For God so loved the world that
He gave His only forgotten Son. It has been my business and my
prayer in my ministry over the years to set forth two things. Number one, the love of God for
sinners. that includes the grace and the
mercy and the kindness and the covenant of God Almighty, the
love of God for sinners. And secondly, to set forth the
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The songwriter has put it this
way, redeeming love, the love of God that redeems through the
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. E'er since by faith I saw the
stream by flowing wound supply, redeeming love, redeeming love
has been my theme, and it shall be till I die. For God so loved, that love of
God is especially great when we see it set upon a lost, ruined,
guilty, undone world. There was nothing in us to merit
His love. There was nothing in us to merit His affection. There
was nothing in us to merit His grace, but rather enmity, hatred,
disregard for His law, rebellion against His And yet God so loved
the world, like a bright, brilliant, majestic stone set on a dense,
dark background. God's love set upon a guilty
world. Somebody wrote one time, those
who love much give much. Those who love much give much,
you can measure the truth of love by its self-denial and by
its self-sacrifice. Let me give that to you again.
Those who love much give much. You can measure the truth of
love by its self-denial and by its self-sacrifice. Greater love
hath no man than this, that he lay down his life. For God so loved that he gave
his only begotten Son. God so loved a guilty, ruined,
lost world. A world that didn't love him,
but hated him. A world filled not with friends,
but enemies. A world filled not with subjects,
but rebels. Those who disregarded his law. He loved them. He loved them. And he loved them enough to give,
and to give his most precious possession, to give his son. Now you judge how much you love
your sons. Would you give a son to die for
an enemy? Or a better question, would you
give a son even to die for a friend? Or would you even give a son
at all? There's a poem written by Edith
Beer. It's entitled, Which Shall It
Be? And I've changed the words just
a little bit, but I'll pass it on to you. It seems that the
setting behind this poem is there was a family with several sons,
but they were very, very poor. They were hungry, they were ill-clothed
and ill-fed. And there was a rich brother
by the name of Robert who had no children. And he wrote to
his poor brother and told him that he would give him a house
and land, a farm, for the rest of his life in return for one
of his four sons. And this is the poem. The wife
is speaking. Tell me again what Robert said.
And then I, listening, bent my head. Well, this is his letter. I will give and house and land
while you shall live, if in return out of your four sons you'll
give to me only one." I looked at John's old garments worn. I thought of all that he had
borne, of poverty and work and care, which I, though willing,
could not share. I thought of six mouths to feed
and of all the little children's needs, and then of this. Come, John, said I, we'll choose
one from them as they lie. So walking hand in hand, John
and I surveyed our little band. We stopped beside the baby's
bed, and one long ray of light shed across the little boy's
face there. while he slept so pitiful and
so fast. I saw on James's rough red cheek
a tear undried, and before John could speak, why, he's just a
baby, said I. And so I kissed him, and we hurried
on by. And then I looked down at Edward's
angel face. There in his sleep he bore suffering's
trace. No, a million dollars, not him,"
my husband whispered while our eyes were dim. Then poor Richard,
our wayward son, self-willed, reckless, idle one, could he
be spared? No, he who gave, that us befriend
Richard to the grave. Only a mother's heart can be
patient enough for such as he. And so said John, I will not
dare to send him away from his mother's care. Only one more,
our oldest lad, trusty, truthful, good and glad, so much like his
father. No, I cannot, I will not let
him go. And so we wrote Robert in a courteous
way. We could not send one child away. And we sat back happy in truth
that not one face would be missing from its accustomed place. You
think how difficult it would be to give up one of yours. And yet this scripture says,
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Now brethren, God did not give
his son to an honorable profession. God did not give his son to a
gallant, recognized station among men. But God sent his son down
here to exile. God sent his son to poverty. God sent his son to suffering.
