Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/dave-hunt/john-3-16/
The Gospel of John, John's Gospel, chapter 3, and we'll read at verse 14. John's Gospel, chapter 3, reading at verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he had not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Now that'll suffice for our reading tonight.
I'm thinking especially of that golden text, and I suppose most everyone may be in our company tonight, would be possible to be able to quote this text of John 3 and verse 16. Now verse, John 3 and verse 17, if I was to tell how I got saved tonight, John 3, 17 is my verse, really.
As a young man, a number of years ago, 1969, in a little upstairs bedroom way back on, they talk about the East Coast, but I'm from the East Coast, only the East Coast of Canada, a little place called Nova Scotia, and a little village or country, in a place called Wentworth Valley, in an upstairs bedroom one night, burdened about my sin and longing for God's salvation.
If there was anything I wanted more than anything else in the world, I wanted my sins forgiven. I had no problem knowing that I was a sinner, and everyone that knew me knew the very same thing. I didn't battle with knowing whether I was a sinner or not, or needing God's salvation.
The thing I battled with was whether I wanted it right now or not. For a number of years through my life, I just kept putting it off, procrastinating, putting off this salvation that I heard about and heard preached from about the age of 10 years old.
We began to attend a gospel hall in Oxford, Nova Scotia. My mom and dad were saved, actually, before I was born, but until a Mr. Douglas Howard and a Mr. Fred Holder came along to our community with the gospel tent.
One summer, began to preach the gospel, and my dad said, that's the gospel that I like. Wherever these men are going, that's where I'm going. And so from that day on, he packed us all in the car, the whole works with seven children, mom and dad and seven children, and off to the gospel hall and gospel meetings.
And wherever there were gospel meetings, no matter within an hour anyway, wherever there was gospel meetings that we could get to, my dad made sure that we were there. He told us as kids, often he said, you know, I can't save any one of my children.
I can't save you, but I can put you in the way of hearing how to be saved. Now that didn't save us, of course, but at least it made us to understand the value and the importance of God's great salvation.
So I hope tonight in our company, as I look over this meeting tonight, you know, my heart's desire would be is that there might be someone in this meeting tonight, and there would be a desire in your breast tonight that you might know peace with God, that you might know that all is well for eternity.
Because I'm thankful tonight that came a moment in my little experience when I wanted to know for sure that all was well for eternity. Burdened about my sin, that after a number of gospel meetings, and just like one of the boys said there, I didn't count it a privilege actually to have to go to meetings.
One night, sitting in a gospel meeting, I'd come to a gospel meeting and then I'd go to sleep. At the back, I'd sit down there and go to sleep. After the singing, I used to enjoy the singing at least, and then I'd just put my head down and nod off to sleep.
One night, Mr. Douglas Howard, as I often tell in my testimony, one night in the gospel meeting, as he looked down there, and I suppose he got tired of looking at me down there sleeping Sunday after Sunday.
So he said, David, he said, wake up in the meeting. I said, how would you like that if someone did that? Anyway, I woke up. But you know what I realized? I didn't really appreciate it that night because I said I'd never be back.
I said, that'll never happen again. But you know, after a reason, again, came back into play a little while down the road, a couple of years, maybe a year or two. But I began to think about that often.
And you know what I realized? That that man had more interest in me than I had in me. He was more interested in seeing me ready for heaven and ready for the next life than I was. I was sound asleep. I was really sleeping my way, as we've been reminded, I was really just sleeping my way down to hell as fast as time could take me without hardly a care, without a concern.
And so the first gospel meeting, when I knew my mom and dad would ask me to attend the meetings when they started, Mr. Fred Holder and another man, and I had it worked out, I'd go one night a week. I would answer them to please my mom and dad.
I always respected my mom and dad. I knew what they had was right. I knew they had something that my chums never had and their parents never had. So I had it worked out. I would go one night. So when dad spoke to me about it, I said, yeah, okay, I'll go one night.
