I Timothy chapter 1. I'm going
to begin reading with verse 1 and read through verse 15. I Timothy 1, beginning with verse
1. Now this message tonight is not
an argument, not the presentation of a doctrine. It is the glad declaration and
proclamation of a person who accomplished a purpose, because
he cannot fail. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1, verse
1, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. By the commandment of God our
Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope? unto Timothy
my own son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our
Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still
at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest
charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give
heed to fables, and endless genealogies which minister questions rather
than godly edifying which is in faith, so do. Now the end
of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and of a good
conscience and a faith unfeigned, not hypocritical, from which
some, having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling. Desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. We know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane. for murderers of fathers and
mothers, murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers,
for liars, for perjured persons. And if there be any other thing
that's contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust, And I
thank Jesus Christ, our Lord, who hath enabled me for that
he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer and
a persecutor and injurious and injurious, but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant with faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus. Now here's our text. This is
a fateful saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. Now, I'm sure that
many of you are fully aware of all the debates and the arguments
and the battles that have surrounded this question of the redemptive
work of Christ Jesus. There are almost as many what
we call theories of the atonement as they are denominations. But
I would say, generally speaking, that there are two major beliefs
among people who profess to be Christians, who profess to believe
the Bible. There are two major beliefs.
One is this. There's one class of preachers
and professing church members and professing believers who
believe in what we call a general redemption. Now, will you listen
carefully? A general redemption, that's
what it calls. There was a time when the Baptists
divided over this question, and they became two separate denominations
over in England many years ago, the general Baptist and the particular
Baptist. And there was a division in North
Carolina not many years ago in which they had the same split.
They became the general Baptist and the primitive Baptist. Now,
the general redemption is this. This is what the general redemptionist
believes. This is what he has to believe.
They strongly declare and believe that Jesus Christ, our Lord,
came into this world. They do not question his deity.
I do not question his incarnation. I do not question the fact that
he did come into this world, and that he suffered, and that
he died, and he shed his blood on the cross of Calvary for every
son of Adam, every son of Adam without distinction, that he
is every man's surety. If he's every man's savior, he
has to be every man's surety. He's every man's surety, and
you know what a surety is. The everlasting covenant of grace
has a surety in which he is the guarantor of our redemption. The type of that is when Judah
appealed to Jacob to let the brothers go back into Egypt and
get Simeon and take Benjamin. And Judah said to his father
Jacob, I'll be surety for him. I'll be the surety. S-U-R-E-T-Y. If I don't bring him back, you
require it in my hands. That's a surety. In other words,
if he doesn't come back and I don't bring him back, lay the blame
on me and I'll pay the price. I'm responsible for it. So when
we say Christ is our surety, The surety of an everlasting
covenant, it means he assumed the responsibility of redeeming
everybody in that covenant. That's a surety. Right, Tom?
That's what a surety is. All right? If he's every man's
savior, he's got to be every man's surety. If his will and
intention was to save every son of Adam, then he took upon himself
the suretyship for every son of Adam. All right, they believe
he's the surety of every son of Adam. Wait a minute now, that
he accomplished a righteousness for every son of Adam. If Christ
on the cross bore my sins and Christ in his life took my righteous,
perfected my righteousness. You can't divide the work of
Christ. The redemptive work of Christ cannot be partly on the
cross and partly in his life. You see, this is what many people
miss. We're not only saved by the death of Christ, gentlemen,
we're saved by the life of Christ. In the death of Christ, he became
our substitute and paid our sin debt and satisfied God's justice. In the life of Christ, he was
our representative and met the law head on and obeyed it and
fulfilled it and imputed to us a righteousness. God can neither
save men at the expense of his justice nor his law. He can't
save men at the expense of His righteousness or His holiness.
So if Christ is our surety, then Christ is our righteousness.
And they teach He's the righteousness of every man. He worked out a
perfect righteousness for every man. That He died for every man,
and wait a minute, If Jesus Christ is the surety for every son of
Adam, and the righteousness of every son of Adam, and the sin
offering of every son of Adam, he is also the mediator of every
son of Adam. He cannot fail to pray for someone
if he died for that someone. You cannot be saved without a
mediator any more than without a surety. And a surety who has
no righteousness, who has no sin offering, who has no blood
atonement, has nothing to intercede with or plead with. So that's
the general Redemptionist. And they believe that Christ's
will and intention is the salvation of all men. They use this verse.
