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John 3.16 is a very familiar 
passage to all of us, and one rightly so. We ought to refer 
to it often as it contains so much in terms of encouragement 
for God's people. Martin Luther referred to John 
3.16 as the Bible in miniature. The Bible in miniature. I think 
that's a good and fitting description of John 3.16. But I do want to 
read and set it in its larger context, so I'll pick up reading 
in verse 1 and we'll read the verse 21. There was a man of 
the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man 
came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you 
are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs 
that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said 
to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, 
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How 
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time 
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Most assuredly, 
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot 
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not 
marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind 
blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot 
tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone 
who is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to 
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, 
Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? 
Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify 
what we have seen. And you do not receive our witness. 
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will 
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to 
heaven. but he who came down from heaven, 
that is, the son of man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be 
lifted up, 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 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 of God. And this is the condemnation, 
that the light has come into the world. And men loved darkness 
rather than light. because their deeds were evil. 
For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not 
come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who 
does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly 
seen, that they have been done in God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we come now to the Scripture 
and we pray for the Holy Spirit to be our guide and to be our 
teacher. We thank You that You have not left us as orphans in 
this world, but You've given another helper, one just like 
the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that He would be at work 
in our hearts and in our minds, that You would feed Your people 
and encourage us and strengthen us and cause us to rejoice in 
such a wonderful Savior. Father, we just praise You that 
You have orchestrated, you have undertaken on behalf of sinners 
to save us and to bring us into everlasting life. God, we just 
ask now that in all that we do, we would bring glory to you. 
And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, the cross of 
Jesus Christ teaches us several things. I just saw a quote the 
other day. A man said, if you want to learn something about 
the love of God, look at the cross. But as well, if you want 
to learn something about the wrath of God, look at the cross. The very cross that teaches us 
something about God's love here in John 3, 16, teaches us about 
God's wrath. At the end of the gospel accounts, 
when Jesus ultimately is hung on the tree, he cries out, why 
hast thou forsaken me? I would submit that is a demonstration 
of God's wrath. being poured out upon the son 
of his love. So there are many lessons that 
we can learn from the cross. Paul says in Romans chapter three 
that one of the one of the lessons in the cross or at the cross 
of Jesus and the atoning work has to do with the righteousness 
of God. So while there are all these 
lessons today, we're going to focus on the cross as the manifestation 
of God's love, the cross as the manifestation of God's love. When we look to that cross, we 
ought to consider the love of God Most High. We ought to consider 
the love of the Father, the love of the Son, the love of the Holy 
Spirit. As we consider John 3.16, we 
need to see it in its larger context. We saw several months 
ago, we looked at the new birth from John 3, verses 1 to 10. This was a dialogue wherein Nicodemus 
comes to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus gets right to 
the point. You notice in verse 3, he doesn't play around. He 
doesn't talk about the weather. Nicodemus says, We know that 
you are a teacher come from God. And here's Jesus response. Verse 
three. Most assuredly, I say to you, 
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
It highlights God's initiation in salvation, unless a man is 
born again. This is not something that we 
have the ability to affect. Something outside of us must 
happen to us according to our Lord. He illustrates it with 
the wind. We don't know where it's coming 
from. We don't know where it's going. But we certainly see the 
effects of it. Such is the case with the Spirit. 
We don't schedule Him to show up at 11 o'clock on a Sunday 
morning. We pray for His arrival. We pray 
for Him to be with us. But we are not the sovereign. 
The Spirit of God comes as He wishes. And He goes as He wishes. But we see the effects of His 
having been present with us. So verses 1 to 10 highlight God's 
initiation, initiative rather, in salvation. And then in verses 
11 to 21, he highlights man's response to Christ's belief. What is the first evidence that 
someone is regenerate? It's that they believe the gospel. If you are born again, you will 
believe the Gospel. You don't have somebody born 
again, wandering around, who isn't a believer. When a man 
is regenerate, he believes on the Lord Jesus. And that's what 
Christ is highlighting in this particular section. Believe is 
used seven times in this section. So when the Spirit regenerates 
us, the response is to believe on the Gospel of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. And then as we focus in, Jesus 
uses the parallel of what happened in Numbers 21. Remember in Numbers 
21, the people of God, the people of Israel were complaining. They 
were grumbling. They were whining. So God sent 
judgment. We may not like that. I know 
that's not popular. We think that we should just 
get to sin all we want and God never responds. Well, that's 
simply not the case. That's one of the most offensive 
things about the Bible to the unbeliever is that God judges. 
