Sermon #1577                                                                     Miscellaneous Sermons

      Title:                                 Six Great Wonders

      Text:                                 Psalm 119:18

      Subject:               Wondrous Things Revealed

      Date:                                Sunday Morning — July 11, 2004

      Tape #                 Y-29b

      Reading: Psalm 111:1-10

      Introduction:

(Psalms 119:17-24) “Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. (18) Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. (19) I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. (20) My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. (21) Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. (22) Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. (23) Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. (24) Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.”

(Psalm 119:18) “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

The word “law” in this passage refers to the whole Word of God. As we read the Book of God, let this ever be our prayer. — “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Word.”

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 six of these wonders of Divine Revelation.

The Lamb of God

We will begin at John 1:29. — “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” I am calling upon you this day 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.

Some of you are here today 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 crazy. 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 (Isa. 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.”

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.”

1.    The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb provided by God.

2.    Christ is the Lamb sacrificed by God.

3.    Christ is the Lamb accepted by God.

4.    And Christ is the Lamb who is God.

·      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!

·      Behold the Lamb of God, and be revived, renewed, and refreshed in him!

·      Behold the Lamb of God in all the Scriptures as he is prophesied, typified, identified, crucified, and glorified!

Our Savior’s Sorrows

Next, I want you to 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.”

1.    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.”

2.    What was the cause of his sorrow? The holy, immaculate, spotless, sinless Son of God was made to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).

(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.”

(1 Peter 2:21-25) “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (22) Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (23) Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (24) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (25) For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

(1 Peter 3:18) “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

3.    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.”

The Love of God

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). How can I talk about the love of God for us?

Could we with ink the oceans fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade —

To write the love of God above

Would drain the oceans dry,

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky!

(Romans 5:6-8) “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. (8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

(1 John 3:16) “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

(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.”

·      Sovereign, Free Love!

·      Eternal, Everlasting Love!

·      Immutable, Indestructible Love!

·      Sacrificial, Saving Love!

(John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God our Keeper

Now, I want you to turn back to Psalm 121, and behold this great fact — The Lord God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is our ever-vigilant Keeper.

(Psalms 121) “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. (2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. (3) He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. (4) Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. (5) The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. (6) The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. (7) The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. (8) The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

All Things New

Turn now to Revelation 21:5 and hear the Son of God, our Savior, declare another wondrous thing revealed in his Word. — “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

·      He makes all things new in grace (2 Cor. 5:17).

(2 Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

·      He shall make all things new in glory!

(Revelation 21:1-7) “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (2) And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (6) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (7) He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

When I think about the glory awaiting us in eternity, my very heart and soul cries out, “How long, O Lord, how long?” Then I turn to Revelation 22 and remind myself that it won’t be long.

Our Hope

Our blessed hope is the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Revelation 22 he tells us three times that he is coming quickly.

(Revelation 22:1-7) “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (2) In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (3) And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (4) And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (5) And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (6) And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. (7) Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

(Revelation 22:12-13) “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (13) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

(Revelation 22:17-21) “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (18) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (20) He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

Don Fortner

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com