Good morning. Oh, come, let us worship and
bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our maker, for he is our God and we are his people. Him number 37, Tom's gonna come
lead us in how great thou art. One day, one day, like our sister
Dignity is now, we will know how fully great he is. Now, let's sing together. O Lord my God, when I in awesome
wonder Consider all the works Thy hands have made, I see the
stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe
displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great thou art! How great thou art! When through the woods and forest
glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and
feel the gentle breeze Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I think that God, His
Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden
gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come With shout
of acclamation And take me home What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, my God, how
great thou art. Then sing my soul, my Savior
God, to thee. How great Thou art, how great
Thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God to Thee. How great Thou art, how great
Thou art. Please be seated. Good morning. Our call to worship
scripture reading is going to be Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, all
that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth
all thy iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies, who satisfy thy mouth with good things so
that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his
ways unto Moses his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord
is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. He have not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Oh, how great
that is. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy towards that that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions
from us. Like a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities them that fear him. For he knoweth our
frame. He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, His days as grass,
as a flower in the field, so he flourished. For the wind passes
over it and it is gone. And the place thereof shall know
it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting. upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness unto the children's children. To such as keepeth his covenant,
as to those who remember his commandments to them, the Lord
hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and in his kingdom ruleth
all. Bless the Lord, ye angels that
excel in strength. that do his commandments, hearkening
onto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all of ye
hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
all my soul. Father God, we come before you.
The only way we know how to come and we're able to come is through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Through him and him alone, we
come and we attempt to worship you. We come before you this
morning and we give you thanks that all of these benefits, all
our benefits, spiritual benefits are in Christ and Christ alone,
Father. Thank you that he has provided
us with all these blessings, that he has fulfilled the law,
and that he has paid the sins for us that we're able to have
communion with you, Father. And we ask that you will accept
our worship in him, in him only, Father. We thank you once again
that we're here to listen to your word, Father. We are in
desperate need of your Holy Spirit, Father, each one of us, us that
are hearing and as well as Pastor Greg, Father, bless him, fill
him with the Holy Spirit. And may we grow in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we see of his glory more
as this is our need to see him and him alone. In Jesus Christ
we pray. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin.
The hymn on the back of the bulletin. Yeah. Great Father of glory, how rich
is thy grace! What wonderful love is displayed
in thy face! In Jesus thy image with brightness
we view, to be formed in that likeness
anew. O wonder of wonders, astonished
I gaze to see in a manger the ancient of days. from sin to release us that yoke
so long worn. My God, my creator, a woman was
born for unworthy sinners. For unworthy sinners he suffered
and bled. My spirit rejoices, the work
is all done. My soul is redeemed, my salvation
is won. Great Father of Glory, Please be seated. Caleb and his daughter Lacey
are going to come do special music now. Peace like a river attended my
way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my life now has
taught me to say It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should come, though
trials should come, let this that Christ hath regarded my
helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well with my
soul. My sin, oh, the less of this
glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole. is nailed to the cross, and I
bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord,
O my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well with my
soul. For me be in Christ, be in Christ
since to-day. If Jordan above me shall roll, No pain shall be mine, for in
death as in life, thou wilt whisper thy peace to my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well with my
soul. The Lord cares for thee, for
thy coming we wait. The sky, not the grave, is our
goal. O trumpet, the angel, O voice
of the Lord, blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul. Can the Lord haste the day when
thy face shall be sighed? The clouds be rolled back as
a scroll. The trough shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well. Lord haste the day. My faith
shall be sight clouds be rolled back like a scroll. I Want you
to know that a Few weeks ago. We thought that Dignas cancer
might be a long stretched out thing and and Prayed the Lord
will be Just tender to her and and he he's always very merciful
but He took her very quickly and she didn't have any pain
medicine. For several days before the Lord
took her home so. She was not in a lot of pain
and. Very, very thankful for that. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes. And there should be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying. Neither shall there be any more
for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said
unto me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is
a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh, what is it
to overcome? It's to believe to your dying
breath. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. message I'd like to try to bring
this morning from Malachi chapter 1 is a subject
that I know from the start I am doomed to failure. That's always the case in preaching
the gospel but when we are considering the
first cause of our salvation, which is the love of God. It is a subject that is beyond
anything that we can come close to understanding. John, in amazement,
said, Behold, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called the sons of God. What kind of
love is that? I don't know. Herein is love,
not that we love God. You thought that I was all together.
Don't think that God loves the way we love. Our love has to be enticed by
something that's lovely. Oh no. No, he took those things
that were not, he took those things that were despised, he
took those things that were filthy and ugly and dead and dirty and
he placed his love on them. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. This subject is a burden to me.
