Sermon #28 Jude Sermons
Title: “Beloved”
Text: Jude 1:17
Subject: A Matter of Personal Examination
Date: Tuesday Evening — May 10, 2005
Tape # Jude #28
Readings: Dave Burge and Bobbie Estes
Introduction:
Turn with me to Jude 1:17.
(Jude 1:17) “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Here the Holy Spirit tells us that it is imperative that we beware of false prophets, that we constantly hold in our minds the warnings given in the Book of God of the great dangers of false prophets and false religion, lest we be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. But, tonight, I us want to focus our hearts and minds on just this one word found in verse 17 — “Beloved.”
Beloved
I cannot fail to call your attention to the fact that Jude begins this portion of his solemn epistle by reminding us that, though the men and the religion here exposed is condemned by God the Holy Spirit, we who trust the Lord Jesus Christ are “beloved,” beloved of God. Late last night, as I laid in my bed, I got to thinking about this sweet, sweet word — “Beloved,” as it is used in the Book of God to speak of me. When I finally fell asleep, I slept good. When I awoke, I found David’s words in Psalm 127:2 freshly true to my experience. — “He giveth his beloved sleep.”
Did you ever notice how often the Holy Spirit tells us that we are “beloved of God,” “beloved in the Lord,” “beloved of the Lord,” and therefore “beloved partakers of the benefit”? Repeatedly, we are called “Dearly Beloved.”
The word “beloved” is a word we commonly use, but we cannot begin to imagine the blessedness of our being “beloved of God” until we realize that we are “beloved of God” in and because of our everlasting union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are “accepted in the Beloved” and “beloved of God” because we are eternally one with Christ, the Beloved.
Throughout the Word of God, in every place, and upon every occasion, when God the Father is represented as speaking of his dear Son, or to him, he expresses himself with the greatest rapture and delight. He calls him his elect, his chosen, his only beloved, and his dear Son. It seems to me that in using such tender terms of affection, the Lord God is enticing us to fall in love with him who is the supreme Object of his love.
Beloved Mediator
This love of the Father to the Son, as it is spoken of in Scripture, is not with reference to his Son as the second person of the Holy Trinity, but in his mediatorial character, as our Redeemer and Savior. It would be useless and redundant for us to be told of the love of the Father to the Son, in the nature and essence of the eternal Godhead. What could we possibly know about how the persons of the Triune God love each other in the infinity and eternity of their nature? We have no conception of infinite matters.
But the love of God, the love of the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for our Mediator and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the God-man, is something else! Begin to meditate upon that, and you will find a sweet, soft pillow upon which to rest your aching heart and head. This is love “unspeakable and full of glory.”
What a rapturous thought to my soul this is! The Man, Christ Jesus, is beloved of the triune Jehovah. At his baptism and upon the Mount of Transfiguration, as he began to manifest himself and when he was about to complete his manifestation in the accomplishment of our eternal redemption, the Lord God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” The Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s righteous and obedient Servant, our Savior, is beloved of God, because…
· he undertook our cause,
· became our Surety,
· lived for us as our Representative,
· died for us as our Substitute,
· and is now carrying on the one glorious design for which he became incarnate, in bringing “many sons unto glory.”
In John 10:15-18, our Savior tells us that the Father’s love for him as the God-man our Mediator, is the direct result of his accomplished work as our Savior.
(John 10:15-18) “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. (16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
(Isaiah 42:21) “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.”
Beloved People
Now, here is the blessedness of all this. — As Christ is beloved of God because of his mediatorial accomplishments, so are beloved of God for the same reason and to the same degree, for his sake, and that from eternity (John 17:23-26).
(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.”
It is this eternal love of God for us that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given to us when we are born of God (Rom. 5:5).
As the triune God loves Christ and is well-pleased with him, so he loves all the hosts of his elect and is well-pleased with us in him. That includes you my brother, and you my sister, and me, and every believing sinner. Yes, the Lord God is well-pleased with us. We are altogether lovely in his sight, made lovely by Christ’s comeliness imparted to and put upon us, made lovely by virtue of our union with him.
