God So Loved ...
A Sermon on John 3:16
Scripture
16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
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.
Sermon Description
Martin Luther famously said of John 3:16, “it is the Bible in miniature.” In this sermon on John 3:16 titled “God So Loved…,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones adds, “John 3:16 is a synopsis of theology.” Dr. Lloyd-Jones combats a number of ways this verse has been misused by both Christians and non-Christians. The latter often cite it to argue for universalism, while the former uncritically repeat the verse without ever considering the truth. While these errors are folly according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, he takes aim especially at Christians who use this verse in order to pit the “plain” gospel message against theology and doctrine. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues in this sermon, one cannot do justice to this verse by neglecting doctrine because the entire verse is packed with theology. Moreover, Dr. Lloyd-Jones expounds the great doctrine of the love of God from this particular verse. He corrects misconceptions of God the Father’s attitude toward the world. In addition, he argues, one cannot understand the greatness of the love of God as shown in salvation until they know the utter sinfulness of fallen humanity and the great glory of God giving His only begotten Son.
The Book of John
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.