, I can say to those who
washed in His blood and robed in the garments of His righteousness,
I can say to you, the reason the Lord Jesus died for you and
the reason the Spirit of God has come to you in His quickening
grace, you must trace all the way back to this. The love of
God. The love of God. Now there are some people who
as they read the scriptures and being aware that the idea of
universal love brings them into some conflict with many passages
of scripture. They seek to avoid the contradiction
by setting forth a couple of different kinds of love. And
they'll say God has a general love for everybody. And then He has a specific love
for just those who are saved. And they'll take a verse such
as that found in Romans chapter 9, As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. And they will say, well this
is what that really means. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I loved less. Loved less. And they make that distinguishing
mark about God's love. But as you read that scripture
in Romans chapter 9 in verse 13, which is taken from the book
of Malachi, we know this. There are some people God hates. It doesn't say he loved Esau
less. The Bible says, God says, Jacob
have I loved. And if he loved Jacob, At that
point, he'd always loved Jacob, because God is without change.
And if he loved Jacob from old eternity, if he loved Jacob then,
he loved Jacob all the way to the end. John chapter 13, having
loved his own, he loved them to the end. He always loves his
people. And also, if he hated Esau, he
hated him from the beginning. And he hated him in the middle.
And he still hates him. He's never loved him. The Word of God doesn't say he
loved Esau less. As I read the Word of God, I
find that God has a love only for his people. And it's a real
love. It's a true love. It's a saving
love. It's a giving love. And that
hatred that God has is a deserved hatred. Yes, it is. It's a deserved hatred. God loves the people. God hates
the people. Now, I've got a question for
those who believe in God's universal love. And it is simply this. If God loves all men alike, What
does the love of God have to do with salvation? If He loves
everybody who goes to heaven, if He loves everybody who goes
to hell, what does the love of God have to do with salvation
then? If He loves those who die in their sins just as much as
those who are saved from their sins, what significance Does
the love of God have upon this matter of the salvation of a
sinner? And the only obvious answer,
the only logical answer to this, is the love of God really doesn't
have any bearing upon the salvation of a sinner. If He loves just
alike those who are saved and those who perish. Now make no
mistake about it, and I don't want to be misunderstood, and
usually I'm not misunderstood on this. To say that God has
a love for all men without exception is absolute heresy. You don't misunderstand me on
that, do you? It's heresy. Absolute heresy. because it reduces
the love of God to nothing more than a wish or a desire. And understand this, the idea
of universal love and universal redemption and God's will that
all the universe be saved, here's what it really does and here's
the tragedy of it. Here's the great error of it.
Just like all error, it's designed to bring God down and raise man
up. That's all error. What does it
do? It takes away from the glory
of God in salvation and it puts the salvation of sinners into
man's hands. It makes man the deciding factor. It doesn't give any glory to
the love of God because really it makes no difference. The love
of God has no bearing on the salvation of sinners if universal
love is correct. And even the death of the Lord
Jesus, if He died just alike for all the human race, then
what significance, what bearing does His redemptive work have
upon the salvation of any sinner? It doesn't make any difference.
And neither does the work of the Spirit. You see all error
about salvation. All of these lies, these religious
lies, and they all come forth from Satan who is the father
of lies. And then his ambassadors, they
spread the lies. But they're all designed to reduce
the glory of God in salvation and take it away from Him and
put it into the hands of men. God won't allow it. He won't
allow it. Let me give you four things.
