It's good to see each one of
you back this evening. Good to be back to worship the
Lord. And I'm so thankful to be back. We enjoyed our trip. I enjoyed
meeting the brothers and sisters there in Missouri and being with
them. But as that old saying is so,
there's no place like home. And there's no church like our
church home. I pity those people that live
in a place that do not have a church family, a church home, don't
you? What a blessing, what a fellowship. Matthew chapter 20, and beginning
with verse 20, reading through verse 28. Then came to him the
mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping him
and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her,
what wilt thou? She saith unto him, grant that
these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and the
other on the left in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said,
you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with? They say unto him, we are able. And he saith unto them, you shall
drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and
on my left is not mine to give. But it shall be given to them
for whom it is prepared of my father. And when the ten heard
it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But
Jesus called them unto him and said, you know that the princes
of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are
great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so
among you. But whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister. and whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. I believe that it is fair tonight
to say that the overwhelming majority of those who confess
to be Christians in our day, if asked this question, would
all respond in the same way. What is the question? For whom
did Christ die? That's a weighty question, isn't
it? For whom did Christ die? Now the words in their answer
would vary somewhat, but it would all come down to this. For the majority, the vast majority
of those who call themselves Christians today, their answer
would be, he died for everyone. And some of them would even have
a scripture to back up their statement, like 1 Timothy chapter
2 and verse 6, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified
in due time. Now there's no doubt, but that
the majority would answer the question when asked, for whom
did Christ die, that he died for every person. But I want
to point out to us tonight five problems. Five problems that
would be true if he really did die for everyone. Now there are other problems,
but I want to mention these five to us tonight. Five problems. Five difficulties that those
who say that he died for everyone should answer, should consider. Number one, it would then be
true that something other than his sacrifice saves sinners. Follow with me now. If it were
true that Christ died for everyone, as most people would answer who
call themselves Christians, then it would be true that something
other than the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is what saves
sinners. I say this because The Bible
very clearly declares that all men will not be saved. Our Lord Himself, He who is love
incarnate, He who had compassion like no
other person, the Lord Jesus Christ said Himself that in that
day And that is a day which is appointed by God, a day which
is before all of us, before all the world, when all men shall
be assembled before Him. In that day the Lord Jesus Christ
will say to some, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers
of iniquity. If He died for everyone, and
not everyone is saved, then surely it is obvious, it is so clear,
it is so plain, that something other than the death of Jesus
Christ is what saves sinners. Isn't that true? I don't see
how it could be refuted. If He died for everyone and everyone
is not saved, then there must be something else that saves
sinners. Not everyone is saved. We know
that. Not everyone shall be saved.
We know that. It can only mean that if people
believe that He died for everyone, they have a problem. And if they
were honest, If they were honest, they would deal with that problem.
They would deal with that problem. They would get into the Word
of God and deal with that problem. Is that true or not? Some people have answered me
when I've asked that question. Well, He died for everyone, but
man must believe. But what is unbelief? Isn't unbelief
sin? If he died for everyone, for
the sins of everyone, then didn't he die for that sin? That sin
of unbelief? That's a problem. That's a problem. I know this is so. I could honestly
say tonight, and I believe that you would agree, that if the
scriptures teach that Christ died for everyone, put this down
on record, everyone is going to be saved. Now I'm just convinced
of that. Why? Because of who Jesus Christ
is. He is God manifest in the flesh. And I cannot believe that any
for whom He shed His blood will not be saved. I just can't believe
that because of who He is. The second problem I see, it
would then be true if He died for everyone like most people
believe and think and even preach, then it would then be true that
there are some for whom he would not pray that he died for. Can you believe that? Can you
believe that he died for some but then refused to pray for
them? I can't. And yet he clearly said
in his prayer, Father, I pray not for the world, but for them
which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. Now if He died
for everyone, I believe He would have prayed for everyone. Some
people will say, well yes, but when He was on the cross He prayed,
Father forgive them. But notice this qualification,
Father forgive them for they know not what They do. And there were no doubt many
of those involved in His crucifixion who did not know what they were
doing. They did not know that they were
crucifying the Lord of Glory. And my friends, that prayer,
because He's always heard, He said that, the Father always
hearth me, that prayer, that petition that Christ Offered
to the father father forgive them for they know not what they
do was answered in The early part of the book of Acts you
see that Peter Clearly in his sermon Acts chapter 2 on the
day of Pentecost. He charged those to whom he was
preaching you you by wicked hands and yet 3,000 of those were saved. I see a problem. I do. If he died for everyone and yet
refuses to pray for everyone. Number three. It would then be true that he
could not clearly be called the Redeemer. If it were true that He died
for everyone, and everyone is not saved, everyone is not redeemed,
then how could He be called the Redeemer? Now, how did He redeem His people?
