Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

BENEVOLENCE

1. The words of our text are most revealing:
   1. They unfold to us the unspeakable love of Jesus Christ to a sinful and bankrupt world
   2. They show the measure of Divine benevolence to poverty-stricken humanity
2. Paul, the master-builder seeks to make the benevolence of Christ:
   1. The great incentive to Christians in their relationship to the needs of the cause of missions
   2. The words of Paul, in our text, show the deep insight he had gained of the background of the humanity of Christ B. THE GREAT EXAMPLE OF BENEVOLENCE; Consider
3. How rich the Son of God was
   1. In possession, all the universe made by Him and for Him - John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:1-3
   2. There is nothing in all creation that is not His - Col. 1:15-17
   3. In power - He was omnipotent, untrammeled and unrepressed - Matt. 28:18; Ps. 33:6,9
   4. In homage - the unfallen intelligences worshiped Him - Heb. 1:6; Phil. 2:10-11
   5. In the love and fellowship of the Father - Matt. 3:17; 17:5
   6. In pure happiness - He was the joy of the unfallen worlds - Prov. 8:30; Job 38:7
4. How poor He became:
   1. In condition - "The foxes have holes, and the birds have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay His head." - Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58
   2. Consider please, the Creator of this world had nothing to claim as His own when He came into this world - John 1:10-11
   3. The Divine One restricted Himself--appeared in the form of a servant - Phil. 2:8
   4. Note His circumstances - at His birth--His cradle a manger - Luke 2:7,12,16; at Nazareth an artisan, thus standing close to the fallen race earning His bread in the sweat of His brow

1. It was purely voluntary:
   1. "Then said I, Lo I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will O my God; yea Thy law is within my heart" - Ps. 40:7-8; Heb. 10:9
   2. He gave Himself voluntarily; "No man taketh it from Me...I lay down My life" - John 10:18,15
2. It was prompted by love:
   1. "Who loved Me, and gave Himself for Me" - Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:14
   2. "And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge" - Eph. 3:19
   3. "For God so loved the world, that He gave" - John 3:16
   4. The compulsion was the compulsion of compassion and affection of heaven for fallen humanity
3. The great object of the Divine benevolence:
   1. Our enrichment - That ye through His poverty might be rich"
   2. Man was poor in many ways, lost his home, Gen. 3:22-23; he became a sojourner from the cradle to the grave
   3. This condition is typified by the experience of the prodigal son - Luke 15:11-32
   4. Through Christ this condition was changed; man has been endowed with the riches of God in Christ Jesus - 2 Pet. 1:2-8 Col. 1:27
4. Nature and working of the riches that come to us through the poverty of the Son of man:
   1. Presently our riches include freedom from the enslaving power of sin - John 8:36; Matt. 1:21; Rom. 8:1-3
   2. We become partakers of the Divine nature which means holiness of character - 2 Pet. 1:2-8
   3. We are endowed with the gift of the Holy Spirit enumerated in Galatians 5:22-23
   4. In the world to come we shall enjoy our Edenic home, lost through sin, regained through the plan of redemption in Christ Jesus - 2 Pet. 3:13; I Cor. 2:9-10
   5. Then it will be fulfilled what Jesus said, "The glory which thou hast given to Me, I have given to them" - John 17:22
5. What an incentive for Christian benevolence:
   1. How it awes us to even consider the subject.