I have a message for you this morning that I hope will be of great interest to each of you. I know it will be of interest to the people of God, and I pray that if it be the Lord's will that He would bring any unbeliever who's among us or who might be watching by way of the internet, that He would bring these unbelievers to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul. This is a very treasure chest of jewels, scriptural, spiritual jewels that I have read to you. But I'm going to focus on one verse of scripture, and that is the 32nd verse of Romans 8. Our subject is, Christ was delivered up. to die. Christ was delivered up to die. Verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up in the stead of us all. Who are the us? the many sons of God, those who He has already set forth as those who were foreknown by God, that is foreordained in love, unto salvation, those who were predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. those whom He has effectually sent the gospel to and called them by His grace, those whom He has justified, He has made them righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ, and those whom He has glorified. You say, well, we're not glorified yet. We are in the mind of God. All of these things are everlasting issues that God sought to it would be taken care of and that covenant of grace before the world began. Now, as I look at this statement of scripture, this to me is like heavenly logic. And here's what I mean, not earthly logic and not carnal logic. Don't bring your carnal logic to the Word of God, but interpret all things in light of heavenly logic. And here's what the Apostle Paul is saying. Since God has given us the greatest, Since God has given us the best, since God has given to us His only begotten Son, and this is heavenly logic, then He will not withhold anything else that we might need. That's heavenly logic. That's spiritual logic. The Lord didn't spare his own son. And the story that comes to my mind is, of course, Genesis, the 22nd chapter, when God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, whom he loved with all of his heart, up on a mountain that God would show him and offer him there as a burnt offering to the Lord. And Abraham, he did not spare his own son. And he laid him up on the altar, and he was ready to execute Him in accordance with God's will. I can't imagine how he felt in his heart. But the Scriptures reveal no delay in Abraham's manner in his procedure. He is ready to carry out the deed. He would not spare God his own son. That promised seed. That son born to Sarah. But God told him to stop. Stop. And God said to Abraham, in essence, you'll spare your own son. And he said, there is over there in the bushes an animal, a ram. He's caught in the thicket by his horns. And you take that ram and you offer him up, you kill it in the stead of Isaac. And so God did spare Abraham's son. But God did not spare his own son. but delivered Him up for us all. This is the only way the law of God could be honored. This is the only way the justice of God could ever be satisfied. This is the only way you and I could have all of our sins fully remitted, that is forgiven. It's the only way that God, as a just God, could therefore embrace us and say, you're justified, you're righteous in my Son. He didn't spare His Son. He didn't spare Him the humiliation of the incarnation. He did not spare Him from being made lower than the angels. I can't even comprehend that. He made the angels. He created the angels, our Lord Jesus did. And yet those angels to whom He ministered ever since their creation, keeping them living, existing, active, they were His servants. He is made lower than the angels. And they had to come and minister to Him. God spared not his own son that humiliation of the incarnation. The scripture says, he who is rich, he was made poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich. God did not spare him that poverty. He who owned all things and made all things was born in a rustic stable and laid in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn. God didn't spare him that humiliation. God did not spare him the temptations of the devil. The evil one tempted him 40 days and 40 nights, and yet it wasn't the devil who led him out into the wilderness, it was the Spirit of God Himself. God did not spare him those 40 days in which his holy soul was tempted by the evil one day and night. God didn't spare him that. Because you see, we have to face the temptations of the devil. Our Lord Jesus must prove himself to be the perfect man and therefore the only sacrifice that would satisfy God. God did not spare him the accusations, the false accusations, all the mockery of the evil men. who called him names like, he's a gluttonous man. He's a wine-bibber. And when he did his miracles, they didn't deny the reality of the miracles. But they said, this man does all of these miracles by the very power of Beelzebub. God did not spare him. God did not spare him. Those accusations of slander and mockery. And God did not spare him that betrayal of a close companion. A man who broke bread with our Lord. A man who took care of the purse. the offerings that were given to our Lord and to his disciples to support them in their ministry. Judas, Judas, he took care of those funds. And yet he sold our Savior out for 30 pieces of silver. And our Lord Jesus, being a real man, had wounded his heart. But God didn't spare him that. And God didn't spare him a trusted disciple, a true believer. He didn't spare him from the feeling of hurt when one of the inner three, Peter, denied that he even knew him and cursed his name. Oh, how that wounded the heart of the man, Christ Jesus. But God didn't spare him that. He said, people say evil things about me. People say false things about me. Well, they said more evil things and more horrible things about the Savior than they'll ever say about you. Because there may be an element of truth in what they say about you and what they say about me, because we're imperfect people. But there was no element of truth in what they said about our darling Savior, the perfect man, Christ Jesus. And God did not spare him the agony of Gethsemane. where He wept, as it were, great drops