All right, you be seated, and
turn with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20. We believe and preach, without
the least apology, the great, glorious, soul-cheering truth
of our Lord's particular effectual redemption, or of limited atonement. That is to say simply, we declare
according to this book that all our Lord Jesus Christ intended
to do, he has fully accomplished. That our Savior, our all-glorious
Christ, the Son of God, has effectually accomplished the redemption of
all his people by the shedding of his blood at Calvary to the
satisfaction of divine justice. As I've said before, all who
claim to be Christian, All who claim to preach in the name of
God, all who hold the Scriptures and say this is the Word of God,
all of them, without exception, teach and preach limited atonement. There are no exceptions to that.
Sometimes folks say, you all believe in limited atonement.
Everybody does. Everybody does. The problem is that most people
limit the atonement contrary to the Scriptures. That is, they
limit the merit and efficacy of Christ's shed blood and of
the atonement which he accomplished by the shedding of his blood.
For they declared that Christ died for all being, even for
those who perish under the wrath of God in hell. And declaring
such, they declared that the blood of Christ really accomplished
nothing. That the atonement that Christ
accomplished was really nothing but an opportunity for atonement. And that man, by his faith, by
his decision, by the exercise of his will, or by his works,
or his baptism, or his church affiliation, whatever it is they
add to the work of Christ to complete the work, man, by his
doing, gives merit and efficacy to the blood of Christ. Now,
such teaching is contrary to the Word of God from cover to
cover. We assert, according to Scripture,
that there is absolutely no limit to the merit and efficacy of
Christ's blood, and that the atonement of Christ, that which
he accomplished for us and obtained for us by his blood, is that
which is finished and done once and for all. According to the
scriptures, there is a limit to the purpose, the design, and
the scope of the atonement. So that the scriptures declare
that it was the intent and purpose of God from eternity to accomplish
the redemption of a specific people, the atonement of their
sins, and the ransom of their souls by the sacrifice of his
dear son. To suggest, imply, or teach otherwise. Indeed, to believe. that there
are some in hell for whom Jesus Christ shed his blood, some in
hell for whom he made atonement, some in hell suffering the wrath
of God for whom he suffered the wrath of God. To suggest such
a thing, to imply such a thing, to believe such a thing, is to
betray an idolater's heart and blaspheme the name of God. For
such teaching denies in its inherent necessity the very Godhead of
Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, I've been preaching to you
on the subject of redemption for several weeks, and there
are going to be, the Lord willing, several messages more on this
particular subject on Tuesday evenings. And you may wonder
why such a fuss, why make such a big issue over the atonement
and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you understand
why the fuss is necessary. I hope you understand that any
doctrine that denies the teaching of Scripture with regard to the
efficacy of Christ's atonement is a denial of necessity of Jesus
Christ Godhead. Just as much as if to say that
Jesus Christ really is just, He was not the virgin-born Son
of Mary, but He came into this world by natural process, with
a natural man's nature, that He has a sinful nature just like
we do, that He's a good man, but not the God-man. To make such a statement, is
to deny altogether the teaching of Scripture, so that your religion
becomes not Christianity, but paganism under the name of Christianity. And those who deny that Jesus
Christ actually accomplished the redemption of his people
at Calvary, inherently in their doctrine, deny that Jesus Christ
is God and their religion, while it goes under the name of Christianity,
is as much paganism as the worshipping of a totem pole. Jesus Christ
is either our effectual Savior or we have no Savior. He has
either effectually put away our sins or our sins have not been
and cannot be put away. Either He has secured for us
a good hope by His blood or we have no hope and there is no
hope for you who are yet in your sins. Turn with me now to Matthew
20, 28. I want you to see the Scriptures
very plainly, and I want to answer one very important question.
