Earlier in the week, I received
a note from a gentleman Shelby and I met last year when I was
down preaching for Brother Drew Dietz. Brother Daniel Sammons
drove down from Little Rock, Arkansas for the meetings and
he'd been listening to messages on the internet. And he wrote
to me this week after listening to a couple of sermons and said,
would you consider bringing a message dealing with those passages in
the scriptures that men use to oppose the gospel of God's grace
as proof text against the accomplishments of our Lord in redemption. And
that's a challenge I take delightfully. Turn with me, if you will, to
1 Peter chapter 2. When you witness to folks, or
you bring them to hear the gospel here, And you see them enraged
by the message of God's grace. You see them enraged by the very
things that give comfort and joy to your heart. Do you sometimes
wonder, why can't he see this? Why can't she understand these
things that are so plainly written in the Word of God? Why do so
many stumble over these texts to scripture. We believe according
to the scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the
redemption of God's elect by his death upon the cursed tree.
We believe according to the testimony of God in the scriptures that
his blood paid our debt that his death satisfied the justice
of God, and that he, by the sacrifice of himself, effectually put away
our sins. Faith pleads the merits of what
he has done, and thus we answer God's demands. We believe, according
to the writings of this blessed book, that every sinner for whom
Jesus Christ died at Calvary shall be with Him in glory, no
exceptions. But there are multitudes who
do not believe the testimony of Scripture, who do not believe
what this book teaches concerning the person and work of our Redeemer. Rather than believing on Him
to life everlasting, rather than trusting Christ for their redemption
and righteousness, The vast majority of religious people that I know
and you know, the vast majority of those people that we come
in contact with day by day in our families and in our neighborhoods,
the vast majority stumble over the gospel doctrine of the atonement,
of all things in Scripture, of all things in Scripture that
cause offense. It seems strangest to me that
it should be the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet that,
of all things, is the hardest point for which rebels resist
the gospel. Above all things, the declaration
that Jesus Christ actually did redeem his people. The declaration. that there's no possibility of
failure in him sets men's teeth on edge and they'll fight you
to the death over it. How come? Well, this too is according
to the purpose of God. Pastor, you didn't mean to say
that. No, I didn't mean to say that. I really didn't. I meant
to read it to you from 1 Peter 2, beginning at verse 6. You
see, this book, the volume of sacred scripture, was written
by divine inspiration. And the words of this book are
written as they are for the salvation of God's elect and for the confusion
of reprobate, unbelieving rebels who will not obey the gospel.
It was written both for the comfort and edification of God's people
and for the condemnation of those who will not believe. 1 Peter
2 verse 6, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture.
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. It's written in
the book of Isaiah, other places in scripture, speaking of our
Lord Jesus. He, this chief cornerstone, is
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. He's like the rock himself. You
can't move Him. You can't move Him. You can't
shake Him off the foundation. You can't confuse Him. You can't
make Him ashamed of that which He has professed and that which
He believes. He shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
He is precious. You're built on Him. You hang
all your hopes on Him. You rest your souls on Him. Unto
you therefore which believe, he's precious, he's all you've
got. But unto them which be disobedient. And that's what unbelief is.
Unbelief is not a casual indifference. Unbelief is the willful disobedience
of men who will not bow to Christ. If you do not believe on the
Son of God, it is because you will not believe on Him. But
Pastor Don, you've told us repeatedly that men can't believe except
God gives them faith. And I tell you that repeatedly
until I have the last breath taken from my body and at the
same time declare to you plainly what this book teaches. Unbelief
is willful disobedience unto them which believe not. The disobedient, the Lord Jesus,
stone which the builders disallowed. The same is made the head of
the corner." They didn't stop anything. They didn't prevent
anything. Your unbelief is not going to
rob him of a thing. Verse 8, He's made the head of the corner,
and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them
which stumble at the Word. then would stumble at the Word,
the Word which is your rock, the Word which is the pillar
of your faith, the Word upon which God has called you to hope.
