In the third chapter of John's
Gospel, Jesus having spoken to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler
of the Jews, who came to him by night, telling Nicodemus that no man
can see the kingdom of God except he be born again, not of flesh,
but of the Spirit of God. is asked by Nicodemus the following. Verse nine, Nicodemus answered
and said unto him, how can these things be? And Jesus answered
and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these
things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen. and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things
and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly
things? And no man hath ascended up to
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of
Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life. 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. 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. What a verse this is, John 3,
16. How full of meaning and how full
of depth. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, he gave him, he gave him up into
the hands of sinners. He gave his only begotten Son
into the hands of wicked men. He gave him up to be crucified. The only begotten Son of God,
Jesus Christ, was taken and beaten and nailed to a tree. He was
lifted up and he died. He hung and suffered. God gave
him. God gave his son whom he loved. He gave his son who was innocent. He gave his son who was righteous. He gave his son up to die and
to perish. because he so loved the world
and he would save a people in that world who would be brought
to believe on his Son and to behold the Son and to behold
the Son perishing in their place to behold the Saviour dying for
them and to see in that one who died, to see in that son who
was given their very hope of salvation, to see in him their
sins blotted out, to see him taking sin away, to see the wrath
and judgment of God upon their sins that they deserve to suffer
poured out upon him, God would bring a people to believe on
Him who died for them, who suffered what they should suffer, who
died the death that they should die, that they should not perish,
but that they through Him should have everlasting life. What a
display this is of God's love! of God's grace in giving His
Son, of God's mercy to wicked fallen sinners who deserve to
perish but through Him have everlasting life. What a verse this is. But how taken out of context
it is by so many. How often quoted is this verse
by those who know not God, who know not the Gospel, who know
not Jesus Christ, who know not the depth of their sins or the
depth of his suffering, who know not one iota of the truth, truly,
but who would proclaim and pretend to be followers of Jesus. Oh,
how they will speak of God's love. Oh, how they will speak
of Jesus and following Him. And oh, how they come to this
verse and rip it out of the Bible, rip it out of context, and speak
of God's love in the world. As though God loves every soul
that ever lived and ever will live. Every man, every woman,
every child. As though God loves us all. And
as though Jesus was given for us all. And as though God wants
us all to be saved. And how they rip this verse,
and this chapter, and this book, and this message, and this gospel
to shreds. And yet the verse stands. And
the verse is true. When a man is brought before
a court of judgment, like the court of God's judgment
to which we all one day will be brought, In this world a man
brought before an earthly court of judgment has to testify and
swear that he will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth. It would be good if we took that
to mind when approaching the Scriptures. It would be good
if any man that stands and seeks to speak concerning Jesus Christ
did the same. That they speak the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the truth. And not take bits of the
truth and throw away the bits they don't like and add in lies
and produce something so foreign to the intent and meaning of
God's word that is written here. For whether they do or whether
they don't, one day they will stand in a court of judgment.
One day you and I will stand in a court of judgment when we
stand before God and we will have to answer to Him regarding
everything we have fought, done and said in this world and everything
we know of the truth of the Gospel. And only the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth will save us. Yes, here is a verse which is
so often ripped out of context. Ripped out of the context of
the surrounding verses. Ripped out of the context of
the surrounding chapter. Ripped out of the context of
the surrounding book, the Gospel of John and the whole Bible. how many there are who speak
of a God who loves all and judges none. How many there are who
speak of a God who loves all and judges none and how often
they quote John 3 16 in defense. But the whole chapter And the
whole book of John shows us that God's love is particular. That he has a people in the world
who are his, for whom he gave his son. That his love of the
world was because of those in the world whom he loves in particular. He made this world, he created
this world for them and for his son, for his son's love of that
people. And it's those for whom Christ
suffered. It's those for whom Christ came. It's because God loves the world
and that people in the world that he sent his son into this
world to be despised and rejected by the rest of the world, by
the whole world, them included, in order to save them from their
sins. The chapter ends by telling us
that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into
his hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. The wrath of God abideth on him. Then clearly in this world there
are and there will be those who are brought to believe on the
Son and have everlasting life and those who don't believe on
the Son, those who reject Him, those who reject His message,
those who reject the Gospel, who shall not see life, but upon
whom the wrath of God abides. Then how can God love those upon
whom His wrath abides? What sort of a love is that? God loves the world because of
those in the world whom He loves unto salvation and everlasting
life. But there are those in the world,
a multitude, upon whom His wrath is poured out. God's love is
particular. But God's love is great and without measure. The first thing we see in this
verse is that God loves. for God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son. He so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. God's character, God's nature
is that he loves. God is love. There is no love,
no true love to be found anywhere except in God himself. Men speak of love, men speak
of love in this and that and him and her, but true love is
to be found in God and God alone. The natural love which men speak
of is so self-centred. Men love for what they gain.
