Look at verse 10, 11, and 12. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He had put him to grief. And 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 of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity. That's what I want you to keep
in mind. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, He shall divide the spoiled with the strong. Because he hath poured out his
soul unto death, he was numbered with the transgressors, and bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Look
at the last half of verse 11 again. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquity. Now, this morning we have come
to lay the third stone in this great memorial or monument under
the doctrines of God's sovereign grace. We have arrived, let me
say, at a critical point in our study, that is, the atonement,
the redemption, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate
Son of God. whom God set forth, a perpetuation,
literally, whom God ordained, as you have it in Romans chapter
3 and verse 25. Now, in this series so far, we
have kept in our thoughts, tried to, the connection between all
of the five points of Calvinism, or the doctrines of grace. And
that once the foundation is laid, in total depravity, one then
leads us onto the next, because they are not only connected,
but they are related one to the other. We go further than that. They are one whole unit, and
that means that they either stand or they fall together. Deny one
and another or more will be affected. Now that being said, I know that
we sometimes hear people say things like, I'm a three-point
Calvinist, or I am a four-point Calvinist, and some are but two,
and some are but one. Now from personal experience
and observation, it is often the case that this one particular
redemption or the limited atonement and irresistible grace are sometimes
the last ones that are admitted or that are confessed to those
who are coming under the doctrines of grace. It is likely that the
stumbling point might be either at the third or the fourth, and
the last of them to be accepted into their mind and belief. For some reason, it seems that
this one is the bitterest pill for them to swallow. It is sometimes
the last holdout. When they say, I'm a four-point
cabinet, oftentimes it is either the third or the fourth that
is most offensive to the Christian religion. And so many have a
problem, therefore, with this third one, and that would be
particular redemption. And yet, remember, the number
redeemed is equal to the number chosen and also the number that
are effectually called, as well as the number brought to final
glory. All of them stand in exactly
the same number and amount. Now I think we might say that
in another way. The same that are chosen are
redeemed by the death of Christ. Those that are redeemed by the
death of Christ are then called by effectual grace And the ones
that are called are preserved in Christ Jesus under that eternal
glory and inheritance. So with that in mind, consider
the atonement or particular redemption occupies here the middle station
in the doctrine of grace. On the left hand, you have election. On the right hand, you have irresistible
calling. And I found this quote. I'm reading
Elias Cole's book again, The Sovereignty of God, and he said,
and I'm quoting, to make redemption larger than electing love, is
to overlay the foundation which is an error in building." To
which we might add, the calling must match the redemption. For example, no more were called
into the ark than what it was prepared for. No more were called
into the ark than what it was designed and intended for, and
that was a certain number, which was Noah's house, or Noah's family,
Genesis 6, 18, and 1 Peter chapter 3, And verse 20, eight souls were
the number that the ark was designed for and could accommodate. Now, in another type of limited
redemption from the Old Testament, You have the Passover lamb in
Egypt. In Exodus chapter 12 and verse
4, it was to be according to the number of the souls that
would eat of it and that it would be prepared for. And God said
unto them, Every man according to his eating shall make your
count for the lamb. In other words, have a lamb that
accommodated the number of people gathered together in that house. Now, here is the type of Christ,
our Passover, who was slain or sacrificed for us, 1 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 7. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed
for us, for each Passover lamb. There were many of them, but
one of Christ. But each Passover lamb was slain
in Egypt that day and that night for a set number of people. And not only that, but in Exodus
chapter 12 and verse 10, none of it was to be left until the
morning any remnant of it left over whilst to be burned with
fire that it might not be desecrated by the Egyptian. So, let's put
our vessel in this great ocean of truth this morning, launch
out into the deep and let down our nets for a catch. Let's raise the question, what
