down in Australia. He had heard
one of the messages Larry had posted on Free Grace Radio. Larry
just informed me a little bit ago, was preached down in Sylacauga.
I preached some time back, I don't really remember when, on the
subject, the most hideous doctrine in the world. That doctrine is
the doctrine of universal redemption, the doctrine that Christ died
for all human beings. the most hideous doctrine in
the world. I'm tempted in that message to
show plainly the evil of that doctrine and also to declare
the glorious accomplishments of our Redeemer at Calvary. Brother Bell wrote asking, after
he expressed his joy and benefit from the message, if I had ever
considered bringing a message on the implications of this horrible
doctrine. the practical implications, those
things that necessarily must flow from such a doctrine. And I have had my mind on that
for some time. But the mere hint from someone
else about a message is not a reason to bring it. So I have to struggle
with this all the time. And I do it every day. It's a constant struggle. Why
am I preparing this message? What's my purpose in preaching
it? Let me tell you what my purpose is. Number one, the glory of
God. Number one, I want to glorify
the triune God. I want him to be glorious in
your minds and in your hearts, and I want to glorify him in
the message I preach. Number two, I'm bringing this
message for your soul's comfort and edification, for you who
believe that you may find even greater reason revealed in Scripture
for which to trust implicitly Jesus Christ as your Redeemer. Number three, I want you who
do not know our Savior to trust Him. I want to give you reasons
to trust Him, reasons drawn plainly from Holy Scripture. And number
four, I want to draw a clear line of distinction, a clear
line of distinction between truth and error, between the gospel
of God and another gospel, between that which we believe and preach
and count near in this place and that which is believed and
preached by the religious world around us. This is very, very
important, not only because of the horrible evil of universal
redemption taught and preached and believed by all will-worshipping
Armenians. But there are multitudes in our
day, multitudes, and the number is growing. I see it every day. Men who claim to believe free
grace, who claim to believe what's commonly called Calvinism, who
claim to believe in particular redemption, because the message
seems in their minds not to accomplish results, because it doesn't seem
to draw in the crowds, because it doesn't seem to fill the church
buildings, and they want to be successful. They find reasons
to compromise the message of God's grace. And I promise you,
I promise you, the first place where compromise begins is always
the most important issue, and that is the atoning work of Jesus
Christ our Lord. Compromise never begins elsewhere. It always begins with the sin-atoning
death and redemption accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
my subject tonight is, if Christ died for all, what then? Just consider that horrible,
horrible, horrible subject for a little while. If Christ died
for everybody, folks who wind up in hell, as for folks who
are saved and in glory, if Christ died for all, what then? Let's begin in Hebrews chapter
10, verse 28. Hear God the Holy Spirit. declares
that those who despise the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
in Christ in the day of judgment shall be counted worthy of sorer,
more severe punishment than those who despise the law given by
God by the hand of Moses to the children of Israel. Verse 28,
Hebrews 10. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy. That's how folks go to hell,
without mercy. Under two or three witnesses
of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and hath counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing. and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace. Now let me call your attention
to two words specifically in this text. Sanctified. How can the Spirit of God here
speak about men who trample under their feet the blood of Christ
and who are found worthy of hell, more worthy of hell than those
who despise the giving of God's law by the hand of Moses? How
can they be sanctified? The word simply means set apart,
separated. And multitudes professing faith
in Christ are separated from the rest of the world in their
religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness, in their carnal profession of
faith, and never sanctified by the grace of God, just set apart
by religion, as were the Pharisees. The other word, and this is a
very, very important word, it's key, the word unholy. I suggest
that you underline it and make a notation. The word is the word
from which we get our word common. You may have heard the term koine. If you study the Greek language,
there are those who teach classical Greek can study classical Greek,
and you would find the classical writings of the Greek language
in classical Greek. And the Greek of the New Testament,
the Greek that's taught in Bible colleges and seminaries, is Koine
Greek. It's the basis of the word fellowship. This word that's translated unholy
is this word koinos, koinos. This is what it means. Common. Shared by all. Now listen to me. Listen to me. Read the text this way and you
get the meaning. They trodden underfoot the blood,
the Son of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith
he was separated. Something shared by everybody. That's the charge. That's the
charge. There are many multitudes around
us who do just that. God himself here speaks of men
who trample under their feet his own son and look upon the
blood, the precious blood of the Lamb of God as an unholy
common thing shared by everybody. And in doing so, they have done
despite to the spirit of grace. Now, I've come here tonight to
tell you and show you from the word of God that these words
accurately describe the religion and the preachers of this day.