of blood. And we hear His soul crying out, My Father, if it be Thy will, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done. And God did not spare him the awful agony and torture of being crucified. It was in that day, crucifixion was in that day considered the most, to be the most horrendous and the most painful method of execution anywhere. And God did not spare his son the agonies of the cross of Calvary. And even before that, the agony of being crowned with thorns, the agony of men who supposedly were the religious leaders of the day, who blindfolded him and then slapped him. Didn't hold anything back. They slapped his holy face. Said, now if you're a prophet, tell us who did it. And then they cleared their throats. God did not spare him the shameful spitting of his enemies in his face. And they pulled out his beard. And then they nailed him to a cross. And then they sat there and they watched Him. What kind of sick, sick pleasure they got from beholding this man who was the great miracle worker. What pleasure they got in watching Him suffer that shameful death on the cross because it was a death by which he would satisfy God but a death of a man stripped of all of his clothing. God did not spare him the nakedness before the eyes of men and women and children. God did not spare him that shame. And God did not spare him the rod of justice that he felt in his soul. And this was the very soul of his sufferings. When God Himself exacted from our Savior, our substitute, the full measure of satisfaction to His justice, because our sins had been imputed to Him, God didn't spare him anything. all of the wrath of God, that all of the people of God would have had to endure for all of eternity, that was poured into His holy soul. And as it were, God the Father pulled His sword of justice out of its sheath. And He took that sword of justice and He plunged it right into the heart of the Son of God. And justice said, that's enough. The sword was pulled out, put back in its sheath, and that's the reason the people of God will never know anything about being condemned for our sins. Our Lord Jesus suffered, bled, and died in our stead. He felt it in His Holy Soul. God didn't spare him anything. Didn't spare him anything. And I'll tell you this, God spared not his son in that he actually forsook his son. I can't explain that. Psalm 22 says, He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Delivered Him up to the hands of men. Delivered Him up to the hands of justice. Delivered Him up to the hands of death. Delivered Him up to the grave. He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him freely? give us all things. Can you not rejoice in that? And if you cannot rejoice in that, oh my dear friend, there is something wrong with you. You see, this is all, our salvation is fully dependent upon God. The faithfulness of God. Brandon spoke this past Wednesday night. I am the Lord, I change not. That's our confidence. He doesn't change. That's why sons of Jacob are not consumed. That's the only reason. The only reason. Three brief questions I'll ask you in this message. Number one, who was delivered? Number two, why was he delivered? And number three, who delivered him? Who was delivered up to die? Why was he delivered up to die? And who delivered him up to die? Who was delivered? Christ was. This is his official title, Christ. Jesus is his name. Jehovah who saves. Christ, that's his title. He's the Messiah. He's the anointed one. In the Old Testament, there were three offices for which men had to be anointed. Prophet, priest, and king. Our Lord Jesus was the anointing prophet. He said the spirit of God is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the gospel. He's the anointed prophet of God. He's the anointed priest of God. Anointed by the Spirit of God to offer the sacrifice to put away the sins of His people. He's anointed as the King of kings. He's gone back to glory and He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He reigns over all things, over all the works of the hands of our God. Christ governs everything. He's prophet, priest, and king. The ancient Hebrews were instructed by the Old Testament prophets as to who Messiah was, who he would be, what he would do. He would be God, and he would be man, and he would save his people from their sins. And so one of the prophets wrote, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. In referring to him as a child, that refers to his entrance into this world, in his humanity, in that body that God prepared for him. In referring to him as the son, that speaks of his eternal existence. his deity and his Godhead. But through the years, through the years, the Jews, their ideas of Messiah deteriorated until finally when our Lord Jesus actually entered into this world. Their idea of Messiah was one who would raise up an army and deliver Israel from bondage to Rome, and lead them back to the glory days of King David and King Solomon, when Israel would be the greatest nation in the world, led by Messiah. They forgot about the message of the prophets, that our Lord must first suffer, and then enter into His glory. They were wrong about the kingdom that he came to establish. It wasn't a physical kingdom. It was a spiritual kingdom of salvation. And yet the prophets, though their message was set aside by the majority of the Jews, they had foretold Messiah would be both God and man, exalted and yet abased. Master, and yet a servant. A priest, and yet the sacrifice offered by the priest. He would be a prince, yet he would be a subject. He would be a victor over death, hell, and the grave. He would be rich and he would be poor. He would be all-glorious, yet a man of grief, a man of sorrows. The Bible identifies him in John chapter 1 as being the eternal God clothed in human flesh. In the beginning was the Word, that's his pre... existence. He lived before creation. That's obvious because it says in John 1 3, all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. His pre-existence. He's the divine one. This is a foundational truth of the gospel. His deity. If he was only a good man, if he was only a religious man, if he was only a man who sought to do good for other men, if that's all he was, then he wasn't