I want to make four statements. And after I make these four statements,
and I'm going to go back and I'll give them to you again,
and then I'll give you the corrected statement. You'll see what I'm
talking about in a minute. So I'm having a hard time following
you. Just keep in mind, I lost a night of sleep coming back
Monday. So I still hope I can make it
kind of clear to you. But I didn't get any sleep Monday
night. I traveled all Monday night. So I'm doing without some
Z's. But you stay with me, and I'll
try to stay awake if you'll try to stay awake, okay? Here we
go. Number one, if God loves all, if He loves all men, then
the love of God is absolutely insignificant and meaningless. It means there's no distinction
between God's love for the saved and God's love for the damned. It means God loves the people
who are suffering His wrath in hell. And that He loves them
just as much as He loves those who are enjoying heavenly glories. If you tell me that God loves
all mankind, but when men refuse their love and die in their sins
and go to hell, if you tell me that happens, If you tell me
then God hates them at that point, then you've got a change in God.
So you've got problems either way you look at it. Because the Bible says God doesn't
change. Here's the first statement, if God loves all, then the love
of God is absolutely insignificant and meaningless. Second statement,
if God loves the whole human race and you have to conclude
there's really no omnipotence in the power of God, or the power
of God is not effectual in the love of God to save sinners and
keep them safe. If God loves the whole human
race, you have to conclude there's no power in the love of God to
save sinners or keep them safe. You have to reach that conclusion. What you're saying is the love
of God is impotent. It's just a wish on God's part.
God wants good things for you, but He's powerless to give you
those good things. He has no ability to bring His
will to pass, in other words. His love is nothing but a helpless,
frustrated, defeated, Passion in the love of God. Therefore,
we would rightly say about that kind of God, poor God. Poor God. He loves all people, people who
are perishing in their sins, but His love couldn't bring about
their salvation. His was a love that could only
make salvation a possibility. His love, therefore, has no bearing
upon the salvation of the souls of men. Here's the third statement.
If God loves the damned as well as the saved, there is no comfort,
there is no consolation, there is no rest, there is no relief
for our troubled souls to be found in the love of God. If
He loves everybody just alike, there's no consolation to be
found in the love of God. How can you have any assurance
of your salvation? How can you have any encouragement
in a God whose love is unsuccessful to save all of its objects? And then here's the fourth thing.
If God loves all men alike, there's no motivation to love God ourselves
or to follow Him. You tell me God's love for me
is the same as His love for Cain? You tell me that God's love for
me is the same as His love for those who perished in the blood?
You tell me that God's love for me is the same as His love for
Pharaoh? You tell me that God's love is
the same as His love for Judas? You tell me that God's love for
me is the same as that love which those who are suffering His wrath
are enduring right now? It's the same kind of love? Well
then, God's love doesn't have any bearing on my salvation.
And if I'm saved, I'm going to get the glory. God ought to be
praising us, really. If you follow that kind of logic,
God ought to be saying, congratulations, thank you for believing me. And
when we get to heaven, God should put laurels around our necks. He should put a crown of glory
upon our heads and say, you did it. You did the work. You made
the difference. The difference between those
who are up here with me and those that are down there in hell is
your own will and you did it. Way to go. I'll reward you with
heaven. That's taking it to its logical
conclusion, isn't it? Really? So I'll restate those four statements
and then I'll rephrase them. If God loves all, then His love
is totally insignificant and absolutely meaningless. Let me
phrase it this way. The love of God is absolutely
significant and it's full of meaning. You see, God's love
is like Himself, changeless, all-powerful. The Father's love
is significant and full of meaning. Our text tells us that. His love
is the origin of our salvation. And the love of God will never
be disappointed. It will never be disappointed.
You've heard the little illustration and I expect it's a good, it's
an apt one. That those folks who perished
in the flood, they didn't see a bumper sticker on the back
of the ark that said, smile, God loves you. No. No. I tell you, if anybody tried
to preach to them the universal love of God, number one, they'd
be lying on God. Number two, they'd be mocking
their misery. We don't preach the universal
love of God because that's a lie. You know, the book of Acts is
acknowledged as being the transition book. It ties the four gospel
narratives together to all the epistles. The book of Acts and
everybody, these free willers and sovereign gracious alike
will say that there's the origin of the New Testament church.
