I text this morning is Hebrews
chapter 7 verse 22. This divinely inspired book was
written by holy men of God, infallibly directed by God the Holy Spirit,
for one expressed purpose. The Bible was written for this
purpose, to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in all
His redeeming, saving fullness and glory to the perishing sinners. Now, this book is not a book
about science. It does speak of scientific matters,
and when it does, it's true. This book is not a book about
politics. It does deal with political issues,
but it's not a book about politics. It is not a book about morality. It does give rules of conduct
for men, distinguishing between morality and immorality. And
it's a book to be obeyed, but it is not a book about moral
issues. This book is designed and intended
of God to reveal Jesus Christ. It's a hymn book, H-I-M. It's all about hymn. This book
is the book of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. Everything in the Bible is designed
and intended of the Spirit of God to show fallen men and women
the way of salvation. And that way is Jesus Christ
the Lord. I wish I could persuade everybody
who hears my voice of this glorious fact. Jesus Christ is salvation. Jesus Christ is salvation. That's all. That's all. Jesus Christ is salvation. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The whole of our acceptance before
God is the person and work of Jesus Christ. We're accepted
in the beloved. We are not accepted of God because
of anything we do or anything we feel. or anything we desire
or anything we will, but we're accepted of God because of Jesus
Christ alone, because of who he is and what he has done on
our behalf as the center substitute. That's all. That's all. Our acceptance
with God does not vary. Our acceptance with God does
not rise and it does not fall. Our acceptance with God is an
immutable, everlasting acceptance in the beloved. The whole of
our assurance, the whole of our assurance and the grace of God
and the whole of our assurance of salvation by grace is Jesus
Christ alone. That's it. I stand before you
this morning as a man with some measure of reasonable, confident
assurance that my sins are pardoned, that God Almighty looks upon
me with pleasure and favor and delight. Delight. God looks upon me and says, I'm
well pleased. I have confidence of that. Why? Well, it's certainly not because
of anything in me. And it's certainly not because
of anything done by me. But it is this, I know, whom
I have invoked. And I'm persuaded, I stand convinced,
by long experience and by fresh experience, by the Word of God
and by the Spirit of God, I stand convinced that He is able to
keep that which I have committed unto Him, my everlasting soul. against that man. He's able to
do it. And I believe he will. He's as good as his words. I
trust it. And trusting him, I cannot die. Not only is he the whole of our
assurance and the whole of our acceptance, but Christ alone
is the whole of our security. What about tomorrow? So many
have fallen. So many have departed. So many
have gone away. So many who once seemed to be
the pillars of the church have now crumbled and fallen by the
wayside. So many who once seemed to run
well in the race have now turned aside to walk in the path of
rebellion and unbelief. What about tomorrow? Our Lord
Jesus says, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never
perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hands. My father which gave them to
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my father's hands. I fully expect, I fully expect
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to keep me in the way of life. I expect him to do so. Now that's
not presumption. It's called hope, a good hope,
a well-grounded hope. a hope based upon the word of
God. I fully expect He who loved me
and redeemed me to keep me unto everlasting glory. Faithful is
He that called you who also will do it. I am confident of this
one thing, that if God had begun a good work of gracing you, He
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Nothing is decided
by us. Nothing is determined by us. Nothing is done by us. Nothing
depends upon us. In the matter of salvation, Christ
is all. Let me repeat what I have said
so often to you. Our relationship with God does
not in any measure depend on what we do. Now, what we do has
no effect whatsoever upon our relationship with God. What we
do, whether it be good or bad, has no effect upon our relationship
with God. I believe that. I know folks
say, well, that's antinomianism. I know folks say, well, that
gives men a license to sin. I know folks say, if you preach
that, people will go out and live like hell. Only the children
of hell. Only the children of hell. God's
saints recognize the goodness and mercy of God and cry, oh,
God called me to live for your glory. who loved me and gave
himself for me. Now, our relationship with God
does in great measure determine how we live and what we do. But what we do doesn't determine
our relationship with God. That's what I say. If I am in
Christ, if you are in Christ, we are infallibly, immutably,
unconditionally, Eternally, S-A-V-E-D, saved. There's no question about
that. We're saved by God's almighty
grace. Near, so very near to God, nearer
I cannot be. For in the person of God's Son,
I am as near as He. Dear, so very dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. For in the person of Christ His
Son, I am as dear as He. Now, the Holy Spirit is so anxious
for us to enjoy the comfort and assurance of our salvation by
Christ that he uses metaphor after metaphor to assure every
believing sinner that all is well between us and our God.