I want you to hear every word I have to say. I've chosen my
words deliberately. I've written them down purposefully.
I've chosen them either by the leadership of God the Holy Spirit
with understanding in this word or I have chosen them by the
spirit of Antichrist. There's no middle ground. I speak
to you either as God's servant telling you that which is plainly
revealed in this book that which is vital to the glory of God
and the gospel of His grace, or I speak to you as a satanic
messenger of Antichrist. No middle ground. I'll leave
it for you to decide which is so. If I speak as God's messenger
to your soul, hear what I say. If not, don't ever hear me. Go
find you somebody else to listen to. This is the charge I've come
to make. I make it publicly. I make it
boldly. I make it with no apology. I
intend to make it clear, so clear that it can't be misunderstood.
All preachers of Arminian freewill works religion, all preachers
of the damning blasphemous doctrine of universal atonement, universal
redemption, that is to say, All who believe, teach, and preach
that the Son of God died to redeem and save all human beings, even
those who perish at last in hell under the wrath of God, all of
them are guilty of this horrid crime. They trample under their
feet the blood of the Son of God. They count the everlasting
blood of the covenant a common thing shared by all and thus
despise the spirit of grace. There's not today, there never
has been, and there never will be any doctrine in all the world
more dishonoring to God, more blasphemous to the Lord Jesus
Christ, more contrary to the spirit of grace, more contrary
to the gospel of God's grace, more damning to the souls of
men than the doctrine of universal atonement. Brother Don, what
do you mean by that? I don't like to throw out terms
and you don't understand what I mean by the terms. Universal
atonement is the damning delusion, the delusion of this religious
world that teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ died to make atonement
for the sins of all human beings without exception. It is the
teaching that by his blood the Lord Jesus made atonement possible
for everybody. He made atonement possible for
everybody. Universal Redemption is the doctrine
that the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood to redeem and save
all people. that he made salvation possible
for all human beings, that he provided a way for everyone to
be saved. The doctrine of universal atonement
and universal redemption speaks of possibilities. And so the
gospel is preached to sinners as good advice. And preachers
will stand and tell you that God's done all he can now. You
must believe on the Son of God, and you will be saved by your
believing. You will have atonement by your
believing. You will have redemption by your
believing. Nothing could be further from
the truth. These men would make faith to be a work of man by
which man accomplishes his own salvation and his own redemption. This book knows nothing of such
doctrine. Jesus Christ didn't make atonement
possible. He made atonement. He didn't
make redemption possible. With His own blood, He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. When you called me here as your
pastor, the first time I was down here, some of you may remember,
I said to you from the pulpit over in the Kentucky Utilities
Building, if there's any place in this town, any place in this
town where you can go hear a man Preach the gospel of God's free
grace and worship God. Don't call me here. Don't call
me as your pastor. Go join up with them. If you
call me here, you're testifying there is no one else in this
town preaching the gospel of God's grace. And things haven't
changed. There's not a preacher in this
town. Not one. If there is one, please find
him. I'll either give up or have him
too and we'll merge the congregations. Not in a need to have two churches
with 75 or 100 people in them. Not in a need. Please find him.
There's not a preacher in this town that I know of who does
not believe that Christ shed his blood for nothing. That he didn't accomplish a frazzling
thing. That his blood was an utter waste.
except man make a contribution to it. And I'm telling you, that's
blasphemy. You who know preachers, I urge
you, get the tape, the CD, the DVD, and get it in their hands
and beg them to hear it. Maybe God will save them. And
if you can't pay for it, I'll pay for it. I want them to hear
it. This is clearly the teaching of Scripture. Jesus Christ actually
did effectually redeem somebody. When He said it's finished, that
means, brother, it's finished. When the Lord Jesus made an end
of the law, He made an end of the law. When He put away sin,
He put away sin. When He removed the curse, He
removed the curse. He didn't just make it possible. Either he did it, or he's not
God, and he's an imposter, and we're yet in our sins if we trust
him. That's how serious the issue is. This is what the book says. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. That means he died specifically
for God's elect. And everywhere in this book,
no exceptions, no exceptions, everywhere in this book, where
the redeeming work of Christ is spoken of. Everywhere in this
book it is defined as being that which is performed for a specific
people. There's not a hint in this book
that atonement was made, a sacrifice was made for anybody except God's
elect. Read every Old Testament type.
