There is probably no greater summary of God's love ....than that which is found.... in John 3:16.
Martin Luther called it ......the miniature gospel.
One Sunday school teacher .... kept a copy of this verse in a walnut shell on his desk .....because he was taught as a child..... that John 3:16 ...is the Gospel..... in a nutshell.
John 3:16 was the verse..... through which ........D. L. Moody ....came to appreciate ......the greatness of God's love. (Pause)
Moody had been on a trip to Britain ......in the early days of his ministry .....and there ....he met a young English preacher..... named Henry Moorhouse.
One day Moorhouse mentioned to Moody, ....."I'm thinking of going to America."
"Well," said Moody, ....."if you should ever get to Chicago, .....come down to my church .....and I will give you a chance to preach."
Moody did not mean to be hypocritical when he said this......he was merely being polite.
Nevertheless, .....he was saying to himself ....that he hoped Moorhouse .....would never come.
For Moody had not heard him preach .....and had no idea .....what he would say.
Sometime later, .....after Moody had returned to Chicago, .....he received a telegram from Moorhouse ,.... "Have just arrived in New York. ......Will be in Chicago on Sunday"
Moody was perplexed about what he should do, .....and to complicate matters .....he was just about to leave .....for a series of meetings outside the city.
"Oh, my," he thought, ....."here I am about to be gone on Sunday,..... Moorhouse is coming, .....and I have promised to let him preach."
Finally he said to his wife and to the leaders of the church, ......"I think that I should let him preach just once.
So let him preach once; .....then if the people enjoy him, .....put him on again."
Moody was gone for a week.
When he returned he said to his wife,...... "How did the young preacher do?"
"Oh, he is a better preacher than you are,...."He is telling sinners ......that God loves them."
"That's not right," said Moody. ....."God does not love sinners." ......"Well," she said, ..... "you go and hear him."
"What?" ....."Do you mean to tell me...... that he is still preaching?"
"Yes, he has been preaching all week, .....and he has only one verse for a text. ......It is John 3:16."
Well ...... Moody went to the meeting.
Moorhouse got up ......and began by saying,
"I have been hunting for a text all week, ......and I have not been able to find a better text..... than John 3:16.
So I think we will just talk about it...... once more."
And He did.
Moody said it was on that night .....that he first clearly understood ......the greatness... of God's love.
Hear Gods word to us today :
BIBLE "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." END
It is only one sentence.
And that sentence contains only .....twenty-seven words.
Yet From this one verse .....we can find a number of wonderful eternal truths ....concerning the love of God.
(1 Finger) " For God so loved the world,"
The Greek word ..... for world (kosmos) .....has been defined as..... "the ungodly multitude; the mass of mankind alienated from God,"
This is the world ...... this is the Kosmos ....that God loved.
Were we to picture.... a pristine world,.......fresh from the hand of the Creator ...... and uninfected by evil, ......we could more easily comprehend .....God's desire .....to love.
But a way-ward world ......which not only failed to recognize its maker (John 1:10) but openly hated God's approach (15:18) would seem a poor choice... for love.
Beloved ....God's love ..... is not based on our spiritual condition .....Or on our moral predisposition.
It is not based on our behavior...... or on our attitude toward him.
Rather we see..... that God's love for mankind ......is absolute ..... it is unrestricted.
This Love ..... This Grace.....sets him apart from every other god..... held up....... by every other ....world religion. (Pause)
Buddhists follow ....... The four Nobel Truths
It is not .... A gift of grace....It is a reincarnation through works.
You will be reincarnated to various levels depending on how good you are.
Hindus believe in karma, .....that your actions continually affect the way the world will treat you; ...... that there is nothing .....that comes to you ....that is not set in motion .....by your actions.
The Jewish code of the law .....implies God has requirements ....for people to be acceptable .....to him.
In Islam God is a God of judgment .....not a God of love. You live ....to appease him.
Only Christianity..... dares to proclaim .....that God's love .....is absolute...it is unrestricted.
A love .....that we call..... grace.
And grace ......is all about God.
As Philip Yancey once wrote:
(Slow) "There is nothing we can do..... to make God love us more.
And there is nothing we can do ....to make God love us less."
(1 Finger) God so loved the world.... (2 Fingers) That he gave
How did God .....love us?
He loved us.... by giving, ....by serving,.... by sacrificing ........... He gave.
(Slow) And what are the results of this giving love ....this sacrificial love? (Pause)
Years ago ...... when I was a young banker in Painesville Ohio, .....we used large leather-bound ledgers ......where all accounts..... were entered by hand.
Those ledgers..... in a way ......remind me of God's ledgers ......in heaven.
And .....We are told those books .... Those ledgers (Slow) will one day .....be opened.
Now picture my name ...... James Jeffrey Smead written in the ledger, ......and in one column is the sum total ......of my indebtedness against God.
I could never pay ...... I could never cancel..... that overwhelming indebtedness.
We cannot pay the debt.......we could never be holy enough.
The Scriptures speak to this... "None are righteous........no not one." ( Romans 3:10 )
Now picture.... God taking his pen .....and transferring the sum total of my indebtedness ......to the account of .......the Lord Jesus Christ.
And on Jesus' account in the Ledger are the words ...... "Transferred from the account...... of James Jeffrey Smead."
