We'll have Frank and Janet here
with us tonight. Frank has agreed to come up once
again and preach for me. I couldn't have done it last
week. I think I could have do it this week. I feel that much
better, but I'm glad to hear Frank and I'm glad you're here
with us and I covet your prayers. Lord willing, next week I'm going
to be preaching right down the road at the church in Andover,
the Baptist church, unless it gets rescinded for some reason.
But I'm supposed to preach there next Sunday night and pray for
me that the Lord would give me wisdom and grace to preach what
I ought to preach. I need help. I need wisdom. I need grace. Pray for me that
the Lord would give me the words to say that he had helped me
in the study this week. Several people have expressed the fact
that they'd like to go there. If I go there again, yeah, but
this first time, I think it would be best for everybody to just
stay here for this reason. I don't want them to think the
hordes of the aliens are coming in and invading their church
and so on, and let's just, let's keep it like that, and if I get
the opportunity to go there again, well, we can all go, so pray
for me, but Frank, come up the bridge. Well, it is certainly my delight
and honor to be here with you, to be able to worship together. You all know very well that there
are some folks here who are mighty important to me after the flesh,
and I thank God for you. I thank God that there's a place
and this town where these who are mine after the flesh can
come and be fed and worship together. And I thank God for you, and
I thank you for being so faithful and supporting it. If you would,
open your Bibles to Romans chapter 5. I've entitled the message
this evening, Christ Died for Who? And I gave it that title. because it is utterly shocking
to the natural man to find out who it is that Christ really
did die for. And it's also, to the objects
of God's grace, such a constant joy to be so often reminded who
it is Christ died for. We need to be reminded of that.
We need to find out what God's word says about who it is Christ
died for. Because Christ did not die for
the people you and I would die for. Christ did not die for the
people we think deserve salvation. Christ died for those who do
not deserve salvation in any way at all. And a very good place,
the best place for us to start is here. Christ died for his
elect. Now that's a truth that we boldly
preach because this is the truth of scripture. Election teaches
us both who God is and who man is. Election means that God's
sovereign. God saves whom he will. Election
also means this. God is gracious and loving. God is so gracious. He's so loving,
God chose to save sinners. Not good people, but when I say
sinners, I mean the worst of the worst. God's so gracious,
that's the people he chose to save. And election means that
man is totally depraved. Man is dead in sin. Man's incapable
of doing anything to merit anything good from God. Election means
that man is totally dependent upon God to save us, without
any input from us whatsoever. You see how election puts both
God and man in the proper light, doesn't it? Now let me answer,
before I get into my points here, the objection that the natural
man has to this great truth of election. Election never keeps
anyone from being saved. Election never stops anyone from
coming to Christ. Election is the only way that
a door can be opened for a sinner to be saved in the first place.
You and I can't be so bad and so vile and so sinful that we
cannot be saved. because Christ came to save sinners.
But we can be too good in our own eyes to be saved. Our Lord
said he didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So the question for you and me
is not, am I one of the elect? Nobody ever came to Christ because
they knew they were one of the elect. The question for us is,
are we sinners? Do we fit the description that
God's word gives of those for whom Christ died? And that's
what I want us to see. I want us to see for whom did
Christ die and what is the result of his death for those people.
Our text this evening gives us four words that describes those
that Christ died for. They're without strength. They're
ungodly. They're enemies and they're sinners. That's who Christ died for and
I want us to see the effect of Christ's death on them. Now the
first word that describes the people that Christ died for is
without strength. Romans 5 verse 6. For when we
are yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. This word without strength means
sick, spiritually sick. Isn't that the way Isaiah describes
us? The whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint from
the sole of the foot to the top of the head were nothing but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Our natural heart is sick,
spiritually sick, but now don't be mistaken. That doesn't mean
that we're sick, but you know, there's some life left in us
and there's some hope, you know, we'll recover. No, our natural
heart is so sick. We're dead in sin. Look down
here at verse 12. Wherefore is by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. All sinned in Adam. So we're
born dead. We come into this world already
dead. And without strength also means impotent. We're powerless
to do anything to produce spiritual life for ourselves. We're dead
in sin, so all we can produce by our actions is more spiritual
deadness. Now, here's a picture of us spiritually,
by nature. We're a dead corpse that's been
left out in the heat for days. Now, when somebody finds a corpse
like that, it's always repulsive. You know, you see them, they
find a corpse like that, and the first thing they do is they cover their
nose, they cover their mouth, and they turn away because it's
repulsive. The sight, the smell is disgusting. We don't want to touch that body.
