Amen, amen. Well, our sermon text this morning comes from the book of John, John 3.16. So if you have your Bibles, turn with me there. John 3.16. Let's read this verse. The sermon is particularly on this verse. Let's also read 17 and 18. Hear now this, the word of the living God. 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. Well, this is the word of the living God, and we say thanks be to God. Amen. Please be seated. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the opportunity to hear your preached word, and we pray now that you'll bless it. I do pray, despite myself, you'll speak through me and I pray for those listening. Free them from distraction. Free them from their anxieties and worries and all these things that call for their attention. And may they now hear your message to them. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Well, we're taking a break this morning from our typical morning sermon series through the book of Exodus. And I've been wanting for some time to preach on this text. And the reason I want to preach on this is because I want to draw your attention to the love of God. We'd be hard-pressed, wouldn't we? We'd be hard-pressed to find Christians who talk too much about the love of God. And so here we are in the book of John. John was a man who was captivated. He was controlled by, he was fixed upon love, the love of God. And he calls himself five times in this book. He doesn't call himself John when he has to insert himself into the story. He doesn't say I, he doesn't even use the pronoun. He doesn't say the apostle. He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. In addition to that, he mentions love more times in his gospel than the other gospel accounts combined. And his letters, too, are full of variations on this theme of love. And I want to preach on this theme in part due to Simone personal experience wrestling with this doctrine, but I also want to preach on it because when I hear men, men like John Owen, that Puritan, talk about what Christians need, this is one of the things they repeat. Listen to John Owen on this. This is 350, 400 years ago. But think, is this common today? Here's Owen. Is it too hard to think of God as good, gracious, tender, loving, and kind? I speak of saints. He's talking about Christians. How easy we find to think of God as hard, unable to be pleased, fierce. He goes on to say, how easily Satan deceives us. If you go back to the garden, this is the original temptation, isn't it? Satan comes along and he tempts the man and tempts the woman. He says, did God really say? He's beginning to get Eve to doubt God's goodness. He's getting Eve to doubt God's character. And love is part of who God is. Owen goes on and he says, how unwilling is a child to come into the presence of an angry father? Consider then that receiving the father as one who loves us gives him the honor he desires and is exceedingly pleasing to him. So believer, do you want to please the father? I know many of you in this room And it would be a resounding yes. I know you want to please the Father. How do you please the Father? You take him at his word. John 3.16 says, God loves you. We need to meditate on this truth more and more and live in light of it. So three headings this morning. The first is this, the love of God and sending the Son. I want you to see the love of God and the sending of the Son. First in our text, see that it is love that is the cause for the sending of the Son. Love is the impetus. Love is the cause. It is because of love that he sends the Son. God does not send the Son for any other reason. At least, it's not listed here in this text. Do you sometimes find yourself, perhaps, wandering, and will your thoughts go somewhere else? Well, God sent the Son, yeah, because He loves us, but maybe for this other reason, too. The text says He sent the Son out of love. God did not send the Son because He's lonely. That's impossible. God, for all eternity, He's been perfectly happy. He's all-sufficient. He has no needs. He has no wants. He's not sending the Son out of some deficiency in Him. He has no lack. It's true that love is a broad word. It can mean many things. Love is a commitment, for instance. You need to love one another by staying committed to one another, to our vows, for instance. This word in the original, it's not simply a word denoting friendliness. God had some sort of friendly attitude towards the world, and so he sent the Son. No, the word is love, and this word is associated with affection, even intimacy. God loves. the world. Too often, as Owen says, Christians associate the Father with an image that's cold, distant, reluctant. That's wrong. And quite honestly, that displeases God. In the scriptures, the Father actually is associated with love more than the other members of the Trinity. Think of these verses, 1 John 3, 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. It's specifying the Father. In Ephesians, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. It goes on, He chose us in Him. The Father chose you, believer. That denotes love, some sort of affection. Romans 5, 8 and 9, God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John 16, 27, the Father himself loves you. That's what Jesus says. The Father loves you. Now that next phrase, let's look at this phrase, the world. R.C. Sproul has said John 3,16 is probably the most distorted verse in the Bible. And if that's the case, much of the controversy concerns the next few words, the world. The world is the object of God's love. God, because he loves this object, he sends the Son. And some twist this verse and say that, see, everyone in the world