was the intent and the purpose of sending the Son of God into
the world and ordaining Him to that shameful death upon the
cross? Now, to expand upon it, What
did God purpose? And what did God intend to be
accomplished by the death of Christ upon the cross? What design
did God have in mind? Certainly, none would deny that
God had a specific intent or design in His mind when He purposed
that His Son become incarnate and die upon the cross. So, what then was to be realized
by the shedding of His blood? Surely you will agree that God
had a special design in this matter. that it was not simply
willy-nilly, or that it was not simply a bow at a venture, as
that warrior in I Kings chapter 22 and verse 34, who shot an
arrow randomly into the air, but Providence guided it to strike
Ahab, for he was under the sentence of death. Most will agree Christ
came into the world, Christ died for the purpose of saving sinners. And so He did, for the Bible
declares it. The Scriptures abound in testimony
that Christ came to die for sinners and to save them. Matthew 1.21. he shall save his people from
their sin. Let me point out the shall, and
there are three shalls in that verse of Scripture. The Lord
spoke of his death after this manner in Luke 19 and verse 10. The Son of Man is come to seek
and to save that which was lost. Now this in its context in the
scripture was spoken in response to those who murmured that the
Lord kept company with Zacchaeus, a man that was a sinner, a publican,
Yes, a despised Republican. A Jewish turncoat tax collector
for the Roman government. A man that was a sinner. And again, in Matthew 20, verse
28, Mark 10, verse 45, he said, the Son of Man came to give His
life a ransom for many. And notice, if you will, the
word many. Then there is that very strong
word from Paul unto Timothy. It is found in 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful saying worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am chief, Paul said. However, there are
many other like testimony concerning this in the Scripture will not
take time to read anymore. However, in spite of that, not
all sinners are saved. Not everyone of the seed of Adam
is a believer, is redeemed, is saved, is justified, is regenerated,
converted and such like. Not all sinners are saved. which raises a point and raises
a question concerning the intent of God in ordaining His Son to
the death of the cross. The question then becomes, for
whom did Christ die? For whom did Christ die that
awful death upon the cross? For which are, how many sinners
did Christ die upon the cross? Whose sins did our Lord bear
in His body upon the tree? Was it every sin of every sinner? Did he have laid upon him the
sin of every single son and daughter of Adam? Now, we cannot deny
The Lord died for the sins of all that are saved. This is a necessity. This is
an absolute. And that includes both the Old
Testament and the New Testament saints as well. He died for those
who are saved or who shall be saved. He died for those who
believe. He died for those who are given
the faith of God's elect, as in Titus chapter 1 and verse
1. The fact is, the Lord bearing
their sin is the immediate ground of their justification. We read
that in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 11. My righteous servant shall
justify many for he shall bear their iniquity. That is, his
bearing their iniquity is how, or is the ground of his justifying
them. They are justified as a result
of God laying their sin upon his righteous servant and him
making his soul an offering for sin. So logic would tell us all
whose sins that Christ bore are justified as a result of that
vicarious death of the Lord. The angel of the Lord announced
unto Joseph, we've already mentioned it in Matthew 1 and verse 21,
he shall save his people from their sin. Now the question,
since there are many that die in their sin, John chapter 8,
verse 21, John 8 and verse 24, many die in unbelief. Many die as an unbeliever. Like Abner, they die as a fool
dies. II Samuel chapter 3 and verse
33. Like Judas, they die and they
go to their own place. Acts chapter 1 and verse 25. Now, did Christ die for those
who are never saved and for those who die lost? Did He bear their
sin? Did He pay a ransom for them
into the hands of the justice and righteousness of God in His
death upon the cross? Now, if His death be the immediate
ground why sinners are not justified from all things from which they
could not be justified by the law, and if he saves by dying,
and if nothing but his death and sacrifice will save sinners,
then did Christ die for those that perish or that will perish. Can Christ die for some and they
never be saved? Is it possible that the Lord
actually die for those who will never be saved? I'll put it another
way. Can Christ die non-savingly for
many as He died for the sins of those who never receive any
saving benefit from His death whatsoever? will hell be populated
by those that Christ died for and gave a ransom for in His
death upon the cross? Now, we're going to bring in