This is where we get our message. This is where we get our methodology. This is where we learn about
missionary work. This is where we learn about
evangelism. Just about everybody in religion
will acknowledge that. Go to the book of Acts. You know
what you will not find in the book of Acts mentioned? You'll
never find the love of God mentioned in the book of Acts. You take
a concordance, look up the word love, and you'll see it's mentioned
in the last chapter of John, and you'll see it's mentioned
in the first chapter of Romans. But in the book of Acts, there's
nothing about love. Now certainly the love of God
is inferred. But it's not mentioned. No evangelist,
no apostle ever went to anybody and said, God loves you. Their
message was not the love of God. Their message was this, Jesus
Christ, God's own Son, came into this world and you despised Him.
And you crucified Him. But God raised Him from the dead.
In fact, He died on account of God's eternal purpose. And He
has been raised from the dead and God has made this same Jesus
to be both Lord and Christ. That's the message of the book
of Acts. The resurrected successful Savior, not universal love. It's not mentioned there. The
word love is not found in the book of Acts. It's about the
successful Savior. That's what the book of Acts
is about. You see, the love of God led to His coming. God's
love is not insignificant and it's not meaningless. It's vital. It's significant. It's full of
meaning. It's changeless. Like the Lord
Himself, God's love for His people can never be increased and it
can never be diminished. It's not influenced by anything
we do, anything we think, any action we perform or any word
that we speak. God's love will never fluctuate. And I've heard it said, God loves
you, God's more pleased with you when you're worshiping, when
you're reading the Bible than when you're out there in the
world doing your job and all of those things. God's love doesn't
change because it is in no way dependent upon you. And His acceptance
of you is not dependent upon you either. You are accepted
back yonder in eternity, right now, out yonder in eternity.
You are always accepted in the Beloved. In the Beloved. No change. No change. So I always thought God was more
pleased with me when I was doing right than when I was doing wrong.
You need to learn better. You see, your acceptance has
never been based upon what you do, not upon your faithfulness.
Would you want your acceptance to be based upon your faithfulness
to the Lord? Would you really want your acceptance
before God and your fellowship with God to be dependent upon
your actions, your belief, your continuation? You are faithful
in anything? No, no, no. Because if it was
in any way dependent upon us, why? There wouldn't be any acceptance. It would just be rejection. Accepted in Christ. That's the
way. Accepted in Christ. Oh, the love
of God is not insignificant and it is not meaningless. It's vital. It's full of meaning. Here's
the second statement. The love of God is significant.
It's significant and full of meaning. Let me get to the second
statement. If God loves a whole human race, then you have to
conclude there's no power in the love of God to save sinners
and keep those saved sinners safe. I'll rephrase it. Since God's love is confined
to His elect, and he loves his elect with an everlasting love,
then you have to conclude that there is omnipotent power in
the love of God to save sinners and keep those saved sinners
safe. What did the Lord say to Jeremiah?
I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn you. In the book of Ephesians, turn
to Ephesians, the second chapter. Ephesians, the second chapter. You know, he starts off talking
about our condition by nature. Our condition by nature, verse
1, you have quickened, and he quickened us in Christ Jesus
in his resurrection. Because that's what he's talking
about. We're raised with Christ Jesus in His resurrection. You at the quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins, where in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all let our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, but God, not but you, not but you
decided, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love,
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. The Apostle
Paul traces this back to the love of God, This love is without
beginning and it's without end. Let me give you the third statement. If God loves the damned as well
as the saved, there's no comfort, there's no consolation, there's
no rest, there's no relief for our troubled souls to be found
in the love of God. But, since God loves His people,
There is great comfort. There is great consolation. There
is great rest. There is great relief for our
troubled souls to be found in the love of God. This is my consolation. And this
gives me rest. And this gives me assurance.
God loves me. God loves me. What is love? I know God is love. The Bible says that. In fact,
in that passage in 1 John chapter 4, twice it says God is love.
What would your definition of love be? Let me give you one I found.