will be saved. That's not true. Only those who believe will be saved, and all you have to do is just look at the next few verses. Later in this gospel, John 6, 44, for instance, Jesus will say that no one comes to me unless the Father draws him. So this truth is manifest. In all sorts of ways in this gospel and the others, Jesus reveals some will be saved, others will not. He says that many are called, few are chosen. So as good Bible interpreters, let us take those sorts of verses to help us interpret this verse 316. Now John uses this word broadly and he uses it often. He uses the world as a phrase over 60 times. The other gospel writers, they use the word far fewer times. Other gospel writers, for instance, are more likely to say the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. But for John, the word is world. And he uses it in slightly different ways here and there. Sometimes he speaks of the world as a place. Sometimes he speaks of the world as a group of people, but a very common way that John uses the phrase, the world, is in a negative sense. The world often refers to a place and a people who are evil. The world, in this sense, is not neutral. Though Jesus created the world, John 1, the world did not know him. John 7-7, the world hates me because I testify it because its works are evil. John 8-23, you are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. John 15-19, if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, speaking to the disciples, I chose you out of the world. Therefore, the world hates you. I think it's in this sense that the world is used in 316. The world is a place of darkness. Jesus is the light who comes into the world. He comes into the darkness to give it light. The world is nasty. It's violent, idolatrous, blasphemous. There's wars, there's rumors of war. And yet, It is this world that is the object of God's love. So John 3.16, therefore, is a commentary on the nature of God. It's true that God's love has a grand scope, right? It can reach east and west and north and south. The gospel is freely offered in this verse. It's freely offered to Jew, to Gentile, slave, free, rich, and poor. But I'm in agreement with scholars like B.B. Warfield, who, for instance, says that world, in this verse, is a term of intensity. God's love is so intense that he loves the world. John uses this word because the world is so bad that it takes a great kind of love to love the world. So when we hear this phrase now, for God so loved the world, think of it this way, it is proclaiming to you The depth of the love of God. The height of the love of God. The breadth of the love of God. God loves this world. Lying, thieving, blaspheming. And God proves it. He doesn't just say it. God proves it. He gives you a gift. He does not offer you a second chance. He does not offer you an opportunity to improve your ethical life. If He provided you second chances, you would just need a third chance. God provides a gift. You cannot work for your salvation. You must receive Salvation. You're not splitting the bill that you owe. He is paying. And the price is something that you couldn't afford anyway. You cannot pay back the sin you owe. It must be a righteous man to give a righteous offering. You cannot do that. You are not righteous. We just read the law. There's one remedy. There's one gift, and that is His only begotten Son. That's the gift. And this gift, the scriptures say, is precious in the Father's sight. 1 Peter 2, 6, he calls Jesus the chief cornerstone, elect, precious. In Proverbs 8, In Proverbs 8, we read that the son is the daily delight of the father. That's what the father thinks of the son. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters would not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him as a master craftsman. Next verse. And I was daily his delight. Father loves the son. He delights in him. When John and James and Peter, they went up on the mountain, God spoke audibly to those men. And at that moment, we hear what God the Father thinks of God the Son. A bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. No man had ever lived in a way that is fully pleasing to God. Jesus comes along, we get to the end of the Old Testament, we get tired of reading about these saints who fail and fail and fail, and the blood of bulls and goats. It's not what forgives sins. We need an ultimate sacrifice. So God the Father speaks, this is my son, my beloved son. But you know, even if, even if Peter and James and John, even if they didn't hear the words of God in that moment, I still think they would have gotten the lesson. I still think that they would have known what the Father thinks of the Son. because they could see it with their eyes. Because when Jesus was on top of the mount, he starts shining. In the presence of the Father, Jesus shines. It says his face shone like the sun. His clothes are dazzling white. What does the Father think of the sun? He makes the sun shine. In the presence of the Father, he's glorious. And he is the gift that God is giving to the world. If any of you struggle to recognize the love of God for you, if any of you wonder, if you pray, God, can you just show me your love for me? Friends, he has already given you the greatest gift he could possibly give you. He gives you his daily delight. He gives you his son, his beloved son. Our second heading is this, the love of God in accomplishing salvation. The love of God in accomplishing salvation. The gift of the Son is the gift of that is able to achieve salvation. God sends a gift that is able to achieve salvation. Jesus is uniquely capable of achieving salvation for mankind. And this is