It is so very good to be with
you again. Let's turn tonight to the 11th
chapter of John's Gospel. John chapter 11. So very good to be here with
Brother Stoniker, Brother Mahan. Always am delighted, delighted
beyond what words can express to see a father and son preaching
together and hear a father-in-law and son-in-law preaching the
gospel of God's grace. What an honor. What an honor. When our Lord Jesus went out
to the tomb with Mary and Martha where Lazarus was, The Jews saw
the Savior do something he did once. We're told Jesus wept. And when they observed that,
they were astonished. They were astonished. In verse
36, then said the Jews, behold how he loved them. The tears of our Savior at Lazarus'
tomb produced such astonishment in their minds that those Jews
who stood at the tomb exclaimed, behold, how he loved him. As I read those words, I can't
help but to think, had they known what many of us know by long
and blessed experience, they would truly have been astonished
at his love, far beyond what those words express. My subject
tonight is astonishing love. I want you to be filled with
the knowledge of his love, the length and breadth and depth
and height of the love of God in Christ that passes knowledge. Look beyond Lazarus too and beyond
the earthly circumstances of this text to him who is seated
yonder on the throne of glory who is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities and be astonished at his love. I'm astonished to
think that the Son of God might turn his eyes toward me and just
look in my direction. but that he should love me. That the God of glory should
love me. Should devote himself to me.
That's what love is, isn't it? It's the devotion of yourself
to another. That he should devote himself
in the totality of his being. In all that he is. In all that
he does, that he should love me. Think, O my soul, what a
huge volume shall be read over in eternity of the Savior's love
to me. His distinct, distinguishing,
express, personal, particular love to me. Truly, I have found
thy love is better than wine. in eternity, seeing as we cannot
now see, and knowing as we cannot now know. I'm guessing about
this, but I think I have a good basis for the guess. I suspect
that we shall look back over the ages of time with astonishment
at every hour, and every week, every day, and every month, and
every year, at the wondrous things He has done for us because of
His astonishing love. Oh, for you who do not know my
God, may He be pleased now to seize your heart's attention,
give you faith in His Son, and cause you tonight to be overwhelmed
with the knowledge of His love. In that day, when all time is
over, and everything is accomplished that God determined from eternity
must be accomplished, all heaven, all the angels of God, all God's
elect, all creatures among the damned, all the demons of hell,
Satan himself shall stand in awe at the astonishing love of
Christ for his people. astonishing love, astonishingly
on measure. We see sweet tokens of that love
throughout our journey here, not only in his tears of sympathy,
but most fully and most wondrously in the precious blood so freely
shed for us, poured out for the redemption of our souls at Calvary,
and in the manifold works of mercy, love, and grace performed
for us. As I was sitting there trying
to think about preaching before the service, I often have thought this. I wonder
which is more blessed, to love somebody or to be loved. And I think I came to a conclusion.
It's more blessed to be loved. To be loved of God. loved of God from everlasting.
What astonishment. If we would know love, we know
it by its deeds. Not by words, not by heart-tugging
songs, but by deeds. Love is known by its deeds. Love is known by its deeds. and our Savior's love is made
manifest by his deeds for us, to us, and with us. If we were
in a right state of mind, we would often remind ourselves
and one another of how wondrously our Savior loves us. Our conversations
would be taken up with one another, not about other things, but about
his astonishing love. We waste far too much time and
far too much thought in meaningless trifles. How much better it would
be to think about and speak about and have our hearts engrossed
with the astonishing love of Christ for our souls. Oh, that
we might learn to talk less about sports and more about the Savior.
