The Gospel of John - part 7
preached Oct 28, 2018
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 KJV
THE REALITY
For God…
God is Creator
Gen 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
He stands apart from Creation. He is not a bird, a beast, or a man.
He created the birds of the air,
the fish of the sea,
and He created you and me.
God is King
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory!
Psa. 24:1-10
So loved the world
God loves us because He is love.
1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love
God loves us despite our sin.
Rom. 5:8 But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s love makes us alive.
Eph. 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
that He gave His only begotten Son
Jesus is the Only Begotten Son
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Jesus is the Only Way
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
THE CHOICE WE HAVE
That whosoever believes in Him...
‘Whosoever’—anyone and everyone who so chooses to believe
God does not want any to perish.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Rom. 10:13
Do you believe that anyone can be saved? Because anyone can be saved. Jesus came for the world.
He came for boys and girls,
Men and women,
White, black, brown, purple, green, blue, “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight”.
He came to save the church folk, city folk, and country folk,
the oldest, the youngest, and the ones lost in the middle,
the drugged out, the prostitute and the guy that makes you say, “huh...”.
He even came to save the politicians!
“Whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
But let’s get specific:
Do you believe He can save your family? Your brother, your sister, mom or dad?
How about your neighbor? What about the whole town?
Do you want to hear my plan? I’ve got something in the works that you might like. See, I’m still a little idealistic. I believe Jesus can save the whole town, and I’m planning on it. When I came to Chilhowee, I prayed, “Lord, there’s only 300 people. You saved 3000 in one day at Pentecost. Surely 300 is doable.”
You know what He said? “Nothing is impossible for the one who believes.”
Church, do you believe we can see a revival? I mean a real come-to-Jesus, life-booming, Great Awakening kind of revival?
Nothing is impossible for the one who believes!
I even have it planned out step-by-step. It’s not complicated, I’ll share with you now. We can start today. At some point, you will come across someone who doesn’t go to church here or at the Methodist church. (By the way, we’ll leave them for last. Chances are they’re good.) They don’t want to go to church, because they don’t know Jesus. They aren’t born again. That’s where you come in. You just have one task: tell them about Jesus. That’s it. “What if they don’t want to listen.” Then just stay friendly and tell them the next day. If they don’t want to talk about Jesus that day, then try again the next...then the next and the next and the next, until one day they say, “Fine! I’ll listen”. And we’re going to keep doing that until everyone trusts in Jesus as Lord.
Sound crazy? Well, that’s the way it’s been done for 2000 years. Even before Christianity became a cultural force in the world, that’s what the early Christians did. They told their family and neighbors about Jesus. They were loving to each other. They demonstrated love to those no one else did, and they explained the whole time, “it’s because Jesus has saved me.”
That’s it. We don’t need anymore tracts or programs or gimmicks or lights. We just need to love people enough to tell them about Jesus—and stop worrying about the outcomes or thinking about the past. I know that’s hard. The past can be painful. It’s filled with demons that haunt us. But the good news is this: the future is bright! Heaven is coming! And in Heaven, no one is worried about the past. There’s no need to worry because Jesus is there! But listen! Jesus is here, too! There is no need to worry. We have every reason to have faith.
Nothing is impossible for the one who believes!
Shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Life for Now
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10
Life for Later
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.4 Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live
John 11:25
These are the stakes—Heaven or Hell. Sin has corrupted this world and humanity sentencing us all to death. But Jesus has given the cure! If you will trust in Him, if you will believe that He can save you, He will save you!
John 3:17
Jesus came to save.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
John 3:17
God does not condemn humanity. Humanity has condemned itself by sinning. Some people have God all wrong. Usually it’s two different, but opposite, errors. On the one hand, some people think God is waiting to see how we behave. If we’re really good, then He’ll say, “Ok, I’ll save that one. They’re nice people.” But we saw last week, that’s just not the case. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. We have to be born again, and only the Holy Spirit can do that. God prompts us to salvation. He came to us, we never went to Him. On the other hand, some people think it’s completely arbitrary. God saves who He wants and sends the rest to hell. Not only is there nothing we can do about it, but we can’t even really make sense of it. He’s just a giant tornado bouncing through town destroying some and sparing others. But that’s not what the Bible teaches.
“For God so loved the world” John 3:16
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
God calls all people to repent and be saved. Life or death is placed before you. It is up to you to decide which you will choose.
Now, I know I’m getting into controversial waters. My Calvinist brothers always get rattled when I talk like this. But make no mistake, I can rattle the Arminians, too. They start talking about people losing their salvation, and I just want to smack ‘em. The problem is people like to put things into categories—typically opposites. It’s easier for us to understand. Something is either hot or cold, black or white, country or city, or whatever and whatever else. The thing is the Bible presents both God’s Absolute Sovereignty and Humanity’s Accountability together. God is the Author and Finisher of our Faith, and yet He calls us to “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Here’s a historical tidbit for you: the Calvinist vs Armenian argument started long before Calvin. If you’ll read the Early Church Fathers from the 2nd-5th centuries, you’ll notice that some emphasize God’s election and some Man’s responsibility. As I said, the Bible presents both and history is filled with theologians attempting to resolve the tension. Personally, I don’t believe the tension needs to be resolved. God has His job, and we have ours. God’s job is to convict people of sin and call people to salvation. Our job is to be vessels for His glory by telling the Good News—making it plain and understandable, not putting up any stumbling blocks.
That’s the short version. If you want the long one, you can buy me lunch later.
John 3:18
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:18
Again, we have two options—life or death, trust or disbelief.
If you will believe, you will live.
If you will not believe, you are already dead.
Whoever puts their faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation will be saved. “Whom the Son has set free is free indeed!” But whoever does not believe is already condemned. “Dead man walking”. There is only one way to freedom. God only has One Begotten Son. He has already come. He has paid the price for your sin. He has resurrected from the grave and is high and lifted up. He stands to the right of the Father interceding on our behalf. If you will call to Him in faith, turning away from your sin, you will be born again and saved from hell.
You don’t need to clean yourself up. You don’t need to wait for a better time. You’ll never be good enough and there’s no better time than now. “Today is the day of salvation”.
Call upon Jesus and be born again. Become a new creation made ready for Heaven. Time is running out. Death comes for us all. Every man dies, but not every man really lives. Choose life. Call on Jesus and be given new life.