That'd make him happy and clear my conscience. And so I went on a Wednesday night. I decided a Wednesday night, not a weekend, but a midweek would be simpler. But on that first night that I sat in that gospel meeting, before I left that meeting, I was impressed in my thoughts that this was going to be something in these meetings that I was going to have to do with God's salvation.
And it didn't matter where I went after that. It didn't matter what I did, where I went, what I tried. I couldn't get away from the thought that these meetings were my meetings. I was going to have to do something with God's salvation in these meetings.
And so I began to attend every night. I don't know what they thought of that, but I began to attend every night listening to the gospel. Maybe there's one in our company tonight. And my friend, maybe it's dawned on you that this is your opportunity.
Gospel meetings have been ongoing. And as I look over this company tonight, I'm sure there's a number here, probably, that sat in some of the meetings there and stout. Maybe this is your opportunity. Maybe it's come to your attention.
This is my time. This is my day. This is my moment. This is my opportunity. Because opportunities come. Chances come. God brings chances into our lives as he's passing by in the preaching of the gospel.
And if I don't embrace, I would believe, my friend, if I didn't embrace my opportunity in 1969, the month of April, if I never embraced that opportunity that God gave to me, that I would have been eternally lost.
Maybe probably no doubt in eternity already. And so maybe this is your opportunity. In this gospel meeting tonight, maybe this is your time. And so I read, I'm thinking of John 3, 16. For God so loved the world.
And that takes in every one of us here tonight in this meeting. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, that whosoever. If you was to drink in the truth of John 3, 16 tonight, my friend, you could leave this building rejoicing that your sins are forgiven and that you're ready for heaven.
For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Up in that little upstairs bedroom, that was one of the verses Mr. Holder had written on a piece of paper.
And I tried everything to be saved on that morning until finally I came to the point. I said, when God wanted to save me in all these years past, I didn't want him. Now I want him and he don't want me.
And that was a dark moment in my little life. And I thought I'd just have to go to hell. No other course, no other hope. So I closed my Bible that I was reading. And I just sort of maybe tossed it on the other end of the bed in despair, in darkness.
But you know, there was a verse came into my mind. It wasn't a verse that Mr. Holder had written on the paper, but it was a verse I'd learned no doubt in Sunday school or children's meetings or whatever.
And that verse was the same as one of the boys there. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And I understood, my friend, just like that.
In a moment, I understood God sent not his son, the Lord Jesus, into this world to condemn David, but that David through him, his death, burial, resurrection. I'm putting, I maybe never thought of it exactly all like that on that morning.
But I drank in the truth that when Christ died on the cross, he was dying for me. Because of my sins. And I just bowed to what God said in this word. And God in his grace and in his mercy showed to me that when his son died on the cross, it was in my room instead, for me, the center.
So I rejoice tonight in John 3 and verse 17 as well. But I'm thinking of John 3, 16 tonight, just for a few moments. And I want to think of a privilege. We've heard that already. A privilege for God so loved the world.
That's a privilege that he gave his only begotten son. That's a provision that he made for the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him, that's a possibility. And so it's a possibility tonight.
And that's the good news of the preaching of the gospel. That's what I enjoy. It is possible for a person to come to a meeting like we are having here tonight. And maybe hardly thoughts about God's salvation.
Maybe not a burden. Sometimes burdens do come and a person becomes convicted of their sin and of their need and of where they're going for eternity. But sometimes a person can come to a gospel meeting, maybe the first gospel meeting that they ever sit in and listen to.
And before they leave that meeting, they can leave it knowing their sins are forgiven. When they drink in the truth that when Christ died on the cross, he was dying for a sinner like me. So the possibility, my friend, you could be saved tonight.
That's the good news of the gospel. The message is for you tonight, and it's possible for you to be saved tonight. Boys tonight, girls in our meeting, if you're listening, you know, taking what God is offering is actually is believing.
