I can't possibly comprehend the love of God, or anything else about Him. All I really know is that I am desperate for hope, provision, mercy, and assurance, and I find it nowhere at all except in Jesus Christ. His perfect words, His perfect deeds, and His witnessed resurrection, are beyond anything else in this world, in all of history. Creation shouts His majesty. I can't wait to see Jesus, even though I know I don't deserve to. It's what He promised. I fail every day. Jesus never fails.
Amen! Thank you for your comment which so beautifully describes my longings and desperate desire for assurance and mercy through the years. I always come back to Jesus. He’s so faithful. Only Jesus can provide blessed assurance. And he does.
I want to rule out some fleshy sentimentality: if you don't know he was a christian which some suppose none can, then you do not know if he's in heaven. Regardless we ought to set our affection on things above and not on things on earth. And that I think includes other people...who are and then are not like the grass or the flowers in the field. It is not cruel in so far as the truth is not cruel. I hope you're not one like many, who raise up their fists to God and ask "why" and create their own morality, religion. It's all vanity.
When we have assurance that our loved ones are saved we still grieve for them when they are gone, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). I’m glad you have that assurance about your son’s salvation.
You mean grieve for yourself not for them, because if they were in Christ no need for grieve. Don’t adjust the verse to your emotions better still, be born again in Jesus Christ. He’s everything to us,
They are one in the sense that what the other says or do the one will also say or do it. John 12:49 Because I have not spoken on my own but the Father who sent me, himself give me a command on what to say and in what word to speak.
@@diosdadoapias and the only way to The Father is through The Son! When you thank a part of Christ you thank all of Christ. You cannot love God if you don't love your neighbors.
John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."🙌,.,. Let God’s Peace and Grace be with you (To The Reader)... Praise God always. Amen🙏🙌
Thts my favorite verse. It means we cannot earn salvation it means the only way is through the most merciful and gracious who paid it all for us! This is indeed the best good news there is!!
I have only one KING HE was wounded for my sin HE was bruised for my iniquity the chastisement for my peace was open HIM and by HIS stripes I will be healed what a KING
I met Dr Sproul in Nashville in 1999 during the 100th year celebrations of The Gideons International convention, and I was blessed by his clear, unambiguous preaching on our responsibility of telling others the truths about true salvation through Jesus alone by Grace and through faith and our need to introduce others to Him.
Our Heavenly Father, thank You so much for sending RC & so many to speak the saving Truth about Your Son Jesus & to encourage us on our journeys to You 🥰🙏🕊️🐑🌿 (I don't vet ANY teacher, etc. outright; none of us always gets everything right, we're in constant learning mode - or should be)
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Luke 10:22
That’s a wonderful verse talking about the disciple. It doesn’t talk about saved people. Context matters. The Jews were blinded and while Christ was on earth God gave people to him for a purpose.
Thank you Jesus for your ultimate sacrifice for me and all who are willing to accept your gift of grace through faith. For you paid my sin debt that I could not pay and for that I am forever grateful amen 🙏 🙌 ❤️
The Lord knew only way to save us from eternal damnation. He did not fall for the deceivers lies. Thus, the Lord sent his son to die for our sins, and he beat death in the grave. Thank you our Lord, thank you Jesus Christ, and thank you Holy Spirit.
I am so thankful for getting to know R.C. Sproul and his long history of serving the Lord our God. I have always enjoyed listening to his sermons when I came upon them online. I just wish I had the chance to attend one of his events before his passing, but know he is with the Lord now. I look forward to that glorious day, when all followers of Christ will shed our corrupted, mortal bodies and put on the incorruptible, to be with our Lord God forever.
Thank you pastor for explaining this verse John. 3:16. Heavenly Father, I cannot fathom Your Love which You Showered upon me a sinner through Your Beloved and Only Begotten Son Lord Jesus Christ. I offer my Worship & praise to You Father through Your Beloved Son. Amen.
I look forward to meeting R.C. at his new address. I'm sure that it, and he will be, beyond anything I could imagine in Christ's glorified state! Lord Jesus, please tell R.C. that I love him and that I am so grateful for his faithfulness to Your Word!
AWESOME! Jesus is the Way the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Him! John 14:6 the book of John is the best starting point for those who are getting started and is a wonderful book if you are seeking Him. Powerful Sermon by Pastor Sproul! Thank you Lord Jesus for all you've done for a filthy old wretch like me.
