Saturday morning, you pray for
me as God enables you and ask God to give me what you need.
And he may just do that. Open your Bibles with me tonight
to the 49th Psalm. Psalm 49. I know any of you are tired, and
I pray that God will be pleased to Awaken your minds and your
hearts and give me the message, the power of his spirit to deliver
the message he's given me. And tomorrow night, I know you
try to get folks to come and hear the gospel. I'll make you
a promise. Make your promise tomorrow night.
I'm going to preach from a text that you've never heard anybody
preach from before. And you can go through town and
invite everybody you want to. And if you can bring somebody
who's heard a message from this text tomorrow night, I'll sit
down and let him preach. I promise you, you've never heard
a message from the text. I believe God's laid on my heart
tomorrow night, if I can get the message prepared. All right. Tonight, my subject is that which
is the most important aspect of divine revelation. the most
important revelation given in this book. That without which
there is no Christianity. That without which there is no
salvation. That without which there is no
knowledge of God. That without which there is no
salvation for your souls. Our subject tonight is limited
atonement. Called elsewhere precious redemption. limited atonement. If there's
anywhere where men are tempted to compromise in the preaching
of the gospel, this will be the first place where compromise
is made. I cannot tell you the number
of men I've known for better than 40 years who once strongly
professed the faith that I here declare to you, who have found
reasons now to compromise on this matter of the atonement.
And here, there is no room for compromise, no room for bending,
no room for yielding. I believe the gospel doctrine
of limited atonement. In our house at home, if you
come to have a meal at our house, two things you will always find
on the table are salt and pepper. And two other things you'll always
find are bread and butter. That's just I know that's not
the way we're supposed to eat these days, according to most
people. But at our house, you'll always see salt and pepper and
bread and butter on the table. Always in the house of God, limited
atonement is always on the table where the gospel feast is spread.
Always, always. If you come to hear me preach,
you can expect to hear limited atonement. It is not something
I just discuss with preachers and folks when we get together
and talk about theology and discuss in my office and talk to people
about in private. It's not something with which
I flavor my sermons now and then. If I preach, I preach limited
atonement. I recall years ago, a fellow
had come around and he was making inroads somewhat in places, and
he asked me at a dinner table one night, I said, how often
do you preach on this? I said, every time I preach.
And literally his jaw dropped. I said, how do you preach and
not preach this? If you preach the gospel, you preach limited
atonement. Nobody preaches the gospel who
doesn't. And anyone who denies limited
atonement denies the gospel of God's free grace. Now, while
you're turning here to Psalm 49 and just hold your place there,
let me define what I'm talking about. We believe, according
to this book, we believe, according to this book, that our Lord Jesus
Christ died for, made atonement for, and effectually redeemed
God's elect. that all for whom the Son of
God suffered and died at Calvary shall and must be saved by the
power of His grace in time. That's called limited atonement.
Now, I know that if you talk to family and friends and neighbors
and folks who are religious, they'll talk to you about limited
atonement and people kind of hedge and want to back up. So
let me be careful that you understand what I'm saying. People understand.
The fact is everyone who believes anything about the death of Christ
at Calvary limits the atonement. Everyone limits the atonement.