He is not willing that any should perish. In other words, the will
of God is the salvation of every son of Adam. That's the will
of God. That's the intention of God. That's why he sent his
son into the world. According to the general Redemptionist,
All of the purpose, will, desire of God, and the obedience and
death of Christ depends entirely on what the sinner does with
it. If the sinner believes on Christ, then Christ succeeds
in his mission. If the sinner does not believe
on Christ, Christ fails in his mission. That's general redemption.
You say, you summed it a little one-sided. I summed it up the
only way it can be summed up. If Christ is a sin offering for
all men, he's their surety, their righteousness, and their mediator.
And if it's the will and intention of Jesus Christ to save every
son of Adam, then if a son of Adam is not saved, then the will
and intention of Christ is defeated. All right, here's particular
redemption. Now listen closely to it. I believe
the scripture teaches that the redemptive work of Jesus Christ,
all of his redemptive work, his obedience, his righteousness,
his blood, is of infinite value. The man who coined the phrase
limited atonement coined a bad phrase. I suppose he did it just
to keep the bloom in tulip, I don't know. But it's a bad phrase.
Our Lord's atonement has no limit. It's of infinite value. It's
of infinite value. Our Lord Jesus Christ bought
the world. That's exactly right. He bought
the world. It's his world. He said, I have all authority
in heaven and earth. Where did he get that authority?
He got it by decree. He got it by design and he purchased
it in his death. Barnard used to say, Christ purchased
the crown rights of this whole universe. He purchased the crown
rights. He died that he may be Lord of
the dead and the living. So when we preach a particular
redemption, we're not preaching a limited atonement. Let me ask
you this. If Jesus Christ had come into
this world with the intention of saving one sinner, just one
sinner, just you, you and nobody else. If Christ came into the
world, let's take Paul William, he came to save Paul, nobody
else. What would he have had to do? Just exactly, Paul, what
he did. If he had saved one sinner, he'd
had to have been born of the virgin. First, he'd had to assume
your responsibility from eternity. Then he'd have to send forth
every type and shadow and picture that he'd seen. Then he'd have
to be born of the virgin. Then he'd have to keep the law.
He'd have to be despised and rejected of men. He would have
had to go to Calvary and die. He would have had to be buried
and rise again and ascend and intercede for you, going to the
Holy of Holies. He would have done all that he
did. What if he had come to save 10 billion sinners? What more
would he have had to do? Nothing more. That's the reason
I say the death of Christ, as far as his blood, it's not how
much blood is shed, it's whose blood. It's not how long he suffered,
it's who suffered. That's where men lose sight of
this thing and they say, you preach a limited atonement. Oh
no, I don't either. I preach an infinite atonement. I preach a vast, a sufficient,
effectual atonement. I preach a Savior who saves,
not who tries to save, not who attempts to save, not who makes
men savable, but a Savior who ultimately and sufficiently and
completely and effectually does everything He came to do. Everything. He cannot fail. He cannot fail. I'll tell you, not only that,
but He has authority over all flesh. He said, Thou hast given
me authority over all flesh by decree, by design, by death,
that I should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given
me. Yet, let me tell you, the will and intention of our God. I'm talking about the will of
God. I'm talking about the intention. What did God intend to do? When
God made this world, when He permitted the fall, when Almighty
God preserved man, when the angels fell, God cast them into hell.
God cast them into chains of darkness and reserved them to
judgment. Why did He spare man? Why did He preserve man? Why
didn't He cast Adam and his wife Eve into eternal perdition? Why
didn't He do it? Because He intended to have a
people out of that race. He gave them to Christ. And God's
will and intention and the mission of our Lord into this world was
not the salvation of angels. He took not on him the nature
of angels. It was not the salvation, the
intention and will of our God and the mission of our God was
not the complete salvation of every son of Adam. But the will
and intention and mission of our Lord was to save, to effectually
redeem, to eternally glorify all those that the Father gave
him. If you will, turn with me to
John chapter 17. Let's go to John 6 first. John chapter 6. John the 6th chapter. And let's
read some verses here. Verse 37 of John 6. All that the Father giveth me. Now, when did the Father give
Christ to people? Well, Paul wrote in Ephesians,
we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians, I thank God for you, beloved.
Brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation So God gave these people to Christ from
all eternity Their names were written in the book of life from
the foundation of the world. That's what the scripture said
clearly and plainly And our Lord said all that the father giveth
me shall come to me all of them not some of them All of, and
him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out, for I came
down from heaven. This is the mission of the master,
not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me I came
to do his will. What was his will? What was his
intention? The main thrust of this message,
the main point of this message is a definition of the mission
of Christ. That's what I said I was going
to preach on, the mission of Christ. He came on a mission.
He came with a will to perform. He came with an intent, an intention
to fulfill. Now what was that will? What
was that intention? What was that desire that he
came to fulfill? All right, read on. I came down
from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him that sent
me. Who sent him? The Father sent him. And this
is the Father's will which hath sent me. that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day." Well, then, can words mean anything at all?
And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and
I'll raise him up at the last day. Who are these people? The
Father gave them to him. They're enlightened by the Holy
Spirit, and they see Christ, and they hear Christ, and they
believe Christ. They're awakened from a dead
state, and regenerated, and brought to see Christ, and behold Him
with eyes of faith, and receive Him as their Lord and Savior,
and they're saved. All right, read on. And the Jews
murmured at him, because he said, I'm the bread which came down
from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Whose mother and father we know
how is it then he says I came down from heaven Jesus therefore
answered and said unto them murmur not among yourself No man can
come to me No man, whatever his natural ability or talent or
disposition Can is able has the power to come to come to Christ
just to believe on him to receive him Except the father which sent
me draw him and I'll raise him up at the last day It is written
in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. Every man,
therefore, that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh
unto me. Turn to John 17. John chapter 17. Listen to this. In John 17, beginning with verse
1. This is the priestly prayer of
our Lord Jesus Christ. This is before his crucifixion.
These words speak Jesus. Lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy
son may also glorify thee. As thou hast given him power,
authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. That's how many he's going to
give, to whom he's going to give eternal life. And this is life
eternal. that they might know thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I've glorified
thee on the earth, I've finished the work you gave me to do, the
mission that you commissioned me to perform. And now, O Father,
glorify thou me with a glory which I, with thine own self,
with a glory which I had with thee before the world was. I
have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me
out of the world. Thine they were, you gave them
me, and they've kept thy word. Read verse 9, I pray for them,
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me. Now I want to give you three words tonight in reference to
our Lord's mission. Let's turn to Isaiah 53 though
first. Let me show you a verse in Isaiah
53. This great gospel of Isaiah,
the Old Testament. In Isaiah 53 verse 10, this is
talking about the master He begins with, who hath believed our report
to whom his arm of the Lord revealed? He hath borne our griefs and
sorrows. You know the scripture well. By his stripes we're healed. Look at verse 10. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge,
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand." It's been put in the hands of Christ. Now,
as I said, the main point of this message is a definition
of the mission of the Master. The declaration of the fact that
whatever was the intention Whatever was the intention, whatever was
the will, whatever was the desire of God in the sending of Christ
into the world, or the coming of Christ into this world, I'm
saying that mission must be fulfilled. Whatever that mission was, it
must be fulfilled. He cannot fail. Now these three
words define that mission. Number one, sovereignty. Sovereignty. Turn to Romans 9. Absolute sovereignty. Let me ask you this. Is God sovereign? Is he sovereign in creation?
What does the word sovereign mean? Well, the word is defined
in the word, R-E-I-G-N, reign. God reigns, God rules, God controls. Is God sovereign? Absolutely,
immutably sovereign, infinitely sovereign, king over all creation. Yes, there he is, over creation
and providence. What about salvation? Well, is
he king in salvation? Well, he says so here in Romans
9. Listen to this. Romans chapter 9, beginning with
verse 11. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, this is Jacob and
Esau, that the purpose of God, the will of God, the intention
of God, according to election, might stand. A man's purpose
is his will, right? His purpose is his intention.
