Welcome everybody out today. Appreciate you coming here. And
once again, I hope you get a blessing out of being here. I'm sure you
have already this morning with Bill's message. This morning,
I'm going to speak on a subject. It's kind of a continuation of
what the message back in the bag at 10 o'clock was. The title of my message, as you
can see here, is Christ, Our Surety. And the scripture that
I used was Hebrews 7.22. This morning, we're going to
talk about some things that is going to need your attention.
Pay close attention. It might take a little longer
than you're used to. As far as me delivering a message,
normally I'm pretty short in the messages I deliver. But this
one's going to be a little bit longer. And like I said, I do
believe you'll be blessed out of some of the things that I'll
be talking about this morning. And it has to do with Christ
our surety. It has to do with that everlasting
covenant of grace that was worked out to establish in time between
the Godhead, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, the amazing
thought, amazing thought of the infinite uncreated mind in which
our Supreme God at once determined to glorify himself and devise
and to devise all the diverse and mysterious means by which
he would complete this design. It's all represented to us under
the figure of a human council, the gracious resolution of the
Holy Trinity to save sinners and accomplish it by means which
are perfectly consistent with the supreme dignity of each divine
person and perfection of Godhead. All of this is exhibited under
the emblem of a human covenant. in which the parties engaged,
or coventees, assume certain obligations set forth by that
covenant, for the fulfillment of which they solemnly pledged
themselves to each other by affixing to it their hands and their seal. And a part which the second person
of the Trinity, God the Son, God the Son had assumed is presented
as acts of surety, which is the title of our message. Now this
morning as we take a look at all of these things that pertain
to the everlasting covenant of grace and that office of surety,
I think it wise to consider these things that we might benefit
from this knowledge and thereby grow in grace and knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'll begin this morning by looking
at the meaning of surety, exactly what a surety is, and especially
as it relates to elect centers. A surety is a substitute, a sponsor
or a bondsman who legally and voluntarily assumes either single
or jointly the obligation of another. He binds himself, either
wholly or in part, to perform all of the duties and all of
the obligations of the other person or persons for whom he
has bound himself. When suretorship is employed
in case of debt, there are three parties concerned. The creditor,
or in the case that we'll be talking about today, is God the
Father. He's the one that's owed the
debt, as our brother Bill said in the back. The other party
is the debtor. That's God's elect, the one that
owes the debt. And the surety, God the Son. And in the case of Christ, the
surety, Christ gives to the creditor, God the Father, a single bond
or a solemn promise in which he solely engages the fool to
fulfill the whole obligation of the debtor on condition that
the debtor is released from that said obligation and go free.
And the creditor accepts this bond at the surety's hand, at
Christ's hand. The creditor, by that very act
of God, accepting that solemn promise made by Christ, our surety,
to pay the debt for the debtor at once, transfers the debt from
the debtor to the surety and fully fully discharges or releases
the debtor or the sinner or God's elect from the obligation of
payment of the debt and, of course, from all liability to pay so
much as one might of that debt. This is the true nature of human
charityship in cases where the surety gives a single bond or
solemn promise to pay a debt. This is doubtly a picture of
the procedure in human affairs that Jesus has called the surety
of a better testament. Now, we're not talking about
a cosigner here. In other words, God the Son did
not cosign with God's elect that if we didn't pay the debt, that
he would assume that obligation and pay the debt. No, this Christ
assumed all the obligation to pay that debt. without any regard
for the elect and whether or not they could pay the debt,
which God knew they could not pay the debt. Let's read Hebrews
7 in verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. By the better testament, the
apostle means the covenant of grace into which the sacred three
entered before the foundation of the world was laid. Now within
that covenant of grace, all things relating to the salvation of
sinners and to the glory of each divine person and perfection
in that great work, all of this was wisely and immutably and
unchangeably determined in God's infinite and eternal mind. And the very same testament of
which he is the mediator, he is also the surety. Christ's
leadership is a part of his mediatorial office, but it is of the eternal
covenant of grace that he is the mediator. Look at Hebrews
8.6. But now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant, which was established upon better promises. of the
everlasting covenant of grace, Christ is the surety. In that
