For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes 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 so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
76 sermons cite this verse
… And why? Because he loves us. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God loves you. God will forgive you. God will change you, but you must come to him. You have to admit you're a sinner. Come back to that first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit. Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I know I need you. And that I'm sorry for my sin, blessed are they that mourn you, turn from your sin. Listen, when you get to the end of yourself, you get to the beginning of God. Maybe I'm talking to someone right now that has thought of taking your life. Please don't ever think about that. Don't ever do that. You're loved by God. You're loved by so many others as well. The devil hates you. He wants to destroy you. Jesus said the thief, speaking of Satan, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly. …
… play a role in is that god's not looking for us to worship him so that it'll prove to him that he can now give us blessings look what the most famous passage in the bible says in john 3 16 and i want you to just say it with me for god so he did it first he he did it first that for god so loved the world god loved first that he gave do you see it god loved and gave like this is why i'm saying like the only response that i can give to god is in the shadow of what he's already given me like this is the understanding that you have to have is because if you think that we're coming in here for ritual to worship and we're we're supposed to do it every day because Christians worship, or we're supposed to live our lives this way because I'm trying to worship God. You got this whole thing twisted. You could never pay God back for what he did for you. You got this whole thing messed up, and he didn't say, oh, when you worship, it's a down payment on your salvation. Oh, when you worship, that's brownie points that you'll get for your blessing. He said, I just want you to worship me because I never created any other being that had the choice to. And it's only love when you can choose. …
… You're very familiar with this, but hear me out. Jesus says, whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave or gifted his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Verse 17, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Verse 18, he who does, or he who believes in him, is not condemned. The word belief is put your weight on him. Trust him. Watch. But he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name or the authority of the only begotten son of God. If you're not a Christian today, and I'm not talking Christian like membership. I'm talking about Christian follower of Jesus, okay? If you're not a follower of Jesus, you are under the condemnation of your own sin. God wants you to be convicted and to be saved. Satan wants you to be condemned and lost. …
… Unbelievers know that. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. But do you know John 3, 18, two verses later? He who believes in him is not condemned. He who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 8, if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. Unbelief robs you of well-being. Okay, I'm pretty much done. I want to land this plane, but I want to do so by addressing two groups this morning. Unbelievers and believers. Could be that a few of you are unbelievers, and so I want to address you first. if you're an unbeliever, you're at a place where you have just sort of formed a position, a settled position of, I won't go any further. This is who I am. It's what I believe. I won't believe. You may have seen the power of God in other people's lives. You may have seen it in your spouse's life, extended family, friends who have come to know Christ. You've heard their testimony, you've seen the changes in their lives. They're different. But you've managed to sort of blow that off. You've rationalized it away. You've marginalized it. Instead, you should be thinking, maybe I'll try what they tried. Maybe I'll do what they did. Maybe I'll believe like they have. …
… The kingdom of God is near. I want you to repent and believe the good news. John summarizes it in memorable words. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have exactly what these architects are looking for—everlasting life. But not as a result of putting the windows beyond arm's length, but as a result of bowing down and acknowledging that my life is a disintegrating shambles. that my best endeavors to put it back together are frankly hopeless. And I can't believe this amazing story. Are you telling me that Jesus has done for me what I cannot do for myself? Yes. Now, why do I have to pay for this? Oh, you don't pay. It's free. Oh, but it can't possibly be a gift. Yes, it is. That's Jesus' message. Then in verse 16 and following, we have Jesus' mission. What's his mission? Well, his mission is to take forward his message and to see the message then established in the lives of people. If the kingdom of God is near, as he proclaims, then what are the people to expect? Well, in Old Testament terms, they knew what they should expect because they knew that when the kingdom of God dawned, everything would be different for them. …
… The kingdom of God is near. I want you to repent and believe the good news. John summarizes it in memorable words. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have exactly what these architects are looking for—everlasting life.
… what text would you speak on? He said John 3.16. John 3.16, we all know that one, right? For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. Whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So one day you're gonna give your final message. And I don't mean a sermon, but you'll say your final words. You'll declare to your family and loved ones that which mattered to you. One day you're gonna have your final meal. One day you're gonna have your final moment on planet Earth. What would your final message be? Billy Graham wrote a book called Nearing Home Toward the End of His Life. He was 94 when he wrote it. He went to heaven at the age of 99. We all thought he might make it to 100. He came just short of it. But in this interview for his book that he had written called Nearing Home, Billy said, quote, God doesn't want us to waste our latter years or spend them in superficial, meaningless pursuits. …
… let's say it together. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Paul said in the book of Ephesians, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her Paul said he loved me and he gave himself for me. So if you're ever tempted to doubt God's love, take a long look at the cross and think about what Jesus went through there and remember this. It wasn't nails that held him to the cross. It was his love for you. That's why he did it. To prove God's love. Jesus also died to absorb the wrath of God. You see, God plays by his own rules. And he has said, the soul that sins shall surely die. And he has also said, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. God is holy. His holy demands must be satisfied. You, I, us, we have all sinned against God. …
… when missionary John Paxton had arrived in the new Heribides islands the first thing he wanted to do was to translate the bible so that the residents there could understand God's word he got to John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him and he sought a word that would convey what it means to believe he couldn't come up with it until one day he found himself leaning on a chair and putting his whole weight on that chair. And then it dawned on him. That's what he means when Jesus says to believe. To believe means to put your whole weight upon, to depend upon completely. To believe in Jesus for your salvation means that you are trusting in him and him alone. What he accomplished for you on the cross, the payment for your debt, the ransom for your freedom, depending upon that and nothing else, not your works, not your baptism, not your church membership, depending, leaning on, trusting in Jesus and Jesus alone. …