the Arminian view of this and lay them side by side at times
during our study today. And the Arminian says yes to
all of those questions. It is possible for Christ to
die for one and he go to hell. To invert it, it is possible
for them to go to hell even though Christ died for them, even though
God loves them, even though God wills to save them because they
hold, the Arminian, that the atonement was universal in nature. that Christ died for all the
sins of all of the people. But then when we hear them explain
universal atonement, we soon find that there is a fly in the
ointment. For they do not mean that Christ
died absolutely so that his dying infallibly saves those for whom
Christ died, did not ensure that every one of them should be saved
from their sin, and it put away and forgiven. Instead, they preach
a conditional universal atonement. that though it was universal
in scope, yet it is not effectual till certain conditions are met
or are fulfilled by the sinner, such as he must have faith, he
must believe, he must then appropriate the death of Christ to be his
very own. In other words, they sometimes
say, They must accept the atonement in order to make it effectual. They must accept what Christ
did at the cross. So with them, faith is a condition
of making effectual the atonement. The accepting of Christ, they
say, is necessary in order to actuate the effectuality of the
atonement. But faith is not in the ability
or the power of the sinner. It is not he that brings himself
to faith. It is the gift of God. Ephesians
2 verse 89. It is the work of the operation
of God. Colossians chapter 2 and verse
12. God must open the heart as He
did that of Lydia in Acts chapter 16 and verse 14. And beside that,
when they speak, one must accept the atonement in order to make
it effectual. We remind them of something,
and that is that the holy and the just God accepted the death
and the sacrifice and the blood of His Son as a bona fide sacrifice
for the sin of God's people. It was a sweet-smelling savor
unto God when Christ died at the cross, Ephesians 5. Now, remember, He is the surety
of the covenant, Hebrews 7. And Christ paid the whole debt
of sin in His death for those that He died. He answered every
charge. He settled every outstanding
debt that the elect had against them. He gave Himself without
spot to God through the eternal Spirit. Hebrews chapter 9. And
verse 14, so if Christ made an atonement for every sin of everyone
and God accepted it as being so in their behalf, why then
is forgiveness, salvation, justification withheld from so many as they
journey through this world? Why are not all sins forgiven? And why are not all souls saved
if Christ hath redeemed them and God has accepted that? Now, the Arminian will say, well,
it's because they do not and have not accepted it. They say,
it is made available, it is out there for all, it is held in
reserve for each and every one. But each and every one must appropriate
it to themselves by an act of faith in order that it might
become effectual. And they dare not admit that
the Holy Spirit does an effectual work to bring one to that condition. For an ulterior motive lies behind
it. An ulterior motive drives them. And that ulterior motive is to
preserve alive that wretched idol of theirs of free will. That while the death of Christ
made all people savable, not saving them, but making them
savable, making salvation not certain, but making it possible,
which must be settled, they say, in the court of free will, by
which they then can boast that they made themselves to differ.
saying, I am saved because I accepted the Lord into my life, and I
accepted His sacrifice in my behalf. Now, let's pursue a couple
of points more concerning the Arminian view of the atonement
of the Lord. First of all, their insistence
on a universal atonement, that Christ died for the sin of all
of Adam's seed in his death. Now, if that be the case, then
they are bound to admit one or two things, if you notice it
along the way. that all the human family will
be saved. This is one option that is open
under them, that all will eventually be saved by the death of Christ
in the cross and that none will be lost. and their doctrine of
universal atonement would make a good argument for universal
salvation. For already, they say, Christ
has made an actual atonement in behalf of all. Christ died,
they say, for the sins of all. and they might include, therefore,
all reconcile, all shall be saved, all shall be forgiven and brought
to great salvation. There are some who actually hold
to this position that Christ died for all and all will ultimately
and eventually be saved. I ran across that last year from
and through some friends in Louisiana. there will be ultimate, final
reconciliation of all unto God. Now, that's one option, that
all will be saved, for Christ died for all in His death upon
the cross. Brethren, I'm trying to tell
you to turn on the air conditioner. I forgot to turn it on this morning. If you're hot, turn it on, please.