There is no loveliness in us by nature, and none that can be produced by us. But, on Christ’s account, as beheld and accepted in him, we are altogether lovely before our God. We are made lovely and beloved of God from eternity and forever in Christ. Not only does our dear Savior call us his Beloved, not only does he tell us that we are all fair, that there is no spot in us, but he declares that we are “beloved,” beloved of God forever!
Divisions: Here two things are clearly and distinctly revealed about the love of God for his us. Both are stupendous, glorious, soul-comforting truths. I want so very much for our hearts to be humbled, ravished, inspired, and filled with praise to our God by these two things.
1. God loves his elect in Christ as he loves Christ himself.
2. God’s love for his elect is an everlasting love.
I cannot tell you which of these facts I find more astounding. They are both glorious gospel truths, truths which could never be known except by divine revelation, and truths both honoring to our God and, to the extent that we are able to believe them, comforting to our souls.
Beloved As Christ
I. First, our Savior says, “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Thus, he tells us that God our Father loves his elect in Christ as he loves Christ himself!
That is such an amazing, stupendous thing that were it not written in Holy Scripture, I would not dare to think it, much less speak it. But there it stands. And, oh, how my soul rejoices in it! It is our Savior’s desire and purpose that the whole world shall know that God loves us as he loves him; and so it shall be!
“When God’s elect have all been gathered together in one (John 11:52), when the glory which Christ received from the Father has been imparted to them, when they shall have been made perfect in one, then shall the world have such a clear demonstration of God’s power, grace and love toward His people, that they shall know that the One who died to make this glorious union possible was the sent One of the Father, and that they had been loved by the Father as had the Son, for ‘When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory’ (Col. 3:4); then ‘he shall come to be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe...in that day’ (2 Thess. 1:10).” A.W. Pink
Three Implications
When our Lord says, “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me,” that little word “as” implies three things.
a similarity of cause
First, there is a similarity of cause between God’s love for Christ and his love for us.
· God loves us in Christ.
God’s love is not a universal sentiment for all men. God’s love is in Christ. Apart from Christ, God is a consuming fire. This needs to be understood. These days, men everywhere are taught and universally presume that God loves them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Until you are united to Christ by faith, you have no reason to imagine that God loves you. Our faith in Christ does not cause God to love us. Our faith is the fruit and result of God’s eternal love for us. But, until a sinner trusts Christ, only the wrath of God is revealed and known to him; and the wrath of God is upon him.
· John 3:36
· Ephesians 2:3
· God loves us for Christ’s sake.
Thomas Manton wrote, “The elect are made lovely, and fit to be accepted by God, only by Jesus Christ...The ground of all that love God beareth to us is in Christ.”
We are “accepted in the beloved.” God accepts our faith, our worship, our works, and our persons only because of Christ, because we are in Christ and because of what Christ has done for us.
· And God the Father loves us for the same reason that he loves his Son as our Mediator.
Be sure you get this. It will help you. As I showed you when I began, God the Father does not love us for the same reason that he loves his Son as his Son. He loves his Son as his Son necessarily because his Son is one with him in perfection and praise. He cannot but love Christ as God. Else he would cease to love himself. But God’s love for Christ as our Mediator is based upon his perfect obedience unto God as our Mediator (John 10:14-17).
(John 10:14-17) “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. (16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”
Do you understand what our Lord is teaching us here? God’s love for us is free and, at the same, time fully deserved! He said, “I will love them freely” (Hos. 14:4). Yet, his love, mercy, grace, and salvation flow to us upon the grounds of Christ’s obedience as our Substitute. He is merciful and gracious to us, forgiving us of all sin, and loves us “for Christ’s sake” (Eph. 4:32-5:2). God the Father looked upon his Son from eternity as our perfect, obedient Mediator, and for the sake of his Son loved us with an everlasting love.