Men love for the good that they see in something else. But God
loved a people in whom there is no good. God loves those who
are wretched and weak. God loves the unlovely. God loves even though the love
is not returned. God's love is pure. God's love
is not said because of what He may have in return. He loves
those who by nature rejected Him and hated Him. And so great
is His love for His own. that He gave His only begotten
Son, that He might take them and cleanse them and wash them
and take away that which is ugly in them, take away that which
is sinful in them, take away the spots and the blemishes and
make them pure and perfect. He gave His Son out of love for
those who knew Him not. those who cared not for Him,
those who had gone astray, those who hated Him. Oh, what a love
this is. What a love this is. God is love. He is also righteous and holy
and just. He is a holy God. There is no
evil in Him. He is pure and perfect. And for Him to set His love upon
us, for Him to show us His love, and for us to be brought into
union with God and brought into His presence, we must be righteous
too. His love has a consequence. The verse tells us, for God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For
God to bring a people into union with Himself, for God to cause
sinners to have everlasting life and walk in His presence something
needed to happen. God cannot show His love unto
us and leave us in the state we're in by nature as those fallen
in sin who've turned their back upon God and rejected Him. God's
righteousness is such that if we're to walk with Him, if we're
to walk before Him, our sin, our wickedness, our rebellion
must be judged. It must be blotted out and it
must be taken away. We must be made righteous. and we can only truly experience
his love when we are made righteous. Our experience of his love is
for him to take us and wash us of our sin. We come to know His
love when He meets us where we are and washes us and cleanses
us and reconciles us unto Him. When He takes away our sin, when
He washes us of our sins and when He makes us in Christ to
be the righteousness of God. So in order to show this love
unto the world, in order to show this love unto His people, God
gave His only begotten Son. He judged the sins of His people
in righteousness. He poured out His wrath against
sin in judgment upon a sacrifice. A sacrifice for sin had to be
offered and that sacrifice was his own son. He gave his only begotten son. The great force of this verse is not whom this love is set
upon. but that God's love was so great
for His people in this world that He had to give His begotten
Son as a sacrifice for their sin. His Son had to die that
they who are brought to believe in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life. For you or I to be brought into
everlasting life. A sacrifice had to be slain for
our sin. Judgment had to be poured down,
the wrath of God had to be quenched. You cannot be spared judgment. You cannot be spared perishing
in hell for the sins that you have done, except God judge your
sins in another. And the great message of this
verse is that God so loved the world that he gave his son as
that sacrifice for sin. And if you are spared judgment
for your own sins, if I am spared judgment for my sins, if I'm
delivered from hell, it will be Because God put his son through
hell for me. Because God poured out the wrath
of God that I deserve upon Christ himself. Oh how this should melt our hearts
if we know his love. God is just. Sin demands a punishment. The soul that sinneth it must
die. There's no spare in this judgment. God can't turn a blind eye to
it. God can't just turn aside from
looking at your sin or my sin. God can't just forgive us and
pretend that that sin never occurred. It must be judged. wrath must
be appeased it must be quenched and for God to save us he poured
out that wrath upon his own son that's the message of this verse
he so loved the world he so loved his people that He gave His only
begotten Son. He poured out the wrath of God
upon Him, not them. And if you're His, He poured
out the wrath of God upon Christ, not you. even though you deserve
it even though you've earned it and you will recognise that
and own that and say that should have been me it should have been
me upon the cross I should be there dying I should have suffered
the death that Christ died I brought that about I did the deeds that
brought that judgment to pass and yet God so loved me that
He crucified Christ in my place. He took me and put me to the
side and He took His Son and He nailed Him there where I should
have been nailed and He poured out the fires of God's wrath
upon Him and He died the death that I should die. Oh, the love
of God! He so loved me that He gave His
Son for me. He that believeth on the Son
have everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. And the wrath of God will abide
on all those who reject his Son and reject his Gospel. then clearly
this love of the world is not for every soul in the world.