He tells us what Christ has done, is doing, and shall hereafter
do for us. And then he shows us picture
after picture to convince us that these things are so. He
tells us that Christ is our good shepherd. the good shepherd who
gave his life for the sheep, the good shepherd who seeks his
sheep, the good shepherd who finds his sheep, the good shepherd
who lays his sheep upon his shoulders and carries it all the way home.
Oh, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He tells us
that the Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute. He is the one
who lived for us and died for us, arose for us and reigns for
us. God hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Since the Lord Jesus Christ is
my substitute. You sang it to me, I sang it.
He's my substitute. When he lived, I lived. When
he died, I died. When he arose, I arose. He ascended
to glory. I ascended to glory. I can't
be put out of his sight. and I can't be put away from
Him. I stand in Him. Complete, accepted, perfect,
justified, made whole, entire, made right now in Him, meet to
be an heir of God Himself. There's nothing better than that.
That's what the Spirit of God tells us. The Lord Jesus Christ
is our great High Priest. Our names are written right here,
engraved in His heart by the hand of God according to His
own will. Our Lord Jesus entered in once
into the holy place with his own blood, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. And he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty of high because his work was done. Our souls
were redeemed. Our sins were atoned. Justice
was satisfied. The law was honored. God now
is reconciled to man, man to God. There is it. There is it. He makes intercession for us
according to the will of God. He pleads our cause before God. He's our advocate in heaven.
What could be more comforting to God's weary, guilty, fallen,
sinful people upon this earth than to recognize that we have
an advocate with the Father. We have somebody in God's presence,
by God's side, whom God hears, whom God will accept, whom God
cannot turn away. His name is Jesus Christ the
righteous, and he's the propitiation for our sins. The Lord Jesus
Christ is our great King, that one who loved us from eternity,
lived for us, died for us, and rose for us, reigns as the sovereign
monarch over the universe to accomplish our eternal good and
our everlasting salvation. Jesus Christ, the God-man, with
his wounded hands, holds the reigns of all the universe. And He rules in sovereign power
to accomplish good for the people for whom He died. And He will
bring about everlasting good for His elect. He'll do it. The
Spirit of God wants us to know and to enjoy the comfort of Christ-accomplished
salvation. Now, here is another of those
pictures. Look in Hebrews 7 and verse 22. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
surety. For by so much, that is by the
oath and the decree of God, by God's everlasting purpose in
the covenant of grace, by so much was Jesus, that man-child
born to Mary and Joseph, who is himself God incarnate, by
so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And you
might want to write in your Bible, in the margin somewhere, the
word covenant. That's the word that's translated
here, testament. He has made a surety of a better
covenant. Perhaps this matter of Christ
being our surety is the least understood of all the descriptions
of our Savior's office and work as our mediator. Who knows what
a surety is? I dare say that most, unless
they have heard it here, have never heard the term surety in
their lives. In this country, in this day
and age, we just don't use the term surety. What do you and
I know about suretyship? In our society, it's virtually
unknown. But the suretyship engagements
of our Lord are one of the most important and most comforting
things revealed in the Holy Scriptures. That which Christ Jesus has sworn
to do, has done, and is doing, as our great surety, is one of
the most important, one of the most consoling, one of the most
hopeful, one of the most delightful truths of all Holy Scripture. If the Spirit of God will enable
me to preach clearly and to preach with power to your hearts, I
have a message of strength and comfort and edification for God's
elect. This morning I want simply to
show you what assurity is and how the Lord Jesus Christ performs
the work of assurity on behalf of God's elect. Turn over to
Genesis chapter 43. Let's look at this picture we
have often seen. Genesis chapter 43. You know the story. Joseph had
been sold into slavery. according to God's purpose. God
sent Joseph down to Egypt in anticipation of the day of judgment
upon the children of Israel. He sent Joseph down into Egypt
anticipating the time when famine would come to the land of Gushen.
