Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 John 2. 1 John. 1 John 2. I'd like
to read verses 1 and 2. But my little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And He is the propitiation for
our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. Now, the Apostle John is writing
to all believers. He was writing to those I know
during the time in which he lived, but this is a message for all
of God's people. A word of encouragement. And he begins in this very intimate
way and he says to my little children, these things write I unto you
that you sin not. Now, let me ask you this. Are we without sin or can we
be without sin? Well, no. No. He said, these
things write unto you. What things? Well, he just wrote
in 1 John 1, 8-10. Now, these are the things he
was talking about. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves. And the truth is not in us if
we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Now let me stop right here. Let
me ask you this. I've heard someone say, the only
sins that we'll have to answer for are those sins that we didn't
confess. Well, we're in trouble. We're
in big trouble. Because we don't know the extent. We don't realize the extent.
of our rebellion against God. Sins of commission, omission,
things that I've done, things that I should have done. What
does it mean if we confess our sins? If we confess what we are,
we confess, Lord, we have sinned against You. We confess, we own
up to, and we say, Lord, as You say we are, we are. Not each
individual sins. You don't know and I don't know
the depth of it, the extent of it. If we confess what we are,
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we've not sinned,
we make Him a liar. And His Word is not in us. Now John says, my little children,
these things, that I've just written to you. I write to you
and I say unto you that you sin not." Well, what does he mean? We're sinners. We know we're
sinners. But sin not. I write unto you
that you sin not. What he's saying is this. Don't
excuse it. Don't try to justify. Don't walk in a way that's unconcerned
about it. Beware of it. Resist it. Oppose it. Strive against it. Strive seeking the power of God's
Spirit. Lord, help me. Lord, I know what
I am. And if any man sin, and we all
do, and we know it, and we admit it, What then? Are we in total despair? No. If any man sin, knowing what
he is, confessing what he is, resisting it, striving against
it, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. We have an advocate. Now this is who The Lord Jesus
Christ is the Advocate. That's who He is. He's the one,
the Scripture sets forth, that was made sin for us. Now that's what 2 Corinthians
5.21 says. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us. Now let me ask you this, because
this particular passage of Scripture is one that many in this world
hold to, claim to, in trying to prove universal redemption. This is the Scripture. By and
large, you set forth the truth concerning Christ died only for
the elect. You set forth the truth where
the Lord said, I lay down my life for the sheep. And then
told some Pharisees, He said, you're not my sheep. That's the
reason you don't believe me. You know I'm a sheep. My sheep
hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. You preach the truth of the honor
of particular redemption because the scripture teaches that. And
people say, He's the propitiation for our
sins, not only for ours, all of me, but also for the sins
of the whole world. Well, I want to ask you this. When He was made sin for us,
2 Corinthians 5.21, who was Paul speaking to? I'll tell you who he's speaking
to. You can look at 1 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 1. I'll just read. They're both
basically those. 1 Corinthians 1-1, 2 Corinthians
1-1. Listen to this. Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother,
unto the church of God. He's talking to God's church. He's talking to God's people.
He is, was, made sin. He made sin for us. for the Lord's people. Who is
the advocate? If we sin, we have an advocate.
The one who paid the eternal debt for His sheep that He said
He laid down His life for. The advocate is the one in whose
righteousness all believers are robed. We know that. The advocate is the one who pleads
his own merit on behalf of sinners. What sinners? Those that he shed
his blood for. It's not that our advocate denies
the charge against us. Let me tell you this. We're guilty. We're guilty. If we say we have
no sin, we make God a liar. We're guilty. So our advocate
is not pleading that we're not guilty. We're guilty. But what
he does is he advocates, he defends all the charges that are brought
against his people and pleads, defends, sets forth his own merit
that his blood has put away the debt that was owed for the guilt
of his people. We're guilty. He advocates that
His people are truly chargeable in themselves. By His precious
blood, He has put away that debt. Now, we contracted guilt by Adam's imputed guilt to us. sinned in the garden. All of
us were in his loins. We all came forth. When he sinned,
everything that came out of Adam is just as guilty as Adam. What
Adam did against God, rebelled against God, we did against God
in Adam. But we're guilty. But we're guilty
by personal guilt. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. So we've contracted guilt by
our own sin. But the Lord has suffered the
punishment of it. God's sheep, they deserve in
themselves the curse of the law. In themselves, they deserved
it. They deserve hell in themselves. But He's been made a curse for
them. and has opened unto them the kingdom of heaven. He is
the advocate. God's sheep in themselves unrighteous? There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Every man in his best state,
altogether vanity. But our Lord And His mercy and
grace has not only put away the guilt of His people, so there
is no charge, there is no condemnation. But He has robed them in righteousness. They have no debt, and in Him
they are holy and without blame before God in Christ. Therefore, upon the merit of
our advocate, The sins of those for whom he is the advocate will
never be imputed to them. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord will not impute. He won't charge them with it.