ancient and glorious impact, complete with wisdom and love,
God the Father was in Christ, reconciling the world of his
elect unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Look
at 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19. To wit, or namely, that God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing or
counting or charging their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. It was then that God laid help
upon one that is mighty, Jesus, mighty to save. Look at Psalm
89, 19. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Now, this verse is speaking of
King David in a physical sense, but in a far greater sense, it's
speaking of Christ's assurity. David is a type of Christ, but
in a spiritual sense, Christ is the one that is mighty, the
one chosen out of the people. Look at Isaiah 42. Behold, my
servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Christ, God
the Son, is the one that was chosen out of the people. He's
God's first elect, and we are elect in him. It must, therefore,
be for those in 2 Corinthians 5.19 where it reads that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, that Christ engage his gracious word,
his covenant promise, to become their surety, surety to pay that
debt. For without his suretyship, there
could neither be reconciliation to God, nor help in him for any
sinner on earth. Upon a definite but a vast number
of the human race, God placed His peculiar and immutable, unchangeable
love in His Son and chose this number of fallen, sinful humanity
in Him, in Christ. They were chosen in Christ to
be in Him, to Him a special treasure, and ordained them for everlasting
glory. Let me bring up a point at this
time In the Bible, I looked this up, the phrase in Christ is listed
some 76 times in the New Testament. And you would think that it would
be wise for us to find out exactly what that means to be in Christ. This act of God placing his unchangeable
love in his own son and choosing his elect in Christ was all done
to the praise of his own glory in the face of Jesus Christ and
for the communion with himself, his son, his spirit. Let's look
at some scripture that speaks of God's love in the choosing
of his elect in eternity. Look at Romans 9, beginning at
verse 23. And that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. which he had
aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called, not of
the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Another scripture
we'll look at is John 6, beginning at verse 37. This is Christ speaking,
all that the Father given me. When did he give them to him?
It was in that everlasting covenant of grace when he gave them to
Christ, when Christ became their surety. He says, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him, the Father,
that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all, of all, which he hath given me
in that everlasting covenant of grace, as he giveth unto Christ,
to be their surety, to come in time to pay that sin debt. He says, I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day. Also look at
Ephesians 1 beginning at verse 4. According as he, or God, had
chosen us, God's elect in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love, having predestinated us into the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved. Also 2 Timothy 2 verse 19. Nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, having dissealed the lower
north, them that are his." Also in Revelation 21, 27. And there
shall in no wise enter into it, speaking of the new Jerusalem,
or heaven itself, anything that defile it, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written
in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.
Also in Ephesians 3.19, and to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge that ye might be fulfilled with all the fullness
of God. And all this he did for his elect
merely of his own goodwill and sovereign pleasure. He loved
because he would love, and he chose to glory because he loved.
God having purposed in himself to create all mankind, this is
an eternity, elect and non-elect in one man who was Adam. As their
common head and representative, Adam was created in perfect moral
holiness and given God's law to obey, which was perfectly
agreeable with his sinless nature and also agreeable to God's own
infinite perfections. God then left this first man,
Adam, to his own mutable and changeable will. Adam, in that
state, was to act as he thought best for himself and also for
his posterity or all those he represented, which was the whole
human race. Now, God foresaw that Adam would
fall by transgressing the law, and because of that, he would
forfeit all that depended upon his obedience,
which was life and happiness. When Adam disobeyed God and broke
God's law, he not only plunged himself down deep into that terrible
situation of guilt, condemnation, and ruin, but also all of humankind
whom he represented. God foreseeing his elect, which
were still the objects of his infinite love and delight, he
foresaw his elect as they fell in Adam, and were deeply immersed
into the common ruin of Adam, their representative. The God
of all grace devised means to prevent their expulsion from
him and to raise them up to their designated honor and happiness.
