Isaiah 53, we looked the week
before at sin. In other words, sin against God. Sin against the Holy God. In
other words, total depravity. That's an easier way to eat the
elephant, isn't it? One bite at a time. Last week
we looked at unconditional election. The Lord chose a people regardless
of anything in them. Not because they chose Him. He
said, but I chose you. Not because you loved Him, because
He loved us first. Those people that was totally
depraved. And out of all of mankind, the Lord chose a people. And
for that people He chose and He put in Christ, He atoned for
them. That means at-one-ment. We weren't
at one with God. Our sins had separated us from
God. Our pride had separated us from God. That's all of mankind
born Adam. And if the Lord reveals that
to us, we'll see we ain't got no hope. We can't get out of
this pit by ourselves. Praying won't do it, and the
working won't do it, and the washing won't do it. All mankind's
without hope. But God, he said, out of it,
what's deservingly right for everybody to perish in their
sins, but God chose a people. That's good news. And it's not
just that he chose these people and said, well, I like those.
And then went on to do something else. Left them to their self.
I hope they come to me. No, the Lord chose those people
and he atoned for those people. He redeemed those people. So
what we're gonna look at this morning, limited atonement. In
other ways that's worded throughout writers of time and all that.
Particular redemption. Limited Atonement, Particular
Redemption. The part that's so much contention around that.
Mankind hears this unconditional election and they get mad about
it. And then that's no good for them.
And then you keep going to the next thing, Particular Redemption.
And they're mad about the particular part and they're mad about the
limited part. Well, both of that's already
been covered. That's what we looked at last week. This is
four people, but it's Atonement. There's redemption for that people.
The price was paid. We're totally depraved, no hope
for us getting out of this miry pit, but God in love according
to His will, He chose a people and He did something for them.
He didn't talk about doing something for them, He did something for
them. He didn't want to do something for them and couldn't or didn't
or won't, He did something for them. He sent His Son. to be
the atonement, to be the mercy seat, to be that bloody acceptable
sacrifice, the propitiation. For a people, not for everybody. This atonement, this atonement,
the payment, the work, it was so precious because of who the
atonement was, who the Lamb was. It's His blood. It's very God
of very God. God Almighty came and lived for
and bled and willingly died for this people. He atoned for them. He redeemed them. Most of what
Christianity, what's called Christianity, I don't tell nobody I'm a Christian
because their words for that mean something than what I mean
for that. But most of what we call Protestants
or Christianity, they say there's unlimited atonement. Unlimited
atonement. And what they're saying is that
the Lord lay down His life and shed His blood for anybody and
everybody that wants it, but it's up to the man or the woman
or the child to decide to make that blood effectual. They have
to say yes, they have to say it's okay, or they have to give
a nod. Or they can have any conditions with that circumcision into baptism,
baptisms or waters, some type of profession, to make that effectual. to execute this redemption. You
know what that does? That gives us a smidge, just
a touch of living, that we're to be warned about. God said,
beware. If the Lord says, beware, I'll
never be afraid, ashamed, or even idled down. He's telling
other people, beware. If they won't hear me, they're
going to meet God one day. universal redemption or unlimited
atonement for anybody that makes everything available and you've
got to pick and you've got to decide. This is really important. This is
eternal life or death. Stay with me. That gives glory to man. I pulled
a woman out of Loveland Reservoir yesterday. She was in a deep
pit. There was about three foot high
dirt and it was over her head water and she was getting tired
and every time she clawed to get out of there, more dirt fell.
And she couldn't get out of that lake. And I reached down and
I got her out of that lake. But she was still conscious.
She was still helping. She stuck a foot there. She pulled a little
bit on some grass. And she said, thanks for the
help. So I'm real careful. I didn't say I saved somebody. I pulled her out. We were in
that Maori pit, but we weren't helping the Lord get us out of
that. We were dead in trespasses and sins and He saved His people.
And He gets all the glory for that. His death receives all
the glory or He died in vain. To say that Christ died for somebody
and paid for their sins and they didn't accept Him and they're
in hell, that means He's not a victorious Savior. He's a failure. He tried to do something and
couldn't. If He can't save them, He sure can't save me. That's
no God at all. That's what billions of people
believe and they think they're okay and they're going to meet
a holy God in eternity standing on their own merit. If this building
was on fire and I quietly closed my mouth, whispered to my wife
and children and said, let's get out of here. And you said,
what you doing? All nothing. You're all right.