They trip over it and fall into hell. They stumble at the Word. Now watch this, being disobedient,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. Whereunto also they were appointed. My subject tonight is stumbling
at the Word of God. As he is revealed in Holy Scripture,
the Lord Jesus Christ is to reprobate unbelieving, self-righteous men
and women, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And this
is by divine arrangement. I repeat, God has so written
this Word, the Word of Holy Scripture, that reprobate men will get tripped
up by it and stumble over the Scriptures as stumbling stones
to hell. God has fixed it so that those
who are determined to cling to their own righteousness can find
justification in doing so. so that those who are determined
not to submit themselves to the righteousness of God, but rather
go about to establish their own righteousness, they will find
reason in this book to do so. They will not submit to the righteousness
of God established by, revealed in, and found in Christ alone,
and so they stumble over Him and fall into hell. Brother Larry
read up here, I believe it was Tuesday night. This is exactly
what happened with the Jews. Turn back to Romans chapter 9.
Romans the ninth chapter. Let's look at this. Romans chapter
9. Why is it that those men and
women of that nation Israel, to whom alone God gave the law
and the prophets, to whom alone God established, among whom alone
God established His worship, to whom He gave the priesthood,
to whom He gave the sacrifices, to whom He gave the tabernacle
and the temple, the mercy seat and the altar. Why is it that
those people who spent 2,000 years looking for the Messiah,
when He came, rejected everything He said and did and rejected
Him? How come? They were looking for Him. They
still are. They were anticipating it. They
could search out the scriptures and show you every verse related
to it. Why didn't they believe? Romans
chapter 9, verse 31. But Israel, which followed after,
that's a strong word, they pursued like men on the trail of a wounded
deer. They pursued the law of righteousness,
hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore?
How come? Because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled
at that stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed, confounded, confused. In other words, Those very same
scriptures by which we, by the blessing of God the Holy Spirit,
are made to enter into life everlasting by faith. Those same scriptures
that give us hope before God, that are gates of mercy to you
and me, are to the reprobate and unbelieving stumbling stones. The Spirit of God declares in
our text, in 1 Peter 2, that the unbelieving stumble at the
word of God and do so by divine appointment. Now tonight, I want
us to go through the scriptures and look at those portions of
scripture that men commonly use to object to the gospel of God's
free grace. Let me be specific in your understanding. I'm talking about men objecting
to the declaration that Jesus Christ, by His blood, has redeemed
God's elect, has put away our sins, has satisfied the justice
of God, and secured forever the everlasting salvation of every
sinner for whom He died at Calvary. Now that is in its essence the
very core of the Gospel. You say, well, Brother Dodd,
I know lots of people who believe on Jesus who don't believe that.
No, you don't. No, you don't. You know lots
of people who have a religious idol they've carved out of the
dark forest of their own depraved mind who is as helpless and worthless
as a statue of the Virgin Mary. They call him Jesus, but he's
useless. If he tries to redeem and doesn't
redeem, he is a useless figment of man's depraved imagination.
And that's the worst form of idolatry that's ever been perpetrated
in human history. Now, I have neither the desire
nor the inclination to answer the cavils of well-worshiping,
unbelieving, disobedient Arminians. Though I have no desire to try
to prove anything to them or to you, for that matter. But
I do want you to be comfortable in your understanding of Scripture.
And I want you to see clearly what the Scriptures teach in
its context. Now turn, if you will, to Luke
chapter 2. We'll begin here. I've stated this numerous, numerous
times. There's not even a hint of universal
redemption in the Word of God. There's not a hint anywhere in
Scripture that Jesus Christ died for everybody in this world,
including those who go to hell at last. There's not a hint of
that nonsense in Scripture. And yet there are many who point
to this passage of that, to this text of that, and they will quote
it and they'll spit it at you like a machine gun spitting out
bullets. And they will try to make the
scriptures teach the perverted doctrine, the perverted blasphemy
of universal redemption. And those scriptures are commonly
divided into three, or maybe commonly divided into three categories. Places where the word all is
used. Places where the word world is
used. and places where men might possibly read them as indicating
that Christ died for folks who, after all, are lost. Let's look
at those three categories. People will say, when the Bible
says, all, it means all, and that means everybody in the world.