And I really think it's the best one I've ever read. Love is a living Love is a living
principle which finds its satisfaction and its fulfillment in bestowing
the best it can upon the objects of its affection. And this love
cannot be happy except to the extent that it can satisfy that
desire and that ambition. That's a really good definition
of love. Let me give it to you again. Love is a living principle
which finds its satisfaction and fulfillment in bestowing
the best it can on the objects of its affection and cannot be
happy except to the extent that it can satisfy that desire. or ambition. That's love. What is the extent of God's love? How vast is His love? Or to what
degree does God love His people? Well, I think we can measure
the love of God, if this is the right way to put it, two ways.
measure the love of God by the depth of sin into which we have
plunged, out of which God has rescued us. You see, when Adam
fell, we know the entire human race fell, right? Everybody fell. That also included the people
that God loved. But when we fell in Adam, We
didn't fall out of Christ Jesus our surety and we didn't fall
out of the love of God. He didn't stop loving us then
when we fell. Now sin alienated us from God. Sin cut us off from God. But sin didn't cut us off from
the love of God, did it? Did sin cut us off from the love
of God? Did sin cut us off from the grace
of God? No. Because that's everlasting
in Christ Jesus. Measure the love of God, first
of all, by the depth of sin into which we fall. And secondly,
measure the greatness and the vastness of the love of God by
the gift of His Son who puts sin away. That's why here in
our text, for God so loved the world. How much did He love the
world of His elect? How extensive is this love? How
deep is this love? How vast is this love? How broad
is this love? Oh, how high is this love? It's
so great. It's so magnificent. God loves
us to this degree. that in order to save us, He
gave His only begotten Son to die. That's how much God loved
us. Listen to the word, for God so
loved the world, He so loved us. He doesn't just love us,
He so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son to die. This is a love beyond human comprehension. You see, the way love is with
us, we love those who are lovely. We love those who are nice to
us. We love those who are kind to
us. We love those who love us. It's
easy to love people who love you. We got over to Hawaii, people
come up and hugged us. It's easy to love folks like
that. Let me tell you something about the love of God. God loved
us when we was ungodly. Oh yeah. Look at Romans chapter
5 now. There wasn't anything attractive
in us. There wasn't anything to draw
out the love of God. Romans chapter 5. Look at verse 6. For when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Who did He die for? The ungodly. You say, Preacher,
I'm not ungodly. Well, He didn't die for you then.
He only died for ungodly folks. And verse 7, For scarcely for
a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward
us. God gave full evidence of, God
manifested, God put His love on display. That's what the word
commendeth means. God put His love on display,
that love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. When we were in that state of
alienation, when we were His enemies, as it says down in verse
number 10, when we were in that kind of state, God loved us. We were unlovely, but God loved
us. We didn't do anything to draw
that love. There was nothing magnetic about
us to draw out the love of God from Himself toward us. Oh no! He loved us in spite of
what we are in Adam, because He loved us in Christ Jesus. This love, therefore in Romans
chapter 8, This love is about no condemnation and it's about
no separation from God. Who can separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Can't be separated. Nothing can separate you from
God's love. And then here's the fourth thing.
I said if God loves all alike, there's no motivation to love
the Lord or do anything for the Lord, but I'll correct that.
God's love for His people leads us and motivates us to do several
things. Number one, His love shed abroad
in our hearts. It leads us to love Him back.
Isn't that right? To love Him back. We love Him,
you read, we love Him because He first loved us. He loved us,
He shed that love abroad in our hearts and I'll guarantee you,
for all of you who believe the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll say
like Simon Peter, Lord thou knowest all things, thou knowest that
I love thee. I love you as God. I love you
as sovereign God. I love you as a holy God. I love
you as the just God. I love you as a gracious God.