God sent his son to rejection. God sent His Son among rebels,
beginning at the manger where there was no room to be found
for Him. God sent His Son down here among
religious Pharisees whose cruel eyes would watch His every move,
and whose cruel tongues would butcher His goodness, and whose
cruel hands would finally nail Him to a cross. God sent His
Son down here to hunger and thirst, and poverty so acute that he
had no place to lay his head. God sent his son down here to
scourging, to the crown of thorns, to ridicule. God sent his son
finally to the death of a criminal, the death of a slave. God gave
his son to be a curse. And finally, even the father turned his back
on the Son. Now, there are a lot of things in
the Bible that natural minds and natural logic better leave
alone. And one of them is how God could
separate Himself from God. how that Jesus Christ hanging
on the cross is God in the flesh. And yet the Father, who is eternal,
almighty God, turned his back on him. But our Lord said, My
God, why hast thou forsaken me? There is another, and that is
God who never learns anything because he knows all things.
And God, who cannot forget, has said, I will remember your sins
no more. It's too deep. All I know is
it's so. I know that God Almighty, the
Heavenly Father, sent his Son down here into this world as
an offering for sin. That just for the unjust, and
when he was nailed to that cross, He loved us so much that He turned
His back on His own Son. And yet He loves the Son with
an infinite love, and He loves us in the Son. And there's no
love for us apart from the Son. But there was a day when God's
wrath was turned against sin, and when God's wrath was poured
out upon His Son in the place of the sinner. greater love hath no man than
this." Well, I want to make about five observations. Having said
these things, I want to make five observations. Number one
is this. If God sent His Son into the
world to redeem the lost, to redeem sinners, then man must
be in a terrible condition. When we talk about we're lost
sinners, I don't know, I don't think we know just how lost we
really are. When we talk about man being
ruined, I don't think we know just how ruined man really is. When we talk about the depravity
of the flesh, and I just don't think we know how depraved the
flesh really is, how helplessly, hopelessly, eternally lost, me
and all. I don't think it's really dawned
upon us. Now, to talk about God the Father
subjecting His Son to such extreme cruelty, humiliation, and desertion
just to set an example, well, that's folly. That's utter folly. To talk about God sending Christ
down here and subjecting him to this type of humiliation,
and this separation, and this association, and this type of
death. To talk about Christ doing that
as an example, that's utter folly. And to talk about the Father
giving the crown jewel of heaven as a sin offering like an animal,
upon a sacrificial altar only to win the goodwill of the world. That's blasphemy. That's blasphemy. What we are reading tonight,
God so loved the world that He gave His Son. He gave His Son
to the scourging whip. He gave His Son to the spittle
of the multitude. He gave His Son to the cruelty
of the cross. He gave his son to the hell of
separation. He gave Christ to bear these
things. As an example, that's folly. To win the goodwill of sinners,
would you do your son that way, to win somebody's goodwill? That's
blasphemy. This is extremism. God gave His
Son because there is positively no other way that God could be
just and justify the ungodly. No other way! Men are so helplessly
and hopelessly separated from holiness and from God that there's
no other way for God to be just. and justify the ungodly. No other
way the law of God could be honored. No other way the justice of God
could be satisfied. No other way except for Christ
to come down here as a man and to obey it. No other way for
the love of God to be expressed. No other way for the grace of
God to be given. No other way for the mercy of
God to be applied. No other way. No other way for God to accept
sinners except Christ be tempted. No other way for God to receive
sinners except Christ be tested and tried in every condition
known to man, and through those conditions to obey the law and
holiness of the Father perfectly. No other way for the infinite
justice and holiness of God to be satisfied. No other way. except for Christ to bear the
wrath and punishment of our sins. If there had been another way,
God Almighty would have taken it. Christ Jesus coming into this
world to the accursed tree of Mount Calvary plainly says, with
a voice that can be heard from the highest point of heaven to
the deepest place of hell, man's lost. Man's lost. Man's lost. It took God's Son
Himself to find him, he's so lost. It took God's Son Himself
to bring him back, he's so far away. It took God's Son Himself
to lift him, he's so far down. It took God's Son Himself to
cleanse him, he's so filthy. God so loved that He gave His
Son, then man must be in bad shape. Man's not somewhat wounded,
he's dead. Man's eyesight's not somewhat
afflicted, he's blind. Man's clothing's not somewhat
tattered, he's stripped! And only Christ can bring him
back. Only Christ. Turn to Romans 3. Romans 3. And I want you to take
a good, hard look at Romans 3, verse 26. And I want you to underscore
this statement, this statement, Romans 3, 26. Romans 3, 26, right in the middle
of the verse, that he, that he, that's God, might be just and
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Do you see that statement? Now, if you can find out what
that means, you'll learn the gospel, and you'll learn the
answer to the question, why did Christ come? And you'll learn
the answer to the question, why did Christ have to die? Why couldn't
there be another way? J. I. Packer, who wrote Evangelism
and the Sovereignty of God, said he was in a church one time,
And he asked fifteen of the leading men of that church to tell him
why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross. They knew he did. They believed he did. But fourteen of them didn't know
why he had to. Do you know why he had to die?