When the Bible says, world, it means world, and that means everybody
in the world. Does it now? Does it now? Luke
chapter 2, verse 1, and it came to pass in those days that there
went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should
be taxed. Now, when the Bible says all,
it means all. That means everybody. No exception. When the Bible
says world, it means everybody in the world. Can't possibly
mean anything else. Huh. Anybody here pay taxes back
yonder to Caesar? Anybody? I happen to have a hundred
dollars in my wallet for anybody who pay taxes to Caesar back
yonder. Well, it must not refer to everybody then. The word all
must not mean all without exception. The word world must not mean
everybody in the world. What other explanation can you
give? Caesar Augustus had authority
to tax those people under his domain and he sent out a decree
requiring them to be taxed. It didn't affect anybody else.
But that was all the world. Not hardly. Not hardly. Lots of the world wasn't even
known about then. Lots of the world wasn't even known about.
Can't possibly mean everybody in the world. Well, Brother Don,
it looks like then The word all may be used in a very limited
sense. Very limited. It may be that the word world
is used to refer to a very select, specified group of people. Looks
that way. Looks that way. Now, let's look
at other scriptures. Let's look at some of those passages
where the word all is used in the context where it's speaking
about redemption or the sacrifice of our Redeemer. John chapter
1, verse 7. John 1 verse 7, The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. Oh, now this speaks of God's
common grace. You know there must be a sense
in which God loves everybody. There must be a sense in which
God's grace is for everybody. Otherwise, how can you preach
the gospel freely? I can preach it freely because
God commanded me to. And I don't have to pervert the
scripture to justify doing so. What's he talking about here?
John came to bear witness of the light that all men through
him might believe? If that word means all, then
we got a real problem. Because we weren't around when
John came. John came and bore witness to many and did not bear
witness to many others. He was sent to none but to the
house of Israel. He came and bore witness only
to those of the house of Israel. He came and bore witness because
the only way anyone can believe is if God sends a preacher and
causes them to hear the Word that they might believe. Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But John
wasn't sent to everybody. And God still doesn't send His
Word to everybody. Do you know there are lots of
people in this world who've never seen a Bible? Lots of folks. Even more who've never heard
a gospel preacher. In Acts chapter 16, Paul and
Silas, twice we are told, wanted to go here, wanted to go there
to preach the gospel and the spirit of God, said, no, you
can't go there. You can't go there. I have a little experience
in that very regard. Back years ago, it looked like
there was an opportunity for me to do something that I really
wanted to do before I ever came here. Folks, several folks. more than sitting here tonight,
got together and wanted me to consider coming to my hometown,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, establishing a sovereign grace
work. Oh, I can't tell you how much I wanted to go. I can't
tell you how much I wanted to go. And God wouldn't let me. I just couldn't go. I just couldn't
go. Oh, you were counting this, that,
and the other. Almost everybody in the group was filthy rich.
It didn't have anything to do with money. Almost everybody
in the group. I just couldn't go. I just couldn't
go. Oh, you prefer where you are?
No, no. I just couldn't go. God shut
the door. He said no. Just that simple. No murmuring, no complaining.
That's God's purpose. And so it was with the Apostle
Paul. He sent John to preach the gospel just as he sends servants
out to preach the gospel today. to bear witness of the light,
because that's the means by which God saves sinners. And by this
means, all men might have the light. And only by this means. And so when John speaks of all
men here, he's talking about all sorts of men. Jew and Gentile. Black and white. Bond and free.
Learned and unlearned. Because God is no respecter of
persons. How many times have you heard
some babbling will worshipper snarl at you and say, my God,
no respect to persons, I don't believe in election. I believe
God saved sinners, they'll tell you, because of something the
sinner did. You know what that means, Bobby?
God is a respect of persons. He respects what you, he looks
at you and says, boy, I'm impressed with that. Oh, now I'm impressed
with you. No, God is no respect of persons.
He doesn't have any regard for what you do or what you think
you do. God saves sinners as He will.
