Well we're turning to Romans chapter 5 this evening and again we welcome you and thank you for joining with us. Romans chapter 5 and we'll read from the opening verse and we'll read down to the verse 11. Romans chapter 5 and the verse number 1, the Word of God says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. not only so but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost which is given unto us for when we were yet without strength In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, that in while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom we have now received the atonement. Amen. And as I said, we'll end our reading at the verse number 11. Prior to the gospel mission, we began a series of messages that I entitled the doctrines of grace. And really, when we speak of the doctrines of grace, we're speaking about the teaching of Calvinism. I reminded you back then that Five points of Calvinism were simply a rebuttal of Arminian teaching that supporters of a Dutch theologian by the name of Arminius were propagating in the early part of the 17th century. In weeks past, we have thought about the first two doctrines in the acrostic tulip. T-U-L-I-P. We first of all thought about total depravity, the teaching, the biblical teaching that every part of man is fallen. Every part of man is contaminated by sin. Man is a fallen creature. And the fall of man in the Garden of Eden was not some kind of partial fall, but rather it was a complete, it was an entire, it was a total fall into sin. It was an absolute fall. God's Word reminds us that due to man's depravity, his total depravity, man cannot seek God. We read that in Scriptures, there is no man, no one, who seeketh after God. Man is unable, he's incapable of seeking after God unless there be divine intervention, unless God comes and deals with a soul in the gospel. God then enables that individual to exercise faith, repent of sin, and rest their soul on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Man's inability is the result of man's depravity. Because man is depraved totally, entirely, he is then incapable. There is an inability to seek after God. Secondly, we thought about the doctrine of unconditional election. teaching of Scripture that God chooses some to salvation and passes others by. God chooses some on to eternal life. He has ordained individuals on to eternal life and passed by others in salvation. Now, initially, the individual will say, well, that's not fair. That's not fair, that God would choose some and pass others by. But what you infer by calling God unfair is that you deserve salvation, that you in some way are deserving of God's mercy. But whenever you understand that you're totally depraved and that you're set against God, then you'll understand that you're not deserving of God's mercy. And so we think of this thought of unconditional election. Now, the choice that God makes isn't because He foresees, that He foresees some good in the one who will believe on Christ, and therefore, seeing that good, God then chooses that person on to or to salvation. Rather, the choice that God makes is simply on the grounds of His good pleasure. God, in His good pleasure, set His love upon you and I. What a marvel that is. Not of good that I have done did I ever deserve God's mercy, and neither did you. But God, in His mercy, set His love upon you, chose you unconditionally. No conditions were met by you. with regard to salvationism, a wonderful thought that Christ died for us even whenever we were sinners. And we read that tonight. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Now tonight we come to the third letter in the acrostic, tulip, and it is the letter L. And this deals with the doctrine of limited atonement. It is a doctrine, I have to be fair, and saying a doctrine that has come under its fair share of criticism down through the years. In the 18th century, John Wesley. The great Methodist evangelist, he preached that the doctrine was contrary to the whole tenor of the New Testament. In the 19th century, John McLeod Campbell, a Church of Scotland minister, he argued that the doctrine robbed the believer of the personal assurance that Christ loved me. and gave himself for me." In the 20th century, Karl Barth complained that the grim doctrine, speaking of the doctrine of limited atonement, was a logical deduction from John Calvin's misguided view of double predestination. Others have raised concerns that the doctrine of limited atonement serves as the Achilles heel of the Reformed faith. It is a weakness, they say, that destroys evangelism and mission. But we need to ask ourselves the question, is such criticism well-founded? Is it justified to say those kind of things regarding the doctrine of limited atonement? Well, before answering that question, I think that we need to define our terms. Especially when we come to any doctrine, you need to define your terms. J.C. Ryle once said, the absence of accurate definitions is the very life of religious controversy. Without defining your terms, you can be sure that you'll enter in to some kind of religious controversy. Now, whenever we speak of that word atonement, we're using a Bible word. We read it there in Romans chapter 5, in the verse 11. the atonement. Whenever the Bible uses the word atonement, the word