We don't want to smell it. We don't want to look at it.
And we certainly would not die for such a disgusting thing. Now you multiply that millions
of times and you'll start to get the idea of how disgusting
dead sinners are in the sight of Almighty God. Yet here's the
glorious truth of salvation. That's who Christ died for. He
died for those who are dead in sin. And the result of his death
is that the dead live. Christ, our substitute, took
the spiritual deadness. He took the disease and the sickness
and the spiritual deadness of his people, and he took it into
his own body upon the tree. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
And by his stripes, we are healed. By the death of Christ, his people
received life. Life comes from the death of
our substitute. Look at Ephesians chapter 2.
Sinners live because Christ died for them. Ephesians 2 verse 1. And you hath he quickened, hath
given life, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
God, whose rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace, ye are saved. What
grace that the Lord Jesus Christ would die for those who are dead
in sin and give them his life. If Christ died for you, you have
spiritual life. You think of that, that spiritual
life is real, it's glorious, it's a life that can never be
lost. It's the life of Christ in you.
That's the miracle, the death of Christ. So here's the question
for you and me. Are you without strength? Are
you weak? Then turn to Christ. The apostle
Paul said, when I'm weak, then I'm strong. The only way I can
ever be strong is by knowing my weakness and relying entirely
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. When I lean all on Him, then
and only then am I strong. Are you diseased? Are you sin
sick? You can't heal yourself no matter
what you do? The situation only gets worse? Then come to Christ. Look back at Luke chapter nine.
Here is such an encouraging Word of Scripture for those who are
sin sick. Luke 9, verse 11. And the people, when they knew
it, followed him. And he received them and spake
unto them of the kingdom of God and healed them that had need
of healing. Do you have need of healing?
Then come to Christ. He heals those who have need
of healing. You come to Christ. Don't ask
yourself if you're one of the elect. Here's the question. Are you a dead, diseased sinner? If you are, you come to Christ.
I promise you soon enough you'll find out you came because he
chose you first. You came because he drew you
first. But you come to Christ because you have a great need.
You have the need of life. that come to him. He died for
those who are without strength, who are dead. Alright, here's
a second word. This describes the people that
Christ died for. He died for the ungodly. Verse
6 says, when we are yet without strength in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Now that word ungodly means wicked. Can that put an end to the idea
that Christ died for good religious people? He didn't, did he? He
died for the wicked. Ungodly means the opposite of
God, the un-God. I thought of 7-Up. It advertises
itself as the un-Cola. You know, they try to sell themselves
or the opposite of Cola, where more refreshing or healthier
or whatever they're trying to sell. Well, by nature, we are
the un-God. We're the opposite of Him in
every way. God's holy. We're unholy. God's
righteous. We're unrighteous. God is truth.