He sent Joseph down into Egypt anticipating the day when Joseph's
brethren, his father, and all his house would need Joseph in
Egypt. The Lord God sent Joseph to Egypt
to save much people alive, but he sent him to Egypt by the guilty
deeds of his own wicked brethren. His brethren despised Joseph. They took Joseph and sold him
into slavery. They would have killed him, but
they decided, no, he'd be best to sell him into slavery. One
of his brothers spoke up and saved the boy's life. And they
took his coat of many colors, that is, the coat that was made
from many pieces of material, and they poured blood on it,
and they said, Father, this is what we found, Joseph is dead.
Joseph, the lion must have gotten him, he must be dead. But God
was in it all. And now his brethren went down
into Egypt to buy corn. And when they came, Joseph recognized
them, he spotted them. And he was determined to get
his father and Benjamin down there You want to take care of
it. So he kept Simeon. He accused him of stealing and
kept Simeon. And he said, he said, now you
fellows are five. You lied to me. And I tell you
what, you go back and bring your father and bring Benjamin down
here to me. And then I'll know you're telling
the truth. And so now Judah comes before
his father Israel. And Judah said in verse 8, Genesis
43, 8, Judah said unto Israel his father, send the lad, send
Benjamin, the child of your old age, the son of your love, the
darling of your heart, send Benjamin with me, and we will arise and
go that we may live and not die. For both we and thou, and also
our little ones, I will be surety for him. I will be surety for
him. Of my hand, shalt thou require him. This is what it says, Judah.
Our Lord is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is that one who
sprang from the tribe of Judah, from which no priest ever came
except thee, Christ Jesus Christ the High Priest. He is that one
who stood before the Father. And just like Judah here in picture,
he says, give me the children of your Lord. Give them to me.
Give them to me. And I'll be sure to report him.
I'll be sure to report him. And if I don't bring him home,
you require that I do. That's what it said. This is
the picture. He said, Father, give me Benjamin. And if I don't bring him back
here and said it before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. Let the reproach fall on me.
And so he took Benjamin. And after some time, he thought
he was going to lose him. But after some time, he brought
him back. He brought his father and Benjamin together. And our
Lord Jesus Christ will, according to God's purpose, bring the people
for whom he surety, safe into heaven's everlasting glory. As
Judah became surety for Benjamin, so the Lord Jesus became surety
for God's elect into the covenant of grace. Now let me try to give
you some things that I believe will be profitable to you. What
is a surety? A surety is one who approaches
one person on behalf of another. He is a representative man. He
is a man who lays himself under obligation to another person
for the one he represents. It is in this sense that Paul
declares Christ to be the surety of a better covenant. in anticipation
of our fall, in anticipation of the ruin of our race, in anticipation
of that day when Adam would say to God, get out of my way. I'm
going to do what I want to do. I'll eat the fruit of the tree
that you said I couldn't have. In anticipation of that day when
we were all made to be sinners by the fall of our father Adam,
the Lord Jesus Christ stood before God as our surety. He said, Father, give him to
me. Give them to me. I'll keep them. And I'll redeem
them. And I'll justify them. And I'll
bring them safe to glory. He stood before the Father. He
drew near to the Father on our behalf. And he laid himself under
obligation to God for us. He said, Pastor, can you show
me that in the Scriptures? I already did. Turn to Psalm
40. Psalm 40. Here's the language of assurity.
This is the language of assurity. He stands before God in the covenant
of grace. And the Lord Jesus Christ says
in verse six, sacrifice an offering thou did not desire. That is,
God has no pleasure in the blood of bulls and goats. The blood
of bulls and goats can't take away sin. The blood of bulls
and goats can't satisfy justice. The blood of bulls and goats
never did anything to make any man accepted with God. God has
no pleasure in those things. My ears hast thou opened. The
Lord Jesus is saying you've opened my ears like a bond slave. Burnt
offering and sin offering hast thou not required. But the preacher,
God does require those things or God did require those things.
He required them as types and pictures only of what Christ
would accomplish. But as far as being a matter
of these things satisfying God's justice, God never required that.
