THE WONDERFUL LOVE OF GOD

SERMON BY CHARLES FINNEY

"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 iii.16

THE term world as here used does not mean the globe of earth on which we live--but the race of man. In this sense the term is often used. The world; the whole world; are terms often used to signify the men who live in the world, the race of man, as such. The term perish in this passage does not mean annihilation; it is manifestly put in contrast to everlasting life, as the opposite of that. Everlasting life, as the term is here used, is not merely everlasting existence--I know not the term is ever used in that sense in any other part of the Bible: whether everlasting existence will be a blessing or not, will depend upon the state in which individuals exist, whether in happiness or misery. Under some circumstances everlasting existence might be anything but a blessing.

This everlasting life which is here spoken of is doubtless an everlasting living with God in heaven--an everlasting existence combined with everlasting happiness; this is the eternal life so often spoken* of in the Scriptures, and, doubtless, is that which is meant in this place. Now to perish is the opposite of this; it is not annihilation or a mere ceasing from existence, because to annihilate would ofttimes be no evil to the individual on whom the sentence should be inflicted; to a wretched being it would be not an evil at all, but a great favour. In short, it is very plain that to perish is the very opposite of everlasting life, and means what is expressed in everlasting death, or a state of endless punishment.

In speaking from these words I propose to notice--

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CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER

SERMON BY CHARLES FINNEY

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." --1 John 2:1

In remarking upon this passage, I must,

1. Explain the sense in which the term "advocate" is here used;

2. Show what is implied in the existence of this office;

3. Explain the essential qualifications of an advocate;

4. State some of the conditions of his success.

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ON CONFESSING AND BEING CLEANSED FROM SIN.

SERMON BY CHARLES FINNEY

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

The connection in which this passage stands, is this--"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

The first inquiry under our text is,--

What is implied in "confessing our sins?"

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God’s Love

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

I know there are more than a few reading this who have experienced the great blessing and joy of seeing at least one generation of related babies making their first attempts at walking. And no matter how many related generations of babies we’ve witnessed, what is memorable in all of them is the extremely strong, determined, and continuous will in those little ones, to keep on trying, and improving. No matter how often these toddlers fall, trip, or stumble, they have that permanent will to get up and try again. If we multiply the determination of those babies’ wills by a few billion trillion, we may at least, just start to commence, to begin to understand our Lord’s Will and Grace to love us, and to keep on loving us. We know His love for His children is a glorious and perfect love, don’t we? As well as that, we know “God is love” itself. God’s love is fair. He loves all of us in the same way. God’s love conquers any difficulty. God’s love will build a br idge across any kind of river we need to cross. There is no wall or mountain God’s love cannot leap, or bring down for us. There is no muddle, tangle, mistake or, sin that God’s love cannot graciously forgive. God’s love satisfies every longing in our hearts. God’s love places His Kingdom within us; Righteousness, Peace and Joy. God’s love is a giving, doing, practical, working love, not merely a saying love. God’s love is compassionate; He suffers with us. God’s love is Omnipresent, Steadfast, Immutable, and Eternal.

Holy Lord, Thank You, for Your wonderful love for us, for all people. May we ever be grateful, and keen to testify, and never be silent about You, Your salvation plan, or Your perfect love. Amen and Amen.

By  Rosemary (Westbury, Victoria, Australia)

THE BENEVOLENCE OF GOD

SERMON BY CHARLES FINNEY

"God is love."--1 John 4:16.

It is not my intention, in commenting upon these words, to prove them to be true, for I should consider myself poorly employed in attempting to prove the truth of any passage of Scripture. It is not so much the business of the minister of the gospel to defend the truths of the Bible, as it is to expound and illustrate them, as he finds them revealed, and to show their bearing on the relations and responsibilities of men. It would be easy for me to advance many arguments, drawn from the whole range of the created universe, to show that 'God is love;' but this I shall not do at this time. I shall merely.

I. SHOW WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE TEXT.

II. STATE SOME THINGS WHICH MUST BE TRUE IF 'GOD IS LOVE.'

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Clear Vision

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:8-9 (NKJV)
 
When I was a child, I didn’t realize my vision was fuzzy until I put on my first pair of glasses. Faraway objects popped into focus. I saw the leaves on distant trees, which before looked like solid green masses. Seeing clearly is a blessing, but even now, if I get smudges on my glasses, my vision is blurred. 
 
The Bible tells us a veil is lifted from our eyes when we repent, believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Savior and Lord (II Corinthians 3:16). God’s Word comes to life and our understanding sharpens. It’s as if God fits our spiritual eyes with new glasses that enable us to see His truths clearly.
 
When we belong to God, we are commanded to keep our minds and hearts pure. Unconfessed sin in our lives will smudge the inner lenses of our hearts, plunging us into misunderstanding and confusion. When we admit our sins and confess them to God, He forgives us and once again restores our inner vision. 
 
Let’s remember to consistently confess our sins to God to keep the spiritual lenses of our hearts clean.
 
Dear Father, thank You for your abundant grace and power that keeps our spiritual eyes wide open and helps us to resist temptation. Amen.

In Our Father's Arms

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 1 John 3:7 (NIV)

The blonde curls bounced as the blue-eyed little girl pranced down the aisle. The pastor had called for all the children to join him at the front of the church for the children’s message. The little blonde-haired girl joined the circle of small boys and girls seated on the carpeted floor.

When the pastor concluded, each child began to find the way back to their seat in the large worship center. As the little girl found her way back to the correct section, she paused as her eyes scanned an endless sea of faces. Not seeing her parents, she bravely proceeded up the aisle with slow, but certain steps, her eyes timidly taking in the faces seated in each row.

As the little girl continued her slow journey, another couple began waving their hands so the little girl would see them and then hopefully notice her parents close by. But as the little girl looked at them, her pretty face frowned with an expression that said, “No, you’re not my mommy and daddy.” And she kept right on walking. As the little girl got closer to her parent’s aisle, her father stood so she could spot him. A smile replaced the frown as the little girl climbed into her daddy’s arms where she felt safe and secure again.

As we go through life, do we let the waving hands of someone else or the distraction of something else take our focus off of following after our Father? Or do we just keep walking with slow, but certain steps until we see Him? We, too, will feel safe and secure again - in our Father’s arms.
 
Father, please help us to keep our eyes and hearts focused on You today. Amen