It was utterly impossible that God, who is of one mind without
variation or shadow of change, should either relinquish his
design to beautify his people with himself or nullify his law. and give up the claims of His
holiness and His justice. The sovereign decree of His love
must have its proper accomplishment, and all of the elect must be
glorified. The law must take its course
without interruption, and the rights of the divine holiness
and justice must be maintained and not violated. The righteousness
of the law must be fulfilled for the honor of God, and every
sin of his elect must be punished for the satisfaction of God's
justice. In order to reconcile these two
things, how can God be just and justify an ungodly sinner? Law
and justice must be satisfied. Therefore, God the Father and
the counsel and covenant of peace before any creature existed other
than in his decree. called his coequal son, who lay
in his bosom, and was the object of his infinite delight, he called
his son to the great work of salvation, the salvation of his
elect. This is, I think, clearly revealed
in the following scriptures. Look at Psalm 89, two and four. For I have said, mercy shall
be built up forever, for faithfulness shall thou establish in the very
heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn
unto David, my servant, thy seed will I establish forever and
build up thy throne to all generations. Also look at Psalm 89, 19. Then
thou speakest in vision to the Holy One and saith, I have laid
help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. And in Isaiah 42 in verse six, I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness, and I will hold thine hand, and I will keep thee,
and give thee for a covenant of the people." Speaking of the
Father, speaking of the Son. Now, all of this is speaking
of God the Father as He speaks of His beloved Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was the surety of that everlasting covenant
of grace made before time, but accomplished in time. The father,
in his eternal calling and appointment of his son to the high important
office of savior, had a peculiar regard to his son's position
as the God-man. The human nature of the God-man,
which was to be created in the fullness of time by the Holy
Ghost and of the real substance of the Virgin Mary, the woman
seed, in union with the person of the son, And in that union,
Christ was to be honored with everlasting preeminence in all
things. Christ's nature as the God-man,
as in the divine mind, really existed in this divine account. The person and character of the
God-man and all those eternal secret transactions of deity
in which the grand mysterious plan of salvation was laid, and
all the amazing means needed for its execution were devised,
arranged, and determined in God's unchangeable mind from before
the foundation of the world. Now, although the humanity which
God the Son assumed was not really created until some thousands
of years since time had elapsed, yet God the Father, having in
eternity resolved to create it, and decreed that the Son should
assume humanity, and even though God the Son had not taken on
humanity in His incarnation, God the Son, in the covenant
of grace, did really agree to clothe Himself with humanity
and become the God-Man. He must have stood in that unique
position both in His own and in His Father's account, which
was before time began. This must also apply to the elect.
As a result of God's decree to create them and His choice of
them to be His people, which were eternally considered by
Him as His people, in eternity prior to His first creating act,
He determined that they should exist, His elect, and that they
should exist as His people and truly did exist in the eternal,
unchangeable mind and purpose of God Almighty. Look at Isaiah
43, 21. This people, speaking of God's
elect, have I formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise.
What a great and magnificent God we worship. Thus, he gave
not only Christ, the God-man, but his elect, speaking of the
Father, an eternal, decretive, or decreed existence in his own
mind and his own will and purpose. And in that existence, God viewed
them with infinite pleasure and delight. We need to see that
our existence in God's mind was not play-like or unreal, but
it was real as if we already existed. Nor are they more truly
his people, nor more exceedingly the objects of his delight as
such after their creation and regeneration than they were before
the birth of time, when they had no existence but in God's
decree. One thing must be obvious, and
that is this. In God's eternal mind and purpose,
Christ did no more exist after his divine work on earth than
he did in God's eternal mind and purpose that he had in Christ
before the world began. The divine mind that fixed his
elect in Christ as their head, by freely and unchangeably choosing
them in Christ, who entered into the covenant with them, gave
them all grace and the promise of eternal life, and blessed
them with all spiritual blessings in Him before the foundation
of the world was laid. All these things God decreed
in His eternal, unchangeable mind. In like manner, God decreed
that the Son should array Himself in human nature, and exist as
the God-man, and by that means gave him eternal, decretive existence
as such. And in that existence, the Father
viewed him as the God-man, as truly as he viewed him when he
was baptized in the River Jordan, or when he expired on that cross
of Calvary. It was in the divine decree that
Christ stood as the God-man, and it was in that decree that
the Father appointed him to be head, of the church, the savior
of the body. God made with him the covenant
of grace, invested him with all his officers, made him heir of
all things, gave him that peculiar glory for the possession and
enjoyment of which he prayed just before his death in Luke
chapter 22 and verse 42. saying, Father, if thou be willing,
remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine will be done. All things were put into his
hands. All judgment was committed unto
him. And he was given all power and
dominion in heaven and in earth. These eternal acts of the divine
will had all respects to the son who was considered as the
God man complete. not God and mere human spirit
united, but God in personal union with man, consistent of both
soul and body. His flesh, as well as his spirit,
is a part of his person. Without it, he would not be truly
God and man, nor could he fill the mediatorial office. In constituting
him the mediator, the father must have had special respect
to his whole human nature. All the divine councils relating
to human redemption have equal regards to his flesh and his
spirit. And these two parts of his humanity
are equally interested in the mediatorial covenant and both
concern in the performance of each of the covenant conditions. He is given by God the Father
for a covenant of the people as the God-man. And as such,
he sustains every union relation to his Father and to his people.
