Sermons
April 10th, 2011 by Pastor Solley040311AM Whosoever
Sub. Salvation
Theme: God’s gift of salvation seen in John 3:16
Text: John 3:14-18
“Whosoever” John 3:14-16
IntroductionI am beginning to understand how evangelist Henry Moorhead who lived and preached in the 1800’s could preach for 17 years and use a single text for each message. – John 3:16 – Evangelist Moorhead said at the close of one of his meetings, “My friends, for a whole week I have been trying to tell you how much God loves you, but I cannot do it with this poor stammering tongue. If I could borrow Jacob’s ladder and climb up into heaven and ask Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, to tell me how much love the Father has for this world, all he could say would be, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” As was said last week, here is a Bible verse so simple that even a child can get it, yet one so profound that one may never be able to reach its deepest treasures. A verse that many memorize as children and get so used to that they may forget the greatness of this verse. The question that I would ask you as we begin this message is the one we asked over and over again last week; Are you thankful that God loves you today? – John 3:16 – If you are thankful of the love of God today then have you humbled yourself before the God of heaven and received His free gift of salvation? If not, then why not be saved, why not be born again today?
I. Last week we focused on the love of God as seen in John 3:16: John 3:16 Are you thankful that God loves you today?
A. We saw five things concerning the love of God that are clearly seen in john 3:16: Even a child can see these things.
1. We see that the nature of God is love from John 3:16 and 1 John 4:8: The reason God loves the world, the reason that God loves you today is that the nature of God is love. There is nothing in us to cause God to love us, the nature of God is love.
2. We see the designation of God’s love in John 3:16: For God so loved the world. In Greek it is the word “KOS-MOS” which reaches back to the Garden of Eden and includes every person ever born into this world and reaches in the future including every person who will ever be born into this world.
3. We see the all inclusiveness of God’s love in John 3:16: How do you know God loves you? If you have been born into this world then you are part of the world and God loves the world. God’s love is not withheld from any person.
4. We see the purpose of God’s love in John 3:16: That is the giving of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world.
5. We see the invitation of God’s love in salvation in John 3:16: Who then can be saved? Those who fall under the love of God. Who falls under the love of God? “For God so loved the world”, so all can be saved.
B. Are you thankful for the love of God today?
II. This morning I want to look at the whosoever of salvation found in John 3:16: John 3:16 And in doing this we will once again see five things in John 3:16 concerning God’s free gift of salvation. These are things we ought never take for granted, never forget, and most certainly never ignore. We will see (1) Who needs God’s salvation, (2) Who can have God’s salvation, (3) What one has to do in order to receive God’s salvation, (4) What one is saved from when they receive God’s salvation, (5) What one is saved to when they receive God’s salvation.
PROP: Are you thankful that God loves you today? TS. You can only say yes if you have truly received God’s salvation.
Body
I. In John 3:16 we see who needs salvation: John 3:16 The Bible tells us “That whosoever believeth in Him” and this gives us the who of salvation. One might say this tells us who can be saved, and it does, but where does it tell us who needs to be saved?
A. The Greek word translated whosoever is the word “PAS”, just three little letters, PHI-ALPHA-ZETA: But this word does give us the who of salvation, who needs God’s salvation.
1. The Greek word “PAS” does mean whosoever: But we also find it translated in the Bible as “All”, “Everyone”, “Everything”. It means the whole of something, the totality of something or someone.
2. In our text it means the whole or the totality of the world: John 3:16 The whosoever in John 3:16 is speaking of the world. All the individuals that make up, have made up, or will make up the world.
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3. As was pointed out last week this is very far reaching: Going back all the way to the Garden of Eden it includes every individual ever born into this world up until this point in time and reaching into the future it includes all who will ever be born.
4. The word whosoever means all, everyone, everywhere, at every point in time, past, present, and future:
B. Now I want you to consider the other places this same word is used: And you can see in that who needs to be saved.
1. In Rom 3:23 the word “All” is the Greek word “PAS”: Romans 3:23 This is the Greek word “PAS”.
2. In Rom 3:12 the word “All” is the Greek word “PAS”: Rom 3:12
3. In Rom 5:12 the words “All” are the Greek word “PAS”: Rom 5:12
4. In 2 Cor 5:14 the words “All” are the Greek word “PAS”: 2 Corinthians 5:14
5. In 1 John 2:23 the word “Whosoever” is the Greek word “PAS”: 1 John 2:23
6. In 1 John 3:4 the word “Whosoever” is the Greek word “PAS”: 1 John 3:4
7. In 1 John 3:10 the word “Whosoever” is the Greek word “PAS”: 1 John 3:10
8. In Rev 20:15 the word “Whosoever” is the Greek word “PAS”: Revelation 20:15
9. The Greek word “PAS” translated “Whosoever”, “All” and so on: It is the totality of something.
C. According to John 3:16 and the use of the word “Whosoever” who then needs to be saved? Every individual who has ever been born into this world needs to be saved.
