A large group of children gathered around me. I had them repeat over and over some verses of God's Word, each with the word "whosoever" in it. I asked them what it meant, and they replied unanimously, "ANYONE."
As I continued speaking, I placed a quarter on the ground and my Bible over it. Then I said, "Now, whosoever picks up that quarter may have it."
At first none seemed to understand, then suddenly one little boy, who had been eyeing the Bible closely, picked it up and grabbed the quarter. Immediately a pile of others were on top of him, and when I pulled him out from underneath, I said "What is your name?"
"Jimmy McIntosh," he replied.
"Well, I didn't say Jimmy McIntosh could have the quarter, did I?"
"No," he answered, "but you said whosoever and that meant me."
I need not emphasize the point! It is so simple that all must see it. Keep in mind that "whosoever" means you.
Now notice what God says to you in His Book: "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:1010For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10). Who would dare to tell God he had kept every point in His holy law? Who has fulfilled the law by loving God with all his heart, mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself?
We have all loved things that we know God hates, and forgotten Him many, MANY times, so we can only say as we examine the law: "We are truly guilty before God."
What is to be done if we are all "guilty before God"? Well, we come to our second "whosoever."
What a contrast we find between the gospel and the law. Under the law I had to love God; now, in the gospel, I find that HE loves me, a sinner in my sins!
So we have found that "God loved"; "God gave," and the question comes to us, why? "That WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
We should be like the fellow who, after reading this verse, said this: "God loved—God gave—I believe—and I'm saved."