used translates to mean to cover over so as not to be seen. To cover over so as not to be seen. And that covering over, the covering over of our sins is by the precious blood of Christ And by the atonement that Christ made for us at the cross, we are at one with God, at onement. If you want to think of atonement like that, at one or at onement with God. I'm at one with God because my sins are covered over. They are atoned for. A covering has been provided for my sins. One theologian, William G.T. Shedd, he considered the various Hebrew words that are used for the word atonement, and he made this remark. The connection of ideas in the Hebrew text appears to be this. The suffering of the substitute animal has the effect to cover over the guilt of the real criminal and to make that guilt invisible to the eyes of God When this is done, he said, the transgressor is at rest. The animal was slain. Atonement was made by the shedding of the blood of a lamb or of a bullock. And that blood covered over the guilt of the actual sinner, the actual criminal, and it made it invisible to the eyes of a holy God. And because of that, the criminal could be at rest. He could be at peace. because God had been appeased, covering had been made, atonement had been made. And so when we come to rest in Christ for salvation, we come to trust that the atonement for sin has been made by the Son of God at the cross of Calvary. Our sins have been covered over, they have been atoned for by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what atonement means. Now we add the adjective limited. An adjective is a describing word. That's all it is. And it describes this atonement. It gives it a description. It brings a measure to it. It is termed a limited atonement. Now, this term has been rejected by many Christians, and therefore, Reformed theologians, some prefer to use other words. They prefer to use definite atonement, or another word, particular atonement or particular redemption. Now, to be clear, whenever we use the term limited, we're not saying that there's a limit to the merit or to the value or to the power of the atonement that Jesus Christ made. There's no limit to its power. The limit is with regard to the extent of the atonement or to the application of the atonement. To whom is the atonement applied to? To what extent does it reach? And we'll be considering that. So whenever we consider Christ's atonement, we have to understand that not all men will be saved. We're told in 2 Thessalonians 3 in the verse 2 that all men have not faith. Those who are saved, those whose sins are atoned for, is limited to those whom the Father gave to His Son. We read that before. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And when Christ applies redemption to those people, the recipients are actually and truly saved. Now, the debate and controversy that rages around the doctrine of limited atonement can be settled very simply whenever the following questions are answered. Biblically, here they are. What was God's intention? What was God's purpose in the death of his own dear son? What was his intention? Or we could ask another question, for whom did Christ die for? We could ask this question, whose sins did the Son of God actually pay for and take to Himself when He came to die on the cross of Calvary? Here's another question, for whom was Christ acting as a substitute for when He came to die? Whose punishment did He bear? Whose salvation did He procure? Well, the answer to those questions reveals to us the extent of the atonement. Is it unlimited or is it limited? Now, there are three schools of thought when it comes to for whom Christ died for, to whom or for whom Christ died for. The first school of thought is this, that Jesus Christ died for all men without distinction. That's the view of the universalist. They teach that Christ died to save all men. And so they assume that all men will then be saved. If Christ paid the debt of sin, which the Bible teaches it is, they believe that all men will be saved, all men will be ransomed, all men, all men will be recipients of eternal life. They'll all be saved regardless of them exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or not. And that's why you'll hear individuals being buried who you knew that had no saving interest in Jesus Christ, and yet ministers will purport that they will eventually be raised in the resurrection onto eternal life. Such is the teaching of universalists. They simply teach that all men will be saved. The second school of thought is that Christ died for no one in particular. And that's the view of the Arminian. Arminianism teaches that Christ procured a potential salvation for all men. Christ died on the cross, this view says, but although he paid the debt of our sin, his work on the cross does not become effectual until man decides for Christ and thereby that man is converted or that man is saved. The third school of thought is that Christ died for a certain number of people. That is the view of Calvinism. Calvinism teaches that Christ died to save a certain number of sinners on whom the father had already set his electing love upon. In his death, Jesus Christ paid the debt for his people, his elect. He made satisfaction for his people. And he credited to his people his own righteousness so that tonight