You know that He did so with His precious blood. But if He
shed His blood for every person to redeem, and all are not redeemed,
then how can He be called the Redeemer? He might be called
the pretend Redeemer. He might be called the wannabe
Redeemer. But unless He actually redeemed
those for whom He died, He cannot rightly be called the Redeemer. Number four. If it is true Now some people
would say that He died for everyone. Then it would be true that God's
justice, now listen to me, that God's justice is less just than
man's. If He died for everyone and everyone
is not saved, then it would be true that God's justice is less
than man's justice. What we call man's justice, when
a man is accused of robbery, for instance, and he's tried
and he's convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, and
he goes to prison, he serves his time, and he's released,
and the district attorney with the policeman meets him at the
prison door and says, we're going to try you for that again. I
know you were found guilty and you've served your time, but
we're going to retry you for that very same crime. Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ,
when He was bearing the sins of His people, God's justice,
and that's what He was, He was dealing with God's justice. Satisfying
God's justice, if He satisfied God's justice for everyone, and
yet not everyone is saved, but some for whom He satisfied God's
justice are sent to hell to experience the just wrath of God. And what could you say? The only
thing that you could say is that man's justice is greater than
God's justice. They call that double jeopardy.
Do they not? In our courts, they call that
double jeopardy. There's a famous line of a hymn. I should have written it down,
but it goes something like this. Can God twice demand payment
first at the bleeding charity's hand, and then again at mine."
That's not going to happen. I see a problem. And the last
thing I want to mention, it would then be true that God's
children, I'm talking about you and I, those of us tonight who
know Christ as our Lord and Savior, it would then be true that we
really have no solid ground for assurance of eternal salvation. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Isn't that your testimony? But
if he shed his blood for everyone and everyone is not saved, how
could we have any confidence? You know, we was reading this
passage of Scripture here, and our Lord, the woman came and
she asked for her two sons to sit in those places of preeminence. And our Lord asked them, did
you notice that? He said, Are you able to drink
of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the
baptism that I am baptized with? And they say unto him, Now here's
man, we are able. What happened when they came
to arrest Christ? They all fled. These two who
had just confessed, oh yes, we're able, they all turned coats and
ran away and left the Savior alone. That, John, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled. The scripture was fulfilled.
They took the surety. They took Christ and let his
disciples go free. And that is a picture of salvation,
isn't it? There in the garden. What assurance
could we have if he died for everyone? And everyone that he
died for is not saved. Who makes me? How am I going
to make myself? Do I see myself better than someone
else? Do I have more strength, more
grace, more ability than other men? No, I don't think so. I don't believe that's the case.
It may be true about you. But I'm trusting tonight that
Christ paid for my sins. And He paid the full penalty.
