We've just turned to 1 John,
chapter 2. I always find when preparing for
a message I find myself waking up in the middle of the night
often with some brilliant way of putting things and then when
I wake up in the morning I can't remember it. And so I guess the
Lord's saying, well maybe that wasn't quite as brilliant as
you thought it was. Nevertheless, I hope that today
the Lord has a message for us. Our pastor is away, as we realise,
so today we have a substitute. I trust we all understand what
that means. Someone that takes the place
of another. One is excused from responsibility
and the substitute takes on that responsibility. There's a transfer
of responsibility, isn't there? The substitute undertakes to
fulfil all the obligations of the one he's replacing. And the substitute takes on that
role knowing full well the obligations and the responsibilities of doing
so. And that's my subject today,
substitution. There would be no atonement,
would there, if there was no substitute found. If there were
no suitable substitute there would be no forgiveness of sins.
There would be no salvation if no substitute was found. And
we need to understand that God will not speak to men but through
or by a substitute nor will He be spoken to by a man except
through a substitute. God only deals with men through
a substitute. Of course we are speaking of
our Lord Jesus Christ who by the substitution of himself took
the place of his people. My example is very, very feeble
isn't it. I am a temporary substitute but
the Lord Jesus is an eternal substitute. I am an imperfect
substitute. He is a perfect substitute. The Lamb of God, holy and without
blemish. My role of substitute necessarily
means the two of us can't stand here at the same time. One can
stand here but not two. But in contrast, and here is
a beautiful, beautiful thing isn't it, when the Lord Jesus
hung upon that tree as a substitute for his people. All these people
were present in Him. God placed all these people in
the person of Christ the Substitute before the world began. All of
God's elect in such union with the Lord Jesus Christ that His
life is their life, that His death is their death, that His
resurrection is their resurrection. Galatians 2.20 says we are crucified
with Christ. And that great work of substitution
necessarily came with a great burden didn't it? He carried
our sorrows the scriptures tell us. He was stricken and smitten
of God and afflicted, brought as a lamb for slaughter, put
to grief, carrying the sins of men, not his own sins, for he
had no sin in him. He carried our sins, not just
the sins of one of us, although just one sin in this lifetime
of sins is enough to sink us into hell, isn't it, forever?
And that would be our just end if that were so, for the wages
of sin is death. we would be receiving exactly
what we deserve, exactly what we burnt in this body and flesh. Those who ask for that which
they deserve but don't really know what they are asking. But
our Saviour carried all the sins of all his people. Yes, all his
people. They are a small remnant in comparison
to all the number of souls that have lived on this earth But
that remnant according to Revelation 7 is a great multitude that no
one can number. Our courageous Saviour knew full
well from the beginning what would be the weight of it, and
the burden of it, and the responsibility of it, and the necessity of it,
but also the horror of it, that His Father would forsake Him
though He be His own dear Son. And here is an important thing
to remember isn't it, that the performance, that the work of
the Lord Jesus must vitally be connected with the glory of God,
the glory of his name. Had he failed in any sense then
the glory of God and all his attributes would be diminished. Thanks be to God, he did not
fail, nor could he fail. Failure was always an impossibility
with our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 42.4 puts it this way,
the Lord says, He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he has
set judgement in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his
rule. Of those whom the Father gave the Son, he shall lose none. What a glorious, comforting thought
that is. The Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, the Triune God, all three, all three in perfect unity agreed
to undertake the work of redemption. These three bear witness, says
John in 1 John 5 verse 7. He says, bearing witness that God had
given to his people eternal life. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost and
these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in earth, verse 8, the spirit and the water and the
blood and these three agree in one. You see they all agree,
there is no disagreement in that trying God about this work that
was to be undertaken. Somewhere in Yerbalton there
should be a printed article by William Gadsby called The Great
Things God Has Done for His People. I've always loved reading it
ever since I discovered it. I'd love us just to read it together
for it really does speak very much about what we're talking
about here today. He says, and we must take into account each
glorious person in the one undivided Jehovah, God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Ghost. For in the great things that
the Eternal Trinity has done for the Church of God, each distinct
person has a solemn part, a part that redounds to the glory of
all and the blessedness of them that are brought to trust in
God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost as
one blessed triune Jehovah hath entered into a solemn covenant
before all worlds bring an infinite number of mortals to glory. In
this solemn contract, this covenant of grace, the Eternal Trinity
took a survey of all their sins, and all their weaknesses, and
all their misgivings, and all their backslidings, and all their
temptations, and all their besetments, and all their slips, and all
their falls, and all their tumblings, that this body would have from
the beginning of time beginning to the end of time. And in this
immortal covenant God made provision to meet it all, and so to meet
it as to be glorified in saving them from all the horrors and
consequences of sin. Now is that not a great thing? Why if we make provision as we
think for our children and make it over to them, one gets proud
and prolificate. sets up to be a gentleman and
soon destroys the provision. And the others do the same thing
in some other way so that by and by the mistake and provision
we made for them has been a kind of means of leading them into
deeper ruin than they would have been in if they had been obliged
to work for every penny they have. But our God made no mistake
of that nature. One great thing he did in his
counsel and covenant was to make the provision sure. Assure mercies
of David, certain mercies ordered in all things, why he saw all
our temptations before ever thou didst. When He gave thee to Christ
He saw all thy besetments, all thy bewilderments, all thy hard-heartedness,
all thy darkness, all thy coldness, all thy barrenness and in the
eternal purpose of His grace He made such a provision for
thee that it is not possible for Satan himself to drive thy
poor bewildered soul into any place where God's provision will
not reach thee and be sufficiently powerful to bring thee out. Is
not this a great thing, a matchless thing?" The divine counsel of
God in full wealth every minute detail, the true cost of redemption
in all its forms, all its obligations and all the responsibilities
which is the office of our Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute. Mr Gadsby mentioned another vital
thing and that is provision of God. When we consider this topic
of substitution necessarily we are considering God's wonderful
provision. the provision of a substitute. If we just turn to Genesis 22
just for a moment. I just love to read this passage,
this moving account of Abraham and Isaac which so beautifully
displays our subject today. Abraham was taking up Isaac taking
Isaac up the mountain according to the instruction of the Lord
to sacrifice him. In verse 6 of chapter 22 it says,
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it
upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand
and a knife, and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake
unto Abraham his father and said, My father. And he said, Here
I am, I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. So they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God told them of, and Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son. And the angel of the Lord called
unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said,
Here I am. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know, for thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh as it is said to this day in the Mount
of the Lord it shall be seen. Jehovah Jireh means Jehovah will
see to it or Jehovah will provide. And what good news is that? Our
Lord God has provided for us a substitute. But few actually
rejoice in such a truth. Even the children of Israel,
that chosen nation, so often despised the provision of the
Lord. The Lord provided them a deliverer
from their captives in the person of Moses. He gave them divine
protection from the raging army of Pharaoh. He provided manna
for them. He provided water for them. In every place they went.
Yet they complained and they murmured against him. They thought
his provision was insufficient. They thought it was inadequate
and lacking. They said in Exodus 16 verse
3, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land
of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat
bread to the full. For ye have brought us into this
wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. In Psalm
106. It tells us that they murmured
in their tents and they despised the pleasant land and they believed
not His word. Their unbelief so often kindled
the wrath of the Lord against them, didn't it? Not believing
God, doubting His ability and doubting His provision of them like a dog. biting the hand that
feeds it. That manna and that water was
a source of strength and nourishment for the immortal bodies in that
wilderness, wasn't it? But much more than that, those
things were a foreshadow and a picture of that which was to
come, the provision of the Lord God in sending a saviour. They
weren't just murmuring against those temporal things, were they?
By way of which those things represented other things, by
way of those things they were in fact murmuring against his
great provision of God. That was to come. They had contempt
for the Gospel of God's provision and even today There are those
who have contempt for the scriptures, men who make the scriptures say
something other than what God intended. He would rather teach
the popular notion instead of presenting the truth. But we
know, don't we, we know only the truth can set us free. Only the truth can set us free,
necessarily then. If the truth is not spoken, then
God has not spoken either. If men are speaking lies about
God's way of salvation then everyone that hears them will receive
no benefit. If God does not speak then all
that is left is ignorance, darkness and ruin. I trust we have a desire,
a deep desire for the truth of the Gospel. Now God has provided
himself a sacrifice. May the Lord enable us to understand
something of the truth of this, not just to the mind but also
to the affections, to the heart. So my text is 1 John Chapter
2, verses 1 and 2 in particular. These things write I unto you
that you 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. The Apostle says firstly, these
things I write unto you that you sin not. What things are
they? The Apostle hasn't laid down
a whole set of rules for us to rule our lives by. He doesn't
refer to the law of Moses. He uses no tactics to pressure
us to good works. Observe from the very beginning
of the letter. He has but one overriding subject. The Lord Jesus in all the scriptures
must have pre-eminence, His greatness, His excellency, His superiority. Here the Holy Spirit of God by
the Apostle bears witness of our Lord Jesus Christ who is
called that Word of Life. John directs us to Christ first
and foremost. How can a man be moved to disdain
his sin? Tell him of Christ, the Word
of Life. That word, the word, word is
in capital letters in our scriptures. Glorious title of our saviour,
the word of God, the oracle of God in the person of Christ. Hebrews 1 talks about the same
thing. God who at sundry times and diverse
manners vague in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.
Chapter 1, having these days spoken unto us by his Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds. So from the beginning of this
letter and throughout the entire letter John bids us to look to
Christ. Of course that is the message
of Holy Scripture, look to Christ. If you go home and somebody asks
you during the week, what did Norm say on Sunday, and you can
only remember, look to Christ, then that will be sufficient.
Look to Christ. Place all your confidence in
Him. If you are looking to Christ,
you won't be looking to other people and you won't be looking
at yourself. Look to Christ. He was with the
Father, verse 2, 1 John, and manifested unto us. The apostles
were witnesses to His glory, weren't they? and they have a
message. This is the message, verse 5,
which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is
light and in him is no darkness at all. God is light. He is of course the source of
all knowledge, the source of all illumination. The scriptures
say in Psalm 119, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light
unto my path. Believers are people who walk
in that light, walking in the light of the revelation of God. In that light they are caused
to see things, things that were once hidden but now they are
a sober reality, a sober reality of sin. Once they walked in darkness,
ignorant and unaware, but when the Gospel comes When illumination
comes, when the Lord Jesus comes, sins are exposed, self-righteousness
is dissolved and they say with Peter, don't they, depart from
me for I am a sinful man. All have sinned and come short
for the glory of God but not all admit their sin. Verse 8,
there are they who say they have no sin. It says they are deceived. But worse still in verse 10,
they make God a liar. To deny one's sin is to say God
is a liar. Self-righteousness in all its
hideous forms accuses God of lying. Self-righteousness when
displayed in a body that is devoid of any righteousness is a deception,
isn't it, of great magnitude. It is an illusion. Self-righteousness
is an illusion, a mirage in the desert that draws many to its
doom. The reality is hidden from many. They chase after it but they
never reach it. The reality of their unrighteousness,
the illusion of self-righteousness is a very powerful illusion. they are unaware of God's Way
of Righteousness. God's Way of Righteousness for
many remains a hidden reality until the light of the Gospel
brings that illumination. So the Apostle is ever exhorting
us to one subject and I say it again, look to Christ for there
is only one Way of Righteousness, God's Way of Righteousness and
that Way of course is our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Apostle
writes tenderly as a father would write to his children, my little
children, these things write I unto you that you sin not.
Here is the Apostle saying that it is possible for us to stop
sinning. It cannot be the meaning. For sin is all we are ever capable
of in this flesh. John immediately then says, and
if any man sin we have an advocate, those who believe they can stop
sinning. in the sight of God, be it by works, be it by the
keeping of rules or by an activity they do at any point or at any
moment in their lives. Then for that point and for that
moment in their lives they admit, they cease to need an advocate. Of course we have that great
doctrine of the two natures constantly warring one with another and
Angus has been Speaking so well about these things from Galatians,
in fact it's going to be impossible for us to work through any book
of the Bible, let alone John, without an understanding of these
two natures. That old man of flesh, the sin
flesh, and that new man, the spiritual man, created by God
in all righteousness, the one who sins continually, but the
other one cannot sin. That's what John says in 1 John
3 verse 9, whoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his
seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born
of God. What a remarkable thing. Only
the doctrine of the two nations helps us to understand such teaching. So in terms of sin, the spirit
is willing but the flesh is weak. We are basically a righteous
man trapped in a body of corruption and that's what Paul says, a
wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? I have a little I'd like to read
from Mr Hawker, our friend Mr Hawker. He speaks personally
on this subject and he says, For myself, if I know anything
of my heart, I hope that I can truly say I hate sin. I would not willingly and willfully
commit a single sin for the world. I loathe myself in my own sight
for sin, the sin of my poor fallen nature. And sin becomes more
bitter to me as Christ becomes more precious. But with all this
I say I would rather be a sinner saved and saved in such a way
as I am saved by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ than to have never known sin, neither known Christ as
a saviour." The children of God are constrained by the love of
Christ. What a powerful force that is,
love. Can you think of anything more
powerful sensitised to their sins and loathing them that are
known. They know that it costs the Saviour
dearly. to redeem them from their sins.
They are not constrained by law, obedience. Another law has taken
its place but it is not a law that burdens. The law of Christ,
the love of Christ is the motivating desire in everything they do. This flesh, this old man of sin
will be with us all the days of our life and because of it
we will struggle and fall and often be discouraged, won't we?
But we read these next words and hopefully you will find comfort
in them. And if any man sin we have an
advocate. We sang that hymn earlier on,
it is well with my soul. That can only be true if we have
an advocate as a father. Good news for sinners, isn't
it? We have an Advocate, the sinner's Advocate, Jesus Christ
the Righteous. He commends Himself as the representative
of chosen sinners, an Advocate in whom the Father is well pleased,
an Almighty Advocate, a Righteous Advocate. What a glorious title
our Saviour has in this regard, Jesus Christ the Righteous. This One, this Righteous One,
this Worthy One, this Plotless One, verse 2, He is propitiation
for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of
the whole world. Jesus Christ the Righteous, Singha. He is the Righteous, One Righteous
One by substitution. He is the propitiation for our
sins. He put them away once for all. It says this once more, speaking
as propitiation, herein is love, not that we loved God but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. What is propitiation? Propitiation
is mercy bestowed by an act of appeasement. That mercy seat
in the tabernacle of the Israelites sprinkled with blood, that represents
this propitiation, the place where God shows mercy to chosen
sinners. God has accepted him, a propitiation
for our sins. The right of God has been turned
away forever by one perfect sacrifice, an offering that God himself
provides and works for excluding. and what confidence we have that
he has done all our works, excluded. If God himself has provided that
substitute, if God himself has provided that offering, then
we have great hope and expectation, don't we, that it is accepted.
If Jesus Christ, the righteous, God's own dear son, if he himself
is that sacrifice, if he himself, that propitiation, then it is
impossible for such an offering to be rejected. Jesus Christ,
the righteous, worthy to take the book and to open the seals,
the Lamb of God who was slain. Our propitiation is won by blood,
isn't it? May we never forget the necessity
of blood. Romans 3.25 says, whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past through the forbearance of God. propitiation must be
by blood, blood atonement, the shedding of blood, the necessity
of death. That high priest, once a year
when he entered that holy of holies for the sins of his people,
he would never enter that place without blood, without the blood
of animals. No approach to God is possible
without this. blood propitiation. There is
no favour with God without the shedding of blood and that's
exactly the point of that account in Genesis 4 in the account of
Cain and Abel, isn't it? I'll just read a few verses out
for you. Genesis 4 verse 3, And in the
process of time came the past, that Cain brought of the fruit
of the ground an offering unto the Lord, And Abel also brought
the first things of his flock and the fat thereof. And the
Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain
and to his offering he had no respect. And Cain was very wroth,
and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain,
Why art thou wroth, and why hast thy countenance fallen? If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou dost not
well, send life at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire,
and thou shalt rule over him. Can you imagine the mind, what
went through the mind of Cain? Lord, I worked hard, I worked
this ground to bring thee the first fruit of my labour. I toiled
and struggled, I did my very best to please you, but you accepted
Abel's offering instead and he didn't even do a thing. Cain
offered his own merit, didn't he? Cain offered his own merit,
the works of his own hands, but Abel offered the merit of another,
that animal slain, being a shadow of that which was to come. Hebrews
9.12 says, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained
eternal redemption for us. The blood of those animals of
course was only ever a temporal stain of judgement, but the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ, precious beyond measure, was the only
blood that could obtain eternal redemption without end." Eternal
redemption, never ending, He is the propitiation for our sins
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Need I say to this congregation
that this verse is one of the most misconstrued
and misunderstood in scripture. This verse speaks of the Lord
Jesus Christ and his work of atonement. To stumble on this
truth, that is the person and the work of Christ, is to stumble
on the Gospel itself. If we misunderstand the atonement
the substitutionary atonement of our Lord Jesus, the scope
of it and the purpose of it, the vicariousness of it, we misunderstand
the truth of the Gospel to our peril. There are many who do
not believe the testimony of Scripture regarding the death
of Christ. Even being intellectually brilliant
seems to have no bearing on the understanding of it. I have a
commentary at home written by a fellow by the name of John
R. Stott. You might have known or heard
of that name. It is a commentary on one John.
He is the author of many books and commentaries and he is a
theologian revered around the world. He says of this verse
in 1 John 2.2 that a universal pardon is offered for the sins
of the whole world, that is for every person, but is only enjoyed
by those who embrace it. So if Mr Stott and his many avid
students, the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ actually
saves no one. It's just an offer. It's just
a possibility. Imagine our lifeguards standing
on the beach and they were seeing, witnessing and watching a drowning
man. Imagine if they had to wait for
that man to say the sinner's prayer before they had permission
to go and save him. His lungs are so full of water
he can't even speak. That my friends is the religion
of this day, as absurd as it is false. Hebrews 9.12 in contrast
speaks of redemption as a finished work. The Lord Jesus actually
obtained eternal redemption for us. He really did do it. He really
did redeem. He really did save and that my
friends is the difference between what we preach here and what
is preached by almost all others in this country on this subject. a real redemption, a real atonement,
a real propitiation, a real substitution. I need a Redeemer that really
redeems, not just offers to redeem. I need to know that what He did
was accepted and ratified in the courts of Heaven. Perhaps
you have had this challenge too. I know many of us have had discussions
with people on this subject. from men who say that God wants
to save all men and that Christ shed his blood for all men. God
has done his part, now it's up to you. I'll use this verse 1
John 2 chapter 2 and I say, well there you go, it says it plainly,
the sins of the whole world. But even a childlike understanding
should tell us that Christ cannot have laid his life down for all
men. We know he didn't die for the multitudes that God slew
in the Old Testament and we know that he didn't die for Esau.
We know he didn't die for Judas, that son of perdition. And if
he did die for them then he is a failure for not being able
to save them. I want us to look at a few scriptures
that I believe will help us to understand what the Apostle is
really saying here. Just turn to Acts chapter 10
just for a few moments. We must understand that animosity,
loathing, that antagonism, that detestation of the Jews towards
those unclean Gentiles, then we can begin to understand what
John has written, why John has written this blessed verse of
scripture. of all the inhabitants of the
world, only the Jews were chosen and called out by God, favoured
above all other nations. No other nation was given the
oracles of God. No other nation knew of the provision
of the Lord as did the Jews. No other nation was given that
system of sacrifice designed to atone for transgression. The
Jewish laws forbid the Jews to mix or associate with those of
other nations. And so we have this account this
beautiful account of a man named Cornelius and of his meeting
with Peter. Let me just pick it up from verse
1. There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band of the Italian band,
a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which
gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. He
saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an
angel of God coming in to him and saying unto him, Cornelius.
And when he looked on him he was afraid and said, What is
it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine arms are
come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa,
and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth
with one Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the seaside. He shall
tell thee what thou oughtest to do. When the angel spoke to
him that Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household
servants and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually. And when he had declared all
these things unto him, he sent them to Job. On the morrow, as they
went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went
up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour, and he
became hungry and would have eaten. But while they made him
ready, he fell into a trance, and he saw heaven opened, and
a certain vessel descending unto him, as if had been a great sheet,
knit at the four corners, and let down to earth, wherein were
all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts,
and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a
voice unto him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said,
No, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And
the voice spake again unto him the second time, What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice
and the vessel was received up again under heaven. Now while
Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen
should mean, behold the men which were sent from Cornelius had
made inquiry of Simon's house and stood before the gate." Peter
went with the men to Cornelius according to the scriptures. In the meantime Cornelius had
gathered many others in anticipation of Peter's arrival. In verse
34 then Peter addressed them. Peter opened his mouth and said,
Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word
which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by
Jesus Christ, that word I say ye know, which was published
throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism
which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Ghost and with power, who went out about doing good
and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with
him. And we are witnesses of all these things which he did
both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew
and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day
and showed him openly, not to all the people but unto witnesses
chosen before God even to us who did eat and drink with him
after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach
unto the people and to testify that it is he which is ordained
of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead, to give all
prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word,
and they of the circumcision which believed were astonished. as many as came with Peter as
well, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift
of the Holy Ghost." The disdain of the Jews toward the Gentiles
was evident in those days in everyday life. The Jews considered
them unclean and condemned of God and here They were all astonished
that the Spirit had been poured out upon them. Three times this
vision was presented to Peter. God needed to teach Peter the
true scope of redemption, the true scope of salvation. But
God had a people for himself scattered throughout the world
from every kindred and tongue and people and nation. So I hope
now that we can begin to see what John is saying here in 1
John 2. This strict mindset of the Jews,
of that nation, the mindset of the Jews, that salvation was
theirs alone, limited to the Jews alone, is now in need of
correction. And the same thing happened in
John 3.16, another verse that men love to throw about in that
meeting with Nicodemus. Nicodemus, teacher of the Jews, of salvation, that it would be
beyond the nation, beyond the Jews, those believing ones, loved
of God, scattered throughout the world. The Gentiles must
also be brought in." There is one more verse I'd like us to
look at before we close that is perhaps stronger evidence. Again, turn to John Chapter 11. I'll just read a few verses there. John 11 verse 47, Then gathered the chief priests
and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? For this
man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take
away both our place and nation. and one of them named Caiaphas,
being high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing
at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one
man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he, not of himself,
but being high priest that year he prophesied, and watch these
words, that Jesus should die for that nation, the Jews, and
not only for that nation but that also he should gather together
in one the children of God, that is the elect Gentiles that were
scattered abroad. I don't know if there is any
more definitive scripture which explains what John is saying
in terms of the scope of salvation in 1 John 2.2. Let us never be
ambiguous about what we preach here. in regards to Christ and
the substitute of His people, that the Gospel in its very essence
is the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
and Him crucified is the Gospel of God, spoken of, referred to
and displayed in type in all the volumes of scripture, that
according to the scriptures the Lord Jesus Christ fully accomplished
the redemption of His people by the substitution of Himself
that this redemption was a particular work, a particular work on behalf
of particular people. It is a particular redemption. By His own blood He paid in full
the sin debt of them and them alone who are the called, who
are the elect of God, scattered throughout time and throughout
this world, a remnant are called according to the election of
grace. the Lord Jesus Christ, who by
one propitious offering, one perfect sacrifice, effectively
put away the sins of all his people, a particular vicarious
work. And in that great substitution
that great exchange. God was always perfectly just
in all that happened, all that occurred. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the perfect sacrifice. Sin must be punished, justice
must be maintained and satisfied, Christ assumed our nature and
came into this world so that God might be both just and the
justifier of his people. God will never charge his people
with sin because God has accepted our substitute. He will never
charge his people with sin because our substitute was perfectly
righteous. Our Advocate has made complete
satisfaction, the propitiation for our sins. Our sin was laid
on Him. Really and actually was He made
by God what we are by nature. That is sin. And wonderfully
His righteousness became our righteousness. So the two for
instance Chapter 5 verse 21 says, God made him who knew no sin
to be sin for us that we might become righteousness of God. Ought we not trust a substitute
such as this substitute? On that day when the Lord our
God judges all men, the Lord Jesus will present His people,
won't He? He will present all His people,
even you and I, holy, unblamable, unreprovable and perfect before
that throne. What will he say? What will be
his words? He will say, Behold I and the
children which God hath given me. Christ our precious substitute
has made it so. God the Father has accepted such
a substitute forever in our place. May the Lord impress this truth
upon our hearts.