they are found complete in Christ. And so to summarize the three school of thoughts regarding the intention of Christ's death, either he died to save all, he either died to save no one in particular, or he died to save a particular number, a particular grouping of individuals. So the question needs answering, which school of thought is biblical, and therefore, which is to be accepted by us? Well, can I say, if Christ's intention was to save all men, as the universalist purports, then Christ failed miserably. You think about that. If Christ's intention was to save every man, woman, boy, girl, Then Christ failed in that intention and he failed miserably. Judas Iscariot wasn't saved. Did Christ's atonement not, was it not good enough for Judas Iscariot? Was it not sufficient to bring Judas Iscariot to heaven? We read in the book of Acts that Judas Iscariot went to his own place. And the reference is that he went to a place reserved in hell for him. Not only that, but in Luke chapter 16, the rich man, believed to be a real person, died, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. And so the rich man, he died and went to hell. Was Christ's work on the cross not sufficient to bring the rich man to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in Matthew chapter 25 that there will be those who will go away into everlasting punishment. But did Christ not die for them? Did Christ's atonement not cover their sins? The teaching of the apostle John in Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 reveals that there are people in hell whose names are not written in the book of life. And so all men will not be saved. It's just biblically impossible. There will be those who will enter into eternal life and bliss in heaven itself, but there will be also those who will go away into everlasting punishment in hell. We also have texts of Scripture that point us to the reality that God's intention in the atonement was to benefit many, not all. Let me give you a number of examples. If you want to turn to Isaiah 53 in the verse 11 and 12, that famous chapter, it is a chapter that brings us to the cross of Calvary. And so could we not find the intention? What was God's intention in the cross? What was His intention when it comes to the atonement? What did He purpose to do? That's what we're thinking. What did God purpose to do in the death of His dear Son, His own dear Son? Verse 11 and 12, the Word of God says, He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bear the sin of many, and meet intercession for the transgressors." Christ did not bear the sins of all men. You could never say that. If you look at that text, you could never say that Christ bore the sins of all men. He bore the sins of many. And we read it twice. We read that He justified many and He bore the sins of many. I take you to the words of Jesus Christ Himself. No better person could we learn or understand regarding The purpose, what He purposed to do when He ministered on earth, Matthew chapter 20 and the verse 28, these are the words of none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We would say it's coming, and I'm not speaking irreverently here from the horse's mouth, it's only coining a phrase. Here we're getting it from the source, the origin. one of the Godhead, speaking here in Matthew chapter 20 and the 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. There it is again, for many. How glad we are of the many. Not a few, but many. What an encouragement that is for evangelism. There's many, many that he bore the sins for, many that he gave his life a ransom for. When Jesus Christ instituted the supper, you're in Matthew, turn to the chapter 26 of Matthew's gospel. Matthew 26, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's instituting the Lord's supper here. It says in verse 26, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and he gave thanks, and gave it on to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for many, for the remission of sins. In Hebrews 2, verse 10, it speaks of Christ bringing many sons. Not all sons. He's bringing many sons to glory. For it became Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Who is He the captain of salvation for? For the many. He's for the many. Hebrews 9 verse 28, so Christ also once suffered to bear the sins of many. And on to them that look for him shall appear the second time without sin on to salvation. And so from these few references, and I've only picked a few, from these few references we can reject the notion that all men will be saved. Charles Spurgeon, he said, if it were Christ's intention to see if all men, how deplorably he has been disappointed. Brethren and sisters, we need to remember that anything that God sets about doing, He does so Incompleteness he sets about it and he completes the work and therefore to say That it was god's intention to save everyone and yet there would be those who are not saved means that he failed in his Intention and that's just something impossible for our god to do isaiah 42 verse 4 he shall not feel nor be discouraged And so if it was His intention, His purpose, and all men are not saved, that means He has failed in His intention. Now, would you dare say that about God? That the God of heaven is in some way of abject failure? I would hope that none of