GOD, from all eternity, contemplated the salvation of sinners, and gave His beloved Son, the blessed One, who, in His love, came to suffer, and bleed, and die.
“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (read John, chap. 3, verses 1 to 16).
I said to one of a large household, “Mary, you look very happy this morning; are you happy?”
“O, yes, sir,” she replied, “very happy.” “How is that, Mary?”
“I went, as you told me, and put myself down in the third of John, along with the world.”
“What world, Mary?”
“O, sir,” she replied, “the world we are told that God so loved.”
“Was it a world of angels, Mary?” “No, sir.”
“A world of saints, then?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, a world of believers?”
“No, sir, but a world of sinners; and that is where I am; and when I read
‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,’ that tells me that God loves me.”
“But what more, Mary, makes you happy?”
“Ah, sir,” she replied, “the next line—it was that brought me rest and peace—that ‘whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’” “Then you believe that, Mary?”
“Yes, sir; I rest in that because God says so; and I am happy because there I see that Christ loved me, and died for me, and I have everlasting life.”
That is everything a poor sinner wants —he comes to KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST. And now ask the Christian how he knows he is saved; he will tell you, because of such a truth as that—that God says it. The God of truth declares,
I accept His testimony, rest on His Word, believe on His Son, and have the assurance that I am saved for eternity. Will you here and now do the same?
ML 06/13/1937