Every one of them. The priest did not wear on his
breastplate the names of all men. He wore the names of twelve
tribes of Israel. That's all. He didn't make atonement
for all men. He made atonement for the children
of Israel. When God instituted the Passover,
He told Moses to go around and whisper it to the children of
Israel. He didn't even tell Pharaoh and the Egyptians what was going
on. The Passover was made for the children of Israel alone.
Grace is not common. God's love is not common. Christ's
blood is not common. Everything is for God's elect
and for God's elect alone. And our Lord Jesus didn't just
die for God's elect. He effectually accomplished the
redemption. He, with his own blood, entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained. He got in his
hand. eternal redemption for us. All right. Somebody asked, well,
what's the great difficulty of this doctrine of universal redemption?
Why is it so important that we understand that Christ actually
died just for God's elect, just for the people he came to save,
and that he actually accomplished their redemption didn't just
make it possible? If Christ did die, for all those
who are lost. What then? What are the implications
of that doctrine? What are the necessary implications,
the inevitable, unavoidable, undeniable consequences of saying
that Christ died for all men? I'm going to give you 14 of them.
Get your pen and paper out. I want you to remember them.
I lay these 14 charges against all who preach a possibility
redemption, not a real redemption. A possibility atonement, not
a real atonement. Give me your attention, listen
carefully. Number one, the teaching that Christ died to save all
men, and some are lost anyhow, makes man his own savior. Makes man his own savior. If
the Lord Jesus only made redemption possible, If he only rendered
men savable, if he only put men into a savable condition, if
he only made it possible for man's sins to put away, then
any who are saved are not saved because of what he did, they're
saved because of what they do. Does that make good sense? Any
objection to that? Is there any wiggle room, any
way to get out of that? If Christ died for Judas and
died for Peter, he did the same thing for Judas he did for Peter,
and Judas is in hell and Peter's in glory, then the difference
is not what Christ did, it's what Peter did. It got to be. Peter's his own Savior. Men do
despise the Spirit of grace, trample under their feet the
blood of the Son of God, declaring that they're saved, Not by Christ's
work, but their own. Oh, they would never put it quite
that way. Satan's not a fool. Satan's a crafty fool. And his
messengers aren't fools, they're crafty. Well, they might be fools,
but they're moved by his craftiness. They wouldn't dare say, now Christ
had nothing to do with our salvation. Oh, no. No, no, no, we've got
to have the blood of Christ. But there's got to be more to
it than that. We've got to have Christ's obedience, but now you
can't be that lopsided and make everything His work. Why, that
doesn't give man anything to do. And we sure can't have that,
can we? Because then you take the starch
out of the fellow. He can't pop his suspenders and
say the difference is me. I recall my first few weeks in
Bible college out of Baptist Bible College, Springfield, Missouri.
I hadn't been there any time, and I was going to be kicked
out of school for believing the gospel of God's grace. And every
time somebody got a chance, they would spit with venom against
the gospel of God's grace. And I heard this young imaginary
female theologian stand up, and she said, I know I'm saved by
God's grace. I'm saved because Christ died
for me. I'm saved because the Holy Spirit sought me and the
Holy Spirit convicted me. But it was my choice! Don't you
take that away from me. Oh, I wouldn't take that away
from you. You can go to hell with it if you want to. You can
take it with you if you want to. Salvation is not by your
choice any more than it is by your work. Salvation is not by
your will any more than it is by your worth. Salvations by
Christ accomplished redemption. He didn't just make us savable.
He saved us. He didn't just make it possible
for the curse to be removed. He removed the curse. I'm not
here to tell you what you've got to do to be saved. I'm here
to tell you Christ has done it all. Christ has done it all. Redemption's accomplished. This
is the language of scripture. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever, them that are sanctified. Well, Brother Don, that's the
case. That means nothing depends on me. That means God's not looking
to me for anything. That means that salvation is
free. You got it. That's exactly what
it means. Number two, the doctrine of universal
atonement reduces the love of God to nothing, just a meaningless
bunch of words, just a meaningless bunch of words. At first glance,
people would say, well, that can't be right. The universal
religionist says God loves everyone. You say God only loves his elect.
