If there’s one Bible verse that most Christians know by heart – its John 3:16. Even if you’re not a Christian, even if you never go to church, chances are you’ve at least heard it somewhere . Just watch a football or baseball game on TV sometime, and you’ll probably see someone holding up a poster that says "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
Now, if there’s one fact - one piece of truth – that’s more dependable, more reliable and more unchangeable
than any other fact on earth it’s this: God loves you. The God who created the heavens and the earth,the moon and the stars, the God who created you and me in His own image, that God…. loves you and He loves me. And better yet, He loves us all - without exception!
God loves all races, all creeds, and colors without discrimination and yet at the same time He loves each of individual and distinctively.
Here’s the thing: He knows all about you. He knows where you’ve been and what you’ve done. He knows about that stuff you think no one else knows about. But He loves you anyway. And He loves you just the way you are.
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON…
Now why on earth would he do that? So that you and I could have A FUTURE, so that you and I could look forward to tomorrow instead of drowning in today.
Now, once that truth sinks in - and once you respond to it, your whole outlook and your entire life will be changed! Life takes on new meaning: your mind will get renewed.There will be a new song in your heart. Even during the hard times, you’ll find there’ s a new peace on the inside. And despite what may be going on around you, you’ll have a confidence and a hope about your future.
I don't know any better news to tell you than this: GOD LOVES YOU!
And maybe you get it, but maybe you don’t. Maybe, you’ve heard it all before. Maybe you’ve even been around church most of your life. Maybe you believe there’s a God our there somewhere but, for one reason or another, you’ve never responded to the Gospel. If that’s you, I want to talk to you for a few minutes
I want to look at what happens when the cross of CALVARY IS NOT ENOUGH”. What happens when Calvary is just a story in an old book? What happens then? Here’s the thing: just because you’re part of the human race, just because God created you doesn’t make you part of his family. See, to become part of his family means you have to be adopted. And that means you have to do something on your side of the equation
CALVARY IS NOT ENOUGH... .... IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SAVED.
You can believe in God – and yet for whatever reason - not want to be saved. The church is full of unsaved believers. There was a poll in Newsweek - about how Americans view Jesus and His birth: 93% said they believe that Jesus really lived. So, People believe in Jesus – that’s great! And maybe that includes you. But do you believe He came to save you from the consequence of your sins? Do you believe He came to save you from hell? Do you believe that living life apart from Jesus means you end up in hell's fire?
If you don't believe in Jesus, if you’ve never repented of your sin, if you’ve not been born again, then hell is where you’re headed. Hell is your fate. You need to know the truth so that by Grace you can avoid it. See, Calvary is for those who believe and those who want to be saved! It’s your choice!
CALVARY IS NOT ENOUGH....... IF YOU DON’T WANT TO STAY SAVED!
Maybe one day, way back when, you gave your heart to the Lord. And then you’ve gone and gotton into some stuff. Maybe you’ve done some stuff you know you shouldn’t have done, or been some palces you know you shouldn’t have been. Or what ever.
Here’s the truth: a prayer prayed way back when, won’t cut it for you if you need to pray the prayer again
CALVARY IS NOT ENOUGH....... WHEN YOU CAN’T BE SAVED!
When you’re dead – you’ve missed the boat . You’ve missed your opportunity to be saved!
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
Now, we all know what roadblocks are and most of us have come across them on at some time or other. Roadblocks are used to keep us safe. They keep us from harm and danger. It would be stupid to drive straight thu a roadblock and die in a crash of flames, but that’s what people are doing this every day.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Right in the middle of God’s love is a sacrifice. John 3:16 doesn’t just tell us about God's love in sending His Son, but it also tells us why He sent His Son: so that everyone who believes "shall not perish." Think about that for a minute. It means hell, fire and eternal death. Jesus came so God wouldn't have to send all of us to hell. Jesus came so that we don’t have to perish. And that’s the message of John 3:16.
You’ll never find a Hallmark card that says, "SAVED FROM HELL."And that’s because people today don’t want to think about hell. Its not a pleasant subject. But that doesn’t mean we should avoid talking about it. In fact, my job is to tell you about hell - rather than just watch you go there.
You need to know about hell because its only then that you’ll know how to avoid it.Its only then that you’ll know how much God really loves you. Its only then that you’ll realize why Jesus came and what He saved you from.
Hell is a place of fire and torment. It was designed for Satan and his fallen angels, but since man insists on living in sin, he’s going there too. God knew that we were doomed to Hell as a result of our sin. But he loves us so much that he came up with a plan B to give us an alternative
Jesus Christ was born to be the sacrifice, predestined to die at Calvary for the redemption of the human race. Jesus wasn’t born to live a long life - He was born to die so that through his death, you and I could be given the choice to live. And that’s why at the age of 33½ , Jesus began walk to Calvary. His body was bruised and bleeding. When he got there, the Roman soldiers fastened Him to the cross by driving nails into His hands and feet and he hung there for 6 hours,
A crown of thorns was placed on his head. The thorns were about three inches long and jabbed into His scalp and trickles of blood flowed out, and ran down the sides of His face. Blood began to stream from the wounds in His hands and run down His arms and sides.
So, there was Jesus – naked, battered and bruised and covered in blood. The cross was covered in blood.
And Jesus finally died. The whole point of this big deal, was to keep you and me out of Hell. And this tremendous sacrifice was God’s roadblock to stop you going to Hell!
When you accept what Jesus did at Calvary, and when you deal with the junk in your life then, and only then do you get to escape the damnation of Hell.
When a sinner is born again they become a different person. Their sins will be covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is that simple.The cost has already been by the blood of Christ.
But so many people today reject the cross of Calvary. They reject the sacrifice made by Christ. They reject the blood of Christ. They disregard the roadblock to Hell. So they drive right on thru and crash into a fiery Hell. They disregard the warning signs.They don’t care about tomorrow – let alone eternity. Their life is out of control, and they skid on into eternity without God.
They wake up in Hell.And its a pitiful sight.See, some people wake up in hell and start screaming. Some start crying. Some start moaning gnashing their teeth. And some start praying.
Oh yes, hell is full of praying people .They’re praying for a way out. But, once you’ve crashed through the roadblock, and landed in Hell – its too late
But people will start praying the first five seconds in Hell. The atheist will pray in Hell. The sinner will pray in Hell. The backslider will pray in Hell. The adulterer will pray in Hell. The fornicator will pray in Hell The addict will pray in Hell. The murderer will pray in Hell.The liar will pray in Hell.The thief will pray in Hell.The doubter will pray in Hell.
The roadblock to Hell is the cross of Christ. I don’t know what else God could have done to keep you from hell He gave His only Son, and set him up as the roadblock to Hell.
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