You're fine. We're good. We're buddies. Let's
be friends. But I'm going to be out in the
parking lot. And everybody died in this building. Would I be
called a hero? Would I say I performed my civil duty as a citizen of
this nation? I'd be called a coward and a
heretic and a worthless human being because I didn't want somebody. I ain't splitting hairs. This
is God's word and it's his son and his son's blood is what we're
dealing with. Who he shed that blood for? Why he did it and did it work?
Did it get the job done? This is the gospel. Did you know
that? The scriptures say, because it don't matter what I think.
It don't matter. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. There's been some things I didn't
fail at, but I tell you what, I was discouraged. I was discouraged
this morning. real bad. I'm a man. There's things I'm
going to do. I've failed at things. There's
things I'm going to fail at. And I get discouraged. I think,
is this all for naught? Did the Lord leave me to myself? What's he doing with me? Not
this one. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he has set judgment in the earth. Till that judgment's finished.
Till the job's done. The work's finished. By Christ's
obedience unto the death of the cross, He accomplished that redemption. He made atonement, but only for
God's elect. And He did that so that none
shall be lost. He won't lose a one. This is
that message of limited atonement, of particular redemption. This
is the gospel. This is good news. He's revealed His Son to me.
He died for me. He ain't going to lose me, and
I ain't going to lose myself. I don't have to be the faithful
one. He's the faithful one. And He gave me faith to know
He's the faithful one. Do you get that? Isaiah 53, verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoiled with the strong. Because he hath poured out his
soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he
bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Now look here at verse 10. It begins with, Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. Who
bruised him? It said it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. God turned His back on God on that cross, didn't
He? He put Him to grief. This was the will and this was
the purpose of Almighty God. It was determined before the
world began. This is exactly what was going
to happen. That Lamb slain before the foundation of the world,
that's what He's talking about. This is the slaying. However,
though this is God's purpose and what it pleased the Father
to do, it was performed by the wickedness of man. They willfully
did it. That's what we've been looking
at in Acts on Wednesday nights, isn't it? Acts 2.23, Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Over all these years, I never
looked it up. It pricked them in the hearts. They said, you're
the one that killed him. Peter's preaching that to the
very ones that killed him. And for us to think you're pricked
in your hearts, just like a little poke. They were driven through
with a spear. that speared their hearts. It
completely obliterated it. And as it says in the Psalms,
it melted them. It melted them. In fact, for it says, of the
truth against the holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel, they were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to do. They cast the locks
on the garments, they didn't tear it apart, it was seamless.
Everything, they plucked out his beard, they spit on him.
Everything that took place was fulfilled, but man did it. Since God chose His Son to be
the Savior of His people from eternity, it means God loves
His people with an everlasting love. We can't really enter into
that. Infinity? They joke about that
one karate man. They said he counted to infinity
twice. That's why it's funny. It's impossible. Our minds can't
even enter into it. But everlasting, that means for always and for
forever. He loved His people. He did something
for them. He put us in Christ. I used to
fight that so hard when I was a teenager. What's the glory
of God? He'll be merciful to who? He'll be merciful to who?
He'll be gracious to who? He'll be gracious to who? He's sovereign. But I
thought as a child, if I say, if my children said, Daddy, can
we get ice cream? You know, I always preface that. We're going to
get ice cream, but I hope there's at least some illustration or
analogy I have that's effectual to somebody. Somebody gets it.
When my children ask me something, I don't just do it. I say, I'm
going to do this, but it's because I want to do it. You get that?
The Lord told Moses, Moses said, show me glory. He said, I'll
be merciful to whom I'll be merciful. I'll be gracious. I'll be gracious to you because
I want to be gracious, Moses, not because you demanded it of
me. Now here's my glory. I'm going to put you in the cleft
of the rock. I'm sovereign. Don't you forget that. But my
glory is I put you in my Son. And now I can pass before you.
You're going to see my hinder parts, but you ain't going to
just perish and die because you're in Him. You're in Him. That's
His glory. He loved us with everlasting
love, and before we even fell in sin, before there's ever a
law to be broken, before there's ever breath in Adam's lungs,
Christ was that Lamb. He was that sacrifice. He was
that atonement for those people. And He shall not fail. Always remember the Lord's on
His throne. He doesn't get surprised. He doesn't get caught off guard.