And because He paid, Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. We sing that hymn. Wonderful
words, wonderful truth in that hymn. Well, you say, Preacher,
I heard what you said just now, but For whom did Christ die? That's the question. For whom
did Christ die? You say He did not die for everyone. He did die. For whom did He die? Well, let's turn this around
now and answer this with five statements. First of all, He
died for the many. Notice that in the text. Verse
28. even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life
a ransom for many." For many. We know from the book of Revelation
that the many, to give His life a ransom for many. We know from
what John saw in the book of Revelation that the many, is a great multitude, which no
man could number, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb clothed with
white robes and palms in their hands." Palms, the sign of victory. And they were victorious because
they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. He died for the many. And that many is a great multitude,
but many is not all. Now you just can't make many
mean all. It doesn't. It means a great
multitude. And I'm of the opinion, like
Mr. Spurgeon believed, and I think
this is going to be proven out, that when everything's finished
and done, there's going to be more saved than lost. He must have the preeminence
in all things. I don't understand how that's
going to be, but I believe that in the end we're going to see
that His blood availed this great multitude for many, many more
than those who spend eternity in hell. He will have the preeminence. Satan is not going to have the
preeminence. So he died for the many. Number
two, and look with me in this verse in Romans chapter 5. This
tells us very clearly that our Lord there said, the Son of Man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His
life a ransom for many. He died for many. Here in Romans
chapter 5 and verse 6, the Apostle Paul said, For when we were yet
without strength in due time, Christ died for who? For the
ungodly. For the ungodly. Now, some people have said, you
cannot preach the gospel. You cannot preach the gospel
unless you stand up and tell men to whom you are preaching
that Christ died for them. That's not true. That's not true,
my friends. We do preach the gospel, and
we tell men that Christ died for the ungodly. You say, well, I'm not ungodly.
Well, you just put yourself in that condition, in that class. We tell people Christ came into
the world to save sinners. Well, I'm not a sinner. Well,
I guess He didn't come to save you. Oh, yes. We may preach the gospel. And
we do preach the gospel full and wide. Every opportunity that
we have. And we give all the glory to
Christ and His finished work. His precious blood which was
shed to put away the sins of His people. So He died for the
many. He died for the ungodly. Can you put yourself You don't
put yourself, but can you confess yourself to be in that class,
in that condition? You say, well, what does it mean
to be ungodly? It means to be unlike God. Isn't that just a basic definition
of ungodliness? To be unlike God. God is infinitely
holy. And I'm unholy. Christ died for
the ungodly. If I had no other verse in the
Bible to speak to me that Christ died for me, I've got one here,
my friends. I've got one here that I can
hold on to. He died for the ungodly. And I know myself a little bit. And what I know, I see myself
as unlike God. Number three, turn with me to
Ephesians chapter four. It's not chapter 5. I'm sorry. Chapter 5. Ephesians
chapter 5 and verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Who
did he die for? He died for the many. He died
for the ungodly. He died for his church. Now his
church, of course, is his bride. His bride. Those who were chosen
by the Father and betrothed unto Him before the foundation of
the world. Those that He loved and came to save. Number four, for whom did He
die? He died for those He calls. In
Acts chapter 4, or I'm sorry, Acts chapter 2 and verse 39,
when Peter was preaching that day, the day of Pentecost, in
his message he said this, for the promise. Now what's the promise? The promise is eternal life. And here he's preaching to those
who were engaged in the crucifixion of Christ. And he says unto them,
for the promise, the promise that God made before the foundation
of the world. He promised eternal life in Christ. For the promise is unto you and
to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. He died for those whom he calls. And he calls with the gospel. Paul said, I have espoused you. He's talking to the church at
Corinth. I have espoused you to one husband,
to Christ. He calls through the preaching
of the gospel. You know, there are those who
have taken the doctrine of election And they have come to the conclusion,
well, if God's chosen a people, and He has, they're going to
be saved no matter what. And so there's no need to preach.