John 12, verse 32. The Lord Jesus speaks in much
the same way about His sacrifice. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto Me. Now there again, we
hear folks saying, that's got to mean everybody. Really? Some
were already in hell. Multitudes were already in hell.
Did He draw them? Well, it can't possibly mean all men. It means,
just as it did in John 1 and 7, men of every rank, men of
every station, men of every clime, men of every nation. All kinds
of men. Now look at two together. Romans
chapter 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. I'll give you a minute to find
them. Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. When I hear the pages quit turning,
I pick up. Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. Romans 5 verse 18. Therefore,
as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. One man, one representative man,
one federal head, one covenant head, Adam. representing the
whole human race, when he disobeyed, when he committed his offense,
judgment fell upon the whole race, all men who were represented
by him to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. Oh now, There, the word all has
got to mean the same thing. It does, sorta, sorta. Can't possibly refer to every
human being. Can't possibly refer to every
human being. Otherwise, you declare that just as all men became sinners
by what Adam did, everybody's gonna be saved by what Christ
did. Can't possibly. What's it mean? Over here is
a group of people represented by Larry Brown. And over here
is a group of people represented by David Peterson. Larry is our
father, Adam, and he sins against God. And everybody over here,
the whole shooting match is lost by what he did. David represents
all God's elect. Speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the second Adam, everybody over here, by his obedience, Everybody
represented by Him is saved by God's grace. And that's what
all means. All represented by Adam died
in Adam. All represented by Christ live
in Christ. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 15,
22. Here's the parallel text. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ the last Adam shall all be made alive. All who were
in Christ made alive by Christ. All who are in Adam died in Adam.
2 Corinthians chapter 5. I'm going to have to skip some
of these, I know. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 14. For the love of Christ constraineth
us. The love of Christ holds its reign taught on our hearts. The love of Christ pulls us in
the direction of faith and obedience. The love of Christ constraineth
us. Because this we judge. We thus judge. This is what we
understand. That if one died for all, then
we're all dead. Now let me read that to you real
plain. If one died for all, if Christ died for all of us, then
we all died in Him. And that He died for us all.
He died for all. That they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them
and rose again. He died for all He represented,
and we died in Him, and He died for us so that we no longer would
live to ourselves, but to Him. Now, here's the key. The love
of Christ constrains us. Phil Simpson, if Christ died
and did this for Judas, just as he did this for you, there's
no constraint of his love for you. What's so special about his love
if everybody's got a handle on it? What's so unique about his
love? Why should I love him? Why should
I give him anything? Why should I devote anything
to Him? Oh. Oh. Don't even imagine such foolishness,
my heart. You're not your own. You've been
bought with a price. The precious blood of Jesus Christ.
So glorify God in your body and in your spirit with your gods.
1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. Verse 4, God will have all men to be saved. Now there, Brother Don, you've
got to recognize that it's the will of God in some sense that
everybody be saved. Well, I'll recognize it when
you show it to me in the book. Well, right there it is. Let's
see. He'll have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge
of the truth. What does God say about His will? He says, I am
God. Beside me there is none else.
I will do all my pleasure. I take that to mean whatever
he wills, he does. And if God wills that everybody
come to the knowledge of truth, that everybody be saved, everybody
shall. Well, what's he talking about
here? For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men. That's important. Not man. The
text would mean something altogether different. One mediator between
God and man. That would mean he is one mediator
between the race of man and God. That's not what it says. There
is one mediator between God and a great multitude of men. They're
described in Hebrews chapter 2 as the seed of Abraham, whom
Christ took hold of to save when he came into this world. Read
on. And that mediator is the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself
a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Obviously, then,
this is referring, as it did in John chapter 1, to all kinds
of men. Christ gave himself a ransom
for all God's elect. Well, Ron read it just a little
bit ago. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to
give his life a ransom What did that say? For many, for many,
a great multitude of men, but certainly not every man. He's
the mediator for those for whom he makes mediation. He said,
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine. The objects of his priestly intercession
and the objects of his priestly sacrifice cannot differ. Look
in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 10. Therefore, we both labor and
suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the
Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. He's the
Savior of all men in this sense. It is He who preserves all men
in life. It is He who provides all men
with that which is necessary for life. He feeds all men, even
His enemies, even as He does the cattle on a thousand hills.
