Sermon #1596[1]                                                                    Miscellaneous Sermons

      Title:                     “He Hath Done All Things Well”

      Text:                     Mark 7:37

      Subject:   The Goodness of God Our Savior in all His Works

      Introduction:

I want you to turn with me to Mark 7:37. Try to picture the scene. Our Lord Jesus has just come to Decapolis from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, where he had graciously healed the Syrophenician’s daughter who was vexed with an unclean spirit. Here he continued his acts of mercy, healing one who was both deaf and suffered from a speech impediment.

His fame was so great that he simply could not be hidden. There is a huge crowd before him. He had caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. He who cast out devils, opened the eyes of the blind and raised the dead by the mere word of his power stood before the astonished crowd, who in their amazement said, “He hath done all things well.”

I cannot tell you why, but it seems that those blessed words are on my heart and mind almost incessantly. I have no idea how many times I have turned to this passage, read it, and asked God the Holy Spirit to seal its message to my heart. — “He hath done all things well.” If these men and women who had seen our Savior’s miracles were astonished and cried out, “He hath done all things well,” how much more astonished we ought to be who have tasted and experienced his grace! How much more we ought to confess to God our Savior, to the angels before his throne, to wondering worlds, and to one another, — “He hath done all things well!” That is my message to you today. — “He hath done all things well!” May God the Holy Spirit give me wisdom and grace to proclaim it. — “He hath done all things well!”

My Testimony

Looking over all the days of my life and everything I have experienced these 56 years, I lift my heart to heaven and say, “He hath done all things well!” Like you, I’ve had a few trials and heartaches, a little pain and sorrow, a little hurt and bitterness. (And, I am ashamed to confess, I have caused much more than I’ve experienced.) But God my Savior has been so kind and gracious to me that were I to die this day, you can write these words on my gravestone. — “‘He hath done all things well!’ Here lies a man who was for 56 years the benefactor of unceasing, special divine care. And ‘My Jesus hath done all things well.’”

A Question

Tell me, you who know my Savior, can you not testify the same? — “He hath done all things well!” Does your own life’s experience not verify this? I know it does.

Yes, from first to last, — from the day of our birth to this very hour, — from the earliest pangs of sin’s conviction to the blessed thrill of sin’s forgiveness, — from the cradle to the grave, — from earth to heaven, — this will be our testimony regarding all the way our ever-gracious God has led us through this wilderness and every experience along the way, “He hath done all things well!”

• In providence and in grace,
• In every truth revealed in his Word,
• In every token of his love,
• In every stroke of his rod,
• In every sunbeam of his goodness,
• In every cloud that has darkened our skies,
• In every sweet morsel he has put into our lives,
• In every bitter thing he has mixed into our cup,
• In all that has been mysterious, confusing, painful, and humiliating,
• In all that he has given,
• In all that he has taken away,

This is the sum of it all. — “He hath done all things well!” This is, must be, and shall be our grateful acknowledgment through time and eternity. — “He hath done all things well!”

Our great God and Savior who loved us, chose us, redeemed us and saved us by his grace, who has kept us in all our ways, has done all things well! He who is our God is too wise to err, too strong to fail, and too good to do wrong. He cannot do wrong.

Study his universe, all the history of it, study his creation, his providence, his judgments and his grace, view them in every light, examine them in their most minute detail, as you would the petal of a flower, or the wing of an insect, study all with the microscopic eye of faith, and this will be your glad testimony to his praise, — “He hath done all things well!”

Proposition: I have only this one thing to say to you in this message, just this one thing. May God the Holy Spirit convince our hearts that it is so. — “He hath done all things well!”

Psalm 119

Turn with me, if you will to Psalm 119:65. This is David’s testimony.

(Psalms 119:65-68) Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. (66) Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. (67) Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. (68) Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

I could never find better words to sum up my life’s experience than these.

·      God my Savior has dealt with me. — What an awesome thought! All the days of my life, my God has dealt with me. All the days of my life, the Angel of the Lord has pitched his tent around me and dealt with me (Ps. 34:7).

(Psalms 34:7) The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

·      Not only that, he has dealt well with me! Truly, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant.” The fact is he has dealt so well with me that these words do not begin to start telling my astonishment at how well he has dealt with my soul. The word David uses for “well” is one of those magnificent little words that is bursting with meaning. It means “most favorably, most kindly, most graciously, most lovingly, most pleasurably, most sweetly, most prosperously, most finely, most joyfully, and most merrily.”

