Sermon #1505 Miscellaneous Sermons
Title: Three Great Wonders
Text: 1
John 3:1
Subject: Three
Wonders Revealed in Holy Scripture
Date: Tuesday Evening—
Tape # X-10a
Introduction:
There are certain, specific
things revealed in the Scriptures that we are called upon to behold as matters of unquestionable
truth, to behold with confident
faith, reverent wonder, deep gratitude, and exulting praise. Let’s look at
three of these wonders of Divine Revelation.
John 1:29
I. The first wonder I want
us to mediate upon tonight is The
Wonder of the Lamb.
The first great wonder
revealed in this Book is the wonder of the Lamb—The
wonder of redemption through the sacrifice of the Lamb (Gen. 3 and 4—The First
Sacrifice—Abel’s Sacrifice)
Our blessed Savior is constantly referred to and typified in the Book of God as the Lamb of God. But the first time he is specifically called “The Lamb of God” is here in John 1:29.
(John
1:29) "The next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world."
Now watch this, John
specifically identifies the Messiah, the Christ, as the Lamb of God and directs
his disciples to follow the Lamb.
(John
1:30-37) "This is he of whom I
said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before
me: for he was before me. (31) And I knew him not: but that he should be
made manifest to
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” I am calling upon you to
behold the Lamb of God as the sin-atoning sacrifice of God himself, who bore
our sins, and bore them away forever, in his own body on the tree.
·
Christ is presented to us as the Lamb.
·
He is the Lamb of God.
·
He is the Lamb who is God.
·
He has taken away all the sins of all his people scattered through all the world.
A. I call upon you who
are yet under the wrath of God to “Behold the Lamb of God.”
Some of you are yet without
Christ, lost, under the wrath of God. The weight of your guilt and sin is
crushing your soul. The terror of God’s wrath is driving you mad. You simply
cannot go on like you are. You feel that you are sinking into hell, and there
is nothing you can do about it. You are as helpless as you are miserable and
wretched. I call you now, like that very first Baptist preacher called on his
hearers, to “Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world.” Look to Christ, like the Jews
looked to the brazen serpent in the wilderness, and be saved (Isaiah 45:22).
(Isaiah 45:22)
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am
God, and there is none else."
B. My message is the
same to you who are born of God, to you who are already heirs of
eternal life.
Whatever your soul’s trouble
is, whatever your need is, whatever your heart craves, whatever your present
condition is, this is what you need to do this hour—“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
·
Behold the Lamb of God, and worship!
·
Behold the Lamb of God, and wonder!
·
Behold the Lamb of God, and be ravished with his mercy, love, and
grace!
·
Behold the Lamb of God, and find inspiration for your soul’s devotion
to him!
·
Behold the Lamb of God, and be broken over your sin and indifference!
(Zechariah
12:10) "And I will pour upon the
house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and
of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they
shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall
be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
·
Behold the Lamb of God, and be revived, renewed, and refreshed in him!
·
Behold the Lamb of God and follow him. God’s saints are described as
followers of the Lamb (Rev. 14:4).
(Revelation
14:4) "These are they which were
not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the
firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb."
·
Behold the Lamb of God in all the Scriptures as he is prophesied,
typified (Ex. 12), identified (John
The first great wonder revealed
in this Book is the wonder of the Lamb. How I thank God for that Lamb who was
slain at
Lamentations 1:12
II. The second wonder
revealed in this Book, revealed as the constant theme of this Book, is the
sufferings, sorrows, and death of Christ as the
Let’s
hear the Lamb of God himself, as he speaks in Lamentations
1:12, and calls for us to behold with reverence his
sufferings and sorrows as our Substitute. “Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which
is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce
anger.”
Do you see the Son of God hanging upon the cursed tree, suffering all the horrid ignominy and terror of God’s unmitigated wrath? In his body, in his heart, and in his very soul, the Son of God was filled with sorrow, suffering the hell of God’s wrath for us!
Yonder,
amazing sight I see! Th’ incarnate Son of God
Expiring on th’ accursed
tree, And weltering in His blood.
Behold,
a purple torrent run Down from His hands and head,
The crimson tide puts out
the sun; His groans awake the dead.
