If you would, open your Bibles
to John chapter 3. The message will be taken from
verse 16. It's not my intention to preach
through the whole book of John one verse at a time, but it is
my intention to seek the Lord's message in each passage of Scripture. Last week was two verses, this
week was one, but this is a verse that we should study and learn
from and get a blessing from. The title of the message is God
So Loved the World. Our subject this morning is the
love of God. Now, before we even begin, we
know this is an inexhaustible subject, the love of God. A human
being can never understand God's love, but we can believe God's
love. We can't understand the depths
of God's love, but there are a few things that I do know about
God's love because God's word tells us these things. I know,
first of all, God loves his son. God's love is in his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and nowhere else. If you look across the
page of John 3, verse 35, our Lord says, the Father loveth
the son and hath given all things into his hand. God loves his
son, and if God's going to love any man, it's going to be in
Christ, in his son. Secondly, I know that God's love
is a sovereign love. God said, Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. That's God's sovereign love.
It's his sovereign choice to love whom he will. No one deserves
God's love. God's love is a sovereign love. He'll love whom he will, even
though they do not deserve it. And third, I know this about
God's love. God's love is a saving love, Ephesians 2.4. But God,
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together
with Christ. God's love is a saving, life-giving
love. And God's love is an attribute
of himself. God is love. And you know at
Calvary, We see God's holiness and God's righteousness on display
more clearly there at Calvary than we see it anywhere else.
God is so holy that he killed his only begotten
son when sin was found on him. God killed his son because Christ
was made to be sin. Only a holy God could do that.
Only God could. You know, in the workplace, we
have rules against nepotism, because a family member typically
cannot fire or discipline his family member. We've got rules
against that. Because only God could do this. Only in his holiness
and justice could he kill his only begotten son. This is God's
holiness and righteousness. Well, also at the cross is the
greatest display of God's love. At the cross. we see God killing
his son, whom he loves, because God loves his elect, and the
only way those elect could be saved is through the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God's Son agreed to die for them. Now, our text, John 3, 16, is
the most famous verse in all the Bible, and also it's the
most misused verse in the Bible. In no way Does this verse mean
that God loves everyone? In no way does this verse mean
that Christ died for everyone or that Christ died to give everyone
a chance to be saved. In no way does this verse mean
that Christ died to make it possible for you to make a decision whether
or not you will accept or reject Jesus. In no way does this verse
mean that. I hope we'll see that by the
time we get to the end of the message. Now, anytime I read
these verses, verses 14, 15, 16, of John chapter 3, always
think about what Brother Henry taught us. He said people that
don't know any better say the gospel is John 3.16, and that's
not so. The gospel is John 3.14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
That's the gospel which declares life through the death of a This
is life, the forgiveness of sins through the bloody sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is John 3.14. The
result of the gospel is John 3.15. The whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. And the reason
for the gospel is John 3.16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son. The whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. This is salvation provided
because God is love. Now, I have six points about
God's love that I want us to see from this blessed verse and
want us to consider these things. The first one is this, the tense
of God's love. For God so loved the world. That word loved is past tense. God has always loved his people. If God has set his love upon
you at this moment, He's always loved you. He never started loving
you. His love is an eternal, everlasting
love. He said in Jeremiah 31.3, I've
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, because I've
always loved you, with loving kindness have I drawn you. The
Lord Jesus Christ didn't die in order to make God love us.
Christ came and He lived on this earth and He died on the cross
because the Father already loved His people. If you'll turn to
Romans 5, I'll show you that. Christ didn't die in order to
make God love us. He died because God already loved
us. In Romans 5, verse 8. But God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for sinners because
God loved sinners. And he died to bring those people
to God. Christ died because God already
loved those people and he'd already determined to make those people
just like his son. And the only way that could happen
is if Christ died for them. God loves his people, even though
there's nothing in us to love. Now, we must understand this.
The reason that God loves his people is not because of anything
found in us. There's nothing in us to love.
God doesn't love His people because they love God. God loved them
before they ever existed. We love Him because He first
loved us. That reason is found in Himself.
God loves His people, but not because they did any good works.
Look over Romans chapter 9. Not because we did any good works
in spite of those things. In Romans 9 verse 11. For the
children. being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger." God chose Jacob,
not because he did any good works, but because he loved him with
an everlasting love, not because Jacob did anything. God loves
his people, but not because they believe God. He loves his people
simply because he would. This is a reason that flows from
God himself because God is love. Now, God's elect do believe God
because that faith is the gift of God. Faith is the gift that
God gives everyone, all of his people for whom Christ died. We do believe God, don't we?
But only because God loved us first and gave us the gift of
faith. The tense of God's love is past tense. He always loved
his people. Second, I see here the magnitude
of God's love. For God so loved the world. God's love is an infinite love
that passes all human knowledge. God's love is a love that cannot
be measured. Ephesians 3, 19 says that the
love of Christ passes knowledge. It passes all human knowledge.