“God could not love us with honor to himself, if his wisdom had not found out this way of loving us in Christ...God was resolved to manifest an infinite love to man, but he would still manifest an infinite hatred against sin; which could not be more fully manifested than by making Christ the ground of our reconciliation...How could the holy God, the just God...love such vile and unworthy creatures as we are? The question is answered — He loveth us in Christ, and for Christ’s sake.”
Thomas Manton
a similarity of love
Second, this word “as” suggests a similarity of love.
The Lord God loves his people in the same way as he loves his Son. Again, let me stress the fact that our Lord is comparing the Father’s love for him as our Mediator to his love for his elect. Christ, as our Mediator, is the first object of God’s love. He loved Christ as the Head of his mystical body, the church, and us as members. He loved Christ for his own sake. He loves us for Christ’s sake.
God the Father loved Christ the God-man as “the express image of his person” (Heb. 1:3). So he loves his people who in Christ have been (and those who yet must be) renewed “after the image of him” (Col. 3:10). He loves Christ as his only begotten Son; and he loves us in Christ as his adopted sons (1 John 3:1). Because the Savior says, “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me,” we are assured that...
· God loves his elect freely. — As we have already seen, the Lord Jesus Christ earned his Father’s love as a man by his mediatoral obedience. Yet, when our Savior came into the world, the Lord God loved the child freely, delighting in him (Isa. 42:1). — He is that One of whom the Father says, “In whom my soul delighteth!” Even so, he loves us freely (Deut. 7:7-8; Hos. 14:4).
(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.”
(Hosea 14:4) “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”
· God loves us tenderly and affectionately. — As the Father’s love for his Son is a tender, indescribably affectionate love, so is his love for us (Isa. 62:5; Zech. 2:8).
(Isaiah 62:5) “For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”
(Zechariah 2:8) “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”
· God’s love for his elect is immutable. — The Lord willing, I will say more about this later. For now, let me simply remind you that there is no possibility of change in our God (Mal. 3:6, James 1:17). God’s love does not change. It cannot be taken from us; and it cannot be destroyed, neither by us nor by hell itself (Romans 8:35-39).
The famous Arminian preacher, founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance denomination, A.W. Tozer, made these statements about the love of God. — “God must love and will love man until hell has erased the last trace of the remaining image (of God in him). Men are lost now. But they are still loved of God...I believe that God now loves all lost men...(But) the day will come when lost man will no longer be loved by God Almighty...I believe the time will come when God will no longer love lost human beings.”[1]
Such fickle, useless love may be worthy of fickle, useless man, but not of the great and glorious Lord God. Our God does not love today and hate tomorrow! His love is unchangeable! He said, “Jacob have I loved,” and he never changed his mind!
a similarity of results
Third, our Lord intends for us to understand that there is a similarity of results, that the effects and fruits of God’s love to him and his elect are alike.
Love that has no effect and bears no fruit is lip-love; and lip-love is useless love. Love that is never known by the one loved is a frustrated passion that destroys one’s own peace and happiness. Love that never sees benefit and blessing upon its object, but only misery and woe, is a tormenting love. But that does not describe the love of God. Oh, no, a thousand times no! God’s love toward us, like his love toward his Son as our Mediator, is an effectual, fruitful, beneficial love.
Five Results
Here are five things mutually enjoyed by all who are “beloved of God,” by Christ and his people, as the fruit and effect of God’s love.
1. The Revelation of Secrets
All things are open, common knowledge between people who love one another. As all things are manifest and made known to the Son as our Mediator by the Father (John 1:18; 5:20), so all things are manifest and made known to God’s elect by the Son (John 14:21; 15:15).
(John 1:18) “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
(John 5:20) “For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.”