So that the Lord, if He died for each and everyone then will
all be saved. But there is another option for
them. Number two, that the will of
God and of Christ has been frustrated when all are not saved that Christ
died for. and that he therefore has shed
his blood in vain for many, and that the full intention of God
by the atonement is not being realized. Or as Owen put it,
and none better than Owen, God and Christ failed in their purposed
and did not accomplish that which they intended." That if Christ
died for each and for everyone, then we are brought to that conclusion. How then could the prophet Isaiah
write, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. The travail of the soul of the
Son of God and be satisfied. How could he ever be satisfied
if so many are lost that he has made an atonement for in the
cross? What's more, the same who hold
to universal atonement also hold to the universal love of God. The two prongs of Arminianism,
which Stanley Gower called, quote, an egg of old Pelagianism, unquote,
are God loves all alike. And Christ died for all alike. You'll hear that, or they hear
it, every Sunday, every service. God loves you all. Christ died
for you all. No matter who the audience is,
that message is sent out under universal tenet, from which we
deduce that neither of these, or both of them together, can
ensure that the loved and the died for will surely be saved. God may love one, Christ may
die for that same one, and yet by the Arminian scheme they may
perish in their sin. We ask them, from whence then
will you fetch your assurance and your hope and your peace
and your joy, if not from the everlasting love of God and the
death of Christ and His atonement? Secondly, let's make another
point concerning the Arminian view of the atonement. They are not bothered, it seems,
by what is called in the courts of law double jeopardy. That means that God will exact
punishment twice for the same sins, twice, once from Christ
and then again from the apostate and unrepentant sinner. Two prices
being paid by two different people. Shall Christ die for one sin
and that same one suffer again eternally for the same sin? that Christ has died for in the
cross. Oh, sure, they will say, oh,
it's because they did not accept His death for their sin. We come
right back and say, but God did. God accepted it, said, this is
my beloved Son, hear ye Him. So, he made an expiation to appease
the justice of God, that God send forth saving mercy, based
upon that, to guilty, hell-deserving sinner, and justify the ungodly,
and they be reconciled unto God freely, so that God is both just
and the justifier of them for whom Christ died and those that
believe. Now, the design and the intent
of the atonement must match the accomplishment of the atonement. Or shall we turn it around? The
accomplishment must match the intent of the atonement. They must be one and the same
with God's eternal intent. Both the intent and the actual
result revolve around the atonement of the Lord Christ, who in the
purpose, in the decree of God, was the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. You'll find that in Revelation
13 and verse 8. I Peter chapter 1 verse 20, who
was ordained before the foundation of the world. And God chose a
people in Christ before the foundation of the world, ordained them to
eternal glory by means of the death of His incarnate Son. so that every saving blessing
and every saving benefit revolves around the atonement of the Lord's
Christ. He died for his sheep, John chapter
10. Remember that? He gave his life
a ransom for many, Matthew 20 and verse 28. And to understand
particular redemption, or if you want to call it special or
limited, if you wish, One has to know that God did in his eternal
decree and in that eternal purpose, divided the race into two classes
of people as his dealing with them concerning salvation. No, not just Jew and Gentile,
though we can see a type in that division. And not just the saved
and the lost per se, though these are distinct in the eye of God. But God has parted the human
family into the elect and the non-elect, or reprobate, if you
will, or prefer. Consider Paul in Romans 11 and
verse 7. He makes the point that such
a division and such a distinction existed even in Israel, even
among the Jews. Romans 11, and verse 7, where
he said there he speaks of the elect and of the rest. Furthermore, he says it was the
elect that obtained righteousness while the rest of Israel were
blinded. The margin has it hardened, which
is probably the better word. Frank Beck wrote, the doctrine
of the limited atonement follows upon the doctrine of election. That God has chosen and ordained
the elect to salvation from the beginning. 2 Thessalonians chapter
2 and verse 13. Election makes it clear that
God never intended to save all of Adam's race, nor did Christ