I want to answer it for you distinctly and clearly and irrefutably from
the Word of God. I don't pretend to be an irrefutable
logician. I don't pretend to have a mind
that cannot be caught in a trap and twisted this way or that,
but this book's irrefutable. And what I'm about to say to
you is irrefutable. Those things that are about to be declared
to you, while I'm going to go through things in a rather didactic
manner, I want you to see that these things are of absolute
necessity to the faith of God's elect. Here's the question I
want to answer. For whom did Christ die? Does the Word of God clearly
identify who it is that is the object of Christ's death? Does
the Word of God specifically state who they are for whom the
Son of God shed his blood? Here in Matthew 20, 28, our Savior
says, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister. Would to God I could get every
preacher to hear that. Larry, he didn't come for folks to serve
him, he came to serve people. He didn't come to be ministered
unto, he came to minister. Read on. And to give his life
a ransom. Now this would be a perfect spot,
this would be a perfect spot for him to say he came to give
his life a ransom for everybody. That'd be a perfect spot. But
that's not what he says, because that's not what he did. The Son
of Man came not to be ministered unto, not to be served, but to
serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Now when he declares
that he gave his life a ransom for many, a ransom price for
the redemption of these many, the many are described by various
distinct peculiar terms. They are described in Acts 13,
48 as the many who were ordained to eternal life. They're described
in John chapter 6 as the many who were given into the hands
of the Son before the world began. They're described in 1 Peter
2.24 as the many whose stripes or whose sins He buried His body
on the tree. They are the many for whom His
blood was shed for the remission of sins. You remember when He
was taking the cup of the Lord's table and He says, This cup is
the New Testament in My blood which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. The many who were made righteous
by His obedience, these are the many for whom He came to give
His life a ransom. These many sons whom Paul describes
in Hebrews chapter 2, we'll look at it just a little bit. Many
sons whom He shall bring to glory, these are the many for whom He
gave His life a ransom. So the objects of redemption,
those for whom Christ died, for whom He made atonement by the
shedding of His blood, for whom He obtained eternal redemption,
are the special, distinct people of God. The Scriptures declare
that they are redeemed from the earth, Revelation 14, 3. And
in the very next verse, the Apostle John writes by way of explanation,
by divine inspiration, that these who are redeemed from the earth
are the redeemed from among men. So that when the Scripture speaks
of Christ's redemptive accomplishments, nowhere is there even a hint
in the Word of God that Jesus Christ redeemed everybody, that
He made atonement for everybody. There's not even a hint of such
a thing. But rather, He gave Himself and
died for us to redeem unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. The inspired writers, as you
read through the New Testament especially, seem to just delight
in using that personal pronoun, that little two-letter word,
us, whenever talking about redemption. Over and over and over again.
You don't need to turn there, but listen to this. Christ died
for us. God delivered Him up for us all.
Christ gave Himself for us. He did so that He might redeem
us. The saints around the throne
of God sing unto the Lamb and say, Thou hast redeemed us to
God by Thy blood. So that the saints of God, all
the way through the Scriptures, the inspired writers and the
saints in heaven rejoice to declare that Christ has done something
special for us. He redeemed us. What is it that
distinguishes Bobby Estes from the rest of the world? He died
for us. What is it that makes us different
from other men? He died for us. What is it that gives us a foot
up to God so that we are accepted with God? Did we do something?
Oh no! He redeemed us out from among
men. And so we stand before God, accepted
and beloved on the basis of that redemption. The Scriptures everywhere
teach limited atonement, particular effectual redemption obtained
for God's elect by the sin-atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, having said all that, I hope there's somebody here who has
a personal, distinct interest in knowing for whom Christ died. I hope this is more than a matter
of clarifying just a point of theology or defending a point
of doctrine for us all. But I trust there's some brought
here by God the Spirit who have come seeking Christ. And you
want to know, Pastor, is it possible that the Lamb of God died for
me? Is it possible? That He put away my sin? Is it
possible that He sacrificed Himself for me? That He obtained eternal
redemption for me? Listen now, I'll tell you. Look
with me in the Scriptures and let me show you eight descriptions
of those for whom Christ died. We'll begin in John chapter 3
and verse 16. I deliberately choose John 3.16
because this blessed portion of scripture is that which is
most often spit out at you whenever somebody wants to argue about
universal redemption or women's lib or equal rights or anything
else they know nothing about. John 3.16 says, For God so loved
the world. And I'm going to just say this
and not defend it and anybody who wants to get mad at it can
get mad at it and take it up with whoever they want to. He
means the world of his elect. That's exactly what he's talking
about. He's talking to Nicodemus, a Jew who despised Gentiles,
and he said, Nicodemus, God's love's not limited to your race.