It's not a burden in that it's burdensome or fearful for me
to speak of. It's a burden because the breath
and the weight of it is beyond anything that we can carry. And
that's how Malachi starts out his prophecy. Now Malachi, we
don't know anything about him other than his name is attached
to this prophecy. There's nothing else in the Old
Testament about the prophet Malachi. We can tell from some of the
things he said that he prophesied about 400 years before the coming
of Christ. And his primary prophecy was
about the forerunner of the Messiah. When you see him, you know that
Christ is near. And speaking of John the Baptist,
but Malachi's name means a messenger from God. That's what his name
means, a messenger from God. And I think we have here, I know
we have here in our text, a message from God, a message that will
raise the most discouraged soul from the pit of despair in hopes
of God's love for them. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and gave his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. The love of God is the first
cause of our salvation. Before anything else, before
election, before redemption, before regeneration, before sanctification,
before glorification. It was all caused from the fountain
of God's love, the depth, the breath of his love beyond our
comprehension. Look how Malachi begins his prophecy,
the burden. And I think I have some understanding
of that, and I hope that the Lord will give all of us some
understanding of this subject being too heavy, too heavy for
us to begin to comprehend. Turn with me to Romans. Hold your finger there and turn
with me to Romans chapter 11. Verse 33, oh, here's Paul's God-given description of God's
love. Oh, the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his
judgments and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind
of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who hath first
given to him that it should be recompensed unto him again? For
of him, and through him, and to him are all things to whom
be glory forever, forever. Amen. Amen. This subject of God's love
Malachi sees as a burden. He says the burden of the word
of the Lord to Israel. This message about the love of
God is like all the messages of God, they are to Israel. No one else is interested in
what God has to say. Spiritual Israel, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, are the only people that are interested
and that are benefited and blessed by what God has to say. The burden
of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi I have loved you,
saith the Lord. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Wherein you say, how have you
loved us? Oh, how shameful it is that we
call into question the love of God. This is not the unbelieving
world that's saying, how have you loved us? This is the child
of God. This is the Israelite. This is
the believer who in the midst of trials and troubles calls
into question the love of God. They may not do it. overtly,
but we do it, we do it in a way, don't we? We say, Lord, why is
this? This just doesn't seem right.
If you love me, why is this happening? Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I love Jacob. The first thing we learn about
God's love is that God is sovereign in his love. Jacob, I have loved
and Esau, I have hated. What God is saying about his
love is that I did not love you because I was required to. I
did not love you based on anything that you did to entice me or
to obligate me to love you. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy and whom I will, I'll harden. God's, the love
of God is absolutely sovereign. Now the law required that Esau
receive the greater blessing. But God changed the law for his
glory. He gave the blessing not to Esau,
but to Jacob. You see, it's God's law. You
remember when, you remember when Joseph brought, Jacob is an old
man now at the end of the book of Genesis and, and, and, and
Jacob is, the scripture says he's, he's blind and Joseph brings
his two sons. Ephraim and Manasseh to be blessed
by his father. And the scripture is very, very
specific. It says that Joseph brought Manasseh
who was the firstborn to Jacob's right hand and he brought Ephraim
to Jacob's left hand. And he expected the greater blessing
to be on the elder and the lesser blessing to be on the younger.
And Jacob did this. And Joseph took a hold of his
father's hands and tried to move it and said, oh no, father, you've
got it wrong. And Jacob said, I know, son.
I know. Ephraim is going to get the blessing. God chose Ephraim. What a blessing the tribe of
Ephraim was to Israel. But here we have another picture
of God's sovereign choice in who the blessing goes to. I'm
the one that's going to decide. I'm the potter, you're the clay. I have the sovereign right to
have mercy on whom I will have mercy and to make from the same
lump of clay, some vessels of honor and some of dishonor. We cannot obligate God to love
us. and there's nothing we can do
to earn God's love. God's love is free and God's
love is sovereign. He is free to love whosoever
he wills. And someone's thinking, well,
how do I know if he loves me? Let me tell you one good measure
to know whether or not you know anything about the love of God.
you can't find any reason in yourself for God to love you. If you can find some reason in
yourself to obligate God to love you, then I would question whether
or not God loves you. But if you can find no reason
in yourself, And you can say amen to the fact that God's love
is sovereign and God's love is free. That's a good indication. That's a good indication that
you have some understanding and some blessing about the love
of God. Look at our text. I have loved
you, saith the Lord, yet you say, where and have you loved
us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I love Jacob and I hated
Esau. I love Jacob and I hated Esau.