We're liars. God is love. We're hate. God is just. We are unjust. We're the opposite of God in
every way. You see, it's not just we don't
have anything to offer to God. But what we think we have to
offer to God is offensive to Him. It's the opposite of Him. It's the opposite of what He
requires. And the miracle of God's grace is that Christ died
for the people who are the opposite of Him. Now, the human understanding
can't grasp that. You think about your friends,
the people we're friends with. There are people who are like
us. We've got something at least in common with them. That's why
we're friends. People we love, we've got something
in common with them. Aren't you glad God's not like
us? He didn't have to find somebody who had something in common with
him for him to save them. No, God sent his son to die for
people who are the opposite of him. That is such a glorious
attribute of who God is, and that's the only way a sinner
has any hope of salvation, that Christ died for the ungodly. Now, all men, everybody in Adam's
race is ungodly. Our problem is we don't know
it. But I'll tell you where ungodliness is seen most clearly. It's not
You know, we look down our nose at the self-righteous, or the
Armenian, or the heathen, and we look down our nose. That's
not where ungodliness is seen the most clearly. I'll tell you
where it's seen the most clearly. It's in those who've heard the
truth of the gospel. Those who have heard Christ the
Savior preached, and they refuse to bow to him. They refuse to
come to him. They refuse to believe on him.
They refuse to surrender. Now suppose you saw a great danger
coming. You saw a dam holding back a
huge lake of water. You saw that dam burst. And you
knew there's a wall of water rushing down the valley going
to destroy everything, everybody that's left there. And you run
and tell people, get out of this place. Death is coming. Sure
and certain death is coming. How could you tell if somebody
doesn't believe you? if they don't run to higher ground. If
they just stay put, they say, I'm not gonna do what you say.
You know what they're saying? I don't believe you. I don't
believe you. If somebody mocked you that way,
how many times would you warn them? Once? Twice? Maybe three times? I'd venture
to say no more. If you're like me, this is what
I'd do. I'd say, all right, you mock
me, you get what's coming to you, and I won't be sorry. You who believe, how many times did you hear the
gospel before you heard? I'm the worst of the worst. How
many times? Did you hear the gospel and you
refused to bow? You refused to believe. How many? Again, aren't you thankful God's
not like us? God kept sending the word. He
kept sending the word. He kept sending the word. And
one day he gave you faith to believe it. Why? Because Christ
died for the ungodly. That's not who we died for, but
that's who Christ died for. Well, what's the result of Christ
dying for the ungodly? They're made godly. Everyone
Christ died for will be born again. Then when they're born
again, they're born with a new nature. I know you've heard this
before, but let me tell you again. Don't be discouraged. The old
ungodly nature will not be changed in the new birth. As a matter
of fact, we think that old man's worse. He's really not, he's
just dead as dead, but we think he's worse because now we've
got eyes to see. Only the new man, I get this
from you, only the new man can see the old man. Only the new
man can see, this is how disgusting the old man is. But that new
nature born of God is cuddly. Peter said, when we're born again,
we're made partakers of the divine nature. That's how that nature
is holy. We're born again. This is the miracle, the power
of the death of Christ for the ungodly. We're made godly, given
a new nature. Now, are you the opposite of
God in every way? Is everything that you have,
that you think you could offer to God, is it the opposite of
what God requires? Then my friend, you come to Christ.
Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died to give the ungodly
a new nature and a new birth. You come to Christ. He is the
only one who would or could help those who are the opposite of
him. Oh, what grace. Well, here's the third word that
describes the people Christ died for. They're sinners. And certainly, this is not the
man that we would die for. Look at verse 7. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet perventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. Now this righteous man,
you know somebody like him. He's a morally strict man. He's
buttoned up straight. He's religious. But I'm telling
you, he's self-righteous. He's got a scowl all the time. Something wrong with religion
doesn't make somebody happy. Grace is, oh, what a wonderful
message. But nobody wants to be around
this guy. He's just, he's judgmental. Even
if he doesn't say anything, you just know by the way he's looking
at you. He's judging me, judging the way I dress, judging what
I eat, judging what I drink. And even though there's nothing
wrong with it exactly, I just feel guilty being around him.
I don't like being uncomfortable being around this guy. Nobody'd
die for him. I mean, that's just obvious.
Everybody can see through him. He's a hypocrite. You know, he's
judging you for doing the same things he does and says and thinks.
Nobody would die for that person. Christ didn't die for that person.