We can't comprehend the breadth, or the length, nor the depth,
nor the height of God's love. The songwriter said, the love
of God is greater far than tongue or pen could ever tell. It reaches
beyond the high star and reaches to the lowest tail. Look at John
15. John chapter 15. Verse 13, greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
There is no greater love that will ever be found than the love
of God for his people. And Christ proved it because
he laid down his life for his friends. God's love crosses time
and eternity and it never changes or even wavers. It's an eternal
perfect love, a magnitude to which we cannot understand. God's
love crosses every human barrier. You won't find a national or
political barrier that can stop God's love from reaching an object
of His affection. You know, they're in China where
they blocked off all this access to the Internet so people couldn't
get on sermon audio like they used to do. I'm telling you,
that's an exercise in futility if there's a person living there
that God loves. Gospel's going to reach them. There is no barrier
that can stop God's love because the magnitude of it is too great.
God so loved the world. Third, we see here the scope
of God's love. God so loved the world. Now, the world's a big place,
isn't it? God so loved the world. God's love is not limited to
the Jews only. God did deal just with those
Jews. Almost exclusively, not exclusively,
but almost for many generations, almost exclusively. But God's
love is not limited to that Jewish nation. God loves a people out
of every nation on this planet. Now, this word world. You can
look this up. In Scripture, never does the
word world mean all men and women without exception, not one time
ever. Now, it has several different
meanings. One of them is this, and this is the way that it's
used in this script, in this passage. It means without distinction. It means people from all of the
world without any man-made distinction, without distinction to nationality
or race or color or background or creed. without distinction. Here's a good illustration of
that. The Samaritan woman at the well. Our Lord met her. He
talked to her. And when our Lord finished that
conversation, what did she do? She left her water pot and she
went to the city and told the men and women there about the
Christ that she just met. And they went out to hear him.
And they said, now we believe him. Not because we heard you.
We heard him ourselves. And we're sure this is indeed
the Christ, the Savior of the world. Now, what do they mean
by that? Not just the Jews, but us Samaritans
too. Sinners from every nationality
without distinction. Secondly, this word world means
the way of the world. You see it meaning that different
places in scripture. Be not conformed to this world
means don't be conformed to the way of this world. Love not the
world, neither the things that are in this world. Don't love
the way of this world. That's what that means. Thirdly,
it also means a geographical area. Sometimes it just means
this terrestrial ball. There went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. That's
all the world that they could reach, all the world that he
ruled, a geographical area. Our Lord said, go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. He means this
whole world as terrestrial ball. And when our Lord says here that
God loves the world, he's telling us the amazing scope of God's
love. Our Lord means that God loved
a world of sinners who hate God. That God loves a world of sinners
that rebel against God. He set his affection on this
world who will reject God's Son and nail God's Son to the cross.
God loved him anyway. He means that God loves a world
that does not deserve God's love. Now, men, who do we love? We love the lovely. I love you
all. Well, what's not to love? Of
course I love you. You're crazy if you don't love
this group of people. You're so lovable. God loves
the ugly and the unlovable. Men loved the friends. God loved
his enemies. That's what this word world means.
This verse tells us something that's too amazing for a human
mind to ever comprehend. God would love a worthless people
in a worthless, ruined world. That's who God loves. The songwriter
again said, could we think the ocean filled or the skies of
parchment made? For every stalk on earth a quill,
and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the
whole, though stretched from sky to sky. The scope of God's
love is infinite. Fourth, we see the nature of
God's love. God so loved the world that he
gave. He gave. Now, love is the nature
of God. Just like holiness is the nature
of God, righteousness is the nature of God, love is the nature
of God. And we know this because real
love always seeks to give the best that it can to the objects
of its affection. Always. True love always asks
If you truly love somebody, you don't have to drag it, kick it
and scream it to go help them when they're in trouble. True
love always acts. True love always gives. You can
measure love by how much it gives. Now you children, your parents
love you. I know every one of you. I know
your parents love you. You all know that? Because they
give you everything you need, don't they? And they give you
most of what you want. That's because that's what we
do. We give you about everything we can give you because your
parents love you. You don't worry about most things
in this life. You don't worry whether you've
got clothes to wear. You don't worry whether you're
going to have enough food to eat. Sunday dinner. When we leave
here, y'all are going to go have dinner. You don't worry if there's
going to be enough food for you to eat. Not one of you spent
one second today worrying, was there going to be enough food
for me to eat Sunday dinner? You know there's going to be. Because
your parents love you. And they're going to provide
you food. They're going to provide you the things that you need.
