Milo

Question: What is the greatest Text in the Bible?
Answer: by Dr. Harry A. Ironside 

John 3:16 “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”

Why do so many people think this is the greatest text in the Bible?

There are other wonderful texts that dwell on the love of God, that show how men are delivered from judgment, that tell us how we may obtain everlasting life, but no other one verse, as far as I can see, gives us all these precious truths so clearly and so distinctly. So true is this that when the gospel is carried into heathen lands, and missionaries want to give a synopsis of the gospel to a pagan people, all they find it necessary to do, if they are going to a people that have a written language, is to translate and print this verse, and it tells out the story that they are so anxious for the people to hear. If they do not have a written language, invariably one of the first scriptures that they are taught to memorize is John 3:16.

I have a slip of paper sent to me by my friend, Allan Cameron of China. In those odd characters this same message is written, and that message put into the hands of the Chinese has often been used to lead a soul to Christ. Not immediately, of course, for he does not understand it all at once, but it has led him to ask upon what authority is this statement based, and so eventually he is led to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many Truths in One Verse
How many truths are wrapped up in that one verse! In the first place, there is the personality of God–“God so loved.” A God who can love is a person. We had a woman in the United States who invented a religion a few years ago, and she said it was all love, and yet she said that God is impersonal. But that is not possible. Just imagine falling in love with a cloud, or thinking that a cloud is loving you! It is something utterly impossible; you cannot do it. Behind love there must be a person with a warm, loving heart. “God so loved.”

This Chinese translation which my friend Cameron sent me, says, “God so passionately loved the world, that he gave.” It was a divine passion, a heart in heaven throbbing in loving sympathy with men in all their trials and difficulties here on earth. What a wonderful revelation that is, and it is all wrapped up in this one verse.

Then there is the truth of the divine Fatherhood. This God so loved men “that he gave his only begotten Son.” There cannot be a son without a father. If God gave His Son, God Himself is a Father, and that is a revelation the pagan world never dreamed of.

Then again, there is the lost condition of mankind. God gave His well beloved Son, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” An unsaved man is in grave danger. You, dear unsaved one, are in grave danger of being so utterly lost that you may be banished from the presence of this God of love forever, and yet He it is who has provided a means whereby His banished ones may return to Him. God gave Him up to a sacrificial death on Calvary’s cross for all men, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The universality of the offer of mercy is also here. It is a “whosoever” message, and what does “whosoever” mean ? A gentleman came one time to my former home city and took an entire week for a series of lectures on John 3:16. During that time he labored every night to prove that the world that God loved was the world of the elect, and that “whosoever” was simply the “whosoever” that God had chosen from the foundation of the world. No wonder it took him a week to try to make out that kind of a thing. Any child can see the difference between a doctrine like that and that which is revealed in this text. Any one of school age knows the meaning of “whosoever.”

You may have heard the story of the old Scotchman who had been brought up with the idea that God had predetermined just so many people to be saved, and all the rest were created to be damned. He felt that he ought to be willing to say, “O God, if it is Thy will to damn me, I do not want to be saved”; but he did want to be saved, and was in the deepest agony of soul about it. But still they all said, “If you are not one of the elect, you cannot be saved.”

One day he was out in the field plowing, when he found a piece of paper with a large text on it. He tried to spell it out, but he was not very good at reading, and so he read s 1 o w 1 y: “For–God–so–loved–the–world–that–he–gave— his—only—be-got-ten—Son–that–who-so-ever.

“He wondered what that meant, but as he did not know, he passed on to the next part. “That–who-so-ever–be-liev-eth–in–him—should–not–perish—but– have—ever-lasting–life.”
“Man!” he said, “here’s good news for somebody. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who-so-ever! I wonder who is meant by that word. Here is somebody who can have everlasting life, elect or not elect.” And while he was pondering the question, he saw a lad going by with a bunch of books under his arm. He called to him, “Here, laddie, can ye read?”

“Aye, that I can,” he replied.
“Well, will you read this?

Wanting to impress the old man with his great ability, the boy read like a race horse; “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.”
“O laddie, laddie, don’t read it so fast; read it again, and read it slowly so I can get every word, and be careful with that long word,” said the old man. And so the boy read it again.

“Does it really say there that somebody can be saved by just believing?” the old man asked. “What does that long word mean?”

“Oh,” said the boy, “whosoever means you, or me, or any other body; but there goes the bell, I have to run,” and away he went.

