Romans (Quality: Very Good)

[0:00] on our minds this morning and that word is found in the epistle of Paul to the Romans the 8th chapter and the 32nd verse he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things 32nd verse of the 8th chapter of the epistle to the Romans what a wonderful chapter this is so full of divine truth and glory exceedingly precious to every believing heart and mind and one of the outstanding transcending parts of this word is undoubtedly the words of our text he that spared not his own son we were considering a contrast this morning and that contrast

[1:50] God has placed in his holy word between his dealings with his people and how he dealt with his own son how he spares them goes out of the way we might almost say to spare them from all their troubles conflicts pains difficulties and even when they get into the troubles that they do through their own folly and sinfulness like Israel so very often brought down God's displeasure on their own heads and yet how often also God spared them and delivered them and restored them and it is the experience of the people of God that the

[3:01] Lord's sparing mercies are exceedingly great and also most wonderfully precious and you see it intertwining the whole of your life if you have eyes to see if you have thoughts in your heart and mind you see there's one great outstanding feature none of which you can really deserve but which you are undoubtedly the recipient and that is the Lord has spared you much of it has been unseen and unknown and will be unknown until the day when you reach heavenly glory then it will all be revealed but we cannot now see how much God spares us prevents things overtaking us that might easily do so being brought down in weakness and trouble how often we have to say well it might have been so easily my lot my portion but I have been spared and saved out of it all now God most wonderfully spares his people and he says he will do it as a man spareth his own son that serveth him then the contrast is this and it's a tremendous contrast all that we have hearts and reverence and softness of heart to contemplate it he spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all what a tremendous word this is how full of the greatness of God and how impregnated with the divine love of God he spared not his own son that son of his that was with him and brought up by him as he says himself in the eighth of

[5:36] Proverbs that son that was daily his delight who was ever with him sharing the glories of eternal glory from everlasting that son of his love he spared not but delivered him up for us all now there are three things I want just briefly this evening first of all to consider and the first is the magnitude of this word he spared not his own son when you come to look and think of how this is fulfilled so completely in the work and life of the Lord Jesus Christ we begin to see the magnitude of this truth think of his birth he came in poverty he was a king but he came in the greatest poverty of human nature and human life he had no place in which to be born he had to be laid in a manger he came therefore in circumstances of great penury and also great difficulty and distress his birth there was nothing sparing in the birth of the

[7:28] Lord Jesus then again in his business you remember how when he was 12 years of age he was confronted with that situation I think we remember we took notice of it last Lord's Day where his parents had gone up or at least Mary and her husband Joseph had gone up to Jerusalem and had left him there and they had sought him for three days and more and Mary rather turned upon him when she found him in the temple he said to her wish she not that I must be about my father's business there was no sparing not for one moment from the beginning of the life of the Lord Jesus he had to be about his father's business there was no excuse permitted for him there was no rest where he might find quietude and solitude he had to go to a mountain to pray to be away from the hearts and minds and mouths of men he had all nights to endure in the cold in wrestling and waiting upon God his father he was the poorest of men there was no sparing whatsoever in any detail or in any part of the life of the Lord

[9:21] Jesus he said to one who said I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest he said son of man hath not where to lay his head the foxes and the birds of the air have their nest but the son of man hath not where to lay his head he had no house to live in everything that was around him did not belong to him personally and yet he was the owner of all things and when he came to die he had to be buried in another man's grave no in the whole of the life of that lord jesus christ there was no sparing god was true indeed to his word he spared not his own son not even a vestige of leniency came from god the father for the dear son of god the lord jesus christ oh my dear friends what he suffered what he bore for you and me if we are his but the greatest thing is when he came to die and die on that cross that was not just suffering you know for three hours as we read in the gospels but his whole life was a suffering life his whole image bore the marks of his pain and suffering he was a man of sorrows he was acquainted with grief and there on the cross he was not spared by god his father though he was his son they taunted him they flung insults into his face they said if thou be the son of god come down from that cross and save thyself and us what an enormous what an awful attack that was for him to bear but he bore it like a lamb led to the slaughter opening not his mouth he spared not his own son and when the lord jesus bore that tremendous curse that awful burden that no man can comprehend that burden of guilt of his people past present and future he had to cry out