For there are those upon whom the wrath of God will come. There
are those we read of in the Gospels upon whom the wrath of God came.
Oh how Judas betrayed Christ and perished for it and God's
wrath poured out upon him. Oh how the Jews crucified him. But what mercy God had upon the
Jews. What mercy God had upon others. Though they did these things,
God showed love unto many. But they were those. who raged against him, those
who when he came unto them, those who when the light came into
the darkness of the world, they received it not, they rejected
it, they said, away with this man, crucify him, crucify him. And if that's your heart's cry,
and if that's your heart's cry when you take your last breath,
then you will know what it is for the wrath of God to abide
upon you for eternity. You can't mess around with the
gospel. You can't put it off for another
day. What a message this is. What
importance this is. We know not what a day may bring. We know not when our last day
may be. We know not what tragedy may
come upon us, what illness, what event might occur. We know not
whether a lorry will drive into us in the morning or an earthquake
will take away the ground from underneath us and how we will
stand before Almighty God. And what has our response been? Has God spoken this word unto
us? Has he lifted up his son as the
serpent was lifted up in the wilderness? Why has God sent
this chapter, this message unto us? Because he's lifting up his
son as our only hope of salvation in the wilderness as Moses led
the Jews, the Hebrews, threw the wilderness out of Egypt,
he lifted up that serpent which was a picture of Christ. And
he pointed those who were dying and sick unto the serpent which
would bring healing. And so as a picture of the Gospel,
this points us to the lifting up of Christ in the Gospel. how
God displays Christ unto us and how God says unto us, because
of my love for this world that I created and the people I created
in it, for whom I have given my son, I will lift up my son. I have given him to perish for
sinners. I've given him to take the punishment
that they deserve. Then behold, my son, behold the
Lamb of God. And do you behold? Do you see? Can you see? Can you see God's
love? Can you see the depth of God's
love? Can you see the Saviour whom
he gave? For God so loved the world. that he gave his only begotten
Son. He so loved the world. What is
this world? How men take this phrase and
how they twist it and abuse it and take it out of the context
of this chapter and the whole Gospel and claim that God loved
every individual throughout all time. Even though it's clear
that Christ died for the sheep and not the goats, as John 10
tells us. Even though it's clear that God
has chosen those who are brought to believe in Jesus Christ. Even
though it's clear in the verse itself that God gave his only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. And
it's clear from the chapter that those that don't believe him
do perish and the wrath of God abides on him. Then who believe
in him? Can all men believe in him? Do
all men believe in him? They don't. They don't. And as earlier in a chapter we
have read, you can only see the Kingdom of God, you'll only be
brought to believe in this Saviour if you're born again. And you
can only be born again from heaven on high. and you will only be
born again from heaven on high if God has chosen you and God
brings the gospel unto you and God by that gospel quickens you
by the Spirit of God unto life. It's all in God's hands. The world here is the world that
God's created in which he created a people born of Adam chosen
unto salvation a people who are in Christ God's children in this
world a multitude whom he has created under salvation that's
the world he loved but there is that in this world there is
that sin in this world and there are those sinners in this world
who will be like the withered, unfruitful branches on the vine
plucked aside and thrown away and burnt as we read later in
John's Gospel. There's one vine, there's one
world. But there's that in the world,
that people in the world, who bring forth fruit, that people
who are brought to believe, that people who are brought to be
born again, that people who are brought unto everlasting life,
whom God loves, and there is that in the world which is taken
away. then how foolish it is to presume
that because this verse speaks of God loving the world, that
he loves you and desires your salvation and desires the salvation
of all men and all men will be saved no matter what. What foolishness
this is that closes the eyes to every other verse in the book
and can only see what we want to see. Just look at the rest
of the chapter. He that believeth on the Son
have everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. God's wrath does not abide on
those whom he loves. God's love is particular. He
loves those whom He has chosen under salvation. He loves those
who believe. It is those who believe on the
Son who have everlasting life. It's those who believe on the
Son for whom the Son was given. His love is particular. He loves
those whom He has chosen. He loves the world because in
the world he has a people whom he's chosen under salvation.