Kind of like talking to a white boy from Birmingham and saying,
God's love is not limited to white fellas. God has his people
in every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, and because God so
loved the world of his elect, he gave his only begotten son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. So the first thing taught in
the Scriptures is that the Lord Jesus Christ died for every sinner
in this world, loved of God with an everlasting love. What blessed,
blessed, blessed truth. The objects of Christ's redemption
and the objects of God's love are exactly the same. Redemption,
as we have seen, flows from the love of God toward us in Jesus
Christ the Lord. And this love from which redemption
flows is much, much more than some imaginary universal benevolence
in God which He may have upon all men because they're His creatures.
Oh no, that's not what He's talking about. He's talking about a special,
distinct, particular love for His elect for which all other
creatures were made and exist. Do you understand what I'm saying?
This world exists because of God's love for you, who are His
people. This world exists and the rest
of the people in this world were made because God set His heart
on you and determined to redeem you. So the objects of love spoken
of here are those people who are the special objects of God's
benevolence and kindness, not as his creatures, but as his
elect. The rest of the world just gets
the benefit. God's benevolence really is just
the fact that the rest of the world gets the benefit of living
next door to you. That's all. God's goodness, he
sends the sunshine and the rain on the just and the unjust, but
he does it for the just. He sends His blessings on both
the righteous and the wicked, but He does it for the righteous,
and the wicked simply get in on it because they live next
door to you. That's all. Much in the same way when God
sends judgment on a nation, He pours out His wrath on a nation,
He sweeps over an island like Bangladesh with a tidal wave,
and He sweeps away the righteous and the wicked, because the righteous
happen to live there with the wicked. And God, in His mercy
to the righteous, takes them away when He pours out His wrath
upon the wicked. The Lord God speaks of a people,
a people represented by two men. He says concerning this people,
Jacob have I loved. Who's Jacob? Who's Jacob? That's me. Can you identify with
him? Tricky, conniving, sneaky, cheating,
lying, devilish, hellish, Jacob? Beloved of God. Esau. Have I hated him? Who's he? Everybody else. Everybody else. Jacob have I
loved. I redeemed Jacob. God says to
Jacob, I am thy God and thy Redeemer. God says to Jacob, I am thy Savior. I gave men for thee, people for
thee, nations for your life. Look at Egypt, look at Ethiopia
and understand, I love Jacob. And those who are the objects
of God's love, they are the objects of Christ's special redeeming
work at Calvary. This special redeeming love which
Christ expressed in the sacrifice of himself toward his own is
that which is described by the Apostle John in John 13, when
he said, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved
them unto the end. All who are thus loved by Christ
are redeemed by Christ. They are his people, his sheep,
his church. To suggest or to imply that Christ
died for reprobate sinners who are the objects of His just wrath
and contempt, such as Esau, is to utter absolute nonsense. Absolute nonsense. The Lord Jesus
says, Esau have I hated. And then religious babbling idiots
come along and try to convince you He loves Esau? The Lord Jesus
said, Esau have I hated. And they come along and say,
but the Lord died for him. Nonsense. Utter nonsense. Oh, but Brother Dodd, don't you
think there's some sense in which the Lord died for him? No. No. Not at all. He did not give
himself to redeem Esau. He gave himself to redeem Jacob.
And the only folks who don't like that are folks who are the
sons of Esau. That's just all there is to it.
