The following message was delivered
on Sunday evening, January 2nd, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist
Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now it is evident to all of you,
I am sure, from the table spread before us, that this is our monthly
communion service. And before we pray and turn to
the ministry of the Word, because we do have some visitors among
us, Just a word of explanation regarding our understanding of
how the table should be ordered and regulated is in order. We believe that this is the Lord's
table instituted by him as an ordinance of his church. and
therefore we expect all of the members of our assembly who are
not under some form of corrective discipline that would preclude
their coming to the table will not only remain but also participate
in faith and in obedience as we gather to the table. But if
you are visiting with us and you are a member of an evangelical
church, church that requires of its members that they profess
personal faith in Christ and that they walk as disciples of
Christ to remain as members in good standing of that assembly.
Why we welcome you as part of the larger family of God to join
us at the Lord's table. and we would urge you during
the brief interlude from the conclusion of the ministry of
the word until the brethren take their places here to make your
way into the center banks of pews to facilitate the distribution
of the elements. Now if you are among us as one
who is not a Christian or you believe you are a Christian but
you have not committed yourself to the visible Church of Christ. You are not a member of an evangelical
church. We most heartily welcome you
to remain and to observe, but we would encourage you not to
partake of those emblems. And of course, if you are a member
of a church, but under its corrective discipline, and part of that
discipline is the prohibition of your coming to the table,
we trust that you would honor that. as we not only recognize
the existence and the validity of other churches of Christ and
therefore open the table to members of other churches, but we do
also desire to respect their discipline as well. And tonight
is the first night we've gathered to the Lord's table without the
presence of about two dozen of our members, and we feel their
absence very keenly. but they are meeting tonight
in Irvington in the church planting endeavor there and let us plead
with God for the Lord's blessing upon them as in a few moments
Pastor Brevard will be standing to minister the word of God in
that place that the same spirit who delights to take the things
of Christ and minister to us with power through the word may
be present doing the same with our brethren there in Irvington.
Let us seek God's face in prayer together. Our Father, we are indeed thankful
that your ear is open to the cry of the righteous, and we
thank you that you are present in all the assemblies of your
saints. And we praise you that as we
come to seek your face for your blessing upon our meditation
in the Word of God in preparation for our coming to the table instituted
by Christ, that you are able to meet with our dear brethren
there in Irvington as well. And oh, how we plead our Father,
especially for Pastor Bavard, as he will stand to open up the
Word of God tonight. Be with his heart, be with his
mouth, be with those who gather under his ministry. May it be
evident that he is preaching with the Holy Spirit sent down
from heaven. and that those who are receiving
the word are receiving it as it is in truth your word, and
may it effectually work in their believing hearts. And then, our
Father, we pray that grace will be given to us here, that as
we meditate upon this text of your words, so rich and so overwhelming
in the scope of its gracious statements of the largeness of
your heart, Oh, make us strong to grasp afresh some new measure
of the height and the breadth and the length and the depth,
that we may know the love of Christ that passes knowledge
to the end, that we may be filled unto all the fullness of you,
our God. Speak to us then and meet with
us, we plead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Now, for those of you who have
any true acquaintance with the eighth chapter of the Book of
Romans, you will not find it poetic overstatement to hear
me say that this eighth chapter of Romans is a veritable field
of spiritual diamonds, diamonds of exquisite beauty and also
of immeasurable worth. And one of the most precious
of all of the diamonds in this veritable field of diamonds is
verse 32. One commentator upon this chapter
has expressed his own judgment that of all of the amazing statements
in Romans chapter 8, this perhaps breaks up higher than all of
the others, like some impressive mountain in a mountain range
of of promises and perspectives on God's commitment in grace
to the certain salvation of all of his people. This verse, to
which I make reference, verse 32, he that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also
with him freely give us all things has been designated by some very
succinctly as the guarantee of grace. But I would like you to
meditate with me for the next 25 minutes or so on this text
in a rather more enlarged perspectives, perspective under the heading
of the father's giving of his son the guarantee of His giving
all other needed gifts to His people. The Father's giving of
His Son, the guarantee of His giving all other needed gifts
to His people. And as we meditate upon the text,
consider with me the two obvious and basic divisions of the text,
We begin, first of all, with the assertion, and then we come
to the question. The assertion, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Here is an assertion of which
God himself is the subject. Our text begins with the words,
He that spared not. And the He, obviously, has reference
to God, not in a general sense, but God specifically as the Father. For the He is the one who spared
not His own Son, His unique Son, His very own Son, very parallel
to John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son. And so this assertion has reference
to something that God has done with respect to His Son. And what he has done is stated
first of all in the negative and then in the positive. He
that negatively spared not his own son, but positively delivered
him up for us all. Now what does it mean when the
text asserts that he spared not his own son? Well, the Apostle
uses this word, spared not, just several chapters over in Romans
chapter 11 and verse 21. Speaking of God's activity with
respect to national Israel, we read, for if God spared not the
natural branches, neither will He spare thee. The sparing knot
of the natural branches in the context is that God brought upon
