Now the text of scripture that
I want to deal with this morning is John 3.16. That verse specifically, obviously one that's familiar
to just about everybody. People quote it all the time,
and that's okay. I quote it too. It's one of my
favorite verses. I have to admit, I get a little
tired of, when I watch a football game, seeing somebody's forehead
plastered with it and stuff like that because I just, I don't
know, I just believe in the New Testament, you know, that's the
kind of things that the Pharisees would do when they sold the scripture
into their phylacteries and all that. But, you know, somebody
jumped on to me one time about that and said, well, you don't
know what's in their heart. And they're right, I don't, you know, so
that's okay. But this passage of scripture
is, I believe one of the most misunderstood passages. It's
taken out of its context. It says, for God so loved the
world. That's what I titled the message.
God so loved the world. And that he so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son. And he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. And
that word should is a very important word. Should not perish. but
have everlasting life. And then verse 17 goes on, for
God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world. Now
he tells us later on, he says the reason that that's so is
the world's already condemned. The world fell on Adam. As far
as the humanity, we fell on Adam. So he didn't send his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. And that word might there is
not a term of condition as if to say, well, they may or may
not, or might or might not. It's a term of purpose. It's
saying that the world, the purpose that he came was that the world
be saved. Oh, what is the world? Okay.
Let's get into this. This chapter begins with the
necessity of the new birth. The Lord's speaking to a man
named Nicodemus. And this Nicodemus, he was a
ruler of the Jews, it's said. That means he was probably a
member of the Sanhedrin, the high court of the Jewish law. Pharisee, a man of the Pharisees.
So he was serious. He was sincere. Serious about
his religion. He wasn't just one who carried
some sort of an outward profession, but he was very intent and sincere
in his religious practice. Apparently, he was somewhat,
in the world's eyes, a humble man. Said he came to Jesus by
night. He recognized that Jesus, he
called him Rabbi, that means a master, a master teacher. And he even said this, remember
in verse 2 he said, we know thou art a teacher come from God.
He even recognized that Jesus was one who was sin of God. He
said no man could do these miracles that you do except God be with
him. So he recognized some things that other Pharisees didn't recognize. You know when you read the record of the Pharisees
and how they dealt with the Lord of Glory, many times you know
they said some very harsh things. They said he had a devil. They
said he was a blasphemer. But Nicodemus was a little different.
And yet Nicodemus was still a man who was lost in his sins. Verse 3, Christ said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. That word see there means to
understand in a way of saving knowledge. Not just superficial
knowledge, but a true heart knowledge that brings a sinner to a saving
knowledge and experience with Christ. fleeing to Christ and
resting in Him for all sin, to be saved from all sin and to
be righteous in Him. And Christ said, you can't see
that unless you're born again. Well, Nicodemus didn't understand
that. And that's why he asked the question, how can a man be
born when he's old? He equated it with physical birth.
And he said, can he enter into enter the second time into his
mother's womb and be born. Well that, you know, I don't
know what attitude he was saying that in. He knew better than
that. I mean, he knew that couldn't happen. But he did not understand
the new birth. He didn't see the kingdom of
God. He was not born again. And Christ answered, very, very
last thing, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. Now,
there's two schools of thought on the word water. Some say,
well, he's just simply saying, well, you've got to be born physically.
That's the water birth. And then you've got to be born
spiritually to see the Kingdom of Heaven. Physical birth will
not give you an understanding, a saving knowledge of salvation
by God's grace in Christ. You can't be born into that.
And that makes sense. Look back at John chapter 1. Verse 11. Here he talks about those who
received Him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. Now some commentators say it's
his own nation, and that's true. The Jews did not receive him
as Messiah. They did not submit to him as
their righteousness before God. They did not believe in him,
the Jews as a nation. There were a few, and then later
on there were more. Some say that's referring to
his elect. He came unto his own and his own received him not.
And that's true of us by nature. That's true of his elect people
by nature, isn't it? We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. We fell too in Adam. In fact,
Ephesians 2 not only says we were born dead in trespasses
and sin, but that by nature we're no different than the non-elect. That's right, isn't it? Children
of disobedience, that's unbelievable. And it said, in his own received
him not. But verse 12, listen to this, he says, but as many
as received him, now there are some who would come to receive
him. Now how does that come about?
