We considered recently what Paul
writes in the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians concerning the
ministry which he received of the Lord. Therefore saying we
have this ministry as we have received mercy we faint not.
We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking
in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but
by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves at every
man's conscience in the sight of God. This ministry. In the
fifth chapter of Corinthians, he goes on to speak more of this
ministry, and in particular, the ministry of reconciliation. That central aspect of the gospel. which declares how God would
reconcile the world, his people and himself. And in verse 10 of chapter five,
we read this concerning the context of the preaching of this gospel
and this ministry. Verse 10, for we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men But we are made manifest unto
God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf,
that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance
and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves,
it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth
us. Because we thus judge that if
one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for
all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh, yea though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away, behold all things are become new. And all things
are of God, who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and have given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To it, that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and have committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's dead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, who
have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and have given
unto us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and have committed unto us. the word of reconciliation now what does this mean when
paul declares what the ministry of reconciliation is in verse
19 when he expands upon what it concerns what does it mean
that he says to it that god was in christ reconciling the world
under himself not imputing their trespasses unto them Does he
mean that God has reconciled the entire world? Everyone that
is born in the world? Every generation? Every man,
woman and child who has ever lived? Is everyone reconciled
unto God? Is everyone reconciled in the
end? Is everyone saved? Will heaven
be full of every single person who ever lived? Is there no such
place as hell? Is there no condemnation? Is
there no judgment? What does this mean? Reconciling
the world unto himself. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. Now there are many who will argue
for a universal salvation and a universal atonement. And they
will go to those verses in the scriptures which speak of the
world and will say, there you are. God loves all men. God desires to save all men.
Christ died for all men. God reconciles all men. He reconciles
the world. Every man, woman, and child. In so doing, they rest the Scriptures. For taking in context, this cannot
mean that. Earlier in the chapter, Paul
speaks of us all appearing before the judgment seat of Christ.
That everyone may receive the things done in his body according
to that he have done, whether it be good or bad, knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. If all are reconciled, why
then a judgment? Where is the terror of the Lord
if we're all saved? If salvation is universal, if
God loves all men, if Christ died for all men, if all are
washed by his blood, why is there a judgment seat of Christ? Why
does God in other parts of the scriptures speak of those on
the left hand of Christ and those on the right hand on the day
of judgment? Of the sheep and the goats? Of the righteous and
the wicked? Why does he speak of a division?
If all are reconciled. The scriptures do speak of a
division. And they do speak of judgment. And they do speak of eternal
punishment. You need but read Christ's words
in the Gospels where he repeatedly declares that the day is coming
when God will judge all men. You need but refer to the book
of Romans where Paul speaks of God judging man according to
their deeds. And here in this very chapter,
in the context in which verse 19 is found, Paul speaks of the
judgment seat of Christ. And the judgment of all, according
to what they have done in the body, whether it be good or bad.
For there is a judgment, and there is a terror of the Lord. For we will stand before Almighty
God, and we will answer to Almighty God for all that we have done. And when Paul speaks of God in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, he does not speak,
he cannot speak of a universal salvation or a universal atonement. Elsewhere in the scriptures,
in John's Gospel in particular, we read that Christ is the light
of the world. The light of the world. But not
all men walk in the light. And not all men see. We read
elsewhere in John's Gospel that Christ is the Saviour of the
world. And yet it is patently clear
in the Scriptures that not all are saved. Not all are sheep. Not all are delivered. There
are those. who are plunged into everlasting
judgment and the lake of fire and the fires of God's wrath
that are never quenched. Not all are saved, yet Christ
is spoken of the light of the world and the savior of the world. Is he the light of all the world?