Less about politics and more about providence. less about
business and more about the blood, less about religion and more
about the Redeemer, and that we might be astonished at him,
astonished at his infinite love for us. Soon, in that land beyond
the river, when we're seated with the saints of God in light,
we will want no other theme of thought, of conversation. Everything
will serve to remind us, behold how he loved us. Let's look at it from several
angles tonight. First, go back to eternity. In our minds and our thoughts,
give a little attention to the deeds of our Savior's blessed
love for us, performed on our behalf from everlasting. When
did Christ begin to love us? Before ever the sun was made. Before ever the moon reflected
its light. Before ever God created this
round earth. Before ever there was an angel
to sing his praise. From everlasting he loved us. He says, behold, I have loved
you with an everlasting love. But the love of God is revealed
and is expressed It is known only in Christ. Only in Christ. Not in His power, not in His
creation, only in Christ. In His providence, in His creation,
in His deeds, as we see those working for us in Christ. But
you know the love of God only as you know His Son, and know
the wonders of love in His Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ before
the world was stood forth from eternity as our covenant surety
and assumed total Responsibility for our souls turn over to Ephesians
chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1 He looked upon all his elect
and he saw that there was no man and wondered that there was
no intercessor. Therefore his own arm brought
salvation unto him and his righteousness, it sustained him. Here in the
first chapter of Ephesians, we see something of the covenant
grace of God our Savior. Our Savior stood forth and swore
to his own hurt and changed not. He abided by that which was done
from eternity. Verse three, Ephesians one. Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us who hath who
hath before the world was, it was done. He hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. How did he do that? According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. according
to the good pleasure of his will. God blessed his elect with everything
God will bless me with. He gave his elect every blessing
of grace, everything God would ever give to any sinner, he gave
to every chosen sinner in Christ before the world was according
to the election of grace because he chose us in everlasting love. predestined us to be made the
sons of God in the experience of His grace. And this He did
according to the good pleasure of His will, just because He
would. Just because He would. You see, He who is God is God. He who is God is God. He absolutely rules the universe
all the time, in every detail, everywhere. He's God Almighty. He always does His will. Nothing ever comes to pass that
is not His will. Nothing ever happens except by
His decree and by His power. Read on. He did it, verse 6, to the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted. Accepted is a good word. This
word accepted, though, means much more than I just accepted. It means much more than I receive
what you're giving me. It means highly favored. as Mary
was highly favored of God to be the mother of the humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Highly favored, highly honored,
smiled upon, embraced. He has made us accepted in Christ
the beloved, in whom, in Christ Jesus, we have redemption. Redemption
through his blood. And wherever there is redemption,
there is the forgiveness of sins. according to the riches of his
grace. Now read on. Wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him.
in whom also we have obtained. We have obtained already. We're
seated together with Christ in heaven. We have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Now watch verse
12. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first
trusted in Christ. What does that say? What does
that say? When Robert Hawker lay on his
deathbed, a friend came in, was reading to him from the first
chapter of Ephesians, and he got to this verse, and Hawker
said, and who first trusted in Christ? And the man reading to
him was perplexed. And he paused, didn't say anything.
He said the triune Jehovah first trusted in Christ. The Lord Jesus
stood forth in the covenant of grace and pledged himself to
become one of us. He took us into union with himself
and pledged himself to obey God's holy law for us, to bring in
everlasting righteousness for us, to sacrifice himself for
the putting away of our sins, to die for us in our place to
send forth his spirit in the fullness of time and call us
and keep us and bring us at last and present us faultless before
the presence of the triune God and the Lord God the triune Jehovah
struck hands with the surety. He said I'll trust you with them.
I'll trust you with them. I'll trust you with my people.
I'll trust you with my will. I'll trust you with the universe.
I'll trust you with my glory. I'll trust you with my purpose.
I trust you! Now look at the next line. In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. In whom ye also trusted. If the triune God And trust the God-man, our mediator,
with everything. You can safely trust him. You
will wisely trust him. Oh, may God give you grace to
trust him. Yes, God, the eternal son, covenanted
to redeem and save his elect, and we were accepted in him when
he became totally responsible for his people. My dear friend,
Brother Harry Graham, is with the Lord, has been for many years
now. Pastored a small church, Sunlight Baptist Church in Asheboro,
North Carolina. And as was the case when I was
younger, most of our friends, my wife and I, were many years
our senior. Brother Harry was probably 30
years older than I am. But we got to be good friends.
I was 19. And I learned so much from him. And I asked him one
day, some questions came up about human responsibility. And he
was sitting out in his carport, had a tennis ball, and bouncing
it back and forth off the wall. Never could bounce it while talking
to me. He said, well, I'll tell you what I think about responsibility.
He said, it's our response to his ability. That's a pretty
good definition of responsibility. It's our response to his ability. Jesus Christ, God the Son, in
the covenant of grace, became totally responsible for his people
in every detail, so that if even one of his sheep is lost, the
shepherd bears the blame, not the sheep. If one of his covenant
ones is lost, the covenant surety bears the blame, not the one
who's lost. He took on himself all responsibility
for us. And the Father trusted him with
our souls, trusted him with his glory, trusted him with his will. And our Lord Jesus Christ, in
the fullness of time, in due time, then came into this world. Behold how he loved us. He left
the glories of heaven and took into union with himself permanently
our nature. Now I've read a few theology
books over the years and I know you're not supposed to say this.