Not why he did. Why he had to. Why it was absolutely essential
that he die. Why God Almighty's hands are
tied. As far as expressing His grace
and mercy and love to a lost world is concerned, you know
why he had to die. Why it was imperative that Christ
die. There's your answer right there.
Christ had to die. that God the Father might be
just and justify you. That's why Christ had to die. He didn't die only out of sympathy. He didn't die only out of pity.
He died that God might stay on the throne while He took you
to heaven. He died that God might not have
to abdicate his throne of holiness while he took an unholy wretch
like you into his family. That's why he had to die. If
you don't know that, you don't know the gospel. He died that God might be just. He didn't die only that God might
justify. He didn't die only that God might
forgive. He didn't die only that God might
pardon, but that God might justify, forgive, and pardon, and still
be God. Because God cannot forgive your
sins at the expense of his law. God cannot forgive your transgressions
at the expense of his justice. God cannot set you free. At the
expense of His holiness, He's God. And when God distributes
mercy, He must do it as a just God. He must give mercy where
mercy is deserved. But you don't deserve it. So
Christ took your place. He deserves it. God might give
mercy where mercy is earned, but you didn't earn it. Christ
earned it. Somebody earned it. You bought
with a price, and that price was paid by Christ. You can't
get into heaven until a price is paid. Any more than you can
get in the ballgame, you buy a ticket. And you're bankrupt,
and you're broke, and you can't buy a ticket, but Christ bought
one part of you. He bought you a ticket to glory.
And God can stand at the door and let you in because your ticket
bought and paid for. all your sins are put away. If
God sent his Son into the world, this world must be lost. Secondly,
if God sent his Son into this world for God so loved that he
gave, if God sent his Son, his Son is the only Savior. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me." Now, brother of mine, what are you going to do with
those people that don't believe the gospel, and they preach salvation
by keeping the law, and don't you think they'll be in heaven?
Well, don't ask me, ask Christ. He says, no man can come to the
Father but by me. No man. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. Well now, brother man, don't
you think that if a fellow just lives a good moral life and treats
his neighbors right and minds his own business and works hard
and supports his family and doesn't do the things that that the law
forbids, the moral law, don't you think that somehow, that
don't you think somehow that you'll get to have, I am the
door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. He that believeth on the sun
hath life, he that believeth not the sun shall not see life. I am the bread of life. I am
the water of life. I am the resurrection and the
life. If the law could have saved, Christ wouldn't have come. Now
you look at Galatians chapter 2. Now listen to it, Galatians
chapter 2. If the law could have saved,
Christ would not have come. In Galatians 2.21, I do not frustrate,
that word is confused, distort the grace of God. For if righteousness
comes by the law, Jesus Christ died in vain. That sounds like
a real fanatical grace preacher, doesn't it? But that's Apostle
Paul. If righteousness comes by the law, If righteousness
comes by works, if righteousness comes by morality, Jesus Christ
died for nothing. I don't want to be the folks
that bring that charge before the Heavenly Father. I hate to
even say it in a sermon. I hate for the thought even to
cross my mind. much less stand before God clothed
in my rags of self-righteousness and say, You didn't have to send
your Son into the world, Heavenly Father. We could have made it
up here by ourselves. It wasn't necessary for Him to
endure the bloody sweat. It wasn't necessary for Him to
take the vile spitter. It wasn't necessary for him to
receive the nails into his tender hands. It wasn't necessary for
him to bleed and die. We religious people, we could
have made it to heaven all right, all right. Paul said, that's
so. You're charging God with crucifying
his son in vain. If baptism could save, we don't
need Christ, John the Baptist's ministry would have been sufficient. If ceremony could save, there
was enough ceremony around the tabernacle of old to save ten
worlds. We didn't need for Christ to
come. But Peter made it clear to those Jews in Acts chapter
4, verse 10, He made it clear, and clear to
us in this day, to whom the Word of God has been miraculously
given. Acts 4, verse 10, "...be it known
unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here
before you whole." This, Christ, is the stone which was set at
naught of you builders. He's become the head of the corner,
and neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." Now, words can mean anything. God sent His Son into the world,
and I'll guarantee you if God took such extreme measures as
to send His Son, I guarantee you His Son is the only Savior. There's not any other Savior.