(John 14:21) “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
(John 15:15) “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
2. The Bestowment of Spiritual Gifts
God’s love is a bounteous love. He has given all things to the Son (John 3:34-35; 17:2; Eph. 4:8); and he has given all his people all spiritual, heavenly gifts in his Son (Eph. 1:3).
(John 3:34-35) “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. (35) The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
(John 17:2) “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
(Ephesians 4:8) “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
(Ephesians 1:3) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
3. Strength and Protection in Life
As the Lord Jesus was upheld, strengthened, and protected throughout the days of his obedience to do his Father’s will (Isa. 42:1), so the Lord God upholds, strengthens, and protects us, the objects of his love, throughout our days of obedience in this world (2 Cor. 12:9).
(Isaiah 42:1) “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9) “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
4. Acceptance of All We Do for Him
Everything that Christ did for God was accepted and well-pleasing to him because he loved him (Eph. 5:2). And everything we do for God is accepted and well-pleasing to God through the merits of Christ because he loves us as he loved him (1 Pet. 2:5). God our Father accepts our paltry efforts at serving and pleasing him for two reasons.
(Ephesians 5:2) “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
(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.”
· He accepts our poor, sin stained obedience upon the merit of Christ’s perfect obedience.
· He accepts our efforts at pleasing him because of his fatherly love for us in Christ.
Illustration: A Boy Trying to Walk in His
Dad’s Footprints
Faith’s Dandelions
5. Honor and Exaltation
The Lord Jesus was honored and highly exalted by God the Father as the object of his love. He was given preeminence in, possession of, and power over all things (Ps. 2:7-8; Heb. 1:8). The Lord God, our heavenly Father, will do the same for us (John 12:26; Rev. 3:21).
(Psalms 2:7-8) “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (8) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”
(John 12:26) “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”
(Hebrews 1:8) “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”
(Revelation 3:21) “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
Hear the Son of God, my brothers and sisters in this world, and rejoice! “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me!” What a pillow upon which to rest our heads! What a comfort for our poor, aching hearts! What a glorious theme for daily meditation! What a cause for adoration, praise, and worship! We may be despised, misunderstood, abused, and hated of men, but we are loved of God! God our Father loves us even as he loves his darling Son; and he has so loved us from eternity!
(Romans 12:1-2) “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. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Notice that the Holy Spirit urges us to present our “bodies” (plural) “a living sacrifice” (singular). There is but one “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.” That Sacrifice is Christ himself. Paul is here urging us to do that which is most reasonable, — to present ourselves constantly to God through faith in Christ, because we are loved of God as he is loved of God!
What would you give, what would you do to have the enjoyment and assurance of such love from God? Perhaps, you are thinking, “Pastor, I would do anything to know the love of God like that.” Let me ask you this - Would you do nothing to have it? That is what you must do, nothing. If you would rest in his love, simply trust the Son of God, and the love of God shall be shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit he has given to you.
Eternally Beloved
II. Now look at the last sentence in John 17:24. Our Lord Jesus said, “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Here he declares, “for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” With those words he teaches us that God’s love for his elect is an everlasting love. Not only are we “beloved of the Lord,” we are eternally “beloved of the Lord!”
“The doctrine of God’s everlasting, unchangeable, and invariable love to his elect, through every state and condition into which they come, is written as with a sun-beam in the sacred writings.” John Gill
Because we are eternally beloved, we are described by Jude as a people “sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.”
I am again in water that is way over my head; but I never did like to wade around in puddles. I like to swim in deep water. When we dive into the ocean of God’s everlasting love for his elect, there is no possibility of us sounding its depths. So, when I have finished talking about it, there will be plenty of room for meditation and study. I can do nothing more than bring up a few nuggets of gold from this deep mine of infinity. Let me show you five things about God’s everlasting love for us in Christ.
1. The Eternality of It
God’s love for us did not begin yesterday. It is not something born in time. His love for us does not begin with our love for him. “We love him because he first loved us”(1 John 4:19). God’s love for us springs up from eternity, and is the ground of divine predestination and of our election and redemption by Christ, and our calling by the Holy Spirit.