My point exactly. The word of God highly commends
the love of God displayed in the death of his son. Our redemption
by his blood is the declaration of his love. We rejoice to sing
of the love of God. Oh, love of God. Oh, wondrous,
wondrous love of God. But listen to how God speaks
about the wondrous blessedness of redeeming love. He says, Fear
not, Jacob, for I have redeemed thee. What's so special about
that? If he redeemed everybody, if
he redeemed Esau, and Esau went to hell, and he redeemed Jacob
and Jacob didn't, what's his redemption got to do with it?
Fear not, Jacob, I have loved thee. Well, what's so great about
that? If he loved Esau too. Why should
that make any difference? It doesn't, if he loved Esau
too. But that's not what he says,
is it? He says, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And you will
never understand his love or his hatred until you understand
his dealings with Esau and Jacob. You'll never understand it. Yes,
we delight in God's love, but if God loves all men alike, he
has a terrible, strange way of showing it. Strange way of showing
it. He put Noah in an ark, and he
drowned everybody else. And you tell me God loves all
men alike? He sent two angels down to Sodom
to deliver four people out of the land, one in each hand. Wonder why it just sent two?
There were scads of folks down in Sodom. He didn't intend to
deliver anybody else. Why did those two angels lay
hold of just those four people? That's all they intended to lay
hold of. And what happened to them? They
came out of Sodom. Why? Because God loved Lot. And he loved Amoah by this woman
named Ruth who wouldn't be born for many years to come. Oh, no. No, no. To suggest that God loves everybody
is to mean that God's love is meaningless. It's to reduce the
love of God to nothing but a passion, nothing else, nothing else. You know what helpless love is,
don't you? Some of you came to visit me
when I was in bad shape recently. and tears in your eyes, I can
see you. Pastor, I love you." That lady sat up all night long,
day after day after day after day, willing to do anything she
could to help me. And you know what she could do
to help me? Nothing. Nothing. Just helpless,
frustrated, passionate love. Not God's love. It's a strange
kind of love that has the power to deliver and doesn't. That
has the power to save and doesn't. That has the power to redeem
and fails to redeem. Oh no, that's not God's love.
God's people are a people loved by Him with an everlasting love.
And because they've been loved by Him with an everlasting love,
they're redeemed by the blood of His Son and called by His
grace. Number three, if universal atonement, redemption
of all men, if Christ died for all men, then the wisdom of God
is foolishness, just foolishness. What man makes plans that he
knows will never be carried out? What man purposes what he knows
can never be accomplished? Would God Almighty plan salvation
for all men, knowing that all are not going to be saved? Would
it purpose the salvation of all, knowing that only certain ones
would be saved? Well, God foreknew everything.
He foreknew who would believe on Christ and who wouldn't. And
so he chose those folks on the basis of his foreknowledge, but
Christ died for them all. Why on this earth would a fool
make plans that he knows can't be accomplished and pay for something
he knows he can't have? What fool would do so? Not God
Almighty. God didn't sacrifice his darling
son for nothing. Oh, no. Oh, no. Redemption is
the display, how does Paul put it, of the manifold wisdom of
God. The wisdom of God. Oh, how high
How infinite is His wisdom in the display of His wisdom in
redemption by the blood of His darling Son. Jesus Christ the
Lord redeemed us. And in His office capacity as
our Redeemer, He sits now upon the throne of glory and rules
the universe according to the everlasting purpose of God in
infinite wisdom. hides the gospel from some and
reveals it to others. He raises up kings and puts down
kings. He raises up nations and destroys
nations. He sends blindness to Israel
that he may send light to the Gentiles all according to infinite
wisdom. for the purpose of bringing light,
the light of grace and salvation to redeem sinners. Oh, the depth
of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding out. Turn to Psalm
85. We've got to hurry. I'll never get done. Universal
redemption, fourth there. is denial of God's justice. More
than anything else, the Word of God sets forth redemption
being an act of divine justice. It is an act accomplished because
of God's love for us, yes. It is an act of grace, yes. It
is an act of mercy, yes. But mercy, love, and grace cannot
save sinners without justice. This is what the book says, Proverbs
16. By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. Not by mercy alone
and not by truth alone. By mercy and truth. God said
the soul that sinneth it shall die and die it must. That means
sin must be paid for. The debt must be paid. Mercy,
however, mercy comes and says the sinner is to be forgiven. How can both be done? Psalm 85
verse 8, I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will
speak peace unto his people and to his saints, but let them not
turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is nigh
them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness, justice, and peace
have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness, justice, shall look down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall
yield her increase. Righteousness, justice, shall
go before him, and shall set us in the way of his steps. Our Savior took the sword of
justice into his bosom and swallowed it up. And justice says, that's
enough! And mercy says, that's good.
