Beloved friends, what a great message with an eternal blessing do we find in the words of John three sixteen, words that were spoken by God's eternal Son from heaven above, when he said, 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. The story of God's love and redemption for the human race in but twenty-five words, twenty-five words that are packed to capacity with such blessed, unmistakable evidence and proof of the love of God for us. The depth of God's love we have seen in the first words, for God so loved the world. The length of God's love we also learned about, in the words that followed, saying, That He gave His only begotten Son. Now we consider, from our text today, the depth of God's love, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. Please lay hold upon that one word, perish. This word is the clue to the depth of God's love. For it completely reveals the danger that you and I, my friend, yes, everyone in the whole world faces, the danger of perishing, to be lost, to be destroyed, and to be headed for destruction in the eternal loss of our soul, to be separated forever from God. For gravity's sake, Pen in me to read from Revelation chapter twenty-one and verse eight the description of the ultimate and eternal doom of lost sinners. Here are the words, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Whatever interpretation you may give, nevertheless these words declare eternal punishment and eternal separation from God because of our sins. We're in the danger of perishing. Yet God in the matchless love on the simplest terms to all, as provided a deliverance. Peter has well written, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Second Peter, two or three, rather, in verse nine. Our text in John three, sixteen clearly tells us, God so loves us, so deep and so great, that he would lift a believing sinner out of the danger of hell. Will you ask the question, how can God save a sinner from eternal destruction from hell? Listen to the simplicity of his way. Our word declares in John three sixteen that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. No, first of all, how God clearly makes available easily, simply, and makes available this salvation to the greatest possible number of people, yes to all, by using the word whosoever. Whosoever believeth in him. The word includes everyone, my friend, that word whosoever. as once interpreted by your schoolboy long ago, saying it probably means you, me, or anybody else. My beloved friend, you can put your name in, your own name in that word. Have you done that? You can say, when God said whosoever, he included me. That grand word whosoever is ringing through my soul, wrote the poet. Whosoever will may come. In rivers of salvation the living waters roll. Whosoever will may come. For the Saviour's invitation is freely sounding still. Whosoever will may come. Plainly speaking, you either join the whosoever wills and come to the Lord, Or you affiliate yourself with those we can call the whosoever wants. But please note very carefully again, the simplicity, and this is where many people stumble, over the simplicity of God's method to save us. It's on the simplest and the easiest terms you could ever find, the exercise of your faith. saying, Whosoever believeth in him. My beloved, the love of God and the death of Christ on the cross, they are intended to rescue the world from the greatest calamity and danger. Perishing. What a great rescue. A wonderful rescue, this is. There is a wonderful love in our text we have seen. There is a wonderful gift in our text we have noted, His only begotten Son. My beloved, there is also a wonderful rescue, to rescue a believing sinner from going to hell. May I say lovingly and faithfully, emphatically, my beloved friend, No one has to go to hell. They go, if they do, on their own will. God, on the simplest, easiest terms, has provided a deliverance from hell. But let me emphasize again the divine terms of this rescue. Noted, my beloved friend, it is not by works. by human merit. You may not, you cannot, you could not earn it. God says whosoever believeth, not whosoever deserves it, for none of us do that. It is on the ground of His love and grace, and through faith you and I can be saved. Does not God declare that in Ephesians two, eight and nine? For by grace are ye saved through faith, none of works, lest any man should boast. No person can ever say, and never will be able to say to another, God saved me because I deserved it, or because I am better than you are. Never. My beloved, you cannot find a man and a woman, a boy or a girl who deserves salvation. on the ground of their own merit. Please let me emphasize that. All your philanthropy, all your good works, all you may do for the good and blessing of others, can never save you. You cannot find a man, woman, boy and girl who deserves to be saved on the ground of their personal merit. We must come to God only as guilty, held deserving sinners, saying my sins deserve eternal death. But Jesus died for me. Would you know very carefully again? Oh, we love to emphasize it. We must emphasize it. The divine condition of being saved. The divine condition of being delivered from perishing. The only condition, and God stipulates it, whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, on the ground of faith alone. Did you ever say or sing the words of a simple old hymn, an old-fashioned one, and too many of the old-fashioned hymns are being neglected and even thrown away? But here are the words. I do believe I will believe that Jesus died for me, that on the cross he shed his blood from sin to set me free. The Lord Jesus on one occasion said to a man, Does thou believe on the Son of God? And Jesus answered face to face, He it is that speaketh with thee. And a man whose eyes had been opened by the Lord's power said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped Jesus. My beloved, that's all he said. Lord, I believe. Did not Paul and Silas tell the jailer in Philippi when he said, Thurs, what must I do to be saved? Did not they answer, they leave upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved? Thee and thine house? And please know very carefully, when you believe, know carefully what follows. A divine deliverance. Should not or shall not perish. All because I believe that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, died for me on Calvary's cross and paid my debt, bought my pardon, and at the completion of his sacrifice, he cried, it is finished. God saves me. Oh, beloved, I can say in the words of an old hymn, Nothing either great or small. Nothing, sinner known. Jesus did it. Did it all long, long ago. Is it finished? Yes, indeed, finished every jot. Sinner, tell me this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? My beloved, without any apology, We close our message today with the repetition of these words from John three sixteen, where we have found a wonderful love. For God so loved the world, every man, woman, boy and girl. We found a wonderful gift that He gave His only begotten Son to die upon Calvary's cross, to save us from our sin. And we have now found a wonderful rescue that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. Oh, my beloved friend, have you believed? May the Holy Spirit of God, in his power of conviction, make these truths precious to every friend that is listening. Father, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus that by the power of thy spirit, The words of John three sixteen will burn into the hearts and minds, consciences of all, in our Saviour's name for his glory. Amen.