… and now? I close with this, perhaps the best known verse in the entire Bible by Christians and non-Christians alike is John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in, trusts in, clings to him, will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved. People misinterpret that. They say, oh, see, Pastor, Jesus isn't a judge. No, he didn't come to judge the world the first time. He didn't come into the world the first time to judge the world. He came as Savior to save the world. He didn't come the first time to judge. He came to save. John goes on to explain, for he who believes in him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already because he does not believe in the name of the only begotten son of God. You see, a lot of people think when we're born into this world, we're born spiritually neutral. And when we die, you know, it's kind of a crapshoot, whether we go to heaven or hell, depending on how nice we are while here on planet earth. …
… that we need to be rooted with the idea of who Christ is. And so God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. If you believe that, that's rooted. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Rooted. God will wipe every tear from your eyes. Rooted. That we are a new creation. Everybody that's made in Christ is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things are made new rooted genesis one and one rooted that god made the world and so we have to be rooted in christ rooted in our scriptures rooted in our word and about what we know and what we believe about christ that we are ahead and not the tail rooted above and not beneath rooted what scriptures do you have on your wall or have in your wallet or have in your purse that you know for sure that God has done for you? You have to be rooted in what you know and understand and believe about who God is. That you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus that God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. Rooted and we shall be saved. Rooted. Some baseline understanding of things that do not change and we won't get tossed to and fro with every wind. It says be rooted in it. Be rooted in Christ. That's the part that you know. And Pastor Grigsby taught us a little bit about that …
… That's the God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. And when you have that love firmly in place in your life, it opens you up to actually approach the other loves, but not need them to do in your heart what they never can. Jonathan and David had that agape love. And so their phileo bloomed out of that. And so Father, we do pray and ask that you would do that for us. The sermon on friends, we don't end with saying, well, let's go out and just try and find some friends now. We first stop to consider where are we at with our agape love for you? That Jonathan and David both were able to love each other and weather the storms of their friendship because your relationship with them, between them and you, mattered more than anything else. And so then they were able to, out of the overflow, approach each other. …
… And he pleaded with his father-in-law to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. President Reagan writing in that beautiful penmanship of his, quoting John 3.16, and talking about the love that Dr. Davis had with his wife of many, many years, He said, you know a special love, but there is a greater love, a love that compelled God to send Jesus to be crucified on a cross for our sins. Reagan wrote all of this. And as he finished his four-page letter, he didn't sign it, President Ronald Reagan. He signed it, Love Ronnie. You see, in spite of all of the chaos in the world, on that particular day, the only thing that mattered to Ronald Reagan was one single soul. you know especially in California I get it you guys have been under under the gun for decades now and when you take a look at how do we fix all of this it sometimes can be overwhelming right but that's not what God is calling us to do God is calling us to go out there and win one soul at a time you see if you really want to change the direction of California it's not going to change with politics it's going to change with hearts and minds and that's our job that is our job to go out there when was the last time that you shared Jesus with someone when was the last time you stopped and just maybe had a conversation with someone put down the …
… we should mention the most important gift He gave. his Son. John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life. That's God's most important gift, a way to have our sins forgiven, a way that we can enjoy eternal life. Pastor Greg, what would you say to someone who wants to accept that gift today? What I would say is he's only a prayer way, which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, he will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now, and I choose to follow you. …
… I mean, think of what Jesus said, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes, believes, shall not perish, break down now and forever, but have everlasting life, right? If you continue in my word, you'll be my disciples. You'll know the truth. The truth shall set you free. Science has actually caught up, like, to the reality, hear me now, that what informs our thinking, ideas in our head, has a radical impact, even down to the cellular level. I mean, this is like, you know, neuroscience, right? Which has revealed that belief shapes the brain, influences the body, down to the cellular level, impacts the trajectory of a person's health, relationships, even legacy. It's called neuroplasticity. What we think, how we think matters. We can't control, like, every thought, you know, that enters our mind. We can't control whether a bird flies over our head, but we can control whether we allow that bird to build a nest on our head, right? …
… and the Lord had opened my heart and yes I heard those great words of John 3 16 but also what's followed John 3 36 whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him folks those two verses clenched my heart yes I saw the love of God and that believing on him I have eternal life. But the wrath of God abides on me if I reject him. Oh, my friends, the gates of the kingdom are opened when the preaching of the word is proclaimed and the gospel is set forth. Preaching closes the kingdom, though, to those who reject the gospel call and remain in their unbelief. You know, it's possible that you can hear the gospel time and time again and reject the call and your heart grows hardened. You know, there's two kinds of people here tonight. They're the saints and the apes. And each one of us belong to one of those two groups. …
… what is one of the most famous passages in the Bible declare? John 3, verse 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. See, the identity of God is God is a giver, and that means your and my identity is that we have to be givers as well. So much so that God shows how far we're called to give. Jesus gave his life. And Jesus, even in grief,
… Here's what Jesus says. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Let me leave you with this. God loves you. He loved you so much that he sent his own beloved son to die on the cross in your place. And then Jesus rose from the dead and now stands at the door of your life and he knocks. If you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. As Jesus said, whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Do you want everlasting life? Do you want to go to heaven when you die? Do you want the burden of your guilt and shame and sin lifted from you? Do you want a fresh start in life? It can all happen if you'll ask God to forgive you and if you will ask Jesus Christ to come into your life. In a moment, we're gonna pray. And I'm going to extend an invitation in this prayer for you to believe in Jesus, for you to be forgiven of your sin, for you to have from this moment forward the certainty that you'll go to heaven when you die. …
… Then John 3, 16, a verse that many of us know. It says, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. I'm talking about the gospel, the good news of Jesus. But before we can hear the good news, we have to get to some bad news. The bad news is that we've all fallen short of the glory of God. We've all sinned. I'm a sinner and you're a sinner. and we're in need of a savior. And the worst news is that we can do nothing to bridge the gap for our mistakes we've made. But the great news is that Jesus did the work for you and for me. He came down from heaven to earth to pay the penalty for our mistakes. He rose again and he is living victoriously in heaven. And that gift, that free gift is offered to you and to me, that free gift of salvation. …