Secondly, for whom did Christ die? Look at Romans 8, verse
30. Our all-glorious Christ died for
God's elect. We all like to be part of something
elite. By nature, we just do. And one
of the most contemptuous things people say to you when you try
to witness to them of God's grace, they say, well, you think you're
just, you're the elect. Yeah. I sure do. I have reason to believe so.
And I rejoice in the fact of it. Don't take that as some kind
of a scurrilous thing. Take it as a reason to rejoice.
Look here in Romans chapter 8 and verse 30. Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, Them he also called, and whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, what's he talking about? Predestination,
calling, justification, glorification. He's talking about God's purpose.
If God be for us, who can be against us? Now look at verse
32. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all." Who? Us all. All who are called, all who are
predestinated, all who are justified, all who are glorified. If He
gave His Son, delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? Now then, having
made all those statements, the apostle comes to the conclusion
of this matter, and he makes this profound, profound, bold,
bold challenge to heaven, earth, and hell. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Who's going to lay a charge against
Rex Bartley at the throne of your father? Who's going to charge
Buddy Dolly or Oscar Bailey with sin before God Almighty? Who's
going to charge you with sin? And here's the reason he raises
that challenge. It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? Here's
the reason he raises the challenge. It is Christ that died. I can't think of any place in
Scripture that is a harder knot for the freewill Arminian worksmonger
to try to untie than that one right there. Who can lay anything
to the charge of that man justified by the blood of Jesus Christ?
Who can condemn that sinner for whom Jesus Christ has died? Nobody. Who was that sinner then for
whom Christ has died? Who are those sinners who are
justified by the sacrifice of God's Son and His obedience unto
death? Well, they're God's elect. Those
predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. The us
all for whom God delivered his son up to die are the same as
those whom he foredew, and whom he predestinated, and whose calling,
justification, and glorification were secured from eternity by
God's sovereign purpose of grace. The us whom Paul says in Ephesians
1, are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world,
are the very same us who have redemption through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sins. All of them go together. All
of them go together. We are those who were chosen
of God. We are those who are redeemed
by the blood of Christ. And all who are chosen of God
and redeemed by Christ are forgiven of all sin. There's no question
about it. So God's elect are to Him a special
people. Above all people in the world,
special things belong to them which belong to no one else.
And yet we see that everything which is said to be true of the
elect, is also said to be true of the redeemed. Therefore, we
must conclude, according to Scripture, that all who are chosen of God
are redeemed, and all who are redeemed were chosen of God.
Are the elect beloved of the Lord? The Scripture declares
that we are ourselves accepted in the beloved, and our redemption
flows to us from that love. Are the elect a people whom God
has chosen for His own peculiar treasure? We are also told that
the redeemed are those who are redeemed to be the Lord's peculiar
people. Do the vessels of mercy aforeprepared
to glory consist of Jew and Gentile? So those who are redeemed are
bought of God among Jews and of Gentiles and delivered from
among Jews and Gentiles under the glorious liberty of the sons
of God. Are God's elect a great number? A multitude which no
man can number out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue? So
those redeemed by Christ are a great number that no man can
number. I recall Brother Gary Shepard and I were preaching
together years ago, and somebody had been riding him pretty hard. And he said, you folks, these
sovereign grace churches, y'all just believe there's just a little
handful going to be saved. And Gary responded by saying,
A handful, yeah, but not little. That's God's hand. That's God's
hand. They are a great multitude. God numbered them, but no man
can. A multitude more numerous than
the stars in the sky or the sand by the seashore. So are the multitude
of the redeemed of the Lord chosen by Him. Is it true of the elect
that they shall never, never, by any possibility, for any reason,
at any time, perish? Is it true that they cannot be
totally and finally deceived and perish in their sins? So
too, it is true of the ransomed of the Lord. The Scripture tells
us that they shall come to Zion with everlasting joy. Christ
will never lose any part of those purchased by His blood. All right,
thirdly, for whom did Christ die? In Hebrews 7, 22. Our great Savior's sacrificial
work, as our sin-atoning sacrifice,
as our great High Priest, was made for those for whom He undertook
to be a surety in the covenant of grace before the world began.