And mercy and justice met together. Righteousness, justice and peace
kissed each other in the sacrifice of our Redeemer. If Christ was
punished for my sins, And I must also bear the punishment for
them. I ask you, where is the justice of God? If he died for
those who are damned in hell, those who are already damned
when he died, if he died for those who shall be damned in
the days to come, and they suffer for their sins, for which he
has already suffered, you show me some justice there. Oh, no. Payment God cannot twice demand,
first at my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine.
Number five, universal redemption reduces the omnipotence of Almighty
God to impotence weaker than the will of man. Fr. E. B. Magruder, who started
the Redeemer Baptist Church in Louisville, Years and years ago,
he was their first pastor. First time I preached up at Redeemer,
he said to me, he said, isn't it amazing that the Arminian
takes that which is the weakest aspect of man's character and
exalts it to be his savior? What do you suppose is weaker
about you than your will? You remember when we were boys,
Lay's Potato Chips came out with a great commercial? A fella sitting
there pulling those crispy, crunchy, fresh potato chips out of that
bag, said, bet you can't eat one. Just try to eat one. Go ahead. I still can't eat one. Give me one or a bag, but don't
take them away. The weakest aspect of humanity
is his will. But we are expected to believe
that God Almighty wants to save, tries to save, does everything
he can to save, but he can't. Poor God. Because you won't let
him. Your will has got God's hands
tied behind his back. You've got God pinned to the
ground. What blasphemy. What utter blasphemy. Number six, those who preach
universal atonement blaspheme God by asserting that the immutable
God, after all, is fickle, mutable, and changeable. Some time back,
I read a sermon by A. W. Tozer, a famous preacher of
years gone by, who made this observation. He said, I believe. that God loves all men until
they die. And after they die, God turns
against the unbelieving in anger, wrath, and hatred. But until
then, he loves them all. Let me see if I can square that
with the book. I am the Lord. I change not. Bless God for that therefore,
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. He is of one mind who can turn
him, and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. Number seven,
universal redemption robs God of his glory. Read the first
chapter of Ephesians. Three times we're told that every
aspect of God's saving grace, election, redemption, effectual
calling, and preservation, all are for the praise of His glory.
But universal redemption declares that man must have the glory.
For after all, the difference between those who are saved and
those who are damned is not the love and grace of Christ. It
is not the blood of Christ and the will of God, but rather it
is man's will and man's work and man's worth. And so man has
the glory. Number eight, universal redemption
denies the satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ. And here I'm
talking about our Lord's satisfaction with regard to everything written
in the scriptures. It denies that Christ will satisfy
by his sacrifice all that is written in the prophets, all
that is set forth in the types, all that is portrayed in the
law and the justice of God. What Christ did at Calvary didn't
really remove sin. which was typified in all the
sacrifices of the law. What Christ did at Calvary didn't
really make restitution, which is what is set forth clearly
in the giving of the law in Exodus 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. What Christ did at Calvary didn't
really satisfy the prophets, which declared that he would
perform redemption and take away sin, that he would, by one great
work, make an end of sin and bring in everlasting righteousness. And it sure didn't satisfy the
justice of God. Number nine, universal redemption
declares that there are multitudes in hell for whom the Son of God
died in vain. Shelby and I were driving out
of town years ago when Al Giesler was pastor of First Baptist Church
up on Broadway. You shouldn't call names. Well,
take that up another day. And we were listening. I was
going to drive most of the night. I had to go somewhere to preach.
Had him on listening to his Sunday night radio broadcast and turned
it on just in time for the tear-jerking invitation. And this is what
he said. I said, Shelby, write it down.
I don't want to forget. This is exactly what he said
with pretentious tears in his eyes. They might have been real.
I don't know. Tears might have been real. The doctrine was horrible. He said, oh, won't it be a shame? Won't it be a shame that there'll
be such multitudes in hell for whom Christ died in vain? Died
in vain? His most glorious work, vain?
