Note: Resources used was John 3:16 by Max Lucado
Title: That Whosoever Believes in Him
Theme: To show anyone that puts their trust in Christ shall be saved
Text: John 3:16 – 21
Offering - Thanksgiving
Psa 50:14-15 Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. (15) Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."
Joh 3:16-21
(16) "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. (17) "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (18) "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. (19) "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. (20) "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (21) "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever
Whoever unfurls 3:16 as a banner for the ages. Whoever unrolls the welcome mat of heaven to humanity. Whoever invites the world to God.
Jesus could have so easily narrowed the scope, changing who-ever into whatever. “Whatever Jew believes” or “Whatever woman follows me.” But he used no qualifier. The pronoun is wonder-fully indefinite. After all, who isn’t a whoever?
The word sledgehammers racial fences and dynamites social classes. It bypasses gender borders and surpasses ancient traditions. Whoever makes it clear: God exports his grace worldwide. For those who attempt to restrict it, Jesus has a word: Whoever.
The Church and Whosoever.
Even though groups have always seem to hoard the message of Christ to their own little group Christ has always presented the gospel message as to anyone who believes.
In early Christianity the Jews tried to keep the gospel for themselves and to those who look like them. This became a battle of the New Testament Church.
Soon after that the Catholic Church tried to keep this message to themselves and those who followed their religious ways.
Then you have the protestants who adopted the teaching of “justification by faith” and made the gospel message more universal.
In the last two centuries we have seen groups rise and fall some trying to hoard this message as those who look like them. The Baptist and Pentecostals all would present themselves as owners of this gospel but thank the Lord they grew.
It seems that every time the Lord would give some new revelation of the scripture people would try to get people to follow them. Problem was the goal in the scriptures is always to get people to follow Christ and not follow them.
Usually when a message is presented to where there is a goal to get people to follow a man or a system outside of Christ a cult and/false religion is created such as: Jehovah’s Witness, Mormons, David Koresh, Worldwide Church of God, etc.
Our goal is to get people focused on Christ not on ourselves.
Jesus makes this clear as we read His accounts in scripture, He brings up this word whoever over and over again in the gospels.
Whoever of the Gospels by Jesus
Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (Matt. 10:32)
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt. 10:39)
Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.(Mark 3:35)
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:36)
Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. (John 4:14)
Whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37)
Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:26)
Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Rev. 22:17)
Titus 2:11 assures us that “the grace of God . . . has appeared to all men.” Paul contends that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself “to win freedom for all mankind” (1 Tim. 2:6 NEB). Peter affirms that “it is not his [God’s] will for any to be lost, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9 NEB). God’s gospel has a “who-ever” policy.
We need to know this. The downturns of life can create such a sad state of affairs that we wonder if God still wants us. Surely Lazarus the beggar wondered. Jesus tells us this about him:
Even Last Minute Confessions
But you haven’t. And to convince you, Jesus wove a parable of eleventh-hour grace. He described a landowner who needed helpers. Just as a farmer hires migrant workers or a landscaper fills a crew with temps, this man employed workers. “They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work” (Matt. 20:2 MSG). A few were hired early in the morning. Others at 9:00 a.m. The landowner recruited a few more at noon. Came back at 3:00 p.m. for more. And at 5:00 p.m., one hour before quitting time, he picked up one more truckload.
Those last men were surely surprised. One hour remaining in the workday . . . they had expected to go home with empty pockets. They were already bracing to hear the question “Did you work today?” No landlord issues a final-hour invitation, does he?
God does.
No one pays a day’s wage to one-hour workers, does he?
God does.
Read Jesus’s punch line: “They got the same, each of them one dollar” (v. 10 MSG). Deathbed converts and lifelong saints enter heaven by the same gate.
believes in Him
What does it mean to believe?
Faith – trust
(Heb 11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
There is repentance.
Act 2:37-39 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (38) Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Repentance
To repent means to turn. In the NT repentance means to turn from sin. We were called by God to turn from sin. In fact, all men everywhere are commanded by God to repent of their sins (Acts 17:30). God's longsuffering leads us to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9) as does His kindness (Rom. 2:4).
There is true and false repentance, "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Cor. 7:10).
Peter affirms that “it is not his [God’s] will for any to be lost, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9 NEB).
(16) "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. (17) "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (18) "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. (19) "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. (20) "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (21) "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
There is a change, there is a “born again” experience.
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Show His Glory
Ephesians 2:8-10 says:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”
In Christ
Act 4:10-12 "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. (11) "This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' (12) "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
This is the test of it all. It is not a belief in a system. It is not a belief in a denomination. It is not a belief in works but it is a belief in Christ. It is not if you could believe in yourself one day, pull up your boot straps and just do it. It is a belief in Christ.
It Is Not Based On Our Works But Our Faith in Christ
Only Christ guarantees a safe landing. Parallel his offer with that of other religions. Judaism sees salvation as a Judgment Day decision based on morality. Hindus anticipate multiple reincarnations in the soul’s journey through the cosmos.2 Buddhism grades your life according to the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Muslims earn their way to Allah by per-forming the duties of the Five Pillars of Faith.3 Many philosophers deem life after the grave as hidden and unknown. One called death a step into “the great Perhaps”4 another, “a great leap in the dark.”5
No one but Jesus “buckles you in.” You may slip—indeed you will—but you will not fall. Hence the invitation to believe “in him.” Don’t believe in you; you can’t save you. And don’t believe in others; they can’t save you.
Some historians clump Christ with Moses, Muhammad, Confucius, and other spiritual leaders. But Jesus refuses to share the page. He declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6 RSV). He could have scored more points in political correctness had he said, “I know the way,” or “I show the way.” Yet he speaks not of what he does but of who he is: I am the way.
His followers refused to soften or shift the spotlight. Peter announced: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NLT).
Many recoil at such definitiveness. John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 sound primitive in this era of broadbands and broad minds. The world is shrinking, cultures are blending, borders are bending; this is the day of inclusion. All roads lead to heaven, right?
But can they? The sentence makes good talk-show fodder, but is it accurate? Can all approaches to God be correct?
Islam says Jesus was not crucified. Christians say he was. Both can’t be right.
Judaism refuses the claim of Christ as the Messiah.6 Christians accept it. Someone’s making a mistake.
Buddhists look toward Nirvana, achieved after no less than 547 reincarnations.7 Christians believe in one life, one death, and an eternity of enjoying God. Doesn’t one view exclude the other?
Humanists do not acknowledge a creator of life. Jesus claims to be the source of life. One of the two speaks folly.
Spiritists read your palms. Christians consult the Bible.
Hindus perceive a plural and impersonal God.8 Christ-follow-ers believe “there is only one God” (1 Cor. 8:4 NLT). Somebody is wrong.
And, most supremely, every non-Christian religion says, “You can save you.” Jesus says, “My death on the cross saves you.”
How can all religions lead to God when they are so different?