Does he save everyone in the world? And here, In 2nd Corinthians
we read that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. All the world? Everyone who's
ever lived or ever will live? No. This clearly doesn't mean
this. Christ is the light of the world,
but not all are given to walk in that light. Christ is the
saviour of the world, but not all in the world are saved. And
God has in Christ reconciled the world unto himself, but not
all in the end are reconciled. This does not mean that every
individual within the world is reconciled, but taken as a whole. Christ is the light of the world. And he is the saviour of the
world. And he has reconciled the world. So that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. All things are of God who have
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and have given to us the
ministry of reconciliation. Now this is what verse 19 is
speaking of. the ministry of reconciliation,
the word of reconciliation which God gave unto Paul, unto the
apostles, unto the us here who have been reconciled. These men
who knew what it was to be in Christ, who knew what it was
to be a new creature in Christ, who knew what it was to have
old things pass away, and that all things were new. These who
were of God, reconciled unto God, were given the ministry
of reconciliation. They were sent forth with the
Gospel. this ministry they were sent
forth into the world to preach the gospel to preach this word
of reconciliation and it is this preaching and this ministry which
is explained in verse 19 this is not a definition of the extent
of the atonement or the individual sum of people for whom Christ
died. But it is an explanation of God's
purpose in sending forth His gospel into all the world to
declare unto all the world and everybody in the world who will
hear what He has done in Christ. He was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. And
I've committed unto us the word of reconciliation. When Christ
came into this world, as the light of God shining in the darkness,
God manifested unto the world, the entire world, And every individual
in it at that time who saw and heard, he manifested before all
men who he was in the person of his own son. And he manifested
his grace and his mercy unto sinners in giving his son as
a ransom, as a sacrifice for sin. He presented His Son before
the world as the Light of God, as the Saviour of sinners. And
He said unto the world, Behold! Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Behold My Son! This is My Beloved
Son. Hear ye Him! God in Christ before
the whole world said, here's my son who I give, who gives
himself to save his people from their sins. God did not do this
in secret. He did not present Christ to
a select few. But he came with his gospel and
spake before the whole world. So that man is without excuse. But as we know from John's gospel,
when he came, he came unto his own and his own received him
not. He came into the world, in Him
was life, and the life was the light of men, the light of the
world. And the light shone in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. God declared a word of
reconciliation through His own Son, Christ Jesus, before all
men. The light shone in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. John was sent as a witness
before him. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. The light
shines upon every man. Yet not every man comprehends
it. Not every man walks in it. The truth is declared before
all, but only some receive and believe. He was in the world,
and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He
came unto His own, and His own received Him not. He came unto
the Jews, and they did not receive Him. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Full
of grace and truth. This chapter in Corinthians,
these verses concerning the ministry of reconciliation, concern the
preaching of this message. The shining of the light in the
darkness of the world, which is seen by some and not by others. You sit here this day, You hear
this message. The truth is sounded. The light
shines forth. But do you sit in darkness? You
hear of a God who was reconciling the world unto himself. But are
you reconciled unto God? Are you a part of this reconciliation? Or have you said of Christ the
light of the world, the saviour of the world, the Lamb of God,
away with this man. I will not have this man to rule
over me. Paul says all things are of God
who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and have given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now Paul can speak as an apostle
as one who is part of this reconciliation. as one, an individual who have
been reconciled, who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ
and have given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now this reconciliation
is not received by all. It's not something that all experience. Not all went about like Paul,
having received the ministry of reconciliation. But he had,
and the other apostles had, and every believer throughout time
who comes to know the Gospel the way Paul did, has. They with Paul can say that God
hath reconciled me to himself by Jesus Christ, and he hath
given me this ministry. I've received it. God gave it
to me. It was God that did the work. I wouldn't receive it by nature.
Like all men, I was in darkness and I would not see and I could
not see. But God did a work. God did a
work in my heart of grace and made me to see. It's on this ground that Paul
declares this message. It's on this ground, throughout
this chapter, throughout this book of 2nd Corinthians, that
he's declaring this message. He's saying that God has wrought
it. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is
God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
God did this. And he took me. And he made me
in Christ to be a new creature. A new creature. Paul knew this in particular.