[12:36] Eli Eli lama sabbath anai which is that tremendous word my god my god why hast thou forsaken me because he knew the answer his father spared him not not even in the moment of his deepest trial and his greatest torment and conflict now what can we draw from this and this is why it is set before us in this word the second point is this he delivered us he delivered him up for us all I want us to just dwell on that word men make a great misconception of this he delivered us up for he delivered him up for us all says the word of god now who are the all well if you look in the 14th verse of this same chapter you'll see one thing that describes and denotes who the all are 14th verse for as many no more but for as many as are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god then in the 16th verse the spirit itself beareth or himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of god now two things are there for us to take note upon one is as many as are led by the spirit they are the sons of god you say well what does it mean to be led of the spirit well you'll be very conscious for the most part i do not say in all the past but you'll be conscious for the most part of the leading of the holy spirit are as a guilty sinner before god no one but the holy spirit can lead you into this realm but the holy spirit does lead and will lead and only those that are led by him are the children of god and therefore when paul says all he delivered him up for us all he is embracing in that word those who are led by the spirit of god then again in the last few words he says i am persuaded and he said in the 37th verse may in all these things we're more than conquerors through him that loved us for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord these are the all people that are led by the spirit who are loved by god with an inseparable unchanging love from which nothing can ever separate or remove now again what is the great argument of paul here that he draws from this great declaration who he says he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not now when the scripture gives a negative to enforce we might say a positive it's a very powerful argument indeed there's another one that comes to my mind in the epistle to the hebrews we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities there you have another negative that is there to enforce and to garrison so to speak a positive and here we have this argument how shall he not with him freely give us all things now you know we were reading this morning about

[18:22] Sarah and Abraham and Sarah said in her heart this is an impossibility how can I bear a son of my age 89 no one in the world's history has ever done anything like this why should I be hoped to be the first and God said is there anything too hard for the Lord how shall he not when he declares he will do how shall he not do it is there anything to prevent him from doing it you see we have a great God we have a mighty God we have a God that holds all things in his hand we we have a God that is omnipotent and all powerful who borrows not leave to be and requires not any assistance from his creatures he rides in the glories and majesty of heaven and in his power and none can stay his hand or say to him what do is thou now he says

[19:32] Paul says if this God hath not spared his own son how shall he not also freely give us all things what a tremendous charter there is here in this word you see you've got things that are very great in your own life and experience perhaps you have something specially weighing down upon your spirit tonight as you come to the house of prayer the Lord knows about it I may know nothing but look at this word if the Lord inclines your heart to hope in this mighty God I say this word is your word how shall he not give freely what you want him to give so dearly how shall he not do it what do you want do you want more grace how shall he not freely give do you want some confidence that is sweet and sure in your salvation how shall he not do you want to know that you are one of those whom

[21:02] God has sealed for heaven how shall he not seal thine heart with his gracious spirit do you want to know that your sins are forgiven the greatest of all the needs that we have or ever shall have in this wide world I say how shall he not forgive for he has spared not his own son in order to lay down the foundation of forgiveness and in order to be a just God and a savior how shall he not this is a great argument and I say it's an argument in which there is a negative to support a positive it is so to speak as if people say well why should

[22:02] God not do it is there any reason come marshal all your reasons if you can why God should not do it and I dare say there may be many reasons that will be brought to light in a seeker's heart and mind I am so unworthy I am so base so vile my sins are so great I'm so evil in all things my very works are evil from beginning to end and I have the mind I cannot comprehend I cannot see as I would I cannot lay hold of things as I desire to lay hold of them they seem to escape me they are beyond my reach I stretch out after them and they evade my reach you see these are the things the reasons that are brought forth in the mind

[23:10] Satan often introduces them and enlarges upon them but here is a negative you see how shall he not all these things present no argument whatsoever or no reason whatsoever for God performing his holy mind and will and purpose and saving and blessing the soul that longs to be blessed by him and to be saved with his everlasting salvation you see salvation is a matter of God's omnipotence it's a matter that God alone can perform and undertake and he must do the work it is all of his grace then we come to this point tonight the things that are given and notice our text said it's with him with him not apart from him you'll never get anything that is outside or apart from

[24:27] Jesus Christ it won't be because you are a worthy person because you are a devoted person it won't be because you've sought to give and to sacrifice and to be diligent in your business or in your conduct it won't be for these reasons any of them or all of them put together it'll be through him through the Lord Jesus and because of him because of what he is and who he is and what he has promised to do for his people and also it's through this his own willingness we've been speaking a little tonight about God's willingness to spare not his own son but there's another aspect to it Christ's willingness to bear all that he did there and to suffer in the room and place of his people one of the poets says oh how willing was