Christ didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So there's the righteous man.
Then there's what Paul calls the good man. He's kind, he's
honest, he's generous. Some people might die for that
man. We might think, well, you know,
he's good for society. He can do more for society than
I can. Maybe I'd die for him. We might. Although when push
comes to shove, we wouldn't. I mean, we care too much about
self, but maybe somebody would. But you know what? It wouldn't
do any good. It would not do us any good to
die for that good man. He's good by our estimation.
not God. So there's none good but God.
If we would die for him, we couldn't pay for sin, we couldn't pay
for his guilt. And Paul goes through that and
points that out to show us how amazing it is that Christ would
die for sinners. There's a third class of people.
There's the righteous, there's the good man, and there's sinners.
Paul doesn't even suggest that Christ died for the righteous
or he died for the good Paul says Christ died for sinners. The amazing grace of God is seen
in this. Christ died for sinners. Look
at verse eight. But God committeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now who's a sinner? What is a
sinner? Well, a sinner is someone who's missed the mark. It's like
an archer shooting at the Bullseye there, it just falls
short. We've sinned and come short of
the glory of God. That's a sinner. And really what's
worse is we haven't even tried to hit the mark. A sinner is
a sinner who's rebellious. We haven't even tried to hit
the mark because we like our sin. We like doing it our way. Even our religious acts, what
we think is the best things, they're full of sin. They're
offensive to God. Yet Christ died for sinners,
those who are offensive. A sinner is someone who transgressed
the law of God. That sinner is guilty. He's broken
the law. And that guilt makes God angry. Our guilt is offensive to God. God's angry with the wicked every
day. Yet God's word tells us Christ died for sinners. Now
you think about just humanly speaking, when someone breaks
the law, if they break man's law in a heinous way, it's a
cold-blooded murder, they torture, it's a horrible crime. Man's
law, sinful man has made up a law that says that person deserves
to die. And if we're not gonna put him
to death, we're gonna at least put him out of our sight because
he's too offensive. It's not good that this person
live in society. But God is love. And the way God has demonstrated
his love for sinners is by sending his only begotten son to die
for sin, to die in the place of sinners. What love, what love. Only God could love like that. You see, it's not our love that
brings or causes salvation at all, is it? No, it's God's love
for sinners that moved Him to send His Son to die in their
place. Now, what does it mean that Christ
died in the place of sinners? Well, it means this. Christ died
as a substitute for sinners. Christ took the place of sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ took the
sin of His people and He took it into His own body upon the
tree. The sin of God's elect became
Christ's, so that He became guilty of that sin. That's the only
way the Father could have put Him to death in justice. He was
made sin. And then the Father dealt with
Christ in absolute wrath against that sin without a hint of mercy. He did that because that's what
his people deserve. That's what the sin of his people
deserve. And Christ bore all of that wrath. He bore that wrath until the
Father's wrath against sin was gone. He bore it as a substitute
for his people so they wouldn't have to. Now what love, what
mercy, what grace that Christ, the perfect, holy son of God
would die in the place of sinners. That he would take their sin
away from them and suffer everything that sin deserves. That's what
it means. Christ died in the place of sinners.
Well, what's the result of that death? The result of that death
is sinners are saved, verse nine. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we should be saved from wrath through him. You see,
Christ did not come to make salvation possible for as many people as
might someday accept him. Christ didn't come to try to
save some people. Christ came to save his people
from their sins, and that is exactly what he did. Now, our
text says that Christ saved his people from wrath. How did he
save his people from wrath? You know, people, you talk to
people, they don't want to suffer the wrath of God. You can't find
anybody that wants to go to hell. Salvation is more than being
saved from hell. Salvation is not a fire escape
from hell. What does this mean when Paul
says that Christ saved his people from wrath? Well, he saved them
from God's wrath by saving them from their sin. That's salvation. Salvation is being saved from
sin. Christ took the sin of his people
away. He put it under his blood and made it to not exist. Then there's nothing left to
draw the wrath of God, is there? Because sin's been put away.
