I've entitled this message for
whom did Christ die? Jesus Christ is the eternal uncreated
son of God, the second person of the blessed Trinity God manifest
in the flesh. Isn't that amazing? Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Now in the flesh for 33 years,
This God man obeyed his father perfectly. He never sinned. He never put anything before
his father. He worshiped his father without
an idolatrous thought. He never took his name in vain
and always spoke with such reverence regarding his holy father. He always rested. He trusted
his father completely, always resting, never a doubt. He submitted himself to his parents. And he honored them. And he honored
all God-placed authority. He never killed anyone. He never
murdered anyone's character. He never slandered anyone. He
never committed sexual sin, not even in his heart or in his imagination. Nothing but pure thoughts passed
through his mind. He never stole. He never shoplifted. He never took that which did
not belong to him. He never lied. He always told
the truth. He never told a lie, not even
once. He never coveted. Perfectly content. He worked out a perfect Flawless
righteousness, which properly is called in scripture the righteousness
of God. What if after achieving this
perfect obedience, he just went back to heaven? What good would that do me or
you? Why, all it would do is condemn
us. If all he did was perfectly keep
God's holy law, and then go back to heaven, all it would do is
condemn me and you. It certainly wouldn't do anything
for us. But after living this perfect life, the very righteousness
of God, he died. He who never sinned died. Now, according to the scriptures,
God's revelation of himself, the inspired word of God. There's
only one reason for death. And that reason is sin. The wages of sin is death. Well, the son of God never sinned
and the son of God died. And the only reason for that
is because the sins of his people became his sins. He died as a substitute. He died
a sacrificial substitutionary death. Now, I think this is glorious. I know this is glorious. He came
to die. Now, I want you to think about
that, that very thought. He came for this purpose. He
came to die. He was called in Revelation 13,
8, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before there was
ever a sinner, there was a savior. Death was already accomplished
at that time. And he came to die. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 12. This is before his death. He
says, beginning in verse 23. And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. He's
talking about his death. And he says, The hour has come
that the son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abides alone. You know, if the Lord would have
just went back to heaven without dying, he'd be up there by himself
without me or you. We wouldn't have been there with
him. But if it died, bring it forth much fruit. He that loveth
his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world
shall keep it into life eternal. If any man serve me, let him
follow me, and where I am there shall my servant also be. If
any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul
troubled. He was thinking of his death.
And he said, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour? But for this cause came I into
this hour. I came to die. When Peter tries to protect the
Lord and cut somebody's ear off, the Lord said to Peter, put up
thy sword into thy sheep. The cup which the Father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? And he's talking about the cup
of death, the cup of the wrath of God that he was to drink. Now, Christ obeyed God's law
perfectly. And Christ came to die. He came
to die as a substitute to his own self, bear our sins in his
own body on the tree. And the moment he died, now listen
to this. The moment he died, all of the sins of the people
he died for were put away. Now I want you to think of the
import that the sin you committed yesterday. It's put away. The sin you're going to commit
tomorrow. It is no more. It is put away
by the blood of Christ. If you're somebody that he died
for now, once in the end of the world, have he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. First John 3, 5 says
he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. You see, if Christ died for you,
your sin has been put away. All put away. It is gone. It is no more. I say to you what
Nathan said to David after David cried out, I've sinned. He said,
yes, but the Lord had put away your sin. Isn't that a thrilling
thought? That my sin is put away. If Christ died for you, you've
been saved. You are saved. You cannot be
anything but saved. You have no sin. You have his
righteousness. If he died for you, heaven is
yours. And the question is, for whom
did he die? Now, if he died for you, your
sin's all gone right now. It's gone. You have no sin. If
he died for you, who did Christ die for? The Bible does not teach
or imply that his death could ever be in vain. He shall see
of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. There's no implication
whatsoever that he could die for somebody and that person
still wind up in hell. As far as that goes, the Bible
does not teach or imply that Christ died for all men without
exception. Now it doesn't. You can't read the Bible and
come up with the fact that Christ died for all men without exception. And I realize that most preachers
preach this. They preach that Jesus Christ
shed his precious blood to make salvation available for everybody. If men will just do their part
to make what he did work for them. Now, Somebody that preaches
that, let me tell you three things. Number one, they don't preach
the gospel. They do not preach the gospel. They preach another
gospel that nobody is saved believing that message. And number two,
they make the death of Christ meaningless. And number three, that takes
away my only hope. My only hope. I say before God
to you right now, my only hope is that Christ died for me. And if you tell me he can die
for somebody and that same person wind up in hell anyway, I know
I'll wind up in hell. For whom did Christ die? I want
to know what God's word teaches, don't you? I want to know what
the word of God teaches, not what Todd's Road Grace Church
stands for or some other denominator. What does God's word actually
teach regarding this question for whom did Christ die? Should
it even be asked? Should it even be brought up? I want to know for whom he died
so I can understand what his death actually did. You see,
if he died for somebody that goes to hell anyway, his death
didn't do anything for them. It was meaningless. I want to
know who he died for so I can see from the scriptures if he
died for me. I want to know if he died for
me, don't you? I mean, I've said this before. If I had
access to the Lamb's Book of Life, I'd know whose name I'd
be looking at first, and it wouldn't be yours. I'd be looking at you
after me, no doubt, but I know who I'd be looking for first.