God never required a man to come and bring a sacrifice apart from
faith in Christ. He says, these things you've
not required. Then said I, you know who's talking? V.B. Bruce,
Chapter 10, talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Then
said I, Lord, I come in the volume of the book, the book of God's
eternal decree. It is written to me. I delight
to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. The Lord Jesus Christ drew near
to the Father and laid himself under obligation to perform the
will of God on our behalf, to obey the law of God in our stead,
to satisfy the justice of God as our substitute and as our
surety. A surety is one who strikes hands
with another in solemn agreement. Turn over to Proverbs 6. Proverbs
chapter 6. The wise man has something to
say about surety. My son, if thou be surety for
thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, now
the term is you shake on it. That's what it says. If you shake
on it. If you shake on it. You remember
those days gone by when a man's handshake was sufficient. Go
make a business deal. Put it there. That's good enough.
No need for witnesses. No need for contracts. No need
for lawyers. Men have seen their name to be
names of honor, and they knew that their name was merely as
good as their word, and their word merely as good as their
name. If you shake hands for a stranger, you become surety
for a stranger. Thou art snared with the words
of thy mouth. Thou art taken with the words
of thy mouth." What's he saying? Suretyship to a man of honor
is a voluntary bondage to a man of honor. I come to Joe Browning
and I say, Joe, I'm going to do this for you. Now I'm going
to do it. If I'm an honorable man, I'm
going to do it. If it lies within my power, Unless
God and providence prevents it, you think, my brother, I'm going
to do it. That's it. No need to question it. I said,
I'm going to... I borrowed $10 from you today.
I'll pay you back when I get to Danville. It's going to be paid.
You can bank on it. Get it to Danville. The money's
yours. It's in your pocket. You can go ahead and spend it.
It's yours. That's all. You follow me? A man of honor
lays himself under obligation with his word. A man of honor
says, I'll do this, and he's in a snare. He's trapped himself. He can't get out of it. He's
got to do what he says he'll do. Otherwise he's got no honor.
He's got no honor. Now listen to this. When the
son of God became our surety, he voluntarily placed himself
in bondage to his father until his work was done. Either he'll
do the world or he's got no honor. That's what I'm talking about.
That's how certain the salvation of God's elect is. Either Jesus
Christ will bring his own to glory, or he's got no honor. Look in the scriptures. Turn
over to Isaiah 50. Isaiah chapter 50. You're familiar with the illustration
of a bond slave? The man was sold into slavery
according to Jewish law, according to God's law given to the Jews. Years, people, it came. People
were so free. And the man said, I've got a
good master. I love him. And I want to be his servant
for life. Now, this man has no claim on me. He has no authority
over me. I don't owe him anything. I have
no obligation to him. But he's a good master, and I
want to be his servant. He'd go to the elders of the
city, to the priest, and he'd take you down to the door, or
to the door of the tabernacle or the temple, or maybe to the
door of the city, I can't remember. But anyway, he'd go down to the
door, and they'd take an awl, and they'd say, now, now you
know what you're doing. Your wife is no more yours than
he is. Your wife is no more yours than
he is. Your children are no more yours
than he is. Your property belongs to him. Yeah, but he's a good
master. Give me your ear. He's a bond
slave for life. That's what Jesus Christ willingly
became to save our souls. Look at the text. Isaiah 50,
verse 5. The Lord God has opened my ear. And I wasn't a rebel. He didn't
do something I didn't want him to do. Neither turned away back. I gave my back to the spiders,
and my cheeks to them that had plucked off the hair. I hid not
my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me,
therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a plinth, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. The Lord
Jesus Christ became a bond slave. And when he came into this world,
when he stood before his disciples, and they said, let us keep our
head, which were not our fault, Then also, I M-U-S-T. I must pray. I must pray. There should be one foal and
one shepherd. Why? This commandment have I
received of my father. That's what he said. Read it
yourself, John chapter 10. This commandment have I received
of my father. Not only is the Lord Jesus a
voluntary bond slave, to the triune Godhead as our substitute
and surety. But all who come to trust this
surety are voluntary bond slaves to Him. They do the same thing.