And if there's evil in the city, it'll glorify Him. And whatever
don't glorify Him, He'll stop it. He'll stop it. That ought to give us good comfort
day to day. Nothing's happened without something that's taking
place that's good for the Lord's people and glorifies Him. Glorifies Christ. Well, if that
could be our mission, For ages, there have been men
that prayed for laborers in the harvest, for men to stand up,
regardless of anybody's opinion, thoughts, feelings, and declare
the truth of God to people. That's needed. The Lord loves
His people forever, and He sent His Son to live for them and
to die for them and to be raised for them, and that's where He
is now, and He ain't gonna get undone. And to wake up every
day and to know, even if there's something horrible that's happened
in my life, if I'm seeking first His kingdom, does this glorify
Christ? Nothing else matters. I'm going
to fail. I'm going to be discouraged.
But He hasn't failed. He's never been discouraged because
His will's performed. He's God. And if we love Him,
we'll love that fact. Verse 10, Isaiah 53 says, Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief,
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Soul there
means the whole of him. Neil brought that out and labored
it really long and I just thought that was precious. It's every
bit of him. It's not just some sinless deity
that came that was a sacrifice. It was a sinless man. Bone of
my bone, flesh my flesh, just like me. It's not some unrelatable
currency. This is something that's like
me. If one's gonna stand in my place,
it's gotta be like me. He was made, and that's what
was prepared for him. We read in Hebrews, it said,
now at the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. Himself, the whole of it. He
gave it all. He gave it all. Full effort.
In thought, in word, in deed, in body. And it says in Hebrews
10, Wherefore he, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice
and offering thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast prepared
for me. You prepared a body for me. And burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast no pleasure. All those were just a shadow.
It was just a picture. It just showed us what was coming.
People cling to those shadows. And cling to those pictures and
types. And not cling to the one that sent them. He said, Lo,
I come, and the volume of the book is written to me, to do
thy will, O God. That was for us. God's law must be honored and
sin must be punished. And it will be either in us as
an individual or it will be punished in our substitute. That's bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. One way or the other.
That justice will be satisfied. It'll be honored. It says in
Hebrews 9, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission.
And it's not just this is cold, dead facts. Yes, I agree. There is total depravity. There
is unconditional election. The atonement was limited. And
some weird accent that nobody has in this nation. It's not
those things. This was done willingly. Why? What did it start out with? With
love. With love. We don't know squat about love
unless God reveals it to us. We're going to look next hour.
God turned every drop of water in Egypt to blood for seven days. You can talk about getting thirsty.
Why would he do that? Why would he send these plagues?
Why would he send earthquakes? Why would he open the ground
up and swallow up his enemies and all that stuff? For love's
sake. He said, I've given nations for you. Would you do that? 670 people died this morning,
estimated, in Papua New Guinea because a hillside slid down.
That's for Christ's glory and the Lord's people's good. There
may have been Lord's people in that. I don't know what part
our brother is down there, but it's so, isn't it? Turn over
John 10. This was done willingly. It was done out of love. That kinsman redeemer, we remember
that out of Ruth. They had to be related. He had to be born of a woman.
He had to be able to redeem. This is the God man. His blood
ain't like my blood. I'm sinful. He's sinless. And
he had to be willing. He had to be a kinsman. He had
to be related. He had to be able. And he had
to be willing. If he wasn't willing, it doesn't matter. If he's able
and not willing, we ain't no good. If he's willing but he
ain't able, same boat. We're in trouble. This one was
willing. He's related. He's able. He's
willing. Verse 14, John 10, 14. Lord's speaking here and he says,
I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep and am known of mine. As the father knoweth me, even
so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I'll have, which is not of this fold, other generations,
other parts of the world, throughout time, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again.
No man taketh it from me." It was by their wicked hands, but
he willingly, his purpose and his counsel, willingly laid down
his life. But I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up
again. This commandment have I received of my Father. He's
saying, I'm willing to do this. I really am in a body, not as
if. And I'm able. I'm able. There was a division, therefore,
among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, he hath
a devil and is mad. Why hear ye him? Why are you
listening to him? That man's got a devil in him. Why are you
listening? I looked that word up, mad. It means both manic, like
he's crazy, right? He's a lunatic. And he's angry. He didn't sound angry. They said,
oh, he's a brute. Remember the Pharisees? They said, Lord, that's some
hard sayings. You made them Pharisees mad. He could yell. He could whisper.
It wouldn't have mattered. It's what he said. That was the
brutality of it. And they said, this is an austere
man. We won't have this man reign over us. That means we need it. It all
boils back down to sin. You declare these things, and
that means you need this holy substitute, God Himself to live
for you and die for you. That means you couldn't do it.
And that's the road. Pride. We think we're okay. And we know better than God.