That's the world he loves. But in this world that he created,
which he's created perfectly, which was good, and he said of
it, it is good, entered sin. And all that is sin must be purged
out. The whole message of John's Gospel
which is the context of this verse and the context of this
chapter, is that God has a people for whom he has sent his son.
The Son of God, the Life of God, the Light of God, the Love of
God entered the darkness of this world, that He should deliver
His people from their sins. As Matthew 1 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Chapter 3 makes it plain that
that people are born again. They must be born again to see
the Kingdom of God. And those who are not born again
will not see the Kingdom of God. We read of this in chapter one,
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. Those who believe, those who
receive the Son are those who are born again by God, of God. And their being born again is
not a result of a decision that they make. It's not that they
are born of blood. It's not that they're born as
a result of the union of their parents. They're not born in
a fleshly birth. They're not born by the will
of others in this world. They're not born by the will
of man. They're not born by the will
of the flesh. They're not born by their will. But they're born by the will
of God. We are not born again because we hear of the death
of Jesus and we hear the gospel and we choose to believe it. We don't make a decision for
Christ and as a consequence we're born again. We are born because
God has chosen us. and causes us to be born of the
Spirit. And the consequence of our new
birth is that we receive and we believe in Jesus Christ. We do not become sheep because
we make a decision to follow Jesus. And we do not remain goats
because we haven't made that decision. We are either sheep
or goats, and the sheep will believe, and the goats will not
believe, as we see in John chapter 10. In the fifth chapter of John,
we see clearly the judgment of God against sin. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Christ says, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so have he given to the Son to have life in himself. And have given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. Marvel
not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in
the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation. There is a resurrection
of life and a resurrection of damnation. There is a day coming
when this world will be divided into two and the sheep will enter
into glory and the goats will enter into eternal judgment.
There is heaven and hell. No one spake of hell more often
in the scriptures than Christ himself. And yet there are those
who would come to John 3, 16 and read of God's love and pretend
that God loves all men and will judge no man. To pretend that
all will be saved. to pretend that Christ died for
all and all will believe in the end and there is no hell and
there is nothing to fear and there is no judgement to come
all this is passing, all this is temporary in the end all will
be well and yet that is contrary to everything that Christ says
how foolish to follow such a lie and yet multitudes do Because
they believe what they want to believe and they shut their ears
to the truth. Those that have done good have not done good
in their own strength. We've all done evil by nature. But there are those whom God's
chosen in Christ, for whom he died, for whom he suffered, for
whom he bled, who are washed in his blood, and cleansed in
his blood, and made in him to be the righteousness of God,
and in him by the grace of God, they are without sin. And in
God's eyes they've done nothing but good. And when they're resurrected
from the grave and stand before God in judgment, God says, well
done my good and faithful servant. They're led into glory, they're
led into everlasting righteousness, they're led into the kingdom
of God to be with Christ forevermore. Because in Him they're perfect. But outside of him, we are nothing
but sinners, guilty from head to toe. What makes the difference? What makes one believe and one
reject? the work of God does. When the
Jews came unto Christ in John 6 asking him to show them the
work of God, he said, this is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent. Those of you that don't believe,
don't believe, because your work, your strength, your Determination
is to reject and run another way. All the work of man is to
despise and reject the message of God's gospel. And despise
and reject his son. But if you're brought to believe
him, it is the work of God that you believe on whom God has said. John 6, verse 35. And speaking of the
bread of life, Christ says, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread
of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But
I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not.