We come to Christ. Here's my ear. What about your
wife? She says, you can have her. What
about your daughter? You can have her. What about
your property? You can have it. What about your
time? You can have it. I love my master. He's a good
master. I want nothing but to be his
bond slave. That's called faith. That's another
way of spelling faith. As a matter of fact, that's a
better way of spelling faith. Faith is not I believe. Faith
is acting upon what I believe. Faith is committing my soul to
the Son of God. Jesus Christ in faithfulness
became bond slave and surety to the triune God for our salvation. And we in faith to him become
voluntary bond slaves to his will and his purpose. This is
what I'm saying. Jesus Christ and our surety in
the covenant of grace drew near to God on behalf of his elect
before the world began. He faithfully promised to faithfully
perform all that God in his holiness, righteousness and justice required
for the salvation of his elect. I can't begin to explain to you
the things that took place in the council chambers of eternity. All I know is it took place.
The psalm we read, Psalm 40, says, thy thoughts more than
we do. Think about sitting in order.
We can't sit those things in order. But I know that somehow
or other, somehow or other, It came down to this, came down
to this, the surety Christ Jesus stood before the triune God in
his august holy majesty. And he says, what will it take
to save my people? What will it take to bring these
whom we love back to glory? What will it take to be free
from them all? And the Lord God says it requires
righteousness and satisfaction. These men and women, fallen,
condemned, guilty, justly sentenced to everlasting damnation, must
be made righteous, and they must satisfy justice for their sins. The Lord Jesus said, I'll do
it. I'll do it. I'll go and become one of them. And I'll live in perfect righteousness
for them, and my righteousness will be sufficient for them all,
for it's the righteousness of a man who's God. And when I've
established righteousness, I will go, I'll set my face like a flint,
and I'll go up to Jerusalem. I'll endure the mocking trial,
and I'll endure the shame and spitting, and I'll endure the
beating and the nakedness. And I'll place my hands out to
the Roman soldiers whom I've ordained for all eternity to
be skilled in torment. And I'll have those soldiers
to drive my hands to the cursed tree. And I'll suffer the wrath
of God and be forsaken of God. And I'll die the death they should
have died. And I'll suffer all, all that
God in His holy justice can require of a world of guilty sinners. And I'll do it for them. I'll
do it for them. God Almighty said to the surety,
that's good enough. Ask of me now and I'll give you
the heathen for your inheritance. That surety ship, that surety
ship, that's what Christ has done for us. On the basis of
this surety ship, God the Father trusted all his elect into the
hands of his son, and the matter of our salvation was settled
before the world ever doth start." Read for yourself! God's predestinated us to be
to be to the praise of his glory, in whom we also, who first trusted. Who first trusted. How does that
read? Ephesians 1 and verse 12. that we should be to the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ. He trusted Him before
we did. A long time before we did. We came to trust Him in time
because God from eternity trusted Him as the surety. He put us
in His hands. He put us in His hands. I trust Him. He'll do it. He'll do it. He's my son, I trust
him. He's God, I trust him. He'll
do it. This is the Father's will that of all which he hath given
me. I'll raise him up at the last
day. He trusts me. None of us here are shepherds. So it's hard for us to picture
illustrations of the sheep and shepherds. But in those lands
where sheep are still very much a part of the economy, a man
may own many, many, many, many sheep, and he may have many shepherds
to whom he entrusts his sheep. The shepherd comes in the morning,
and he says, you take them out. They're yours. I'll give you your wages. when
you bring them all back. Now, those sheep are not responsible
for themselves. Why sheep? Dumb. Dumb. Even an old curd dog knows how
to clean himself. Sheep can't clean himself. Sheep
can't bear young without help. Sheep are a helpless animal.
Dumb, helpless animal. A lot like us. Prone to stray. But if the shepherd it is responsible
for. And the shepherd is the one who's
accountable when he comes back with the sheep. And he better
have all. Even then he loses his wages.