Not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said to the mother,
Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I God loved, and Esau have I God hated. Now what are
you going to say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. He said to Moses, I'll have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."
My friends, what I'm saying is this. It is totally inconsistent
with the idea of God. God. Now you think of God. Infinitely,
eternally sovereign, almighty, with complete dominion. and control over all things,
all creatures, all their actions and all events. God is God. None
can stay in my hand, he said. None can say unto me, what doest
thou? It's inconsistent with the idea of God that he should
will anything that doesn't come to pass. And when you say God
is not willing that anyone should perish and he perishes, that's
inconsistent. When you say God wills something
and it's not done, you're not talking about God at all. You're
talking about some other God. Mr. Spurgeon said this, when
I look at man so devoid of strength, when I look at man so devoid
of wisdom, I don't wonder that he starts things he can't finish.
It's not amazing to me that man wills what he can't perform,
but when I think of God, All-wise, all-powerful, all-sufficient,
from everlasting to everlasting, who fills the heaven of heavens,
I cannot associate failure with Him in any way. I cannot imagine,
I cannot even imagine that God should will, that God should
intend, or that God should even desire anything that didn't right
now come to pass. A God who wills what he cannot
perform is no God at all. Now, you consider that real carefully. It may be you've got the wrong
God. Now, how great is your God? Turn to Isaiah 46, and let's
look. This is what I'm saying. This
is a point I've never enforced strongly here before. I've always
talked about an effectual atonement and a sufficient atonement and
these things, but I'm talking about the very character of God.
Now, Charlie, I'm dealing right now with the character of God.
A God who wills what he cannot perform is no God at all. And
when you stand, when someone stands and starts spilling out,
well, he's not willing that any should perish. You mean by that
that God wills the salvation of every son of Adam? That's
just what I mean. And it can't be done and it won't be done.
Every son of Adam won't be saved? No, they won't be saved. Then
God's will is not done? That's right. He's no God at
all. You thought I was altogether
such as one as yourself. You're used to your will not
being done. But God ain't used to His will
not being done. He said, he worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. He said, when you pray,
you pray, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If
you ask anything according to my will, it shall be done. I'm saying that the mission of
Christ and what you believe about it strikes at the character of
God. It's the exact turn to Isaiah 46. Let me show you that. Verse
9. remember the former things of old, I'm God. There's none
else. I'm God. There's none like me. You believe that? I declare the
end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my castle shall stand. I will
do all my pleasure. I call a ravenous bird from the
east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country, I've
spoken it, I will, I will, I will also bring it to pass, I purpose
it, I will do it. You see what I'm saying, Jonathan?
That's what I'm saying. I'm simply saying when you talk
about the mission of the Master into this world, You're talking
about the will and intent of Almighty God. And when you define
the will and intent of Almighty God, you've got to say, it shall
be done. Can't be otherwise. Up to this
time, everything He's willed has been done. Yes, sir. What about creation? He said,
let there be light. Can you imagine light not being?
Now you think about it. God said, let there be light.
No light. What's wrong here? I will light. No light. No, God. The flood. He said, I will destroy
the world. Eight souls shall be saved by
water. That took place, didn't it? Sure
it took place. God willed it. The deliverance
of Israel from Egypt. Pharaoh, let my people go. Yes,
you will. No, I won't. Yes, you will. I
assure you, you're going to let every one of them go. There ain't
going to be a hoof or a hair left in Egypt belonging to Israel.
And that's, it shall be done. It was done. What about the enthronement
of David? They wanted a king, God gave
them a king. Wasn't his king, but his king was on that throne.
David was on the throne. What about the coming of Christ
into the world? The nation, Israel, the tribe,
Judah, the family, Jesse, Bethlehem, the birthplace. Every jot and
tittle of every prophecy of the birth of Christ was done. God
willed it. What about his death? He said,
you fulfill what God determined before to be done. Herod, Pontius,
Pilate, the Gentiles, Israel all got together and said, we'll
crucify him. That's what God willed. That's what God willed. Judas, son of perdition from
the beginning. Maybe he didn't want to be the
son of perdition. Maybe he'd bump, mess up God's
plans and not betray Christ. Oh yeah, he'll betray Christ.