·      Particularly, these last 40 years, since he saved me by his grace, my God has dealt well with me as his servant. — Of course, he has dealt with me as his son, as his spouse, and as his friend. But, like David, I take particular delight in saying he has dealt well with me as his servant (Eph. 3:8; 1 Cor. 1:26-29). — In His Appointment and Call. — In His Provision. — In His Protection. — In His Reward!

·      And he has dealt well with me all the days of my life according to his Word. — “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.” — According to His Word of Predestination. — According to His Word of Promise. — According to His Word of Grace. — According to Christ His Word.

Truly, “He hath done all things well!” Let me elaborate just a little.

In Eternity

He has done all things well from eternity. When we think of all that our Savior did for us as our Surety in old eternity (if I can use such language), before the world was, our hearts gladly confess, “He hath done all things well!” In the covenant of grace, when he took upon himself all responsibility for our souls and espoused our cause as our great Surety, “He hath done all things well!”

·      He drew nigh to God on our behalf.

·      His delights were with us.

·      His heart was upon us.

·      He pledged himself to redeem and save us.

·      He gave himself as the Lamb of God to redeem us.

·      And the Father accepted us, blessed us with all spiritual blessings in him, trusting him as our Surety.

(Ephesians 1:3-7) 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. (7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

In His Incarnation

In the fulness of time, when God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, when the Son of God came down here and took on him the seed of Abraham, “He hath done all things well!”

As a Man, the Lord Jesus Christ lived in the world in perfect righteousness, not for himself, but for us, that he might bring in everlasting righteousness of infinite worth on our behalf, that he might be “The Lord our Righteousness.” — “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us righteousness.” — “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Look back upon your past sins, look upon your present infirmities, and look upon your future errors, and while you weep the tears of repentance, rejoice that there is no fear of condemnation, for Christ is our Righteousness. Child of God, today you stand before God robed in the garments of Christ. I am bold to declare that in Christ we are as holy as our Holy Redeemer.

We have a better righteousness than Adam had in the garden. Christ righteousness is compared to fine linen clean and white; and if I wear it, then I am without spot. In this robe we are worthy to sit at the wedding feast of the great King. In the parable of the prodigal son, this is called the best robe.

·      It is a better robe than the angels have.

·      It is a robe that shall never be worn out.

Not only is Christ our righteousness for justification, he is our righteousness for sanctification, too (1 Cor. 1:30; Heb. 10:10-14).

(1 Corinthians 1:30) "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:"

(Hebrews 10:10-14) "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (11) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

Ralph Erskine — “If you would have righteousness, you must have it in and from Christ. He has to give you both an imputed righteousness for justifying you; and an imparted righteousness, for sanctifying you.”

Just as the fallen, unrighteous nature of Adam was imparted to all men by natural birth, the holy, righteous nature of Christ is imparted to all God's elect in the new birth. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us for justification. And the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration, by the irresistible power and effectual grace of God the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 3:10-12; 1 John 3:7-9).

J. C. Philpot wrote, “If once I catch by the eye of faith this glorious truth, that Jesus Christ is of God made unto me ‘righteousness’ — the moment I see that by the eye of faith, a measure of imparted righteousness flows into my heart. The then soul receives internally what Christ has done externally. In a word, when Christ is received as ‘wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,’ he becomes all these in vital manifestation.”

Because we were justified by Christ’s imputed righteousness at the cross, we are sanctified by his imparted righteousness in the new birth. — “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10).

It is only in Christ that God is well pleased. — “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Not with whom, but in whom I am pleased, satisfied, delighted. And in Christ, God is well pleased with us.

·      It is only through the merits and mediation of Christ our Righteousness that God accepts us in Christ as “a living Sacrifice” (holy and acceptable to God) and accepts the sacrifices we bring to him by Christ that living Sacrifice (Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 2:5).

(Romans 12:1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

(1 Peter 2:5) Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

·      The only claim that we have to the heavenly inheritance is Christ our righteousness. But we need no other claim!