national Israel the promised curses of the covenant. God had said that if they determined
to go in a course of apostasy, turning away from His person
and His ways and His laws, that God would cast them out, that
God would scatter them among the nations, And God fulfilled
that curse, and in so doing, the Apostle uses the very same
language, he spared them not. That is, he brought upon them
in full measure the promised judgment. Similarly, this word
is used in Acts chapter 20, and will help us to feel something
of the force of it. When Paul is charging the Ephesian
elders with their responsibility to pay close attention to themselves
and to all of the flock, He urges them to do so against the backdrop
of his certain knowledge of the dangers to which the flock of
God would be exposed, and one of them is delineated in verse
29. I know, Acts 20, 29, that after
my departing, grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not
sparing the flock. Now the image should be clear
to all of us. When a pack of wolves descends
upon a flock, they have no regard for the life and the well-being
of the sheep within that flock. As predatory animals, they are
concerned only to take home some of the sheep. with which to feed
the pride, or whatever term is used with respect to a pack of
wolves. And so they do not spare the
flock. They do not withhold any of their
native vengeance, any of their native ability to rip and to
tear, to slay and to drag off lambs and sheep of the flock. And our text tells us in this
assertion that God the Father did not spare His only, His unique,
His very own Son. And when the text tells us that
God spared Him not, This is what it signifies, and here I read
a paragraph from Octavius Winslow's moving devotional comments on
this very text. Knowing what redemption required,
justice, stern and inexorable, demanding full satisfaction,
the law, rigid and unbending, demanding perfect obedience,
he withheld not the only sacrifice that could meet the case. He
spared not his own son. He did not relax any of the requirement
nor abate any of the suffering. Oh no, the utmost payment was
exacted, and the last drop of the cup was drained. Had there
been the relaxing of the law's stringency, or the slightest
curtailment of the law's penalty, there had been no salvation for
us. And all this was the unveiling
of His love, to spare His people He spared not his own son. There in this assertion is the
negative that God spared not his own son. But then there is
the positive statement, but delivered him up for us all. And the word for deliver is the
standard word translated betray in the New Testament. To betray
someone is to hand him over to another. And with reference to
God's activity in conjunction with his own son, and in particular
with respect to his being handed over to those events and circumstances
surrounding the cross, This word is found in several other contexts,
back in Romans chapter 4 and verse 25. Speaking of our Lord
Jesus, it is said, who was, and here is our word, delivered up. He was delivered up. for our
trespasses and was raised for our justification. It is found
again twice in Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse
2, speaking of our Lord Jesus, the Apostle says that he loved
us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to
God for an odor of a sweet smell. It is used again in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for it. But when our text tells us in
this assertion that God did not spare him but delivered him up
for us all, to what was he delivered? Again, as Winslow said, who delivered
up Jesus to die? Not Judas for money, not Pilate
for fear, not the Jews for envy, but the Father for love. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, Peter said, You by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. In this great transaction, we
lose sight of his betrayers, and his accusers, and his murderers,
and we see only the Father travailing in the greatness of His love
to His family. And to what was he delivered? To the hands of wicked men, God's
darling to the power of the dogs in the language of Psalm 22,
delivered to poverty and want, to contempt and infamy, to grief
and sorrow, to unparalleled suffering, and to a most ignominious death. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief And
for whom was he thus delivered up? For us all, for the church
purchased with his own blood. For all in that church he has
an equal love, and for all he paid an equal price." Professor
Murray, in commenting on this same phrase, delivered him up
for us all. writes with even more sobering
and, I think, more penetrating insight, it is only as the ordeal
of Gethsemane and Calvary is viewed in the perspective of
damnation vicariously born, damnation executed with the sanctions of
unrelenting justice, and damnation endured when the host of darkness
were released to reap the utmost of their vengeance, that we shall
be able to apprehend the wonder and taste the sweetness of that
love that passes knowledge. Love eternally to be explored,
but eternally inexhaustible. In this assertion, that He spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, is to be compressed
all of the realities that surround the mystery of the shrouded heavens,
the mystery of the cry of dereliction, the mystery of damnation vicariously
borne The mystery of our Lord as the ever-beloved of the Father,
yet charged with the sins of His people, made a curse for
us, made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. The assertion of our text affirms
that God the Father Spared not. His own Son withheld nothing
of that which was due to Him, given the position in which He
voluntarily assumed our place before the bar of inflexible
eternal justice. And in that posture, God withheld
nothing of what was due to Him as our surety, substitute, and
representative, but rather having spared him not, having spared
him not, delivered him up for us all, delivered him up to the
taunting and to undescribable influences from the powers of
hell, for he said, this is your hour and the power of darkness. How shall he not also with him
freely give us all things. Now the heart of the question
is this. If God has shown His love, His
goodwill, His determination to save us by sparing not His own
Son, but delivering Him up for us all, on what ground And for
what reason would such a God who has done what he has already
done ever withhold any lesser thing which is essential to our
ultimate salvation? If he has given the greatest
gift and accomplished the greatest work with respect to our salvation,
And if He did that, not withholding, but giving His Son up for us,
how shall He not, with Him having given Him, is there anything
of any greater worth? that remains for God to give.