I'd be looking under the ends. And I want to know for whom he
died so I can know how to preach the gospel. And I know this. If somebody
knows that Christ died for them, they will live for him. I know that. If you ever, if
I ever come up and see that Jesus Christ the Lord actually died
for me, I will give myself lock, stock, and barrel to Him to be
His only. Oh, would to God that the Spirit
of God would answer this question for us this morning, for whom
did Christ die? And let's go back to our text
in Romans chapter five, verse six. For when we were yet without
strength, not when we were weak, but when
we were without strength, powerless. No spiritual power at all. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely with great effort. Probably is not going to happen.
For a righteous man will one die. Now what Paul's talking
about there when he's talking about a righteous man, he's talking
about one of those kind of people who you feel guilty whenever
you're around them. You feel like you're under their
microscope and they're sizing you up and judging you and seeing
how you measure up. They're righteous. Nobody's going
to die for somebody like that. They're jerks. Nobody even likes
them. Nobody's going to die for that person. Scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Yet for adventure for a good
man, a merciful man, a kind man, a gracious man. Somebody might
die for that fella. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Three descriptions of the people
Christ died for in those words that I just read. Number one,
without strength. Without ability. Without the
ability to believe. Without the ability to repent.
Without the ability to love. Without strength. That's the person who mourns
over their sin. They don't have the ability to
do anything about it. They mourn. And Paul calls these
people ungodly. And he calls these people sinners. Now, I'm not asking you right
now if you're a saint. I'm not asking you if you're
a believer. I'm not asking you if you're one of the elect of
God. I'm not asking you if you've been born again. I'm asking you this. Are you
without strength? Are you ungodly? Are you a sinner? Now, if your answer to that is
yes, listen to me. Christ died for you. I tell you that upon the authority
of God's Word, Christ died for you. Your sin has been put away. It's been washed away. And you
stand before God without guilt. You see, 1 Timothy 1.15 says
this is a faithful saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the greatest thing they've ever heard. That Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. Of whom Paul said, I am. Not I was. Not I used to be. Of whom I am. chief, the worst man to ever
live. Peter put it this way in 1 Peter
chapter 3 verse 18, he died the just for the unjust. Would that describe you unjust? That is who he died for. For whom did Christ die? In John
chapter 10. Would you turn with me there? Verse 15. As the father knoweth me, even
so know I the father. I love to think of the father's
knowledge of the son and the son's knowledge of the father.
He says, as the father knows me, he knows me all together.
He he knows who I am. I'm his son. I'm the second person
of the Trinity. I'm God. The father knows me
and I know the father. Oh, how he knew the father. But
look what he says next. And I lay down my life. For the sheep. Is everybody sheep? You know better than that, what
does the scripture say? The Lord speaks of judgment day
when he shall separate the sheep from the goats. There are sheep
and there are goats. A sheep never becomes a goat
and a goat never becomes a sheep. There are sheep and there are
goats. Who are the sheep? Look in verse
24 of the same chapter. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them. I told you. And you believed
not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me, but You believe not because you
are not of my sheep. As I said, how many different
ways are there to take that? He said, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep. Not everybody's a sheep. Well,
who are the sheep? Go on reading. He says in verse
27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.
and I give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which
gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. I am my Father, one." I love
this phrase, my Father, which gave you me. You know, you read
John chapter 17, six times he speaks of those the Father gave
him in that great high priestly prayer for his people. He said,
I pray not for the world, for them which you have given me
for their life. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will but the will of him that sent me and this is
the will of him that sent me that of all which he has given
me I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last
day. Now the sheep are the elect those the father gave him before
time began. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect, Paul said. It's God that justifies. Who is he that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. Who did he die for? God's elect. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God. For whom did Christ die? He died for the elect. You can't
add one number to it. You can't subtract one number
from it. He died for his sheep. That's what the scripture teaches.
For whom did Christ die? Like I said, I want to answer
this from the Bible. For whom did Christ die? For whosoever
believeth. In John chapter three, verse
14, we read these words. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.