That to which God pens His glory, that to which God has penned
His name, vain! Christ died in vain! Never! Never. But if He died for anybody
who perishes in his sins, He died for that man in vain. Universal
Redemption is a doctrine that is most clearly unscriptural
because it separates the priestly office of Christ and his sacrificial
work as our high priest. Universal Redemption tells us
that Christ actually died for folks for whom he would not even
pray. Now, I'm not the brightest bulb
in the room, Merle, but I scratch my head and I think, I believe
I'd rather pray for somebody than die for them. I just, I
think I would. Would you all, anybody here rather
die for them than pray for them? I would heapsite rather pray
for you than feel a pinprick in my hand. I'd heapsite rather. But we're told that Christ died
for folks, gave his life for them, suffered the wrath of God
for them, and he refused to pray for them. Oh, he never refused
to pray for anybody. Read the 17th chapter of John.
He said twice, I pray not for the world. I don't pray for them,
I'm praying for these. These folks you gave me out of
the world and for those who shall believe on me through their word.
Number 11, universal redemption makes the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ a miscarriage. It asserts that he shall never
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. He shall never
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. But the book
says he will. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
shall never be discovered in miscarriage. Number 12, this
doctrine gives sinners no reason on this earth to look to Christ,
trust Christ, and hope in Christ. The faith that is produced by
the teaching of universal redemption is no faith at all, and the hope
is a sham delusion. The basis of hope is redemption
accomplished. Listen to the book. Let Israel
hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with
him is plenteous redemption. The basis of hope is redemption
accomplished. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
God says. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Cry aloud unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Number 13, universal
redemption is as useless as it is blasphemous, because it offers
believers no reason to love Christ. No reason to be devoted to him.
No reason to serve him. I know folks. Folks seem to check their brains
at the door when they walk in church buildings and they listen
to foolishness from the pulpit. For so long, they begin to think
like the preachers they listen to. And they go, oh, but the
love of Christ for everybody makes me want to love him all
the more. I wonder why it wouldn't work if you went home and told
your wife, honey, I love everybody just like I love you. I wonder why that wouldn't work.
No, I don't wonder why. Because special love gets special
love in return. Distinguishing grace demands
devotion in return, but general redemption Possibility, redemption. Redemption, there's no redemption
at all. Redemption, that is actually accomplished by what I do. That's
no reason for me to love Him. And number 14, here's the greatest blasphemy
of all. To say that Christ died for all
men, to say that He sacrificed Himself to redeem and save all
men. Be sure you understand what I'm
talking about now. To say that Christ died to put away the sins
of all men declares that Jesus Christ is an utter failure. It is a denial of the very Godhead
of our Savior. Dave Burge, I'd just as soon
hear a preacher stand up and say that Christ is not the virgin-born
Son of God as hear men stand here and say Christ Tried to
redeem and save folks he didn't actually redeem and save. That
makes him a failure. And a failure is no God. He said,
well, nobody really believes that. I've given this to you
before, but it's worth repetition. This past week, I was reading
some bulletins Brother Mahan put out for the first four or
five conferences they had in Ashland. And this quote was in
the bulletin. This man was my first theology
professor, Noel Smith, Baptist Bible College, Springfield, Missouri.
He was editor of the Baptist Bible Tribune, a well-known theologian
amongst fundamentalists in days gone by. This is what he wrote. I'm reading you exactly what
he wrote. What is hell? It is an infinite
negation, and it's more than that. I tell you, And I say it
with profound reverence. Hell is a ghastly monument to
the failure of the triune God to save the multitudes who are
there. Oh my God, what a statement. A ghastly monument to the failure
of the triune God to save the multitudes who are there. Quoting
Smith, I say it reverently. I say it with every nerve in
my body tense. Sinners go to hell because God
Almighty Himself couldn't save them. He did everything He could. He failed. What say you? Blasphemy. Utter blasphemy. God save us from such heresy.
God save His church from the influence of such evil doctrine. Turn to Ezekiel 34 and I'll wrap
this up. That which the heretics trample
under their feet as a common unholy thing shared by all, we
cherish as precious. It is the very food upon which
we feast and by which we live. Ezekiel 34 verse 19, and as for
my flock, Our Redeemer says, oh, thank you for making me part
of that flock. They eat that which you heretics,
you false shepherds, have trodden with your feet, and they drink
that which ye have bowed with your feet. We worship him who by the sacrifice
of himself in our room instead as our substitute has removed
all sin and removed the curse of the law and brought in everlasting
righteousness who saved us with his precious blood. And now we
sing, dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power
till all the ransomed Church of God, be saved to sin no more. Amen.