The law was fulfilled in that. He laid down His life for us.
He lived for us. He died for us. He's risen for us. And the
prophets were fulfilled. They said he's the one that's
going to do it. This is how he's going to do it. This is what's
going to happen. And every jot and every tittle of the law,
and every jot and every tittle of all the prophecies, every
speck of it, every ounce, just as he said he was going to do,
he did it. That means he didn't fail. And he wasn't discouraged.
I can say I'll be there on Wednesday morning at 9.50 a.m. I may be
there, I may not. I'm not the Lord. If he says
this is what I'm going to do, it's done. It's done. He's God. Back in our text in Isaiah 53,
Isaiah 50 says that the Lord opened my ear, this is Christ
speaking, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave
my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off
my hair. I hid not my face from the shame and spitting. That's
willing. He knew exactly what he's getting into. And he said,
I'll do that. I'll do that. You ever had a
job? Somebody's like, would you do this for me? And you're like,
that's too hard. I ain't doing that. Maybe I'll help you hire somebody
to do it. I can't do it or I won't. I don't want to do that." He
said he willingly did. He didn't hide his face. Walked
straight into it. Face set like a flint. You talk
about a man. Woo! I was talking to Paul Mahan
about that one day. If I ever get on a soapbox and
run with things of manliness, I think this country needs it,
but my job is to preach Christ, the God man. What a man. He said he was going to do it
and he did it. never deterred, never discouraged, for love's
sake. Isaiah 53, look up in verse 5.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace. Our peace come at a great cost,
a great chastening. We ought not reject the peace
of God. He paid for it. Chastisement of our peace was
upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. That's what sheep do. We've turned
everyone his own way. We've found our own way. And
the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed,
He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was brought
as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shears
is done, He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgressions
of my people was he stricken. Now in verse 10, it says, Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief.
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall
see his seed. Whose seed? What's the seed?
Well, he said my people, didn't he? In verse 8 it says, For the
transgression of my people was he stricken. He smoked Christ,
and whatever that entails. If Paul saw through a glass dimly,
what do you think we see? If he's had this abundant of
revelations, and he's seen all these things, and understood
all these things, and he said he sees through a glass dimly,
how little do I see? The Lord, whenever He looked
at Christ, whenever that atonement was made, He saw His people in
Him as He judged Him. And since Christ made that atonement,
all that atonement and redemption was accomplished. And the Lord
sees His people that's in Him, that He put there, justified,
sanctified, regenerated, glorified. He sees us just as He was made
sin for us, we were made the righteousness of God in Him.
What a thought. He shall prolong his days. God
raised his son from the grave and put him on his right hand
and raised his people in him. We are seated, I don't get that
either, with him in glory right now. And so, how could you even
enter into such things? I can't. Just as he says my people's
holy. I own a mirror, I know better.
At least in this body, right? But God says so. He looks on
us and he says, holy, good job. That's my servant. I love him.
Perfect. Well done. Well done. That means squatting diddly.
If you don't, if you're wrong on a fall, you're wrong at all.
If we don't know that, that, that, that was what was needed
and who it was that did it. that redemption at one against
the holy god we spit in his face and wouldn't have nothing to
do with it even if we was playing church even if we was memorizing Sunday school
verses what time he was doing it we needed that and he was
the faithful one and it was his love that mattered he shall prolong
his days God sends His Spirit and He regenerates all of His
people to faith in Christ. He ain't gonna lose one. What
if there's one out there in the middle of an island somewhere? Well, the Lord will shipwreck
one of His preachers there. Or as Clay said, instead of Him
sending a preacher there, He'll move the island. If He's given His Son, He's put
away sin forever. How can He not take care of that?
Can't the Lord handle that? No, we ain't gonna sit on the
couch and twiddle our thumbs and wait for it, be fatalists. The
Lord uses his people, he uses means, but we know it's sure. We know the end state, don't
we? It says in Ephesians 2, when we were yet dead in sins, He's
quickened us together with Christ and raised us up together and
made us sit in heavenly places in Christ that in ages to come,
He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
towards us through His Son, Christ Jesus. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in His hand. What pleases the Lord? I stole
this and it was just too good not to tell you. Somebody else
did the leg work, but the scriptures are already there. What pleases
the Lord? The Lord said in 1 Samuel 12,
For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's
sake. His name's on the line. Because
it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people. He has a people.