The old man stood there, and read it again, “For God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that you, or me, or any other body believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“Man !” he said, “that’s good news for a sinner like me; I don’t need to find out whether I am elect or not,” and he dropped down between the plough handles, and there confessed himself a sinner for whom Jesus died. He took God at His word and his soul was saved.

One Text a Whole Week
One of the earliest stories I ever heard about D. L. Moody was one with which some of you are familiar. When he was in Great Britain, he met a young Englishman by the name of Henry Moorhouse. One day Moorhouse said to Moody “I am thinking of going to America.”

“Well,” said Moody, “if you should ever be in Chicago come down to my place, and I will give you a chance to preach.”

Now although Mr. Moody was not two-faced, he was merely trying to be polite, for mentally he was saying, “I hope he won’t come.” There are so many people, you know, who want to preach, although God never meant them to, and Mr. Moody was not quite sure of Mr. Moorhouse. He was rather taken back one day when, just before leaving for a series of meetings, he received a telegram, “Have just arrived in New York. Will be in Chicago on Sunday.”
“And now,” thought Moody, “I am going away, and I told him he could preach here.” So he said to his wife and to his committee, “Here’s this young Englishman coming; let him preach once, and then if the people enjoy him, put him on again.”

When Moody returned, he said to his wife, “Well, what about that young preacher?”
“Oh,” she said, “he is a better preacher than you are Why, he is telling sinners that God loves them.”
“He is wrong!” said Moody, “God doesn’t love sinners.” “Well,” she said, “you go and hear him.” “Why, is he still preaching?’ asked Mr. Moody.

“Yes, he has been preaching all week and has taken only one text, John 3:16,” was her reply.
When Mr. Moody went to the meeting, Moorhouse got up, and said, “I have been hunting and hunting all through the Bible, looking for a text, and I think we will just talk about John 3:16 once more.” Mr. Moody always testified that it was on that night that he got his first clear understanding of the gospel and the love of God. Think what it meant in Moody’s life, and in the lives of tens of thousands who were reached through his ministry, to know that God loves sinners. Are you one of those who has been saying, “If I were only a little better, I could believe that God loves me?” 

O dear friend, hear it again:
“Sinners Jesus will receive; Sound this word of grace to all Who the heavenly pathway leave, All who linger, all who fall.”

1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of Whom I am chief”

Just Like African Boys
I remember when I was a boy, going to a missionary meeting. A missionary was there from Africa, and was showing us a whole lot of curious things, and then he said, “Now boys, I want to tell you the kind of gospel we preach to the people in Africa. How many good boys have we here? A lot of us thought we

were good, but our mothers were there, and so not one of us dared hold up his hand. “Well,” said he, “not one good boy here; then I have the same message for you that we have for the heathen in Africa; God loves naughty boys!”
“My,” I thought, “he is getting all mixed up,” for you see I had heard people say, “If you are good, God will love you.” But, dear friends, that is not true. God is not waiting for you to be good so He can love you; God loves sinners, and has proven His love for them by the gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Instead of waiting for people to be good, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

Do you believe it, dear friend?
The difficulty is that men have this wrong idea about God, and are always trying to make out that they are better than they are. “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6). You will find people down in the depths of sin, but they are always ready to compare themselves with other folk, saying, “I am as good as they are.” But God has no message and no blessing for men who are trying to justify themselves.

As long as you try to make a good name for yourself, God can only condemn you; but when you come into His presence and confess yourself a lost, guilty sinner, God has a message and a blessing for you. “God so loved the world”– a wicked, corrupt, and ungodly world, and you and I belong to it. “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man” (Proverbs 27:19). God’s Word declares that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9, 10). Yet, knowing all the wickedness of which my heart and your heart is capable, God loves us and gave His Son to die for us.

My! What a gospel this is; what a message to bring to poor, needy sinners! We do not come to men, and say, “Turn over a new leaf; quit your meanness; give up this, and give up that.” We do not ask any one to give up; we ask you to receive the gift of God, and when you receive that gift, “the things of the world will grow strangely dim in the light of Christ’s glory and grace.”
A lad tried to preach on John 3:16 one day. He was asked to give his testimony, but thought he had better get up a sermon. He divided his text into four heads:
God loved.
God gave.
I believe.
I have.

Could you make a better division than that?

