This message was recorded May 24, 2015. The speaker is David Simpson. Let's open up our scriptures to John, please. The Gospel according to John, chapter 6. And we're going to read a few verses here, beginning with verse 43. And I want you to look for any place you see the word world. So pay careful attention to what Jesus is saying, beginning with verse 43, and Brother Nick will lead us. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat man in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. If you would please look in your Bibles to John 3, John chapter 3. We have finally arrived at our destination where we started out in the first chapter of John, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned. He that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. I'll stop there. I want you to go back with me to the first chapter of John. In verse 12 it says, but as many, first chapter, but as many as received him, to them gave he power, or authority, to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. So when you leave verse 12, the question is, well, who is it that believes on his name? Verse 13 answers it, which were born. But then you have a negative, not of blood, and another negative, nor of the will of the flesh, and another negative, nor of the will of man, but of God." So you could take those negatives out and it could say, which were born of God. So it could read like this, but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born of God. So who is it that believes on his name? They are the ones who are born of God. He tells us that with these negatives, though, they're important. Obviously they're there, they're very important. He tells us that this spiritual birth, this being born of God, is not of blood, so it's not of family inheritance. So just because a husband may be born of God doesn't mean the wife is. Just because the wife is doesn't mean the husband is. If the parents are, it doesn't mean the children are. If the children are and the parents are, it doesn't mean the grandchildren will be. Has not to do with the family. So it's not of blood. So it doesn't have to do with being a son of Abraham, does it? That's what the Jews thought. It doesn't have to do with being a descendant of Abraham, so it's not of blood. Then notice the second disclaimer, the second negative, nor of the will of the flesh. In other words, it's not by human will. That becomes the rub, that becomes the problem right there for modern day religion, because their whole theology is based upon their interpretation, their understanding of John 3, 16. That's almost all of the theology that most of them know. But he says being born of God is not a product of the will of the flesh, has not to do with your decision, nor of the will of man. What does that mean? Not counselors, not persuaders, not preachers. I can't persuade someone to be born again. And that person can't decide to be born again. They can't decide to be born from above, and I can't persuade them to. It all rests in the hand of who? God. Must be born of God. Who believes is the one who is born of God. Purposefully, willfully, originally of God. It's a secret and a sovereign work of God. Apart, therefore, from human deed or decision. The evidence of one who is begotten from above is that he receives. Now the word receive is the Greek word which means to take. And so it's a metaphor. You could take, I take this watch in my hand. That's physical. But a metaphor of this is that I take with my mind and with my affections and with my whole consciousness, Jesus Christ, I embrace him. I embrace the gospel of who he is. That's the sign of one who is born from above. He is in faith and repentance toward God in the light of Jesus Christ. So you can't separate this from what is before, or what is to follow, rather. This is before and what is to follow. So now go with me to John 3. You have an interview here that's taking place with Jesus and Nicodemus. We've talked about it now. This is about our, I think, our sixth message on this passage. After Jesus talks with him in the verses 1 through 13, then he points him to the cross, which we talked about last week in verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Where did he point Nicodemus to? He pointed him to the cross. Then in verses 16 through 18, we have God's unspeakable gift. So I'm trying to get at talking about this unspeakable gift. But we've learned five basic truths that you must keep in mind before you come to John 3, 16. The first thing we've learned is that man is spiritually dead, because if you go back to verse three, Jesus said, John 3, verse three, didn't hear anybody just turn, He says that he cannot see the kingdom of God. The word cannot is actually two words. It's the word dunamis for power with a negative or no to it, no power. He's powerless to see the kingdom of God. I'll talk about the word see in a moment. Then in verse five, he used that word again. He says he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So it doesn't have to do with man's ability. Man does not have a natural decision-making ability within him to be born again. So he's spiritually dead. And you have to begin with man at that point. If you don't begin with the truth of man being spiritually dead, then you're always going to be led astray when you come to a verse like John 3.16. But the second thing we learn is that spiritual birth is the original work of God. If you look in verse six, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. In other words, the only thing that flesh can produce is another work of the flesh. That's all. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. The only thing that can produce something that is spiritual is the spirit of God. Marvel not that I said unto you, verse seven, you must be born from above. You must be begotten of God, he said. So it's an original work of God. Remember me talking about life being after its kind. Spiritual life is after its kind, just like physical life is after its kind. So it's an original work of God. The third thing we've learned is that spiritual birth is a sovereign work of God. In verse 8, the wind blows where it wills, that's the word listeth, blows where it wills. You can't tell, you hear the sound of it, so there's the evidence of life. But you can't tell where it came from, it's secret. It means spiritual birth is secret. Or where there it goes. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. It is a secret work in the heart. Secrets work in the soul. It's a sovereign work in the soul. God alone does this. And then the fourth thing that we've learned is that faith results from spiritual birth. He gives us four words in this passage to teach us this. In verse three, he used the word see, which is the word for perceive. You cannot perceive or understand spiritual things. When he talks about the kingdom of God, he's talking about spiritual things. He cannot see. In verse five, he says he cannot enter So it's the same truth, but a different word. Then in verse 14, though he doesn't use the word here, but if you went back to Numbers 21, where this originally comes from, they had to look to the brazen serpent. As Moses lifted up in the serpent in the wilderness, for them to look upon it. So the idea of to look, to see, to enter, to look, And then you come to this word believe, whosoever believes. So to believe, to look, to enter, to see, that's all the same thing. It's not different things, it's all the same thing. It is the response of the heart to one who is born of God. And so one who is begotten of God believes, and one who is not begotten of God He doesn't believe. It's just that simple. That's what Jesus is teaching Nicodemus. And then one final thing here, and that is that faith looks to the cross, which I've already made that point in verse 14. Why does he look to the cross? He doesn't look to his heart. He looks to the cross. Well, it's because at the cross, law was fulfilled. At the cross, righteousness was established. At the cross, righteousness was accepted. at the cross righteousness was reckoned or imputed or accounted. And in that declaration, in behalf of the seed of Christ, that limited number of people, on behalf of God's elect, the one that the Father gave to the Son, their sin was remitted or removed. Redemption was authorized in their behalf. Justification was ratified. They were declared to be righteous. So the actual place and the occasion of salvation is the cross. Not the time of believing. The actual salvation of a sinner before God is in connection through, at, by the cross. Where does faith look, therefore? Faith looks to Christ and His cross. That's why He said the Son of Man must be lifted up. And you're saying, well, David, I want to hear you talk about verse 16. Well, I'm going to. For God so loved the world. Now, the first thing that you've got to do when you come to John 3, 16 is you've got to understand something about this word world. So the rest of my time today, I'm going to talk about the word world. And the next time we come back, I'll talk about something else, probably the love of God in this verse. But who is actually Who is the one he's actually talking about here? And what you find if you do a study in just the Gospel of John, you will find that this word, world, appears 59 times. So we have a lot of verses to look up, don't we? 59 verses. And I'm not gonna try to look them all up, so I know we don't have time for that, but we're gonna look up a few of them. What I'm going to suggest to you is that they fall into five different categories. You might want to write this down, those of you who are interested in this, because you won't be able to remember them all, and I hope I get them right. Let me talk about the word world first of all. The word world is the Greek word kosmos. You've heard that before. Kosmos. And the word kosmos was a word that meant order. It meant order. It's the word that we get from the word cosmos, the word cosmetic. So it's makeup. And there's nothing wrong with using a little makeup. Most ladies need a little paint. And it's not a bad thing. The word cosmos is to set in order. To set in order. So you make your eyes look a little better, make your lips look a little better. Nothing wrong with that. Don't want to go too far. That's what the word kosmos is. It's the idea of being set in order. When Peter speaks of this, he speaks of women adorning themselves, and that's the way it's translated, this kosmos, adorning. And it's also used that way in Titus 2, where it speaks of adorning the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. What does that mean? It means to set it in order. To set it in order. And when we set it in order, we beautify and we look at the beauty of the doctrine. So this word cosmos is the idea of order. So our first category of the word world is that it refers sometimes to the physical world. So to find that, we go back to the first chapter of John. Opens up speaking of the word in verses one and two. And the first thing it tells us about him is that he is the creator. Look in verse three. All things were made by him when was not anything made that was made. The first thing we have to know is that the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the creator. And if you go down to verse number eight, he is not that light, that is John the Baptist, but was sent to bear witness of that light, and that was the true light which lights every man that comes into the world. He was in the world, it's the word cosmos, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. Now, what you see in that verse is the word world used in two different ways. First of all, used in the physical way, physical world. The world was made by him. But the second way it's used is the world knew him not. That's the world of men. And when