Isaiah chapter 40, and I want
to begin reading in verse 1. Isaiah chapter 40, and begin
reading in verse 1 down through verse 18. Comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably, speak to
the heart, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, it's ended, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, smooth. And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth
of the Lord has spoken it. And the voice said, Cry, and
he said, What shall I cry? Try this. All flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion,
that bringeth good tidings, Get thee up into the high mountain.
O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength. Lift it up, be not afraid. Say
unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold, the Lord will
come with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold,
his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed
his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his
arms, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that
are with young. Who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of his hand? And who meted out heaven with
a span? Who comprehended the dust of
the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales? and
hills in a balance, how immense God must be to take all the waters
above the heavens and all the waters under the heavens, the
seas and the oceans and the rivers and the creeks and the springs
and measure them in the hollow of His hand. How immense He must
be. How big is His hand that He can
measure out heaven with it. How can He comprehend the dust?
We reach down sometime in our garden with our three fingers
and we pick up a little dust. And that's what we hold in our
fingers. That's what He does with all the dust, all the sand
of the seashore. Reaches down His three fingers
and picks it all up and measures it all. How great! He weighs
mountains in a scale. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or been His counsel, or hath taught Him? With whom
took he counsel, and who instructed him? Who taught him in the paths
of judgment? Who taught him knowledge and
showed to him the way of understanding? Obviously nobody. Behold, the
nations are as a drop of a bucket, and he counteth, and are counted
as the small dust of the battle." One commentary said, when they
used to weigh produce in scales. They never cleaned the dust off
of the scales because it was nothing. And here he makes this
statement, the nations are just like the dust. They're nothing. Don't mess with even wiping them
off. They're nothing. He takes us up the aisles of
the very small thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient
to burn. nor the beast thereof sufficient
for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as
nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and
vanity, worthless, empty. To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness will you compare unto Him?" Now way quickly of introduction,
let me say this. A few hundred years ago, there was a system of theology
introduced. I won't go into detail about
where or how. We call it Calvinism. We sometimes
refer to this system as the doctrines of grace. We seldom hear that
word used anymore or that system described as Calvinism. You may
not choose to go by that name or have your faith or belief identified by
that name of Calvinism. You may call it the doctrine
of Christ. Or you may call it sound doctrine.
If you don't choose to be called a Calvinist, you won't hear a
peep from me. But I sort of love that system. I am a convinced Calvinist, and
I think that system is important. It's important for the truth
that it contains, and it's good for its shortness. It strikes
up some lively conversations, doesn't it? I think that instead maybe of
disposing of it are counting it as nothing or less than nothing,
I think sometimes it's probably good just to take a service or
two and define what true Calvinism is. And that's what I want to do
this morning. I believe that if it's rightly defined, it's
a great help. It's a great help to us. It's
important to remember Calvinism is not the whole of the Bible. It deals mainly with redemption,
the salvation of man. There is such a thing as redemption
and eternal salvation. Who's going to be saved? Who's
going to save them? How many are going to be saved?
Calvinism simply says that all of this has been determined before
time. It's a very awakening, very awakening
system of theology. I want to take my time this morning
for a few minutes therefore and simply tell you and remind you
again what true Calvinism is. It's made up basically of five
points. Sometimes we use to identify
these points the word tulip. Some of you probably heard that.
I know some of the free will and the Armenians, they mock
people for that. They say, don't be walking through
my tulips and tiptoeing through my tulips and all of that stuff.
But I'm not ashamed of this because it's Scripture. It's Scripture. But here they are. Let me give
them to you this morning and let me tell you why I want us
to look at these things. The first point of Calvinism,
what we call Calvinism, the system of theology, is defined as total
depravity. Total depravity. What does that
system mean when it says that? Well, it simply means this, that
Adam's race, you and me, and all of Adam's race with none
accepted, since Adam's fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, Sin has so affected all of Adam's
children that it has totally enabled us to do nothing spiritually. We are so totally depraved. Sin has so effected us that we
are unable now to lift one finger in a spiritual way to help our
poor selves. Depravity shows itself in several
ways. One is every man has gone in
his own way. He lives to himself. He loves
Himself. He walks according to the course
of this world. The Scripture says it like this.
We have all walked according to the course of this world,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We're full of self-love. We're
full of self-serving. We live to self. It's always
me first. The focus now is off of the Creator
and love to Him and service for Him. And sin has turned the focus
upon ourselves. Every man has gone in his own
way. That's what it means to be depraved.
It's me first. You see it in your children.