It was true in particular of him. And it's true in particular
of all like him. Who knew the reconciliation of
God in Christ in the Gospel. Who knew what it was to have
Christ as their substitute, bear their sins away. The grounds of this reconciliation
is made clear in the final verse in the book, in the chapter,
for he hath made him Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Paul could look
unto Christ and say that God took his sin and made Christ to be it. And God
took the righteousness of God in Christ and made Paul to be
it in Christ. He saw himself slain in Christ,
dying in Christ, and rising again in Christ, as he says in Galatians
2. I am crucified with Christ. For I through the law am dead
to the Lord, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. This is very particular. Paul could look unto Christ and
know that Christ suffered for him and his sins. And he died
in Christ. His old man died with Christ. And he rose again with Christ.
There's a unity between him. He's in Christ. Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things have become
new. He's one with him. But on the grounds of this salvation,
this particular salvation that she's experienced, he's sent
forth into all the world, as Christ came into all the world,
with this ministry, this word of reconciliation, to declare
unto the world that God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself. The message you see, The gospel
is declared unto all, so that all are without excuse. You cannot
say, I never knew. Or you cannot say, well God only
died for some, Christ only died for some, not me. How is that
my fault? You cannot exclude yourself from
this message. God sends this message to all
and he says unto all that there's a judgment day coming and you
will stand before God and you will answer for what you've done.
and you will answer for what you know concerning my son. God will say unto you on that
day, did you not hear of the light of the world that came
into the darkness? Did you not hear concerning my
son the saviour of the world? Did you not hear concerning his
death and his resurrection? Did you not hear that I was in
Christ reconciling the world unto myself? And what was your
response? Were you like the Jews under
whom Christ came? Under whom the light shone in
the darkness that the darkness comprehended it not? Did he come
unto you and you received him not? The message is to all. But we know that not all believe.
And not all had their sins taken away. John 10 makes that playing where
Christ says that he lays down his life for the sheep. And that
his sheep hear his voice. And none of his sheep can be
plucked from his hands. But the goats do not hear because
they're not sheep. Goats don't become sheep and
sheep don't become goats. There are those who are his for
whom he died and there are those who are not his. He laid down
his life for the sheep. I shall call his name Jesus for
he shall save his people from their sins. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. He have reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, Paul says. If Paul meant, in verse 19, that
when God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, that
God took the sins of every single person, sheep or goats, righteous
or wicked, whoever they may be, every individual for at all time,
and laid all those sins upon his Son, imputed their trespasses
unto Christ, that they might not have those trespasses imputed
unto them. If he meant that he laid everybody's
sin upon Christ, then how could he judge the wicked and send
them to hell on the last day? How could he judge them again?
and condemn them again if he's already taken their sin away?
Why is there a judgment seat of Christ before which any should
appear, if everybody's sins have been taken away already, if all
are reconciled? It cannot mean that. It cannot
mean that if you... insist on that, then you either
have to believe in a universal salvation where none perish,
where none are lost, where there is no condemnation, there is
no hell. And you make many passages in
the Bible of none effect. Or you have to say that there
is a reason for which sinners are plunged into hell. Other
than their sins. You are forced to say that if
all men's sins have been borne by Christ, if He atoned for the
sins of all men and reconciled all men, even though at the end
many are not reconciled and many are not saved, then why are they
condemned? And why at the last day do they
find themselves separated from God? and plunged into eternal
judgment. For what do they suffer? If they
suffer for their sins, then you have a God who has judged them
in Christ at the cross, and in them in eternity to come. That is not a just God and a
saviour. Some will say, well, Christ died
for the sins of all men. But it's our response to the
gospel, it's our belief in Christ or rejection of Christ, which
will either save us or damn us. Those who go to hell, go to hell
because they've rejected Him. God did all He could. God in Christ took their sins
and reconciled the world, every man, woman and child. He took
all their sins and bore them away with a universal atonement. There was no sins to be judged
in them, for He'd already judged them. But they haven't received
the message. And on the last day, God will
say, why did you not believe? And those who have not believed
and received his son, Jesus Christ, will be condemned for their unbelief. Is this true? It cannot be true. Because firstly, It makes belief
in the Gospel, or in Jesus Christ, and rejection of Jesus Christ, alone to be the grounds of salvation. And if you are damned for your
rejection of Christ, and Christ bore all your sins, did He bear
the sin of your rejection and unbelief, or did He not? For unbelief, and rejection of
God and His Son, Jesus Christ, is a sin. It is one of the greatest
of sins, it is the root of all sin. The Ten Commandments, summarised
in two, are that you should love the Lord your God with all your
heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. Well,
if you've rejected Christ in the Gospel, you've rejected God,
you've not loved God with all your heart, soul and mind, you've
transgressed against God. Not only have you transgressed
against the Gospel, but you've transgressed against the Law.