We limit the atonement in our teaching in accordance with the
teaching of scripture because the scriptures everywhere teach
us that our Lord's intention is designed His object in his
sin-atoning sacrifice at Calvary was the everlasting salvation
of God's elect, his sheep, those he came to save, those who were
given to him in the covenant of grace before the world began,
those for whom he made intercession while he was upon this earth
and for whom he makes intercession now. The atonement and its benefits
are by God's eternal decree. The atonement and its benefits
are, by God's eternal decree, by God's design, by God's purpose,
limited only to God's elect. There is absolutely no sense
in which God loves, or Christ died for, or God tries to save
everyone in this world. If God loves everybody, everybody's
going to heaven, or God's love is meaningless. if christ died
for everybody everybody's redeemed or christ death is meaningless
if god the holy spirit calls everybody to life in faith in
christ everybody has life in faith in christ or the call of
god the holy spirit is absolutely meaningless there is no in-between
grant you either believe the gospel are you denied the gospel
you'd either believe what god says in this book are you did
not what god says in this book Those who deny the gospel doctrine
of the atonement the will worship Arminian cries not so I believe
in John 3 16 Folks throw up John 3 16 and spit it at you all the
time for everything under the shining Sun John 3 16 says nothing
about the atonement I didn't pull that out off top
of my head. It says nothing about the atonement John 3 16 is declaring
the love of God which was the calls of God sending his son
into this world and the word world in John 3 16 Certainly
does not refer to every person in the world Well when the Bible
says world it means world doesn't it? Yeah, but it doesn't mean
what you think by world We read in Luke chapter 2 that Caesar
Augustus sent out a decree that all the world should be taxed. Well, you didn't pay any taxes
then, did you? Did you? Anybody here pay any taxes when
that decree went out? Well, Brother Don, don't be ludicrous. I'm
being just plain as I can be. The word world rarely means everybody
in the world. When our Lord says God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He is
simply declaring that God loved the world of his elect. He loved
his elect scattered among all the nations of the world. Look
here among us. Look here among us. We're people
from all different walks of life, different races, different nationalities,
called out of the world by God's grace because Christ Jesus has
redeemed us out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. Not
that he redeemed every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. He
didn't do that. He redeemed us out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. The will-worship Arminian declares
that God loves everybody and Christ died for everybody. The
babbling will-worshipper prefers to limit the merit of Christ's
blood, the worth of his sacrifice, the value of his person, and
the power of his grace. They blasphemously assert. They
blasphemously assert that there are multitudes in hell for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ poured out His life at Calvary. They
tell us that He did not actually satisfy divine justice. He did
not actually put away anyone's sin. He did not actually redeem
anyone. He did not actually secure the
salvation of anyone. He just made it possible for
everyone to be saved. Made it possible for everyone
to be redeemed. Made it possible for everyone
to be forgiven. Made it possible for everyone
to be justified. What, then, is the difference
between the man who perishes and the one who is saved? Why,
preacher, the difference is my will, my faith, something I do. That's what I said. Universal
atonement is a blasphemous delusion by which multitudes are damned,
for it of necessity makes man his own savior. Do you understand
that? If what Christ did at Calvary depends on you, I mean anything
about you, if what Christ did at Calvary depends on you, then
he's a failure and you're the Savior. And that's blasphemy. My first theology professor,
I was 18 years old, went to school out in Springfield, Missouri,
a place called Baptist Bible College. And I give the name
because they like what they teach and I like for everybody to know
what they teach. My first theology professor, Noel Smith made this
statement. What is hell? I say it reverently. I say it with every nerve in
my body tense. Hell is a monument to the colossal
failure of the triune God to save the multitudes who are there.
He did all he could, he failed. That's blasphemy. And the God
described is not God, but only the idolatrous figment of man's
imagination. I said in the beginning, this
is the most crucial point of divine revelation. The doing
and dying and the accomplishments of our Lord Jesus Christ in his
doing and dying at Calvary. Our text is Psalm 49 and verse
8. Psalm 49, verse 8. For the redemption of their soul
is precious, and it ceaseth forever. Precious redemption, limited
atonement. The redemption of the soul is
precious, and it ceaseth forever. The soul being redeemed, redemption
ceases. The soul being redeemed, nothing
else is required, nothing else can be required, anything added
to it denies the accomplishment itself. The redemption of their
soul is precious and it ceases forever. Now let's look at this
in its context, back up to verse 3. The psalmist tells us that he's
about to declare something of great wisdom and great understanding. Look at verse 3. My mouth shall
speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a
parable. I will open my dark saying upon
the heart. And then he opens his dark saying
of this parable by raising the question, verse 5. Wherefore
should I fear in the days of evil when the iniquity of my
heels shall come past me about? What's he talking about? What's
he talking about? Most of you here are pretty young
and you think of your lives and you think, well, I'm just getting
started. Boy, I've got my whole life ahead of me. He's talking
about another day. He's talking about a day of evil.
A day when the iniquity of your heels, look up here now, listen
to me. Look over here, listen to me. The iniquity of your heels,
what's that talking about? Every evil you've done all your
life long compasses you. I've been there. I've been there. I know what it is to immediately
face the prospect of death. Knowing as far as any science
or medicines concerned in a few days. I'll be gone and The iniquity
of your heels Compasses you it surrounds you my sin my sin all
my sin it gathers around your conscience and Satan would raise
up Moses and torment you the psalmist says however Wherefore
should I fear in the days of evil when death approaches? When
the iniquity of my heels shall come past me For the believer
like the psalmist for one who trusts Christ. There's nothing
to fear in death Why should I be afraid of God Why should I be
afraid of God? I know what it is to be afraid
of God. Some of you here are terrified of God. But why should
I be afraid of God, David said? Even when our sins, sins committed
all the days of our lives, gather around our heels, around our
consciences, even then, Christ is my righteousness. He took
my sins away. I have no reason to fear God. I'm redeemed. You understand
that? I have no reason to be afraid
of God. I'm redeemed. I was talking to
Sister Susan and her family at supper tonight. The whole religious
world operates on fear. You folks have been in churches
all your lives and the way they get you to do stuff The way they
get you to come to church the way they get you to give your
money The way they get folks to go to the mission field the
way they get preachers to commit themselves to a lifetime of Christian
service is fear Fear fear promise of reward and fear of punishment.