Yeah, and you see it in you. You see it in you. We never outgrow
this depravity. And Paul said there's no exception.
John said, all that's in the world, listen to this, this is
everything that's in the world, everything that's in the heart,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life. In here, it's changed our whole
view of ourselves, our whole attitude about ourselves. Adam,
before he sinned, never thought of himself. His focus was not
on himself. But after he had sinned, his
focus was wholly upon himself. What can make me happy? That
was his focus. The chief way man's depravity
is manifested is by this, his attitude toward God. To say the natural man doesn't
understand God is true. The things of God are foolishness
to the natural man. He cannot know them because they're
spiritually discerned. But if we stop there, we've missed
the main point. It's not just that man cannot
understand God and he no longer knows God. It goes more deeper
than that. Listen to this. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. That's serious, ain't it? That's
serious. What does Calvinism do? It points
its finger at man. It describes man. It puts him
in his place. It tells him what he used to
be and what he is now. It debases flesh. It cries out
unto him, flesh is as the grass. It's nothing. It's a withering
thing. The Lord Jesus who knows all
men sums it up like this, you will not come to me that you
might have life. Now what does this show us? It
shows us how adverse the mind is to God, to Jesus Christ. You will not come. And then He
made this statement, you cannot come to me. unless my Father
would send me to draw you." The first statement shows how adverse
sin has made us to Christ. It's like some drug addiction.
It's changed the personality. You will not come. The second
statement shows this, that sin has rendered us incapable of
even coming to Him who could render our awful, awful dilemma. You will not come and you cannot
come. That's man's depravity. It not
only shows itself in his outward immorality. You can't see it
in some man if you look there only. And this is what Calvin is saying.
It doesn't say, Calvinism doesn't say that man cannot be a good
husband. It doesn't say that a lost man
cannot be a good father or a good citizen or a good employer or
employee. It simply states that every man
is born a sinner against God, and he lives a sinner against
God, and he will die a sinner against God unless God intervenes
to remedy his situation. That's what he says here in verses
6 through verse 8. What's God's determination of
man? Calvinism simply emphasizes that. Listen to this same book
in the 64th chapter in verse 6. Isaiah said that we all are
as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities,
like the wind, have driven us away. Driven us away from where? From God. From any hope. And soon will drive us out of
this world unto the next. Our iniquities. There is none
that calleth upon God. That's the next verse. So what
is Calvinism? What does it say? The first point
emphasizes what man has become in the fall. He's ruined. He's totally depraved in the
spiritual realm. The second point, think of this,
the second point of this system of Calvinism is this. Unconditional election. Unconditional
election. That God, what is election? What is unconditional election?
It says that God, for His own glory and because of His love
and tender mercy, has already intervened on man's behalf. He has already determined that
all of Adam's fallen and helpless race will not perish. Now boy, here's where we get
into the positive message. Calvinism is not a negative message. Ain't it strange how Some men
start seeing certain things and instead of looking at it as it
is, they jump off on some negative aspect. The only thing I know
that has any negativity to it is the first point of Calvinism,
and it's just the truth. Man is depraved. But the second
point is this, that in Jesus Christ, God has intervened, even
covenanted before the world was, to save a host out of Adam's
fallen race. Look over here in chapter 42
of Isaiah with me. Look in chapter 42. We know here he is speaking in
verse 1 of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what he says, Behold my
servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth.
I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. Matthew chapter 12 and verse
18. This is quoted concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 2, he shall not cry
nor lift up his voice, cause his voice to be heard in the
street, a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoke and flax
shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth, and the owl shall
wait for his law. Thus saith the Lord God, He that
created the heavens, and stretched them out, that spread forth the
earth, and that which cometh out of it. He that giveth breath
to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness." This is the Father
speaking to His Son. and will hold your hand, and
keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for
a light of the Gentiles," look at this, "...to open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that
sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is
my name, and my glory will I not give to another." Every son of
Adam, He is spiritually blind, isn't he? He is blind. He can't see. No sense getting
mad at him. He can't see. If a man can't
see, he can't see. Who is a prisoner? Well, a lost
man is a prisoner. He is a prisoner of sin. He is
a prisoner of Satan. And everyone sits in spiritual
darkness and can't find themselves out of the prison. Now that's
what he says there in verse 7. But God has determined, He has
already determined to send His Son to do something about this
situation. To remedy this awful calamity. He's going to take a great many
that are blind and give them sight. He's going to take a great
many of the offenders in prison and set them free. He's going
to take those who are sitting in darkness and shine the light
upon them. Who are these people? Who determines
who is going to be delivered from prison? Who determines who's going to
see the light? Who determines who they are and how many there
will be? That's God. That's God. And the fact that
He already has determined to do it tells us also He's determined
who He's going to do it for. Who will have their blind eyes
open? Those whom God chose to it. Were you blind? Do you see this
morning? Do you see the Lord Jesus has
revealed in this Word? Do you see yourself complete
in Him? Do you see all your sins washed
away? Do you see? Then He chose you
to that long before you had to be Him. Isn't that good news?