He says, to them gave he power, that word power there does not
mean ability. It means the right, the privilege,
the blessing. In other words, do you call yourself
a child of God? If you say you're saved, you're
saying I'm a child of God. We're saying that Him. I'm a
child of the King. Am I really? Now what gives me
the right to say that? Is everybody without exception
a child of the King? No, the Bible says they're not.
And I wasn't born physically a child of the King as far as
my experience of it. If I'm a child of the King today,
I was chosen before the foundation of the world in Christ, what?
As every one of God's people. But as far as my knowledge of
it and my right to call myself that, all right? He says, to
them gave he the right and the privilege to become the sons
of God, even to them which believe on his name. That's only a right
and a privilege that those who believe on his name, his name
is his honor, his person, who he is and what he did and why
he did it, his glory. And look at verse 13, which were
born not of blood. Now that's not a physical birth.
Your physical heritage has nothing to do with this. All right? You may have been blessed to
be raised in a home where the gospel was believed and taught
and lived. And that, in a sense, is a blessing. But that's not your salvation.
And then nor the will of the flesh. That's works. That's what
that speaks of. It's not a physical birth. It's not of works. In other words,
you didn't work your way into this. You didn't earn your way
into it. And then nor the will of man.
That's the will of man. Some people say, well, you of
your own free will believe and then you're born again. That's
not what the Bible teaches. Now that's what churches, so-called
churches teach and what religion teach, but that's not what the
Bible teaches. You're not born again of blood or the will of
flesh or the will of man, but of God. It's of God. Now go back to John 3. Now that's
what he's telling Nicodemus. Now others commentators say this
word water is an emblem of the word of God. The gospel preached
as the gospel in the hands of the Holy Spirit is the power
of God unto salvation. And that could be true. That's
just as true. We're begotten again by the word of truth, James
1.18. What does the Holy Spirit do when he brings a sinner to
see the kingdom of God? To a saving knowledge of Christ,
to conviction of sin. He brings that sinner under the
preaching of the gospel. Why? Because it pleased the Lord
by the foolishness of preaching to save them which believe. And
faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Brings them
under the preaching of the gospel and then he imparts life, spiritual
life. spiritual knowledge, conviction,
and faith, and repentance. And that's what he's talking
about. Well, he says in verse six, that which is born of the
flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. You're
not going to see or understand these things savingly until you're
born again. And now how does all that come
about, or what's the makeup, the anatomy of it? Well, he says
in verse eight, the wind blows where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound there, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither
it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Here's
what he's saying there, simply. That everybody who's born of
the Spirit, the only way you can know it is by the evidence. By
the evidence of it. And that evidence is that you
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've repented of dead works
and idolatry. Well, now Nicodemus didn't understand
it. Verse nine, Nicodemus answered and he said unto him, how can
these things be? And Jesus answered unto him,
art thou a master in Israel? No, it's not these things. Somebody
asked one time, is the new birth taught in the Old Testament?
And the answer is yes, it is. Because look at how he spoke
to Nicodemus and all Nicodemus had was the Old Testament. You're
a teacher, a rabbi in Israel and you don't know about the
new birth? That's an amazing thing. That's
what he's saying. In verse 11, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, we speak that we do know, and testify that
we've seen, and you receive not our witness. You don't believe
it. He knew Jesus as a rabbi, as
a teacher, but not as Messiah. Not as like old Simeon. Remember Simeon? Mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Nicodemus didn't see that. Here's
a good teacher. He does some miracles. But so
did Jeremiah. So did Elijah. And we know God
was with them. Well, we know you couldn't do
these things except you be sent of God. You're just a good prophet.
But not as my salvation. My righteousness. My Lamb of
God. He didn't see that. So he says,
you received not our witness. Remember what he said back in
John 1, he came unto his own and his own received him not.
So verse 12 he says, if I told you earthly things and you believed
not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
He's talking about in the context there that he used an earthly
illustration to teach a spiritual truth. Physical birth and new
birth. And he says, if you don't understand
the earthly, well how are you going to understand the heavenly?
Now look at verse 13. He says, I'm doing this because
I want you to see the context of John 3.16. Because most people don't even
think about that. They just jerk it out and quote it and make
God's universal love, but that's not what it's teaching. And he
says in verse 13, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he
that come down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.
Now what's the issue there? How are you going to get to heaven? How am I going to get to heaven?