Now you can read the chapter at your leisure, it's talking
about Melchizedek. Some argue Melchizedek was a type of Christ,
others spend a lot of time arguing that he was Christ himself. I
happen to be most inclined to agree with the latter. But either
way, the text here is talking about Christ. He was made a surety
by the oath and covenant of God. By so much more was he made a
surety, the surety of a better testament or a better covenant.
Those for whom Christ died, and have been redeemed by his blood
are the same people as those for whom he stood as a surety
before the world began. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit setting together in a council of peace before
time began made a covenant, made a covenant on our behalf with
our surety and our head. And the Lord Jesus Christ, our
surety and our head, God's dear son, stood before the Father. And he said to his father, trust
him to me. Put him in my hands. Take Paul
Wendell and Paul Harris and put them in my hands. Put them in
my hands and I will fulfill all righteousness for them. I'll
become a man and live for them. And I will suffer all that is
due to man from God for them. And I'll satisfy divine justice
for them. And I will send my Spirit to
call them and preserve them. And I will bring them at last
in resurrection glory and present them spotless before the presence
of your glory. And so the Father trusted the
Son with you as assurance. And when the Father and Son struck
hands in the covenant, God Almighty ceased forever to look to you
for anything. Can you get a hold of that? Oh,
my soul, if you can get a hold of that, that'll help you. That'll
help you. God looks not to us for payment,
for satisfaction, or for righteousness. God looks to our surety. He demands it of our surety. And He has accepted us in our
surety, for He found in our surety payment and righteousness and
satisfaction to the full pleasure of His infinite holiness and
strict justice. John Gill said, Christ's surety
ship and redemption are of equal extent and reach to the same
objects. They are the Lord's Benjamins, the sons of his right
hand, his beloved sons that Christ, the antitype of Judah, became
surety for and laid himself under obligation to bring them safe
to glory and present them to the divine Father, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in his eyes. For whom did Christ die? He died
for the objects of God's everlasting love. He died for God's elect. He died for those for whom he
stood as surety in the covenant of grace. And in Isaiah 53 in
verse 8, the scripture plainly declares that our almighty, all
glorious Redeemer and Savior died for those who are described
in this book as the people of God. He was taken from prison
and from judgment. And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living. Now look
at it. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. I can't remember who it was who
read Sunday, either back in the office or out here, out of Exodus,
when the Lord God told Moses, to go and whisper to the children
of Israel. Go and tell every man in Israel. I'm going to bring them out.
Go tell every man in Israel, find a lamb, lock it up, inspect
it, slay the lamb, put the blood on the door post and the lintel,
and eat the meat of that lamb, and you're going out of Egypt.
Going out with a high hand. But God said, just tell Israel. Just tell Israel. Why not Pharaoh? I'm not doing it for Pharaoh.
Why not the Egyptians? I didn't come to deliver the
Egyptians. Well, what does the Lord mean by that? Exactly what
you think He means. The redemption was for Israel. And the word goes to Israel. And all others will never hear
it. Never hear it. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. The objects of redemption are
described by such words and characteristics as show them to be a special
and distinct people. Particularly those who are the
objects of redemption are called the people of God and of Christ. He was stricken by the rod of
justice to make satisfaction for our sins and to redeem us
from them. When he was about to come into
the world and redeem us, the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias,
at his birth said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he
hath visited and redeemed his people. Therefore, the angel
appeared to Joseph. Joseph, that as he considered
putting away his wife Mary, who was now pregnant with a child,
conceived in her, that holy thing wrought in her and conceived
in her and made in her by the Holy Spirit. The angel said to
Joseph, don't put her away. Man, don't put her away. That
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. He shall be
called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Not, He's going to provide salvation
for everybody. That's meaningless. If everybody's
dead, everybody's doomed, everybody's damned, to provide for everybody
is meaningless. Oh, but to accomplish. To accomplish. Salvation for His people. That's
something worthy of Him whose name is Jehovah saves, Jesus. Someone may say, well, all men
are His people. That's true, in a sense, in as
much as they are His creatures. They are His people, just the
same as every dog on earth is His dog. And every skunk in North
America is his skunk, but they're not his people. Creatures of
his hands, but not his people. We who believe, who are born
of God, we're his people. The scriptures expressly tell
us that they are not all redeemed as his people. For those who
are redeemed by Christ are redeemed out of every people. Revelation 5, 9. The redeemed are God's covenant
people, a people of whom he says, they shall be mine. I will be their God. And Dwayne,
he spoke that concerning you before time began. Before ever
the sun was made to shine in the sky, he could be mine. He's going to be mine. Or what?