That's true love. True love is always unselfish. It gives. And what did God do? Oh, He gave His very best. The best. He gave His only begotten
Son. Because He loves. He loves the
world because God is love. And the love of God is not restricted
to the love of the Father. This is the love of the whole
Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all one in this love. And they all give salvation freely. The Son loves his people just
like the Father does. The Father and the Son are one
in every way. They're one in deity. They're
one in sovereignty. They're one in purpose. and they're
one in this love of the world. The son loves his people so much
he agreed to take upon himself the nature of man. He took upon
himself humanity. He loves his people so much he
agreed to live on this earth as a man in perfect obedience
to his own law so that he could impute that righteousness freely
to his people, the people that he loves. He loves his people
so much. He agreed to, as a man, die as
a substitute for those people that he loves. He agreed to die
as a sacrifice for their sin. The Holy Son of God loves his
people so much. He agreed to be made sin for
them and to suffer the full penalty of that sin because he loves
his people. Look at 1 John chapter 4. The Father and the Son are one
in this love of God's people. 1 John chapter 4, verse 9. In this was manifested
the love of God toward us, because the God sent his only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through him. Now herein
is love, not that we love God. But that he loved us, and because
he loved us, what did he do? He sent his son to be the propitiation,
the covering for our sins. The father and the son were in
full agreement in this matter. The father sent the son and the
son willingly came to give himself as a propitiation for our sin
because he loves his people. God loves his people. So he provided
for their every need. And God's children never have
to worry. Was there enough salvation for
me? Pretty big table God's got. Is there enough forgiveness there
for my sin? Is there enough righteousness there for me? God's children
don't have to worry about those things any more than our children
have to worry. Are they going to have enough
to eat for Sunday dinner? God's provided the best. He's provided
his only begotten son. because the nature of God is
love. Fifth, we see the sacrificial
character of God's love. You know, you children, if there
wasn't enough to eat at dinner today to go around for the whole
family, you'd have enough because your parents would go without
so you could have it. That's a sacrificial love. We
will sacrifice ourselves for those that we love. God's love
is no different. God not only gave his Son to
live on this earth as a man, but God gave his Son to die the
death of a criminal on the cursed cross. And there is no sacrifice
like the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's an article
I wrote in the bulletin for today entitled, Freedom is Not Free.
And the thrust of the article is this week, today, this week,
as we celebrate our nation's We should remember those who
gave their lives in defense of our freedoms. When man or woman
does that, what we say is that they have given the ultimate
sacrifice. That's what we say. Now that
sacrifice, as great as it is, as thankful as we are for it,
it pales in comparison to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father gave His Son to man. to do with him as we would. He gave him for that. The father
gave his son to justice so that justice would smite him for the
sins of his elect. And the son, in full agreement,
loved his people so much he gave himself for their sins. What
does scripture say? He gave his back to the smiter.
They didn't tie him up against his will. He gave his back to
the smiter. He gave his cheeks to those who
would pluck out the hair. There's not a person in this
room who would give your children to die as a sacrifice for your
enemy. Not one of us would. There's
not a person in this room that would give our children to die
so our enemy could live. Not one of us. That is exactly
what God Almighty did. He gave his son to die for his
enemies. Now, he loved them, but in their
mind, they're the enemy of God. And he gave his son so that they
would live. That's the sacrificial character
of God's love. And last, I see the purpose of
God's love. That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now we looked at this word,
word should, last week. We're going to look at it again
because it's in this verse. He says, our Lord says, should
not perish. He didn't say they shall not
perish, although that's true, they shall not perish. But he
says they should not perish. Now, by nature, we should perish. Because of our sin, we should
perish. But none of God's elect shall
perish. Because they should not perish.
They should not perish because Christ has already suffered all
the punishment their sin deserves. They should not perish because
Christ already died in their place as their substitute. And
God's justice demands that everyone for whom Christ dies should have
eternal life. It's justice that they have eternal
life because Christ died for them. Now, we're lost in Adam. Every one of us here, we're born
lost in Adam. But if Christ died for us, we
should not perish. We should not, because justice
is satisfied. Our outward man is perishing
and weakening every day. I flipped on the TV this morning.
I saw a special on LeBron. They showed when he began his
To me, that just seems like yesterday. And they showed a picture of
him in that Cleveland Cavaliers uniform. I thought, my goodness,
he's aged. I mean, just yesterday he started.
