He Included Me Too
“He Included Me Too”
Revelation 22:17
INTRO. The song He Included Me by Rev. J. Oatman has blessed millions and given
great comfort and assurance. The chorus goes, “Jesus included me, Yes, He
included me, When the LORD said “whosoever,” He included me; Jesus in-
cluded me, Yes, He included me, When the LORD said, “Whosoever,” He in-
cluded me.” The story is told of a quite wealthy family. They had several
children, but for some unknown reason the father did not care for one of the
sons. The father had his will made out, and included his wife and all his
children except the one. He left that one out.
How happy we ought to be that our Heavenly Father didn’t leave any of us
out when He made out His will. What a wonderful word we find in our text—
Whosoever. If he had said “Mr. Jones” we would not have known which Mr.
Jones. Had he said, “John Smith” we would not have known which John
Smith. But whosoever includes all the Jones, all the Smiths, all the Browns,
all the whatever the name might be. “It is not Whosoever is worthy, but
whosoever will” (1). All are invited. Both the Holy Spirit and the bride, ex-
tend the invitation to all the world to come to Jesus and experience the joys
of salvation in Christ (2). That little word whosoever is an all-inclusive word as
it says in 1 Timothy 2:4, “who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto
the knowledge of the truth.” I am so happy today that Whosoever meaneth
me! I want us to think on this subject this morning, “He Included Me Too.”
(1) HE INCLUDED ME IN HIS LOVE
*Oh, the greatness of the love of God. How rich it is! How wonderful it is! Why
is God’s Love so wonderful? Because:
A. He loved us before we were born. As far as that goes He loved us be-
fore there was even a world. Jeremiah 31:3a., “The LORD hath ap-
peared of old unto me saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an ever-
lasting love..”
1. Think of it—everlasting love. The word Everlasting in the
Hebrew means “Without beginning, without end, ever-
continuing.” That goes back into the eternal ages before
the world began, and it reaches on out into the eternal
ages to come.
What God Hath Promised
God hath not promised
skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow;
Peace without pain.
But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor;
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
unfailing sympathy,
undying love.
-Annie Johson Flint, Baker’s Pocket Treasury Of Religious Verse (7)
B. He loved us before we loved him. 1 John 4:10, 19—“Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that He loved us-----We love Him, because
He first loved us.” Charles Spurgeon said, “Think how much he must
have loved [us] you when [we] you were going on in sin. [We] You
used to call his ministers hypocrites, his people fools. His Sabbaths
were idle days with [us] you. His precious book was unread. [We]
you never sought his grace. Perhaps [we] you used to curse Him, per-
haps persecute Him in his children, and yet He loved [us] you. And
when His Spirit came after [us] you, [we] you tried to quench Him.
[We] you would not attend the place where the arrow had first stuck
in [our] your conscience. [We] you went to the theatre. [We] you
tried to quench the Spirit, but His love would not be mastered by [us]
you. He had resolved to have [us] you, and the bridegroom would win
[our] your heart” (3).
C. He loved us while we were yet sinners. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.” While we were still sinners---While we were
heinously and habitually practicing sin. While we were still sinners—
these are amazing words. God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not be-
cause we were good enough, but because He loved us so much.
Whenever you feel uncertain about God’s love for you, remember that
He loved you even before you turned to Him (4).
D. His love for us is unmerited. The word unmerited means “not
deserving.” We did not deserve it. We did nothing to merit it. Ephe-
sians 2:1-9 . We become Christians through God’s unmerited gift to
us (called Grace in v8), not as a result of any effort, ability, intelligent
choice, or act of service to others on our part (5). It is all by the Grace
of God!
ILLUS. TO SEEK TO EARN, merit, or purchase salvation is to insult the
Giver. Imagine yourself invited to a banquet in the White
House by the president of the United States. You are seated at
a table that is filled with the choicest foods. Every effort is
made to give you a most enjoyable evening. At the end of a
lovely visit, the president stands at the front door to bid you
good-bye.