God punishes. Yet these same people punish 
their children. They long for the civil government 
to punish a man like Stephen Hayes. They long for the civil 
government to protect them from evildoers. And yet when God inflicts 
punishment and judgment upon sinners, we just think that's 
offensive. Well, that's not offensive. It is the result of living in 
a moral universe governed by a holy God. The people of Israel 
grumble. They complain. So God sends serpents 
to bite them. And as many of them died, God 
then instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent, hang it up 
on a pole, lift it in the wilderness. And the word was that if you 
look to that serpent, you will live. Jesus likens his crucifixion 
and his atoning work to that serpent. Just as the serpent 
was lifted up in the wilderness, so also must the Son of Man be 
lifted up. What's the point? The point is 
you look and you live. The point is you look to Christ 
and you live. It wasn't look at that bronze 
serpent and then suck the venom out yourself and then heal yourself. No, it was look to that serpent 
and live. The same is true with the gospel 
and the atonement of Jesus. We look and we live. That's what 
he's talking about. Belief. Belief on the gospel 
is necessary. So I want to pull out five observations 
concerning the cross as the manifestation of God's love. And the first 
is the cross is God's appointed remedy. We need to remember this. The cross is God's appointed 
remedy. When you start in the beginning 
of the Bible and you see mankind plunge into sin, The thing that 
you must notice is that it's not mankind who seeks after God, 
but rather it is God who seeks mankind. God is a seeking God. Jesus defined his ministry with 
reference to Zacchaeus in these terms. The Son of Man has come 
to seek and to save that which was lost. The cross is God's 
appointed remedy. We didn't make it up. We didn't 
think it through. We would have never designed 
a gospel or a good news account where the Son of God himself 
would come into the world to be hung upon the cross for the 
sins of his people. We need to understand that the 
cross is God's appointed remedy for the salvation of sinners. 
Notice in verse 16, it starts with four. This is a reason. This is explanatory. This gives 
us further information. While it may sound repetitious, 
verses 15 and 16, 16 explains more fully the flow of thought 
in verses 14 and 15. He says in verse 14, And as Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should 
not perish, but have eternal life. Four, it says, God so loved 
the world that He acted. God so loved the world that He 
took initiative. God so loved the world that He 
orchestrated this plan to save His people from their sins. Sometimes 
people have it backwards. They think that Jesus came to 
change God's heart towards sinners. That's not the case. Jesus came 
to apply God's heart to sinners. One man has well said, the atonement 
did not procure grace, it flowed from grace. It wasn't as if the 
good God of the New Testament appeased the mean angry God of 
the Old Testament. The one triune God works in perfect 
harmony and unity, and the sending of the Son reflects Love. It reflects God's initiative 
in the cross. We are to see not an attempt 
to change God's mind, but the very expression of that mind. God so loved the world that He 
acted. God so loved the world that He 
took the initiative. God so loved the world that He 
didn't leave us in our state. God so loved the world that He 
didn't leave us as those who go a-whoring from Him, as those 
who continue to trash His commandments, as those who continue to celebrate 
ungodliness and unrighteousness, who have degraded ourselves in 
idolatry. God undertook. God was pleased. God sent forth His Son, born 
of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law. 
John says it this way in 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10. 1 John 4, verse 9. It says, In this the love of 
God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten 
Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is 
love. Not that we love God. You'll 
have the biblical honesty of these authors. The amazing thing 
in this arrangement is not that we love God. He's altogether 
lovely. We should love Him. Have you 
ever had it where one of your children does something wrong 
and the other one says, well, I didn't do that. You should 
reward me. No, you shouldn't do that anyway. 