And it pleased Him. It made Him happy. He wanted
to. Willfully. He said, That's mine. He made
you his people. It says in Colossians 1, all
things that Christ, speaking of Christ, might have the preeminence,
for it pleased the Father that in him should all the fullness
dwell. He had a people and he said, I love my son. He's mine
elect. He's the first one I chose. I'm going to put all in people
in that son. This makes me happy. That's what I'm doing. And he
did it. And he did it. Well, how are we going to find
out about it? Paul was made a preacher. Did you know that? It says, when
it pleased God, that's what pleases God. When it pleased God who
separated me from my mother's womb, just as I was physically
born, I was spiritually born. And He called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
heathen. Paul said, I've got to go preach to the Gentiles.
Is this grace given to me? He hated them his whole life.
And now he says, oh boy, I've got somebody that wants to hear
about the Lord's grace. Somebody that wants to hear about
Christ and Him crucified because they need a substitute. They
need a Savior. He said, I get to. And that's
the means the Lord's used. Old Brother Spurgeon said this
is one of the means. Well, Brother Spurgeon didn't write a book
in the Bible, did he? Man can fail. Man can miss the mark. God doesn't. This is the means
God chose to tell his people about it. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching. He takes an earthen vessel that
ain't nothing but a clay pot, and it smells bad, and it looks
bad, and if he wouldn't hold it together, it'd fall to pieces.
And he puts that water of life in it, and he sends it out through
that. Gives it a spigot. Please God by the fulness of
the preaching to save them that believe. I don't believe that,
well then you ain't one that believes it. Keep preaching. Well they preach, all flesh is
grass, behold your God, the war is over. You were at war. You have to, if a war is accomplished,
they must have been at war. Right? You can't end a war if
they ain't at war. We was at war. We're grass. Behold your God. Salvation to
the Lord. It's done. He said that. It's
finished. It's done. Ain't nothing to be
done. Just tell people about it, and then we're going to be
happy about it. We ain't going to be sad about it. We ain't going
to be stoic about it. His people's going to be happy.
Common people's going to gladly receive it. Fear not, little flock, he told
them in Luke 12, for it is your father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom. This is yours. It's your house.
We're children. We're adopted. We're married
to him. Any relationship carnally where you can get an inheritance
you can think of in this nation, that's what we are to Him. Because
of Him. And He says it's all ours, it's
all yours. There you go. Isaiah 53 verse 11. He shall
see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many. For he shall bear their
iniquities. When the Father sees the satisfaction
of justice, and He sees that that law has been fulfilled,
and He sees that that sin has been put away as far as east
is from the west, it's blotted out. You can't ever find it.
Dave's got a good article on that in the bulletin. Blotted out.
It's gone. When the Father sees that, He's
satisfied. That's satisfied God. He's satisfied by Christ's knowledge.
not our knowledge. He's satisfied by Christ's righteousness,
not our own. He gave it to us, but not what
we've had in ourselves. He's satisfied by His justification,
not us justifying ourselves. And He's satisfied by Him bearing
the iniquities of His people, not us cleaning up the outside
of the cup and carrying on like good little Christian soldiers.
He's pleased in His Son. This is My Son in whom I'm well
pleased. Hear Him. Hearing. What a message. God preached from heaven. Sure,
wouldn't it? Verse 12, Therefore will I divide
him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong. God will give Christ and all his people all
the honor and glory as promised in that covenant. And Christ
shall share his inheritance with his people. And here's why. He poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He bared the sins of many, and he made intercession for the
transgressors. And he said, I got this for you. Here. You ever
love somebody and you get something for them? Why'd you do that?
I love them. I got me one. I got a friend.
I don't buy watches. This is a big fancy watch. He
likes watches and he's my buddy. And he says, if I'm going to
have a watch, I want you to have a watch. And so every time he gets a watch,
he sends me one. I say, I got two watches. I don't need one.
I don't need more. Stop. Lord secured every bit of this
in his own blood. And he loved his people. And
he goes, here, honey. It's yours. It's yours. And do we just take
it and run with it like foolish children and blow our... No,
we thank him. We thank Him. He's our heresy.
Men who preach and teach and proclaim that there's unlimited
atonement for anybody, it's just laying out there, but it's up
to you to make it effectual. That's a heresy. That's a blasphemous
lie. Because God says that His Son
alone accomplished that work, and that work's finished, and
that He shall not fail. And His people say, that's the
way I have to have it. The way the Lord structured it,
the way it pleased Him, and salvation being of Him, I don't want it
any other way. I can't have a hand in it. I
hope it's a blessing to us. Let's pray together.