What if John 3:16 Were Not True
Chuck Sligh
April 28, 2019
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text. To help me find the sermon
TEXT: John 3:16
INTRODUCTION
Open your Bibles please to John 3:16. We’re walking on familiar ground here with this verse. This is, without a doubt, the most familiar and beloved verse in the whole Bible. I have more sermons on this one text than any single text in the Bible.
Luther called John 3:16 “the Gospel in miniature.” No matter what denomination or church group you may have grown up in, if you went to Sunday School or church as a child, you probably memorized John 3:16. Read it out loud with me (and say it from memory if you can): “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
What is the setting for this verse? It was spoken to a good and religious man who, though he was good and religious in man’s eyes, was nevertheless lost and on his way to hell. Look at verses 1-3 for context: “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Though Nicodemus was RELIGIOUS, he needed to be saved, to be born again—first a physical birth and then to be born again spiritually in God’s family. Though he as a Pharisee gave alms to the poor and knew the Old Testament scriptures backwards and forwards, and avoided evil activities and people, Jesus looked him straight in the eye and implied by His words, “Nicodemus, all your good works and all your religious deeds and all your good intentions and all your sincerity will not do ONE THING to get you into God’s kingdom.” Jesus told him the same thing He tells us: “YOU–MUST–BE–BORN–AGAIN.”
So that’s the setting of this marvelous, precious verse later in the chapter—John 3:16. Jesus said these thing to Nicodemus in John 3:16 so that he would know how to be born into God’s family and thus have forgiveness of all his sins.
But let me ask you a question: WHAT IF JOHN 3:16 WERE NOT TRUE? That’s what I’d like for us to consider this morning. What if this precious jewel in the coffers of God’s Word were not true?
Illus. – Beatle John Lennon had a notoriously anti-religious song titled “Imagine.” Some of the lyrics talk about imagining there’s no heaven or hell or churches. Well let’s take his point of view: What if John 3:16 were not true.
For instance…
I. WHAT IF GOD HAD NOT LOVED THE WORLD? – The verse begins, “For God so loved the world…”
Without God’s love, there would be no hope at all in this world. Roger Campbell said that if God had not loved the world, “Our world would be a dark planet hurtling through space without hope. There would be nothing to live for and no purpose for existence. It would be a world where prayers were but useless cries to the skies. Every death would be the end of personal hope and every grave a place of despair.”
Illus. – In the second church I served in as a young assistant pastor in Durham, North Carolina, I was paid peanuts. To help us to meet ends and get through the month financially, not only did Susan have to work, but I used to sing at funerals in town for people who did not have a church, and thus hired the funeral home to do the funeral. I’d get a call to come and sing something like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” or “Amazing Grace.”
The one thing that stands out to me above all others is the hopelessness of lost people who lost loved ones in death. I’ve heard wives scream through sobs of sorrow screaming, “He’s gone! He’s gone! I’ll never see him again! He’s gone!”
The truth of the matter is that those who don’t know Christ as Savior have no hope at all beyond the grave. So just think for a moment if God had not loved the world and sent the Savior. Think of a whole world in hopelessness and despair with no hope beyond this life.
But, praise God, I want to tell you this morning that God DOES love the world: Everything speaks of God’s love to humanity. Every sunrise; every blade of grass; every fountain of water; every birth; the face of every child—ALL speak of and are evidence of the love of God.
But the GREATEST demonstration of God’s love is the cross, which makes me think…
II. WHAT IF GOD HAD NOT GIVEN HIS SON? – The verse goes on to say: “…that he gave His only begotten Son…”
What if, instead of God giving us His Son, He gave us what we deserve; and instead of sending His Son to die for our sins, and giving us the opportunity to have a life on earth worth living on this earth, and eternal life forever, He just sent us all to hell?
How awful to consider! You see, if God loved the world, but had not given His Son, we would never be able to EXPERIENCE that love. God’s love would be frustrated without the cross of Calvary.
You see, real love always demands giving.
• A man marries; then he gives himself for his wife and children.…
Q. Why does he go to work and provide for his family? – A. Because love demands giving and sacrifice.
Q. Why does he spend time with his wife and kids when there are a host of other distractions? – A. Because he can talk love with his lips, but unless there is giving—unless there is sacrifice—it’s all just empty words.
• A woman marries and gives of herself for her family.…
Q. Why does she wash load after load of clothes, and pick up the same dirty socks and underwear off the floor, and make the same beds up day in and day out? – A. Because beating in her bosom is a love for her husband and her family that manifests that love through sacrifice and giving.
Q. Why does she sit by the bedside of a child with a fever, and lovingly wipe the child’s forehead with a wash cloth as she caresses him in her arms at 2:00 o’clock in the morning? – A. Because love always involves giving.
And God showed His love for us by giving His most treasured possession. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth [demonstrates] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Praise God, God DID send His Son to die on the cross for your sin. God has given His Son, and apart from this, there is no salvation. Without sending His Son,… There would be no eternal life. There would be no hope in this world. Life would be a meaningless existence. The hedonists who say the chief end in life is pleasure, would be right; we should eat, drink, and be merry, because after the grave there’s nothing! All that would be true if God had not sent His Son to die for our sins.
But, praise God, He DID!
III. THIRD, WHAT IF GOD’S OFFER OF SALVATION WERE NOT FOR THE “WHOSOEVERS”? – Look again at what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:16 – “…that whosoever believeth in him…”
Most modern versions use the word, “whoever” because “whosoever” is not used in normal conversation anymore. But I like “whosoever” better because it has a poetic quality to it. But it doesn’t matter, say “whoever” or “whosoever”—WHATEVER!—they mean the same thing: they mean ANYONE.