Anything else he can give is an item of lesser worth, and
having given the greatest, it is unthinkable that he would
withhold any lesser gift. And that's the logic, that's
the rationale of the question that follows upon the assertion. And the apostle wants us to think,
if the God who is our God and our Father spared not His Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him,
whom He has already given to us, and given to die the cursed
death of the cross, how shall He not also with Him freely,
that is, give as an act and expression of grace? It's the verb charizomai. It means not merely to give as
a gift or as a donation, but to give graciously and freely. How shall He not with Him freely
give us all things? Now in the context, the all things
does not mean He will give to us everything upon which our
remaining carnality might fasten its fancy, but in the context
it has to do with giving us everything necessary to bring us to the
enjoyment of the ultimate purpose of His saving mercy and grace. And what is that ultimate purpose?
He has been speaking about it in the previous passages. He
has said in verse 29, For whom God foreknew, he also foreordained
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. God is determined to save us
with a salvation that when it is complete, it will find us
as those who will reflect the family likeness of Jesus. We
will have perfected spirits and glorified bodies. We shall be
glorified human beings. We will never be deity. We will
never be lifted into sharing in Godhead. No. Creatures we
are. Creatures we shall die and go
to our graves and to judgment. And as creatures we shall be
glorified. but creatures who in their glorified
state will reflect the very likeness of the Lord Jesus. And with respect
to God's purpose, it is so certain, verse 30, that whom God foredained
to this glorious end, them he also called, whom he called he
justified, whom he justified he glorified. What shall we say
then to these things? If Almighty God is committed
that this shall be so, who can be against us? Then is the pledge
that surely everything necessary to bring us to that glorious
state shall be given, he says, he that spared not his own In
pursuit of that predestined, foreordained purpose to conform
us to the image of His Son, the greatest obstacle within the
Godhead was how to procure a righteous forgiveness, how to procure a
just pardon. And it is that that demanded
the sparing not of His Son, but the delivering of of His Son
for us all? And if God has made in space-time
history this commitment of the greatest demand with respect
to our salvation, how shall He not, with the gift of His Son,
freely give us all things necessary? to bring us safely home at last
into his presence, that the Lord Jesus may, in the presence of
his redeemed ones, say, Here I am, Father. I am those whom
thou hast given me. Now, by way of application, then,
as we come to the table, do you see something of why faith must
learn to reason from what God has done in the past to what
I can expect him to do in the future as we stand on the threshold
of a new year. What will we as the people of
God face if we are to persevere in grace, in the way of faith
and holiness? For it is only in that way that
people are brought to ultimate glorification. It is certain
that all of the saints shall persevere, but it is also necessary,
for he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. But
we will need the maintenance of a good conscience. And how
can we maintain a good conscience without the ongoing pardon and
cleansing of all of our sins? No matter how secret they may
be to the inner chambers of heart and of motive, no matter how
shameful they might be in a tragic fall that would be seen by all,
whatever pardon is needed, he that spared not his own son delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give
us the all things of every pardon, of every sin, according to his
promise? If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." Rabbi Duncan, you'll hear about him, whatever
biography I'm reading will come out in my preaching. generally
speaking, and it apparently was a common social nicety when men
of that day would meet in that part of Scotland where he laboured,
and they would say, is there any news today? What they meant
by that is if you heard anything with respect to international
or national news of any importance, they didn't have primetime television,
didn't have the same plethora of news media, etc. And on one
occasion, when someone asked that question of Rabbi Duncan,
he shocked them by answering, yes, there is good news, good
news today. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses from all sin. And dear people of God, we need
to think that way. He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him freely
give us all things? We need not grovel for an hour,
let alone a day or a week, under the weight of unconfessed, uncleansed
sin. Is it grace that we need for
trials that come upon us in the will of God? Trials that rip
and tear at our fragile emotions, trials that tug at the weakest
point of our inner life. Is it grace to bear up under
lengthy physical and emotional trauma? Then He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him freely give us all the grace that is needed? For He
is the God who said, My grace is sufficient for you. If the
lack of that grace would wind us or land us in a posture of
utter dejection and unbelief, toying with turning ourselves
out of the way, then surely The grace needed to press on in persevering
hope and faith is grace that God stands willing to give. We
may come to forks in the road of our lives where wisdom is
needed in matters of guidance. Here is the promise that we need
to plead before God, Lord. The greatest obstacle to my getting
to heaven was not this decision of guidance. It was how you could,
as a holy and just God, do anything other than damn me! But Lord,
you overcame that greatest obstacle. You spared not your son. You delivered him up for me.