You're not supposed to say God became a man. Well, yes you are. Yes you are. The Word was made
flesh, what it was. The Word was made flesh. God became one of us. God took
into union with himself our nature. He made himself one of us and
made us one with him. So that Jesus Christ came here
in human flesh, God stepped into time, stepped into a body, took
on himself our nature, and what depth of humiliation that must
have been. We know so little about heaven
and its glory that you and I can't begin to imagine what a sacrifice
he made when God came here as a man. Peter said the angels
desire to look into this thing. The angels stand in awe of this. They followed him through his
life. How they must have stood in awe with every step he took
through this earth for 33 years. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, rich in every detail,
needing nothing, lacking nothing. Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be
made rich. The incarnation of Christ is
one of the greatest marvels of history, one of the greatest
marvels of all time, one of the greatest marvels of the universe. Paul put it this way, without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews
chapter 2. I want you to see this. Hebrews 2 verse 16. He took on him, that is he took
hold of. He took not on him the nature
of angels, but he took on him, he took hold of the seed of Abraham. Why is that written and why is
it written that way? Why doesn't it say he took on
him the seed of Adam? Because he didn't. Why does it
say he did not take on him the nature of angels? Because he
didn't. The angels that fell lost their first estate and are
reserved in chains of judgment until the great day. There's
no mercy for them. God has no intention of being
gracious to them. They're forever damned. They're
written off, reprobate, cast off forever. And so it is with
men and women in this world. There are vessels of wrath and
vessels of mercy. God's elect and the reprobate. Our Lord Jesus didn't come here
to save all men. It was never his desire, never
his intention, never his purpose, not in any way. Jacob have I
loved, he says, but Esau have I hated. He took not on him the
seed of Adam, but it took on him the seed of Abraham, his
covenant people. God came down here in human flesh. and took our nature into union
with himself permanently for the purpose of saving his covenant
people, his chosen people. He is seated yonder in heaven
now in our nature. In him, seated on the throne
of God, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body so that
the incomprehensible eternal God in all his fullness resides
in that man seated upon the throne of heaven, the Lord Jesus, our
Savior. Behold how he loved us. We are
members of his body, of his flesh, and of his blood. And our Savior,
for a third thing, being found in fashion as man, became obedient
unto death. even the death of the cross. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. He bare all our sicknesses, endured all the suffering entailed
in suffering for sin and because of sin. because our sins were
made his. And under the white hot fury
of God's holy wrath and justice, God slaughtered his son as a
just sacrifice for sin. Under the white hot fury of his
holy wrath and justice, an angry God Slaughtered his son! Now listen to me. Because his
son deserved to be slaughtered. There are many things in this
book I make no effort to explain. I don't have any idea how God could
become a man and never cease to be God, but he did. And I
don't have any idea how God, who is life and can never die,
the immutable God, could suffer and die. But we're told in Acts
20, 28 that God died to redeem his church. How could that be? I have no idea, but I know he
did. He who died in our stead at Calvary
is himself the eternal God who can never die. And our Lord Jesus
died Because he who knew no sin, who had no sin, who did no sin,
who could not sin, was made sin. That awful mass of horrid, ungodly,
foul, filth, iniquity, transgression and sin. that which in our self-righteousness, and maybe a little even in our
righteousness, revolts at those things you think of that just
enrage you, anger you, those things that when you Reading
a paper here on these, you just, you clench your fist. Christ
was made sin. And I assure you, you haven't
heard that. With the emphasis, I wish I could
speak it and you could hear it. Without limitation, everything
involved in him being made sin, he was made sin for us. that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Turn back to Galatians
chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. If you want
to know something of the astonishing love of Christ for us, visit
often Gethsemane, Gabbatha, and Golgotha. Behold the crucified
Christ as he's Suffering in the room instead of his people all
the horror of God's wrath Galatians 3 13 Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law Being made a curse for us He was made
a curse for us For it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. I But the sentence doesn't stop
there. He was made a curse for us that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, that is,
come on God's elect among the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we, his elect, might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. How this could come to pass,
no mortal soul can conceive. Yet this is the most blessed
revelation there is in all of Holy Scripture. He who knew no
sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He bare our transgressions. The Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquity of us all because it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Please the Lord to bruise him. God declares repeatedly for us
that he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The punishment
of the wicked, finite creatures in hell, can never satisfy the
justice of God. But when Christ was made sin
for us, justice shoved his sword into him. And he swallowed up the sword.