He preserves life in all until the time appointed when He shall
take life from them. But He's the Savior especially
of those who believe. It is not our believing that
makes Him specially our Savior, but it is Him being specially
our Savior that causes us to believe. Because He's specially
the Savior of you sitting here tonight who believe on Him, He
chose you, He redeemed you, He called you by His grace, He preserves
you in life, and He will bring you to glory. Titus chapter 2,
verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men. All men without exception? It can't possibly mean that.
Can't possibly mean that, because it hasn't. There are multitudes
who've never heard the gospel. Multitudes who've never seen
Christ revealed in the gospel. Multitudes to whom God has never
spoken by His Word. The grace of God, however, that
brings salvation has appeared to God's elect everywhere, to
men throughout all the world in every rank in society, men
in different countries and in different ages, teaching us,
effectually teaching us. All of you have had teachers,
and you've had teachers, and you've had teachers. I had a
Greek professor, a professor of Greek when I was in college,
and he was a good teacher. He was a blank, raving Arminian,
but notice I said that very carefully. He was a raving Arminian, but
he was a good teacher. What do you mean, Brother Don?
If you got through his course, you got the lesson. If you didn't
get through the lesson, you wouldn't make it. That's all it was. You'd
either learn the Greek or you're out of there. It's just that
simple. He saw to it that you got his lessons. God teaches
just that way. If you're his, you're going to
get the lesson. If you're his and God comes to
teach you, he'll teach you denying ungodliness and worldly lust
to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. We've looked at Hebrews 2 and
passages selected with it just recently, so I'll skip that for
now. Speaking of our Lord tasting death for every man, talking
about everyone named in the context clearly, every son, every brother,
every one of his church, so on. Turn to 2 Peter 3 verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward. Not willing that any should perish.
Now, if you want to understand the verse, with this one, you
don't have to read before or behind. You just read the verse. Not willing that any who should
perish. Of us to whom he's long-suffering. Well, isn't God long-suffering
with everybody? No. No. No, He's not long-suffering
with everybody. Read this book. You'll find some
folks have been sent to hell right now with no warning. Others
after much warning, but God's long-suffering is toward those
whom He is not willing should perish. His elect, those whom
He loved with an everlasting love. His long-suffering to us
were not willing that any of His elect should perish, but
that all should come to repentance. Now, Brother Don, how do you
know that? Verse 15 says that we are to account that the long-suffering
of our Lord is salvage. That's plain enough, isn't it?
God was long suffering with Lot down in Sodom. Not with his wife,
with him. And he put up with Lot's talking,
and he put up with Lot's shenanigans, and he put up all kinds of things
by Lot, and still drug him out of the city, because he wasn't
willing for Lot to perish. And he would not destroy Sodom
until Lot was out of Sodom. And God Almighty will not destroy
this world until the last of His ransomed ones, the last of
His elect, has been called by His grace. All right, let's look
at another category, those scriptures where the word world is used
and being connected with our Lord's death or with the love
of God and His grace. First, back in John chapter 1
again. Verse 9, that was the true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Christ gives light to everybody. He does indeed. Light by which
they shall be damned or light by which they shall be saved,
but not the same light. He gives all men the light of
creation and conscience, sufficient for their condemnation justly.
He gives the light of Holy Scripture to the vast majority of men,
so that men have the book of God in their homes. He gives
the light of gospel preaching to many, many here. But He gives the light, the saving
light of His grace to a few. Many are called, but few are
chosen. He gives the saving light of
His grace, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ to only chosen sinners. Blessed are your eyes
if they see. Oh, blessed are your ears if
they hear. Blessed is your heart if you
believe. John chapter 1 verse 29. John
the Baptist tells us, when he sees Jesus coming to him, he
said, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world. Did Christ take everybody's sin,
without exception, pay the price for everybody's sin, and take
away everybody's sin? Did he? If he did, everything
this book says about hell is a lie. Just that simple. Or, God Almighty
is an unjust monster that can't be counted on for anything. Can
a just and true God punish me for sin that I don't have? Can He punish me for transgressions
that I do not have? If Christ took them away, I don't
have them. And God will not and cannot in
justice punish me for them. No. Christ took away the sins
of his elect, scattered through all the world, through all the
ages of time. And that's the same way the word
world is used throughout the scriptures with reference to
the death of Christ. God so loved the world. Well,
you fellows read that, God so loved the world of his elect.