Now God's speaking. How contrary is this to what
men think about the love of God? God's love is sovereign. He has the sovereign right to
love whomsoever he wills. I laid his mountain and his heritage
waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom said,
we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate
places. Oh, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to build
things up. We're going to, we're going to
build the Tower of Babel. We're going to, we're going to
obligate God. We're going to get back to God somehow. And the
Lord says, you go ahead and build them up, saith the Lord of hosts.
They shall build, but I will throw down. They shall call them
the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord
hath indignation forever. And your eyes shall see, and
you shall say, the Lord will be magnified from the border
of Israel. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. The religious world is doing
everything they can to try to earn the love of God. Man-made religion is all about
rules and regulations in hopes of obligating God to love you. What's God saying here? This
is the burden of the message. God's saying to his people, my
love is sovereign. Nothing you can do to earn it.
And here's the other side of that coin. Nothing you can do
to lose it. Nothing you can do to lose it.
Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. The Lord says of this of this
building that Edom is going to make. And the Edom, you know
Esau is a picture of the entire unbelieving world and Jacob is
a picture of God's elect. Jacob I have loved, Esau I have
hated. And Edom is attempting desperately
to build up things in order to, in order to earn favor with God.
It's like God's saying everything you build up, I'm gonna tear
it down. I'm gonna tear it down. Because the glory of God is only
gonna go out of Jacob. It's only going to go out of
Israel. I'm not going to share my glory with another. I'm not
going to give those who are looking to their works for the hope of
their salvation any hope or any glory. I'm going to get all the
glory. And you're going to call the
border of what they make, wickedness. That's the idea there. In the
latter part of verse four, it's not that they call it wickedness,
they call it holiness. But what man calls good, God
calls wicked. And we look at our own works
and we look at the works of the world and we think it's evil
in the sight of God. Second thing we know about the
love of God other than it is sovereign, is that it is holy. Now here's the unsearchable riches
of his love that is beyond. Holy by itself means it's other
than anything that we know anything about. Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord God of hosts. The love of God is holy. People talk about God's unconditional
love. There is no such thing. There
is no such thing. God cannot love you and me unconditionally. The only possible way that the
one whose eyes are too pure to look upon sin can love a sinner
is to put that sinner in Christ. We've got to be head in Christ
in order for God to be able to love us. We've got to have our
sins taken away in order for, there's no such thing as God's
unconditional love. His love is conditioned on the
accomplished work and glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ
in order for him to be able to love us. Somebody talks to you
about God's unconditional love. Just say it doesn't exist. It
doesn't exist. Now, if we mean by unconditional,
it's not conditioned by anything God sees in me. It may be true,
but it's not. No, God has to place, he has
to satisfy the demands of his holiness. Noah and his family had to be
placed in the ark. in order for them to be saved
from the destruction of the flood. And Noah didn't hang a sign out
on the backside of the ark while everybody was drowning, saying,
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. That's what the world thinks.
We can't say indiscriminately to men that are drowning in their
sin, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. We can say,
that God's love is sovereign and that God's love is holy and
the only hope that you have of knowing anything about the love
of God is for you to give up on trying to see something in
yourself that would obligate him to love you and look in faith
to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only cause and hope of God being
able to love you. Romans chapter 3 verse 23 says
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I think
that's the best description of sin in the Word of God. Speaks
to my heart. All have sinned. And come short
of the glory of God. And I know you've heard me ask
this question before, but I'll ask it again. What in your life
measures up to the glory of God? If you have any understanding
of God, you have to conclude, nothing, nothing. That makes
everything about us sinful, doesn't it? Now listen to the next verse. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We are
justified freely by God's sovereign grace through the sacrifice that
the Lord Jesus Christ made on Calvary's cross of himself. God's
love is sovereign. God's love is holy. Turn with me to Romans chapter
eight. Verse 31, what shall we say then
to these things? What shall we say then to these
things? This is the burden of the message and what we're finding
to be true in the Word of God is completely contrary to what
most men think about the love of God. Now in the previous part of this
chapter, the Lord makes it clear. that all those whom he foreknew. Look at verse 29. For whom he did foreknow. That's the first cause of salvation.