And God says to Jacob, fury is not in me because justice is
satisfied. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him instead of me. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him instead of you my brother behold how he loved us still
there's more we're told in Romans 8 verse 17 that the Lord Jesus
Christ has so completely given himself to us and so fully joined
himself to us that all he is and all he has is ours we are
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Now, I try
to think big. I try to think big. That's not hard for me to do,
because I got a little mind, so anything I think about is
too big for me. But our Savior, by a marriage bond which cannot
be broken, for he hateth putting away, has espoused his chosen
bride to himself in righteousness and in truth, And he, marrying
us, has made himself one with us and us one with him. One with us and us one with him. This dear lady and I have been
married now for 50 years. 50 years. And we think a lot
alike. Too bad for her. We think a lot
alike. We'll be driving down the road
and see something, and I'll start to say something, and the very
words come out of her mouth at the same time, or vice versa.
But we will never be one flesh. That can't happen. Paul quotes
from Adam and says, for this call shall a man leave his father
and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they too shall
be one flesh. How could Adam say that? He didn't
have a father and mother. He told them about something
else. Paul said, this is a great mystery, but I'm not talking
about man and woman. I'm not talking about Don and
Shelby. I'm not talking about Larry and Robin. No, no, no.
I'm talking about Christ and his church. We're one with him. The Lord Jesus in John 17, when
he came to the end of his work on this earth, said, Father,
I've glorified you in the earth. And now, oh, righteous father, Restore to me the glory that
I had with you before the world was Remember we read in Ephesians
1 the father trusted the son When the triune God trusted Christ
our sheriff did he put into his hands the reins of the universe
here you take over son You take over He put into his hands everything
everything and now the Savior says father I Show the world
the glory I had with you before the world was. And on the day
of Pentecost, he poured out his spirit, declaring that Jesus
Christ is king. He's the Lord. He's the covenant
of Christ. He's the covenant redeemer. He's
the covenant surety. He's fulfilled all things. And
then in verse 20 of John 17, our Savior said, the glory thou
gavest me, I have given thee. glory, all his glory as the God-man
mediator. What is that? That's the full
reward of his perfect obedience as our surety. The Father said,
ask of me, I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance.
And the Lord Jesus declares that all he is, in all his person,
in all his work, with all his property, in all his righteousness,
in all his perfection, is ours. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. He withholds from us nothing. Not now, not tomorrow, not in
eternity. So that in the day of judgment,
he publicly says to his own, come He blessed it, my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world so that all the riches of God's grace, all the riches
of Christ's glory, all the honor, the majesty, the greatness that's
his, he has bestowed upon us. Think often too about our Lord's
dealings with us in the days of our unregeneracy. Oh, how
he loved us. Jude addresses his epistle in
Jude verse 1 to God's elect, those who are sanctified by God
the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Now, Jude
states that differently than Paul does. He states the order
differently than Peter does. One of them must have got it
wrong. No, they got it right. They got it right. Jude is talking
to us about our Lord's preserving us through the ages of time,
through the Adam fall, through the days of our unregeneracy,
unto the day of our calling. He preserved us and called us. Now having called us, he preserves
us still. Oh, how he must have loved us. to preserve us unto the appointed
hour of love, when he would call us by his grace. Several years
ago, I was preaching out in Wichita Falls, Texas. I used to go out
there every six or eight weeks. I did so for about 25 years.
And I was wearing these glasses. And I broke this bridge right
here. It's the only pair of glasses I had with me. And I couldn't
drive home, so I got it fixed. And I normally don't wear shorts
and things. I have no objection. I just normally
don't, the way I dress. especially when I was a larger
man than I am now. Fellas my size don't look real
good in shorts. But that day I was driving about
16 hours and so I had on a pair of shorts and we were waiting
for the eye doctor's office to open so I could get my glasses
fixed and I took my wife into a dress shop there and there's
an old lady sitting there. She grabbed me a jitty. She's
an old lady. I found out later her son and
daughter-in-law were part of the group I preached to but she
owned the store. She's sitting there And she took
one look at me, and she said, what part of Germany are you
from? I said, well, my family is of German descent, I'm told. But why did you say that? She
said, nobody's got tree trunks for legs like that. It's not
German. Germans, historically, any of you who have German relatives,
please forgive facts of history. But Germans, historically, had
been a cruel, barbaric, mean people. But God preserved the
race. Through war after war after war
after war, through the ages of time, God preserved the race. Until a family whose name has
something to do with keepers of the Ford, And another family,
the name's Haralson. Both sides of the family, German.
Immigrated to the United States of America. My mother's folks
were sharecroppers down in North Carolina. And I was born in a
sharecropper shack just outside of Lillington, North Carolina.