[25:40] Jesus to die that we fellow sinners might live have you ever thought about the willingness of Jesus nothing could deter him from his purpose he set his mind the word of God tells us like a flint he had one object always in view and in his mind and it was in the twelfth year of his life that he makes reference to it my father's business one glorious object he had come to perform and that was to die no man could take away his life he was immune from death he must voluntarily give up and yield up his life to God his father as a sacrifice an eternal sacrifice for the sins of

[26:41] God's people his church and he was willing to do it knowing all that bitter entailment in performing it knowing that even while he was here on earth going about among his own disciples one of them was a traitor an enemy a servant of the devil the Lord knew this you know perfectly the other disciples never recognized it but he knew that one of them was a devil he said have I not chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil I think that statement must have been so tremendous that the other disciples did not altogether receive it because if they had received it they would be inquiring until they found out which one it was that was ready to betray the dear

[27:48] Lord Jesus their Lord and Master but all this he could see all this he had to bear and much more beside all the pains and sufferings the ignominy the shame and the terror and the conflict there are three things that we have in our mind there's his battle or rather two things his battle and his baptism his baptism of fire that he had to endure for his people his battle against Satan and against sin and all that he endured he was willing wonderfully gloriously willing to die for his people now the things that he are freely given to us of God freely give us all things says

[28:50] Paul here and you know that passage in the Corinthians wonderful passage indeed all things are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God all things are yours there's nothing that the Lord would not do for his people there's nothing that he cannot do for them if they need if the Lord's people have need his mercy and his goodness will find out a way for them to receive whatever it is they require gain and gain in the lives and experiences of the godly family of Christ they find how wonderful God's ways are how he provides for them where there's no provision and brings out of nothing something that is for their good all things that all things that includes all things leaves nothing out and it's freely given that means to say there are no conditions no terms no contract he doesn't say providing you are this that and the other thing but he will freely give without any restriction or condition imposed as by the

[30:32] Lord he will free also freely give us all things and you know these all things are tremendous but let me just as I close tonight bring your minds and thoughts to think of the channel through which they come it's a very wonderful thing to have a great blessing but it's a more wonderful thing to know that that blessing comes through Jesus Christ and if your blessings make you feel more attached to him they will be real blessings people talk about blessings but they seem to us to be very empty things there's very little tangibility about them you see by their fruits their effects they say oh we've been most wonderfully blessed yes well what is the result what is the consequence do they show more loyalty do they show more love very often it's just the opposite

[31:44] I say this very emphatically tonight if you have a real blessing it will be a blessing that will bring you nearer to Jesus and make him to be to your heart revealed as the source and channel through which it comes it will be through his precious atoning blood that that blessing has come to your poor soul and that will make him exceedingly precious freely give us all things with him see Paul does not leave out the most important thing it's with him oh yes people want blessings without the Lord they want blessings they say oh we're wonderfully blessed in the church we've got great activity we've got great organization we've got great things we're prosperous we're going ahead we're making mighty strides yes we're wonderfully blessed where's

[32:49] Christ in it all is he there is his glory sought is his worship promoted is his name magnified these are the great questions we have to ask our conscience when we talk about blessing and receiving things all things freely by from the hand of God we have to ask this do they make us more to value the preciousness of the Savior the Lord Jesus whom God spared not but delivered him up for us all his own son with whom he was in eternal union from everlasting he spared him not and what is the final result of this we shall not be able to spare anything that we hold dear we treasure in our lives if he has need of it no we shall recognize that all that we have are his as David said when he gave to the Lord and he gave abundantly and enormously he says

[34:24] I give what thou has given me all are thine all things are thine and whatever it is I have given thee has first of all come from thee therefore there is no real glory from me but all the glory is thine he that spared not his own son my dear friends may we value him as the chiefest the greatest the altogether lovely one the God of our salvation Amen let us conclude my singing number 247 to the two of the veil verse number 124

[35:30] O Lord I move to my feet and to my care and to thee in every summer please my best and my only friend in number 247 to the veil verse number 124 PONína world PONína world Ponna PONína world PONína world P verb PSNI PONína mount PONína bel P drunk than honey as I was to the elder age so holy en elect le not teaching en elect de Dieu abate and streams are free of endeavor so inó in chaos через sonst is

[36:58] Its time sama more in theoof of thee. If theών of the sea is ada, I will be the target of the branch Classed Par�� Par�� Parented Son Amen.

[38:13] Amen. Amen.

[39:13] Amen. Amen.

[40:13] May that be indeed our petition, O Lord, from our hearts, that we may desire to love and praise Thee more than we ever have done. And may we know that blessed person through whom cometh all life, all blessing, all salvation to our souls.

[40:39] Amen. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with us now and evermore. Amen.