Lord, I love everything that makes you to be God. I love God. I don't love Him like I ought
to. I don't love Him like I want to. I don't love Him like I'm
going to. But I do love Him. And I love the Savior. If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me?" And you ask him that three times. And God's love shed abroad in
our hearts. Here's what happens. We love
him back. God's love is never unrequited
love. It's never! It is never unrequited
love. You say, what does unrequited
mean? Unanswered. or unreturned. You see, unrequited
love is one-sided love. That's what the universalists
believe. But those whom God loves, He
brings them to love Him back. And secondly, His love for us
leads us to love His way of saving sinners. and to despise every
false way. We love the gospel. We love the
message of how God can be just and justify the ungodly and we
hate every other message. It isn't that we'll put up with
another message or I don't particularly like that, we despise it. I can't
stand hearing a false gospel, can you? I'm just not going to
listen to it. And if I go hear a man one time
and he preaches a false gospel, then that's his fault. If I'm
fool enough to go hear him again, that's my fault. We hate every false way. We hate
every message which makes salvation conditioned upon the sinner.
Thirdly, His love for us motivates us to seek those things. to seek
to do those things that are honoring to the Lord. Well, I wish you'd
preach more about laws and rules and regulations, preacher. The most awesome, motivating
force in the world is love. If you ever come to love Christ
Jesus, love who He is, love what He did, Love where He is. Love everything that He's doing
now. Love everything about Him. If you're ever brought to love
Him, you'll desire to be obedient to Him. You'll desire to do His
revealed will. Won't have to preach about tithing. You'll say, Lord, I give because
I love You. Won't have to get up here and
beat people over the head. You ought to come to church!
Sure would like to see you next Sunday. Where you been?" People who love him say, boy,
I sure would be glad when Sunday gets here. Get to go again. Somebody says to him, you mean
you got to go to church on Wednesday night? No, I don't got it. I
want to. I want to. I want to go. And his love for us, it leads
us to love one another. Our brother read, if a man says,
I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth
not his brother whom he's seen, how can he love God whom he hathn't
seen? Tell you, God, you get a good dose of the love of God,
He loves you like you are in Christ Jesus, you'll start being
merciful to folks. Stop looking down your self-righteous
nose at him and say, you know what? He loves a vilest of sinners
like me. I'm going to love you too. And
you'll start forgiving people. I've had people tell me, well,
I can't ever forgive so-and-so for what they did to me. Has God forgiven you? You've never done to anybody
and nobody's ever done anything to you near what you've done
to God. And guess what? Slate's all clean. And the blood of the Lord Jesus
just keeps on cleansing us. Keeps the slate clean. His righteousness
has been imputed to us. The love of God shed abroad in
the heart, it caused you to love others, it caused you to forgive
others, it caused you to have right attitude toward others.
I know there's some people that rub you the wrong way, some people,
their personality, it's a bit of sandpaper toward you and nobody
says you've got to, you know, you've got to embrace them all
the time, but I tell you what, you do love people, right? I
mean, there's some people you're just naturally drawn toward.
I know I'm not one of them. But some people, some people
you have to kind of work and love them. But, you know, the
love of God's shed abroad in your heart, you're going to have
to love even me. And I'm even going to have to
love you. And I want to. I want to. And the last thing
is this, His love for us gives us confidence as we look toward
the end of this life. We'll be with the Lord when we
die. You read to us back, Bill read to us in 1 John chapter
4. We have boldness. We have boldness. Hearings of love of God made
perfect. We have boldness in the day of judgment. As we look
toward the day of judgment, we know we are okay in Christ Jesus
because as He is, so are we right now in this world. God shed His
love abroad in our hearts. For God so loved the world of
His elect. That He gave His only begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have
everlasting life. You trace all of this back to
God's covenant love in Christ for His people. This is a distinguishing
love, it's a special love, it's a sovereign love, and it's an
effectual love. And every object of His love
is going to make it safely home to glory someday. Because of
the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ and Christ came
into this world because God so loved the world of His elect. Let's sing a closing song. What
about 450?