And she and my dad, how they met, I really don't know. He
was from up in the mountains of Western North Carolina. And she was down close to the
coast in eastern North Carolina. Had no idea how they met. But
they managed to get together, and here I am. Preserved all
these people through wars, famine, sickness, disease, hatred, strife,
murder. Preserved them generation after
generation after generation. because he appointed a day when
there'd be a fellow born in Bladen County, North Carolina, his name
be Don Fortner, for whom he had appointed a time of love, we
would call him by his grace. And from June 10, 1950 until
1967, he preserved me while I courted with hell. He kept me while I lived with
my fist shoved in God's face every day. He called, and I stuck
my fingers in my ears and refused to hear his call. He stood in
my way, and I tried to shove him out of my way. He called,
and I would not hear. Not only that, but he provided
for me and protected me, kept me. I would court with death,
and he preserved me and kept me. kind of like Hosea provided
for and kept Gomer, provided everything she needed, hedged
up her way until he graciously forced her into his arms. Oh, how I thank God. He won't
take no for an answer from his elect. He said, I will be your
God, and you shall be my people. And so he brings it to pass.
And he sweetly, graciously, Forces us into the arms of our Savior,
and I'm here to tell you now If ever you come to know him
it will be because God Forces you into the Savior's arms It will be because God Forces
you to believe on his son. It will be because God works
faith in you and if he doesn't Hell will be your home forever
Oh, may God be so gracious to you. Then he comes in grace and makes us, as Peter puts it,
to be partakers of the divine nature. Not only is Jesus Christ
the Lord our righteousness in the sense that he established
righteousness for us, brought in everlasting righteousness
for us by his obedience to the law, so that while he walked
on this earth, loving God with all his heart, soul, mind, and
being, and loving his neighbor as himself. Now listen to me. Believe me, I'm not so ignorant
or so crazy or so insane as to make this statement if it weren't
right here in this book. Brother Gabe, I walked on this
earth and obeyed God perfectly in him. Kept his law perfectly. Loved my neighbor as myself perfectly. Loved God with all my heart,
soul, body, and being perfectly. For the full age of a man. So
that he calls my name, Jehovah-seeking you, the Lord our righteousness.
Jeremiah 33, 16. But that's not all. When he comes
in saving power, The Lord Jesus, by his spirit, enters into the
hearts of chosen redeemed sinners and makes us partakers of the
divine nature. Several years ago, I read a biography
of George Whitefield. And the biographer stated that
Whitefield attributed his knowledge of the gospel of God's grace
to a pamphlet he read written by a fellow by the name of Henry
Scroggill. Scrooge died when he was 26 years old, I believe.
The only thing he ever wrote was this pamphlet. It was called
The Life of God in the Soul of Man. And I thought, if I can
get that, I sure want to get it. And I took about five minutes,
found a copy on the internet, downloaded it, did all the digitizing
stuff on it, and read it. Whoo! What a sermon. The Life of God in the Soul of
a Man. That's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Regeneration, the new birth,
is not by saying a prayer, making a decision, walking in front
of a church, kneeling at an altar, getting baptized, joining the
church, changing your life. No! The new birth is God moving
into you. Creating in you a new man. And
this is how the scriptures describe him. Created in righteousness
and in true holiness. so that every child of God has
in him that new man that really is me. That really is me. Well, Todd and I talked about
this a few weeks ago, but Paul, he called me up, John chapter
three, and he said, which one's me? I said, yeah, that's you.
That which is born of the devil, which can't do anything but sin,
that's you. No, that's not me. I know it's not, because Paul
says, no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I said,
old man, that's, That's what I used to be. He's still here. He's still here. He's going to
die, but he's still here. He's already crucified in Christ,
but he's still here. And this body and flesh is going
to the grave. Thank God it's going to the grave for this new
man. This new man is called life,
everlasting life, eternal life. Christ is the way, the truth,
the life. He's the life. That's a new man. The Lord our righteousness. And
we are made the very righteousness of God in Him in the new birth. And still we live in this body
of flesh. Look here. Look here. Oh, what indifference. he endures, what provocations he bears, what
transgressions he forgives. This adamant heart of stone,
he melts. Though I shut the door against
him, He sweetly puts his hand in by
the hole in the door and will not let me go. Will not let me leave him. Will
not let me abandon him, because he says, I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Oh, astonishing love. I'll quit
and let Gabe preach. Solomon tells us in the fifth
chapter that this love is unquenchable love. Unquenchable love. This love is a love no fire can
extinguish, no floods can drown, nothing can stop. Unquenchable
love, as David Hannah I've known both of y'all almost all your
lives. You have known all your lives. Love each other. Don't
have a question about that. But you could quench her love. That lady loved me 52 years. I could quench her love. I love
that lady. She could quench my love for
her. Behold how he loved us. Thank you, blessed Savior, for
love I've not been able and shall never be able to quench. Behold
how he loved us. That's called astonishing love.