And the Lord Jesus Christ as the mediator, as the good shepherd,
as the surety, as the sheep from old eternity put in his hands. And he'll bring them back or
he'll lose his honor. He'll bring them back or he'll
lose his glory. And he ain't gonna lose. He ain't not gonna
lose. This is what I'm saying. Our
salvation was accomplished from eternity when Christ Jesus struck
hands with the Father as I should. When a man's born of God comes
to faith in Christ, a lot of things change in here. A lot of things change in here,
but nothing changes over yonder. Nothing. It's kind of like a
long lost relative being contacted after his rich
uncle had died. And you tell him, now son, Your
uncle died and he left a sizable estate. Well, I didn't know I
had an uncle. Yeah, and he was your father's
brother. He and your father didn't get along well. Your father was
a rebel to him. Your father hated him. Your father
despised him. But he loved your father. And
he loved you. And he died and left a sizable
estate. And it's all in your name. Now,
we're going to have a reading of the will tomorrow. You come
and listen while the wheel's red. And you just can't believe
it. You just can't believe it. But
it's all yours. Been yours ever since the fellow
wrote the wheel. It's been yours ever since he
wrote the wheel. God Almighty made a wheel, a covenant, a testament,
before the world began. Conditioned on one thing, the
life and death of his son, Twenty years ago, I heard the
good news. The elder brother died. But he
lives. And here's the will. Heir of
God and joint heir of Christ. That's what it is when a man
hears the gospel. It's the reading of God's will by the Spirit in
your heart. Well, how did Christ become a
purity? I've already touched on this, I'll be brief. With
men, a surety is a mere guarantor, a cosigner. One who is jointly
responsible with the principal debtor for the payment of a debt.
Give you an example. When I was a boy, 15 years old, I wanted to buy a
car. And I was working, made a little
money. And my dad had good bank with him. Bank wouldn't let me
buy the car. They said, you can't put it in
your name. If you do, we have no legal recourse
because you're underage. You gotta have a co-sign. So
my dad went to the bank with me and he signed a note. Now
the note came out in my name. But that bank wouldn't have even
bothered looking me up if payment was late. They'd rather let my
dad. He was responsible. And just in case any of you boys
think your dad don't do the same thing, my dad got burnt. He had
to wind up paying. He had to wind up paying. Because
as most kids, I was irresponsible. Our Lord Jesus is not that kind
of surety. He's not that kind of surety.
He did not merely agree to meet our obligations to God's law,
if by some disastrous circumstance or helpless condition, we became
incapable of meeting our own obligations. The Lord Jesus,
as our surety, took the whole of our obligation before God
on Himself, knowing full well that we had neither the will
nor the ability to meet it ourselves. He became surety for strangers,
knowing that he would smart for it, knowing that he would suffer
for it. With men, a surety may be legally
forced into suretyship. A father is legally responsible
for the debts and legal liabilities of his minor children. So the
boy gets in trouble and works mischief, causes a lot of damage
to some property, then it comes to the father. Father's got to
pay. A husband is legally responsible for the debts of his wife. Woman
goes out, she's a spendthrift, man gives her credit cards and
she runs up bills all over town. Law comes after him, he's got
to pay. He's legally responsible. But Christ Jesus voluntarily
placed himself in servitude to God's law. He voluntarily placed
himself in servitude to the will of God as the surety of his elect. And in the instant he became
surety for his elect, he became servant to the Father. He became
the Father's servant. So that in the Old Testament
Scriptures, he says, Behold, my servant, my servant, my servant,
my servant shall fail prudently. My servant shall not fail. My
servant shall establish righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ came then
as the Father's servant, as absolute surety for his people and his
surety ship. is a voluntary thing, a constant
consenting agreement of Christ's own heart. When Christ became
surety for us, he took all our debts and all our obligations
upon himself. In his suretyship agreement,
Christ became responsible for all our obligations to God. As
soon as he was accepted as our surety, we were released from
all obligation to God's holy law. Now, will I make this clear
or not? Oh, if I can make it clear to
you, I've got some humility in my heart, jump up and down. When
Jesus Christ became our surety, and God accepted him as our surety
in the covenant of grace before the world began, God ceased looking
to us for anything. Let's suppose you're going to
take over payments on a man's house at the bank. The man has become destitute
and he has great deal on the house, and the bank said, well,
if you can find somebody to take over payments, we'll transfer
the notes. And you find somebody willing
to take over payments, and he goes to the bank with you, and
you sign a bunch of papers. And when you finally put your
name on that note, that bank has no legal recourse
with the original debtor. None whatsoever. None whatever. The notes in the name of another
man. Another man's responsible. Another man has all the obligations. Another man has all the responsibilities. Another man stands before the
law. That surety ship for Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ from eternity
stood in our stead and he put his name on the line. And God
Almighty ceased looking to us for anything, he looks to the
surety for everything. He looks to the surety for everything.