You've not loved God with all your heart, soul and mind. If
you reject His Saviour and His Gospel, then you are a sinner. And if Christ bore that sin of
unbelief, then you will be saved in the end. And if He didn't
bear your rejection of Christ, then He didn't bear all your
sins. He didn't reconcile you. If you're lost in the end and
judged for your rejection of the gospel, Christ never bore. that sin of unbelief. Not only
is this idea of a universal redemption, universal salvation or a universal
atonement Wrong, but it is foolishness. How can you possibly say that
God will justly send someone to hell for rejecting his son
when you say that God bore his sins? He either did or he didn't. He could not have borne that
sin. Oh, you say he did? Then God judges that rejection,
that sin, a second time. Once in Christ and once in a
sinner. And you make God unjust. This does not stand. It undermines
scripture, it undermines the truth, it undermines the justice
of God, it's blasphemy to the very character and nature of
God. God is not unjust. And it makes foolishness of claiming
that Christ bore all your sins if he then judges you for the
sin of unbelief. He never bore all your sins. It also undermines those passages
which speak of the judgment. Not least this very chapter. This verse 19, to which God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, follows on from
verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ
that everyone may receive the things done in his body according
to that he have done, whether it be good or bad. If Christ bore all your bad deeds,
every one, for every person that ever lived, then why are those
persons brought before a judgment seat to account for that which
they've never done? There is not one person judged.
And why does Paul likewise speak in Romans in a similar vein concerning
judgment, concerning the deeds of men? Romans 2. after thy hardness
and impenitent heart treasureth up unto thyself wrath against
the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God who will render to every man according to his deeds to
them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory
and honor in their mortality eternal life but unto them that
are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of
man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory, honour and peace to
every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the
Gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without
the law also shall perish without law, and as many as have sinned
in the law shall be judged by the law. There's a judgment coming
and it's according to deeds. It does not say according purely
to your belief or rejection of Christ in the gospel. But if
you're outside of Christ and you reject his gospel, and you
shut your ears, you will be judged not just for your unbelief, but
for every transgression against God's law that you have committed
throughout your days, for every sin within and without, for every
evil thought, for every evil word, for every evil deed, you
will be judged. As Romans says, as this chapter
in Corinthians says. As God says in many places, for
Christ has not borne away the sins of every man. Else God be
unjust. But clearly he hath reconciled
some. Paul could say he have reconciled
us. and have given unto us the ministry
of reconciliation. Paul could say that if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. Paul could say that he have made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. And Paul's hope on that day of
judgment which is coming, when he shall appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, is that when he is judged, according to what
he's done in his body, according to those deeds that are good
or bad, he knows that his bad deeds have been blotted out by
the blood of Christ. And he knows that he stands before
God clothed in the righteousness of God. For in this we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked, he says. For we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by life.
His desire was that this fleshly body that he dwelt in in this
world would one day, on that day that he came to stand before
God, be taken away and he would stand before God clothed. in that house which is from heaven,
clothed in the righteousness of God, he would find himself
standing before God in Christ, spotless, in a spotless garment
of righteousness, and God would look upon him, and God would
look upon him in judgment and say, well done my good and faithful
servant, enter into rest. His great hope was that on the
grounds of reconciliation, on the grounds of the substitutionary
atonement of Christ, that God took his sin away and made him
to be the righteousness of God in Christ, that he would stand
before God on that day clothed in righteousness, and that he
would not find coming before the judgment seat of Christ to
be a thing of terror. but a thing of wonder and glory.