… wouldn't come. I'm going to say that again. Hell is not filled with people that God wouldn't forgive. He stands willing to forgive anybody. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. God is willing to forgive anybody. Hell is not filled with people he wouldn't forgive. It's filled with people who wouldn't come. The only thing you can't be forgiven of is a refusal to come and ask for forgiveness. Now, I want to set your minds at ease. This shouldn't be the concern of any Christian, for this is not a sin they can or will commit. As a matter of fact, if you're worried you've committed the unforgivable sin, that's actually a good sign. You know why? Because people with hardened hearts don't lose sleep over their hard hearts. The point is, their heart is so hard they don't care. …
… You know what it reads? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So here this person blinding, you know, the bandage comes off. down snaps the little scale, and he says, now read that for me. For God so loved the world, I am the light of the world. If any man comes to me, he will no longer be in blindness, but will have the light of life. And he says, words cannot describe the joy that comes over me when I introduce them not to physical sight only, but spiritual. Some of you are bandaged within, blind. You do not see. And the tragedy of it is you feel that because you're in a religion or because you're going through religious motions, somehow God will say to you, ah, you're an exception. Whoever comes to the light comes through the same narrow way and it's through the one who can heal spiritual blindness. No medical doctor can do that. Only the physician of the soul, Jesus Christ. …
… save ourselves. Why did Christ die for us? Because we faced a future in hell because of our sin. And for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. The message of the gospel is a message of love. It is a message of forgiveness. It is a message of hope. It is a message that needs to be shared. The gospel in a nutshell is Christ died for our sins. He was buried and he rose again after three days. Look, you don't have to have all the answers to all the skeptics questions, to all the worldview issues that people have with the Bible and think, well, what if someone says the Bible's misogynistic or racist? How am I gonna deal with that? You don't need to think about all those questions. By the way, I get asked questions all the time about obscure verses and I honestly have to say, I haven't read that verse in a long time. …
… I'm going to John chapter three. He says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life. So he says this belief, but it's really fascinating because later on, Jesus makes a contrast. And the contrast isn't between belief and unbelief. The contrast in John chapter three is between those who believe and those who disobey. So Jesus is making it very, very clear that belief is not just kind of like intellectual assent, like, oh yeah, no, I believe that God's a trinity. It's belief versus disobedience, which means to say that that term that Jesus uses for belief isn't just I understand or isn't just I accept this, but it's more. It's I accept this, I trust this, and now I'll obey. That's why we know this, we know this. Once again, it's less about knowing the right answer and more about submitting myself to the truth who's God himself. I don't think that many of us are going to stand before God and need to know the right answer to a test. …
… brief, but so important. It contains that famous John 3, 16. God so loved the world, he gave his only son, that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. Now, parse this out. God so loved the world. Who are we talking about? The Father, the speaker, the lover, the one who looks, right? The Father, God, so loved the world that he gave his only son, he sent his son out, he spoke his word out, he loved the world in the son. Why? Why? That we might not perish, but might come to eternal life. The father sent the son all the way to the end of God forsakenness, of our sin, of our rebellion, of our sadness, of our rejection. Watch. So that as I run away from the Father, I'm running, whether I like it or not, right into the arms of the Son. And now the Father is sending the Son. The Son gathers in, even the most reluctant sinner can gather us into the love that is the Holy Spirit.
… our cycle of sin, so God sent someone to do something that we could not do for ourselves. John 3, 16 says this. It says, for God so loved the world that he what? He gave, he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, to complain about the world, to criticize the world, but to save the world through him. God, the father sent God, the son, God, the father sent Jesus. Why? Because when God wants to do something, he sends someone. And yet God wasn't done sending after Jesus, because make no mistake about it. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, God has sent you. Jesus says this in John chapter 20, verse 21, peace be with you to his followers as the father has what? As the father has sent me, I am sending you. Jesus said, I am sending you to do God's work in his world for his people. …
… And I couldn't help but hear Jesus' words. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believed in him should not perish but have eternal life. From heaven, Christ came to that earth to give his life for you and me. He died, Jesus did, at three o'clock on Friday. And for the Jewish person, Sabbath was coming at sundown. And so I'm not saying his burial was haphazard, but it definitely was a rush job. They had to get Jesus' body off the cross. They had to move him to a nearby cemetery. They had to arrange very quickly a borrowed tomb and wash his body, to wrap it as much as they could, to prepare it with the spices for burial as much as possible and to get his body in the tomb so that they could be home by the time the sun went down. But on Sunday morning, they were coming back. Once the Sabbath had ended, their plan was to go back to the tomb and to finish what they'd started on Friday. …
… that we're his disciples, by his love. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever, no matter what you've done, believes in him that you would be saved, forgiven, and made new. It's always been about his love. He loves you. And there's nothing you can do about it. There's nothing you can do to earn more of it. There's nothing you can do to take it away. He loves you not because of what you do, but because of who he is. That's who he is. He's love. Now that you got me all worked up. Let me tell you some seminary stuff. I went to seminary four years and studied a bunch of stuff that I don't use. So every now and then I can find something I use, I like to throw it out. This I learned is in seminary. There's something in Bible study that's called the law of first mention. The law of first mention. And what it means is, whenever something is mentioned for the first time, a topic or a theme, whenever it's mentioned for the first time in the Bible, you give more weight to it there, and it sets the tone for that theme whenever you see it somewhere else. …
… We're hopeless and helpless but God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. So go back to man. All right, we're trying to build, aren't we? We're cranking up those cranes, those bulldozers, got our red wings on and the safety goggles. I can build my way to God because man saw the gap, the shortfall. And the Bible tells us in Romans chapter three, verse 23, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I wish the Bible was direct. We all have a shortfall. In other words, the bridge falls short. The bridge falls short. Lisa and I traveled to Hawaii about 20 years ago, and we stayed in this townhouse on this TPC course right on the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful. How many golfers do we have here? Just lift your hand. Men, women, yeah, a lot, a lot. It's a great game. It really is. …
… they were using a common word to refer to a profound mystery. The steady, committed, action of God for us in Jesus. For example, when we read it in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. That word love is being used in a mysterious way, in God's way, not our way. So what's the difference? Our way, our human way, is first to be attracted to something or someone and then to love them. Love for us is something like hunger, an appetite, a need, which means it's hard for us to comprehend loving things that turn our stomach, that have an unpleasant odor or a smug look on their face. How could we love them? But for the things and people that make us happy, that make us feel good, that fill our hearts, and warm our bellies and meet our needs, it's no mystery that we would love them. That's because our way, our human way of loving, is like a craving that's pulled out of us, like the sight and smell of freshly fried and salted potatoes. …
… lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son. So let me ask you a question, when does a person become condemned? the answer, they're already condemned. If you sit here today in unbelief, you are already condemned. Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn because you're already condemned. He came in that you might have life, eternal life, and not more abundantly. So this is the thing. He uses this analogy with Nicodemus. …
… Look here on the screen. Watch this in John chapter three, verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and his only son, that whoever believes in him, even that guy that loves the raiders, shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but he sent his son into the world to save it. I just love this. God didn't send Jesus because he was upset with humanity. God sent Jesus because he was obsessed with humanity. God didn't send Jesus to condemn everybody. He sent Jesus to save everybody. In fact, write down point number one today. I love this about God. God sent Jesus to rescue those who are far from him. Anybody that's far from God, it is not the will of God. God wants every human to be close to Jesus. So God sent Jesus not to condemn people, but to rescue people. Oh, I know it's the Oscars here in LA. …
… Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. this is the word of God for you the people of God thanks be to God Today, we celebrate our newly installed associate pastor, Chris Palmer. Later in the service, we will pray God's blessing on Reverend Palmer's ministry. For now, let me simply say this from the heart. It is a joy to have this talented, spiritually grounded, musically gifted pastor as a leader for your young adult ministry and for this whole congregation at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian. Chris, we're so excited that you and Catherine and little Alistair are part of this community of faith. …
… And every day I was reading a chapter, and today was John 3, which John 3 has like John 3.16, and that's where John 3.16 lives. Like it's home. It's home, it's the third chapter of John. What are you reading? The Bible. He goes, what part of the Bible? I was like, and you know what I did? I was like, well, read it for yourself. I handed my Bible to this man who was like, thank you. And he just began reading John 3. And after about 15 minutes, I felt prompted. I couldn't do better than Philip. So I'm like, do you understand what you're reading? You know, it's like. And he literally was like asking me questions about the serpent on a pole and Nicodemus and this guy who held. And so we spent the next like few minutes before landing talking about Christ. And then it hit me. I was like, I thought, man, I should ask him, like, would you want to give your life to Jesus? …
… stepped all the way in and said, yes, Jesus, I surrender to you. I just want to tell you that God so loved the world. Outside of time, he loved the world inside of time. He loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son, Jesus, inserted him into our time zone. he gave his one and only son that whoever, whoever, whosoever in some, in some Bibles, whoever, whoever believes in him, that's you, that's you, that's you, that's everyone. Anyone who believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And if that's not good news, I don't know what is. and that good news is for you. That good news is for me and all you have to do is believe. Believe and receive it. And so if that's you today and you're just saying, yes, I'm okay, I'm all in. I want to give my life to Jesus. I want to live this life praying even so come Lord Jesus. I want to live every day with Jesus as my Lord, as my Savior, as my King. …
… There will be people in hell. But God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Some people talk about like, well, you can't make me believe, preacher, you know, like all hostile. Why are you gonna be so hostile? I wouldn't try to make you believe. All I'm trying to do is tell you where I found eternal life, to tell you where I found joy, to tell you where I found forgiveness of sins, to tell you where I found hope, like an anchor that can hold us up in the storms of this world. No one can make you believe. And believe it or not, God won't even violate that. He's given you that honor. that choice, that power of free will. You can go to hell if you want to. You'll have to practically crawl over the cross of Jesus Christ to get there, which God planted in your path on the way to destruction. …
… to it. You can give without loving, but it's impossible to love without giving. And that's why we read John 3.16, God so loved the world, he sent a card. No, he gave. He loved you so much, passion followed resource. The Bible says we weren't redeemed with the corruptible currency of silver and gold, but the precious blood of it. He loved, he gave the most valuable thing that ever was to be given, his own son, Jesus Christ. And if we love him, we will give also. It's an acid test of whether we love him or not. Matthew 25 puts it this way. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left hand. …
… the question isn't did you go to sunday school the question isn't did you go to bible study the question isn't do you know john 3 16 the question isn't do you have you know that picture of jesus in your mind the question isn't have you seen the tv show the question isn't did you go to the movie The question is, do you know that he is your God? and if you do and I know the world is filled with many troubles but if you do know him Could you remind me? what immovable mountain is in your life because there's nothing he can't overcome not even death itself I don't want to just be somebody who knows some of the words of the messenger. I want to walk through this life knowing I know God. His name is Jesus. And he is in my life and I am in his. We are connected. He is the true vine. And guess what? I am one of the branches. …
… who he is as the father. John 3.16 tells us, for God so loved the world. We could say it this way. He loved you so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. And whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life. Who is Jesus? He is the good shepherd. He is the lamb of God. He is the son of God who is perfect in every way. And because he was without sin, he could become the perfect sacrifice for our sins. You know the stuff that you're embarrassed of and ashamed by, the stuff that you wish you'd never done that makes you feel guilty and you think I can't come to God because of what I did. No, you come to God as you are. And when you confess your sins, the Bible says God is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That's how good he is. That when you confess Jesus as your savior and your Lord, the old is gone and the new has come. …
… We all know it. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We could rephrase that text this morning. For God so loved the world that he let go. He let go of his son. Have you ever thought about the implications of what the father letting go was like? My dad was a pastor and I'll never forget. He spoke at a friend's church actually here in Texas. My dad's a pastor on the East Coast and he went to this church and then went to the pastor's house before he actually spoke. And this pastor had just recently lost his teenage son in a car accident. I believe it was a drunk driver that hit him. and I'll never forget going into his house and seeing, seeing this pastor just opened the doors and seeing his eyes. He carried the grief in his eyes and we sat down. I would have been 12 or 13, I think at the time and he began to express what took place and my dad prayed for him. …
… Love gives. In fact, John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world that what did he do? That he loved the world so he gave his one and only son. That's what love does. And when you've been changed by the love of God, been literally changed like I have been, then love gives. And Amy and I've been married almost 35 years and truly, I can't even believe that I get to be married to her. I love her so much, she loves me so much. So we give, and we give sacrificially each other. She gives me the remote because she loves me and I need control. And I give her the thermostat, which is the most sacrificial gift ever in the history of the world. I sleep outside the covers and they throw water on me in the middle of the night. She's cold. because we love each other. Love gives, right? Love gives. We have seven grandkids. Three of them came over and they were in the bathtub. …