He's going to be mine. But what? He's going to be mine.
But how? He's going to be mine. And I
will be His God forever. They are a people near and dear
to Him, given to Christ to be redeemed by Him, of whom He says,
Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power. Now then,
turn to John chapter 10. For whom did Christ die? The
Son of God laid down His life and died for those people who
are specifically designated as His sheep. I love that designation. The whole world is divided in
two groups. The whole world is just a dividing
line. You can't see it and I can't
see it. God does. Sheep and goats. Now some of
the sheep are lost sheep, some are folded sheep. Some are straying
sheep and some are found sheep. But all the Lord's people, His
elect, are sheep. Everybody else is goats. And
goats never get to be sheep. And sheep never become goats.
The Lord speaks of sheep. Sheep. And He speaks of Himself
as the shepherd of the sheep. Look here in John 10, verse 15. The Father knows me, knoweth
me. Even so know I the Father. Now
look at it. And I laid down my life for the
sheep. The Jews began to cavil. They
argued and fuss. And the Lord Jesus just dust
the soles of his feet off and said, I wasn't talking to you.
You believe not because you're not of my sheep. As I said unto
you, my sheep hear my voice. And look at verse 29. My Father
which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of my Father's hands. The objects of redemption
are those for whom Christ gave his life and laid it down as
a ransom price, here described as sheep, the sheep of Christ,
his special property as the good shepherd. As such, they were
given to him before the world began by his Father. That beautiful parable he uses
of the ninety and nine, And that one lost sheep. That one lost
sheep. That one lost sheep represents
all the sheep of Christ, redeemed by His blood, who were not yet
gathered into His fold. And He's going to search for
them. And He's going to search and
search and search until He finds it. And when He finds it, He
finds it running headlong to hell. utterly ignorant to know
where it is. And he doesn't stand and lean
over the gaping jaws of hell and say, little sheep, little
sheep, won't you make a decision and come up here with me? Sheep
never do. But rather with the long arm,
the almighty arm of irresistible grace, he lays hold on the sheep. He picks it up. And I love the
picture. He lays it on his shoulders. Lay a sheep on your shoulders
and hold him there. You've got to tie it down. You've
got to hold all four feet. And that's exactly how he holds
us. We have a picture of ourselves being held with the master and
us holding on to him. I don't know where on earth we
get the picture. The picture I get is him holding
on to us. All four feet. That's firmly
around his neck. And He carries the sheep all
the way home. Who's redeemed to the Lord? Sheep. Well, who are His sheep? He describes
them here. He tells us that His sheep are
known by Him. I know who they are. I know where
they are. I know what they need. I know
what I'm going to do for them. And I know when and how. I know
where to find them. And I will. More than that, they
know Him. Christ is known by those sheep
of his for whom he laid down his life. They all know him in
his person, offices, and grace, whereas there are multitudes
who neither know the Father nor the Son. They know the voice
of the shepherd, that is the gospel of Christ, the joyful
sound, whereas the gospel is hid to them that are lost. Those
sheep for whom the good shepherd laid down his life, Once they
are called, hearing His voice, follow the shepherd who died
for them. They follow Him. They say, well,
sheep, you know, they're kindly done. I know it, but shepherds
not. And He knows how to make the sheep follow. And He sees
to it that they follow Him. They hear His voice. They walk
in His steps. They obey His Word. They submit
to His ordinances. They imitate His grace. They
follow Him. And the sheep, ransomed by the
blood of Christ shall never perish. Those sheep that are lost are just as safe and secure there
as those sheep that are already in the heavenly fold. They'll
never perish. Those sheep that are on this
earth in the midst of this veil of tears, in the midst of the world, the
flesh, and the devil, struggling with inward corruptions and outward
evil, are just as safe as those already in the heavenly fold. No possibility. No possibility. Because they're all forgiven
in Christ. Justified in Christ. Sanctified in Christ. As a matter
of fact, John tells us that the Lord God looked on those 144,000
sheep and said, don't you touch the earth. I set my seal in their
foreheads. They're already sealed in Christ.