That's what I'm saying, to everything God has willed has been done.
And I'm telling you this, when He wills the salvation of a sinner,
it shall be done. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And that's what it is, it's the
day of thy power. All right, here's a second word
quickly, substitution. Turn to Isaiah 53. Now listen
to this, Isaiah 53. It says here in verse 4, Verse 4, Surely he hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for, my friend
that word for is in the stead of, in the stead of, that's substitution. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised far in the place
of, in the stead of, for our iniquities. The chastisement
of our peace was laid, was upon him, and with his stripes we
are healed. Now, how does God save sinners?
How is it that a holy God can be just and justified? How does
God save sinners? God doesn't save sinners. Now,
be careful right here. Listen to me carefully. God doesn't
save sinners and justify them, put away their sins because they
believe. He saves sinners and puts away
their sin because Christ died for them. You can't put away
sin by any kind of act of the sinner. It's done by an act of
Christ. Representation, that's what it
is. Substitution. In Adam we die,
in Christ we are made alive. By man came sin, by man came
death, by man came life. By one man's disobedience we
were made sinners, by another man's obedience we were made
righteous. In the fullness of time God sent his son into the
world made under the law to redeem them that were born under the
law. He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. It's substitution. It's
Christ taking our place. You see, there are three main
defects as a result of the fall. Three main defects. Death, but
all of this is in death. Number one, ignorance. We don't
know God, blind. Number two, a curse. Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all points of the law to do
them. Thirdly, rebellion. Now whoever redeems us, whoever
saves us must answer to all three of these. He's got to do something
about our blindness, our ignorance. He's got to do something about
the curse. He's got to do something about our rebellion. So the Lord
Jesus Christ came as our prophet to open blind eyes that the blind
might see, as our priest and sin offering to remove the curse.
and as our king to break down the rebellion to reign over us.
And he answers all of these as a substitute. Dear dying lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed
church of God be saved to sin no more. What I'm saying is that
Christ Jesus, the Lord, actually, perfectly took my place. He met God, the law of God, He
was chargeable himself to that law as our representative. And
when he fulfilled it, when he obeyed it as a man, he imputed
to us a perfect standing before that law. And when he took our
sins, he actually, he didn't take our sins as an example,
he took them actually in his body. He took them as a substitute. They were laid on him. And when
he hung on that cross, God wasn't punishing Christ. You can't punish
the innocent. He wasn't innocent. He was guilty.
He bore our sin. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He was identified with us. He was a man. And the wrath and
judgment of God in Christ fell on us. Fell on us. And God Almighty punished us
in Christ. Well, here's the third word,
satisfaction. People say, well, I'm satisfied
with Jesus. Well, that's not the question.
That's not the question. Who couldn't be satisfied with
Jesus Christ? When you say that, you're not
saying anything. I'm satisfied with Jesus, my soul. He's never
done anything to unsatisfy you. The question is, is the Father
satisfied with Him? That is the question. You see,
Christ Jesus is a representative person. He wasn't satisfied with
Adam. The Father was not satisfied with Adam. In Adam we die. But
when Christ came down here, he said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. I'm satisfied. How do we know
the Father is satisfied with Christ? Christ, our substitute.
Christ, our divine substitute, who is us. We are crucified with
Christ, buried with Christ. Well, there are three reasons
why we know that God's satisfied with Christ. One, he raised him
from the grave. Number two, he ascended to glory. Number three, he sat down on
the right hand of the Father. And the Father says, I'm satisfied.
And that was the very basis of Paul's belief about salvation.
He said, who can condemn me? Christ died, yea rather is risen
again, who is also on the right hand of God, who even makes intercession
for me. That's Paul's reasons for having
hope. In closing, let me give you this right here. I want to
read it. I wrote it down. I think it's clear. This is what
I believe about the effectual work of Christ Jesus. You say
you preached the message first. I wanted to get your attention.
That's just the reason I knew you'd listen better. I wanted
you to hear it. This is the heart of salvation.