us would say that. Failure is a concept that is foreign to God. He doesn't know anything about failure. He's never failed, ever once. Every work that God does is perfectly completed by Him. So if the Son of God did not die or atone for the sins of every person in the world, whose sins did He atone for? Well, to answer that question, we need again to see what the Bible says about what God's intention was when it came comes to the death of Jesus Christ. What did God intend to do or accomplish in redemption? When we come to think about this, we need to start by saying that God had a definite purpose in mind. It wasn't as if God on the job decided what He was going to do. There was an intention There was a definite purpose in the mind of God when it came to the death of His own dear Son. There was a purpose in mind when God the Father sent God the Son into the world for the purpose of dying on the cross. What did He come to do? Did He come to make it possible for salvation or did He come to bring salvation? Galatians 1 verse 4, We read these words, speaking of Christ who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God our Father. God's intention was to die for our sins and to deliver his people from this present evil world. That was God's intention. 1 Peter 2 verse 24, God's intention again was to bear the sins of His people and His own body on the tree. 1 Peter 3, verse 18, God's intention was to bring us His people unto God. Really, these verses, they show us God's intention. His intention was to save. actually save, actually save. In that intention God did not fail, for to do so would have meant that the purpose of God had failed and that cannot happen. Now the Arminian, they teach that God died only to make salvation possible. they teach that a person's salvation really is dependent on the faith of the sinner. If a sinner exercises faith, any sinner, then salvation becomes theirs. However, that teaching really places man on the throne, if you think about it, when it comes to salvation. puts man on the throne, not God. It's all dependent on man, his decision, whether he chooses Christ or not. But as we have seen, Christ has chosen us. Christ has chosen us. Calvinism teaches that God was definite in the atonement and that Christ died to make full and perfect Atonement for the sins of His elect people. Let me give you a few proof references to show you that Christ died for a specific people. He died for a specific people and not for all. Ephesians 5 verse 25, Christ gave Himself for whom? The church. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. and gave himself for it. He gave himself for it. What's the it? It's the church, the church, the redeemed of God. He gave himself for the church. In John 10 verse 15, we read that the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for the sheep. As a father knoweth me, he said, even so know I the father And I lay down my life for the sheep. He doesn't lay down his life for the goats. He lays down his life for the sheep. He is the good shepherd, lays down his life on the cross for a particular grouping. Here, they're called the sheep. In Ephesians, they're called the church. In Matthew 1, verse 21, they're called his people. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall save his people from their sin. The passage doesn't say that he makes salvation possible for the individual, but that he actually came and he actually died in order to save his people from their sin. He shall save his people from their sins. Now you might be saying in your mind, But are there not texts in the Bible that refer to Christ dying for all men, and that his death was intended to save the world? For example, John 1 verse 29, John the Baptist looking at the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Well, there it is, the sin of the world. It's surely broader than this grouping. You're talking about the church, the elect of God. What about John 3, 16? For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 1 Timothy 2, verse 4 to 6, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 1 John 2 verse 2, we read, He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Whenever you read texts like that, you need to remember their context. These broad terms, the world, all men, they were used by the Holy Spirit to correct the false notion that salvation was simply for the Jews. Such phrases as, the world, all men, every creature, were used by God the Holy Ghost to correct that very mistake. These expressions are being employed by the pen men, inspired by God to show that Christ died for all men without distinction. In other words, He died for Jews and Gentiles, the whole world. But they're not intended to indicate that Christ died for all men without exception. In other words, He did not die for the purpose of saving every lost sinner. He died for His people. That's who he died for, the cross of Calvary. You think of those words there in John 3, 16. Notice with me that God the Son places a limit on those who become the recipients of everlasting life. Will God love the world? The Savior said it was only those who would believe on Him who would receive everlasting life. Not all believe on Christ, and therefore not all will have everlasting life. Christ died for His people. He took their sins to the cross of