And that's what Calvinism says. What prisoners will be delivered?
Those that God picked out beforehand. Who are those that's coming out
of the darkness into His marvelous light? It's those individuals
whose names were put in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation
of the world. Oh, election, unconditional election,
reveals the great love and goodness of God towards fallen sinners. No, He's not purposed to save
everybody. But Calvinism merely states this, He has unfailing
purpose to save the people of His choice. Beggars, poor sinners,
to lift them up from the dunghill and to set them with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Calvinism says nothing about
those God passed by. Ain't it strange again how we
get off on those He passed by and start speculating? Well,
God must have made them to go to hell then. Don't tell what
we say. You tell somebody about an unconditional
election and what they say, that means babies go to hell then.
Ain't it silly how some people jump to these silly conclusions?
Calvinism doesn't deal with such things. You have to go elsewhere
in the Scriptures to find that. All Calvinism is saying that
God has already determined who He's going to save. He's put
their names down in the Lamb's Book of Life. That number cannot
be increased, and thank God it cannot be diminished. And it's
God who did it. according to his own glorious
purpose. Reckon he's chose anybody here?
Huh? You know what Calvinism does?
We already see it, don't we? We already see what Calvinism
is. It ain't that men just don't
like that name. They don't like what it says.
What does it do? It takes the emphasis back off
a man. Puts him in the dust. The voice
said, cry. What shall I cry? Put man in
his place. Tell him what a perishing sinner
he is. Then exalt God. Tell him that God has intervened
to save, but He's doing it His way. And it's by His free and
sovereign grace. Calvinism says that man is a
fading nothing. Man in his righteousness and
goodness is fading. But God has intervened to reveal
His what? His glory. The glory of the Lord
shall be revealed. And here it is. Here is where
we first see it. in God's electing grace. Unconditional election. What's the third point? And there's
five of them. And here's another one. Calvinism
simply points this out, that the atoning death of Jesus Christ
was indeed effectual. That it accomplished exactly
what was intended by it. THE ETERNAL REDEMPTION OF ALL
GOD'S ELECT. I want you to turn to another
passage with me. I want you to turn over to Hebrews
in the New Testament and look in chapter 9. Hebrews chapter
9. This is a wonderful truth. I'm
going to deal with it a little bit in this afternoon's service.
But look in Hebrews chapter 9 concerning what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
in His death. He'd been speaking here in this
chapter about the blood of bulls and goats and how it accomplished
nothing. All it did was remind them year
after year of their need of a sacrifice. And he tells them there in verse
10 of Hebrews 9, these meats, these sacrifices stood only in
meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed
on them until the time of reformation. But look in verse 11. But Christ
being come to an high priest of good things to come by greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, not of this tabernacle in the
wilderness, neither by the blood of bulls and calves, but by His
own blood He entered in once, until the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us." I looked up this word and
did a little bit of study on this word, obtained, and it means
several different things. It means to find. He found eternal
redemption. It means to procure or to gain
or to effect. And it means to secure. The Amplified
Bible says it like this, He found and effected and secured a complete
redemption for us. What did Christ accomplish in
His death? What did He do upon that cross?
Did He take a stab at redeeming somebody? Did He give it His
best shot? What did He accomplish there?
The Scripture says here, redemption. He accomplished redemption. Calvinism
doesn't tell us all that Jesus Christ accomplished. My goodness,
who knows everything that He accomplished by His death? But
it does tell us this, that He accomplished redemption for every
elect soul. And He says in our text back
over in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort
ye My people. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Tell her this. How can you comfort
a poor afflicted heart? How can you give comfort to the
conscience that's afflicted? Tell them this, her warfare is
accomplished. What's this warfare about? Well,
it's her sin, isn't it? What gives you your trouble?
What gives you your trouble in your conscience? Is it not your
sin? Is it not that which breaks your
heart, fills your eyes with tears, makes you confess, Tell them, cry out to them that
this warfare with their sin, it's accomplished, it's ended.