because Jesus is the God-man. Jesus is truly divine and truly man. And we see a glimpse of this in verse 16. Some translations, they will not say begotten. They may say God's one and only Son. They may say God's unique Son or something else. But we really need to keep this word begotten. You can't get rid of that word. Begotten, it packs so much of the punch of this verse. It speaks to who the Son is as distinguished from the other persons of the Trinity. The Son is begotten. That is, He is eternally generated by the Father. The Father generates the Son. The Son is eternally generated by the Father. And our confession, the Second London Baptist Confession, speaks to this, as does the Nicene Creed. It contains a lengthy description of Jesus. Here's part of that. It describes Jesus in this way. Jesus is God of God. Light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. Jesus Christ is co-equal with the Father in the Spirit. He is eternal, begotten, not made. He's God of God. And there is nothing in the universe greater than God and the Son that's given to you. So by employing this word begotten, what I think is already an intense, let's be honest, this is an intense Bible verse. But by using this word begotten, an already intense Bible verse becomes more intense. And there's good news wrapped up in this word begotten. Because it tells us that Jesus is divine. And that means he's able to accomplish salvation. He could not do that if he were not divine. For sin against an infinite God requires an infinite payment. It must be God that atones for sins. The blood of lambs and goats will not suffice. The righteous offering must be a holy man. but he also must be a God-man so that our salvation be achieved. It's not a bad idea if you have a different translation. If it doesn't say begotten, just take a pen. You can just pencil it in. It's an important word. The good news for you and me is that he's able to do this. Jesus becomes flesh. The eternal God, the Son of God, becomes flesh. He's born into the tribe of Judah. He lives a righteous life that no man, no Jew had ever lived a righteous life, no Gentile had ever lived a righteous life. And he does this that he may achieve our salvation. He does this that we may receive his righteousness through faith. By going to the cross, This God-man, He pays the penalty that you deserve for your sins. By rising from the dead, we know He's true. So this gift that God gives you is a once-for-all gift. Jesus Christ dies for you. And what a gift that is. So my encouragement now, my urging, honestly, is if you have not received this gift through faith, receive him, receive Christ. Do not spurn the love of the Father. That would be another sin, that would be an awful sin. Jesus Christ, in coming to the earth, in achieving our salvation by going to the cross after living a righteous life. That's like the Father reaching down from heaven. Again, John Owen says it this way. He says, the light of the sun comes to us by its beams. By its beams, we see the sun. And by its beams, the sun touches us. Jesus Christ is the beam of his Father's love. And through him, the Father's love reaches down and touches us. What a gift. Do not spurn the gift. If you reject this offer, you need to read the next few verses. Verses 17 and 18. 18 says, he who does not believe is condemned. You spurn the gift, you're condemned. You are a lawbreaker. You have not loved the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You spurn the gift, you are condemned. But here, now, right now, in this moment, the gospel is freely offered to you. So receive Christ while there's time. The third heading is this. The love of God and applying the work of salvation. The love of God and applying the work of salvation. So we primarily associate this with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit applying this work to our lives. John 3.16, if you notice, it's a declarative statement. It tells us something that has happened in history. It's not a specific command. It's not a specific call. It's declarative, it tells us a truth. God loved the world so much so that he sent his son. That whoever believes in him may not perish, but have everlasting life. So in applying this work of salvation, I have three ways we can do that. The first is this. Pray you will grasp God's love. pray you will grasp God's love. One of the more surprising things in the book of Ephesians is that you get halfway through the book of Ephesians after the gospel has been laid out, and then Paul tells the Ephesians that he's praying for them. And these Ephesians, they're already Christians. But what does Paul pray for them? These Christians, they already know something of the love of God, but nonetheless, Paul prays for them. He prays that they'll be able to comprehend the width and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ. Because when that happens, they will be filled with all the fullness of God. So this is a pattern for us in Scripture. We are to pray that we'll understand the love of God. We don't just assume the love of God. We pray for it, and we say, Holy Spirit, help us. I get it, I get it to some degree, but help me more fully grasp this sweet doctrine. So let's pray for it. Secondly, wrestle with the doctrine of the love of God. Wrestle with the doctrine of the love of God. When we wrestle with a text, when we wrestle with a doctrine, sometimes I think that when we think of wrestlings that we might have, we associate the doctrines that we wrestle with like predestination. I'm wrestling with predestination. I'm wrestling with covenant theology. Those are good things, and I encourage you, wrestle with those