That's the way it ought to be read. That's exactly what it
means. He's a propitiation for our sins,
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,
the sins of His people scattered through all the world. The Scriptures
cannot possibly mean anything else. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse
19, the Apostle Paul tells us that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. There is a
people in this world who is reconciled to God. They were reconciled
to God at one time in the sacrifice of His Son. a people to whom
God cannot and will not impute sin, because their sins have
been imputed to Christ and made to be Christ and put away by
Christ. And this is the gospel we preach.
God receives sinners because of Christ's obedience, and he
will not impute sin to those who believe on his Son. There
are multitudes scattered throughout the world in every age and time
who must and shall believe because Christ took away their sins. And then there are a few portions
of scripture, a few portions, that might be read by some to
mean that there's a sense in which Christ died for people
who actually go to hell. Let's look at two or three of
them. Romans chapter 14. Verse 15. Now again, clearly none shall
perish for whom Christ died. And we know that if we didn't
know it for any other reason, because God's just. He cannot
and will not violate his own character. He can't send anyone
to hell for whom justice is already satisfied. Payment God cannot
twice demand, first at my bleeding surety's hand, and then again
at mine. Romans 14, 15. But if thy brother
be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably.
Destroy him not with thy meat for whom Christ died. Now let me tell you something.
Paul was talking here about brotherly love, and Christian liberty.
If Christ died for you, it's a very small thing for me to
do without any pleasure for you. But my having a glass of wine
ain't going to destroy you if Christ died for you. That glass
of wine is not stronger than his blood. That's just not what
it means. What's it mean? The word destroy
means hurt. injure, defile, or corrupt. It's talking about offending
a brother. One, a weaker brother whose conscience is weak. And
he said, don't do that. Don't offend a brother and encourage
him to do something contrary to his conscience. Let him grow
up. Let him grow up. The same thing is taught in 1
Corinthians chapter 8. Paul's dealing with this matter
of meats offered to idols. And he says, if you If you go
to the store and these Gentiles, these pagan Gentiles, they take
the meat that was offered to this idol or that and they put
it in the meat market. And you know it was offered to
idols. You know it was because that fellow down there is an
idolater. It was offered to idols. And you can buy it for 10 cents
a pound cheaper than the stuff that wasn't offered to an idol.
Go ahead and buy it and eat it. Just don't tell anybody. Just
don't say anything about it. You don't have to, hey boys,
I can eat meat offered to an idol. Lookie here. No, no. Just
eat it and keep your mouth shut. But, if your brother's standing
there, and he knows it was offered to an idol, and he thinks there's
something significant to that, then leave it alone, pay ten
cents extra, and eat the other stuff. 1 Corinthians chapter
8, verse 11. And through thy knowledge shall
thy weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? What's he talking
about? Perish? For whom Christ died? Not a possibility. You surely
don't think that Watching you eat a piece of steak that was
offered to an idol is going to cause one to perish for whom
Christ died, who has promised he will keep them even from the
jaws of Satan himself. Surely, nobody can imagine such
a thing. What's he talking about? His peace, his present joy, his
present ease of mind, because following the example of one
he esteems a stronger brother, he said, If Brother Don can do
that, I can do that. He goes and gets some meat, and
he goes home and cooks it up, and by the time he's eating,
he's choking on every bite. How do you know that's what it means? Because I've been there, and
I've done that. I've been there, and I've done that, choking on
every bite. But it's all right. It's all right, because my brother
that I look up to, he says it's all right. But somehow, it's
just not all right, because I have a weak conscience. Oh, don't,
don't injure the weaker, brother. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 29 speaks
of those who trample underfoot the Son of God, count the blood
of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing
and do despite to the Spirit of grace. And he says they're
worthy of the greatest punishment. What's he talking about? They
were sanctified by the sacrifice of Christ? How many people do you know,
personally know? You've been around a while, Bob.