Why should I reward you? When you have done what you're 
supposed to do, you are still just a good and faithful slave. The issue in the salvation that 
God has orchestrated, what we ought not to be surprised about 
is that a bunch of rebel sinners love God. It's that a glorious, 
holy, righteous God loves rebel sinners. In this is love, he 
says. Not that we loved God, but that 
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our 
sins. We come to the table this morning 
as we consider the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to 
realize this was not a cunningly devised fable by a bunch of men 
on a drug trip. This isn't some story that is 
parallel to many other religious fables in the world today. When 
we come to this table or when we think in terms of Jesus' broken 
body and shed blood, we need to see the glory of God and His 
divine plan in action. that He sent forth His Son, that 
He did not leave all men to perish in their sin and misery, that 
He undertook on our behalf. And the same God who sought out 
Adam and Eve in the garden, the same God who sought out Abram 
out of Ur of the Chaldees, the same God who came to Zacchaeus 
and said, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save, that 
which was lost is the same God who has sought us out. That is 
a means of encouragement. The cross is God's appointed 
remedy. Secondly, the cross manifests 
God's immeasurable love. That phrase is from B.B. Warfield, 
a sermon called God's Immeasurable Love, and it's a sermon on John 
3.16. God, notice, so loved the world. God's immeasurable love. He so loved the world. It shouldn't surprise us that 
God loves us now in Christ, but it should surprise us that God 
loved us even prior to Christ. God so loved the world. Isn't 
that Paul's thought in Romans chapter 5 verse 8? He says, God 
demonstrates his own love toward us. In that, while we were yet 
sinners, Christ died for us. And I submit that the immeasurable 
love here is not seen in the fact that the world is big. You 
know, God so loved the world, we might think, because the world 
is a big place with lots of people. If we consider it now, maybe 
six billion people. The thought isn't God so loved 
the world and that that's what's great about it, that it's big. 
I think the thought is that it's bad. God so loved the world, 
the immeasurable nature of that love is seen in the ethical state 
the world is in. God so loved the world, the world 
full of sinners, men from every tribe, tongue, and people, and 
nation that had degraded themselves in idolatry, that had gone astray 
from God, that had taken that holy law and cast it into the 
earth, onto the ground, and step on it, spit on it. God so loved 
this world. D.A. Carson says, God's love 
is to be admired, not because the world is so big and included 
so many people, but because the world is so bad. God so loved 
the world. Isn't that Paul's, again, rhetoric 
or logic in Romans chapter 5? He says, for scarcely for a righteous 
man would someone die. I mean, if somebody lobbed a 
grenade in here, The probable response is that all of us would 
run outside, more than likely. There might be one hero in our 
midst who would say, I'm going to jump on that grenade to preserve 
the health and life of my beloved brothers and sisters. More power 
to that brother. Praise God for such men. But 
Paul's logic in Romans 5 is, scarcely will a man die for a 
righteous man. Scarcely. When you look at the 
sum and substance of humanity, there's a few out there that 
are willing to take the grenade. And that for righteous people. 
It's on the heels of that that he states Romans 5.8. But God, 
you want to see what love is? Look at the cross. You want to 
see what love is? God demonstrates His own love. 