What does that mean? That means that all of this sin
you're concerned about and worried over and bared, it's ended. As to atonement, it's finished. It's been put away. It is no
more. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away." Where is your sin, dear child of God? Where is it? Well, you say, Bruce, I feel
it. I see it. I confess it. Yeah. But what
did He say would comfort your heart? That atonement for that
sin has been made. It's been punished. It's been
put away. Here is good news, is it not? Old Zion, he said, lift up your
voice. Cry aloud. Spurn not. Don't be
afraid. Preach this good news. Well,
what is good news to a guilty conscience? It's this, that 2,000
years ago on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem, Your sins
were transferred. Your sins were born. And your
sins were atoned for and purged away by the Son of God upon Calvary's
tree. Now isn't that comfort? That's comfort, ain't it? All
Calvinism, brothers and sisters, is saying is this, that when
Jesus Christ hung upon Calvary's tree, He was successful. and what he was intended to do.
Somebody asked Charles Spurgeon one time, what has Christ accomplished
by his death? And Mr. Spurgeon said, what's
he doing? What's he doing? What's he done? What's he doing?
He accomplished what he intended. He obtained eternal redemption. How could He do this? A man lied.
I just read some of it to you, didn't I? He's God. Who is this
that measures the water in the hall of His head? That's Jesus
of Nazareth. That's the Son of Mary. Total depravity, unconditional
election, effectual redemption. Effectual redemption. If Jesus
Christ obtained eternal redemption for everybody, then everybody
would be redeemed. And if He did no more for Peter
than He did Judas, then Peter's in hell with Judas. That's what
Calvinism says. No, Christ did not bear everybody's
sins. He did not atone for everybody's
sins without exception. But Calvinism simply says this,
those sins that He did atone for, They're gone. They're purged. Fourthly, think of this. And
I guess if we stopped at these first three points, it'd be very
disappointing. If our message simply was this,
Christ has done all, and the rest is up to you. That wouldn't
be good news, would it? That's not good news. We'd be
saying with Isaiah, who hath believed our report? And we'd
have to say nobody, wouldn't we? Nobody. God's given everybody
a chance. God's given everybody opportunity.
Well, that's wonderful. And I believe everybody has ample
opportunity. But opportunity never saved any
man. Chance never saved any man, did it? And this is what our
fourth point is about. Just as God the sovereign and
free, God that He is elected, And that election cannot be overthrown. And just as Christ, who is God
in our humanity, successfully accomplished redemption for the
elect, so the Holy Spirit is sovereign and successful in His
bringing the elect to the Lord Jesus Christ and putting His
graces into their hearts. That's all Calvinism is saying.
Those that God chose before time will finally Through grace, hear
the gospel and believe it and be regenerated and be saved. Look back over at my text again
in verse 11. Look in Isaiah chapter 40 and
look in verse 11. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He is the shepherd, chief shepherd,
the good shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young." This feeding and gathering and carrying
and leading has to start somewhere, doesn't it? If He's got to flock together,
then He had to gather them because the Scripture said we were scattered So for Him to have a flock to
feed and to cause them to lay down and rest, He had to gather
them. It had to begin there, didn't
it? Listen to what Ezekiel chapter 34 and 12 says. You may want
to remember this and mark it down. Listen to what Ezekiel
said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. As a shepherd seeketh
out his flock, in the day that he is among his sheep that are
scattered. So will I seek out my sheep,
and will deliver them out of all places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Boy, that's some old way
to describe the fall in the Garden of Eden. What was that? Well,
he got a finger pricked. He tripped and stubbed his toe.
No, that is a cloudy and dark day. There is where every man
went his own way. There is where we were all scattered,
brothers and sisters. There in the garden. And listen
to what he continues to say. I will bring them out. I will
bring them out from the people. I will gather them from all the
countries and I will bring them into their own land, Emmanuel's
land. And I will feed them upon the
mountains of Israel, by the rivers, in the churches, and all the
inhabitants of all the country." In other words, he is seeking
out his sheep. And when he gets on the trail
of one of his sheep, he never stops until he finds it. Calvinism does not say all the
ins and outs about the Lord seeking His sheep. Then He finds them
in some strange places. Don't tell all the different
ways that He brings them to Himself. Some of you have got stories
to tell. Some of you He took years, so patiently working with
you, humbling you, bringing you to Himself. Some of you He brought
immediately, just like He did the thief on the cross. But Calvinism
simply says those whom God has elected to eternal life, the
blessed Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ searches them out, He
finds them, and He brings them to faith to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not a one of them. Not a one
of them is going to be lost forever. Finally this. Finally, my last
point, Greg. My last point, I ain't going
to slip up on nobody. You don't have to slip up on
anybody with this message, do you? If you're going to get people
on a profession, you've got to surprise them. You've got to sneak around behind
them and get them in, you know. But I tell you, when you're preaching
the gospel, you're just proclaiming, and the Holy Spirit finds them.