… And in John 3, Jesus says these words. He says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that all those who believe in him might not perish but have eternal life. And then he goes on to say, right one verse after that, he says, and this is the verdict. Light came into the world, but people prefer darkness to light because their works were evil. They don't want to be seen. And this is us. Here's Jesus. Like, that's amazing. Light came into the world. Incredible. Who would not want to stand in the light? And Jesus says, no, there's a lot of us. There's a lot of us who don't want to, we want to be seen in the good light, we don't want to be seen in the light. And I think that's one of the reasons why Jesus has such harsh words for hypocrites. Because we know what hypocrites are, right? The technical term hypocrite, the Greek word in the Bible, it means actor. …
… And that is an incredible thought. John 3.16 really comes alive at this point. God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son. Could it be that God so loved the world that he sends you and me? We are identified with the very mission of Christ. We have an identical purpose as him. And this is a much greater purpose than living for the next dollar or living for the bigger house or the bigger car. This is a much greater purpose. This is a mission that Christ gave himself to and we were identified with. But not only does he identify us with this mission, it gets even better. Second, he empowers us for his mission. He empowers us for his mission. You saw it in all those verses. Luke chapter 9, when he's sending these guys out, he says, I give you authority to drive out demons. I give you authority to drive out spirits. These guys do that in Luke chapter 10. …
… We're going to preach this is the menu right here. John 3.16 is the menu. And you're not going to come in here and change the menu. We'll fight for this. And if we don't get some men who start acting like men in their homes and in their families, men don't date women and sleep with women. Don't start playing yet. I don't want a sweet feeling. It'll change my anointing. I just feel like telling you, act like a man. If you're going to sleep with her, you should marry her. And get married and sleep with her. Don't give her a condom. give her a ring and be a man. Be a man. Be a man. A man provides. A man protects. A man stands there when everything's ugly. He doesn't cut and run. I don't know where this is coming from, but we need men. We need men to act like men. Quit being a whiny, girly man. If you have two, you work two jobs. …
… and rebellion against God's truth. You say, what do you mean? I thought John 3.16. We know that. God so loved the world. Exactly. That's the beauty of that whole verse. This is a picture of the world in rebellion against God, rebellion against the Father and His Word, and the God of the universe has so poured out His grace on the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would never perish, but have eternal life. The meaning of John 3.16 is heightened there. That's what the world is. A picture of deception, even way back in the very beginning to the introduction of Jesus, John 1 talks about how He was life. He brought life and light. Talked about how the world would reject that light. Obviously, that's the picture that leads up to the crucifixion, what's about to happen in John, a rejection of the light. So what you've got is a picture here. Jesus is saying, I've given them my word. …
You guys know this verse, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's good news. I'm thankful for that. This word loved, for God so loved the world, agape. this rich love that only comes from God. Choose life that you and your descendants might live. I love that when we do choose life, it's yes for us, but it's also the legacy that we're leaving and living for those coming after us. choose life so that you and your descendants, your children's children's children's children may live. I was praying that God would give me something for you today. And he's already given so much. I'm so grateful. But I was like, God, what is your heart for your church? What is your heart for your people? And I felt like he put this in me. He said that he is desperate for you to be desperate for him. …
… we would have a treasure of a verse on the level with John 3.16. I mean, the gospel is in there. But Peter wasn't finished. He dipped his quill in the inkwell and wrote what has to be the most ambitious and mysterious scripture. it reads like this. Jesus was put to death in the body, but made alive in the spirit, through whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison. Still in 1 Peter chapter 3. What a curious, what a shadowy phrase. Wouldn't you agree? He preached to the spirits in prison. What prison? What spirits? And what did he say? He went and preached. Peter tells us when this sermon took place. Sometime after the Friday crucifixion, Peter says he was put to death in the body. That was Friday. And sometime prior to Sunday's bodily resurrection, because what he did here, he did made alive in the spirit. So he's not in the flesh, he's in the spirit. After the death of the body, before the resurrection of the body, Jesus went and preached. …
… again. Well, what does that mean? Listen to what he says in verse 14. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have what? Eternal life. Then we know the next verse. Quote it with me if you know it. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will never perish, but will have eternal life. That's the picture here. He's giving eternal life. John chapter 4, verse 14. He's having a conversation with this Samaritan woman at the well, crossing all kinds of boundaries. And what does he say to her? He says, whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. Look over in John chapter 5. John chapter 5, verse 21. This is a great text right here that describes some of the things we've been talking about, how the Father is working. …
… what i want to get very few are focused on giving what's my goal that i want to give for the month of october that i want to give before this year is out john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he did what? He gave. He had a goal. I want to give my best to the earth. And so I'm going to give my only begotten son. This doesn't happen by accident. It happens with intention. It happens with focus. Proverbs 13 and 22. Proverbs 13 and 22. A good man, a good woman leaves an inheritance. You got to be mindful. I want to leave something for the generation that's coming behind me. I don't want my children to know my struggle. I don't want them to know my pain. I don't want them worried about the stuff that I have had to go through. I want to give my children houses and insurance. I want to give my wife and my family insurance. Y'all ain't saying nothing to me. I want to give something in this earth. Muhammad Ali said service is the rent that you pay for your time on the earth. Have you thought about what I want to give? I remember when I was just starting out in ministry, I heard a prophetess Juanita Bynum say she wanted to tithe a thousand dollars a week. My mind couldn't even conceptualize what that meant, that she had a mind to give at that level. I began a prayer in my former church that I want to unleash into this …
… Old Testament, which then is going to be the foundation for the most famous verse in the Bible, right? John 3.16, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Well, what's the background of that? What's the context. It would be Numbers chapter 21, or chapter 21, verses 4 through 9, where Moses lifts up the serpent in the wilderness, and all who look at this serpent are saved from the snake bites. The last time we talked, we were talking about blessings and curses. Here it is again. Another just very captivating portrait of Christ would be in the Balaam-Balak cycle throughout really Numbers 22 through 24. We see a number of descriptions of the coming Messiah. Perhaps the most famous one would be in Numbers chapter 24, 17, where Balaam, of all people, says, I see him, he's talking about Christ, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. …