Jesus jumps on the grenade. Jesus takes it in Himself. Not 
for righteous men, but for ungodly men. For sinners. God's immeasurable 
love is manifested at the cross. But as well, we need to understand 
here, it says God so loved the world. It teaches us something. We're not to just discount this 
world of men. We're not to be those cavalier 
types that say, I got mine. I've shared that ethic that happens, 
unfortunately, at the Butler household sometimes. It probably 
happens in your household, too. We call it IGM. At dinner time, 
everybody gets their food, and they run to the table, and they're 
ready to pray. Everybody gets holy when their food is sitting 
in front of them. They want to pray right now, because I, GM, 
I got mine. Usually, at least in our household, 
probably typical in yours as well, Mom's the last one to sit 
down. We really don't care whether 
she gets a hot meal, because we got ours. We have ours. I want to eat right now. And 
unfortunately, that IGM infects the Christian church. I've got 
mine. Why should I care about what's going on out there? Now, 
when he speaks of world here, I do not believe for a moment 
he means every man without exception. But I do believe he means every 
man without distinction. We saw a good definition of the 
world in Revelation 5. I read it for that particular 
reason. He has redeemed us to God. Men from every tribe and 
tongue and people and nation. You've got to remember in this 
context, especially in dealing with Nicodemus, they thought 
God's love only extended to the Jews. So when Jesus says God 
loves the world, he means not just Jews, but Gentiles. He means 
every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. And we as Christians 
need to understand that. We need to be concerned about 
men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. You can't 
say, I've got mine. I've got my salvation, so I'm 
not going to care about Haiti. I'm not going to care about North 
Korea. I'm not going to care about Asia Bibi. I'm not going 
to care about my mother and my father. I'm not going to care 
about my child. I'm not going to care about my 
sister and my friend. No, God so loved the world. And 
use it as an argument, if God saved your wretched self, he 
can save others as well. B.B. Warfield comments on this 
particular section of the verse. He says, through all the years, 
one increasing purpose runs. One increasing purpose. The kingdoms 
of the earth become ever more and more the kingdom of our God 
and his Christ. The process may be slow. The 
process or the progress may appear to our impatient eyes to lag. But it is God who is building. 
And under his hands the structure rises, as steadily as it does 
slowly. And in due time the capstone 
shall be set into its place, and to our astonished eyes shall 
be revealed nothing less than a saved world." Again, not every 
man without exception. But God so loved the world. There's a hymn that's often sung 
at this time of the year. It says, He has come to make 
His blessings flow far as the curse is found. Far as the curse 
is found. Jesus will not be thwarted. Jesus 
will not be frustrated. The Jesus who in Matthew 16 promised 
to build His church and the gates of Hades not prevailing against 
it is to be believed. He is to be trusted. And here 
He states that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
Son. Thirdly, the cross displays God's 
gracious gift. The cross displays God's gracious 
gift. God gave what? His Son. Missionary agencies often use 
this reference. God had only one Son and He sent 
Him as a missionary. Isn't that a great thought? He 
had only one Son and He sent Him as a missionary. Remember 
several months ago we considered, even more recently in our studies 
in Hebrews on Wednesday night, that scene with Abraham when 
he's told to take his Only Begotten. to take his one and only son, 
whom Moses is very conspicuous to underline and underscore and 
highlight over and over again with Abraham, the son whom he 
loved. The son whom he loved. The son 
whom he loved. So Abraham goes to Mount Moriah 
with the son whom he loved. And the son whom he loved ultimately 
said, Father, I see that we have the fire. I see that we have 
the wood for offering. But where is the lamb? Abraham's 
instruction to him pointed to this. He says, the Lord will 
provide. Abraham dutifully puts his son 
upon that altar, raises the knife, is about to dig it into his chest, 
and the angel of the Lord comes and says, stop. Now I know that 
you fear me. Now I know that you love me. 
Well, what Abraham was stopped from doing, God gave. It pleased 
the Lord, according to Isaiah the prophet, to bruise Him, to 
crush Him, putting Him to grief. You ask the question, why? For 
sinners. I just read something recently, 
and if it wasn't Spurgeon, I probably wouldn't repeat it. I think it's 
at least something that we need to think about. I don't know 
that I would even say it this way. But he says when you look 
at the cross and you see Jesus up there, giving His Son for 
us. He says something to the effect, 
does He love me that much? Does He love me that much? The answer is yes. He actually says it a little 
bit differently. If you want to know, I'll give you the quote 
later. The point is the cross displays God's gracious gift. Sometimes young men or young 
women, I hope it's just young men, or young women rather, Well, 
maybe it's young men. They get a flower and they pluck 
the petals and they say, he loves me. He loves me not. He loves 
me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. 
Any of you guys do that, come and see me. You've got some weird 
things going on. You get a daisy and you start plucking, she loves 
me. She loves me not. Be a godly man so she has to 
love you. Sometimes Christians function like that with God. 
He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. 
He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. 