And he performs every union act. His obedience to the law, his
sufferings for sin, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension
into glory, his intercession there, and his government of
the church. must all be regarded as the joint
acts of his body and soul in personal union with his divine
nature. Some of those that may hear this
message may perhaps be disposed to treat some of the things that
I'm saying this morning with lightness, disapproval, as if
these things that we're speaking of are of little value. But I
would say to these individuals that the immeasurable being with
whom we have to do is of infinite understanding, that with him
there is neither beginning, succession, nor end, neither past nor future,
but an eternal now. With him there is neither old
or new. God sees the end from the beginning
and calls those things which are not as though they were.
And therefore, that all the operations of his power in the worlds of
nature and of grace are designed only to bring forward and to
display and manifest before angels and men. And all of this is to
his eternal praise and to our delight, which is to the amazing
understanding of such an infinite mind, a man in which every creature
and every work was eternally present and eternally perfect,
a mind which is of every creature and every work was eternally
present and eternally perfect. We must understand that if anything
could possibly be found which was either not present or not
perfect in his eternal thought, his knowledge would not be perfect,
his mind would not be infinite, nor could it with truth be said
that he worked with all things out of the counsel of his own
good will. Let us now consider the person
of Christ, the God man, as constituted, consequently, truly existing
in a divine eternal decree. I think it certain with reference
to the son of God's complex character, which was brought forth in the
infinite mind of God's decree, that the following inspired language
is inserted in scriptures for his glory and for our instruction.
Look at 1 Corinthians 2, beginning at verse 7. But we speak the
wisdom of God and the mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. This is a real person
bearing the title of wisdom. Wisdom is one of the names in
which the incarnate God is made known by the Holy Spirit in the
scriptures. Listen to what the writer of
Proverbs says concerning the eternality of the Son of God
in Proverbs 8, beginning at verse 22. The Lord possessed me in
the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When
there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there was no fountain
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth, while as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the earth. When he prepared the heavens,
I was there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the death, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the waters should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth. Then I was by him, and one brought
up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always
before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth,
and my delights were with the sons of men. If you consider
the Son of God as not being real or existing before his incarnation,
or without regard to his incarnation, He could neither be brought forth
nor set up, as we have just read in the above verses in Proverbs,
because as God, He possesses uncreated existence and was eternally
the Most High. The only way that the Son of
God was incarnate from everlasting had to be only in God's eternal
decree, because His human nature was not created till a certain
period of time specified in Scripture. as we see in Luke 1, 30 and 31. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. Once again, what I am attempting
to show everyone is that all of these things, even though
they might not have happened in time, have always been a reality
in God's eternal mind, eternal and unchangeable mind. If we
could just get a glimpse of the eternality of God's infinite
and unchangeable mind as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
entered into that eternal and everlasting covenant of grace
before time, it should lead us to view and appreciate even more
the Christ, whose going forth were from old, from everlasting.