The trembling earth, the
darkened sky, Proclaim the truth aloud;
And with th’ amazed
centurion, cry “This is the Son of God!”
So
great, so vast a sacrifice May well my hope revive:
If God’s own Son thus bleeds
and dies, The sinner sure may live.
Oh
that these cords of love divine Might draw me, Lord, to Thee!
Thou hast my heart, it shall
be Thine! Thine it shall ever be!
Samuel
Stennett
The
enormous load of human guilt Was on my Savior laid;
With woes as with a garment,
He For sinners was arrayed.
And in the horrid pangs of
death, He wept, He prayed for me;
Loved and embraced my guilty
soul When nailed to the tree.
Oh
love amazing! love beyond The reach of human tongue;
Love which shall be the
subject of An everlasting song.
William
Williams
“Behold, and see,” our Savior says, “if there be
any sorrow like unto my sorrow.”
A. What was the source of his sorrow?—It
was that, he says, “Wherewith the Lord
God hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.” (See Isaiah
53:9-10.)
(Isaiah 53:9-10)
"And he made his grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was
any deceit in his mouth. (10) Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."
B.
What was the cause of his sorrow?—The holy, immaculate, spotless, sinless Son of God was made
to be sin for us (2 Cor.
(2
Corinthians 5:21) "For he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him."
C. Why did he endure such sorrow?—He endured all the agony of
our hell that he might redeem and save his people, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” The sorrow
he experienced was our sorrow. The hell he endured was our hell. The death he
died was our death (Isa. 53:4-6).
(Isaiah 53:4-6)
"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all."
D. What is the result
of his sorrow, suffering, and death as our Substitute?—The everlasting salvation of our souls!
·
Redemption
·
Pardon
·
Righteousness
·
Acceptance
·
All the Glory of Heaven
1
John 3:1
III. Here is the third
wonder revealed in the Book of God that I want us to meditate upon for just a
few minutes—The Wonder of God’s
Love revealed to us in the Lamb.
It
is in consideration of all these things that the apostle John calls upon us to
behold, with deep gratitude and joy and exulting confidence and praise, the
love of God for his elect in Christ. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1).
When I began preparing this
message, I had planned to preach to you from the last few verses of John 17 on
the love of God. But I was simply taken up with these great wonders of God’s
love and got no further than 1 John 3:1. The Lord willing, we will look at the
passage in John 17 Sunday morning. Let me wrap this message up by showing you a
little of what is revealed here in 1 John 3:1.
(1 John 3:1) "Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."
A. First, John would have us behold
with wonder the love of God bestowed upon us.
We rejoice to know that “God is love!” Love is an attribute of his holy Being without which
he would not be God. We know that God is love because his love is revealed and
made known by his deeds. Love is active. It is never dormant. Like fire, it
must break out. It cannot be contained. It is known only when it is experienced,
not by words, but by deeds. We know the love of God is that love that “passeth knowledge.” Yet, God’s love is
revealed and made known by these six deeds of indescribable love.
1. The first act of God’s love
was OUR ELECTION IN
CHRIST (Deut. 7:7-8).
Deuteronomy
7:7-8 "The LORD did not set his
love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people;
for ye were the fewest of all people: (8) But because the LORD loved you, and
because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the
LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of
bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."
Election is not a hard doctrine. It is a delightful
doctrine. Were it not for God’s electing love toward sinners, there would be no
salvation (Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess.
2. The second act of God’s love
was OUR REDEMPTION BY
CHRIST (Rom. 5:8; 1 John
This was compassion like a
God,
That when our Savior knew -
The price of pardon was his
blood,
His love he ne’er withdrew!
Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
1 John
1 John 4:9-10 "In this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him.
(10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins."
Because he loved us, the Son of God assumed our
nature, assumed our sin, assumed our guilt and died under the wrath of God as
our Substitute, to put away our sins. “The
Son of God loved me and gave himself for me!”
3. The third act by which God
reveals his love to sinners is HIS
EFFECTUAL, SAVING GRACE (Jer. 31:3).