You know what the remedy to that thought is? Look at the cross. 
Look at the cross. And you will be amazed that He 
loves me so much. It's not a matter of love versus 
no love. It's, man, it blows my mind the extent that the Father 
loves me. The cross displays God's gracious 
gift. Isn't that what the Old Testament 
was looking forward to? Was the gift of God? Back in 
Genesis 3, verse 15, the pronouncement of curse upon the serpent. God 
says, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between 
your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and 
you shall bruise his heel. God's sending a gift. God's initiative. God is undertaking. Again, another 
popular verse at this time of the year. Something that I think 
goes unnoticed for most of us is in Isaiah chapter 9. A passage 
that I believe we're all familiar with, but we just sort of run 
through it and we don't think of John 3.16. For unto us a child 
is born, unto us a son. He's what? He's given. He's given. What's the point? God sees us 
in our depravity. God sees us in our sin. God sees 
us in our apostasy. And nevertheless, He gives us. 
He gives us this Son. He gives us this Child. He gives 
us this One in whom alone is salvation. The cross displays 
God's gracious gift. So if you ever start thinking 
for a moment, maybe God doesn't love me, may I direct you to 
consider the cross. May I call you to look unto the 
cross. Fourthly, the cross held the 
object of man's belief. He goes on in John 3 16 to say 
that whoever believes in him. When I was away last week I had 
some good time speaking with my family and especially talking 
about faith and at least one or two of them had this idea 
that all faith is good. Doesn't matter really what you 
believe it's just the presence of faith. You heard that before. Especially in our generation, 
we can't ever tell anyone they're wrong because that's not nice. We can't tell somebody they're 
mistaken. That's not nice, at least in 
matters of religion. I still would imagine that in 
the classroom you can tell a kid that two plus two doesn't equal 
five. But when we were talking, this 
idea that it's just faith. Let's look at faith for a moment. 
Let's trace faith to its object. Some man believes in a rock. 
He says that rock will deliver him. That rock has power. That 
rock is amazing. Well, let's take that faith, 
look at that object and say, does it deliver? No. A rock can't 
save you. Now maybe if you hurled it at 
an invading foe and knocked him in the head, in that respect 
a rock might do you some good. But when you look at faith with 
reference to Christ, the object of our faith, does he deliver? Yes. Why? Because he lived in 
obedience to his father's law, and he died as a sacrifice and 
a substitute, and he is risen again. That whoever believes 
in him should not perish. Christ delivers the goods. And 
it's by faith. It's not by faith in words. The 
exclusivity of faith is highlighted in this passage and through the 
remainder of the Bible. It is an affront to Christ and 
his cross work if we think there is something in our hand that 
we bring. It is an affront. It is to say 
that what Christ did was in vain, that it was for naught, that 
it was empty, that it was useless. It's by faith alone. It's what 
Jesus is teaching us. J.C. Ryle spelled it out this 
way, and I think wonderfully. He said, he that has faith has 
life, and he that has it not has not life. It's one way of 
salvation. Again, something very offensive 
to the non-Christian. They like Jesus as a teacher. 
You know, when Jesus says, turn the other cheek, everybody roots 
for him. Right? When Jesus says, treat 
people the way you want to be treated, hip-hip-hooray for Jesus. That's a great statement. When 
Jesus says good things that we agree with, we're His buddy. We're His friend. We cheer for 
Him. But when Jesus defines the nature 
of His mission as rescue sinners, as the only Savior for wretched, 
hell-deserving sinners, that's when He's in a front. That's 
when it's offensive. That's when we will not have 
this man to reign over us. Isn't that amazing? Oh, Jesus, 
such a great moral teacher. This is precisely why Paul said 
the Jews, they seek after sign. The Greeks, they seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ and him 
crucified. Christ, the power and the wisdom 
of God. So Ryle goes on to say, nothing 
whatever beside this faith is necessary to our justification, 
but nothing whatever except this faith will give us an interest 
in Christ. We may fast and mourn for sin 
and do many things that are right and use religious ordinances 
and give all our goods to feed the poor and yet remain unpardoned 
and lose our souls. But if we will only come to Christ 
as guilty sinners, now listen to this. Not just calling on 
people who have believed the gospel. If you're not a Christian 
here this morning, listen to the bishop, Bishop Ryle of Liverpool. He's simply explaining what Jesus' 
statement means here. He says, but if we will only 
come to Christ as guilty sinners. Notice, that emphasizes the truth 
of Scripture. See, the sinner thinks, I've 
got to clean up. I've got to get better. I've got to reform 
myself before He'll take me. That's not the way of the Gospel. 