What do you do? As you leave, do you press a dime into his
hand and say, “Thank you very much for your kindness. I
have enjoyed the evening very much. I realize it has cost you
much. I realize it has cost you a lot of money, and I want to
help you pay for the meal”? Is that proper response to his
kindness? On the contrary, it is a rude and insulting gesture.
So it would be with God’s grace-William MacDonald, The Grace
of God (6).
(2) HE INCLUDED ME IN HIS MARVELOUS SALVATION
Revelation 22:17
*What a wonderful Salvation He has provided for whosoever will ! It is the great-
est gift ever given from the most gracious giver (John 3:16). Charles H.
Spurgeon said, “The greatest of all miracles is the salvation of a soul” (8).
A. His love for people moved Him to provide a Salvation for them.
That Salvation is a “whosoever” salvation. This whosoever
salvation is a marvelous salvation, in that it is:
1) Free (John 3:16; Titus 3:5). “Nothing to pay! Nothing to pay! Jesus cleared all the debt away.
Blotted it our with His bleeding hand! Free and
forgiven and loved you stand-Frances Havergal (9).
2) Full (Ecclesiastes 3:14; Hebrews 7:25). What does it mean that Jesus is able to save completely? No one else can add to what Jesus did to save us; our past, present, and future sins are all forgiven, and Jesus is with the Father as a sign that our sins are forgiven (10).
3) Forever (Romans 8:35-39). These verses contain one of the most comforting promises in all Scripture. Believer have always had to face hard-
ships in many forms: persecution, illness, impri-
sonment, even death. But Paul exclaims that it is
impossible to be separated from Christ. His death
for us is proof of his unconquerable love. Nothing
can stop His constant presence with us. God tells
us how great His love is so that we will feel totally
secure in HIM (11).
(3) HE INCLUDED ME IN HIS SERVICE
*Service is love made visible (12). We show how much we love God by our wil-
lingness to serve HIM!
A. Every Christian has a service he or she can render unto the
LORD, and nobody can do quite as well at that job as the one
He has appointed to it. He has gifted each of us with talents
and abilities we can employ in His service. And what we do we
must “…do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Yes,
there are things only we can do, but there are also things we
can all do:
1. He was talking to all of us when He said, “Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
2. He was talking to all of us in John 4:35 when He
said, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields,
for they are white already unto harvest.”
3. We are all to bear fruit. John 15:5, 8, 16—“I am
vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit;
for without me ye can do nothing. Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall
ye be my disciples. Ye have not chosen me, but
I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain….”
B. There is always plenty to do in the LORD’S work. None will
ever be able to say, “There is nothing I can do for my LORD.”
(4) HE INCLUDED ME IN HIS FUTURE GLORY
John 17:24—“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given
me, be with me, where I am; that they may behold my
glory, which thou hast given me”
A. He is now preparing that glorious place for us (John 14:1-3).
B. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the
future. There may be trials and hardships. There may be some
turbulent waters to go through, but one thing we know, it will
end all right.
ILLUS. A missionary working on a far away island had to send
his family back to their country because of the hard-
ships of the island. Days passed, and no word came
from the family. It took weeks and sometimes months
in those days to cross the ocean. At last he received a
letter from his wife. She told him of the many storms,
the sicknesses, the fears they had on their journey. But
the letter ended with the cheering note, “But we finally
got home.”
*We may face many hardships, trials, troubles, sorrows, sicknes
ses, and pain..but we will finally make it safely home!
CLOSING: Thank God He has included us in His LOVE, HIS MARVELOUS SALVATION,
HIS SERVICE, and HIS FUTURE GLORY.
NOTES: 1. Charles H. Spurgeon. 2200 Quotations From The Writings Of Charles H.
Spurgeon. Pg. 368.
2. Living Letters From The Life Application Bible. Pg. 317.
3. Spurgeon. Pg. 364.
4. Living Letters. Pg. 22.
5. Living Letters. Pg. 122.
6. Charles R. Swindoll. The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart. Pg. 250.
7. Swindoll. Pg. 235.
8. Spurgeon. Pg. 179.
9. Swindoll. Pg. 506.
10. Living Letters. Pg. 216.
11. Living Letters. Pg. 30.
12. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. Pg.
184.