He wrote the gospel of John that we may believe in Jesus and have life in his name, okay? That's why John contains John 3.16. John 3.16 tells us how to be saved. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever would believe in him might not perish but have everlasting life. He wrote 1 John so we could use it as a acid test to discover whether we have actually done the first step and the only step to believe in Jesus. So what 1 John is is given so we could have assurance that we actually have passed from death into life, that we're actually headed to heaven and not just, oh, I had an emotional experience or bad Mexican food or whatever it was and it felt some kind of way, but actually am not. It's the most important question you could ever ask. Am I genuinely a Christian? Because Jesus said that on judgment day, there are going to be people who assumed they were good on the basis of membership to a church or organization or part of a family of faith. My dad was a Christian, right? Which is like saying, because I'm in McDonald's, I must be a Big Mac, right? You don't become a Christian by going to a church. You become a Christian by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. And if you've done that, you're going to want to go to church because to love Jesus is to love what he loves. And Jesus …
… that's what they wanted proclaimed at their wedding and then the gospel was the gospel from last week, John chapter 3, verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that all those who believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. They said, because why? Because the fourth part of the gospel is if we put our trust in Jesus, we can have new life. So here's the four parts, right? That God is good. He made this world good. Made us in his image and likeness. Awesome. Second part, we broke the world. We took the world and drove it off a cliff. Bad. but God did not abandon us and he sent his son Jesus on this rescue mission to restore us to him and the fourth part being if we want to we can put our trust in Jesus we have access to the father new life reconciliation all good things that's what they wanted that they wanted they wanted everyone of their family members and their friends to hear the gospel now here's the question I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands or like nod along or anything like this but I wonder how many of us, before I went through those little four parts, if someone were to ask you, hey, what's the gospel? …
… when it comes to your resources. How do you know that you believe John 3.16? It's not a trick question. You're living out first John 3.16. If you believe John 3.16, then you will be living first John 3.16, which is what? By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. You're like, that's amazing. Well, I would die for another Christian if it ever happened, if it ever pushed him. Don't worry, I got you, Pastor. I would die for it. Yeah, but will you live to help another Christian? Will you live to help people come to know him? because John Stott said it's not about the big, blazing, you know, martyrdom, giant act. It's 1,000 small acts every single day. It's like, how is this church doing what God's doing through this church? Through the faith-filled, regular generosity, unspectacular, unsexy, not some big, I don't need a plaque with my name on it. …
… Didn't he say it? Shout on that like that's John 3.16. That's what he said. Now, put my verse back up. and King David, after God built him a house, King David came and sat before the Lord and said, you ever had a moment like this? Who am I? If you don't, you're so full of yourself, you've forgotten where you came from. Who am I? And what is... I don't like that translation. I like the King James. That is the King James. In my Bible, it said, Who am I and who is my family? That's the new version, whatever. That thou has brought... No, go back. I like that one. My bad. Go back. That thou has brought me hitherto. There's that word again. David said, I wanted to build you a house. You didn't let me. But then you turn around, a man with all the faults that I have, and who am I? Lord God, and who is my family that you have brought me to this place? …
It's not by accident that the most famous passage about God's love spoken by Jesus, John 3, 16, you remember it, that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but has eternal life. It's not by accident that Jesus references Numbers chapter 21 to make his point there about the strange yet certain way God's love finds his people in the wilderness. That's where he always finds us. Whether in the secured cell of a drug-hazed, murderous prostitute, or in the me-centered insecurity of the guard or the friend on the other side of the plexiglass. Before God, it's all the same. And that's where Jesus finds us. that's where he found Carla it's where Jesus showed himself through Carla to Tim it's where Jesus reached out through Carla to Bev With the plexiglass between them, Bev once asked Carla if she were offered a chance to erase her death sentence in exchange for a sentence of life without parole, would she take it? …
… created because of sin, but love steps in. When we enter into the New Testament and we hear about this man named Jesus, John 3 16 tells us, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish. What part of them is perishing? The part of them that was made in the image of God is perishing. Their lives are perishing, but if they believe in Jesus, they will be saved from perishing. They will have everlasting life. That means that I got a home in heaven for sure, but also I have life here that I haven't tapped into yet. Ooh, that feels good to me. There's a life here I haven't tapped into yet because I've been made in the image of all of the things that happened to me, made in the image of what my parents could or could not do. Made in the image of my industry. Some of us are working in fields and industry where sometimes greed, sometimes betrayal is just the norm. And we look up and we have been made in the image of our industry instead of being made in the image of God. …
… complicated relationship that we are to have with the world. Because as verse 15 reads, all of us are thinking that feels at odds with John 3.16. He starts out first, John 2.15, with do not love the world. And we're like, what gives? Because John 3, 16 says, God so loved the world. Which is it? Make up your mind, please. Well, it's complicated. And that's why Jesus prayed for us in John 17. I pray, Father, that they would understand they are in the world, but not of the world, right? So when we talk about the world, we have to acknowledge there's a distinction from, A, the created world. God's not saying don't love the Milky Way. God's not saying don't love, you know, the Grand Canyon or the Great Barrier Reef. God's not saying don't love Belize or the Bahamas, right? Certainly, God loves the world in the way he created it. It brings him glory day in and day out, and we are to enjoy loving the world that he gave to us. He's also not saying don't love the people of the world, because that would be John 3, 16. …
… And not for ours only, but also for the whole world. God so loved the world. that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. The sins of the world have been paid for. The tickets to heaven are at will call. We are simply the freed, forgiven loved ones sent out into the world to tell everybody about what's waiting for them if they would only go to him to ask him for it. Let's not hog salvation. Let's not be greedy with grace. Let's not be stingy with the spirit. Come on, let's go. We got a message to tell. We got a world to touch. We got a gospel to preach. We got love to show. So Father, we thank you for the breakup song from our relationship with sin. Thank you for the new and better way opened up to us by the cross. And with sober hearts, we realize that anyone can be saved, but not everyone will be because not everyone will choose to be. But I pray if anyone here today is in danger of destruction because they're walking right now in that broad road that leads to death, maybe even some today have come in here kind of with a cavalier nonchalance about sin that today they can actually say as they look at their lives, there's no proof or evidence. There's no reason for me to think I actually know him. Today they can get their hearts right with God, …
… Jesus said, go to the highways and the byways and invite anybody. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and his only son. Come on, that whomsoever. Come on, clap today. Whomsoever shall believe in him. will not perish but have everlasting life. See, the gospel is so big, it does not care about what you've done or where you've come from or your last name. The gospel is for anybody walking, anybody breathing, anybody that's a sinner in need of grace. Give him a praise today. This is an invite. He wasn't trying to edit and maneuver your story. No, he was inviting you into his story. He invited blind Bartimaeus. He invited the man lowered through the roof. Don't do that to our ability. This is new. He invited people that were tax collectors. He invited notorious sinners because that is the power of the gospel. It is not for a few. It is for anybody that would call on the name of Jesus. And see, some of us think that God's just trying to tweak our story and trying to edit a little bit and trying to just, you know, just let's change this paragraph. …