Why should I be afraid of God? Christianity is deliverance from
fear. Faith in Christ is deliverance
from fear. I know what it is to be terrified
at the thought of God, terrified at the thought of meeting God.
And I know what it is. Oh, I know what it is, the sweet,
blessed, blessed peace of immediately expecting to meet God, knowing
all my sin, with no fear and no dread, because Christ took
my sins away. You understand that? The blood
of Jesus Christ has been sprinkled on my guilty conscience, and
now guilt is gone. God said, that's enough. And
my conscience says, that's enough. I'm satisfied because God's satisfied. Look at verse six. Verse six.
For the unbeliever, death is another story. Oh, how fearful
death is for the wicked. Without Christ, poor fallen sinners
have no hope. For them, death is the king of
terrors, and the thing that makes it terrifying is the gathering
of iniquity around their conscience. So the wicked do everything they
can to bribe death and to rob the grave. I know people who
are dead each. a whole big round bale of hay
once a week, just live another day or two. And just, oh, we
live in this health crazy society. But it is a health crazy society.
If this offends, it just has to offend the whole world. The whole world has gone nuts
with this idea that somehow you're going to bribe death and rob
the grave. Somehow you're going to put this
off a little while longer. It ain't going to happen. It
ain't gonna happen. God the Holy Ghost tells us that
those who trust their riches, their earthly wealth, their skill,
their power, their exercise, their dietary discipline, their
religious discipline, those who trust their riches to keep them
out of the grave are fools. Watch what he said, verse six.
They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude
of their riches. None of them can by any means
redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him. He can't redeem his brother and
he can't give God a ransom for his own soul. Now he's referring
specifically to the law of the kinsman redeemer given back in
the book of Exodus. The law of the kinsman-redeemer
was given to tell us about the Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman-redeemer. If a man sold himself into bondage
by foolishness or by mistakes, he sells his property, and then
he sells his family, and then he sells himself. That man could
be redeemed if he has a kinsman. a kinsman who is willing to redeem
him and able to redeem him. In fact, if the kinsman were
willing to redeem, or were able to redeem, but is not willing
to redeem, then the kinsman was to bear shame for his refusal
to redeem. The man could be redeemed if
he had a kinsman who was able to redeem him and willing to
redeem him. Or, the law gives another option. If he's able, he can redeem himself. That ain't likely. He sold everything
he's got. He sold his property. He's gotten
rid of all of his wealth. He sold his wife. He sold his
children. And now himself, he can't redeem himself. His only
hope is in a kinsman. And the psalmist here says, no
man can give a ransom for his neighbor, not for his soul, nor
redeem himself. Now, this fact ought to be written
on every funeral announcement published in the world. Death will not be bribed. The grave will not be robbed. Every time I get a chance, I
walk through cemeteries and read the stuff that's written on the
tombstones. I go to the house in mourning often. And I try
my best to remind myself and those who hear me, my wife, my
daughter, my son-in-law, my grandchildren, and our congregation, that every
toothache, every injury caused by whatever in this world to
our bodies, every sickness, every pain is but a declaration to
God, soon you shall die. Soon, Eric, you're gonna breathe
out of those nostrils for the last time. Very soon. Maybe before
you get downstairs. Soon. Prepare to meet God. This inscription was written
on a tomb a long time ago, on a gravestone. Please view my
tomb as you pass by, for as you are, so once was I. And as I
am, soon you shall be. So make your plans to follow
me. Soon you're going to meet God
in judgment. And the only thing that will
do you good in that day is the special, particular, effectual,
atoning work of Jesus Christ, God's darling son. So I bid you,
I urge you, look away to Christ. Believe on the Son of God. But
pastor, I can't. If you had any sense at all,
you'd beg God to give you faith. If you had any sense at all,
you'd beg God to give you an interest in what this man preaches
to you three times a week. If you had any sense at all,
you'd beg God to cause you to have some interest in things
that will help your soul. Beg of God that he will speak
to you by his word. No man can stop the progress
of death for himself, and no man can do anything to redeem
his brother. But this very statement about the inability of man to
redeem himself or his brother is designed by God the Holy Ghost
to point us to one who is God, but became a man. He became a
man, God. God stepped into humanity. God stepped into our flesh. God stepped into our nature. God the Son became what we are
so that He might be able to redeem. Willing He is. Thank God he's
willing he said lo I come in the volume of the book is written
to me I delight to do thy will oh my god, but God Could not
redeem us except God become one of us you understand that The
only way we could be redeemed is for the Son of God to become
one of us he is that brother who was able to redeem for he
was born to redeem and Now, read verse eight again. And notice
that this verse is placed in parentheses by our translators. Now, I'm not a scholar and don't
pretend to be, but I know this much about English grammar. When you read a sentence and
you see a parenthetical bracket around something in the sentence,
You could pick that up and set it over here and read the sentence
right on through and it wouldn't change the meaning of anything.