Now, Lord, surely with the gift of your son and the overcoming
of the greatest obstacle to my salvation, giving the needed
wisdom that I may make a decision that will glorify you is pennies
compared to all the treasures that you have given in your Son?
How shall He not with Him freely give us all things? Whether it's
pardon, grace for trial, wisdom and guidance in decisions, patience
in the midst of difficulties, comfort in the midst of sorrow,
courage in the midst of danger, every single thing needed to
bring me safely on whatever part of my earthly pilgrimage is a
segment of persevering faith and grace. My dear child of God,
it was purchased! It was purchased, and how shall
He not with Him freely give us all things? So as we come to
the table tonight, And we take the bread and the cup, the emblems
of the truth of this assertion. He spared not his own son, but
delivered him up for us all. Had he not done that, there would
be no Lord's table except it were the product of some fanatical
mind instituting a thing that the Bible would call will worship. There's a table here tonight
because the Son of God said this do in remembrance of me. This
bread stands for and represents my body, which is for you. This
cup represents my blood, which is shed for you. And dear children
of God, as we take the emblems, let's not only take them in the
fresh faith and confidence that Christ has died for us. He has given himself up in death
and shed his blood But let us take that bread as a token and
pledge that He who spared not His own Son will with Him freely
give us all things. And on this first communion of
this new year, may there be fresh actings of faith that God, having
given the greatest gift, will withhold no lesser gift. As someone has quaintly said,
if you knew the man that owned the Hope Diamond, that diamond
that I believe is 17 carats in weight, polished to exquisite
perfection, and if he were beneficent and benevolent and kind and gracious
enough to give you that diamond freely, would you have any reservation
in thinking he'd be reluctant to give you a bag in which to
carry it? God has given the diamond of
his own heart. He spared not his own son. And we must then, in the confidence
of faith, whatever we face in the coming year, recognize the
wonderful implications of that text. He that spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also? Really give us all things, all
things in the context of the passage, everything essential
that I may make that next step in the path of persevering grace
that is leading ultimately to my glorification. God has committed
Himself that I shall have it, to the end that His own purpose
may be realized. and his own grace magnified in
bringing all of his own safely home at last into his presence. If you're here and you're not
a Christian, you see, don't pity us Christians. You think we have
no fun. You think our world is so narrow
and our interests so constricted Oh my friend I say it lovingly
not condescendingly I pity you in your pathetic poverty. You
have no pledge from the God of heaven that any need of yours
will be met. In fact all you have from the
God of heaven is the threat that his judgment may fall upon you
and crush you into hell within the next He that believeth not
the wrath of God abideth upon him. My friend, there is in Christ
a plenitude of grace and mercy for every sinner who comes. And
I would plead with you on this first Lord's Day of the new year,
don't enter it as an impoverished sinner under the wrath of God
with no confidence that you'll not wake up in hell before the
next morning. Turn from your sin and your pride
and your self-sufficiency and throw yourself upon the mercy
of God in Christ. And then you will find yourself
within the orbit of the marvelous provisions of this text. And
you will say, He spared him not, but delivered him up for me. And having given him with him,
God is committed freely to give me. all things necessary that
I may please him as I make my way in the company of his people
to the Celestial City. May the Lord enable us to lay
this simple text to heart, a text that, as I said to the brethren,
I can only preach around it in a half an hour, were I to attempt
to preach on it for ten hours, I'd still be only preaching around
it. It will take eternity fully to
exegete all that God has said in this text, freely give us
all things. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for
the richness and the freeness of your grace and kindness to
us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we plead that you would so
minister your truth to the hearts of your people, that our faith
will be strengthened, that we will face all of the unknowns
of the coming year in the confidence that having spared not your son,
there is nothing we will face. There is no demand that will
be made upon us that we might be kept in the way that leads
to life. but that that provision is secure
to us in Christ. Oh, strengthen our faith as we
come to the table. Increase our capacity to rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory in the anticipation
that if you are for us, who is against us? Hear us and continue
with us, we plead in Jesus' name. Amen.