God the Son decretively incarnate in his immense love to his Father
and his chosen people, engaging his heart to draw nigh to his
Father in favor of those he chose. The Son of God gave himself to
the Father in order to become the surety of God's elect. He
assumed their character as man to stand in their place and answer
for them in all things essential to God's honor and for the elect's
being made free from bondage, sin, and death, and to provide
them with immortal happiness. Look at Hebrews 10, 7. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written. to do thy will, O God." This
is Christ speaking of the Father. This was His language when He
came into the world and clothed Himself with our nature, and
it was no less His language in those eternal transactions between
Him and the Father, relating to His future incarnation, obedience,
and sufferings, for the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, and for the salvation of His Church. For all that He
said and did in time was nothing but the counterpart of the covenant
of grace that was made before time and therefore was prior
to his appearance upon this earth and from all eternity. To him
who calls those things which are not as though they were as
if it had been really done, Christ is therefore called the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the earth. The covenant in which
Christ engaged and was accepted of the Father, as assured of
his people, was ratified by the divine oath. Look at Hebrews
6 beginning at verse 17. Wherein God willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs a promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath. by two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation
who have fled from refuge to lay hold upon the hope that set
before them. Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entered into that within
the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
made and high priest, forever after the order of Melchizedek. The very Son of God stood before
the Father as the whole body of the elect, representing them
in their position as debtors bound by the law, as creatures
to perform as a condition of life and happiness, obedience
to its precepts absolutely perfect, and as transgressors to suffer
punishment for sin as a result, as a result of Christ's standing
and surety. for his elect, their obligation to perform perfect
obedience to the law as a condition for life became his obligation. Christ stood bound to fulfill
it in its full extent. Indeed, it appears to me that
he was no less bound and obligated to yield obedience to all the
precepts on their account than he would have on his own, had
he been only a mere human creature. He was as much liable to suffer
the full weight of divine indignation due to their sins as he could
have been if he had perpetrated them all himself. This would
be just the same as a human surety who has bound himself to pay
the debt for another. He would be just as much liable
to pay it and suffer an arrest for it as he could be if he had
really made the debt himself. The father is lawgiver and creditor,
the one owed the debt, even from the early date of the covenant
of his love, which King David says in 2 Samuel 23, verse five,
2 Samuel 23, verse five, although my house be not so with God,
yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
ensured, for this is all my salvation. and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow." God really considered his son as the fulfiller
of his holy law and the end of it for righteousness to all his
people. Christ was charged with every sin which his elect committed
and was truly responsible for all their guilt. The eyes of
divine holiness and justice were always upon him. as the only
person from whom the elect were to receive their due honor, which
could only come from the perfect fulfillment of God's law and
justice. It is for certain that all the
elect deserve the vengeance of eternal fire, just as much as
the non-elect, along with the devils themselves. But then to
say that there ever was anything like a possibility of God's elect
suffering the condemnation of God, in my humble opinion, is
to deny the eternity of Christ's surety ship and to call into
question its binding force of law and its value prior to Christ's
death. It would be to make void the
covenant and counsel of the Most High God and to make it impossible
to account for the salvation of any of those Old Testament
saints who died before Christ actually suffered. To say that
there were a possibility of God's elect suffering for their sins
would be to draw over portions of scripture, a thick cloud of
obscurity. For example, if there is a just
analogy between a human purity surety-ship and the surety-ship
of our Savior, since the Holy Ghost, infinite in wisdom, has
made use of human surety-ship as the true figure of the surety-ship
of our Savior. The fact is, as above stated,
that when the Son, as the surety of His people, presented unto
the Father His bond or His solemn promise to pay a debt, for his
elect, in which he freely surrendered himself to suffer in their stead
the full satisfaction of their sins, and the Father accepted
it at his hand. This is all done in that everlasting
covenant of grace. In that very instant, their obligation,
or the elect's obligation, and their liability to suffer for
them, for those sins, became entirely Christ. And of course, they, by the gift
of the above bond, must have been completely exempted from
both the obligation and the liability to suffer for their sins. It
follows, therefore, that if the elect were ever liable to suffer
the wrath of God for their sins, at that time Jesus could not
have engaged himself as a surety to suffer for them. Also, if
God's elect were liable to suffer for sins until Christ came in
time and suffered for them and liable they must have been according
to some preachers in our day who would say that the elect
were not delivered from their liability to suffer for their
sins until Christ suffered for them. All who would believe that
the elect were ever liable to suffer for sins would necessarily
have to believe that Christ did not involve himself to be their
surety until the time of his agonies and death. And so every
just idea of the eternity of the suretorship of Christ vanishes. If Christ did not engage to be
the elect surety until his suffering and death, then that's the only
other thing you can come up with. Where is the value and effectiveness
of his suretorship prior to his death? And if, in fact, that
the sinner was liable to suffer for sins until Christ actually
died, where is the value and effectiveness of his suretorship
prior to Christ's death? And how did any of those transgressors
who died before the sufferings of and death of Christ took place,
how did any of them ever escape the damnation of hell? Were none
of all the millions who departed out of this world during those
4,000 years that it elapsed before his crucifixion, were any of
them saved? Surely thousands of thousands
entered heaven. And on what ground did they enter
heaven? It was not in consequence of
their own works for then as now by the deeds of law no flesh
living could be justified before God. The only way by which the
Old Testament saints could have been saved and justified before
God was by the Son of God's eternal covenant engagement as their
surety to suffer for them in the fullness of time on this
ground and on this ground alone those saints before the cross
rose. to immoral glory, all based on Christ's assurity to come
in time and pay the debt and his actual coming in time, establishing
righteousness on their behalf and dying the death of the cross.