There's not any other way of salvation. Thirdly, if God sent
His Son into the world, then salvation is no easy task. Salvation is no easy task. I hear people say, well, salvation
is easy as ABC. Turn to Matthew chapter 19. Matthew
19, let's read verse 24. Christ said in Matthew 19, 24,
again, I say unto you, It's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Well, who then can be
saved? And Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, With men it's impossible. Now, you talk about salvation's
easy as ABC. I'll tell you this, salvation
in the hands of a man, in the hands of a preacher, in the hands
of a church, in the hands of a religious organization, salvation
is impossible, totally, completely impossible. There's no way in
this world for anybody here tonight or anybody who shall hear my
voice in future days, no way possible for them to be saved. unless God saves them. No way. Now, you can go to hell on your
own, but you can't go to heaven without God. You can be lost
alone, but you can't be saved without God. Read on. With men it's impossible, but
with God even salvation. All things are possible. God can take the beggar off the
dunghill and make him a prince on the throne. God can take the
blind man and make him see, and take the lame man and make him
walk, the deaf man and make him live. You can't do it. God can. With God, all things are possible. I'll tell you what shape man's
in. Turn to the book of Jonah. Jonah. You know God, Jonah chapter
2. God sent Jonah down there to
preach to Nineveh. And Jonah rebelled. He didn't
want to go. And he climbed on board a ship.
And out there in the middle of the ocean, God sent a storm,
shook that ship up pretty good. And the sailors threw Jonah overboard,
and he was swallowed by a fish prepared by God. God prepared
the fish, swallowed Jonah. And Jonah was in a mess. He was down there in the bottom
of the sea, Jonah chapter 2, in the belly of the fish. Helpless,
no way out. Hopeless, no way up. Without
any help at all from anywhere. And this is what he said. In
Jonah 2, verse 1, Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God
out of the fish's belly, and he said, I cried out of mine
affliction unto the Lord. And he heard out of the belly
of hell, the grave, cried I, and he heard my voice. For God
has cast me into the deep, in the midst of the sea, and the
floods compassed me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me, and I said, I am cast out of God's sight." You
ever been there? I'm cast out of God's sight.
Ain't no way for me ever to get out of this mess. That's what
Jonah was saying. I'm cast out. Nevertheless, yes, I'll look
again. I'll look where? Towards His
holy temple. Don't look to me. I can't help
you. Don't go running to some professional
soul winner. He can't help Don't go running
to the law and try to find out where you've come up and where
you've fell short. The law can't help you. I looked
to the Lord. That's what Jonah said. One more
time. The waters compassed me about even to my soul. The depths
closed me round about, and the weeds are wrapped around my head. I went down, down, down to the
bottom of the mountain. the earth with her bars was about
me forever. Thou hast brought up my life
from the pit, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord. He's the only one that can help
me, and so my prayer came in unto thee and to thy holy They
that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed."
Salvation is of the Lord. That's what I'm preaching. And
that's what the Lord willing I'm going to die preaching. That
sinner's got the weeds of guilt wrapped around him. That sinner's
in the pit, in the grave, that sinner's under the mountain,
that sinner's clean gone, that sinner's cast out, and it's just
one direction that sinner can look, and that's to the Lord,
and his deliverance is in the hands of God. And God may be pleased to have
mercy on him. But if God doesn't have mercy
on him, there's nothing you can do, and there's nothing I can
do, and there's nothing anybody else can do. There was a young
man who called his father. Some time back, his father had
been sick. And he said, Dad, how are you? I'm feeling pretty good, son.