Speaking of being lifted up on the cross and dying, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Who did he die for? Whosoever. Whosoever. You see, speaking
of his death being only for the elect, that doesn't exclude you
if you believe. I love the word whosoever. Whosoever
is a precious word in the scripture. I love that word. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm a whosoever. Lord save me. I'm calling on
your name. He died for whosoever believed. With regard to his death, trying
to figure out whether or not he died for you or whether or
not you're one of the elect, you don't need to deal with that
right now. What you need to do is believe. Whosoever, don't
you love that word? Whosoever believeth in him. Right
now, I am relying on the Lord. I believe He's the Son of God.
I believe He accomplished salvation. I believe He's at the right hand
of the Father. I believe He's God's Christ. I'm relying on
Him. Believing doesn't just mean believing
and giving assent to it. I'm relying on Him right now
as everything in my salvation. Whosoever believe it, well, I'm
one of those. He died for me. He died for whosoever. Don't think in any way that His
death only for the elect will shut you out. In reality, that's
the only thing that will bring you in. For whom did Christ die? Here's
another word. Many. That's a good word, isn't it?
Many. For the Son of Man came not to
be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. This is the blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. Now, while not many wise men
after the flesh are called, that's true, not many mighty, not many
noble are called, Many sinners are called. He died for many. Why not you? The extent of the atonement shuts
out no one. You're already shut out. If you
understand that by your own sin, you're already shut out. The
extent of the atonement, he died for many. And whoever it was
he intended to save, that's who he saved. Whoever he intended
to die for, that's who he died for. This limited aspect to the
atonement doesn't shut anybody out. If you come to Christ for
mercy, if you're one of those whosoever who believes, he'll
save you. Don't think that this holds you
out. It brings you in. This is good
news. You know, a lot of times when
people hear of the limited extent of his atonement, how he only
died for the elect and not for everybody, they think, well,
what if I'm, what if, what if that shuts me out? Beloved, you're
already shut out. You don't need to worry about
you getting shut out. This is what'll bring you in.
You've come to God in his name. You'll be accepted. For whom
did Christ die? Well, turn to Hebrews chapter
nine. As I said, we're answering this
question from the scriptures. Verse 12. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For the blood
of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall
the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God? There's something so powerful
about that. He offered himself. That means everything, doesn't
it? He offered himself. Without spot to God purge your
conscience from dead works. to serve the living God. Purge
your conscience from thinking any work that you could do could
make you acceptable before God. It's his work. Verse 15. And
for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the First Testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. For whom did Christ die? They
which are called. Now, have I been called? I want
to know. Have I been called? Here's how
we'll answer that question. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. Verse
23. We preach Christ crucified. You know, any time we ever preach,
we better not leave this out. This is the sum and substance
of what we preach. Christ crucified. Who he is,
what he did, his death. You know, we're to show forth
the Lord's death every time we meet together. That's so important.
There's nothing more important than as we preach, Christ crucified.
Now unto the Jews, that's a stumbling block. I can't believe that I'm
saved by what somebody else did. Unto the Greeks, this is foolishness. You expect me to believe this?
But unto them which are called. Not everybody's called. But unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God. Christ, the wisdom of God. Now, this is what happens when
God calls a man. He sees Christ as the very ability,
as the very power, as the almighty power of God. Jesus Christ is
the power of God. He's the power of God unto salvation. His blood has such power that
it makes my sins non-existent. He's the wisdom of God. Now,
everybody that's called, this is what they believe. They believe
Christ is the mighty power of God. And they believe that Christ
is the wisdom of God. Oh, what wisdom that God has
made a way to be just and yet justify somebody like me. Do you see that Christ is the
power of God? Do you see that Christ is the
very wisdom of God? You have been called by God and
Christ died for you. Let me remind you of something.
You don't have any sin. You don't have any sin if Christ
died for you. For whom did Christ die? Turn
to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 11. Or verse 10, rather. Let's start with verse 9. Then
said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the
first, that first covenant of works, that he may establish
the second, the covenant of grace, by the which will we are sanctified. Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ, the offering of his body in death, we're sanctified
once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering times often the same sacrifices, which
can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering, he hath perfected forever, been
better sanctified. Who did Christ die for? Them
that are sanctified, set apart by God. And this sanctification
means three things. First, it means set apart. Do you know that if Christ died
for you, God set you apart before the world began for that purpose?