Those whom the triune God loved, the Father chose to
save. Those whom the Father chose to save, the Son redeemed. And those whom the
Son redeemed, the Holy Spirit will effectually call, by his irresistible grace,
to life and faith in Christ. “Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee” (Psa. 65:4).
4. The love of God is revealed
fourthly in THE ABSOLUTE PRESERVATION
OF HIS ELECT IN A STATE OF GRACE
(Rom.
Romans
John
Can you imagine one who is loved of God falling from
a state of grace, perishing and suffering the wrath of God forever in hell?
Why, such a notion is worse than nonsense, it is blasphemy! The love of God is…
·
Without cause!
·
Without beginning!
·
Without condition!
·
Without change!
·
Without end!
·
It is free!
·
It is discriminating!
·
It is indestructible!
·
It is everlasting!
5. Fifthly, God’s love for his
elect is seen in OUR SAVIOR’S TENDER,
PROVIDENTIAL CARE FOR US (John
John 11:35-36 "Jesus wept. (36) Then said the Jews, Behold how he
loved him!"
Our God and Savior really is
touched with the feeling of our infirmities! We really are the apple of his
eye!
But there is one act of love that goes beyond
election, redemption, effectual calling, preservation, and providential care.
Great and marvelous as those things are, there is one act of God that goes
beyond them all.
6. If the climax of God’s love
is our redemption by Christ, the apex of God’s love is OUR ADOPTION INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD (1 John 3:1).
1 John 3:1-3 "Behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is. (3) And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
·
By birth, we are all sons of Adam, fallen, depraved and spiritually
dead (Rom.
·
By our deeds, we show ourselves to be children of the devil, sinful,
deceitful, and wicked (John
·
By nature, we are all children of wrath (Eph. 1:3).
·
By grace, we who believe are the sons of God!
“Sons we are through God’s
election,
Who in Jesus Christ believe;
By eternal destination,
Sovereign grace we here
receive!
Every fallen soul, by
sinning,
Merits everlasting pain;
But Thy love, without
beginning,
Has restored Thy sons again.
Pause, my soul, adore and
wonder!
Ask, ‘Oh why such love to
me?’
Grace hath put me in the
number
Of the Savior’s family!”
Election is the great fountain of grace. Redemption
is the greatest mystery of grace. And Adoption
Is The Greatest Privilege Of Grace.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us,that we should be called the
sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
B. Why has God adopted us into his family?
No reason can be found in all the
Bible for God’s adoption of sinners into his family except his sovereign love
(Eph. 1:4-5).
Ephesians
1:3-6 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ: (4) 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: (5) Having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, (6) To the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved."
Adoption is experienced and known in time; but it
began in eternity. We were not adopted into the family of God when he gave us
his Spirit, but when he chose us and accepted us in the Beloved. He gives us
his Spirit in regenerating grace, not to make us son of God, but because we are
the sons of God!
Galatians
4:1-7 "Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a
servant, though he be lord of all; (2) But
is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. (3) Even so we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world: (4) But when the fulness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, (5) To redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (6) And because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father. (7) Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and
if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
The only distinction between the children of God and
the children of wrath is the distinguishing love and grace of God (1 Cor. 4:7).
And this distinction was made by God in eternity.
1
Corinthians 4:7 "For who maketh thee to
differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"
Illustration: Johnny’s
#60!
C. By what power do sinners
become the sons of God?
Were it not for the perversions of religious
tradition, this question would be redundant. Man, by nature, is enmity against
God. He cannot become one of the sons of God because he chooses to be!
1. The preacher has no power to
make men the sons of God.
2. The church has no power to
make men the sons of God.
3. You certainly do not have
the power to make yourself a child of God! (Rom.
·
By your works!
·
By your free-will!
4. The only power that can
translate a sinner from the family of nature into the family of grace (Jer.
Jeremiah
Adoption is God’s work! You cannot become a child of
God but by the choice, power, and grace of God!
D. What is the method of God’s adoption?
We must never suggest, imply, or imagine that God
must do anything, or that he must do anything in a specific way. God is totally
free and sovereign. He can do whatever he is pleased to do. And he can do it
however he is pleased to do it. But God does reveal in his Word his method of
grace in adoption (John
John 1:12-13 "But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name:
(13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God."