The wrath of God's already been poured out upon our substitute.
The blood of Christ, Paul says, has justified, or been justified
by his blood. Justified is not just as if I've
never sinned. God's not playing games here.
He's not playing pretend. Justified is to be made so that
we have never sinned. That's only possible in the blood
of Christ. The blood of Christ had blotted
out our sin so that if we're in Him, we have no sin. Then there's nothing left to
draw the wrath of God, is there? Christ was made sin for his people
so that they would be made the righteousness of God in him. So here's the question for you
and me. Are we a sinner? That's what we gotta find out.
Is the only plea you have before God guilty? I'm guilty as charged. Is all you are, is sin? Not just what you do, I'm talking
about what you are. Is what you are sin? Can there be no hope
in anything that you do for God? Then you come to Christ. This
is a faithful saying. It's worthy to be believed, worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this world to
save sinners of whom I'm chief. He came to save the worst. All
right, here's the fourth word that describes the people Christ
died for. It's his enemies, verse 10. For
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life. Now, by nature, we are enemies
of God. And God didn't do anything to
make Himself our enemy. No, we made God our enemy by
our sin and our rebellion against Him. The very moment we were
conceived, in our mother's womb, we received a nature. It's the
only nature our father had to pass on to us, is Adam's nature. It's a nature that is enmity
against God. It's a nature that hates God
and will always be at war with God. Look over a couple pages
at Romans chapter 8. Verse 7. because the carnal mind is enmity
against God. For it's not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. They that are in the nature of
the flesh, they cannot. I mean, they don't want to, they
don't have the ability to, they cannot please God. They cannot
make peace with God. That nature will never surrender
to God. It'll never sue for peace with
God. All our nature does is hate God
and make war with God because of His crown rights to do with
me as He pleases. The flesh will always war against
that. I like to watch movies about
World War II. I like to watch documentaries
about World War II. That generation utterly fascinates
me. What those men did in that war
just utterly fascinates me. And I've heard stories about
they're just in war, and there's this enemy. He spent days and
weeks and months trying to kill them, and they capture him, and
they just put a bullet in his head. I mean, they're just so
fed up, but they ought not do it. But I understand. This is
my enemy. Oh, I'm so thankful God's not
like me. I'd have done that. In amazing grace, the Lord Jesus
Christ died for his enemies. Oh. Well, what did that death accomplish
for his enemies? It made them friends. Look over
at Colossians chapter 1. The death of Christ reconciled
those enemies and made them friends. Colossians 1 verse 20. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say whether they be things in the earth or
things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Christ died for
us. We've been made the friend of
God. And when I say that there's been peace made, If Christ died
for us, we don't just grudgingly surrender and stop hostilities
because we're out of ammunition, you know, I'm out of bullets,
I can't fire anymore. That's not the peace that we're talking
about here. God's elect have peace with God because the blood
of Christ has justified us and made us the friend of God. What does scripture say about
Abraham? Abraham was the friend of God. Abraham's scripture says
was justified by faith. That's why he's a friend of God.
He's justified. And you and I are friends of
God Almighty if we've been justified in the blood of Christ. That's
the result of Christ's death for his enemies. And if God did
that for his enemies, think how he's going to bless and keep
those who are his friends. So here's the question. Do you
hate God? Now I'm not talking about the
idol of your imagination. Of course you love him. You made
him up. Of course you love him. You made up somebody you love.
When I say do you hate God, I mean the sovereign holy God of the
Bible. The only way we can know who
God is is by God telling us who he is in his word. That's the
only way we can know who he is. So does this message of sovereign
grace, does this message of Christ dying for his people and only
his people and not all of Adam's race, does that make you mad?
Then come to Christ. Come to God and beg for peace
in Christ. Ask God to give you a new heart.