A Girl’s Horror of God
A little girl who lived in Luther’s day had been brought up with a perfect horror of God. She thought of Him as always watching her, taking note of every wrong thing she did, and just waiting to visit judgment upon her. Her parents could not get that fear out of her mind. Her father was a printer, and was working on Luther’s first German Bible. One day she was in his shop, when just a corner of one of the
sheets of the Bible caught her eye. She looked at it, and as she read it, her whole attitude toward God changed, and she said, “Mother, I am, not afraid of God any more.”

“Well, my dear,” said the mother, “I am glad of that, but why are you not afraid of God?”
“Oh,” she replied, “look what I found, a piece of the Bible, and it says, ‘God so loved, that he gave.’” It was just a part of two lines.

“Well,” her mother said, “how does that take away your fear of God ? It doesn’t say what He gave.”
“Oh, but if He loved us enough to give anything, I am not afraid,” said the child. And then her mother sat down and opened up the whole truth to her.

People are stumbling over the simplest things. Take, for instance, that word believeth. You would think that was plain enough for anybody, but all my life I have heard people say, “I have always believed, and yet I am not saved.” It does not say, “Whosoever believeth the Bible, or creeds, or even the gospel story,” but it does say, “Whosoever believeth in him.”

What is it to believe in Him? It means to put your soul’s confidence in Him, to trust in Him, God’s blessed Son. When in Toronto, I picked up a copy of a broad Scotch translation of the New Testament, and the first thing I noticed was that this word believeth is not found there at all. Instead of believeth there is the Scotch word, lippen, and it means to throw your whole weight upon. This is the way it reads, “Whosoever lippens to Jesus should not perish, but have the life of the ages”–the life that runs on through all the ages.

Just Lippen to Jesus
One day Dr. Chalmers spent hours with a poor, anxious soul, trying to lead her into peace, but she could not understand what it was to believe, and finally he had to leave her. On the way home he had to cross a creek with a shaky old bridge over it, and as he was feeling his way across in a very careful manner, one of his parishioners who saw him, called out, “Can you nae lippen the bridge?” Immediately he said, “That’s the word for the old lady I have just left,” and he went back to her, and said, “I have got the word for you, can you nae lippen to Jesus ?” Lippen ?” she said, “is it just to lippen ? Aye, I can lippen to Him. He will never let me down, will He?”
“Yes, that is it,” he replied, “He will never let you down.” Have you been struggling, trying, working; have you been promising and trying to give up this

and to do this, that, and the other thing? O dear friend, hear it, “Whosoever lippens to Jesus shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Another “Whosoever”

But now notice the alternative. They who trust in Jesus will not perish, but what about those who do not trust in Him ? There is another whosoever. In Revelation 20, where we have that solemn picture of the last judgment, we read,

“I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up, the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

Listen to it, sinner, whosoever in the day of judgment “was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Who are found written in the book of life? “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” There they are, those who believed, and those that did not believe; those who received the gift of God, and those who spurned the gospel, trampling under foot the grace of God. They stand in the judgment as poor, lost, trembling souls to hear their dreadful sentence. You may be saved now without money and without price.

“There is life for a look at the Crucified One, There is life at this moment for thee;
Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved, Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.”

Look, sinner, look to Jesus just now and be saved.

1. MAN’S STATE BY NATURE
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer. 17:9
The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Romans 8:7

2. MAN’S STATE BY PRACTICE
There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Eccl. 7:20
We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6
All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 Jn. 1:8

3. THERE MUST BE A CHANGE
Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3
Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke 13:3
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

4. GOD’S THOUGHTS OF MAN
As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
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. John 3:16
The Lord . . . is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

5. CHRIST’S WORK FOR MAN
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3

6. THE VALUE OF CHRIST’S BLOOD
In whom we have redemption through His blood. Ephesians 1:7
The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood. Revelation 5:9

7. CHRIST’S INVITATION TO SINNERS
Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. John 6:37
I am the door:-by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. John 10:9
Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

8. WHAT CHRIST IS ABLE TO DO
Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. Heb. 7:25
He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20
He is able to keep you from failing, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Jude 24

9. HOW TO BE SAVED
Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. Acts 10:43
To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4:5
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9

10. HOW TO BE LOST FOREVER
He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18
If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sin. John 8:24
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1:8

11. HOW WE MAY KNOW WE ARE SAVED
Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us. 1 John 3:24
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. John 10:28 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye
may know that ye have eternal life. 1 John 5::13

12. NO TIME TO BE LOST
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2
Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. Hebrews 3: 17, 8 

During this week many millions of people remember the death of one Man. It took place almost two thousand years ago. Only small groups witnessed His death, but since He died, His Name and what happened so long ago has been heralded throughout the world. Millions are living in every continent who hear and know that Name. The story of His Life and the death He died has been translated into hundreds of languages and is now read by the different races which compose humanity.