you look in verse 11, puts those two thoughts together, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. See those little words on, O-W-N? You can't see it in the English, but let me tell you what he did in the Greek language. He came unto his own, which this is a impersonal pronoun, he came unto his own, and received him not. This he used a neuter, so it could be masculine, feminine, or neuter, and he does that to refer to the world of creation. He came into his own creation, his world of creation, but then he says his own, and this time he put it in a masculine, and when he puts it in a masculine, It's because now he's referring to people. His own people received him not. He came into his own creation. That's the one word for the word world. But his own people received him not. So this word world is used in two different ways in this same passage. First of all is the physical world. But second of all, the world of men. See that? So you have to be careful when you look at this word world as to how it's used. But look at some others with me. Turn with me over to John 12. In verse 25. 12, 25. We're talking about the physical world, the heavens and the earth. 1225. He that loves his life shall lose it. He that hates his life in this world, I think he's talking about the physical world, shall keep it unto life eternal. In this physical world. Then turn with me to chapter 16. Verse 21. A woman when she is in travail has sorrow, that is when she's giving birth, because her hour has come. So she's in pain, not happy right there. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world, into the physical world. Well, I could go on and I could show you a number of other places where it certainly appears he's talking about the physical world. So that's one category. The word world can mean the physical world. Secondly, it can mean generally the world of men, like we saw back there in the first chapter. But I want you to look with me at some other places. Look in John 4, the world of men. When I say men, I mean men and women, mankind. I just speak generally because it's easier and that's the way it's generally done. Generally the world of men and women. Look in verse 42. I don't have time to set the context for all of these, but this is the woman at the well. He said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying. For we have heard him ourselves, that's the men of the city, And know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world, of the world of men. Not of the Savior of every single man in the world, but He is the Savior in the world of men. Then look over to John 6, in verse 14. 6-14, Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet, that should come, into the world, generally into the world of men. Then look in chapter 7. Look at verse 4. This is Jesus' brothers speaking to him. In verse 4 it says, For there is no man that doth anything in secret He himself seeks to be known openly, but if thou do these things, show thyself to the world, generally to the world of men. That's the way it is used there. And then look in chapter eight. Look in verse 12. It's Jesus speaking. He said, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. There are a few places that we might think that this idea means every single man in the world, but if it's ever used, it's rare, very rare for it to speak of every single man in the world. It is almost always speaking generally of men in the world. And I have a whole big list here I could give you of my 59, but I'm gonna stop there. There are lots of places. Let me show you one more of this and then I'll stop. Look at John 18, look at the 18th chapter in verse 20. Jesus said, 18, 20, I speak openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple where the Jews also resort, and in secret have I said nothing." Obviously he means that he's spoken openly to whoever was there, to whoever was there, generally to men in the world. So this is a very important matter to understand that this word almost always refers to generally men in the world. It also refers to the philosophical, religious, moral world. Look with me to the 14th chapter. It's the only one we'll look at, John 14. There are several places where it's used this way, but the philosophical, religious, moral world. 14 in verse 30. Hereafter, Jesus talking to his disciples, I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world comes and hath nothing in me. The prince of this world of religion. The prince of this world of darkness. The prince of this world with its philosophies and its moral corruption. He's talking about Satan, so he's using the word world to refer to the religious, philosophical, moral world. But also it's used of the world of the non-elect. Go with me to John 7. John 7. Jesus said to his disciples, the world cannot hate you, but it hates me. Why did it hate them? It's because they didn't know who they were yet. But it hates me because I testify that the works thereof are evil. This is the world of the non-elect. Look in chapter 8, 23. Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders. He said, you are from beneath, 23, 823. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Then if you look with me in chapter 12, Verse 31, now this is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. He's the prince of this world of the non-elect and the judgment of the non-elect that he's talking about. Then look in John 14. In verse 17, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. Why can the world not receive him? Because it's the world of the non-elect. They cannot receive him. They do not have the power. He's not going to extend to them the power. The world cannot receive him because it sees him not. Why does it see him not? It's not born from above. It neither knows him, not born from above, but you know him for he dwells with you and shall be in you. Why do they see and understand? Because they've been begotten from above. Just that simple. You have the world of the non-elect. Then I want you to look in chapter 16, and I'll stop with this. Chapter 16. There's a great misunderstanding in this passage, and I'm not going to take time to go through all of it by any means. But if you look in verse 8, 16, 8, and when he has come, that is the Holy Spirit, Jesus is talking about when he goes, ascends to heaven, the Holy Spirit comes. When he comes, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, of sin because they believe not, of righteousness because I go to my father, you see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. This passage is greatly misunderstood. Free will religion, Armenians, take this to mean that the Holy Spirit convicts men and persuades them so that they will come to Christ. That's the opposite of what this means. This word reprove is a word which means a verdict to condemnation. It isn't to convict to conversion, but he will reprove, the Holy Spirit reproves is the final one to condemn the world because of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And they are under the prince of this world who is in judgment. The Holy Spirit is not convicting men to conversion. He awakens them to conversion. He awakens them to faith. But He's not convicting them, persuading them, wooing them, so that they can make a final decision to come. No, the subject that he's talking about here is the world of the non-elect and the spirit of God, the very evidence of his presence awakening some to believe the gospel is a condemnation of the rest of the world. So his coming, Jesus said, is a conviction of a verdict. Like we say, the man was convicted of his crimes. The verdict came down and he's condemned. That's what is being told to us here. And then number five, this word world is used with regards to the elect. Go back with me to the very first chapter again. Just about out of time, but let me show you a couple of things. In John 129, this is what John the Baptist wrote, or what John the Apostle rather wrote, about John the Baptist, 129. The next day, John saw Jesus coming unto him, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. The word world here is not being used of men generally, And it's certainly not being used of the world of the non-elect. It's not being used of the philosophical, religious, moral world, and certainly not the physical world. The world here is a reference to the elect of God. He will take away the sin of God's elect. Then go with me to chapter six to verify that the word world is used in this way. John 6, verse 33, for the bread of God is come down from heaven, then what a powerful statement here, and gives life unto the world. He came to give life unto the world. Look in verse 37, all the Father gives me shall come to me. In verse 39, in the middle of there, he hath given me And I should lose nothing. In verse 44, no man can, has the ability, to come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. Then look at verse 51, the very end of that verse. I will give for the life of the world. He's talking about his elect here. He knows who his elect are. Down in verse 65, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given to him of my father. So when we come to John 3.16, we ask which way is the world used in this passage. John 3.16, for God so loved the world. that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Certainly it's not the world of the non-elect. Certainly it's not the physical world. It's not the philosophical religious world. You only have two choices. It could be every man in general, It could be that he's talking about every single man in the world, or it could be that he's talking about the elect, or it could be men generally like we spoke of. So here's the way it boils down. Those who believe in the universal love of God, and those who believe in the general redemption of Christ, those two things, they understand this to mean every single man in the world. But I say to you that rarely is that word world used in such a fashion. But it's their belief that is behind this that drives them to believe and take that position. Those of us who believe in the particular love of God and those of us who believe in the limited, particular, effectual redemption of Christ believe that this either refers to God's elect or to the world of men in general. I wouldn't fight with anyone over how that is used. But the fact is that the only ones that are going to believe he's already told us are those who are born from above. It doesn't mean all without exception of any, but it's all without the exclusion of any with regards to any external circumstance, whether a Jew or a Gentile. color of skin, male or female, how much wealth you have, how much education you have, what kind of decision you make, nothing of that kind, no external circumstance. When he said in verse 15, but whosoever believes is meant, again, without regard to any external circumstance consideration. Remember that he's talking to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus thought that you had to be a son of Abraham in order to be born of God and to have faith. And he's telling him, no, God loved the world in such a way that without regard to any external circumstance, whosoever believes, and who is that? That's the one born of God. That's the one that will not perish and have everlasting life. Now I know getting your friends and your family to understand everything I've said to you today is a very heavy task. But if God gives them birth from above, if they'll give you a chance to explain some of these things to them, they'll heed it. They'll follow it, they'll believe just like you, and they will come. If you find yourself believing in the particular redemption of Christ and his death alone as the means of salvation, count yourself spiritually born. I count you a brother, I count you a sister, count me the same way.