🎯 The most distorted verse in the Bible is when a Calvinist misuses "Who are you oh man to question God"... when a non-Calvinist is really only questioning Calvinism, not God. Dr. Sproul affirmed Calvinism affords no confidence in one's own salvation. Nobody can ever know if they have really received the "Gift of Perseverance" on this side of the grassy knoll. And apostasy is just as much by God's decree as what they think they believe about Jesus today... but it might not last until tomorrow, also by God's decree. So, they are encouraged to worship a God who cannot be trusted to love any on particular individual, even the man in the mirror. Calvinists are told to search for their Christian acts/works as 'evidence' of God's work in their life... but their "evidence" is not evidence of God's love or their salvation, only his decree for this moment in time.. which may not last, and may not be genuine. But they cling to it none the less because after explaining away every verse which simply says man confesses and believes unto his own salvation, it's all they have. So sad to see believers robbed of the confidence God truly does love them by the doctrine they've become convinced to accept.
@@R.L.KRANESCHRADTT Being the first time that I’ve heard Sproul in 25+ years, I’d be remiss if I went as far as saying that he supported Calvinism, as he never actually says that here. But it appears that he does, certainly. Thanks for making me not the only one to reply this way. Yes, Arminianism has some places where it distorts the gospel, but Calvinism has, at the least, just as many. 😢 It distorts the same verse into ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever He has already chosen believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.’ It seems Sproul missed two things-- 1. The qualified negation of “should not” in the verse, choosing for the absolute negation of “shall not.” 2. Of all the foreknow-ledge/election passages in the Bible, none have the singular object. It is, every time, a plurality or group foreknown or predestined. That Noah is called “a preacher of righteousness” in 2 Peter chapter 2 indicates someone (of the possible 5 billion alive at that time) could listen and choose the ark before God shut the door. Else, Noah is wasting time and breath and get better-focused on building the ark. All preachers have to understand that there’s a small chance that anyone will actually be moved by what they say-most folks don’t believe until the rain doesn’t quit.
@@SuperHornet1981 It is amazing to me how successfully Sproul and MacArthur have been over the years at speaking in such a way that literally tens of thousands of Christians have listened to them on radio and never even knew they were Calvinists. But they 100% are. Now we see 'stealth' Calvinist pastors who have gained positions in non-Calvinist traditional churches by deception. Intentionally hiding and cleverly answering elder committee questions to avoid admitting their intent to 'reform' the church if hired. 9Marks organization has books on how to get hired without admitting your Calvinism. My closet friend is experiencing that in his home church right now. He listened to both Sproul and MacArthur for years and never 'picked up' on it. Now, the new pastor doesn't give alter calls. Once he actually tipped his hand in a closing prayer on Sunday morning... "And Lord we thank you that you died for "some" "🤦🏻♂🤦🏻♂ It went by so fast nobody caught it... my friend couldn't believe what he heard, went home on facebook and replayed it s-l-o-w-l-y.... and sure enough. He played it 3 times for his wife before she caught it in real time. P.s. I'm sure glad Noah built that boat.😎
I remember for the first time I heard RC Sproul’s sermon he said he became saved from these particular Scriptures. He said when he read these verses he realized that salvation is not his own actions but God’s. “ If the clouds are full of rain , they empty themselves upon the earth ; and if the tree fall toward the south , or toward the north in the place where the tree falls there it shall be .” ( Ecclesiastes 11:3 ) How marvelous is God’s Grace!!! ❤
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
I thank God for the gift of Pastor Dr. Sproul for this teaching on St. John's Gospel 3:16. No matter how anybody wants to distort the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God is already settled forever, Jesus is the Only Way to God and Heaven. Jesus is the Only Saviour. The only soon coming KING of kings who will judge the living and the dead. Accept JESUS now, your distorted religion will not save you. Heaven and Hell is real, your religion cannot create its own heaven outside the Heaven where JESUS is KING and Adored.
and don't forget JN 3:1-15 too! All part of the same conversation. JN 3:16 is said in the context of [Jhn 3:5 ESV]: Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
The Holiness of God is the most important revelation of His character. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. That could be why you can't see him.
I'm new to embracing Christianity and even if i think I've got a hold on the verses I read I get thrown sideways into another way of looking at it. it's always good to get another perspective.