His Name is “Jesus Christ” or as His contemporaries called Him – “Jesus of Nazareth”. We are in possession of the records of portions of the Life He lived on earth, and these records, the four Gospels, are historically fully trustworthy. Infidels of every description have tried to discredit them.

They stand firm and unshaken. They reveal Him as the outstanding figure of history. He towers above the rest of humanity. No one like Him before and none after.

He was a wonderful Teacher. One of His followers, who listened to Him, said: “Thou hast the Words of eternal life.” Great philosophers and religious leaders who lived before He was on earth also taught. They gave ethical precepts; they tried to explain the enigma of human existence and destiny, and uttered their speculations as to a higher being and the unseen. But none ever spoke words as He spoke; words of Life and Words of Wisdom, words which reveal God, His character, His love, His grace, His Fatherhood.

He made known the unknown; He flashed forth the unseen and the future. So deep are all His teachings that they transcend our human thinking, and yet so simple that a child can understand them.

The Life He lived was perfect. There was no flaw in His character. He exhibited a moral glory before which the lives of the best of men pale into significance. His moral glory is dazzling. It possesses a strange attracting power. In one word – He was a perfect, a holy, a sinless Being.

Furthermore, during the three years of public ministry He displayed astonishing power. He healed all manner of diseases instantaneously by His word. His “I will” cleansed the leper; the maimed were made whole. He commanded the demons to leave their prey, and the raving maniacs were delivered and became rational beings, taking their places at His feet. He raised the dead not once but several times. The wind and the waves had to obey His voice. They were hushed by His majestic, “Peace! Be still!”

Who was this wonderful man? That He was only a man is impossible. The Gospels tell us that He is the God-Man, God Himself manifest in the flesh. Such also is His self-witness. He spoke constantly of the fact that He came from above, came as the sent-One by the Father. He claimed equality with God, to work the same works, and to have the same power as He has. He also claimed worship for Himself. He said: “Before Abraham was, I am.” He is the preexisting One, Who was before all things. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He is Creator, for “All things were made by Him.” We listen again to His voice, “I and the Father are one”; “Whosoever seeth Me seeth the Father.”

And this wonderful Man, that unique Being, the God-Man died. Before He ever died He predicted the manner of His death; He knew beforehand all the torture, the suffering, the shame which would be heaped upon Him. He knew they would nail Him to a Cross. But why did He die?

Why do human beings die? Why is it that human life is filled with pain, sickness, affliction, sorrow and finally there looms up the grave and the death of the body? Was this the eternal purpose of a loving Creator Who created a class of beings for His own pleasure and fellowship? No! We cannot believe this. Nor does the Bible teach it. Death is in the world on account of sin. Men die because they have sinned. “The wages of sin is death.” If there were no sin there would be no death.

And this Man never sinned. He was not innocent but holy. No wrong word ever passed His gracious lips; no evil, unclean thought ever entered His mind. No guile was found in His mouth. He did not need to repent, nor to pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” His challenge was: “Who of you can convince Me of sin?” It was never met. He did not sin for He had no sin; the fallen nature of man was not His nature. He was God in the form of Man and God cannot sin.

Why then did He die? Did death have a claim on His body? I turn to Death and ask – “O Death! Look at that Man, that holy Man, that sinless Man! Tell me, O Death, canst thou touch Him? Is He to be thy prey?” And Death answers – “No!”

His death was attempted a number of times. Three times the effort was made to stone Him. No stone ever struck Him; once they tried to cast Him down a precipice. He disappeared out of their midst. The ship in which He was asleep filled with water. He was undisturbed, for that ship could never sink. Death had no power over Him. He was sinless and therefore deathless. Yet, He died that cruel death by crucifixion. Why then did He die? Did He die as a martyr? Such is the answer that we hear today from thousands of religious teachers. “He died on account of the teachings He gave; His was the martyr’s death.”

The same men also tell us that “His body remained in the grave; that over that grave it must be written: ‘Dust to dust and ashes to ashes.’” If that were true, we could charge God with being an unrighteous Being. We could impeach the throne of righteousness.