To be sanctified means to be declared to be holy. God declares
you to be holy. By the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
You know what that means? That means God says Todd Nybert is
holy. That's what is true of all who
are sanctified. And it means to be actually made
holy. Now if God says I'm holy, I am
holy. I'm made holy. Christ died for
those who God has sanctified. Sanctified in election, sanctified
in redemption, and sanctified by the Spirit in regeneration. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. Verse
1. My little children, these things
write I unto you that you sin not. Does he really mean that? Yes. Yes. What about our sinful natures? These things write I unto you
that you sin not. May God cause us to make it our resolve to never
sin again, in thought, in word, in action. These things write
I unto you, that you sin not. And if, in that same word, is
translated in chapter three, when, when you do. We have an advocate with the
father. We have a lawyer with the father,
Jesus Christ, the righteous. He's no crooked lawyer. He doesn't
try to get us to plead not guilty when we are. This is the only
lawyer in existence who makes all of his clients plead guilty
as charged. And yet causes every single one
of them to be justified. Now that's the kind of lawyer
we have. We have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. Verse two, and he is the propitiation. That's a big word. That means
that He has removed the reason for anger. He has appeased the
Father. He is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. Now, somebody says, well, that
means he died for all men without exception. Doesn't mean that.
That's all I can say, doesn't mean that. It means he died for
the sins of the whole world, though. He died for the sins
of Jews, Gentiles, black, white, rich, poor, bond-free. He died
for all kinds of, every kind. Thou has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation, and
has made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign
on the earth. He's redeemed us to God out of.
So John, if he believed that Christ died for all the sins
of all men without exception, he wouldn't have even made a
statement like that. What he's saying, he didn't just die for
us Jews. He died for Gentiles as well. He died for the sins
of the whole world because God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish,
but have eternal life. For whom did Christ die? I've
already quoted this, but turn to Revelation chapter 5. This is heavenly worship. Verse 9. For whom did Christ
die? Well, he died for those who sing
this song, verse 9, and they sung a new song saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for
thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, not made
our redemption available or potential, but you have redeemed us to God
by your blood out of not out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. and has made us unto our God's
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. That's who
he died for. Everybody he redeemed. Now, for whom did Christ die?
Well, let me close up. Did he die for you? I want to know, don't you? Well,
are you a sinner? Are you a real sinner? Do you believe he's the son of
God? I love what that Ethiopian eunuch said. He said, what hinders
me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. And he said, I believe. And notice
he didn't say, I believe that Christ died for me. I don't believe
I'm one of the elect. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Do you believe that he is the
uncreated, eternal Son of God? The one who spanked the world
into existence. The one who controls everything
right now. The absolute sovereign of the universe. Do you believe
he is the Son of God? Do you believe he's the Christ?
Who so believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Do you believe he's God's word,
God's prophet? Do you believe he's God's priest,
that if he brings you to the Father, you're brought to the
Father? Do you believe he's God's king, ruling and reigning and
controlling? Do you need him as your prophet? Do you need him as your priest?
Do you need him as your king to rule and reign over you and
cause you to do his will? Do you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus? He's the Lord. He's the Lord. And believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead. Do you believe that God raised
Jesus Christ from the dead and you believe the reason he did
it was because he offered complete satisfaction to God for everybody
he died for and to accomplish their salvation? then you can
say with Paul, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Now, this only, what I've been
saying, this only is simple. And this is simple. Now, if you
say that Jesus Christ died for all men, without exception, things
are getting very complex. You mean he can die for somebody
and pay for their sins and they wind up in hell anyway? Things
start getting real complex. There's too many holes in that.
And you know, if something's not simple, it's not true. You
realize that? If it's not simple, it's not
true. Truth is always simple. And this only is simple. If Christ
died for you, you must be saved. Secondly, this only satisfies
my conscience. The only thing that satisfies
me and gives me peace is that all I needed was accomplished
when he said, it is finished. That satisfies my conscience.
I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. Thirdly, this is what softens
the heart. The poet said, law and terrors
do but harden when attended all alone. But a sense of blood-bought
pardon soon dissolves a heart of stone. And it does. There's nothing that will dissolve
and melt your heart like seeing Christ died for you. And lastly, this is what will
cause a man to live for Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5,
for we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all
dead. If Christ died for me, I died
with him. and that he died for all that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him that died for them and rose again. Now listen to me. When Jesus Christ died for me
and put away my sin, all my sin is gone. I don't have to worry about anything. I don't have to worry about not
having enough on judgment day. Or I don't have to worry about
my sin since being a believer brought up. No, they've been
put away. You know what that makes me do? That makes me give myself to
Him. I don't believe for a second
that the freeness of God's grace will lead anyone to sin. It just
doesn't do it. It doesn't do it. For whom did Christ die? Well, I believe I know one person he
died for. He died for me. And I hope he died for everybody
in this room. May God give you the grace, if you believe the
gospel, He died for you. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
death, the life, the death, the resurrection, the intercession,
of thy blessed son. And Lord, how we thank you that
you commended your love toward us and that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.