· Jeremiah 31:3
· Ephesians 1:4-6
· Ezekiel 16:8
(Jeremiah 31:3) “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
(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.”
(Ezekiel 16:8) “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.”
The Father loved us ere we fell,
And will forever love;
Nor shall the powers of earth or hell
His love from Zion move.
‘Twas love that moved Him to ordain
A Surety just and good;
And on His heart inscribe the names
Of all for whom He stood.
Nor is the Surety short of love;
He loves beyond degree;
No less than love divine could move
The Lord to die for me.
And O what love the Spirit shows!
When Jesus He reveals
To men oppressed with sin and woes,
And all their sorrows heals.
The Three-in-One, the One-in-Three,
In love for ever rest;
The chosen shall in glory be
In His love ever blessed.
God’s acts and works of grace performed for us before the world began arise from and are demonstrations of his everlasting love for us.
· Election was an act of God’s eternal love (Eph. 1:4).
· The covenant of grace was established by the triune God in eternity because of his great, everlasting love for us (2 Sam. 23:5; Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 13:20).
· Giving us into the hands of Christ as our Surety was a work of God’s eternal love (John 6:39).
2. The Immutability of It
God’s love, like all his gifts bestowed upon men, is without repentance. He will never cease his own to cherish. Those who are loved of God have been loved of God from everlasting and shall be loved of God to everlasting. His love is eternal both ways. He will not depart from the objects of his love or cease to do them good, for he cannot change (Jer. 32:40; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17).
(Jeremiah 32:38-40) “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: (39) And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: (40) And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.”
The salvation of God’s elect does not stand upon a precarious foundation of time, but upon the immutable foundation of God’s everlasting love.
· We change often, but there are no changes in his love.
· Our love is sometimes hot and sometimes cold; but his love is invariably the same.
· God graciously and wisely changes the dispensation of his providence toward his people, hiding his face and chastening us because of our sin; but his love never changes (Isa. 54:10; Heb. 12:5-11). His chastisements are evidences of his love.
· Even when we sin against him, as we often do, God’s love does not change!
(Illus: David - 2 Sam. 12:13 — Peter - Mark 16:7)
· This is the thing I want us to get hold of — God’s love toward his elect is from everlasting, and never changes to any degree or for any reason (Psalm 89:19-37; John 13:1)/
(Psalms 89:19-37) “Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. (20) I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: (21) With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. (22) The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. (23) And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. (24) But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. (25) I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. (26) He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. (27) Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. (28) My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. (29) His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. (30) If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; (31) If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; (32) Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. (33) Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. (34) My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. (35) Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. (36) His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. (37) It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.”
(John 13:1) “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”
3. The Gifts of It
Love gives. The gifts of God’s free and everlasting love are too many for us to calculate. Let me just show you three things that are clearly revealed as the gifts of God’s everlasting love to his elect. In comparison with these three all others, great as they are, must be considered to be far, far less.
1st. The Lord God has given us himself because of his great, everlasting love for us (Ezek. 37:27). – “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
2nd. The gift of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to suffer and die as our Substitute was and is the great commendation of his love to us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:6-10; 1 John 3:16; 4:10). — “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!” (1 Cor. 9:15)
3rd. The gift of his Spirit to regenerate, call, and seal us in his grace in “the time of love” is the gift of God’s everlasting love to us (Ezek. 16:8; Tit. 3:3-6).
“Indeed, all that God does in time, or will do to all eternity, is only telling his people how much he loved them from everlasting.” John Gill
‘Twas not to make Jehovah’s love
Towards the sinner flame,
That Jesus, from His throne above
A suffering man became.
‘Twas not the death which he endured,
Nor all the pangs He bore,
That God’s eternal love procured,
For God was love before.
He loved the world of His elect
With love surpassing thought;
Nor will His mercy e’er neglect
The souls so dearly bought.