Outward man is perishing every day. I'd go up the stairs. Janice
got some pictures, a wedding picture, and I'd think, who is
that kid standing next to her? I mean, this outward man is perishing
every day. But the inward man should not
perish. should not perish, because the
purpose of God's love is that His elect be saved through the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, our substitute. We should not
perish, but have everlasting life. Now notice the tense of
it again. Have, not will have, have everlasting
life. No believer has to wait to enjoy
everlasting life. If you believe on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ at this very moment, you have everlasting
life. That's the proof that you have
everlasting life. Only a person that has everlasting
life can possibly believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the life that the Lord imparts to his people when he
reveals himself both to them and in them. Look over at 1 John
again, chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. John says, Behold. Now get a
hold of your seats here. Behold, I'm going to show you
something amazing. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us that we, sinners like you and me, should
be called the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not because it knew him not. Now, beloved, now are we the
sons of God. Because of this unspeakable manner
of love that the Father hath bestowed upon us, now are we
the sons of God. Now, it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Behold what manner
of love the Father hath given us everlasting life, and now
are we the sons of God. And we may not look like much
yet, but you ain't seen nothing yet. You just wait till he appears,
and then we'll be just like him. Now here in this verse, at the
end of this verse, is the truth of who Christ died for. He didn't die for every son of
Adam, did he? He died for those who believe. Now, that can't
possibly mean every son of Adam, because not every son of Adam
believes. As a matter of fact, most of
them don't, do they? So it's impossible for this to
mean that Christ died for every son of Adam. He died for those
who believe. Now, who are those who believe?
It's anyone who believes. That's who it is. I know who
will believe. It's God's elect. I don't know
who they are. That's why we say anyone who
believes. The only ones who believe are
God's elect because those are the ones that God gives this
gift of faith to and they believe God. They believe on the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is it then to believe
God? I want to know this. Do I believe
God? What is it to believe God? was to believe the record that
God hath given of His Son, that eternal life is in Christ. That's simple. Believe that.
To believe God is to believe Christ lived for me so that He
could impute His righteousness for me. I believe that. He lived
for me. To believe God is to believe
Christ died for me. He died to pay for my sin. To
believe God is to believe Christ rose again for me. He rose again
for my justification. He ascended back to the Father
for me. He sits there to make intercession
for me. I believe that. And I believe
to believe God is to believe the Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again for me. I believe that. To believe God
is to trust Christ completely. Just put all my eggs in one basket. Now, listen to this. Christ is
all of my salvation. He's all my salvation or I will
have none. There's not another option. Either
Christ is going to save me or I'll be damned. Not another option. And I put all of my eggs in that
one basket, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed unto him against that day. Well, Frank,
what have you committed to him? Everything, absolutely everything. Well, why? I trust him. That's
why I trust him. To believe God is to surrender,
just surrender to his rule. How many times I hear Brother
Henry say, stack your arms, put up your shotgun, surrender. And whatever he does is right. Whether I understand it or not,
I surrender to him because he's king. Now, I remind you of this
truth often, and you may as well get used to it, but I'm not going
to quit. The commandment to you is look. There's the brazen serpent
lifting. What's the commandment? Look.
That's what we looked at last Sunday. Look. The commandment
to you is believe. You believe God. You, each of you, me included,
ask God to forgive my sin and to give me faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The commandment to you is believe. Now, that's the end of the commandment. Don't try to figure out if you're
one of God's elect. Just believe. Just look. Look, you'll find out soon enough
you believe because God loves you from all of eternity. You'll
find that out soon enough. But you're not commanded to figure
that out for you. Believe. Just believe. God will reveal
that to you. You'll believe. You'll find out
soon enough you believed because God's always loved you and sent
his son to die for you. You'll figure that out right
quick. You'll figure out real quick that you choose God. But
only because he chose you first. It's just like love. We love
God. I do. Don't you? If you're a
believer, you love God. I mean, you love him. Why? Because he first loved you. Well,
the same thing's true of every believer. You choose God. I can't
choose any other way, any other person, any other teaching, any
other doctrine. I choose the Lord Jesus Christ,
but only because he chose me first. I'm hanging on to him
for dear life. But now that's not the security
of my salvation, Earl. He's hanging on to me. I used
this illustration before. Savannah was a little thing,
two or three years old. We were coming into church one
Sunday morning. Big snow had been on the night
before, ice on there. They tried to scrape the parking
lot, but I mean, it wasn't so good as you can do. And there
was a little layer of snow and ice on the parking lot. And I
was holding her hand, and we're walking into the building. And
she said, don't worry, Daddy, I won't let go. I said, that's
all right, that's good. But her security wasn't the fact
she don't let go. Her security was the fact her
daddy didn't let go. I choose Christ. But only because
he chose me first. That's my security. See what
I'm saying? That's God's love. From this verse, from this well-known,
misused verse, that's God's love. Now, if that doesn't humble us,
brother, we can't be humble. If this doesn't make us worship
in awe and wonder, we're dead. That's the only explanation for
it. We're dead. And I pray that God give us a sense. Now, we'll
never understand it, but just give us a sense of his immeasurable,
eternal love and cause us to worship. Why should we worship? 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. God bless us and make it to be
so. I hope the Lord will bless that. To His glory and to your
good.