But how did the martyrs die? Hear them singing their hymns of praise! See them facing heroically the lions, the tigers, the torture and the stake. They counted it honor and glory to lay down their lives. They rejoiced as cruel death approached.

But listen to the Lord Jesus, the Holy One, the sinless One, when death loomed up before Him. Listen–”Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour.” See Him in Gethsemane. Hear that bitter wail–”Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.” Behold His agony – “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Why this trembling, why this soul agony, why this terror? Was it produced by the fear of physical death? Was the Lord Jesus Christ a coward” Certainly not!

But this agony, this soul trouble, as He looked toward the Cross, answers the question: “Why did Christ die?” He did not die, as we die, because He had sinned, but He died for our sins, the Just for the unjust. He died as the Lamb of God, the holy, spotless Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world. He knew, going to that Cross, there would come, while hanging there, three hours during which the sun would hide his face, and in that awful darkness He Who knew no sin would be made sin. Sin, that horrible, hateful thing, would be put then upon Him, not by man, but by God Himself. What it meant – “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” is only known to Him. We cannot understand it, but we can believe it and worship

And when that sin-bearing, that sin atoning Work was done, then no one took His Life from Him – He gave that Life. And that He yielded it is evidenced by that marvelous, victorious shout–”‘It is finished!”

Christ died for our sins! Here is our salvation; here is our peace; here is our hope of eternal glory! Christ crucified is still for the Jew the stumbling block. For the Greek, the Gentile world with its boasted culture, learning and progress, it is foolishness. But to all who believe God, who believe His Word, Christ, the Christ Who died for our sins, is the Wisdom and the Power of God. The Wisdom of God, for He displays in the sacrificial death of His Son His infinite wisdom. The world by wisdom did not know God.

It could not find its way back to God. The wisdom of the world could not bridge the gulf between the holy God and unholy, lost humanity. Then God stepped in and laid across that gulf a Cross and upon that Cross His Son.

And the Christ Who died for our sins, Who took sin upon Himself, Who satisfied God’s righteousness, is the Power of God. The sin-bearing Work of the Lord Jesus Christ gives God power to save man from the horrible pit of sin, to cleanse and forgive him, as he grasps in faith the pierced hand of the Lord Jesus, and then that power lifts him out of his lost condition into the glorious place of a child of God.

Friend, do you believe that Christ died for your sins? Do you believe He bore your sins in His own body on the tree? Have you looked to that Cross on which the Prince of Glory died, and looking there, have said in faith: “He loved me, He gave Himself for me”? Have you cast yourself upon Him and accepted Him? Have you done what is written – “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”? Then you are saved.

Then rejoice and be glad. Rejoice! For you are acquitted of all your guilt. Rejoice! For Jesus paid it all. Rejoice! You are born again and have become a true child of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Rejoice! You are accepted in the Beloved One. Rejoice! You have passed from death unto Life. Rejoice! God is your loving Father. Rejoice! There is no condemnation. Rejoice! You are an heir of God and fellow-heir with Christ, and the Father’s House will be your eternal and glorious Home.

But oh! Remember it again, the price He paid to make this possible. Look once more to that Cross and see how He was smitten and afflicted of God as your Substitute. What is your answer to His sacrificial love? How often Christians sing it in sacred song, and how little they practice it.

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
‘Twould be a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Only then can we enjoy fully our blood-bought redemption when we live for Him, Who died for us. And you who never have believed that Christ died for your sins and have never accepted Him – you, who trust in your own works, your own righteousness, which in the sight of God are nothing but filthy rags – you who reject His sin-bearing, His finished Work, let me say to you there is but one Way to God – the Way of the Cross. He who died for our sins is that Way, and there never can be any other way. “No man cometh to the Father, but by Me” is an eternal, never-changing Truth. The greater part of the religious world rejects that Truth. It puts into its place another Gospel. Instead of preaching “Christ crucified” they speak of the leadership of Jesus and claim that the teachings of Jesus, practically applied, will save the world.

That is a delusion! And because the religious world turns away from the Cross of Christ, from the true heart of Christianity – that Christ died for our sins, that salvation for a lost world is offered and found alone beneath the Cross of Jesus–the night of sin becomes darker, and the manifestation of the power of darkness becomes greater, till an apostate Christendom worships the coming “Man of Sin,” whose shadow lengthens in our day.

O friend without Christ–take the Way of the Cross this very moment! Beneath that Cross, and there alone, you can have peace with God, righteousness and glory.

