John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish… A preacher had gone down into a coal mine during the noon-hour to tell the miners of the glad tidings of salvation. Meeting the foreman on his way back to the shaft he asked him what he thought of God's manner of saving men. "Oh, it is too cheap, I cannot believe in such a religion as that." Without an immediate reply to his remark the preacher asked, "How do you get out of this place?" "Simply by getting into the cage," was the reply. "And does it take long to get to the top?" "Oh, no; only a few seconds." "Well, that certainly is very easy and simple. But do you not need help to raise yourself?" said the preacher. "Of course not," replied the miner, "As I have said, you have nothing to do but to get into the cage." "But what about the people who sunk the shaft, and perfected all this arrangement? Was there much labour or expense about it?" "Yes, indeed; that was a laborious and expensive work. The shaft is a thousand feet deep, and it was sunk at great cost to the proprietors; but it is our way out, and without it we should never be able to get to the surface." "Just so," and when God's Word tells you that whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life, you say, "Too cheap," forgetting that God's work to bring you and others out of the pit of destruction was accomplished at a vast cost, the price being the death of His only-begotten Son. (W. Baxendale.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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