Taking, accepting is proof of believing what God says. And then the promise, of course, should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Bible says that there's no difference. I couldn't help but think this afternoon as I was thinking of the meeting tonight, we're all aware tonight, not very long ago, up there in Boston, that where there was a crowds of people and the Boston Marathon is being run, the two boys, at least two that we know of, the two young men come into the midst of that crowd, and they leave behind them bombs, two bombs.
If I was to ask you tonight, would you say that they did that because they loved the crowd of people that was there, or did they hate the crowd of people? Probably didn't know any of them or very few of them.
And so they leave behind them these bombs. And of course, if you've seen it, no doubt on your computer or television or whatever, and all of a sudden that big explosion, and then nine or 10 seconds later, another big explosion.
And as those bombs go off, you know what I thought about today? Actually, in the heart of those boys, of those two that we've been hearing about, in the heart of those two boys, there's really a hatred.
There's really a hatred or they're angry, and they hate it. Even people they didn't know, trying to take as many lives as they could take, I would understand. You know what I find that the Bible says?
When the Bible says there's no difference, and when I thought of privilege, I could have been brought up in a country, maybe that I would have been taught the very same thing that they were taught. And in that heart of mine could be the very same thing to do the very same thing that those boys did.
And I know that in this heart of mine, I could be taught or trained or be brought up to do anything, whatever's been done as far as life is concerned, because there's every capability in that heart there, the same capabilities that was in the heart of those boys.
You know how I know that? Because the Bible says there's absolutely no difference. All have sinned to come short of the glory of God. And so I stand, I have to take my place beside them as far as the wickedness of a person's heart.
That's what the Bible says. And then my mind went to another crowd of people. They didn't throw bombs, but they threw words. You know what they said? Away with this man, crucify him. We'll not have this man to reign over us.
And so they take him outside of a city called Jerusalem, and they nail him to a cross, and they raise him up between heaven and earth. And there upon that cross there hangs the very son of God. It was really hatred that put him on the cross.
Man's hatred of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what I find in the Bible, what I learned? I was just as guilty as them, because my heart was no different than their heart. I was no different than those people.
There is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And you know, in spite of that, you know what the Bible says? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
You know what I see demonstrated at Calvary? I see God's heart shown in the giving of his son. Even people that would hate his son. I'm sure there's people down there in Boston and that connected with some of those ones that were killed and some of those ones that were dismembered and those numbers that was injured.
I would say probably in their hearts, there's hatred that has risen up against those boys. I'm not sure about the one that's living at this time or if he's still living or not, but the hatred that would come from the heart within.
We know that very same heart was against Christ. And God is so different. It says of God, God so loved the world. He even loved those that put him on the cross. And when I thought of the love of God, we think of a mother's love.
And I was thinking of stories of that, but I'll bypass that. A mother's love, we know a mother's love. We know a father's love. We know a grandparent's love and even love of children or maybe brothers for sisters, even though they sometimes squabble a bit.
And you see them tussling one with the other. And yet if someone else from the outside is against one of them, then of course they join team up together because there's that love within, family love. There is, although we're living in a world quite a bit of a lot of hatred.
But when I think of God's love, you know, when I thought of God's love, unconditional, unconditional. It doesn't matter my background. It doesn't matter where I come from. Doesn't matter the language I speak.
Doesn't matter what part of the world that I live in. Doesn't matter if I'm from Canada, the east coast of Canada, whether I'm from Iowa, whether I'm from wherever, friend, in this vast wide world. The Bible tells me God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
And God's love is demonstrated in the giving of his son. So it's unconditional. It tells me the amount of God's love. It's unlimited, unlimited. There's not one soul that needs to perish. We've been hearing about the judgment of God, a place prepared for the devil and his angels.
Hell, the lake of fire. We've been hearing about that tonight. And there is no need of one soul perishing and going into eternity without God's salvation. Not one. There's no need of one person in our meeting tonight leaving this company in your sins and not saved.