When I was in college, we used to, our theology textbook was
a Schofield reference Bible. It was strong, dispensational,
pre-millennialist. And do you know how they refer
to the church, the whole church age? The whole church age? God,
you were, Susan, you said you studied Clarence Larkin, dispensational
truth. This is what he says. You look
at all those charts, those hideous looking monstrous charts, and
you, that's enough to scare the hell out of anybody. Just looking
at the cartoons they make. But he, you look at the charts
they're making, they talk about God had a plan. He planned for
the Lord Jesus to come here and be king over in Israel. That
was plan A, and since they wouldn't pretty please let him be king,
they crucified him, so God had plan B. And that was the Church
Age. And the Church Age is the parentheses between Christ's
first advent and the Millennial Kingdom when he comes back to
be king in Israel. In other words, you could take
the whole of these last 2,000 years out of history and set
it aside, and it doesn't change the meaning of anything. No,
this was God's purpose. But the parentheses here means
that this is an explanatory statement. God, the Holy Spirit, is here
giving us an explanation of this parable. Here the Spirit of God
seems to be saying this. There is a brother able to redeem. His redemption is a finished
redemption. All who are redeemed by him live
forever and shall not see corruption. Let's read the text again for
the redemption of their soul is precious and it ceases forever
that he should still live forever and not see corruption. Christ has redeemed me that I
should live forever and not see corruption. You remember what
he said concerning Lazarus? Mary, our Martha comes out and
meets him as he comes to Bethany. And so, Lord, hadst thou been
here, my brother had not died. And he said, he said, Lazarus
is going to rise again. And she said, I knew he was going
to rise in the resurrection. And the Lord Jesus said to Martha,
I am the resurrection. I'm not talking to you about
a doctor. I am the resurrection. I am the life. He that liveth
and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this? In fact, in the opening of John
11, he told his disciples, Lazarus is sleeping. He said he's not
dead, and he knew Lazarus' body was laying dead in the tomb corrupting.
He knew that full well. What's he talking about? These
bodies will go to the grave, but I shall not die. There's
no possibility. I'm not going to die. This body
must dissolve and go back to the worms and back to the dust.
But this body is not me. It's just a tabernacle. Those
who are redeemed by Christ shall not see corruption. They shall
live forever. The redemption of their soul
is precious. No sinner can redeem himself.
And none can redeem his brother because we have nothing with
which to redeem. We have no ability to pay the
ransom price for the redemption of their soul is precious. The
only thing that will satisfy the justice of God and redeem
the soul is the precious blood of God's darling son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at first Peter, chapter
one, first Peter, chapter one. I want to make three or four
statements about this matter of redemption. First, the redemption
of the soul is precious. Dear and precious are the souls
of God's elect. Dear and precious to God. The
soul cannot be bought with corruptible things like silver and gold.
But the precious blood of Christ is a ransom price worthy of redemption. For it is a ransom price of infinite
worth. First Peter 1 18. For as much
as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things. As silver and gold. You were
not redeemed with corruptible things. Things that perish. Corruptible things. Temporary
things. Things of time. You were not
redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold. Now watch
this. From your vain conversation. You know what the word conversation
is? Manner of life. Manner of life. Susan just told me her dad was
a doctor. Man, what a great way of life,
isn't it? It's called a vain conversation. a meaningless existence. You
were warehouse manager, terminal manager, 31 years in a meaningless
existence. And you don't know what kind
of career I've got. It's a meaningless existence, a meaningless existence,
all for which you labor. All for which men strive. All
for which we prepare our children from their infancy. Man, I want
my boy to be somebody. I want my girl to be somebody.
I want them to have this. I want to have all the things
I didn't have. You want them to have more vanity, more meaninglessness,
more emptiness, more nothingness. This is all vanity. Those are
not the words of a frustrated man with a mental disorder who
wrote an Ecclesiastes. Those are the words of a preacher
of greater wisdom than any man who had ever walked on the earth.
Wisdom that God gave him. And he said, vanity of vanity. All is vanity. And I'm here to
tell you that everything you live for in this world Everything
you seek in this world is vanity. Meaningless and empty. A puff of smoke, nothing more.
Deemed from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your
fathers, not with corruptible things, but with the precious
blood of Christ. The blood of one who is God in
the flesh. Precious blood, because it's
His blood. Sin atoning blood, blood accepted on the altar,
blood, eternal blood with infinite value, effectual blood, the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world.
That is to say, God before the world began, Ordained the redemption
of your souls by this blood of this lamb without blemish and
without spot called the Lamb of God In fact, he is described
in this book as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world
Who verily was for ordained before the foundation of the world but
was manifested in these last times for you Manifested when
he came on this earth and accomplished redemption manifested by the
preaching of the gospel when the word of God is preached to
you, manifested to you in the sweet experience of his grace
when you find redemption accomplished in your own soul. when the blood
is applied to you by God the Holy Spirit. Sinners ransomed
by the sacrifice of Christ are dearly purchased. So dearly purchased
that once the ransom price was paid, redemption ceases forever. Those purchased cannot be lost. It ceases forever. This is God's
work. This is God's work. That means
nothing can be put to it. And nothing can be taken from
it. You can't contribute anything to Christ's redeeming work, and
you can't rob him of anything he accomplished in redemption.
It's precious redemption. Secondly, it's particular redemption. Particular redemption. I don't
know why. Well, I do know why. I just say
that to be nice. Folks can't have trouble with
limited atonement, particularly redemption. I know why. I know
exactly why. I don't understand why the preacher
doesn't believe that. I do. Because he's a proud rebel. That's why.
So you mean he just, he needs to study the Lord. No, he needs
for God to reveal Christ in him. He's a proud rebel. For it robs
man of everything. It robs man of the last vestige
of hope in himself. It robs man of every hint of
personal worth and personal righteousness before God Almighty. Redemption
in this book is always, always spoken of as particular redemption. You're looking real curious,
Rob. You mark this down. You mark this down. Take that
young lady sitting there and y'all read the book together
study this book Everywhere in this book everywhere in this
book where the redemptive work of Christ is prophesied or typified
or explained Everywhere in this book is for a particular people
Limited just to those people and accomplishes everything it
was intended to accomplish There is not a hint anywhere in this
book. There is not a hint anywhere
in this book that Jesus Christ died for folks who were in hell.
There's not a hint that he gave his life for all men. There's
not a hint that he intended to redeem all men. It's nowhere
stated, and it's nowhere implied, but just the opposite is stated,
and just the opposite is stated clearly. I am the good shepherd,
the Savior said. The good shepherd giveth his
life for sheep and goats. Have you ever read that anywhere?
Have you ever read it? It's not in the book. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And there were some
goats standing around. There was a whole passel of goats
standing around. They said, we don't like what
you're saying. He said, I didn't expect you to. I wasn't talking
to you. You believe not because you're not in my sheep. As I
said unto you, my sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow
me. I give unto them eternal life.
The scriptures make it very clear. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. That's the language of the Bible.
Nowhere in the scripture does the word of God speak of Christ
dying for all men universally. In fact, our Lord Jesus refused
to pray for all men. He refused to pray for all men. If you're going to do one or
the other, you're going to pray for somebody you're going to
die for, which would you do? Well, Pastor, I believe I'd pray for
them. I believe I would. But our Lord's intercession.
is in exact correspondence with his accomplishments as our high
priest. And this is how he prayed twice
in John 17. He said, Father, I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for thine
they were, and thou gavest them me. I pray not for the world,
but for them who shall believe only through their word. The
Lord Jesus prayed for the very souls for whom he laid down his
life as the sin-atoning high priest of God's Israel. Atonement
in Scripture is always presented as limited atonement. I don't think this has ever happened
to me, but I know it would never happen if I was aware of things.