1. Throughout the Bible all does mean all: Isaiah 53:6; Rom 3:23; Rom 5:12
2. The only reason Christ would die for all is because all need to be saved:
D. And each one of us in this sanctuary this morning needs God’s salvation: You must be born again.
1. It doesn’t matter how religious you are: John 3:1-2
2. It doesn’t matter how sincere you are in your religion: John 3:1
3. Each and every individual, whosoever, needs to be born again: John 3:7
E. In John 3:16 we see who needs salvation: Whosoever needs God’s salvation.
II. In John 3:16 we see who can have God’s salvation: John 3:16 And we find this truth in the same word, whosoever. – John 3:16 The meaning of whosoever in who can have salvation is the same as the meaning of whosoever in who needs God’s salvation.
A. It stands to reason that if Christ died for all because all need to be saved then all can be saved: John 3:16; 4:13-14; 11:25-26;
Acts 2:21; 10:43; Rom 10:13; 1 John 4:14-15; Rev 22:17
1. We find in the word “Whosoever” that whosoever, the whole of humanity can be saved: That is not opinion, not a hypothetical situation, not a supposition, that is Bible truth.
2. The nature of God and the designation of His love does not allow God to shut anyone out of salvation: The only limits that can be placed upon God are those that God places upon himself. For instance…
a. God cannot lie. – Hebrews 6:18
b. God cannot change. – James 1:17
3. And God cannot withhold His love from a lost sinner:
B. The whosoever of John 3:16 means that every individual ever born in this world has been able to be saved because all have needed to be saved: God has not chosen to withhold His Son the Lord Jesus Christ from anyone.
1. Does that mean everyone will be saved? Not at all because God has given man the ability to choose.
2. But it does mean that whosoever will can be saved: Rev 22:17 This is God’s final word on the matter.
3. And you can be saved today: There is no one here that God does not want to be saved. Form the best to the worst there is no man, woman, or child that God does not want to be saved.
C. In John 3:16 we see who can have God’s salvation: The door of salvation is open to whosoever will.
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III. In John 3:16 we see what one has to do in order to receive God’s salvation: John 3:16 The Bible says that “Whosoever believeth in Him”. So then whosoever believes can be saved. It is at this point in the verse that the subjects of the verbs change. In the first part of the verse it is God that loved and God that gave, the subject of the verbs is God. Not the subjects of the verbs changes to men. God has loved, God has given His son now it is up to man to believe. – John 3:16
A. This is a special type of believing: A special type in that it involves more than just believing something.
1. Our English word believe means to have a firm persuasion of any thing, to be persuaded of the truth of something by the testimony of another: It is to have a head knowledge as to the truth of something as testified by another.
a. For example none of us here this morning that the moon is made of green cheese. But none of us have been there.
b. To believe is to be persuaded of something by the testimony of another.
2. But that type of belief will not save any individual: James 2:19 Satan and the demons believe and are sure there is a God.
3. This type of belief is also more than a fear of God: James 2:19 Satan and the demons tremble in fear at the thought of God.
4. One needs to believe in this way to be saved but there needs to be a greater belief than just knowing something in your mind:
B. The Greek word for believeth in John 3:16 is the word “PIS-TO-MEN” and it means to trust in fully: John 3:16 This word carries three aspects of believing that make up the word “PIS-TO-MEN”.
1. It does mean to have a mental belief: John 20:30-31 The testimony of Scripture is given that we might believe in Jesus Christ. So in the bible we have the testimony of others to make us believe in Jesus Christ. There is a mental aspect of belief.
2. Then there is the commitment of trust in the one in which we believe: Matthew 8:24-27 At this point the disciples believed the testimony of John the Baptist and Jesus concerning Himself, but they were still leaning to trust in Him. Remember this is before the cross and these ones were still learning to trust in the Lord. There is the commitment of trust.
3. Then there is the giving of the heart to the one we believe in and the one we are willing to trust: Rom 10:9-10 Here we have the giving of our hearts, the innermost part of ourselves to the one we believe in, the one that we trust. The giving of the heart.
4. These three things make up saving belief: Knowing in your head and being assured that these things are true, a trust in the one in which we have believed, and then the giving of the heart.
5. Without all three of these things one cannot believe: You need to know in your head, you need to trust, and then you need to give your heart to the Lord.
C. So then how does this belief, how does this saving faith come about? My friend just like God will not shut anyone out of salvation, neither will God force anyone to be saved. But God has given each and every one the ability to choose, the free will to choose to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal savior or to reject God’s free gift of salvation.
1. When the jailor asked Paul what he had to do to be saved Paul told him to believe: Acts 16:30-31 He had heard the testimony of Paul concerning Christ, now he had to believe. He had to trust Christ, he had to give his heart to Christ, he had to believe.
2. God wants to be your savior if you are willing to believe: 1 Timothy 4:10
3. And God has given to every person the faith to believe if they will exercise it: Rom 12:3; Eph 2:8-9
D. And I believe God works in every life to bring the lost individual to this point of decision: Rom 1:18-20 There is no person who will stand in judgment before God about to be cast into hell that will be able to say God didn’t want them to be saved, that God never gave them an opportunity to be saved. – Rom 1:20 – How God accomplishes this I don’t fully understand but based on what God says I do believe that none will be able to stand before God and give an excuse.