Are they guilty in themselves? Yes. Yes. There's not a thing
that you and I have not done that everybody else in this world
has not done. We've thought the same things, had the same attitudes. We've done the same thing. But the Lord in His mercy and
sovereign grace is not going to charge him with it. Why? He charged it to his son. God
dealt with it. Now here's the question that
I have. I know that if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And
He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. Now, here's my question. When he died, according to the
Scripture, who did he die for? Well, I know this. Whoever he's
the advocate for, that's the one he died for. He's not going
to plead His merit for those that He didn't die for. Who did
He die for? It says that He's the propitiation
for our sins and also for the sins of the whole world. Now let me ask you this question.
Does that mean that He died for all of the sins of all men to
make salvation possible? Now if He's the propitiation
for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of
the whole world, Or when he died. If he paid for the sins of the
whole world, and Almighty God judged him for
all of the sins of all of the world, and some men perish in
unbelief, and you know that some have. I know Judas did. Scripture
says he went to his place. I know he did. I know the rich
man, the rich man in Lazarus, the rich man said he lifted up
his eyes out of hell. I know two that the Scripture
specifically says are in hell. Alright, my question is this.
Did Christ die for all that were like them? If God judged the Lord Jesus
Christ for all of the sins of all men without any exception,
judged Him for it, and there are some that find themselves
in hell and God puts them under His judgment, then that means
that God Almighty has judged the same sin twice. And that's
not just. Alright, then on the other hand,
if some are saved, and they are saved out of the totality of
mankind, if Christ died for all of the sins of all of the people,
and some accept His offer by faith that they obviously had
to have from birth, they think, And their salvation is effectual
because of their acceptance, or because of their will, or
because of their work. Then they've got to be said to
have been saved by their works of righteousness. And I know
that's not so. Titus 3.5 says, not by works
of righteousness which we've done, but according to His mercy.
He saved us. So I know this, if Christ died
for the sins of the whole world, and some perish, and Christ was
judged, and they perish, then they're going to be judged, and
then that makes God unjust. I know that's not right. If He died for the sins of the
whole world, and made salvation possible, and some men accept
it, Based on their acceptance then, he died for everybody's
sins, they say. And I know if they accept it,
then that means that they have to be saved based on what they
did. And that makes salvation to be
by their work. I know that's not right. It can't
be right according to Scripture. That's blasphemy. Because now
you're calling God a liar. Because God said, not by works
of righteousness which we've done, but according to His mercy,
He saved us. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. If that's right, if that second
one is right, then salvation is not of the Lord. Salvation
is of man. And if that's the case, then
don't keep praying to God to save men. Pray to the people. That's got the free will. They're
the ones making the last fine say. Not God. God's already made
His say, they say. I know that's not right. If that's
right, then that means that the Lord Jesus Christ is a failure. Because if He died for everybody's
sins, And he tried to save some, and without man's assistance,
he couldn't do it. I know that's not right. And the only other way, which
is scriptural, the only other truth, the only truth of salvation
is that the Lord of glory actually died for all of the sins of some
that Almighty God chose out of every people and nation and tribe
and tongue. He died for all of the sins of
all that the Father had given Him. He laid down His life only
for the sheep. I know that's true because the
Lord said it's true. And the Scripture sets forth
that there is absolutely no possibility that all that the Father chose
from before the foundation of the world in Christ, Ephesians
1, 4, all that the Father chose, Christ shall surely save them. There will be no one in heaven
that God didn't elect. There will be no one in hell.
That the Lord chose to show mercy to. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I know that that's right. I know
that's right. He has put away their guilt by
His precious blood. He died in their place and in
time. When it pleased God, through
the foolishness, according to the world standard, of preaching. Almighty God is going to save
those that He has sanctified, that He has set apart. He is
going to save them. He eternally loved them, chose
them in His Son. Christ redeemed them. The Spirit
of God is going to call them unto Himself, and they are forever
It's going to be with Him. I know that that's true. Now to prove that that is true,
to prove it, I want to take 1 John 2.2 and prove particular redemption. Prove that Christ only died for
the elect, only died for His people. This is His honor. We're talking about God's honor
and God's truth, God's Word. And for men to blasphemously
say that He did something that He could not accomplish unless
man helped Him, is to absolutely despise God's Word. Here's the
proof that He, in particular, died for his people, and he is
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Now, here is my first question. What is the propitiation? This scripture right here is
the scripture that men falsely take and say he died for the
sins of the whole world. He didn't say that. It says he
is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but for
the sins of the whole world. So the first question that should
come up is this. What is the propitiation? What
does that mean? By definition, and I was very
careful, I tried to look up pretty much every word. If I absolutely
don't understand it, I want to look it up. I want to be right
on this. By definition, the word propitiation
means to make satisfaction, to repair. to make amends for something
in particular. It is again, by definition, something
that must be earned. A propitiation must earn something. He must earn the satisfaction. He must earn the repair. He must earn the amends for something
in particular. But it has to be one that earns
it who is worthy to satisfy the offended party. That's God. It's one that has to be able
to earn it who is worthy to earn it. that he, the offended party,
God Almighty, might show mercy and compassion to the one who
has offended him. The propitiation is one who must
be worthy to earn the right for Almighty God to show mercy. And in the earning of that mercy,
the earning of Almighty God's right to show mercy. Justice
must absolutely never be ignored. Justice must be satisfied. This propitiation is one that
is based, and remember, it's an earning It satisfies, it repairs,
it makes the amends, and it must be made by one who is worthy,
one who can, one who shall, one who does satisfy the offended
party and absolutely satisfies justice. Justice must be satisfied. The propitiation is one. that is sent forth based totally
on the offended party, God's love for those who have offended. Almighty God sends forth His
blessed Son, the propitiation based upon His love for those
that He is propitious toward. And he made good on that. Verse
John 4.10 says, Herein is love. Not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. So a propitiation is not one
which tries to appease. He is one that makes reconciliation. He is one that actually accomplishes
that which He is purposed to do. Our sins have separated us
from God. And Almighty God purposed. This was His glory. This is His
glory. Remember when Moses asked Him, Lord, show me Your glory.
I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I will have compassion
upon whom I'll have compassion. So it's not of him, Paul said
in Romans 9, not of him that willeth and runneth, but God
that shows mercy. So this propitiation is one that
has been provided by Almighty God based totally upon His love
for His people. His justice is going to have
to be satisfied It's going to have to be the propitiation that's
worthy, and there's none worthy but His Son. Now, when Almighty
God is pleased to call His people out of darkness and reveal to
them what He's done, He gives them a new heart whereby the
objects of God's mercy, His people, Those that have offended Him,
just like everybody else, they are made to understand what God
Almighty has done. He gives them faith to believe
that He has already saved them. Who has saved us by grace. Who has saved us and called us and revealed to us that Christ
is our propitiation. He is the propitiation for our
sins. But what about that last part
of that verse? And not only for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world. Now let me just tell you
something here. John's writing to Jews. He's writing to Jews. So when
he says, not only for our sins only, he's talking to the Jews. But also for the sins of the
whole world. Alright now, one other question. Does it always mean the whole
world? without any exceptions whatsoever. I want you to look at Romans
1.8. Romans 1.7 and 8. Romans 1, 7 and 8. To all that
be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your
faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Does that mean
that every person without exception speaks, loves, He is thankful
for the faith of God's people at Rome. Look at Colossians 1.6. Or that again, I'll read verse
5 first. Colossians 1, 5 and 6. For the hope which is laid
up for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word
of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in
all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you,
since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God in
truth. Does that mean? That the truth
that came to them in power came to everybody in the whole world
like it came to them? You know better than that. So
when it says the whole world, what does the whole world? He
is the propitiation. We know what a propitiation is.
And we know that he was the propitiation for the sins of God's elect.
There, I know that. But how about for the sins of
the whole world? The key to this is to understand
what the word whole means. It does not mean we just saw
that. When the Pharisees saw the Lord
coming through, they said, you know what? The world is going
after Him. Was that everybody? They weren't
going after Him. Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ
was praying in His high priestly prayer, did He pray for the whole
world? He said, I pray not for the world.
That's John 17.9. I pray not for the world, but
I pray for those that You've given Me out of the world. What
does the word whole mean? Here's what it means. Every wit throughout. Every wit throughout. He is the propitiation for our
sins. He absolutely made satisfaction. He absolutely made amends. He absolutely satisfied the offended
party, God Almighty, and the offenders. that God chose every
wit throughout. Every nation and kindred and
tribe and tongue scattered throughout all of the world. You have to
understand, you cannot take a scripture like, I lay down my life for
the sheep. I pray not for the world, but
for those you've given me out of the world. You cannot take
revealed Scripture and disprove those Scriptures by taking this
Scripture when you don't understand it. He is the propitiation. He is the satisfaction. He absolutely
satisfied the justice of Almighty God, and thereby God shows mercy
based on His justice. I'm a just God. I'm a Savior. And there's going to have to
be a propitiation. There's going to have to be one worthy who
can satisfy the demands of God's justice. And not for ours only,
John told those Jews, but He is the propitiation for the sins
of those scattered throughout. Every wit throughout. Not the
whole without exception. The propitiation. shall not fail. He shall not fail. It is not that God offers peace,
and if it's accepted, then peace is established because justice
has been satisfied and mercy is shown. It is that God Almighty
in the person of His blessed propitiation that God sent To
a people that did not care. They had no love for God. Even
while we were yet sinners and rebels against God. My friend, He came to those who
hated Him and despised Him. I will have mercy. He's the propitiation
for our sins. Satisfied. And not for ours only,
but for the Gentiles too. Those scattered out of every
place, every nation, tribe, tongue. The propitiation is never from
the offender's side. A propitiation is always from
the offended one's side towards those who have offended him. It's always. And Almighty God's
propitiation never fails. He shall not. Isaiah 42, as I
wrap this up. Absolutely. Isaiah 42, verses
1-4. Isaiah 42, verse 1 to 4, 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, show them that
judgment for them has been satisfied. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor
be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and the
isles shall wait for his law. He shall not fail. If you try to take 1 John 2.2
and say, He's the propitiation for our sins, and not only for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, and one person
perishes, then according to your interpretation of that Scripture,
then Christ is a failure. And He's not. The key to this,
when someone tries to justify universal redemption by 1 John
2.2, they do not understand. what a propitiation is. They
do not understand, according to the Scriptures, that Christ
absolutely satisfied. Now, in closing, I'm not going
to leave it even here. How does one know if Christ is
His propitiation? I know this. I know what a propitiation
is. I know what He did. I know who He satisfied. I know
who He redeemed. I know that amends have been
made. I know that the propitiation was sent because of the love
of the Father for those that He chose to show love to. I've
loved you with an everlasting love, but He didn't love Esau.
I know He's angry with the wicked every day. I know that. So He
loves somebody, and there's a propitiation for them, one that gets the job
done, one that Almighty God is satisfied with. But how do I
know? How do I know? Is He my propitiation? Here we go, in closing. Romans
3.23. Romans 3.23 to 27. Romans 3, 23. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. But being justified freely, that
is, rendered or declared holy, righteous, without any cause,
without any reason, in the object of God's mercy, being justified
freely, with nothing in me that merits
being justified, to be declared holy, holy, righteous, no merit, being justified
freely by His grace, by His favor, by His pleasure, by His graciousness,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, through the
ransom being paid in full, whom God has set forth If you've
got a margin there, you may see it. This is it. Whom God has
foreordained. God has set forth to be a propitiation,
to be a satisfaction, to be the one that repaired, the one that
made the amends through faith in His blood. That
is, known by. Persuaded by, assured by, having
reliance upon, how can I know that God has set him forth? How
can I know that God has foreordained that Christ is my propitiation? Do you believe His Word? Do you believe what He says? Do you believe? that Almighty
God chose to show mercy to you? Do you believe that in yourself
there is no good thing? Do you believe that Almighty
God sent His Son in this world to actually redeem His sheep
according to His Word? Do you believe that all that
the Father has given Him shall irresistibly come to Him? How
do I know? I believe God. I believe that
salvation is all of grace. I believe that salvation is of
the Lord. I believe that in me there is
no good thing whom God has set forth, foreordained to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood. The accomplishment of it is finished! It's finished! It's finished! It's not hanging there, waiting
on me to do something to finish it. It's finished. Faith in His
blood to declare His righteousness, to show God's justice, God's
punishment, God's vengeance, to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, that have transpired
or are transpiring or that shall be transpired. To declare, I say, at this time,
his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus." I believe God. My friend, Almighty
God is pleased to show mercy and compassion to a people that
he's everlastingly loved. They offended him. Offended him
in the fall and offend him every day by their sins. But we have an advocate. An advocate that has paid the
debt off. And he is the propitiation. John said to those Jews, he's
the propitiation for ours, but not only for ours only. God has
a people that He's everlastingly loved throughout this world.
Brother Henry said one time, he said, I believe that every
family, every family is going to have some that God's redeemed
out of it. He's going to have some of all of them. Every nation,
every kindred, every tribe, every tongue. And He's the propitiation,
not only for ours, but for the sins every whit throughout the
world. Put away their debt. Satisfy
God's justice. And then in time, Paul says,
this is how you're going to know if He was your propitiation.
God's going to cross you with the gospel. And He's going to
give you a new heart. And you're going to believe Him.
Abraham believed God. And all God's people do, they
believe God. Every person that leaves this
world believe in God, believe in what He said. Salvation is
all of grace, all of grace, all of grace. No works of righteousness
that we've done. Mercy. Mercy. Trust Him. Lord, save me. Everyone that
believes Him, trust Him. for you. He is your propitiation. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.