the Messiah. He had to be the God man, God in human flesh. And so we read in 1 Timothy chapter three, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Bible identifies him as being the eternal God. That's his preexistence. And this was of course what the Jews hated. He said to them on one occasion in John chapter eight, when he was talking to the Pharisees, he said, before Abraham was, I am. I am. And that struck a nerve within, because they were all very familiar with the story in Exodus chapter three, where Moses approached a bush that burned, but it wasn't consumed, and a boy spoke to him out of the bush, and Moses finally said, well, who are you? And the boy said, I am that I am. Now you go tell my people who I am. I am that I am. I'm Jehovah. I'm the ever-existent God. And our Lord Jesus said to those people in John chapter 8, before Abraham was, I am. They were ready to kill him because they despised that about him, that he claimed to be divine. In John chapter 5, when he healed a man who had been lame 38 years and healed him on the Sabbath day, He then said to the Jews who quarreled with him over what he had done, and when he had done it, he said, my father worketh hitherto and I work. And then they picked up stones to stone him because they knew when he said, my father worketh hitherto and I work, he was saying, I'm God. He had to be both God and man. God and man in one person? His pre-existence in the beginning was the Word. His co-existence with God is set forth there in John 1 as well. And the Word was with God. He co-existed with the Father and with the Spirit from all eternity. And His self-existence But John then says, and the Word was God. There's His pre-existence, His co-existence, and His self-existence. He's God. Who is that baby in the manger? Born of a virgin. Who is that? That's God. No wonder Simeon said, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He looked in the face of God incarnate. And no wonder that God is satisfied with his sacrifice. Nobody could die but a man. Nobody could satisfy but God. Behold the God-man. He suffered, he bled, he died. God was satisfied. God was satisfied. How do you know? Empty tomb. How do you know? His ascension back to glory. How do you know? He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. God is satisfied and I say to all of you, by the witness of the Holy Spirit, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. and I hang the weight of my eternal soul on this God-man, Christ Jesus. Do you? All the weight of my soul. Don't you trust your prayers, your Bible reading, your study, your preaching, your writing? No. No. All those things are done by frail, fickle, sinful man. I hang my hopes on the God-man who will never fail. Never fail. Who was delivered up to die? The God-man. Number two, why was he delivered up to die? He was delivered up to die to save his people. And Isaiah 42, if you have time, read Isaiah 42, 1 through 4. It talks about, he shall not fail. You know God's not gonna fail. It's the craziest thing that man has ever, craziest lie that's ever been spoken by any man, that God tries to do something and can't do it. Or that God endeavors to do something and he fails. When the Bible says in Isaiah 42 and verse 4, He shall not fail. And if your God, if your Savior is a failure at any point, you got the wrong God and you got the wrong Savior. Christ can't fail. Why was He delivered up to die? Let's hear Him say. He'll tell us why He came into the world. He said, the Son of Man is come. He's come to seek and to save that which was lost. That's why He came. That's why He came. He said, I came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill the law. That's why He came. He said, the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many. That's why He died, to give His life a ransom. The law of God held us for ransom. The justice of God said, I'm not going to let them go to the price that is owed is paid to me. What is the price? Their death or the death of a suitable substitute? There was only one in all of God's universe who could be the suitable substitute. And our Lord Jesus stepped forward. He appeared for us just like He appeared before those who came to arrest Him in the garden. He said, if you seek Me, let these go their way. And justice dealt with Him. And mercy robes us in his righteousness. And mercy kisses us on the cheek. And mercy says, you're freely forgiven of all things. You're saved. Why did he die? He said, here's his words. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I die so my sheep will live. You know why you're not going to die? I'm talking about dying forever. I'm talking about perishing. The only reason you will not die forever is because your shepherd died in your stead. If we can ever get a hold of that, or maybe I should put it this way, if that truth ever gets a hold of us and squeezes our hearts and burns it into us, oh, how we'll rejoice in Christ Jesus. And then lastly, who delivered him up to die? And the answer is the Father. The Father. He spoke in John chapter 4. His disciples had gone to get him some lunch. He hadn't eaten in a long time. They got him some lunch and brought it back to him and he said, that's okay. Thank you for thinking of me, but I don't need the food. And they said, well, did somebody else get him lunch? He said, my meat. is to do the work of the Father and to finish that work. He said, that's what gives me joy. That's what delights me. He said, that's my meat. That's what pleases me. And to finish His work. And you know, His last two words upon the cross of Calvary were, number one, it is finished. And therefore he said, the last one, into thy hands, Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. I commend my spirit to you because I finished the work you gave me to do, the work of salvation. And God raised him from the dead. He was delivered up to die. Oh, may God the Spirit drive this glorious truth of substitution, these truths of substitution and satisfaction into our hearts. And then we'll find rest for our souls. And we'll stop our fretting, at least for a little while. at least for a little while. You know, I want us to sing just one stanza of our last song, and that is 489 Glory to His Name.