For whom did Christ die? Our great sin-atoning substitute
laid down his life and died for the children of God. Turn to
John chapter 11. Let me show you an interesting
text. We sometimes get all bent out
of shape, getting a tizzy because of godless, reprobate men who
seem to have such power and influence. Oh, what's going on? Do you know
God uses godless, reprobate men to accomplish His purpose just
exactly as He uses the most faithful angel in heaven? That's exactly
right. Now, the godless and the reprobate
don't know it, but they're just as much God's instruments. Satan
does not exist because God can't control him. He exists because
God made him, and he does only that which God has purposed to
be done, and he will do no more than God has purposed to be done
for the good of his people. Here in John chapter 11, we have
a high priest, godless, reprobate, religious man who had no idea
who God is, but he spoke a word of prophecy by the inspiration
of God's Spirit, just as thoroughly and completely and fully as did
the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John. Here in John chapter 11,
verse 52, look at it. Talking about the death of one
man. And he says, not for that nation only, but also he should
gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Caiaphas, the high priest, said,
now, fellas, Don't y'all understand? One man must die for the people,
and not just for this nation, but this one man who dies in
the stead of the people. He's going to gather together
in one all the children of God scattered to the four corners
of the earth. He didn't have any idea what he was talking
about, but John says he spoke with the Spirit of God. He spoke
with the Spirit of God. And redemption is that which goes hand in hand
with adoption. because redemption and adoption
belong to the same people. According to Caiaphas' prophecy,
Christ was to die not for the nation of the Jews only, but
for all the children of God. Those who were predestined to
adoption by Christ are said in Ephesians 1 to have redemption
through His blood and the forgiveness of sins. And this blessing of
adoption, the full enjoyment of it, is still a ways off. Maybe not so far. Maybe just
a second or two. But so far as we can see, still
a ways off. You see, redemption includes not just the purchase
of our souls out from under the curse of God's holy law. Redemption
includes everything involved in our total deliverance from
Adam's fall and sin's ruin. Everything. Redemption begins
in God's purpose. Redemption continues in God's
providence. Redemption, the purchase price
of it, accomplished at Calvary. Redemption, the experience of
it, brought to pass in regeneration and in our daily deliverances
by the hand of God and His grace. But there is a final touch to
redemption. The final stroke to this marvelous
masterpiece painted by the hand of God. There is a day coming
when these bodies, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ,
shall be raised up into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. And then, redemption's done. The redemption of our bodies. The Scripture speaks of it many,
many times. For whom did Christ die? Those
loved of God. Those chosen of God. He died
for those for whom He stood as surety and everlasting grace. He died for the people of God,
for His sheep, for the children of God. Now be sure you get this
next point. Our all-glorious Redeemer died
for every sinner in this world who believes on Him as Savior
and Lord. You see, the fruit of redemption
and the evidence of redemption is faith in Jesus Christ. The children of God, of whom
I have been speaking, or a particular number of men given to Christ
to redeem. And those redeemed by Christ,
that same particular distinct number of men, women, children,
they shall at God's appointed time be called to life and given
faith by the operation of God through the Word. They are the
people for whom and on whose account He became incarnate and
took part in the same flesh and blood. They are the many sons
described in Hebrews 2 whom He shall bring to glory. These children
of God are not mere children of flesh, those who are never
born again. They are not all children who
are creatures of God. But they and they only are the
children of God who are openly and manifestly the children of
God by faith in Christ. We call no man brother, we hold
no man before God with any hope, with any peace, we speak peace
to no one, except as God speaks peace on the basis of faith in
Jesus Christ. Now if right where you are, you believe on the Son of God, Brother Dodd, what is that? You
know what it is. Quit trusting yourself. Faith's
not hard to explain. The more you try to explain it,
the more you confuse it. Faith is trust. Trust. Surrender. Go to the doctor, and the doctor
tells you you've got cancer growing inside you. It's going to kill
you. And he says, now I want you to come to the hospital in
the morning. I'll cut that thing out. And you say, OK, I'll be there in
the morning. What time? They never saw the fellow before.