There's no need to send missionaries. There's no need to witness. They're
going to be saved. They're going to be saved. They're
going to be saved through the calling of God, the preaching
of the gospel. And His people, those for whom
He died, hear his voice in the gospel, and they come to Christ. They believe in Christ. And number
five, he died for those who come to him. Who come to him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. We sing a hymn. I believe the
name is Jesus I Come. Out of my darkness, bondage,
Jesus, I come. He died for those who come to
him. No man can come to me, he said,
except the Father, which has sent me to draw him. Well, okay
preacher, now what about that verse? You said some people answer
the question, for whom did Christ die? for everyone and even quote
the verse 1st Timothy chapter 2. Look with me if you will.
1st Timothy chapter 2. You know, I suppose that if a
person is blinded They can take a verse, take it out of its context,
and teach just about anything they want to believe. And that's what people do with
the Bible. They take verses, they don't
consider the context in which the verse is given, and then
they come up with a teaching which is contrary to the analogy
of faith, of the scriptures. Notice with me, I exhort therefore
that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men. Now when we read that are we,
is Paul telling us that we are to pray for all men, everyone,
for those who are already in hell? Is he telling us that we are
to give thanks for tyrants, for those who persecute the Church
of Christ? I'm not saying we shouldn't pray
for them, but is that what he's saying? We are to give thanks
for all men? Are we to give thanks for Hitler,
for a murderer like that, a criminal like that? Is that what he's
saying? Well, he said all men, didn't
he? Didn't he? Does he mean everyone without
exception? For kings and for all that are
in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved. Does that mean that all men without
exception God wills them to be saved? If it does, then they're
all going to be saved. Who can withstand God's will?
Do you believe it's possible that
God can will something to happen and it doesn't happen? What kind
of a God is that? That sounds more like you and
I. Someone that's weak. Someone
that's needy. Someone that wants to do something
but just really doesn't have the power to do it. Is it God's will that all men
be saved when he doesn't send the gospel to all men? Now I'm
not saying we don't have a responsibility to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. For there is one God and one
Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. You see, if you take that verse,
that last verse, that's the one I mentioned, and you look at
it in its context, where in these verses, these six verses, we
saw the word all, I believe, three times in these verses.
Yes, three times. And when you look at those three
verses and the word all, there is no way you can make that to
mean every single solitary individual. That just, that won't wash. It
just won't wash. The word all, most often, I believe
should be understood like this in the scriptures. The writers
of the New Testament, all of these men who were inspired of
God to write the New Testament, all of them were Jews. All of them had been raised believing
from their childhood that all Jewish people automatically,
because they were descendants of Abraham, that they were automatically
God's people in the kingdom of God. And Gentiles? Dogs. Dogs. Most often when we read all,
we're talking about Jews and Gentiles. But also in this particular
passage, it's not only Jew and Gentile, but remember free and
slaves. Because there were many slaves
in the New Testament days in the churches. Many of them. I've
read Martin Lloyd-Jones. He thought that over half of
the members of the New Testament churches were slaves. That was
just a way of life. And when we read all, the Apostle
Paul is talking about both Jew and Gentile and all classes of
people, as we are to pray for all men, all classes of people,
give thanks for all classes of people. Well, I pray that the Lord would
bless this word to all of us here tonight. I was thinking of this the other
day, these five things, and I came up with many other problems that
I see with those. Do you enjoy telling people that
Christ did not die for everyone? I enjoy telling people what God
says. I bow to what God says. I didn't
grow up believing this. And the first time I heard it,
you won't believe this. Oh, yeah, you will. I hope you
will. First time I heard this was from a history professor
in college. And she was talking about those
awful Calvinists that settled in New England. And one of the
things they did not believe is that Christ did not die for everyone. Well, listen, I've been raised
in a Baptist church and I thought that's the most preposterous,
self-righteous thing that anyone could teach. But God opened my
eyes to the scriptures. We believe what the scriptures
say, right? What the word of God reveals. And once I came to really know
who Jesus Christ is, I had no problem believing that all of
those for whom he died will be saved. For me to believe anything else
would make me believe less of him because he's God and he cannot
fail. I pray the Lord would bless these
words to all of us tonight.