As soon as God accepted his son, he stopped looking to us for
satisfaction. He freed us from all bondage,
all curse, all penalty, and all obligation. And he looks to the
surety. And he says now concerning his
elect, deliver him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom.
There he is. There he is. And that settled
the matter before the world began. As Paul became sure that people
were omniscient of us, and he says, if he owes you anything
or he's done anything amiss, lay it to my account. The Lord
Jesus Christ says, for his elect before the world began, Father,
if they ever come into debt, lay it to my account. If they
owe anything, lay it to my account. If they do anything amiss, lay
it to my account. I'll pay. I'll pay. And it will
settle back before the world began. When Christ became surety
for us, our sins were then and there legally imputed to Him. By divine imputation, our sins
were placed to His charge and account as our surety, even before
they were committed. He became surety, and so He became
responsible for all that we would do, had done, or might do. Christ was made to be sin for
us when He hung upon the tree. That's when He was actually made
to be sin. But He became responsible for
our sins when He stood before God as our surety. Then He was
responsible. When Christ became our surety,
we were then and there redeemed, pardoned, justified, and made
righteous in the sight of God. Pastor, why are you stressing
this so much? I want you to understand there's nothing left to chance.
I want you to understand nothing is kindly, kindly thrown out
there and God doesn't know what's going on. Modern theory of redemption,
and it's just a theory. It ain't even much of a theory.
It doesn't make good sense to anybody to think about it. Modern
theory of redemption is that Christ Jesus shed his blood in
little more than a crapshoot, just a roll of the dice. Here
it is. Let's see what happens with it.
He died for everybody. Doesn't know who's going to be
saved. Well, maybe he knows because he sees what they're going to
do. But he really can't know because he doesn't have any control.
So he's just kind of sitting back on the sidelines waiting
to see what man by his free will might do to let God save him. Oh, no, no, no, no. Jesus Christ
became a surety. For his elect before the world
was made. And when he became our surety,
those people for whom he was surety were justified, pardoned,
redeemed, and accepted in the beloved before the world was
made. And that guaranteed they would
be forever. When Christ became surety, all was done. And God
swore bearance, patience, and long-suffering with the world.
is due entirely to this suretyship of Christ. When Adam sinned, God told him, in the day you
eat thereof, you will die. How come he kept on living? How
come Adam kept on living? Why didn't God send him to hell?
Why didn't He just wipe the world clean of man? Why? Because there
was in Adam's loins a seed for whom Jesus Christ was sure to
tell before the world was made and then he must break. And so
he lets Adam live and he still lets Adam's race live a while
on this earth until that race brings forth his seed whom he
will save, whom he agreed to save before the world began.
God's long-suffering his patience and his forbearance with rebels
is not long-suffering patience and forbearance with rebels at
all. It's long-suffering patience and forbearance with his elect. And he doesn't kill the rebels
simply because he hadn't saved all his elect yet. That's all.
That's all. The Old Testament saints were
pardoned and justified, forgiven on the basis of Christ's obedience
as the surety, though he had not yet actually rendered that
obedience. The Lord God says, I have blot
out your sins, and he said it 800 years before Christ died. How can you say that? Because
the surety was slain as the Lamb of God before the foundations
of the world. The Old Testament saints had
a knowledge of that surety ship as well. David pleaded with God,
be thou surety for me. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
lives. David said, Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. Those fellows didn't
live in darkness like cavemen. They knew the gospel of God's
grace and knew their Redeemer. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
agree to when He became our surety? When Christ became our surety,
He made certain promises. He made certain promises to the
father in the name of his covenant people. Promises which he's honor
bound to perform. The promises were voluntarily
made without any constraint or force, except the constraint
of his love and the force of his grace. But having made the
promises, he is now bound by his honor to perform the promises
because God has accepted Christ as the surety of the everlasting
covenant. the whole purpose of the triune God and into the covenant. The very honor of the triune
God is dependent upon the success or failure of the surety. Since
God is described as the surety of His elect, the salvation of
every elect sinner depends on one thing, the success or the
failure of the surety. That's all. That's all it is.