But on the basis of the credentials hanging on his wall, you say,
all right, I'll trust my life to you. That's called faith.
That's a poor illustration. But on the basis of the credentials
written in this book, I hang my life. on the merits
and in the hands of the Son of God. And believe in Him. I'm one of God's children, redeemed
by His blood. I know it. Because faith's the
evidence of things not seen. Faith is the evidence of those
things that we hope for. Faith is the fruit of the operation
of God upon His children. And every believer is that one
who is numbered among the many who have received him, to whom
he has given power, a right, and authority to be the sons
of God. What right do you have to say
you're a child of God? I wish I could get somebody to
just ask me that question. What right do you have to say you're
a child of God? I believe the Son of God. That's
all. I trust Him. What about your
sin? I trust Him. What about God's
justice? I trust Him. What about God's
infinite holiness? I trust His Son. I trust His
Son. For whom did Christ die? Our
great and glorious Savior died and made atonement for and redeemed
with His precious blood His church, which is His bride. and his spouse. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Pastors,
take heed to yourselves and to all the flock over the which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church
of God which he purchased with his own blood. Of that church
which Christ is the head, and husband. He is the Redeemer. The Scripture says, thy maker
is thy husband. Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel. Now that can't be said of all
churches. That can't be said of all religious
organizations. Babylon, the great whore that
comes from Babel. That great whore of freewill
Arminian works religion which presumes and dares to think I
can lift myself up to God by something I do. That's not the
church of God. He didn't purchase that church
with his own blood. That church that's made drunk with the wine
of Babylon's fornication of Arminian freewill works religion is not
numbered among these people. But the church of the living
God is a chaste virgin. made so by the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ and the free grace of God in him. And though
there may be threescore queens and fourscore concubines of Babylon's
whores, the Lord Jesus Christ says, my dove, my undefiled,
is just one, just one. This is his bride, his spouse,
his church. made up of God's elect, made
up of every believer, every sinner called by grace, robed in Christ's
righteousness, believing on Christ. Redemption is not universal.
Jesus Christ is not the Redeemer of all men, but of many. If the redeemed are those who
are the objects of God's special love and favor, then not all
men are redeemed, but some. For He makes a statement. You
can look it up at your leisure. I just read it to some of the
men as they came in. I had never really gotten hold of this before.
It's astounding. It's worthy of more than I'm
going to say about it now. In Isaiah 27, verse 11, the latter
part of the verse, God speaks to those who do not understand.
Just don't understand. Like that deaf mute. They don't
hear, they can't speak the things of God. Like the poor blind man,
they just can't see. They just can't see. And this is what the Lord God
says, He that made them will not have mercy on them. And he that formed them will
show them no favor. And as those words are a true,
accurate description of what shall be the final end of every
reprobate sinner, the very opposite is a true, accurate description
of what shall be the final end of every redeemed sinner. He
that made you will have mercy on you. And He that formed you
will hold you as the object of His favor forever. Amen. Amen. Let's stand together and sing
a hymn. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. I believe it's
475. I looked up a little while ago. Yeah. 475.