He walked by faith, not by sight, he said. If he walked through
this world by sight, he'd look at his flesh, he'd look at the
sins that he committed every day, and he'd be plunged into
despair, but he knew that God had reconciled him. He knew those
sins had been blotted out, he knew they'd been taken away,
he knew he stood before God righteous, and he knew that on that day,
this mortal frame, this flesh would be taken away, and he'd
stand perfect. And he'd stand before the judgment
seat of Christ perfect. And he would not be cast into
that place that others are, who are filled with the terror of
the Lord, because they are not reconciled. They are not clothed
in righteousness. They have not believed in the
gospel. We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. That's Paul's hope. He knows
he's got another house, another body. This body of sin and flesh
has been crucified in Christ. He knows in Christ, he will stand
again. He will stand again. to it that God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them. And I've committed unto us the
word of reconciliation. Did God seek to reconcile every
individual? No. Did he atone for the sins
of every individual? No. If he did, then all would
come before the judgment seat of Christ as Paul does. there
would be no judgment seat. There'd be no need for a judgment
seat. All would be found perfect in the end. There would be none
who are cast out. If there is a judgment, as the
scriptures say there is, If there is a separation of the sheep
from the goats, as the Scriptures say there is, if there is a separation
of those on the right hand from those on the left hand, and a
casting out of those who rage at God into outer darkness and
the lake of fire, then there is a difference between those
who are reconciled, those who are atoned for by the death of
Christ, and those who aren't. Those for whom Christ died and
bore their iniquity, and those for whom he didn't. Then this
verse cannot speak of a universal atonement. For if it does, then
all are saved. And if they're not all saved,
then it cannot speak of that. How can God punish sin in Christ
and then again in them? Was it just their unbelief for
which they perished? No, for that's a great sin too. He either bore that unbelief
for his people and bore it for all people and saves all people,
or he didn't bear it for all people. He bore it for some and
not for others. Then what does it mean, reconciling
the world unto himself? Well, it means in much the same
way that John uses the world in his gospel. We haven't time
now, but throughout John's gospel, you will read countless references
to the world in various meanings. There are various Greek terms
referring to the world, the cosmos, the ages, et cetera. But John
constantly speaks of the world, that Christ is the light of the
world. He came into the darkness as the light of the world. That
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, he
says in chapter 3. That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world for
him might be saved. Yet we know that not all the
world believes on Christ, and not all the world is saved, and
there are many who are condemned. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, Neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. God so loved the world, but he
clearly didn't love every individual unto their salvation, or all
the world, everyone within the world would be saved. John 6,
Christ says that The bread of God is he which cometh down from
heaven and giveth life unto the world. But not to every single
sinner in the world, else none perish and else none die. Do
all the world have life? No. And yet it's still true that
he gives life unto the world. Life unto the world taken as
a whole, life unto a multitude in the world, life unto the world
in terms of his elect people within the world. He brings life
unto the world, not to every soul within it. John 9.5, I am the light of the
world. But as we've seen, there are
many that are in darkness that don't come to the light. John
12.31, he says that now is the judgment of the world. And as
that hour of judgment came, and as Christ was nailed to a cross,
the whole world was judged. But some were judged under salvation,
and some were judged under condemnation. In John chapters 15 and chapter
17, we see in John's use of the world, his separation in the
world. Yes, Christ is the saviour of
the world. Yes, he is the light of the world.
