Take our Bibles and turn to the
book of John, the gospel according to John, chapter 3. John, chapter 3. I would like to read one verse,
verse 35. John 3, 35. loveth the Son, and hath given
all things into His hand." Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for
the blessed privilege that we have this evening to come together
and worship in the way that you have ordained the hearing of
the gospel. Lord, teach us, we pray. Teach
us according to your good pleasure. May Christ be honored, your people
edified, comforted. For it is in the name of the
Lord Jesus we pray, Yesterday, I was driving from
the house over here to the church. And out of the corner of my eye,
I caught something that just attracted me. And I looked over
and it was a little, about 2 or 3 feet tall, one of these little
yard idols, little concrete idols. What it was, it was what people
would refer to as, you know, it was a little statue of what
was supposed to be, you know, the Lord Jesus. And He was standing
there and He had His hands, well, His arms out like this. I noticed both the hands were
broken off. And I looked at that and I thought,
you know, that's just exactly right. That's a real good picture
of this world's supposed Savior. He doesn't have any hands. You can't do anything. And I
thought about this Scripture right here. I mulled that over
in my mind. I thought about the Father loveth the Son and
hath given all things into His hand. The Scripture that we are looking
at tonight The end of a conversation. We're going through the book
of John. You know that on Sunday morning.
And I thought about that. Well, we've just gone through
the book of John. We've just dealt with this recently.
But I thought, no. No, this is the Scripture that
I'd like to deal with. It's the end of a conversation
that John the Baptist was having with his disciples. And that conversation that he
was having was dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ coming into
this world for the express reason for redeeming and saving His
people. Look at verse 31. We just read
35. Look at verse 31. He that cometh from above is
above all. He that is of the earth earthly,
and speaketh of the earth, he that cometh from heaven is above
all." So he's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ coming into
this world to seek and to save that which was lost. John, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit in verse 35, relates two immutable
truths. that assure the accomplishment
of God's purpose, God's salvation, of God Almighty saving by His
Son all those that He had everlastingly loved and chosen in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here are the two things. The
Father loveth the Son. The second truth is and hath
committed or hath given all things into His hand." I looked at that
first part again. The Father loveth the Son. You know, that's a truth that
every believer believes. No doubt about that. We read
that this is God's Word. God's Word is so. But my, how
I'm lost in the wonder of that truth. I can read it, but oh
how much I must admit I don't know. I know that God is love, and
I know that to understand anything of the Son being loved, being
loved by the Father, we must go to the source of love, and
that is God Himself. The Father loveth the Son. Psalm 117 says, For the righteous
Lord, Jehovah Himself, loveth righteousness. His countenance
doth behold the upright. Now, I know there is but One
who is upright in Himself. That is wisdom Himself. He who
says of Himself, I was by Him as one brought up with Him, and
daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. I'll read
that Scripture right to the Father. I love it to the Son. And in
my little feeble, fickle mind, not trying to create anything
in my mind, but just trying to enter in somewhat of the truth
of that matter. and realizing immediately, what
can I say? How can I? These things are too
high for me. Well, therefore, knowing that
Jehovah loves righteousness, and righteous is the attribute
of God alone. This is what I know. The Father
loveth the Son. The Father loveth the Son, not
at the exception of the Spirit loving the Son, the Spirit loving
the Father, and the Father, the Son, the Spirit. God Almighty loves God. The Son is the very brightness
of the Father's glory. The express image of His person. And the Son possesses all of
the same perfections, attributes. We don't believe in three gods.
We believe in one God who is set forth in tri-unity. And God Almighty loves God Almighty. All that he has ever done, he
has done for his honor. So as God's servant, as God's
mediator and surety, the son is loved by the father. And he did something that manifested
He did something. The Father did something that
set forth His love for the Son. He hath given all things into
His hand. I began to think on that. And
as I was thinking on this message, I began to think of all the marvelous
truths that are set forth concerning what God Almighty has done, what
He has done for us, for Christ's sake, for Christ's honor, for
our good. I think of John 3.16, For God
so loved the order, the arrangement that He gave. He loved a people
with an everlasting love and chose them in Christ before the
foundation of the world. And as I began to think on the
choosing of God's people in Christ, I began to think back in Genesis
when God made man and He made Adam. And He said, and I know,
I know, that here is a beautiful picture of the relationship between
the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride. God the Father, God Almighty,
Jehovah God, said this in Genesis 2.18, contemplating the Father's
love for the Son. Here's an amazing scripture,
and the Lord God said it's not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet
or fit for him." Now, I'm perfectly aware that that Scripture was
speaking, in a sense, I know this, of Adam. And God was going
to make him a bride. And he took out of Adam, he took
a rib, put Adam into a deep sleep, he took a rib, out of Adam made
a woman and help that was fit. And he created Eve and gave that
woman to Adam. Was it good that the man should
be alone? And he made a woman, gave her. I know this, everything God made
is good. I know that God Almighty had
one purpose and one purpose only in doing all things that He did
in creation to honor the Son. All things were made by Him and
for Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.