Ask him to wash you in his blood. Ask him to make you the friend
of God. You see, the death of Christ
is a miracle. I mean, what a wonder. that God
died? What a miracle! And I tell you
who Christ died for is a miracle too. We won't turn to these. Let me give you just one or two
other things here about what Scripture says. Christ died for
who? Galatians 3.13 says Christ died
for people who are under the curse of the law. They're cursed
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it's written, Cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. But what's the result of Christ's
death on the cursed tree? It's freedom from condemnation,
freedom from the curse. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. And Peter tells us Christ died
for the unjust. He died for the ungodly and the
unjust. Well, what's the result of his death for the unjust?
Reconciliation. Justification. First Peter 3,
verse 18, Christ also has suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God. Then, in the passage your pastor
read to open the service, John chapter 10, the Lord said he
would lay down his life for his sheep. Now, you know who those
sheep are. They're God's elect. He's telling
them, I'm laid down my life for the elect. Well, what's the result
of that death for his elect? All of them are brought to Christ. The Lord said, I'm gonna die
for them. Them I must bring. They shall
hear my voice. There shall be one fold and one
shepherd. Not one person for whom Christ
died can ever be lost. He's the successful savior. Now
one last scripture, I want you to turn to this, John chapter
3. John chapter 3. The last word I want us to look
at is Christ died for whosoever. Now that ought to perk up the
ears of every person in this room. Are you a whosoever? Look here at John 3 verse 14.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. Now here's the question
for you and me. I wish that I could spare you
my mistake. I can't tell you how many years
I spent. You know, we can teach our children. We can teach them. You prayed
for our children. We can teach them. I mean, by the time they're
three or four years old, I promise you we can make them a Calvinist.
I was a Calvinist from the time I understood language. And this
is what I did. This is what the natural intellect
does with that knowledge. I spent years, and they were
miserable years, searching this book, asking God, would you show
me I'm one of the elect? And after years of searching,
much shouldn't be to anyone's surprise, I couldn't find any
evidence of that. And I came to the conclusion,
there's no hope for me. And I can understand why there's
no hope for me. I have been a rebel from the
time I can remember. I've been a rebel. I've heard
the gospel preached in the most clear terms a human being could
hear it. And I'm a rebel. I was dating
my wife. My girlfriend was dating her.
And she asked me one evening after service, she says, what's
wrong with you? You're awful quiet. And I told her, there's no hope
for me. And I explained why there's no
hope for me. And she looked at me like I had
snakes coming out of my ears. And she said, well, Frank, Have
you ever asked God for mercy? Have you ever asked God for forgiveness? And the honest answer was no. Don't do that to yourself. Don't
spend years saying, well, if I just, if God just showed me
I wanted to elect, I'd come to Christ. It's not the issue. The issue, are you a whosoever? Are you without strength? Are
you ungodly? Are you a sinner? Are you an
enemy of God? Are you the unjust? That's the question, because
that's the people Christ died for. Oh, what mercy. And it is my earnest plea that
the Lord would be pleased for every one of us when we leave
this room tonight, that he would enable us to see ourselves for
what we really are, so that we'd run to Him for mercy, for forgiveness,
for grace. May the Lord bless you. If Christ died for the ungodly. If Christ died for those without
strength. If Christ died for sinners. If Christ died for his enemies. If Christ died for whosoever's. Christ died for me. And if Christ died for me, I
don't run the risk of the hazard of the possibility of being anything
but perfectly justified in God's side. Thanks for the message. Let's
pray. Lord, how we thank you. for the
death of our blessed Lord. And how we thank you for whom
he died. Those without strength. The ungodly. Sinners. Enemies. Whosoever. And Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that you would give everybody in this great, in this room,
the grace to see who Christ died for and to see that they fit
the description and to trust him and his precious blood as
all that's needed to make them perfectly acceptable before God.
Lord, how we thank you that you died for sinners. Create faith in each heart here
according to your will. In Christ's name we pray, amen.