JOHN 3:16
This is from an e mail I received and may be many of you also have read it. It is a good story of help and the Love of Christ, but how many of you have looked at the spiritual side of this story? We will first look at the physical side of the story.
In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the comer, the people were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t trying to sell many papers.
He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn’t happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the comer there and down the alley and it’s awful cold in there for tonight. Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay,"
The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "you go down the street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they come out the door you just say John 3:16, and they will let you in. "
So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, and a lady answered. He looked up and said, "John 3:16." The lady said, "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went off. The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself. John 3:16 .... I don’t understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.
Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?" He said, "Well, just a little. I haven’t eaten in a couple of days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food," The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn’t eat any more. Then he thought to himself. John 3:16... Boy, I sure don’t understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full.
She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to himself John 3:16... I sure don’t understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know, I’ve not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.
The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room, tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night, he thought to himself. John 3:16... I don’t understand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested,
The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible. She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.
"Do you understand John 3:16?" she asked gently.
He replied, "No, Ma’am, I don’t. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it," She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain to him about Jesus. Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought: John 3:16. 1 don’t understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.
Now this was the physical side of the story, but as with many stories there are two sides, the physical and then the spiritual, now we will look at the spiritual. The Love of Christ will make a person do good things as the policeman and the woman in this story. They to must know the parable that Jesus told in MATTHEW 25:31 46, the parable of the coming of Christ. Now as I said we are going to look at the spiritual side, so the little boy will be the soul, and the woman will be Christ.
A. So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, and a lady answered. He looked up and said, "John 3:16 " The lady said, "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went off. The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself. John 3:16 .... I don’t understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:16 17
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
JOHN 16:28 33
28 "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father."
29 His disciples said, "Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech.
30 "Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God."
31 Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?
32 "Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
B. Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?" He said, "Well, just a little. I haven’t eaten in a couple of days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food," The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn’t eat any more. Then he thought to himself. John 3:16... Boy, I sure don’t understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full.
PSLAMS 107:1 9
1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His loving kindness is everlasting.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary
3 And gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city.
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving kindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!
9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.
JOHN 6:27
27 "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."
C. She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to himself: John 3:16... 1 sure don’t understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know, I’ve not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.
JOHN 15:3
3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
EPHESIANS 5:25 26
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
I PETER 3:21 22
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
D. The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room, tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night, he thought to himself. John 3:16... I don’t understand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested.
MATTHEW 11:28 29
28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WELL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
HEBREWS 4: 1 11
1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS";
5 and again in this passage, "THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST."
6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,
7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "TODAY IF YOU BEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
E. The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible. She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.
"Do you understand John 3:16?" she asked gently.
F. He replied, "No, Ma’am, I don’t. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it," She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain to him about Jesus. Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought: John 3:16. 1 don’t understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.
PSLAMS 18:1 3
1 "I love You, 0 LORD, my strength."
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 1 call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.
PSLAMS 46:1 3
1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
PSLAMS 62:7 8
7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times, 0 people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
LUKE 15:4 7
4 "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 "When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 1 tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
LUKE 19:9 10
9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
You know, we have to confess we don’t understand it either, how God was willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. We don’t understand the agony of the Father and every angel in heaven as they watched Jesus suffer and die. We don’t understand the intense love for US that kept Jesus on the cross till the end. We don’t understand it, but it sure does make life worth living.
REVELATION 2 1:1-8
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
PLAN OF SALVATION
ROMANS 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And 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 seek Him.
ACTS 2:38
38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 10:9 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
MARK 16:16
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
MATTHEW 7:21
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord, ’will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