Calvary. He bore the wrath of God. for His people. His intention was to die for them. His intention was fulfilled. Christ died for me. Christ died for you. Those who deny the doctrine of limited atonement, they ask the question, Why evangelize? Why witness? Why have gospel missions if Christ only died for the sins of His people? Well, as I've said to you before, we do not know who His people are. We don't know those who have been ordained to eternal life. We don't know those whom God has set His electing love upon and therefore It is our duty to fulfill biblical commands, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and to do so until he returns from heaven. Rather than being a hindrance to evangelism, this doctrine encourages us to evangelize. Because knowing that Christ has died for a people, and those people are found in every nation because there will be those of every nation who will be gathered before the throne of God, we are inspired to preach the gospel far and wide, knowing that our efforts will not be in vain, that Christ will gather His people unto Himself. Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. They'll be gathered unto Christ. All given to the Son of God will come to Him. But God has chosen to bring such to His Son through the foolishness of preaching. Limited atonement is therefore no hindrance to evangelism and mission. If anything, it is an impetus, it is a stimulus for it that there is a people out there To have some kind of unlimited atonement, well, we would be going out on a mission that we don't even know if there would be any success with regard to salvation. But we go out knowing that there shall be success because God has a people, and He died for that people, a place called Calvary. This doctrine of limited atonement is also a good ground for assurance. There can be no doubt. those for whom Christ died will never perish. If he has died for our sins, and for our sins personally, therefore we can rest on that work that he undertook for me at the place called Calvary. His death has saved me and therefore I cannot be lost. An indefinite atonement can never give the assurance to believers. Only a definite atonement. And so tonight we can rejoice that Christ has died for our sins. Yes, our sins. upon the cross, and therefore our sins have been blotted out, our sins have been forgiven, our sins are God. God's intention, His intention, His intention to see if has been realized in your life. It's been realized in your life and in my life. What a thrilling thought. His intention has been realized in my life. He purposely died for David Stewart on the cross. He purposely died for you. A.W. Pink, he said this regarding the doctrine of limited atonement. He said, however men may quibble and rest the Scriptures, one thing is certain, the atonement is no failure. God will not allow that precious and costly sacrifice to fail. in accomplishing completely that which it was designed to effect. Not a drop of that holy blood was shed in vain. In the last great day, there shall stand forth no disappointed or defeated Savior, but one who shall see the travail of his soul. and be satisfied. Full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah, what a savior. Rejoice, child of God, that Christ has made atonement for your sins, that you're part of that number for whom he died for. You belong to the sheep, you belong to his church, You're His forever. And if He died for my sins, then He died fully. And He paid the debt fully for me. Thereby, I rest my soul on His finished work. I trust that such will encourage your soul tonight. and that you'll grapple and grasp something of what has been taught, even from the Word tonight, for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's bow in prayer. Please, let's pray and seek the Lord, our loving Father. We rejoice in Thy good intention, Thy purpose. We thank Thee that Christ did not come on a mission that hadn't been defined for Him, but He came to die for His people. He came to save His people from their sin. He came to deliver us from this present evil world. And we rejoice, Lord, that Christ has borne our sins to the tree, and that he died for me. O precious lamb of Calvary, you took my place and he died for me. Come Lord, we are humbled again by the thought that Christ has died for a people. Lord, here we are. nothing good in us. God has purposed it to be so. Out of His good pleasure and His good grace, God has sought it to suffer and to bleed and to die for us, His church. We pray, Lord, that thou wilt add to thy church. We recognize, Lord, that we go forth to preach confidently, knowing that thy people, thy people, their sins have been paid for. And we rejoice, Lord, that though they shall believe on them, through their word. Therefore, we come, Lord, even into this community, believing that there are a people. I have much people, the Savior said, in this city. He already had them. They were already His before they were ever converted. They were already deemed to be His because Christ had died for them. Oh, what a wonder. What a marvel. Lord, we pray that you'll bring us to thy feet, and may we just love thee more and more as we consider what Christ has done for us. Lord, bless us, we pray, as we continue on in this meeting. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen.