Turn with me, if you would, to
2 John. The 2nd epistle of John. Chapter 1, there's only one chapter. We are going to have a true Sunday
school this morning. And for a text, we are going
to use verse 9. 2 John, verse 9. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. The doctrine of Christ, the doctrine
that Christ has declared in His Word. I spoke on the phone with a dear
brother from another state. This this last week and we were
talking about. Tulip. We're talking about the. The subject of Tulip. The doctrinal outline that is
called Tulip, also known as the doctrines of grace. You may have
heard people talk about the doctrines of grace. They are talking about
Tulip. T-U-L-I-P. Tulip. That is the message of
the scripture. That is the outline that God
has written in His Word. And this is what tulip means.
This is what it is. The T stands for total depravity. Mankind is totally depraved. Depraved means corrupted, wicked,
ruined, sinful. That's what this word declares
about man. All of mankind is totally corrupted. And you won't hear that out in the
world. Let's all focus on the good parts and don't worry about
the bad parts. Man is totally ruined. Totally ruined. Not one speck of good left. After man fell into sin, there
was nothing left. No good left. Total ruin. The U stands for unconditional
election. God elected, He chose some people
to save from total ruin. It had to be unconditional. They
were totally ruined. All were ruined. All were in
the same lump of ruined corruption. So this election to salvation
was unconditional on our part. There was no condition in us
No condition on us, no condition laid on us, no condition given
to us that influenced the election. God just chose who He chose. Most people do believe, they
honestly do believe that God voted for you and the devil voted
against you and the choice is yours. That's election. That
is not election. God just chose who God chose. Why did God do it that way? Because
He's God. That's just how he did it. So
T is total depravity. U is unconditional election.
The L stands for limited atonement. Atonement means covering. Atonement means payment. It means redemption. Not one
drop of Christ's blood that he shed was wasted. not one drop. Every soul that he died for is
saved. If Christ died for everybody,
then not one soul would be sent to hell. If Christ died for every
single man and woman on this earth, if he died for the sin
of all men and women, then no men or women would stand before
God in their own sin. None would be in hell. But the
scriptures are clear that many have been damned to that place.
Therefore, the atonement that Christ made, the payment, the
redemption for sin that Christ made with his own blood, it was
limited to the totally depraved sinners that the father unconditionally
chose to save. Christ died for a particular
people. It's a particular redemption,
total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement.
The I stands for irresistible grace. Totally depraved sinners don't
want grace. They don't want it. They do not
want it. Totally wicked sinners are not
interested in the kind favor of God. Totally ruined sinners
who feed on darkness and feed on evil. They reject the goodness
of God. Thank God they don't have a say
in the matter. Thank God we didn't have a say
in the matter. That could be a wonderful title
for a message preached in this pulpit. Thank God we didn't have
a say in the matter. Whoever God chooses to give that
salvation to, it's coming. That's the message, not, now
you better, now you better make sure, no, it's coming. It is
coming. That cleansing wave is coming. And it will not be rejected by
the recipient. It just will not be for two reasons.
Number one, it's because God is the one who is sending it.
And no one and no thing can stop his hand or say unto him, what
are you doing? Nobody. coming from God. That's the first reason. The
second reason is with the gift of salvation. With the gift of
payment with that gift of redemption. Comes a brand new everything. A brand-new life, a brand-new
heart, a brand-new mind, a brand-new will, a brand-new love, a love
for God. I mean God that was not there
before. Do we still fight with the old?
Yes. But a new is there fighting with
the old. Before, there was no fight with
the old. There was no fight at all. We were all in perfect agreement.
We had this God made up in our mind, and he was weak, and I
was strong, and I liked that God. But then when redemption
comes, and that quickening comes, all of a sudden, it's something
new. And not only do we see and trust
and believe this God, we love this God. We have a brand new
need given to us, a brand new desire, and that need and desire
is mercy. When salvation comes. A center
first thing he starts craving mercy. He needs mercy. The grace, the gift of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the mercy that comes through the gift is irresistible. It is so irresistible to a center. Total depravity, unconditional
election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the P
stands for perseverance of the saints. Perseverance means all
the way to the end. All the way to the end. That
means whatever God starts, God finishes. Whatever God starts,
he finishes. God does not start the work of
salvation and then leave it in the hands of a sinner to finish
it. He does not do that. Now I want to show you that in
the scripture. All right. I want us to see that
in the outline of the scripture. And I want to apply that to us
personally. This is every, this will be the mind and the heart
of every true believer that has been quickened to life. Number one, this is what every
center will be convinced of. I am a center. When this redemption
comes, when this payment comes, this is the first thing he will
adamantly be convinced of. I am a sinner. Go with me over
to Job 42. Job 42, God has just dealt with
Job very firmly, and this is Job's response to him. Job 42
verse 5, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in
dust and ashes. He said, oh, I'm such a sinner
before you. I heard of you by the hearing
of the ear, but now my eye sees you. And I'm a sinner before you.
I'm so sorry. Look at Psalm 51. Psalm 51 verse 1, David said,
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. Can you say that? My sin is always
before me. It's just always, I see it all
the time. Verse 4. Against thee, thee only,
have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me. He said that's all that I am. I was made in sin. I am sin. Look at Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6 verse 1, In the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings. With
twain He covered His face, with twain He covered His feet, with
twain He did fly. And one cried unto another, and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried. And the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am
a man of unclean lips." Is that all Isaiah? Just unclean lips?
Look at chapter 1, Isaiah chapter 1 verse 6. From the sole of the foot even
unto the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. I am totally ruined, crown of
the head to sole of the foot, ruined. The apostle Paul said,
Oh, wretched man that I am. He said, I'm the chief of sinners. Every child of God will say that.
And every child of God will mean it, truly mean it. All right.
Here's the second thing that a quickened child of God will
be adamantly convinced of. God did all the choosing in spite
of me. I would not come to Him that
I might have life. I would not do it. Look with
me at John chapter 3. John 3 verse 19, and this is
condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved
darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. I know
that this flesh is naturally drawn to the things of sin. I
know that it is. I know that this flesh loves
darkness. I know that this flesh loves
the deeds of evil. It is drawn to the deeds of evil. Therefore, had God not chosen
me, I would never have chosen Him. I would not have chosen Him.
If God does not keep me, I won't be kept. My hope starts with
His unconditional election of me. Go over to Romans 9. A lady came up to an old preacher
of the gospel one time, and she said to him, you preach
that election, don't you? And he said, yes, I do. And she said, why do you believe
that? I just I can't see it. I don't
think I can go along with that. And he said, well, let me ask
you a question. Who saved you? Did God save you or did you save
yourself? And she said, God saved me. And
he said, well, did he do it on purpose or was it an accident? And she said he did it on purpose.
He said, that's election. God choosing to save whom he
would on purpose. That is election. Romans 9 verse
11, For the children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. That's how
it went. Verse 23, That he might make
known the riches of his glory, on the vessels of mercy, which
he had afore prepared unto glory. That's election. That's election. God choosing who he would save
on purpose. This is the heart of a child
of God, a truly enlightened child of God. Number one, I'm a sinner.
God did all the choosing in spite of me. And number three, my only
hope, all of my redemption is in the fact that Christ laid
down his life for me. That's where all of it is. His
payment was a particular payment. I see that. And my only hope
is that that payment was for me. Go to John 17. John 17 verse 9. Our Lord said, I pray for them,
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine. Christ did not come to make intercession
to God for the entire world. Christ did not lay down His life
for the entire world. He laid down His life for the
souls that His Father gave to Him out of the entire world. Not to the Jews only, but also
to the Greeks. He died for the elect. He died
for the elect. And a quickened child of God
sees that. He sees that in the Word. It's
been revealed to Him. He sees his only hope as being
one of the ones who was given to Christ. That's my only hope.
Is that I'm one of the ones given to Christ. All of my salvation
is in His blood. That's it. He knows that Christ
died for a particular people and one desire consumes Him. One desire consumes the child
of God. That I might be one of them.
That's it, that I might be one of them. So this is what he says.
Number one, I'm a sinner. God did all the choosing. My
only hope is that the father gave me to Christ and Christ
laid down his life for me. So number four, I come to him. I come to him, there is literally
nowhere else I can go. There is nowhere else. Is there
anywhere else you can go for salvation in eternal life? I
can't go to the law. I can't come to myself. I can't
go to any preacher. There is no other priest. I have
no other priest I can go to. There is nowhere else that I
can go. He said, come unto me. all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So I come to him. I come to him. Look with me at Psalm 42. Psalm
42. Verse 1, it says, as the heart,
as the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God, when shall I come and appear before God? That is
irresistible grace. That is irresistible grace. In
Psalm 17, verse 15, David said, and I love this, Psalm 17, verse
15, he said, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness,
I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. That's irresistible. That's when I'll be satisfied,
when I awake with your likeness. In John 6, the Lord said, All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. They're all coming, they
will all, it's irresistible grace. Why will they come? Number one,
the father's drawing them. But number two, they can't help
it. They've been given a heart that cries, I must have Christ. I must have Christ, I come to
him. I am a sinner. God did all the choosing. My
only hope is that the blood of Christ was shed for me. So I
come to him because in him, I am eternally safe. I am eternally
safe in Christ. I am kept by the power of God. Every soul in Christ is and will
forever be kept by the power of God. And every soul in Christ
rests in that promise. They truly do rest. They rest every quickened soul
is persuaded of this. And we'll close with this right
here. All right, go with me to Philippians chapter one. Every persuaded soul, every quickened
child of God is convinced of this right here. Philippians
1 verse 6, being confident of this very thing. that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. If God started it, God will finish
it. He'll finish it. But I'm still
so bogged down by my sin. I know, but God will finish it.
If God started it, He'll perform it all the way until the day
of Christ. and he'll finish it all the way
to the end. That's the doctrine of Christ.
That's the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, you're
dismissed.