An amazing thought because in the wisdom of God, Because of
the Father's love for the Son, do we even remotely think that
there was just no purpose whatsoever in God Almighty giving His Son
a bride? Did that have no purpose whatsoever? Everything that God Almighty
has done for God Almighty, everything that the Father has ever done
for the Son, because He loved Him. He loved Him. And he did what he did and it
was good. And it was right. And it was
perfect. Some of them say, well, how can
it be who is in himself in need of absolutely nothing? Did God
need a bride to make Him more complete? Absolutely not. but in the wisdom of Almighty
God. God Almighty who would bring
honor to Himself to display His indescribable mercy. How is mercy? I'm a merciful God. I'm a just
God. I'm a Savior. How are we going to know the
attributes of God Almighty? unless Almighty God sets forth
His attributes in His appointed way. God Himself chose a bride for
the Son, for the Son's glory. That's the only reason we're
here. That's the only reason God has
shown mercy. He's going to show mercy for
His Son's sake, for His Son's honor. God Almighty made a bride,
chose a bride in Christ, gave her to Him to glorify the Son
that He would have companionship with her. I'm lost in the wonder of this,
that God Himself would have a bride that he looked upon and would
say of her in Song of Solomon, you have ravished me with one
of your eyes. Can you enter into that? The
son, the bridegroom says to the bride, you've stolen my heart. A bride he'd share his thoughts
with. One that he would be made flesh for. One that he
would be made sin for. One that he would redeem and
robe her in perfect righteousness and present her before the throne
of glory in indescribable holiness in Himself. That she would be
holy without blame and without spot before Him in love. That in the ages to come, she
would be a trophy of His mercy and grace The Father loved the Son. The
Son came into this world for a purpose, to redeem the bride
that the Father had given Him. His bride, that was the one that
the Father, the Son, the Spirit eternally loved and purposed
to have with Him in glory. Oh, the wonder! of redemption. The wonder of God honoring Himself. Of Christ being the one that
the four and twenty elders, the entire church, would cast their
crowns before and said, worthy, worthy, worthy. You redeemed
us. I'm just amazed. Amazing grace at the wonder,
precious and glorious wonder that He would call us to Himself,
that we would be like Him, made like unto Him, fashioned like
unto His glorious body. Oh, there's a whole lot more
going on right now than we've ever dreamed. How many times
we quote that Scripture? Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man. that which
God hath prepared for them that love Him. The Father loves the
Son, and hath committed, hath given all things into His hands. You see, before God ever made
a man, the Lamb was slain from before
the foundation of the world. God Almighty knew. that she was
going to fall. In His absolute wisdom, He who
is not the author of sin knew just exactly what man was going
to do. In His indescribable wisdom and
power, He worked all things after the counsel of His own will.
He knew that she was going to fall. In time, she was going
to fall. And the Father's love for the
Son, the Bride, for Christ's sake,
must be redeemed. And the Father made all provisions
for her redemption. Sinners are redeemed and saved
because of the Father's love for the Son. He's going to be
honored. It's going to be for Christ's
sake. That's the reason that the Spirit of God calls men out
of darkness. Because the Father loves the
Son. Not unto us. Not unto us, O Lord, but unto
Thee. All honor, glory. She's going
to have to be redeemed. She's going to have to be saved.
God chose her. I will have mercy and will have
compassion on whom I'll have compassion. He's going to save
her. What's He going to do? Here's
what He's going to do. He's given all things into the hands of
the Son. Everything that is spoken of
as being anything is in His hand. That's what I quoted a while
ago, Colossians. All things were made by Him for Him. All power, the Lord Jesus Christ
said in Matthew 28, 18, is given unto Me in heaven and earth.
All power. Why? The Father loves the Son. The Father has chosen a bride.
The bride is going to be redeemed. Here's the reason. Here's the
reason. John 17, 2, as thou hast given
Him power over all flesh, here's the reason, that He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." The Father loves
the Son. The Son is going to be honored.
God's people are going to be redeemed. God's people are going
to be brought to Him. Almighty God gives all power,
gives all things. All things in creation, all things
in providence, all things in salvation are in the hands of
the Son. God's will and purpose to honor
the son in the salvation of his elect is sure. Absolutely. To accomplish his will, everything
must be ordered and controlled by him whose purpose is going
to stand. Paul says, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, Ephesians 111, in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. The Father loves the Son. The Father's will for the Son
is going to be done. God's Bride. He's not going to
shed one drop of blood that's not effectual. He gives all things to the Son.
All power. All things. Knowing that He worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will, then we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 11, 36 says, For of Him
and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. The elect of God are the recipients
of His love. Imagine that. Men, women, fallen
creatures, creatures of dust that Almighty God has been pleased to have with Him. The Father, the Son, and the
Spirit. The holy angels. all but a people redeemed out
of this fallen earth, made like Him, glorified, seated with Him in the heavenlies,
seated with Christ. How can our little fickle minds
ever comprehend. Not this side of the grave will
we ever comprehend. Oh, but in that day, it will
seem like it is. And know all things. Understand
all things. The Father loves the Son. Come to Him. Bow to Him. Kiss the Son. He's the one that
the Father has given all things to. The Son is going to honor
the Father. And He's going to save His bride.
He's going to have her. He's going to clothe her. And
I'm telling you, in all these things, God's going to be honored
to the praise and the glory of the precious Lord Jesus Christ. So, thank you.