These people at the time they stood before Christ, there he
was and all they could see was a man. They could not see the
Son of God for whom he was. 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 mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing. but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life. And I will raise Him up
at the last day. Yes, there's a people whom God
has chosen, that He's given to the Son, and all that He's given
unto Him will come to Him, and they will believe in Him, and
they will not be cast out. and they will be risen up at
the last day. They're chosen. Chosen by God
under salvation. Chosen in Christ. They are sheep
of his pasture. In John chapter 10 we read of
the sheep. Christ says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that isn't hiling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hiling fleeth, because he
isn't hiling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the Good
Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me. because I lay down my life that
I might take it again. No man taketh it from me but
I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings. They didn't like it.
And many of them said, he have a devil and is mad, why hear
ye him? Others said, these are not the
words of him that have a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of
the blind? And it was at Jerusalem, the
Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter, and Jesus walked
in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you
and ye believe not the works that I do in my father's name
they bear witness of me but ye believe not because ye are not
of my sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man's able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. I and my Father are one. He gave his life, not for all
the world, not for the goats and the sheep, but he loved the
world because of the sheep, and he gave his life for the sheep. There are those who don't believe
because they're not sheep. They will never believe. They
always reject. They will not hear him because
they're not his sheep. But the sheep will hear in the
end. The sheep prove themselves to
be sheep because in the end they hear, they may reject, they may
shut their ears, they may not believe at the first but eventually
the gospel is sent in power and they hear and they turn and they
believe and they follow. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me because He's chosen them. He's
chosen them, they're His. As we read in John 15, ye have
not chosen me but I have chosen you. When he speaks of that vine. and his people in the vine. I
am the true vine, my father is the husbandman. Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch
that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that he may bring forth more
fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken
unto you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them,
and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide
in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. As the Father have loved me,
so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. Oh, what love he has for the
world! It is as a vine, but there's
that which is taken away and thrown away and burned. There's
those goats which will perish, but there's those sheep chosen
by God under salvation who will believe. and believe unto salvation,
and believe unto righteousness, who will never perish, and none
can pluck them out of his hands. None can pluck them out of his
hands. In John 17, Christ prays for
his disciples, he prays for those who believe. And how often we
see them contrasted with the world. now oh father glorify
thou me with thine own self with the glory which i had with thee
before the world was I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou
gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that
all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have
given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have
received them. and have known surely that i
came out from thee and they have believed that thou did send me
i pray for them i pray not for the world but for them which
thou hast given me for they are thine and all mine are thine
and thine are mine and i am glorified in them and now i am no more
in the world but these are in the world And I come to thee,
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest
me, I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition
that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to thee, and these
things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst
take them out of the world, but that should keep them from the
evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they might be sanctified
through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I
in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me. and the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me that
they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory. which thou hast given me, for
thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father,
the world have not known me, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto
them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Oh, what a particular. love God has for His own. All that He has chosen are born
again. All that He has chosen are brought
to hear the Gospel and believe. All that He has chosen were so
loved of the Father, are so loved of the Father, that He gave His
only begotten Son for them. Did He give His Son for you?
Did He set His love upon you? Did His Son suffer the wrath
of God for you? 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. Amen.