You know why? Because God's love is unlimited. It is sufficient to meet the need of every soul and of any soul of everyone in our meeting here tonight. If you miss it, my friend, you can't blame God. If you leave unsaved tonight, you'll never be able to say, God does not love me enough to save me.
Because my Bible tells me God so loved the world, and that's you, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, and that's you, my friend, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The amount of it is unlimited. The length of it is unmeasurable. The depth of it is unfathomable. The height of it is unreachable. The description of it is unexplainable. I wish I had the words to explain to every listening one here tonight, of everyone not saved in this meeting, every boy, every girl, every man, every woman that's not saved in our company here tonight.
I wish I could describe God's love for you, the tremendous amount, the tremendous outreaching of God's heart of love that you might be saved. So much, my friend, that he punished willingly, voluntarily punished Christ on the cross on the account of our sins.
So a privilege. We could have been anywhere else tonight, any of us. Could have been born in any other land tonight. Could have been in any other home tonight that would have no interest whatsoever in this matter of God's salvation.
The provision, that tells me of the cost involved in the giving of his son. I was thinking of the possibility. The possibility is you could leave this meeting tonight with God's salvation. I remember Mr. Douglas Howard, a number of years ago, telling this story.
Some may, I've never seen it or read it even, but it was called the Oregon Trail. And a wagon camp was moving along, wagon train was moving along on the trail and they came to a river and they had to cross this river.
River was high, water was fast. And so they were trying to find a place to cross the river. So one of the wagon trains men said he would go first. He would try it. So he enters into the river with his oxen and his wagon and about halfway across that river, this raging water, the thing comes afloat and everything begins to come apart and the man is thrown in the water.
And of course he's going down and up as fast as that water, that river was running. And the one on the shore, as they were watching that scene and they seen the predicament that that man was in and he was going to lose his life.
And coming down that big river was one of those oxen, one of those strong, big, brave oxen. And so the man on the shore, he saw the situation. And so he began to holler at the top of his lungs, grab the tail of the ox, grab the tail of the ox.
And you know, the man heard him. And as that big animal was going by, he reached out and he grabbed onto the tail of that ox and hung on for dear life. And of course, eventually that oxen came ashore and drugged the man with them.
And the man ran up the shore and he wrapped his arms around that man that was shouting. And he said, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. You know what the man said to him? He said, don't thank me, thank the ox.
It was the ox that saved him. The man only get the message. You know what we're doing tonight? The very same thing. We're throwing out a lifeline, if you will. We're throwing out the message. There is a savior.
You're like the man in the water. Unsaved, my friend, you're like that man in the river. And without a savior, it's going to be lost. You're going to be lost, eternally lost. You're going to lose your soul for eternity.
But our message tonight, there is a savior. There is one that is able. There's one that is willing. There's one that is wanting. And we read about it tonight in John chapter three. Before God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son.
That's the one, my friend, that can save your soul tonight. If you were to put your trust, your faith in that man, the one who died on the cross, the one who was buried, the one who rose again the third day, the Bible says the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin.
And tonight in this meeting, if you were to put your trust and faith in him, you could enjoy the peace of sins forgiven. And the promise, before God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, does that fit in?
Does that fit you tonight, my friend? That whosoever believeth in him, that's Christ, should not perish, but have, have possession, personal possession, but have everlasting life. And that's a promise.
Would you like to lay hold upon that tonight? Would you take that in tonight? Would you drink that in tonight? The son of God, as we've been reminded, the son of God who loved me, how much that he died on Calvary's tree and gave himself for me.
Drink that in tonight. Drink in the truth of this verse. Rest upon what Christ has accomplished. He cried, it is finished. The work is done. Complete it. Nothing can be added to it. Spoils it. If you take away from it, you spoil it.
But tonight, my friend, that finished work, it's available. It may not be available tomorrow. We couldn't promise it tomorrow or even later, I suppose, tonight. But right in this meeting, right at this moment, you could enter into the joy and peace of sins forgiven by taking God at his word.
I'll quote that verse and I'll close. For God, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, is there one here tonight? That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.