doctrines. Tease them out. Research them. But do not neglect wrestling with this doctrine. Wrestle with the love of God. Meditate upon it. Read about it. Think about it. Go back and forth with friends about it. Do you really think this is true or is that over the top? I don't often do this, but I want to give you a bit of a personal testimony. About 15 years ago, I've quoted this book a couple times today. I quoted this book a couple times today. About 15 years ago, I read this book, Communion with God by John Owen. I read it, and I read it, it's about a 200-page book. I got to page 100, and I put it down. And I did not finish it. And In part, you know, it's a Puritan, it's not the easiest book to get through, but as I was reading it, he was so over the top in his descriptions about the love of God. I actually approached my pastor about it at the time. He starts quoting Song of Solomon, and he gets into all these quotes, some of which I read to you, and I got halfway through the book, and I actually, I said, I think he's saying too much. Yeah, I believe in the love of God, I'm saved. But this guy, he's just going on and on and on. And I put it down at page 100. And praise the Lord, about a decade later, I picked it up. I turned to page 100, and I started reading again. And at that point, I'd become Reformed, At that point, I had wrestled more with the doctrine of love of God, had many conversations. And as I read it, I was highlighting every other line. And I cannot tell you the sort of anxiety that the doctrine of love of God got. It just, it helped me so much with anxiety. Whatever your ailment is, believer, If you're proud, meditate on the love of God. If you're humbled, if you're weak, if you're a coward, meditate on the love of God. If you're lazy, meditate on the love of God. If you lack purpose, meditate on the love of God. If you're struggling with some sort of besetting sin, Meditate on the love of God. The list could go on and on and on. This doctrine is meant to be soaked in. You need to sit with it. Contemplate it. Think about it from this angle and from that angle. And thirdly, Comfort one another with these truths concerning God's love. Comfort one another. So even if you have a strong sense of the love of God, it's good for you to know that this is an issue that many Christians struggle with. And it's good for you to beware that you may help them in their fight. Knowing and grasping God's love is so often the cure that your children, perhaps, your brothers and sisters, whomever they may be, this is so often the cure they need to drink up. Some, hey, they just need a spoonful every now and then. Others might have to drink the whole bottle. and your relationships, friends and family. Let this be a prime topic of our conversation. We never move past this, in other words. And words are powerful. To illustrate this, think of a bully who picks on a kid for something. The child may at first, they might brush off the nickname the bully gives them. But what happens when everyone in the class starts to call that kid that nickname? Even if the child doesn't really believe it, that's not really true of me. But when everybody starts to do it, the child, they begin to think, yeah, I am kind of deficient, aren't I? Nicknames can stick in a bad way. And many then, once the nickname sticks, they begin to believe the lie. But I submit to you the opposite is also true. And for an example of this, I again point to the Apostle John. John calls the Christians that he writes to in his letters, he calls them beloved. In 1 John, he calls them beloved five times. There's only five chapters in that book. But when he addresses them, that's his name for Christians, beloved. And in 3 John, there's only one chapter in that book. He calls them beloved, I think four times. There's like 14 verses in that whole book. Like every other line, he's calling them beloved. Why does John do that? I think he wants the name to stick. He wants these people, these Christians that he's writing to, to know that they are beloved. So he calls them beloved. Repeatedly. It's almost redundant in 3 John. Next time you read it, read it. Notice that. You can see that love was a theme for John, not just in this book, but throughout his letters. He calls himself a disciple whom Jesus loved. And if you struggle to call yourself a disciple whom Jesus loved? Perhaps you say to yourself, well, John, he walked with Jesus for a long time. John, he was in the inner circle. John saw miracles. He got to dine with Jesus. Of course he called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. You don't know my sin. You don't know my struggle. Believer, If you say that to yourself, look back at John 3, 16. Go back to where we started. God loved the world. That's why he gave his Son. And remember, love was the impetus. Love is the cause for the sending of the Son. John was not simply the disciple whom Jesus loved. because he was especially pious, or because he did a lot of good works. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved because he knows that God sent his only begotten son, and that by believing in him, you may have everlasting life. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for this sweet doctrine of the love of God, and we pray that you'll press it into our hearts and into our minds. And Holy Spirit, we pray that you will help us to apply this doctrine into our lives. Perhaps there are ways that we can apply it that we have not even imagined. We thank you for your love towards us. And we pray for those who currently spurn your love, that they would come to a saving knowledge of Christ. It's in his name we pray, amen.