Amen and Amen 🙏🙏🙏 Thank YOU JESUS that YOU died on the cross and overcome death so I can have everlasting life with YOU one day and rule with YOU for a thousand years!!!
It is refreshingly comforting to hear a message that does not seek to use the words of the Bible to push an agenda but rather let the Bible speak plainly for itself. This was a clear and concise explanation of the gospel.
2x2 is 4 Truth is exclusive Father you are AWESOME speaking to us through your SON open my ears,heart,and Soul. all praise to You Forever and Forever. amen
I understood that the 'SO' is not 'how much' (quantitative) but the 'how' (qualitatively) He loved us. He loved the world in such a way as to give his Son to be glorified in the redemption of a people from their sins, for himself. He does not need us, we find our worth in Him.
Yes, loved past tense verb. Not loves. Most people are walking around with 'God loves the world in their head which comforts them erroneously). But the past tense shows an action has taken place and we know the action was the birth, life, death and resurrection of God the Son.
I understand that’s correct. “For God loved the world in this way: that He gave…” and thus provided a way of salvation. Some translations, such as the CSB, do translate like this. Also, it is important to link John 3:16 with the event in Numbers 21 that Jesus links it with. I’m amazed this parallel event is hardly ever referred to, as it’s essential in understanding John 3:16.
Amen to that brother! Another one I hear a lot is "Money is the root of all evil." NO, The Bible actually says "Money is A root of MANY evils." Regardless of your Bible version THIS is conveyed NOT what most people mis-quote.
If we knew 1 percent of the sin and wrath poured out on the scapegoat then we would really be shocked and humbled. "The handwriting of ordinances against us"
Matthew 5:14-16 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Excellent devotional. His comments as a redemptive “particularist” are especially encouraging to all who sees both a command and ability to repent. John 3:16 is also, strikingly, the most understood verse of the Bible. The gospel is neither complex nor difficult to understand, but is presented so simply that even a child can understand (as enabled the Holy Spirit’s active ministry). The Holy Spirit will totally fulfill His mission as stated in John 14 and 16 as perfectly as Christ did His. In Acts 2 this is evident as believers continued in “simplicity of heart”. There were no NT theologians on the day of Pentecost, only a completed work and perfectly communicated need presented by Peter through the active work of the Holy Spirit, who’s convicting ministry was first fulfilled that day. That Holy Spirit mission continued just as was promised. The applicability of the gospel to everyone in their current condition is wonderfully clear in Mr. Sproul’s commentary here.
I have been in the ministry for over 50 years in two countries and have never heard an evangelical say John 3:16 teaches God will save everybody! I know universalists believe that...but Bible believing evangelicals never believe that...never heard of that until I listened to this message...so pretty hard to believe it it the most distorted verse in the Bible.
@jaisimha7176 Does john 3:16 somehow contradicts ezekiel 18:21 which says, "But if a sinner turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live". And, ezekiel 18:32 says, "For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the lord. Repent and live". But, god take the pleasure in the death of jesus?
@sethsuleiman4419 I may be able to help clear this question up. Paul writes “how can he believe in whom he has not heard?” And also “there is no one righteous not even one” which is an echo of Gods word in Genesis that men’s hearts were evil all the time. I’m getting to my point, that the only way to repent of our sins, (repent= turn away, a change in direction, right?) is to believe in Jesus and live as he tells us we ought to. Ezekiel is pointing to Christ, as our redeemer. Christs righteousness is imputed or given to us as our score and he takes on the sin of the world. And God absolutely was grieved when his son died, the earth shook, the sun failed, he was devastated to pour out his wrath on his only begotten son, yet this was the only way, the way he had prepared before creation.
@@petethreehunnah8332 (1). You said, 'repent=turn away, a change in direction, right'?). No. repent mean seek god's forgiveness for the sin committed + turn away from the sin committed, obey god's decrees and do righteousness, as in ezekiel 18:21 and 18:32. See. No death mentioned in ezekiel. Nobody has to die as god take no pleasure in death. Nobody has take on the sins of others. Just repent and none of the sins 'will be remebered'; ie. forgiven. (2). You say that jesus's death is the only way. No, because ezekiel does show the another way which more logical, reasonable and rationale. And, jesua come not to destroy the law but to fulfill, as in matt 5;17. Does my argument in accordance to the bible and make sense?