die for all of Adam's race. I think that Lorraine Bettner
wrote, the doctrine of election and particular redemption, quote,
must stand or fall together, unquote, in an era any weakness
on the doctrine of election will bleed over into the doctrine
of particular atonement, and depravity for that matter, for
the atonement cannot be broader than the election. Now, let's
lament the fact for a moment that even among those who profess
Calvinism or sovereign grace, there is a holdout, a form of
what I like to call Calvinistic universalism. And it goes by
the nickname of common grace and free offer. which says that
in the gospel Christ is offered unto all, that there is a genuine,
bona fide offer of salvation, a real good faith offer of salvation
made in the preaching of the gospel. Now, a couple of examples
from an otherwise good expositor who wrote, the righteousness
and death of Christ, quote, lays a foundation for an offer of
pardon and salvation to all There is one of those who hold that
position. Again, it is on account of Christ's
death that He justifies any. And on account of His death that
He justifies all of those the Father hath given Him and all
that will be given the faith. of God's elect. Consider again
those verses Isaiah 53, 11, and 12. The travail of his soul will
satisfy God. God lay the sins of the elect
upon Christ and then bruised Him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. His soul made, or literally was
made, an offering for sin God was entirely satisfied, pleased,
delighted, looked with pleasure upon that propitiation that Christ
made in his death at the cross, the offering of his righteous
servant, a full atonement for sin. But again, let us note what
a tight knot there is that is tied here between the Lord-bearing
sin and justification. The first being the ground of
the second. Isaiah said, By His knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many. Meaning, he thinks, not
the knowledge that God possesses and exercises in the justifying
process, but rather the bringing of those for whom He was bruised,
for whom He prevailed in His suffering and his death." As
Gil called it, the agony and the pains of death which he went
through. Bringing them to the knowledge
of the reason for the suffering and the dying of Messiah. By bringing those whose sins
he bore to believe the truth about the holy transaction made
between the Lord God and the Messiah, and in his death upon
the cross. This knowledge is another name
for faith, I believe. By faith includes knowledge of
the way of salvation and of the gospel of our Lord. How he is
their justifier is next stated in Isaiah 53, And verse 11, he
shall bear their iniquity, or in bearing their iniquity, because
he bore their iniquity, he carried them away. And Christ shall have
all that he died for. This is the Father's will. This
is the Father's promise. And this is the Father's decree
unto Him. He shall ask and have the heathen
for His inheritance according to the second Psalm. For the
inheritance being many sons that He brings to glory all through
Hebrews chapter 2. Now, I close with this argument. The Arminian argues against this
and he said, don't preach this. Don't preach limited or particular
atonement or redemption. Don't preach election and particular
redemption and particular love as it will discourage sinners
from coming to Christ. Don't tell people this, that
not all are elect or redeemed or loved. Don't tell them that.
Or it may be a distraction. It may be a discouragement. It
may be that they won't come unto Christ. Now let me make an argument. I want you to hear it. The Arminian
proclaims all of these. He does it just about every Sunday. God loves you. Christ died for
you. And so forth. And he tells them
that every Sunday. And it has no great influence
on working faith. And the number of converts is
relatively small, though they tell people this in mass and
all of the time. So I think we shoot down their
argument by that. Don't preach these things because
it will discourage people. It will put up a barrier so they
won't come to Christ. I tell you, my friend, it is
the power of God, it is the gospel which is the power of God unto
salvation, that the truth is that which sets men and women
free, and that the truth of God and the truth of our Lord's death
becomes a more precious thing to us when we realize the nature
of it and the way, the reason for whom our Lord has shed His
blood upon the tree. So we have laid the third stone
in these five doctrines this morning and go along on our way. I think this is the toughest.
I think this is the hardest, this is the last holdout. I've
met so many people who can get over everything but this. But
when you really think about it, it bleeds back, it bleeds forward. It has a connection to the two
before it and the two after it. We want to ever keep that in
our mind.