Yes, in Corinthians, God is reconciling the world. But there is that
in the world which is saved and that which is purged. John 15, 19, he says of his disciples,
I have chosen you out of the world. They were distinct from
others. Not all were saved. Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you, he said. When Christ came into the world,
and the world saw him, and the world heard him, and the word
of reconciliation was presented before all men, all men rejected
it. This ministry of reconciliation
comes into the world and comes to you. But all men by nature
reject it and your heart by nature will reject it. You love darkness
and not light. Yet there were those that Christ
chose. They didn't choose him, he chose
them. And in choosing them, he brought
them to the light. Yet he speaks in terms of a vine,
a tree, on which there are branches which bring forth fruit, and
there are those which are plucked away and burnt. I am the true
vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit
he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideeth in me and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. If a man abide not in me he is
cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them
and cast them into the fire and they are burnt. If ye abide in
me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and
it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. There are branches here which
are cast aside and burnt, and so this tree is purged, as being
only those branches which are true, which are in Christ, which
are of Christ, which bring forth fruit of Christ. and likewise
in the world. The world is God's. He created
it. He created it as a whole and
He created every living being in it. He put Adam and Eve upon
the earth and sent them forth in the world to multiply and
from them through the generations have been born all men, women
and children. But there are those from among
them. who are not only in Adam, but
they are in Christ, who are those for whom Christ came, for whom
He died, and whom He reconciles. And there are those who are not
in Christ, who are in the darkness, who reject His message, who reject
the grace of God, who are purged. And as it were, plucked off the
tree. and cast aside, cast into the
fire and burnt. Yet the world as a whole is reconciled. There is that which is taken
out of it and cast aside. The world as a whole as in that
which remains only the elect of God reconciled by the blood
of Christ remain. and are brought into a new heaven
and a new earth. But that which is not of God,
that which is wicked, that for whom Christ did not die, is purged
and cast into the fire. God reconciled the world, but
not every individual within it. John 17, he repeats, I've chosen
you out of the world. Again, he came as loving the
world and giving his son for the world, but for the world
as purged of the wicked and as remaining as the elect alone. A purified world, a redeemed
world, a ransomed world. If you contend against this,
consider again the context in 2 Corinthians 5, how Paul speaks
of the individual himself at the beginning, that we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in
the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house, which is from heaven. He wanted the fleshly
sinful body in which he was born to perish and he wanted to be
clothed again with that new body from on high, be clothed again
in righteousness. He was saved. This is an elect
sinner but there is that in him which was not saved. God doesn't
purify the flesh. The flesh can't be improved.
The flesh, the old man Adam, is wicked and sinful. God doesn't
purify it. God doesn't improve it. He doesn't
sanctify it through some progressive sanctification where our old
man gradually becomes better. He condemns it. That flesh, that
old man of sin, was crucified and slain in Christ at the cross. It was purged. It was burnt up. And that which was true of one
man Paul, and of all the elect, is true of the world as a whole. That which is of the flesh, that
which is wicked, is purged and done away with. God reconciles
the world as a whole, but not every individual. Out of the
world, those who are in Christ are saved, and those outside
of Christ. or as it were, plucked off and
thrown into the fire, perched. In John 18, 37, Pilate says unto
Christ, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Every one that is of the truth
heareth my voice. And so Christ brings us back
here to this ministry of reconciliation. He came into the world, the world
that he loved, to preach in the world to the hearing of all who'd
hear the truth, that he should bear witness unto the truth.
I came into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth.
To this end was I born. And everyone that is of the truth,
Heareth my voice. Not everyone heard him. Not everyone
is of the truth. and therefore not everyone hears.
But those who are of the truth, those who are of God, those who
are born of God, those who are born again of God, those who
are in Christ, heard the truth. They were of the truth, of He
who is the truth. Christ is the truth, I am the
truth, the way and the life. And all who are in Christ, all
who are of Christ, all who are of the truth, hear His voice.