Everything's on his shoulders. Everything hangs on his, hangs
in the balances of his obedience. But there's no need to fear.
Isaiah 42 verse 4 says he shall not fail. And he'll not. He'll not. Our Lord Jesus Christ
will see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.
He will do what he is sworn to do. And that's basically two
things. Our surety agreed to fulfill
all our obligations and responsibilities to God. He said, I'll perform
righteousness. And when it got done with him
on this earth, the full age of the family, he had lived from
the cradle for 33 years in perfect righteous obedience to God as
representative. And what does it say? He said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, thy son also
may glorify thee. I finished the work. I finished
the work. He finished all the work he gave
me to do. But he wasn't done yet. All he
talked about, I have finished the work of righteousness. I
have established righteousness in the earth. Here it is. Here
it is. And then a little while later, he hung on that tree,
forsaken of God, despised of men. And he cried, it is finished. And he bowed his head. And he
said, Father, in thy hands I commend my spirit. And he gave up the
ghost. And satisfaction was his. He did all he said he was going
to do, but he promised something else. Our Lord Jesus, as our
surety, agreed to bring all his elect home to glory. This is my Father's will, that
of all which he hath given me, I believe nothing, but raise
it up at the last day. Yes, our Savior became responsible
to bring all of God's Benjamin safely home. If I bring them
not unto thee and set them before thee, then let me bear the blame
forever. Them also I must bring. And in
that last day, when the Lord Jesus comes again in his majesty
and glory, and gathers together all his elect, Even those who
have fallen asleep and whose bodies have rotted in the tomb,
and those who are alive, he gathers them all together and sends back
to the throne of God his Father, and presents them before the
Father. He stands before God with his body complete, with
his churches yet finished, and he says, woe, I and the children
shall receive a name. And everybody sings hallelujah. And praise Jehovah, the work
is done. The work is done. Our Lord Jesus reconciled us
to God. He entered into heaven and claimed
it in our name. And He will one day present us
before the throne of His Father's glory, without fault, without
blemish, with exceeding joy, holy, unflammable, and unreprovable
in His sight. That's more than I can grasp.
That's more than I can grasp. But that's what God predestined.
He's chosen us in Him that we should be holy and without blame
before Him. Christ loved the church and gave
Himself for it that He might present it before Himself a spotless
church without spot, blemish, or wrinkle. And He's able to
present us without spot before the presence of His Father's
glory. That's our surety. That's our surety. I trust it. Can you? Tell you one more time, a story
that illustrates what I expect to happen. Rowan Hill wrote years and years and years
ago about a dream. It wasn't Martin Luther King's
dream. And it wasn't a Pentecostal dream. It was just a dream. It
is a good dream. It is a good dream. He said,
I dream that the last day had come, the trumpet of God had
sounded, the dead were raised, judgment was set, and before
the throne of God's august majesty stood all the myriads, all the
races, of Adam's fallen race to be judged according to their
works. And I heard him that sat upon
the throne calling out the names of men and women one by one, and they were sentenced according
to justice, either to everlasting torment or everlasting bliss. And as I watched and listened,
my knees grew weak and I trembled with fear, for I knew that I
was a guilty man. And at last I heard those awful
words, Roland Hill. He said I trembled. My heart froze. I couldn't speak. And I heard the words again like
thunder roll, roll and heal! And just as I was about to arise
to receive my execution, I heard one stand and say, here I am,
here I am. And I looked, and he said, these
wounds will receive a roll and heal. And they washed his sins
away. And this righteousness belongs
to the Lord, it's his, I rolled out for him. And that one who
stood is Jesus Christ, the center substitute, the centership of
him. I fully expect in Jesus Christ,
because of his obedience, for God, my father, to look with it all seeing I of strict
justice, of absolute righteousness, of perfect truth, as he looks
upon me who sees everything and knows everything. I expect God
Almighty, my Father, to look upon me in the person of the
surety, and say concerning Don Fortner, when this life is over,
well done. Well done. That's called a good hope through
grace. Oh, may God give you faith to
trust that surety. Amen.