Well, I'm glad. I believe you're a Christian.
I believe you're saved. And, Dad, if you die, you'll
be better off. But, Dad, if you're not saved
and you die, well, you're going to get what you deserve." You
say, that's a true story. That's a true story. If you're saved, you'll be better
off. If God's been pleased to save
But if you die and go to hell, you're going to get just exactly
what you deserve. You say, what in the world did
the Father think about that? He rejoiced in it, because he
felt like his boy knew something about the grace of God. The sinner doesn't deserve God's
grace, my friend. The sinner deserves God's wrath.
Now, last of all, if God sent his Son into this world, God
intends to save somebody, because God would not send His Son on
that type of mission, bearing that kind of suffering and subjected
to that kind of misery, unless He intended for him to be successful. God gave His Son a people. Turn
to John 17. John 17, verse 1 through 3. Listen
to this. John 17, verse 1 through 3. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven, and he said, Father, the hours come. Oh, the hours come. The hour
of separation, the hour of agony, the hour of death, the hours
come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may also glorify thee, as thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given Him. So the Father gave the Son of
people, and when the Son started to calvary's cross, Father, the
eye was hit. What did He have on His mind? I'm going to give eternal life
to my people. That's what He had on His The
hour has come. Now, Father, glorify me, and
Thou hast given me power over all flesh, that I should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me. Secondly, turn
to John 10. The Son then gave His life for the sheep. John 10, verse 14. John 10, 14. I am the Good Shepherd,
I know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth
me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep." Thirdly, the sheep will hear
his voice. He said in John 10, same chapter,
verse 27, "...my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and I
give them eternal and they'll never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man can pluck them out of
my Father's hand." John 6.37 says, "...all that my Father
giveth me shall come to me." Now turn to John 6. The sheep
will come. Christ came down here. God sent
His Son. God intends for His Son to accomplish
what He came to perform. He gave him a people. Christ
said, I die for it. My sheep will hear my voice.
Look at it, John 6, 37. 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 my own will. but the will of Him that sent
me." Now, don't leave me, stay with me. And this is my Father's
will. Now, what I'm saying is this. If God sent His Son down here
into the world, He had a plan and a purpose and a will that
preceded that coming. And Jesus Christ Himself said,
I came not on a helter-skelter mission. I came down here to
do my Father's will. And this is my Father's will,
which has sent me, that of all which he hath given
me, I'll lose that I'm going to raise them
up at the last day. That's it. That's it. That's from the mouth of the
Son of God Himself. What did you come down here to
do, Lord? I came down here to do my Father's
will. What is your Father's will? That
all which he hath given me, I'll purchase them and redeem and
call Him and justify Him, and by His will I'm going to glorify
Him. Every one of those whom He hath
foreknown, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of
His Son, and whom He predestinated, He called, and whom He called,
He justified, and whom He justified, every one of them will be glorified,
every one of them. He was victorious. We don't worship
a defeated Savior. We don't worship a poor, frustrated,
defeated, disillusioned Savior. We fall before and worship Him
who was the conqueror, the victorious conqueror, who on Calvary's cross
did what He came to do and defeated His enemies and set free all
the prisoners He came to set free. Are you one of them? Our
Father, by the power of thy Holy Spirit, open eyes that cannot
see, and ears that cannot hear, and foolish hearts that, though
they know it not, do not want to understand. There is a way
that seemeth right unto men, the end thereof of the ways of
death. O God, save us from this perverse generation. Save us
from ourselves. Save us from our natural wisdom. Save us from our natural wills. Anoint our hearts to enter into
Thy ways and Thy will and Thy glory, to sit at the feet of
the Holy Ghost, that He might teach us about the Lord Jesus.
We want to see Him. We want to see Him. We want to
glorify Him. We want to be in on His purpose.
We want to be in on His accomplishments and the benefits and blessings
of His death. Lord, pass, do not pass us by. In the name of our Lord we ask
it, Jesus Christ, amen.