Somebody dies, you hear the funeral, he's in heaven, she's in heaven. How? Aren't we sinners? Well, we have to be saved from
our sin. And no man, no woman born of
Adam can ascend into heaven. You can't make it there. You
can't work your way there. You can't earn your way there.
There's no way you can get there. Except, he says, except he that
came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven. In other words, if I'm going
to get to heaven, I can't get up there. I can't ascend there.
I can't work my way there. I can't improve myself to be
there. I can't do anything. Somebody's
got to come down and do something for me that I can't do for myself. And who is that? That's the Son
of Man. That's a messianic title of Christ. And so he says in
verse 14, look, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now
what's he talking about there? That's a reference back in the
book of Numbers when the people of Israel were under the judgment
of God being bitten by poisonous snakes and Moses interceded for
the people and God told him, well you make a serpent of brass
and you put it up on a pole, and you hold it up, and you tell
the people, all who look upon that serpent of brass shall live. Now, you've heard this so many
times, and it's true, and you never get tired of hearing, but
that was a type, that was a picture, that was a foreshadowing of Christ
being lifted up on the cross to die for the sins of his people.
And everyone who looked lived. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.
That's a type of Christ. So what he's saying, well in
order to get to heaven, in order to be saved, and in order to
be born again by the Spirit, somebody's got to do a work that
I can't do. Somebody greater than me. Somebody
who is a resident of heaven, who is God himself, and also
the son of man, man without sin. the God-man. Christ, Jesus the
Lord, has to descend. He's got to come down from heaven,
that's what he did, be born of a woman, the seed of woman, conceived
in the womb of the virgin by the Holy Spirit, and he's got
to do a work He's got to be obedient unto death. He's got to be lifted
up on that cross to put away the sins of His people whom He
calls His sheep, whom the Bible calls God's elect, whom the scripture
calls His church. And He's got to redeem them by
the shedding of His precious blood. Sin demands death. Sin charged to Christ. You see,
that's the great issue of the gospel. The gospel doesn't look
out to everybody without exception and say, God loves you and Christ
died for you. That's not the gospel. Listen, that's not even good
news. If God loved me and Christ died
for me and I perish anyway, where's there good news in that? walking through a book section
over in Walmart yesterday. And one of the best sellers,
I don't know who the, I can't remember who the woman was, the woman
wrote it, and she's standing there smiling, and it says, God
is not mad at you. And I thought, I wonder how much
that book would sell right before the flood of Noah. I wonder if that had been on
the best seller list in Sodom. Or how about in Egypt just before
the Passover? Hmm? The Bible says God is angry with
the wicked every day. That's not emotionalism in God. And I didn't read the book, and
I'm not going to, but I don't know. I mean, you know, maybe
I'm casting it off. Maybe she had some good points.
I don't know. But I know this. I know this the gospel doesn't
say God is not mad at you Or that God loves you or that
Christ died for you The gospel says this the gospel says that
God's love is in Christ You run to him That's what the gospel
says You believe on him You rest in Him. Outside of Christ, God
is mad at you. And me. For without Christ, we
have nothing good from God. We may get some benefits. What we were talking about earlier.
But in the end, it will only be wrath. Look at John 3 verse
36. He that believeth on the Son. You see that? He that believeth
on the Son. Half everlasting life. He didn't
earn it. He didn't gain it by believing.
But he got it. How do you know? He's been born
again by the Spirit. How do you know? He's received
the Son of God. He rests in Christ. And he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him. Now you tell me how the wrath
of God abides on anybody and God's not mad at them. It doesn't make sense, does it?
Somebody said, well, you need to preach a loving God. I do
preach a loving God. Every time I preach the gospel
of His free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus. But I've got
enough sense to know, because the Holy Spirit has enlightened
me to these Scriptures, that without Christ, it's like that old preacher preached
back in the early days of this country, it's going to be sinners
in the hands of an angry God. Without Christ. That's what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians
5 when he said, knowing the terror of the Lord, We do persuade men. What is the terror of the Lord?
My friend, I'm telling you, if you come before God Almighty
without Christ, without being washed in His blood and clothed
in His righteousness, it's nothing but wrath and damnation. That's the terror of the Lord.