To be foreknown of God is to be loved of God before time ever
began. For whom he did foreknow. Them
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. When
God places us in Christ, we are conformed to the image of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So that when the Lord prayed
in John chapter 17 and said, Father, I have loved them even
as you have loved me. And they are one now with me. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." So God placed
his love on his people before time began, he justified them
in the Lord Jesus Christ, he predestinated them, he called
them, and he glorified them. What shall we say then to these
things? What shall we say then to these things? Here's what
we say. If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son but delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For
I am persuaded. Are you persuaded? Well, faith
does. Faith just persuade you. Faith
persuade you that everything that God says is true. I'm persuaded. Can't be taught otherwise. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. There's our hope. God's love is holy. He cannot
love you and I unconditionally. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
do a work of redemption. He had to shed his precious blood
in order to cover our sins. In order for God to be able to
look, that's why Christ is called the lamb slain before the foundation
of the world, because there's never been a time when God didn't
love his people. So what the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished 2000 years ago on Calvary's cross was already done,
was already done when God Set his love on his people in the
covenant of grace before time ever began. What a glorious love
God has. This is the those whom he foreknew
he did predestinate. And all that he did predestinate
he called and all that he called it justified and all that you
just who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. God's love is sovereign. God's love is holy. Listen to what David said in
Psalm 11 verse seven. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. His countenance doth uphold the
upright. He loves righteousness and he
hates iniquity. Jacob I have loved, Esau I have
hated. I sovereignly chose the younger
according to my own will and purpose, and then I placed him
in Christ. Thirdly, God's love is particular. It's particular. What am I saying? Saying what
God says, he doesn't love everybody. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
John chapter 17, father, I pray not for the world. I pray for
them, which thou has given me out of the world or thou gave
them to me. A general love is no love at
all. I hear people talking about,
well, there's a sense in which God loves everybody, and those
same people will say that the majority of people God loves
are gonna go to hell. What kind of love is that? What
kind of love is a love that will fuel the flames of an eternal
fire in a God-forsaken hell? That's not love. God's love is
particular. He placed his love on a particular
people. The Lord said in John chapter
10 verse 26, you believe not because you are not my sheep. That's pretty clear. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them
unto me, is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out
of his hand." You see, the particularity of
God's love is why election is so essential to the gospel. God's
trying to get everybody saved. What kind of God is that? He
chose a people. That he loved. He placed them
in Christ to satisfy the demands of his holiness. He was particular
about who he loved. And everyone that the Lord Jesus
Christ died for. Everyone he died for. Was successfully
redeemed. Our redemption was accomplished
on Calvary's cross. He was offered up for our offenses
and raised again because of our justification. The Lord Jesus
Christ isn't trying to redeem anybody. He actually accomplished
the redemption of God's particular people and made them holy by
the sacrifice of himself on Calvary's cross. And that's a that's that's
God's love. Not only is God's love sovereign,
completely up to his will, not finding anything in the objects
of his love that would force him or obligate him to love them. And God's people say, amen, amen. I don't find anything in me.
God's love is holy. I've got to be in Christ in order
for God to love me. I've got to be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
righteousness, which is by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I've got to be found in Him. God's love is particular. This idea that God loves everybody
and wants everybody to be saved cannot be true. It cannot be
true. Not if God's God. Now, if man's
God, then maybe so. I had a man who was a professor
of philosophy and it was an Indian man and he was older than me
and he said to me, he said, I teach philosophy but I'm still struggling
with the same question that I had when I was a philosophy student
back in India. I said, what is that? He said,
well, the ultimate question. Did God create us, or did we
create God? In the minds of most men, they
created God. They honor Him with their lips,
but they rob Him of His glory and set themselves up on the
throne of God. And they have an imaginary God
in the idol factory of their own darkened minds that doesn't
exist. The God who does exist, his love
is sovereign, his love is holy, his love is particular, and his
love is eternal. It's eternal. Turn to me to Jeremiah
chapter 31. Jeremiah chapter 31. Verse one at the same time, say
at the Lord, I love that phrase. Don't you say at the Lord that
just settles everything. Doesn't it settles all controversies
puts away all doubt. God says it. That's it. Paul
said, what say at the scriptures. That's, that's, that's the only
thing I'm concerned about. At the same time, saith the Lord,
will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they
shall be my people. Thus saith the Lord, the people
which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness,
even Israel. When I went to cause him to rest,
the Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, With loving
kindness have I drawn thee. Now here's another thing about
this subject of the love of God that is a burden beyond our comprehension. Never been a time when God didn't
love his people. Never been a time when he didn't
see them in Christ. Never been a time when he didn't
sovereignly choose to foreknow them and to predestinate them. God's love is from everlasting
to everlasting. There's no beginning to it and
there's no end to it. Oh, we fall in our love all the
time, don't we? God's love's not like ours. I've
loved you, the Lord said through the prophet Malachi, wherein
has thou loved us? Oh, look at Jacob and Esau. Look
what I did for them. Hosea and Gomer is a picture
of God's love, isn't it? The Lord told the prophet Hosea,
he said, go take to yourself as a wife, a harlot. Now, who's
Hosea? And Hosea went out and married
a harlot and brought her in to be his wife. And she went back
out on the streets and played the harlot. And he would go to
the house where she was doing her thing and leave gifts on
her door for her. And finally, she ended up on
the slave market. And Hosea went and bought her,
didn't he? Brought her back to himself.