What a comforting word it is! It’s a word that is general, yet particular. It embraces all of humanity, and yet it touches each and every one of us. It means the Gospel is for EVERYONE, which means it’s for YOU and for ME! Do you see it?—WHOSOEVER believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!
Now think about something with me for a moment:
• Suppose God had offered salvation only to THE RICH? People like you and me would never make it. (OPEN EMPTY WALLET) All you folks who are broke days before payday—too bad for you!
• Suppose God had offered salvation only to THE HEALTHY OR THE FIT? Some of you wouldn’t even have a CHANCE! A three-toed sloth on Sunday probably gets more exercise than some of you do!
• Suppose God had offered salvation only to THE EDUCATED? – Some would never make it to heaven because they haven’t had the same opportunities as others.
• What if salvation was offered only to the GOOD, and RIGHTEOUS, and PIOUS people? – Then NONE of us would have hope of ever seeing Jesus, because the Bible says that before God “there is none good, no not one.”
Who can be saved?—WHOSOEVER! WHOEVER! ANYBODY who comes God’s way. “But you don’t know my sin,” you say. No, but God does, and He knew it two thousand years ago when He gave this wonderful promise. He knew it in eternity past when He conceived the plan of redemption to pay for your sins.
In fact, listen again to a verse I read a few minutes ago: Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth [demonstrates] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
God doesn’t save us AFTER we get rid of our sin; He saves us IN our sin—just as we are. That’s why the old invitational hymn said, “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.” God doesn’t save us once we clean up our lives to be good enough for Him. He doesn’t save us after we’ve made ourselves holy or religious. It’s just the opposite—He saves us IN our sin, just as we are and then He saves us FROM our sin, and makes us what we ought to be! You can’t get a better deal than that!
How precious to know that salvation IS for “whosoever.”
Are you here this morning with a burden of sin? – “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Are you here loaded down with cares and problems from the mess you’ve made of your life?—I’ve got good news for you: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Whoever you are, if you’re without Jesus as your Savior, come to Jesus today!
IV. LAST, WHAT IF GOD’S OFFER WERE NOT BASED ON FAITH ALONE? – “…that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I’d like you to picture with me three very common scenarios today:
• Picture with me all those trying to get to God through GOOD WORKS—
People who are SINCERE—WORKING, TRYING and DYING. Even though Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
• Picture people everywhere trying to earn salvation by obeying God’s Laws…
All in an effort to please God; to make themselves a little more worthy of God; hoping to get to God by their goodness and righteous living. This, in spite of what God said about our goodness and good life in Isaiah 64:6 where we read, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
• Picture people in a vain effort to get to heaven through religion.…
Trusting in a certain church or denomination or faith group; or trusting in certain religious rites such as baptism, or confession or communion. All this in spite of Titus 3:5, which says “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
• But now picture a fourth scenario, which may surprise you…a dying thief on one of the three crosses of Calvary.
On the cross in the middle is Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God dying for the sins of everyone, including the two thieves there with Jesus, one on each side of Him. One of the them mocked Jesus, but the other said to Jesus in faith, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)
Now wait just a minute!—How DARE him say such a thing! Why, he had lived his whole life in sin! Jesus was on the cross UNJUSTLY, because He never once in His whole life committed a single sin, much less a felony worthy of death. But this thief—he was just the vulgar riffraff of society, a common thief, and apparently one who was incorrigible, because the cross was not the punishment imposed for common thievery. As a rule, only thieves who were repeat offenders, who were deemed incorrigible or irredeemable were punished by crucifixion.
This was a thief, a sinner, a man of dishonesty, fraud, deception and vice. It’s doubtful that he ever lived a good life, consistently tried to obey the commandments of God, or do good deeds for the poor. He had never taken communion, been baptized or been confirmed. I doubt if he ever tithed or did any other righteous acts. How DARE someone like HIM approach the holy Son of God and ask Him to remember HIM when He got to heaven.
But look at what Jesus said to him: “…Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) The dying thief was given the promise of eternal life with Jesus on the basis of only one thing—FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST who paid his sin penalty in his place.
And my question for you is this: Have you put your faith wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you ever, like the thief on the cross, called out to Jesus and said, “Lord, I have no works to offer, no religious acts to give that could ever turn away your wrath from my sin. But by faith I ask you to remember me in your kingdom. By faith I lay hold on eternal life which you have FREELY offered BY YOUR GRACE.” I urge you to cry out to God TODAY for salvation.
CONCLUSION
Aren’t you glad that John 3:16 IS true?—
• God DID love the world, and that means God loves YOU.
If you were the only person on earth, God would have sent Jesus to die just for you. That’s how much He loves you!
• God DID give His Son to die for your sins.
The blood He shed on the cross is the only thing that can save you from your sins. Jesus was your substitute who paid the penalty for sin that you deserved to pay.
• And God’s salvation is for WHOSOEVER—
That means ANYBODY. That means young and old; smart or average; educated and not; lower class to upper class; wicked sinners like that thief on the cross with Jesus and sinners like Nicodemus, who was religious and moral and sincere and earnest.
• And God’s offer of salvation IS by grace through faith alone. – Not your church, or your religion, or your works, or how much penance you’ve done, or how many Hail Mary’s you’ve said, or masses you’ve taken or if you’ve been baptized or confirmed.
No, it’s like this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