You know about everybody in this area. How many people do you know who
got a dose of religion and quit drinking and cussing and running
around smoking and chewing, whatever it was they was doing, and they
got sanctified, got cleaned up? I mean so good, oh, it's so good
it almost floats in the air. Just good, folks. And then suddenly,
abandon everything. And hell itself's too good for
them. How many? They were outwardly
sanctified by a religious profession, and now they trample underfoot
the blood of the Lord Jesus. 2 Peter 2 verse 1, one more passage. But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. Now, do you remember the message
I brought to you a few weeks ago on pictures of redemption? Five Old Testament pictures of
redemption. And I told you there are three words used in the New
Testament for redemption. One means to buy. Another means
to buy out of. Another means to loose or to
set free. The word that is used here, bought,
is the word you would use if you buy a house. you take possession
of it. The Lord Jesus Christ bought
the world in this sense. He bought the field to get the
treasure of God's elect hid in the field. But he bought the
right as a man to possess and to rule and dispose of this world
as he will, answering no one for the salvation of his elect.
And he does. God's given him power over all
flesh to give eternal life to as many as the Father's given
him. The word Lord here is not the word that is used by his
disciples, used by you and I, used by Thomas, my Lord and my
God. That word refers to one who is
exalted and above us and we delight to have him so. He is our Lord. And we want it that way. The
word that's used here, if you could write it out in English
from the Greek letters, is D-E-S-P-O-T. Despot. He's your lord whether
you like it or don't. He's the kind of lord Saddam
Hussein was over in Baghdad. He's an absolute monarch to be
feared! because you have no power against
him, and he will do with you as he will, because he bought
that right as the God-man, our mediator. Now, let me send you
home with one more blessed portion. Isaiah chapter 43. Don't cavil and argue with men
about these things. Declare the truth and wait for
God to show them the truth. Just tell it and leave it alone.
Just tell it and leave it alone. Don't be bashful about telling
it. No. Don't be bashful about telling it. Proclaim free grace.
Proclaim blood atonement. Declare it every way you can.
But don't argue and fuss with folks. Don't spend your time
doing it. All it does is get you down in the mud with them.
Just leave it alone. It's the power of God to salvation. Remember,
it's the dynamite. Light the fuse, throw it in,
get out of the way. Just leave it alone. And rejoice in the
promises given to us by special redemption. Isaiah 43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. It doesn't mean a thing for him
to say, don't be afraid because I created you. It doesn't mean
a thing for him to say, don't be afraid because I formed you,
except it be followed by this. For I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. Now what you got to be afraid
of? When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When
thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. What's that mean? Remember Egypt. I gave Egypt for your ransom.
Remember Ethiopia and Sheba? I sacrificed them for you. Remember
the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and all the
Ites that were in Canaan, all those Canaanites? I sacrificed
every one of them to give you the land. Every one of them. Read on. Since
thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and
I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee. and
people for thy life. Fear not. I am with thee. I am with thee. He redeemed us. He's done for us what he's done
for nobody else. He redeemed us with his blood. Now what do you think he's going
to allow to injure you? What do you think he's going
to allow to get out of kilter with you? How do you think he's
going to allow anybody to do you harm? I know we're all concerned
about this upcoming election, rightfully so, rightfully so. I urge you to be responsible,
but quit fretting. Don Fortner, quit fretting. Quit
fretting. Quit fretting. I've seen worse
things than Barack Obama. Haven't you? I've met worse things
than that on the streets. And I've seen worse things than
John McCain. Well, what do you do? Act responsible and trust
God. He redeemed you. Everything's
going to be all right. No, no, no. I'll take that back.
everything is alright. And it's going to stay that way.
Amen.