That's why Paul said, Oh that I may know Him and be found in
Him. Look back here at John 3. Now
Christ didn't come into the world to condemn the world. That's
true. The world is already condemned. But think about it. Now one of
the things He shows us here, look at verse 14 again. And as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. that or in order that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. You know
what those two verses together teach? It teaches us that the
majority of people who claim to believe the gospel don't believe
it. Most people believe that faith
is the condition a sinner must meet in order to be saved. These
two verses say otherwise. Because it says this, These two
verses together tell us that if Christ is not lifted up on that cross to die for the
sins of His people, you can believe all you want and you will still
perish. Paul wrote that in 1 Corinthians
15, you remember? He said if Christ be not risen,
now His resurrection was the product, the result of His death
on the cross to put away our sins. And he said, if Christ
be not risen, I think it's 1 Corinthians 15, 17. But he said, if Christ
be not risen, your faith is in vain. You can believe all you
want. You could have perfect faith.
You don't. But you could have perfect faith. And if He's not
risen, if He didn't die on the cross, it'd be for nothing. Listen to it again. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
son of man be lifted up in order that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish. But have eternal life. If he's
not lifted up, you can believe, but you'll still perish. So what
is the condition for salvation? It's not our faith, it's his
death. His dying, His obedience unto death. There's the condition. And out of that comes what? Life. Spiritual life. The new birth. And what's the first evidence
of the new birth? Believing in Him. Resting in
Him. Turning away from everything
else. And looking to Christ. That's what it is. And with that
in mind, he 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. Now God is love. We've been talking
about that. But God's love is in Christ. Nowhere else. No, sir. Nowhere else. And you may be
on the top of the mountain today, But if you don't have Christ,
it's all gonna go away. God's love is unconditional towards
the objects of his love. But now there are conditions
for his love. Now, do you hear what I said
there? I heard a preacher say, well, there's no such thing as
unconditional love. Oh, yes, there is. Yes, there
is. That doesn't mean there's no
conditions anywhere for that love. Let me show you what I'm
talking about. Look over at 1 John 4 that I
read there. Verse 10. I've quoted this a
lot in the last few weeks since we've been talking about love. Now look at verse 10. He says,
herein is love, not that we love God. Now there's the unconditional
love towards the we there. In other words, if God loves
you, it's not because you deserve it or earn it, and it's not because
you love Him. Not that we love God. In fact,
he says over there, we love, verse 19, we love Him because
He first loved us. He doesn't love us because we
first loved Him, no. We love Him because He first
loved us. So it's unconditional towards the objects of those
love, but there are conditions. What are the conditions? It says,
and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. There's the condition.
God sent Christ into the world and put all the conditions upon
Christ sending him into the world because he loved his people unconditionally. Look over at Romans chapter five,
listen to this one. Oh, there are conditions of God's
love. You see, that's the great problem. The moment you say that God forgives
sinners, you've got an ethical problem. I mean, it's a real
doozy too. You just wouldn't believe how
insurmountable it is. Because I'll tell you something, no human
being in the history of humanity has ever come up with a solution
to it. The wisest, the most religious,
all the think tanks in the world. The moment you say God loves
a sinner, or God forgives a sinner, or God saves a sinner, you've
got a major, major, major ethical problem. That's right. Let me give you just a little
minor example of what kind of problem it is. And you'll see
what I'm talking about. Let's say that there is a murderer
here in town. I mean, everybody knows he's
a murderer. And he gets arrested. All the
evidence is against him. He eyewitnesses galore. And even
he confesses it. And you bring him up before a
local judge, and the judge says, well, I forgive you. Go on free.
Now, do you see the ethical problem with that? I forgive you. Just go on. Live your life. Go over and buy your house beside
one of these folks. See the ethical problem? Major,
major, isn't it? Justice has not been done here.
In fact, it has been scorned, perverted, and that judge thumbed
his nose at justice. And whoever it was this fellow
murdered, oh my, think about his family. So what's the answer? How can
a holy God who judges according to truth and will not pervert
justice, forgive me, Well, here it is. Here's the,
no human being come up with this. That's why Paul said, the gospel
I preached to you, it's not of man. The gospel that's of man
says, smile, God loves you. Christ died for you. Now it's
all on you. Oh no, you've got a major ethical
problem, brother. And you can't solve it. Faith
will not solve it. Turning over a new leaf will
not solve it. Come into grips with your sin
will not solve it, because that just only elevates the problem. If you hear somebody say, well,
I'll just cry all night and beg for forgiveness. That won't do
it. That won't solve the ethical problem. That may put you in
your place where you belong, but it won't solve the problem.