Now, if such of the elect as died before the death of the
mediator had so complete an exemption from all liability to suffer
the divine displeasure for their sin and guilt, and was exalted
to heaven and actually placed in the bosom of the eternal love,
can anyone give me reason why the whole election of grace,
before and after the cross, would not have the same exemption from
all liability and have it on the very same ground? Did not
the elect after the cross, all stand alike as those before the
cross, as related to Christ is our surety? Did he not engage
at once in a life for them all, the Old Testament saints as well
as those after the death of Christ? How then can any man soberly
think that his engagement, Christ, simply considered, produced more
and greater effects in favor of one part of the elect as the
other part of the elect, those before the cross or those after
the cross? And how could one of them be in any sense liable
to wrath one moment after he became their surety? Once again,
to say that there were any possibility of God's elect suffering for
their sins would be to draw over portions of scripture a thick
cloud of obscurity or lack of clarity of difficulty in being
understood. By saying that there were any
possibility of God's elect suffering for their sins, and some say
that, most people say that, is to be unfriendly to the covenant
of grace, of which the scriptures affirm that it is ordered in
all things and sure, and that it is all our salvation. Now,
if it was ordered in all things and sure, it most certainly includes
in its nature and constitution the non-imputation of sin to
the elect, as our brother Bill talked about this morning, and
the imputation of it unto Christ. Let me say that again. Now, if
that covenant of grace was ordered all things insure, it most certainly
includes in its nature and constitution the non-imputation of sin to
the elect and the imputation of it, of sin, unto Christ, and
the transference of all liability to suffer for sin from the elect
to Christ. They must have been as complete
at the instance they passed God's eternal mind as ever they were
or could be afterward. The logical conclusion is in
eternity, in the everlasting covenant of grace, Christ, I'm
sure of it, took on the full responsibility to suffer for
the sins of God's elect. God the Father imputed or charged
God the Son with the sins of His elect And Christ assuredly
accepted full responsibility with delight. Therefore, Christ,
the only person liable to suffer for the elect sin, not God's
elect, remember what God's word says about the blessed man. Look
at Romans 4, beginning at verse 6. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute or charge them with their sin. If in all
things in which it was ordered, it was made sure. And if it contains
all salvation, all the elect must have been eternally secure
by it and from all liability of God's wrath. And it had to
have taken place when it was ratified by the joint oath of
the Holy Trinity before time, as much as they were when Christ,
as in his surety ship responsibility, suffered for them in the fullness
of time. We read in the divine records
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them. We also read that Christ was
made the surety of a better testament. And finally, we read in scripture
that God hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen
perverseness in Israel, that is spiritual Israel, God's elect. I hope that this message has
helped the hearers become better acquainted with Christ, our surety. Christ who, in that everlasting
covenant of grace, coveted to save a people with the Father.
He took on the responsibility of surety. He took their debt
on himself. And in time, he came into this
world, worked out a righteousness, and charges it to our account.
It is God that justifies. He's the one that accounts righteous. He's the one that imputes and
not imputes. I pray that God will use this
message for the saving of soul. In Christ's name, amen.