… but I've enjoyed the last few weeks noticing that every great salvation text I've been in ends in a sanctification text. Let's just start with John 3, 16. For God so loved the world. Everyone knows this one, that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son, amen, into the world to condemn the world. Why? Because they were already under the wrath of God. He didn't need to do any more condemning. He sent his son into the world to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only son. This is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be plainly seen that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. We were just over here, so loved the world that he gave his only son. And just a sentence or two later, we're in the light, living in the light, sanctified, becoming set apart and made into all of what God has put in us at salvation. We looked at this text …
… most famous verses in the Bible, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believed in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That's the verse everyone knows. We all need to learn this verse. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. God did not invite you to church today to condemn you. he invited you to church today to tell you that he loves you well why why didn't he invite us to condemn us next verse should become also a verse that we know whoever believes in him jesus the one talking his son that he sent into the world is not condemned but whoever does not believe in him check this out stands condemned already because he's not believed in the name of God's one and only son. God didn't invite you to church today to condemn you because he already knows you're a teacup sitting under a bowling ball. …
… life because when you accept jesus christ as the head of your life you get new life abundant life and one day you get eternal life because john 3 16 put it like this 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. I'm so glad Anita, because she knew Jesus. I'm so glad that about 250 of us in this room can thank God right now that whatever happens, however I leave, I got something else on the other side of this. I got a crown on the other side, a mansion on the other side, rest on the other side. Does anybody want to help me thank God that it don't end in Chicago? It ends on some golden streets when we all get to heaven. And so the very name Anita is a derivative of the name Anna. And that name Anna means grace. Anita's name means grace. And may her life, her grace. …
… The answer is in John chapter 3. John chapter 3. You know verse 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. All the sinner has to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not something he has to spend a lifetime earning and achieving. In the face of judgment, in the face of immediate judgment, like the thief on the cross, the sinner is called to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and believing in Him, he escapes the lake of fire and is given eternal life. Verse 17, For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, first time He came, but that the world might be saved through Him. And it's this direct, he who believes in Him is not judged. It comes down to that. He who does not believe has been judged already. In other words, if you don't believe, your judgment is already set. Your eternal destiny, heaven or hell, is all based on one thing. Do you believe in the Son of God? If you do, you receive eternal life. …
… And you would be accurate to saying that. John 3, 16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting or eternal life. So you would be right that they need to believe in Christ, but Jesus doesn't say that to the man. You would be right even to give an explanation of the gospel. Talk about the death of Christ. about His substitutionary atonement, and He's taking the place of sinners, provides salvation for all who turn to Him. But He doesn't do that either. What He does do on the surface seems odd. And it would be in some conditions, but we have to understand this. He knew what this young man was thinking. John 2, 25, he knew what was in man. Nobody needed to tell him anything about people, not just their behavior, but their thoughts, because he knew what was in the heart of man. So he's a heart reader. He's a mind reader. …
… And as I consider Christmas and our Christ and he being the honoree. In John 3.16, as Jesus is in a conversation with Nicodemus, and Jesus takes time to teach the teacher. As Nicodemus was a Pharisee and profoundly knowledgeable of the law, and he taught the holy scriptures, yet he is confused about the concept of salvation. the conversation with Jesus is Nicodemus is curious and he he is familiar he has heard so much about Jesus he has yet to understand him he he is what we would call spiritual but he doesn't have a relationship you understand he he is familiar with the scriptures he practices his traditions yet he does not have a relationship with God he he believes in concepts and ideas that that are akin to God but he does not know the God of the scriptures see it's the difference between knowing the word and knowing the one who's behind the word it's the difference between knowing the word and knowing the God of the word and he he is curious and so the scripture says in chapter 3 of the book of John that he comes to Jesus by night and Jesus in a conversation he compliments him and and he speaks of him fondly and greatly and he celebrates um who he is as a person and his accomplishments and his knowledge and yet he comes behind it and says uh with all of the wonderful things that you display, exude, or exemplify, you must be born again. Nicodemus comes back and says, …
… exactly what probably the most repeated verse in the Bible says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life." Believing in Him. You say, well, that seems like a pretty simple thing. In one sense, it is. In another sense, it's not. It's simple in the sense that it's true that believing the gospel, believing the full truth of the gospel indicates that you are a Christian because non-believers don't believe the gospel. It's that simple. The natural man understands not the things of God. They're foolishness to him. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish. So if you believe the gospel, you believe in Him, there has been a divine miracle in your life. You have been regenerated. You have passed from darkness into light, the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. You have been delivered, in the language of Romans 6, from the past form of teaching into a new form of teaching. …
… Go over to the familiar third chapter of John. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, not in the cross, not even in the resurrection, but believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life. For God didn't send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged, but he who has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God is judged already." So already He was making people alive. He had been making people alive since the beginning. Go back to Abraham. Paul says about Abraham in Romans, he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. He was – he's the illustration of justification in Romans 4. He believed God and he was justified by believing in God, and Abraham knew nothing about the cross or the resurrection. Now, I know Romans 10 says, if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. …
… no matter what sins or shame you bring. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. I remember hearing when I was a teenager, put your name in that verse. For God so loved, put your name in there, Justin or Rachel, that if Justin believes in Jesus, Justin will not perish, but Justin will have eternal life. His death is sufficient for you. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and any sinner plunged beneath that flood loses all their guilty stain. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there may I, the vile as he, wash all my sin away. There is a place at this table for you. No matter who you are, what you've done, no matter what kinds of failures or struggles you bring into this moment. You might be the biggest sinner in our city. You might be the biggest sinner in this state. …