He brings them in. That's His work. So my last point
is this. Those who have begun to believe
through grace will never cease believing until grace ends in
sight. They'll never fall away. They
may fall, but they'll never fall away. They will persevere until
the end. And that's the fifth point of
Calvinism. perseverance of the saints. The
Bible says we are not of them who draw back unto destruction. We are not of them. But we are
of them who believe to the saving of the soul. There have been
many great professors of Christianity. Noble, learned, educated men. And they have gone back. They
have left their profession of faith in Christ. But not the
true believers. not those that Christ has found
and hold in His arms. When we talk about perseverance,
we're not talking about eternal security, are we? Maybe there
was a day for that, but how often that turned into nothing but
an excuse to live in sin. Brought shame on the Lord and
done nobody any good in the end. We're not talking about once
in grace, always in grace, no matter what. But Calvinism says
this, the righteous shall hold on his way. And the steps of
a good man are ordered of the Lord, and though he fall, and
he will, but yet he'll not be utterly cast down. Through his
brokenness and through his tears, The Lord's going to lift him
up with His right hand and make him stand. True Calvinism simply
emphasizes this, the truth that God who has begun a good work
in the heart of every elect soul will never cease that work until
it's completed. Calvinism doesn't go into detail
concerning how God does it. It just declares that He does.
And just knowing that is an encouragement to everybody who knows the plague
of their own heart. Are you afraid of yourself this
morning? Do you distrust your own heart? Do you feel your inability? Do
you fear if you left yourself, you're going to go astray? Are
you afraid? I'll put my fear in their hearts.
They'll not depart from me. I'm scared to death of myself. Aren't you? You're going to go
astray on bypass meadows, be found over in Doubting Castle,
being whipped up by giant despair, and die there and be buried out
back of Doubting Castle if He don't keep you. That's how important it is. Oh, temptation is going to be
too strong. Desire and opportunity is going
to come together, and woe is us. Sin will deceive us. Satan will overpower us. The
world will entice us. I pity those left to themselves.
I pity those people who are left to themselves. If God is not
working in a man, and on a man, and for a man, and around a man
he cannot keep himself. He cannot. If there was only
one believing sinner in this world, everything from heaven
to hell would be working to secure his eternal salvation. Everything
in this world, brothers and sisters, is working by the Almighty God
to secure your salvation. Ain't that a great thought? All
the ways God takes with His child to wean him from secret lust
and from seeking temporal advantages which would ruin him. It's God
who takes in hand to kill a man of self-love and self-interest. The way God often takes to make
His child strong is by tearing him down, is by crushing his
spirit. I tell you, there's been times
in your life, and you know it, you thought God was against you. There's been times in your believing
life that you were convinced that God Himself was against
you. And it took time and experience to prove. that He was working
for your good to your utter amazement. Calvinism simply emphasizes that
God is truly for us. He's for us. And if God can be
for us and will be for us, who can be against us? And when we
see this, we can hardly believe it. The Eternal God, who has begun
a good work in us, is still working. Every moment, every day, God
is working. He is doing what nature cannot
do. He has begun the work, He has
carried it on, and He has promised not to stop until He is finished. And this doubting, now listen
to this, and this doubting and yet believing, and the dim glances
of your eyes to heaven, and the weakest desires to be like Christ,
and those faint longings to be free from sin's burden, and the
sign after God's perfect will is nothing less than the operations
of grace in your heart. It's nothing less than the mighty
power of God working in you, your poor, weak, feeble frame,
to do that which is well-pleasing in His sight. A work of nature cannot begin
this work, it cannot carry it on, and it certainly cannot perfect
it. What is Calvinism? You get right
down to the nitty-gritty, and it's simply this. It's the debasing
of flesh, the debasing of flesh and the glorifying, the revealing
of the glory of the one eternal triune God. And when He brings
you down and makes you feel and see your nothingness, there is
when He's about to reveal His glorious goodness. I think I'm a Calvinist. I think
I'm a Calvinist. I'm a convinced Calvinist. And
I'm like poor old Scott Richardson. You convince me of what an awful,
awful sinner I am. And you just convince me of my
great need for Him who came to save sinners. Let's pray.