This is the heart of redemption. And it's the heart of what you
believe about God. That's what I'm shooting at. You got a God
that wills what he cannot perform, you got a false God. Our God's
in the heavens, David said, he hath done whatsoever he pleased.
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, earth,
and the seas, and all deep places. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in the hands of him into whom God entrusted it,
that's Christ. And he shall not fail. I'm saying
this, he may have come to save you, I don't know. It'll be revealed
by your faith, It'll be revealed by your receiving Christ. But
I'll guarantee you this, if he came to save you, he'll save
you. Jacob belongs to Christ, and Jacob will come. Joseph belongs
to Christ, he'll come. And if John Smith belongs to
Christ, he'll come. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me. That's what the Lord Jesus said.
They shall come through the preaching of the word God had chosen by
the foolishness of preaching to save them but believe. They'll
come by the regenerating, quickening work of the Holy Spirit. They'll
come by believing the gospel. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. But the sufficiency of their
redemption was accomplished not when they came, but when he died.
Their redemption was accomplished not when they walked an hour,
but when Christ walked up Golgotha's hill. Their redemption was accomplished
not when they shook the preacher's hand, but when the Father received
the blood on the mercy seat of glory and Christ said, it's finished.
My debts paid. That's when they were saved.
That's when men are saved. Because I've got to be saved
before God, not before the world. God chose Christ, and then he
chose me. God made Christ the divine surety,
and then gave him a people to redeem. God made Christ the Savior,
and called us in the Savior. God justified Christ, then he
justified me in Christ. That's exactly right. Because
Christ bore my sins in His body, paid the debt, and by His resurrection
and His ascension, God declared that Christ was free from those
sins. Consequently, I'm free from them
because I am in Him and He is in me. Christ is the firstfruits
of them that sleep. Christ arose, then I'll arise. Christ ascended, then I'll ascend.
Christ is accepted, then I'm accepted in the beloved. Christ
is blessed, then I'll be blessed in Him. Whatever I have is secondhand. He's first in all things. God
gave it to Him, and when He gave it to Him, He gave it to me.
It's like when you give anything to me, you give it to my wife.
We're one, you see. Belongs to her too. It belongs
to her, but doesn't belong to the lady next door. But it belongs
to her. And we're the bride of Christ.
We're the body of Christ. He is first in all things and
must have the preeminence before time, in time, and when time
shall be no more. You give Him the preeminence
and you cannot fail. I promise you God will honor
them that honor the Son. And I promise you God will deal
with those who take the glory away from Christ. I don't care
where they put it. Even if they put it in his beloved church,
he won't suffer his glory to be shared, even by his church.
He died and reconciled us to God, therefore God is at peace
with us. I ask you, if Christ died for
all men, you say yes, then he died for those who were already
in hell? I can't think of anything more
horrible than that. If Christ paid the debt of every man, then
there's a possibility that we'll have to pay the same debt? I
can't imagine that. What kind of God is that? That
Jesus Christ took my sins, and God laid them on Him, and He
paid for them. I come before the judgment, and
God said, you've got sins to pay for. Well, I thought Christ
paid for them. Well, He did, but you've got
to pay for them also. That's not fair. Not justice. If Christ died for all men, did
he? Then he willed the salvation
of all men. And if he willed the salvation
of all men, are all men going to be saved? You say, no. Then
his mission was a total failure. I can't believe that. I believe
this. Our Lord came to seek and to
save sinners, the lost, and they shall be saved. They shall be
saved. What I'm preaching is this. The
will of the Father. and the work of the Son and the
wing of the Holy Spirit is in perfect harmony. Perfect harmony. I don't know who they are. I
have no idea. But God knows. He said, I know my sheep and
I know of mine. Our Father, bless your word now
seal it to our hearts, let us glorify Christ. This is the purpose
of the Word, the work of the Spirit, the preaching of the
gospel, all things is to glorify Christ. To rob him of none of
the glory, let him have preeminence. He has preeminence. Before time,
in time, and when time shall be no more, he is the preeminent
one. And his work is a glorious work,
of which he said, it's finished. Thank you, Lord, for saving our
souls and giving us our salvation so full and so free. In Christ's
name, amen.