NOTE: If
we would understand the doctrine of this text, it must be read backwards. Here
John tells us three things about God’s method of grace in adoption.
1. First, God drops the life of grace into a
person’s soul (v. 13). “Born of God!” The new birth is God’s work.
NOTE: Here
God’s adoption differs from civil adoption. He gives his sons his nature! This
gracious gift of God is altogether the work of his free and sovereign grace in
Christ.
·
Grace has nothing to do with pedigree - Blood.”
·
Grace does not come by the will of friends and relatives - “The will of the flesh.”
·
Grace does not come by your own will - “The will of men.”
·
“But of God!” His purpose of
predestination - His power.
2. As soon as God drops life into the soul, the
regenerate sinner receives Christ, believing on his name.
To believe on his name, “The Lord Jesus Christ,” is to receive Christ as my…
·
My Lord!
·
My Redeemer!
·
My Savior!
·
My Righteousness!
3. And as soon as you trust Christ, God gives you the
right, the power, the authority, the privilege of being his child.
This power, authority, and right of sonship is the assurance of sonship conferred upon believing sinners
by the Holy Spirit. That person who trusts Christ alone as Savior and Lord
knows that he has the right in Christ to speak to God almighty as his heavenly
Father.
NOTE: If
any of you think you are the sons of God who have not yet believed on the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a lie - Sonship, Adoption is bestowed upon
faith -
·
Not Feeling!
·
Not Conviction!
·
Not Conversion!
·
Not Repentance!
D. Why are
the children of God so misunderstood and misrepresented by the people of this world?—“Therefore the world knoweth us not.”
If you are born of God, if you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you live in this world as a child of God, the men and women of the
world will never be able to know you. You will be misunderstood and misrepresented.
·
Your Doctrine.
·
Your Devotion.
·
Your Desires.
The reason for this
misunderstanding is quite simple – Because we are the sons of God—“Therefore, the world knoweth us not,
because it knew him not.”
E. What are the blessed privileges of adoption?
I have already told you that the greatest privilege
of grace is adoption. Now let me show you that that statement is true. Being
the sons of God, ours is a blessedness beyond
comparison.
1. We have an assured interest in God’s infinite,
everlasting love (John
John
17:23-26 "I in them, and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
(24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou
lovedst me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have
known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. (26) And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them."
2. We have the Spirit of God (Rom.
Galatians 4:6 "And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father."
Romans
8:14-16 "For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
(15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (16) The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"
God the Holy Spirit has been given to us, bequeathed
and bestowed upon us by Christ our Lord.
·
To Teach Us.
·
To Guide Us.
·
To Seal Us.
3. We have been brought into the discipline of our
Father’s house (Heb. 12:5-11).
Hebrews
12:5-11 "And ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (6) For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons;
for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? (8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards, and not sons. (9) Furthermore
we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:
shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the
Father of spirits, and live? (10) For
they verily for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure; but he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his
holiness. (11) Now no chastening for
the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it
yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby."
The Father’s chastening rod is a blessing of grace
by which our heavenly Father…
·
Proves Our Faith.
·
Strengthens Our Faith.
·
Purifies Our Faith.
·
Weans Us From The World.
4. We are assured of our perfect conformity to the
image of Christ (Rom.
Romans
5. And our adoption into the family of God makes us the
heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
Our inheritance is an inheritance of grace! An
inheritance of pure, free grace in Christ!
·
We were predestinated to it (Eph.
·
Christ has purchased it and claimed it for us (Eph.
·
Grace has made us worthy of it (Col. 3:12).
·
It shall be glorious (Rev. 7:16-17).
Revelation
7:16-17 "They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. (17) For the Lamb which is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of
waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
I really cannot tell you what the blessing of being
an heir of God shall be. Only eternity can do that. But I can tell you this—It beats being an heir of hell! I know. I’ve been both.
Application: If
you come to Christ, you shall be an heir of God; you are a child of God! May
God make you to do as Mary did long ago, to choose that good part that shall
never be taken away from you!
1. Believe on Christ!
2. Confess Christ!
3. Live for Christ!
4. Live with Christ forever!
AMEN!