John Kent
4. The Distinctiveness of It
Let me spend a little time here. It is utter nonsense to talk about God loving all men. I sometimes hear preachers try to soft peddle God’s sovereignty by assuring people that there is a sense in which God loves all men with a love of benevolence though not with a love of complacency and delight. They say God loves all men as his creatures, just as he loves trees and toads. If you can get any comfort from comparing God’s love for you to his love for a frog, I guess I should not take that away from you, but it simply is not the teaching of Scripture.
1st. God loves his elect distinctively.
God does not love all men. I would not emphasize that fact, were it not for the fact that those who teach that God’s love is universal are guilty of three horrible crimes.
· They make the love of God changeable.
· They make the love of God meaningless.
· They destroy the greatest motive there is for godliness and devotion. Try telling you wife that you love all women alike. See if that inspires her devotion to you!
The Word of God tells us in the plainest terms possible that God’s love for his elect is a special, sovereign, distinctive, and distinguishing love.
· Isaiah 43:1-5
· Romans 8:29
· Romans 9:11-24
(Isaiah 43:1-5) “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. (2) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (3) For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. (4) Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. (5) Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;”
(Romans 8:28-30) “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. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
(Romans 9:11-24) “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (12) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (14) What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. (15) For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (16) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. (17) For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. (18) Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. (19) Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? (20) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (21) Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (22) What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (23) And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, (24) Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”
2nd. God loves his people delightfully.
I mean by that that God delights, takes pleasure in, and is complacent with his elect because of his love for them. God so loves us that he smiles on us perpetually, even when he appears to be frowning upon us!
It is high time that all attempts to divide the love of God into categories, stages, and degrees be laid aside. They do nothing to help men and only obscure the glory and grandeur of our God. If God loves me, he delights in me. If he does not delight in me, he does not love me. Again I say, try telling your wife, “Honey, I really do love you. I wish you well. I want nothing but the very best for you, and am willing to do anything I can for you. But you do not please me. You are offensive to me. I do not enjoy your company. In fact, I really do not want to look at you.” If you still have a wife tomorrow, let me know.
Our God loves us as he loves his darling Son. That means he is well-pleased with us (Matt. 17:5). The Father and the Son are one; and the Son of God tells us that his “delights” were with us from eternity (Pro. 8:31). He could not have used a stronger word than this to express his love for us. The word “delights” expresses the most intimate, sweet, ravishing pleasure. Can you get hold of this? Our God so delights in us that he says, “Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse: thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes” (Song 4:9).
5. The Efficacy of It
God’s love is more than a wish or desire in his heart to save sinners. God’s love for us is an effectual love. That simply means that those who are the objects of God’s love shall be saved precisely because they are the objects of his love. Otherwise the love of God is an utterly useless thing.
· God’s love is sovereign (Rom. 9:16-18).
· God’s love is sacrificial (1 John 3:16).
· God’s love is saving (Ezek. 37:27).
· God’s love is steadfast (John 13:1).
· God’s love is for sinners (John 3:14-18).
Application: From now on, when you read this sweet word, “beloved” in the Book of God, pause and lift up your heart to the triune God of heaven and worship with deep gratitude. — “I am my Beloved’s, and He is mine!”
(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.”
What an amazing, stupendous revelation of God’s love for us! Men tell me that such teaching as this promotes licentiousness and antinomianism, that it discourages godliness and good works; but that is absurd. When I think of the things we have been meditating upon in this message, that God loved me when I hated him, that he loved me before the world began, that he loves me as he loves my Savior, that his love for me will never cease, never change, and never vary, these thoughts compel me to love him, and lay me under the greatest obligations possible to reverence him, worship him, devote myself to his glory and his will, and serve his interests while I live in this world.
· 2 Corinthians 5:14
· Titus 3:5-8
(2 Corinthians 5:14) “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:”
(Titus 3:5-8) “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (6) Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; (7) That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (8) This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
Amen.