The problem can only be solved one way. Look here, Romans 5 and verse
Verse six. And he's talking about shedding
the love of God abroad in our hearts. Look at Romans 5, 6.
For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Oh my goodness. There's this,
there's that. Justice has been satisfied. Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. That's true. But we're not talking
about a righteous man here. We're talking about sinners. And yet perventure for a good
man some would even dare die. That's true, but we're not talking
about good men, we're talking about evil men. But God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And much more being justified,
being now justified by His what? His blood, His death. Even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up, you see. Like Moses lifted
up the serpent. Even so being justified by His
blood. Satisfaction to His justice. That's what that is. Righteousness
established. That's what it's all about. You
see, let me give you this. If I were to stand before you
and said, God is not going to save anybody, but he's going
to send every one of us to hell. You want to know something? There's
no ethical problem there. Because we're all just getting
what we deserve. What we've earned. But the moment I say God saves
one sinner, forgives one sinner, there's that problem again. How's
it solved? Christ died for the ungodly. That's it. And much more than being justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. If we're
justified by His blood, what is it to be justified? It's to
be not guilty. It's to be righteous in Christ. How did God do this? He made
him sin. He made Christ sin. He charged
our debt to Christ. And He made us the righteousness
of God. If Christ died for us, we're
going to be saved from wrath. And there's God's love. Look
back at John 3 now. Look at verse 16. For God so
loved the world. Here's the time of God's love.
It's everlasting love. That's so loved. That love there
is past tense. It's in a tense in the Greek
language that we do not have an equivalent for in the English
language. That's right, we don't. It really
has nothing to do with time. It's timeless, you might say.
Most of the time, they translate it in the past tense with the
E-D, but it's timeless. And he expressed it to Jeremiah
back in Jeremiah 31, in verse three, he said, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. God's love never changes, never
varies, never wavers. God so loved. That's the time. Has no beginning and no end.
If He loves you today, there's never been a time that He didn't
love you and He'll never stop loving you. That's what this
verse is teaching. And then here's the magnitude
of God's love. It's in one little two letter word. So. For God
so loved the world. That word so means in this manner,
in such a manner. He so loved the world. And He
demonstrated His love. How? By sending His Son. By giving
His Son. You see, love is measured by
how much you give. Love is a verb. It's not a noun.
If you really love somebody, you'll do for that person. You'll
give to that person. You'll help that person. You'll
see that person. You'll want to be with that person.
That's what love is all about, you see. If you have the means
to help that person in any way, you'll use those means. You won't
hold back. If you can remove any obstacle
in the way of that person that would hinder them from being
healthy or wealthy or wise, you'd remove it. Think of your children. Wouldn't you do that for your
children? You parents, you try to tell them, because you know
the obstacles. They won't listen, but you try
to tell them. You say, I've been there. I've
done that. And you sit back in sadness and say, well, they're
going to have to learn it the way I did it, the hard way. But if
you had the means and the power and the wisdom and the foreknowledge
to take care of all that, you'd do it. That's so loved. That's
the magnitude. James, you sing that song, O
love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong, it
shall forevermore endure, the saints and angels song. Love, love, love. That's it.
This is godly love. And then here's the scope of
the love. The world. For God so loved the world. He
identifies the objects of his love in two ways here in this
verse. The world and that whosoever believeth. So what's he talking about? He's
talking about the world of believers. That's what he's talking about.
Do you know that word world? There's several words in the
New Testament for world. One is this one right here. It
means different things in different contexts. Another one is the
word age, the ages. But you know, if you go through
the New Testament and list every time the word world is used,
it is never, it never in any context means every human being
without exception. Never. Never used to describe
all without exception. Sometimes it's used to describe
mankind or humankind. The race of man. Sometimes it means all men without
distinction. In fact, that's one of the most
common uses as it refers to the Gentile world in saying that
Christ came to redeem his people not only among the Jews, but
also among the Gentiles. Sometimes it's used to describe
the evil world under the deception of Satan. Look over at 1 John
chapter 5 with me. And look at verse 19, 1 John
5. And here he's talking about being
born of God as evidence by a sinner looking to and staying with Christ. In fact, look at verse 18 of
1 John 5. He says, we know that whosoever
is born of God sinneth not. That sinneth not doesn't mean
that he doesn't sin still in his life, in his conduct, and
in his thoughts. It means he won't apostatized,
fall away, totally leave Christ. That's what it's talking about.