In Redemption

But he did not stop there. The life of Christ in perfect obedience to the Father would be of no benefit to our souls without atonement. His righteousness could never have been ours had he not also redeemed us with his precious blood. — Therefore, “In due time Christ died for the ungodly.” And in his great, wondrous work of redemption, “He hath done all things well!” When the Lord Jesus was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, he laid down his life for us, and in doing so made complete satisfaction for our sins to God’s holy law and offended justice. And now, the Lord God comes to chosen, redeemed sinners in grace as “a just God and a Savior.”

·      Justice is satisfied.

·      Sin has been put away.

·      The curse of the law is gone forever.

·      We are free!

(Romans 8:1-4) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (4) That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

(Romans 8:32-34) 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? (33) Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. (34) Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

(Galatians 3:13) Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.

(1 Peter 1:18-20) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

(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.

(Isaiah 12:1) And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

In Grace

Pause once more to reflect upon this fact, too. “He hath done all things well” in the mighty operations of his saving grace.

“I spurned his grace, I broke his laws,

And yet he undertook my cause,

To save my sinful soul from hell,

My Jesus hath done all things well.”

• In Conviction
• In Calling
• In Conversion
• In Forgiveness

(Psalms 32:1-5) Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (2) Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (3) When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. (4) For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. (5) I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

• In Preservation

(Psalms 34:1-4) I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (2) My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. (3) O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. (4) I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

(Psalms 34:6) This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

(Psalms 116:1-7) I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. (2) Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. (3) The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. (4) Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. (5) Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. (6) The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. (7) Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

In Love

Pause again, my soul, and acknowledge that “He hath done all things well” in every display of his great love for me.

(Ephesians 3:17-19) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

(Romans 5:8-10) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

(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.

(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.

(1 John 4:19) We love him, because he first loved us.

In Providence

(Psalms 13:6) I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

(Psalms 116:7) Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

What a good God and Savior we have! What a text this is! Our biographies expound it far better than any book. The Lord has dealt bountifully with us. He who gave us his darling Son, has with him freely given us all things. He has given us his Spirit and he conveys to us all spiritual blessings in Christ. Our God deals with us like a God. He lays open all his infinite fulness to us. — “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

(Romans 8:28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Is not your life a verification of this fact? Mine is. Truly, in all the affairs of providence, “He hath done all things well!” And that which he has done, he is doing, and shall forever continue to do, until he has finished doing all that he purposed to do in eternity. Then, we shall look back upon all things and say, “He hath done all things well!” In that great day, when our mansions are prepared, our bodies raised from the dead, and we are perfectly conformed to his image in resurrection glory, when we hear him say, “Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” oh, with what rapture, gratitude, rejoicing and love shall we shout, “HE HATH DONE ALL THINGS WELL!”

O for a heart prepared to sing,

To God, my Savior and my King:

With all the saints I’ll join to tell,

My Jesus hath done all things well.

All worlds his glorious power confess,

His wisdom all his works confess,

But O his love what tongue can tell!

My Jesus hath done all things well.

How sovereign, wonderful, and free,

Is all His love to sinful me!

He plucked me as a brand from hell! —

My Jesus hath done all things well.

And since my soul has known His love,

What mercies He has made me prove,

Mercies which all my praise excel. —

My Jesus will do all things well.

Soon I shall pass this vale of death,

And in his arms shall lose my breath,

Yet, then my happy soul shall tell,

My Jesus hath done all things well.

And when to that bright world I rise,

And join the anthems in the skies,

Among the rest, this note shall swell,

My Jesus hath done all things well.

Samuel Medley

In the light of these facts, can you imagine what must be waiting for us on the other side, in that land where there is no darkness, no weeping, no sorrow, no pain, and no sin, in that blessed place called “Heaven,” where “the former things are passed away”?

“We read of a place that's called heaven.

It's made for the pure and the free.

These truths in God's Word He hath given. —

How beautiful heaven must be!

In heaven no drooping nor pining,

No wishing for elsewhere to be.

God's light is forever there shining —

How beautiful heaven must be!

Pure waters of life there are flowing;

And all who will drink may be free.

Rare jewels of splendor are glowing —

How beautiful heaven must be!

The angels so sweetly are singing

Up there by the beautiful sea.

Sweet chords from their gold harps are ringing. —

How beautiful must be!

Refrain —

How beautiful heaven must be!

Sweet home of the happy and free,

Fair heaven of rest for the weary,

How beautiful heaven must be!”

Amen.

Don Fortner

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