What fool ever paid for anything he didn't get? Did you ever pay
for something you didn't get? Intentionally? You might have
somebody cheat you out of it, but what fool pays for something
he doesn't get? Nobody does. Redemption is the
purchase price and the obtaining of that which was purchased.
When I went off to school, Springfield, Missouri, I left Winston-Salem.
I was 18 years old, and I needed a suitcase. So I went down to
a pawn shop in Winston-Salem, and I bought a suitcase, nice,
big, leather suitcase. Paid $25 for it. Man, those were
the days. They'd fix it in an hour or two.
But I paid $25 for it and went off to school. And I came home
and got married the next week after I got back that summer.
And you know what I did with the suitcase? Took it back to
the pawn shop and hawked it. They gave me 20 bucks, that wasn't
bad. And I got a ticket. Now I had no intention of going
back to get it. But the ticket was mine, and I had 30 days to
go back and pay a little interest on the thing, a lot of interest
on the thing, and I could pick up my suitcase any time. Redemption
implies a prior ownership. And redemption is to go in and
pay the price. And if I had any time wanted
to, in that 30 days, I'd take that ticket in, say, that suitcase
is mine, I'm here to pay the price for its ransom, and I'd
give him the ticket, and I'd walk out the door with the ticket.
Not on your life. I'd walk out the door with the
suitcase. I'd walk out the door with the suitcase. That's what
Christ did at Calvary. He redeemed the people who were
his from eternity, lost in the sin of our father Adam, and redeemed
by him at Calvary. Now redemption is much more than
just what took place at Calvary, but that's the basis of it all.
In fact, the word redeem comes from three different words in
the New Testament. One word means to purchase something. When you
bought your house. Some of you bought houses. I've
never done this, but I think this is how it works. You go
and you pay the price for it and you take possession of the
property. Not many people move the house. Not many of you just
go take possession of it. That's one word for redeem. It
means to buy and take possession of. Our Lord Jesus, as a man,
bought the right to rule the universe, and the Father gave
Him power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the
Father had given Him, and He took possession of all. Another
word that's translated redeemed means to loose. That's what our
Savior does in the power of His grace when He comes to the sinner
in marvelous mercy and calls him from death to life. He looses
the sinner. He's like that Gadarene. They couldn't bind him. And the
Savior says, let him go. Like Lazarus who comes out of
the tomb bound in grave clothes. And the last master says, loose
him and set him free. That's what our Savior does in
the application of his blood to the soul. That's what he does
in regeneration. That's what he does in the gift
of faith. He looses us. But at Calvary, he bought us
out of the hands of divine justice. He paid what God demanded for
our souls and satisfied the justice of God on our behalf. His redemption
is a precious redemption, and it is a particular redemption,
but understand this, it is a just redemption. The Lord Jesus died
at Calvary under the penalty of divine justice as our substitute. Paying that which God demanded. Paying that which God demanded. You see, His death is of infinite worth. Of infinite worth. Infinite is something we can't
get our minds around. We're finite temporal creatures. We can't get our minds around
infinite. Infinite worth. Should God send you to hell,
now, and all the world, should God send the whole of Adam's
fallen race to hell, to suffer the wrath of God forever, to
suffer the fury of God forever, to suffer the terror of God's
justice and wrath forever, hell would never diminish in the least. Because finite creatures cannot
satisfy God's infinite justice. In order that we be redeemed,
one must become a man who is of infinite worth. And Jesus
Christ is that man. He is a man. A man sinned, a
man must suffer. A man sinned, a man must be punished. A man transgressed, a man must
be put to death. The Lord Jesus Christ is a man,
but this man is God. This man is God. And when the
Lord God saw sin on his son, he cried, Awake, O sword, against
one that is my fellow. Smite and slay the shepherd. And the Lord Jesus willingly
took the cup of divine wrath. And with one tremendous draft
of love, he drank damnation dry. And this is what God declares
to Jacob. Are you ready? This is what God
declares to Jacob. Jacob. Oh, I'm glad to own that
name, aren't you? Jacob. Tricky scoundrel. Jacob. Shifting sand. Jacob. Worthless wretch. Jacob. Jacob. Loved of God. Jacob conquered by grace Jacob
Forced to acknowledge my name is Jacob God says to every son
of Jacob Fury is not in me Fury is not God's not angry with me
Can you get over that God's not angry with me God's not angry
with me He's got no reason to be He's got no reason to be. Christ is made of God unto us
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Oh, may God, by
His grace, speak peace to your heart through the sprinkling
of the blood of the everlasting covenant, giving you faith in
His Son. Amen.