Like it goes back in 1 John 2. But he that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, that is, he keeps looking to Christ. Not
by his own power and goodness, but by the grace of God. And
that wicked one, Satan, toucheth him not. Satan cannot take that
sinner who is saved by the grace of God away from Christ. He can't
do that. Now, He can do a lot. He can
mess with your mind and your life, but He cannot take you
away from Christ. And verse 19, and we know that
we are of God. Who's he talking about? Who's
the we there? That's those who sinneth not, who do not leave Christ.
And look at the rest, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world lies in the wicked
one. Now, is he talking about every individual without exception
there in the word world? Well, obviously not. He said
we're of God. You know when most people want
to talk about every individual, without exception, it's to their
own convenience. It's because they want to tell
somebody something that's pleasant to the natural ear in order to
get a hearing. It doesn't tell the truth. Yes,
God so loved the world. What's he talking about? Well,
he's talking about, turn over to John 16. He's talking about
the same world, look here, in John 16. of those who believe as convinced
by the Holy Spirit and brought to faith in Christ. Look at verse
7 of John 16. Here's the world he's talking
about. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. John 16, 7. It is expedient for you that
I go away. He's got to be lifted up on the cross. He's got to
die, be buried, raised again the third day and go ascended
unto the Father. For if I go not away, the Comforter,
that's the Holy Spirit, will not come unto you. But if I depart,
I will send him unto you. And when he's come, he will reprove
or convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Now whatever world he's talking about here, he's talking about
those who come under the conviction, the convicting work of the Holy
Spirit in the new birth. I'm talking about everybody without
exception. He said, I'll convince them of
sin because they believe not on me. Have you been convinced
of sin? Have you been convinced that
without Christ you are nothing, less than nothing, nothing but
sin and deserve nothing but wrath without Christ, without His blood
and righteousness? Of righteousness because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. Have you been convinced
of righteousness that the only righteousness I have before a
holy God is Christ? That's what he's talking about.
and of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. He's
not talking about just being convinced of final judgment,
but that in the sufferings and death of Christ, judgment was
passed upon Satan, sin and self, so that all the elect and redeemed
world stands free from condemnation, justified and accepted in Christ. Every elect and favored sinner
in God's world enjoys all spiritual blessings. and as the free gifts
of a loving Father in Christ Jesus. And when God saves them. And what's the nature of His
love? Well, He gave His Son. God's love is not just talk.
He gave His Son. It's sacrificial love. And then
it's the justice of God's love. It says in verse 16 of John 3
that they should not perish. Should not. That doesn't mean
they might or might not, it means they should not. Let me tell
you, here's how you look at that. Without Christ, I should perish. That's what I deserve. That's
what I've earned. But in Christ, I should not perish. Why? Because that's the justice
of God's love. The death of Christ, the blood
of Christ, the righteousness of Christ imputed to me demands
my salvation. He removed the wrath of God.
It would be unjust for God to let me perish if I'm in Christ. If Christ died for my sins, it
would be unjust for God to let me perish. They should not perish. Now, preachers all across this
country say, well, they should not perish, but you will now
if you don't do your part. Oh, no. Your part's not good
enough to remove the wrath of God. How do you know that? As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Christ
came. The blood of Jesus Christ saves
us, cleanses us from all sin. God's justice demands it. God's
wrath will never fall upon any object of His love. And then
there's the purpose of God's love that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish. Again, he didn't come to condemn,
but to save his people. And here's the benefit that we
might have eternal life. Again, might doesn't mean might
not or might. It means purpose. Here's the
purpose of it. You see, it's not believing that brings life,
it's the death of Christ that brings life. And His death, the
life that comes out of Him, brings us to faith in Christ. And that's
what John 3.16 is all about. You know what John 3.16 is about?
It's about sinner. You need Christ. Now run to Him. Outside of Christ, there's nothing
but wrath. There's nothing but justice for
you. That demands condemnation. Run to Christ. Believe in Him. Alright. God will take care of
you. Hymn number 297 is our closing
hymn.