Now, what's that a picture of? Hosea is Christ. You and I are
Gomer. And the Lord took to Himself
a harlot. And we continue to be unfaithful
to Him. And even though we question His
love for us, He keeps leaving gifts at our door. And he purchased
us to himself by his own precious blood. And he continues to love. He's loved us. That's what Jeremiah
is saying. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. There's nothing you can do to
make me stop loving you. I made a reference to John 17.
Turn with me there for a moment, please. John chapter 17. You see why this subject is such
a burden to Malachi? How can we comprehend the depth
and the riches of the love of God? John chapter 17, look at verse
23, I in them and thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Now the
Lord Jesus Christ is praying as our priest, interceding on
our behalf. And he says to God Almighty,
Father, You have loved them in the same way that you've loved
me. How can that be? Because we've
been hidden in him and the covenant of grace from before time began.
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, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the
world. O righteous father, the world has not known thee, but
I have known thee. And these have known that thou
hast sent me and I have declared unto them thy name and will declare
it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them
and I in them. The love of our God is sovereign,
it's holy, it is particular, it is eternal. And it is effectual. It's effectual. I have drawn thee with cords
of kindness. It's the love of God that caused
him to redeem us for God. So loved the world. That he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. It was the love of God that caused
the Lord Jesus Christ to do what he did. When the Lord's praying
to the father at the end, he said, father, I've loved them
to the end. I've loved them all that thou
has given me. I have loved them. By effectual,
what we mean is that the love of God accomplishes its purpose. It was the love of God that sent
his son to die for our sins. It is the love of God that breaks
the hearts of God's people. The scripture says that his love
constraineth us. It causes us to come. He draws
us with his love. No one's saved by God's threats.
They're not saved because they're afraid to go to hell. You shall look upon him whom
thou hast pierced and mourn after him as one mourneth for his only
begotten son. Isn't that what Zacharias said? When God saves his children,
he breaks their hearts with his love. His love is effectual. His love was effectual in redemption.
His love is effectual in calling. And his love is effectual in
sanctification. Love is the fulfillment of the
law. The fruit of the spirit is love. Turn with me to 1 John
chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Verse 7. Beloved. Let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone
that loveth is born of God. And knoweth God. He that loveth
not knoweth not God. For God is love. It's the essence of his nature. In this was manifested the love
of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten son
into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved
us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God
at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we
dwell in him and he and us. Because he has given us his spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the father sent the son to be the savior of the world. And whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the son of God. dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love. He that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. The love of God is effectual. It causes us to love Him. We
love Him because He first loved us. It's effectual in redemption.
It's effectual in calling. It's effectual in our love for
the gospel, our love for Christ, our love for His Word. Go back
to our text, Malachi chapter 1. The love of God. The sovereign. He has the right. To love whom
he will. The love of God is holy. It's
not unconditional. Totally. Love of God. Is eternal. And it's particular. And it's
effectual. God says I've loved you. I've
loved you. Wherein have you loved us? That's
how I've loved you. That's how I've loved you. A
love that's perfect. A love that's undeserving. Jacob I've loved. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father. We've tried to look to your word
to. Be able to. Have some. Understanding and faith in your
love for your people. We know that your love is expressed
perfectly in the sacrifice that Christ made. Lord, we pray that
you would cause that love to be affectionate in our hearts,
that we might rejoice in faith in the love of God. We ask it
in Christ's name. Amen. Number 36, let's stand together,
number 36. Behold my soul, the love of God,
behold the grace most free. Before all worlds His purpose
stood, His heart was fixed on me. Elected by eternal love,
the covenant firm and sure, The triune God agreed in love, salvation
to secure. My soul was given to the Son,
He promised to redeem. By blood and righteousness His
own, He would my soul reclaim. In the due time, Emmanuel came
to live and die for me. He lives today and bears my name. Christ is my surety. ? In love he sent his spirit down
? ? Who gave me life and grace ? ? He drew me and I followed
on ? ? My savior to embrace ? ? Now I rejoice in covenant love ?
? Amazing grace ? I now am conquered by His love. My Savior is my King.