Now picture one thing further.
Picture.... if you can .....the total righteousness of Christ ...... and against it these words are written, (Slow)
"Transferred .....to the account of James Jeffrey Smead."
Not only is your indebtedness fully transferred to Christ ......but His total Righteousness ......is fully transferred to you.
Beloved ...... That is love.... That is unrestricted love. (Long Pause)
(1 Finger) God so loved the world.... (2 fingers)That he gave....(3 Fingers) His only Son.
Not only was God willing to give, .....but he was willing to give .....all that he had..... "His only Son"
When you give to someone out of your abundance .....that is one thing.
But when you give out of your poverty ......that is quite another.
If you had several vehicles .....it might be seen as a noble thing .....if you were to give one of them .....to a family .....who was in need.
But if you were to give them..... the only vehicle you had ......that would be seen as .....something more than noble ......something above .....and beyond the call ...... an act .....of true sacrifice. (Pause)
A child was once trying to quote from John 3:16 in the King James Version, .....which states, .... "his only begotten Son."
But the child misquoted it and said, ....."his only forgotten Son."
It was one of those.... slips of the tongue ....that carried more truth ......than we would care.... to admit.
Sadly ...... For most people in the world today ......Jesus Christ .....is truly forgotten.
His life is forgotten.... His love is forgotten...His sacrifice is forgotten.
Beloved ..... let your life .....be a light that illuminates the path ......to the only begotten Son.
Let your life .....be a witness...... to his love.
(1) God so loved the world....(2) that he gave....(3) his only Son..... (4) ....that whoever believes in him may (Slow) not parish....
Jesus did not come into the world ....in order to rebuke the world.
He came to rescue the world.... to rescue you.... and rescue me.
He did not come to punish..... He came to pardon.
He did not come to destroy...... He came to deliver.
He came that you .....should not parish.... But receive .......eternal life.
How we act... will impact those that God places in our life.
Beloved... your life .....can make a difference.
More than sixty years ago,...... at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, ......a young sociology professor .....assigned his class a project .....of interviewing 200 city youth .....residing in .....the downtown slums.
He asked them .....to predict their future.
The Students predicted .....that ninety percent .....would serve time in prison. (Slow)
Twenty-five years later the same professor .....asked a class .....to track down these original boys .....and discover .....what had happened.
180 of the 200 were located .....and only four ....only four.....had ever.... been in jail. (Pause)
Why were predictions so far off?
Looking for.....a common factor, ......it was found that over 100 of the boys mentioned .....the strong influence of a teacher .....that they all had..... in common.
The students then located the teacher, .....a seventy-year-old named Sheila O'Rourke, ...... who know resided .....in a Memphis nursing home.
Puzzled by the interest in her, ......she could only exclaim, ....... "All I ever did .....was love.... each of them." REPEAT
That is the power .....of love.
As a result of this one teacher's love ......each of these boys ....had a life far beyond ......earthy predictions.
And .....As a result of God's love ......each of us ......can have an eternal life. (Long Pause)
Faith, hope and love......but the greatest of these.... is love.
Our Lives can make a difference..
..
We are called to be a people of reconciliation... A people of forgiveness.....A people of Love.
Let me close with this story:
Years ago a young man ......had quarreled with his father .....and he left home.
He continued to keep in touch with his mother, ......and wanted very badly .....to come back home for Christmas, ..... but he was afraid .....his father would not allow him.
His mother wrote to him .....and urged him to come home, ...... but he did not feel he could..... until he knew .....his father .....had forgiven him.
Finally, .....there was no time .....for any more letters.
His mother wrote and said .....she would talk with his father,..... and if he had forgiven him, .....she would tie a white cloth.... on the tree .....which grew along the railroad tracks ......near their home.
If there were no white cloth, .....it would be better..... if he went on.
So the young man started home.
As the train drew near his home .....he was so nervous ......he said to a friend who was traveling with him, ....."I can't bear to look.
Sit in my place ......and look out the window.
I will tell you .....what the tree looks like ......and you tell me .....whether there is a white cloth on it."
So his friend changed places with him..... and looked out the window.
A few moments later the friend said,..... "Oh yes, I see the tree."
The young man asked,...... "Is there a white cloth tied to it?"
For a moment ......the friend did not say anything.
Then he turned, and in a very gentle voice said,
(Slow) "There is a white cloth tied .....to every limb!"
Beloved .....In a sense, .....Jesus is the white cloth our heavenly Father ....tied to the tree.
To the tree.... To the cross of Calvary .... signaling .....that it is safe for us .....to come home. (Pause)
What Jesus has done for me .....overwhelms my soul.
He has transferred to his ledger my indebtedness. .....He has paid for my sins..... in full.
And He has transferred from His Ledger .....all His Righteousness .....that I may have.... eternal life.
That is love......That is the Power of.... Eternal Love.
BIBLE "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." END
Amen and Amen
I received much insight from a Sermon by Steven Dow Titled "Experiencing God's Love" and I commend it to you.
Help: I retired in November 2017 and am attempting to supplement my income by sharing on Sermoncentral. If this Message has been helpful to you, please consider a nominal donation: Send to The Rev. Jeff Smead 11725 Regent Park Drive Chardon Ohio 44024. Blessed To Be A Blessing.
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