… that even people who don't know the Lord may can quote this verse because it is, it stands out for this reason. It is the absolute cornerstone of our faith. And it's John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, his only beloved son, that whoever would believe on him would not perish, but have everlasting life, eternal life. And that is the gift. That is the reason for the season, so to speak. That is the reason for this gathering that we do today, and really for the celebration that we have all across the world of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus gave himself to die in my place so that I could receive the life that he deserves. Jesus became a man. Interesting thing. He took on flesh. He became a human being. One of the great mysteries in scriptures is he is 100% God while at the same time being 100% man. And in his humanity, he gave himself to live life with absolute purity. …
… We need forgiveness. And God so loved the world. that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. And so our prayer is that the light would go on tonight. And here's what I want to do. If the worship team could just kind of come back up there. I haven't totally planned this out. You know, Acts 17 says that God actually determines when everyone was going to be born and the exact places where they're going to live. And he says, so that they could feel their way towards him, Acts 17 says, and find him. That God actually orchestrated tonight. Isn't that crazy? I think he orchestrated that my first grandchild was going to be born this afternoon. It was all the timing. He's like, you're going to teach about God becoming flesh? Let me just show you. And I don't think it was coincidence that he had me out there just crying, praying for some of you who maybe you just never got it. …
… Do you believe that his love is to an extreme that you can't understand? I mean, the Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Like it's not like he just kind of liked us. But he said there was so much love in him that he gave his one and only son. Man, who does that? Who with that much power gives like that? I don't love like that. I mean, do you believe his love is just on another level? you believe his mercy is on another level. Like what he says about, you know, in Psalm 51, how he has this abounding mercy. And though our sins are red as scarlet, he'll wash us white as snow. you believe these things about God. Do you believe in his power? Do you believe right now God can cause us all to just stop breathing? Do you think he's that powerful? Daniel 4, he says, who can hold back your hand? …
… that whosoever believes may in him have eternal life. And then he says in verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life or everlasting life. But what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Well, I think there are a lot of people out there who are very deceived. who really and truly believe that somewhere along the way, they have believed in Jesus Christ, and therefore, they are safe. They are comfortable. They're safe. So what I'd like to do is to think for just a moment with you about what these people are thinking and how they think when they say, yes, I do believe. Well, I think there's some people who genuinely would say to you, yes, I believe the Bible. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. And therefore, they think that they're safe. What they're saying is, I believe the facts. That is, this is the Bible. …
… Tolerance. It used to be that the best-known verse was John 3.16, but no longer. The verse that people will quote to you almost more than any other verse is Matthew 7, 1, judge not that you be not judged. And today, the only sin in America is to call sin, sin. I'm going to be speaking today on this subject, tolerance, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now, tolerance, as we learned it, as we grew up with it, is a good word. I'll call it the old tolerance. Let me tell you what Webster said that tolerance was and what tolerance is. Webster said to recognize and respect others' beliefs, practices, etc., without sharing them and to bear or put up with someone or something not especially liked. That's what tolerance is, and that's a good virtue. The children were studying the Ten commandments. They said, now apply these boys and girls to living at home. What commandment would apply to living with brothers and sisters? A little boy lifted his hand and said, thou shalt not kill. The things at home we have to tolerate. We don't always like them. The things at work we have to tolerate. There are many things in society that we do not approve of, believe in, but we tolerate. There are many other kinds of beliefs that we do not share, but we tolerate, and we ought to tolerate. That is good tolerance. But there is a different kind of tolerance that's come today that has become the new religion in America. And it does not …
… is against God, there is an awesome penalty for sin. And therefore, God in His love, motivated by His love, He says that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Motivated by love and knowing that all of us have sinned against Him, He says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous, no, not one. All of us have indebted ourselves to God because of our sin. That is, we have sinned against Almighty God. We have violated His law, and therefore, we have to be dealt with. And so, either we will pay the penalty of our sin, which He says ultimately is eternal death, or someone else will pay that penalty. Well, God, in His wonderful, loving, forgiving Spirit, chose not to make all of us pay the penalty. The cross is God's statement to the world. that in our sinfulness against him and our obligation to repay this debt to him, he has chosen to pay this debt in our behalf by sending his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ. …
And so chapter 3 begins with this introduction of Nicodemus. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews. Not all of the Pharisees were elevated to membership in the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body of the Jewish people. This would be akin to a senator in the United States Senate. This is a man of very high authority in the government of the affairs of the Jewish people who is also skilled as a theologian, or at least he's supposed to be. And we are told that he came to Jesus by night. John doesn't tell us why he came at night. Maybe he was too busy during the day, or maybe as many guests, he was a little bit embarrassed about being seen publicly with this Jesus who was gaining some kind of a reputation, which was basically negative among the Pharisees and the rulers of the Jews. So maybe Nicodemus was seeking the cover of darkness and hoping for a clandestine meeting with Jesus so that he could interrogate Him in private. …
… for his radio program. And we were talking about John 3.16. Everybody knows what that says. God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. Whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jim goes on to say to me, he says, R.C., everybody knows John 3.16. He says, what's John 3.17 say? John 3.17. That He sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but through the world, through Him should be saved. So the examination kept going. He said, okay, let me hear John 3.18. And I said, this is the condemnation that men loved the darkness rather than the light. And he said, why is that? And on his radio program I said, because their Eads are deevil. That was the end of that interview. I can hardly read that text anymore without thinking, because their deeds were evil. See the world is already exposed to the condemnation of God because we prefer the darkness to the light. Now, here's what my prayer is for the weeks to come. …
… begin. Usually, the commentators see John 3.16 as an editorial comment made by John as he's recounting this episode. That doesn't make it any more or less the Word of God or any less true by having John saying it rather than Jesus saying it. I'm just saying in all likelihood this is John speaking now, not Jesus. But let's look at whatever John or Jesus says in verse 16. For God so loved the world. that He gave His only begotten Son, and whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This surely is the most famous verse in the New Testament. It's the one that people color their hair all different kinds of shades and hold up in signs at sporting events, John 3.16. It's probably the most distorted verse in all of the New Testament as well. Because people who love the universality of this verse hate the particularity of this verse. And let me show that to you. It begins by saying something about the love of God and the object of God's affection. …