1. I know of a man in Jacksonville NC there on a military exchange from an African Nation: He was one of a small number chosen to be sent to camp Lejeune. He had never heard the gospel but was invited to attend Coastline Baptist church where Steve and Becky attend. He got saved and told the Pastor he always knew there was a God and he needed a savior but had never heard.
2. God will give everyman an opportunity to be saved: Those seeking God can find Him, even you.
E. In John 3:16 we find what one has to do to receive God’s salvation: We find what God wants you to decide to do, we find the choice that God wants you to make today.
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IV. In John 3:16 we find what one is saved from when they receive God’s salvation: John 3:16 That we should not perish.
A. People have some strange ideas about death and what lies beyond this world: They go from one extreme to another.
1. There are those who simply deny that there is any existence at all after death: They bury their heads in the sands of indifference as if that will protect them when they did.
2. Cults have started on the belief that there is no hell:
3. Some denominational churches proclaim the love of God but ignore His holiness and judgment:
4. Others hold up good works that they believe will appease God:
5. All of these beliefs to get around a Biblical hell and God of righteous judgment:
B. But the Bible says we need to get saved so we do not perish: John 3:16 The literal interpretation of this word is to destroy. The disciples on the stormy sea cried out to Jesus asking Him if He didn’t care that they were about perish. But this word perish means much more than to be destroyed as it is used in the Bible.
1. Jesus connected this word perish to a man’s soul, not just his physical life: Mt. 16:26 The word “Lose” here is the same Greek word translated “Perish” in John 3:16. This is not talking about the physical life of a person but the spiritual life.
2. The word perish speaks of the soul of man: 2 Peter 3:9 Christ is not waiting to return until man discovers how to live in this world forever, Christ is waiting for that last sinner to repent so they will not spend eternity in hell.
3. Hell is not something you can plan your way out of: Luke 12:16-21
4. And hell is no joking matter to those who are there: Luke 16:19-?
C. But when a person receives the Lord Jesus Christ within, when he or she is born again they will not perish: John 3:16 We often read this verse without emphasizing how strong it is stated that we will not perish.
1. The word should not is used in a another familiar verse: Heb 13:5 The words “will never” in this verse are the same Greek words translated “should not” in John 3:16.
2. Once we have Jesus Christ, once He has us, we can never be parted again:
D. In John 3:16 we find what one is saved from when they receive God’s salvation: John 3:16
V. In John 3:16 we find what we are saved to when we receive God’s salvation: John 3:16 It is interesting to note how John 3:16 begins and ends in eternity. – John 3:16 – The verse begins with eternal God and ends in everlasting life. John 3:16 both begins and ends in eternity.
A. But man is not that way: We all have had a beginning. Man is not an eternal being. We will all live forever either in heaven or hell but man is not an eternal being in that we all had a beginning.
1. But our beginning was in sin being spiritually dead: Eph 2:1-3
2. And we were headed for a spiritual death, an eternity in hell: Rom 1:18; Rev 20:11-15
3. To die in sin is to perish:
B. But when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ, when we are born again, when we get saved we are given everlasting life: John 3:16
What a wonderful truth we are given in this verse. Man does not begin in eternity but he can end up that way, eternity with Christ.
1. And if that life we receive in Christ is everlasting; when will it end? John 10:27-30
2. If this life we receive is everlasting; when can we be separated from it? Rom 8:35-39
3. If this life we receive is everlasting in Jesus Christ; where will it be spent? John 14:1-6
C. In John 3:16 we find what we are saved to when we receive God’s salvation:
VI. The only question that remains this morning is this; have you received the love of God in Jesus Christ; are you born again?
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Conclusion
Having looked at John 3:16 this morning in light of what we receive when we receive God’s salvation what can we then say?
I. In John 3:16 we see who needs salvation: John 3:16 The Bible tells us “That whosoever believeth in Him” and this gives us the who of salvation. One might say this tells us who can be saved, and it does, but where does it tell us who needs to be saved?
II. In John 3:16 we see who can have God’s salvation: John 3:16 And we find this truth in the same word, whosoever. – John 3:16 The meaning of whosoever in who can have salvation is the same as the meaning of whosoever in who needs God’s salvation.
III. In John 3:16 we see what one has to do in order to receive God’s salvation: John 3:16 The Bible says that “Whosoever believeth in Him”. So then whosoever believes can be saved. It is at this point in the verse that the subjects of the verbs change. In the first part of the verse it is God that loved and God that gave, the subject of the verbs is God. Not the subjects of the verbs changes to men. God has loved, God has given His son now it is up to man to believe. – John 3:16
IV. In John 3:16 we find what one is saved from when they receive God’s salvation: John 3:16 That we should not perish.
V. In John 3:16 we find what we are saved to when we receive God’s salvation: John 3:16 It is interesting to note how John 3:16 begins and ends in eternity. – John 3:16 – The verse begins with eternal God and ends in everlasting life. John 3:16 both begins and ends in eternity.
VI. The only question that remains this morning is this; have you received the love of God in Jesus Christ; are you born again?