as he bears witness unto their truth, unto them, declaring unto
them that he has come into the world as the light of the world
and the saviour of the world, to reconcile the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. What does this mean
briefly? Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. It means that during that period,
when God is preaching His gospel, from the beginning of time until
the final day of judgment, when we'll all be brought to appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, and that final judgment comes
down and the penalty comes down, that God doesn't impute men's
sins unto them. This does not purely speak of
not imputing the sins of the elect unto them. But God won't
charge man with sin until the judgment day comes. Man is allowed
to continue to live upon this earth. He's sinned from the moment
he's born. God's justice could slay all
men at the moment they're born for their iniquity. God would
be just to destroy all mankind immediately. But God shows his
benevolence to his people and to the world because of his people
in the midst of it by staying that judgment, by holding off
that judgment until the gospel is fully preached and everyone
for whom Christ died has heard and believed. So he does not
charge or reckon the trespasses of men unto them until that day
comes, when the final reckoning comes. And then on that day,
he will either show that he has already charged the sins of his
people under Christ, imputed those sins under him and judged
them, or he will show that he will charge, reckon, impute the
sins of the wicked unto them and call them to account. and
the judgment will come and the penalty will be exacted. This
is what this means. God's benevolence unto them.
This is seen in the Old Testament when we read of Sodom and Gomorrah
and Lot in that wicked city and Abraham's prayer for Lot. Well
that wicked city deserved the fires that came down from heaven
immediately. But because righteous Lot was
in the midst and Abraham interceded for him and prayed unto God,
God would not judge whilst Lot was there. Whilst Lot was in
the midst of that people serving God, witnessing unto the truth,
God held off the judgment. God didn't charge their iniquity
unto them until He took Lot out and then when Lot came forth
and there were no more of God's people in the midst of that wicked
nation, that wicked town, then the fires of God's wrath came
down. So it is now. This is why Paul speaks of the
terror of the Lord. Because we are living in a Gospel
day where the Gospels preach, the word of reconciliation is
preached. But there's a day coming when
the judgment will come like it came upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
When the fires of God's wrath will come down and burn up the
wicked. And God's judgment will not be
spared and his wrath won't be spared. And don't be such a fool
as to think that you'll be spared. If you're not reconciled, if
Christ hasn't washed your sins away in his own blood, if he's
not reconciled you in particular as he reconciled Paul in particular,
then you will be judged and you will know the terror of the Lord.
But until that day, that judgment is stayed. It stayed because
it's a gospel day when the ministry of reconciliation is preached
and when God declares unto you that he was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. He is holding forth the judgment
that people like you and I might hear of the grace of God in Jesus
Christ. As Christ said, I came into this
world to this end to bear witness unto the truth. And they that
are of the truth will receive it. Everyone that is of the truth,
heareth my voice. Have you heard his voice? Do
you hear his voice? Do you? You will hear it on that
day when you come before the judgment seat of Christ. But
do you hear it now? Do you hear it now? At the end,
Now is the judgment of this world, Christ said in John chapter 12. And you will know that then.
That now will echo in your ears. There was a now at the day of
the cross, but that determines the now at the end of time. On
that day the world will be split into two, sheep and goats. Now
the world is reconciled. All the sheep redeemed by blood
are gathered unto God. All the wicked cast aside into
a lake of fire. And the world is purged and pure. And the world as a whole is reconciled
in Christ. For only those who are redeemed
by their blood are left. There's the division. And the
division stands upon being in Christ. If any man be in Christ,
Paul said. So often he repeats, even in
this chapter, in Christ, verse 17, therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away, behold,
all things have become new. Are you in Christ? Salvation
is to be in Christ. Reconciliation is to be found
in Christ. To wit that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. God was in Christ, reconciling
them. Those who are reconciled are
those who are in Christ also. And all those who are not in
Christ are not part of this world that's reconciled. They're purged
out of it. Are you in Christ? If you are
in Christ, you will know what it is to be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Because your salvation will stand
on the fact that in Christ your sins were judged. You have made
Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. There's the vital matter. There's
the ministry of reconciliation. Are you in Christ? The world
is reconciled into God, but it's the world as it is in Christ. The world was made by Christ.
The world was made for Christ. and everything that is not of
Christ in this world will be purged away. It's his world,
and his people, and all for whom he died will be saved. But it's
the world in Christ. In Christ. If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather
them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burnt. Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, for we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one
may receive the things done in his body, according to that he
have done, whether it be good or bad. All things are of God,
who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and have given
to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's dead, be ye reconciled to God.