The Gospel says you can't clean up. You cannot make yourself 
better. You cannot reform yourself. Believe, 
and the Lord Jesus will renovate you. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, 
says to Israel of old, yet return to me, says the Lord. He says 
it five times in the context of explaining their gross sin 
and immorality. And at one point he says, return 
ye backsliding children and I will heal your backsliding. Ryle says, if we will only come 
to Christ as guilty sinners and believe on Him, our sins at once 
shall be forgiven and our iniquities shall be entirely put away. Without 
faith there is no salvation. But through faith in Jesus, the 
vilest sinner may be saved. That's what he says. God so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes 
in Him should not perish. You hear that? Believe in Him 
and you'll not perish. Not believe in Him and go do 
this, but believe in Him. I used the illustration earlier. 
When the Israelite looked to that serpent, he lived. It wasn't 
look to the serpent and then cut your limb off. Look to the 
serpent and then put a tourniquet on. And you know, quite frankly, 
I doubt Numbers 21 people were saying, that's not fair, there's 
only one way. How dare God set up a pole that 
we look to and we live? He should set up five poles. 
He should allow all religions to be right. He should honor 
all faith. I'm sure that when that pole 
went down, everybody looked and they lived without whining, grumbling, 
and complaining, like they do today. It's not fair that Jesus 
is the only way. It's not fair that Jesus is the 
only one. It's not fair the way God has 
designed it. Oh, really? And when has sinful 
man become the arbiter of what is fair with God? Who do we think 
we are? Who do we think we are to define 
the terms of salvation with a holy God whom we have offended not 
once, not twice, but millions upon billions of times? It's 
not fair that there's only one way. No, it isn't. There should 
be no way. That's fair. One way is the demonstration 
of God's mercy, grace, and love. The fifth observation before 
we close, the cross is the source of God's promised blessing. John 3.16, that whoever believes 
in him should not perish, notice, but have everlasting life. You'll 
not only not perish, but you're going to have everlasting life. 
You're not only not going to go to hell, you will stand in 
the throne room like they do in Revelation chapter 5. You 
will see the Lamb seated on His throne. You will get to say, 
worthy is the Lamb. You will get to praise Him and 
honor Him and adore Him. You will get to do what God originally 
created man to do, to serve Him, to glorify Him. to honor Him, 
to think His thoughts after Him, to use your members as instruments 
of righteousness. That's what we're heading for. 