And that Christ Who died for your sins loves you. He wants you! He is now waiting for you. He will welcome you, for He still assures you – “Whosoever cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.”

Repeat it now, and do it.

Just as I am – without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Dr. Arno C. Gaebelein

Human Plans

In this world it seems there are plans for almost every kind of contingency in the circumstances of individuals and nations although it is very doubtful how many of these would succeed in the event they were ever needed and tried.

The reason for such doubt is that these plans (even with the best of intentions) all depend on human beings and their abilities and powers which, even at their greatest, are limited and, as we all know from history and experience, subject to failure. 

The solemn and unavoidable fact is that the plans of individuals and nations fail because they depend on fallen creatures. 

A Most Serious Situation

Now, dear reader, the situation is most serious since, if humanity cannot provide reliable plans for its own safety, protection and well-being here on earth during life’s relatively short span, it becomes a much more vital question and consideration as to what it could do regarding the certainties which every human being must face in eternity.

Despite all that may be said to the contrary, it is God “with whom we have to do”, Hebrews 4: 13. 

We do well then to address what He says in the Holy Bible ignoring the vain mouthing’s of persons who in their sin and folly make bold either to deny the very existence of God (Psalm 14: 1)  or arrogantly state that they will decide how He is to be approached.

The solemn truth is that individuals as such can do nothing but face the reality that, as the Bible says, “It is the portion of men once to die, and after this judgment”, Hebrews 9: 27. 

The Lord Jesus also clearly said that “No one comes to the Father unless by Me”, John 14: 6.

God’s Plans

There is, however, Good News over against all that has been truly and accurately stated before and that is that the Blessed God, recognising the fallen and lost condition of His creature, has moved from His own side to provide a wonderful Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into a unique condition of perfect, holy humanity and moved in grace and tender compassion in the midst of those who were estranged from God by their sins and sinful nature.

Yet even such grace and compassion, as faithfully recorded in the four gospels in the Bible, were not enough in themselves to establish and secure the unchallengeable basis in righteousness upon which God could forgive and bless, now and eternally, all who in repentance would come to Him through Christ – that basis clearly required the shedding of the precious blood of Jesus at the cross of Calvary; as the Bible says “and without blood-shedding there is no remission” [ forgiveness of sins ], Hebrews 9: 22. 

The Blessed God “has not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” – “even unto death, and that the death of the cross”, Romans 8: 32; Philippians 2: 8.

It will, therefore, be readily understandable that He is by no means going to accept any unholy approach by His fallen creatures in their sins, ignorance, and wilfulness; by persons ignoring the Saviour of God’s providing, the efficacy of His precious blood and His availability to “save completely those who approach by Him to God”, Hebrews 7: 25. 

Truly, the plans of individuals and nations fail because they depend on themselves fallen men and women, but God’s plans succeed because they depend on “the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all”, 1 Timothy 2: 6. 

This is the Good News; this is the Gospel.

God’s Provision

The work of redemption and salvation has been fully accomplished by Christ so that God is now free to make known through the gospel His purposes, thoughts, and desires for your blessing both now and eternally. 

You may, perhaps, think that you are different, but the Bible says, “there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”,

Romans 3: 22,23.

 It also says, “For this cause, even as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death; and thus, death passed upon all men”, Romans 5: 12.

You do well then to face the reality of the facts as God sees and states them and not according to what you might wish to believe as misled by the devil, Satan, of whose devices or thoughts we should not be ignorant. 

God’s Way of Salvation
You may ask, as did the jailor in Philippi, “What must I do that I may be saved?” and the same simple, yet true, answer remains –

“Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house”,

Acts 16: 30,31. 

The apostle Paul wrote that he was “not ashamed of the glad tidings; for it is God’s power to salvation, to everyone that believes”, Romans 1: 16. 

The Lord Jesus Himself said “Repent and believe in the glad tidings”, Mark 1:15.

Why would you not recognise your urgent need of a personal Saviour in the clear light of the truth and of the facts and turn to Him in simple faith and repentance? 

God’s Grace

God’s present disposition is one of grace and readiness to forgive all who come to Him through Christ. 

How wonderful amid the confusion, grave uncertainties, and ominous clouds of this world to have your faith established in the One who has never failed the Lord Jesus Christ and into whose hand the Father “has given all things”, John 3: 35.

Salvation: Now and for Eternity

You will discern, I am sure, that God’s glorious plan of salvation is not only for the future eternity but also for the present time as the apostle Paul wrote: 

“our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, so that He should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father”, Galatians 1: 3,4.

Do not look elsewhere, do not look for any other saviour because, as the Bible says, 

“And salvation is in none other”, Acts 4: 12.

The Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven at the right hand of God (Acts 2: 33) awaiting the soon-coming moment when He shall descend to raise those who have died in Christ (believers) and take up together with them His saints (believers) who are alive on earth at that moment (1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18).

Meanwhile God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit “to those that obey Him” (Acts 5: 32) so that they may be empowered to walk here pleasing to Him and to the Lord Jesus, apart from the world system which “lies in the wicked one”, 1 John 5: 19.

Now is the Day of Salvation

May what has been written affect your conscience and touch your heart, not only to read further in the Bible about God’s wonderful thoughts in purpose even before the world was founded (Ephesians 1: 4) and the greatness and glory of the One who has brought all to pass, the Lord Jesus Christ, but that you yourself recognising your need for the forgiveness of sins may turn now in faith and repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ to find in Him your own personal Saviour and Lord.

Do not put it off to some vague future day that may never come: 

“Behold, now is the well-accepted time; behold, now the day of salvation”, 2 Corinthians 6: 2.

‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ Acts 4:12

At certain seasons of the year, we find many religious celebrations being conducted. We find that the natural man wants to be religious and at times will do many things thinking that he is performing an act of worship unto God. But the Word of God teaches that religion is not salvation!

The Word of God teaches that you can be religious and miss heaven!

Our text teaches us that there is not salvation in any other name than the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our text teaches us that there is none other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved. You are saved by Jesus Christ, or you are not saved!

How clear and concise: There should be neither confusion nor contradiction. There are many names under heaven in which we can find religion; but salvation can be found in one only, and that is the name of Jesus Christ.

There is no salvation in priests, prophets, penance, or prayers, but only in Christ. You may have your service and sacraments, churches and charities, tears and treasure, ritual and reformation, but all are powerless to produce eternal life. The Word of God tells us in I John 5:11,12, “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life. “

Men are willing to give head knowledge to the claims of Christianity, but they refuse to accept in their hearts the Christ of Christianity. Men and women are willing to take the high place in the work and ritual of the church, while refusing to take the low place of guilty sinners needing a sinner’s salvation.

Men and women are willing to believe in the moral precepts of God’s Word, as based on the Ten Commandments; while refusing to believe in, rest on, and receive God’s Son as Saviour to their souls.

RELIGION is the improvement of the old nature.  

SALVATION is the imparting of a new nature through receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Word of God tells us in John 1: 12, “As many as received him (Christ), to them gave he power to become the sons of God.

RELIGION clothes us with the robes of our own righteousness and God tells us in Isaiah that our righteousness is as a filthy rag.

SALVATION clothes us in the perfect righteousness of Christ, which alone can make us acceptable in the sight of God. God’s Word tells us in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.

RELIGION is what man does for God.

SALVATION is what God does for man. Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him (Christ) the iniquity of us all. 

RELIGION says: Something in my hand I bring.  

SALVATION says: Nothing in my hand I bring. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. 

RELIGION is trusting in a work we do.   

SALVATION is trusting in a work that has been done. Hebrews 10:10, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

RELIGION depends on our behaving,  

SALVATION depends on our believing. Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

RELIGION says we must act our best.  

SALVATION says we must accept God’s best. Romans 6:23,”The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. “

RELIGION depends on the sufficiency of character. 

SALVATION depends on the Sacrifice of the Cross. I Cor. 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

RELIGION tries to furnish a sacrifice. 

SALVATION trusts in a finished sacrifice. John 19:30, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, IT IS FINISHED: and he bowed his head, and gave up the spirit.

RELIGION is striving for a better attainment.  

SALVATION is secured through a perfect atonement. I Peter1:18,19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

RELIGION  tries to bring us from darkness to light.  

SALVATION does bring us from death unto Life. John 5:24, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

RELIGION says we must be found in God’s house. 

SALVATION says we must “Be found in him (Christ), not having” our “own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. ” Philippians 3:9.

Again, I remind you of our text.  

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Do you have religion or salvation? If you only have religion, then you will miss heaven and spend eternity apart from God and His Son in a place of torment. If you have salvation, you now have the promise of eternal life with God and His Son forevermore.