That's what we considered on Wednesday night as well. Hebrews 
chapter 12. We are to run with endurance 
the race that is set before us. We're to look unto Jesus, the 
author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set 
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has 
now been seated at the right hand of the Father. There's a 
pattern there. Jesus went through the cross 
to the crown. The sinner, redeemed by God's 
grace, goes through the cross to the crown. Moses did what 
he did, not just because there was nobility and virtue in suffering. He did it because he counted 
the reward He saw there were greater riches to be had in serving 
Jesus. He knew that there was an exceedingly 
great reward laid up for him in heaven. Christian, we need 
to think about the reality that not only do we not perish, but 
we have everlasting life. That we'll enter in. That John 
Newton's hymn will be true of us in the last day. When we've 
been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no 
less days to sing God's praise. than when we first begun. We 
need to think about the cross as the source of God's promised 
blessing. We need to think in terms of 
what the cross teaches us in terms of God's appointed remedy, 
His immeasurable love, His gracious gift, that it held the object 
of man's belief for our salvation, and that it's the source of promised 
blessing. We're heaven-bound. not because 
we're good. We're heaven-bound because Jesus 
is good. We're heaven-bound not because we performed well. We're 
heaven-bound because Jesus performed well. We're heaven-bound not 
because we're better than anyone else. Far be it that we would ever 
think such a thing. We're heaven-bound because Jesus 
is far better than everyone else. It's by virtue of Christ's cross 
work that we have acceptance with our Father. Please don't 
forget that. A justified man will then pursue 
holiness, to be sure. But that holiness is not the 
ground of our acceptance with God. It is Christ alone. Nothing in My hand I bring. Simply to the cross I cling. That's the answer for our acceptance 
with God. If you are here this morning 
and you are not saved, believe on the Lord Jesus. Believe on 
the One alone who can take away your sin. Believe on that One 
whom John saw in Revelation 5. Isn't that amazing? The lion 
of the tribe of Judah. He says, I turned around and 
there, a lamb. A lamb as one having been slaughtered. The lamb ordained by God for 
the salvation of sinners. Christian, rejoice this morning 
as we eat the bread and drink the wine that represents the 
blood and body of Christ. But non-Christian, don't leave 
here unsaved. Don't leave here rejecting. Don't 
leave here raising your fist at God or complaining that I 
should get saved no matter what. No, you should believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God that he has undertaken 
on behalf of sinners. And something we need to notice 
before we close. That was a preacher's, this will 
be a conclusion. Preachers usually give like three 
or four conclusions. There was a young man and his 
father sitting in the church and the preacher said, finally, 
and the young man said to his father, what does that mean, 
dad? And the father said nothing. Finally, as preacher talk for 
I got about 10 more things to say, I actually don't. You know, 
this verse, unfortunately, has been wrenched out of its context 
and used for a couple of reasons or used for a couple of doctrines. 
It simply doesn't support God's soul of the world. The universalist 
tells us that everybody will be safe because God's soul of 
the world. That's not what Jesus means. It doesn't mean every 
man without exception. Arminians take this verse and 
they say, well, there's the world. That means the gospel is for 
everybody in the same way. No. Compare it with Revelation 
5. Compare it with John chapter 
1. John chapter 1, the author uses the word world in three 
different ways. So it's not always the case that 
world means every single human being living in the cosmos. So 
universalists and Arminians take this verse and they try to wrench 
it out of the context and they make it broader or extend it 
further. You know, this verse teaches 
the exclusivity and particularity of the gospel as much as John 
14, 6 does. What's John 14, 6? That's usually 
a target of people that hate, you know, these bigoted and narrow 
minded Christians. Jesus says, I am the way, the 
truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except 
through me. Isn't that what John 3, 16 says? Isn't that precisely what he 
says? The verbal form used there is everyone believing in him. It's not indiscriminate. It's 
not just because you populated the earth in the 21st century 
that you have entitlement to heaven. It is very particular. It is very exclusive. As much 
as this text holds forth the love of God manifest in the cross, 
it as well demonstrates the wrath of God. Because everyone not 
believing in Him will perish. They will not have everlasting 
life. You need to learn from this text 
your danger. You need to understand today, 
if you're not a Christian, you stand on dangerous ground. You 
need to understand today that every time you reject the Lord 
Jesus, you are sealing your destiny even more so. My invitation is 
to forsake your wickedness, forsake your insistence upon your way 
and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in him and you will be 
saved. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
our text deals with very weighty issues, life and death, the most 
weighty issues. And I pray that we would take 
these things to heart. I pray, Father, that you would encourage 
your people that we would be struck afresh with your great 
love as it's demonstrated at the cross. And I pray, Father, 
for any and all who are here that do not know you, that they 
would be struck maybe for the first time with the great love 
of God that is demonstrated in the cross. May it be that love, 
God, that constrains them. Cause them to believe Your gospel, 
to believe Your truth, and to know the joy of everlasting life. How we thank You, God, that You 
did not leave us in our state, You did not leave us to perish 
in our misery, but You undertook on our behalf and You sent the 
Son of Your love into this world. And we pray that throughout the 
earth today, as this gospel is preached, more and more people 
would be believing in Him. And we ask through Christ Jesus 
our Lord. Amen.