DOCTRINES OF GRACE - SERMON # 2



Doctrines of Grace

DOCTRINE OF LIMITED ATONEMENT

“EXTENT OF ATONEMENT”

Various throughout

Basis: Canons of Dordt

2nd Head of Doctrine, Article 8

Sermon by:

Rev. P. den Butter

Published by the

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

OF THE

FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.

(May 2003)

LITURGY:

Votum

Psalter 326: 1, 2, 3

Law of God

Scripture: Matthew 20: 17 – 28

Psalter 297: 1

Text: Various throughout

Basis: Canons of Dordt, 2nd Head of Doctrine, Article 8

For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation: that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father, that He should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased for them by His death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever.

Congregational Prayer

Offering

Psalter 398: 1, 2, 3

Sermon

Psalter 429: 4

Thanksgiving Prayer

Psalter 304: 6, 7

Benediction

Doxology: Psalter 400: 7

DOCTRINES OF GRACE - SERMON # 10

THE DOCTRINE OF LIMITED ATONEMENT

“Extent of Atonement”

There is one aspect in the doctrine of atonement that we still must consider together. We have looked at the necessity of atonement and we have seen the nature of atonement. We have already two times also looked at the effects of the atonement: the first being that Christ, by His atoning work brings the sinner back to God, and the second double effect is that He judges the wicked world and He casts out the devil. By this work of atonement the sinner is not only delivered from the power of sin and Satan but he is also restored into God’s favourable communion. Well, there is one aspect then in the doctrine of atonement that we still have to meditate on, and that is the ‘extent of the atonement.’ That means that we should seek an answer to the question, ‘For whom did Christ give His blood? Whose sin is being atoned for by the blood of Christ? Whose guilt is removed? Who is brought to God by Christ? Who is delivered from the power of sin and who is delivered from the power of Satan by the death of Christ on the cross? For whom did He give His life a ransom?’

This is the question that we wish to now consider - For whom did Christ die? Now, I do not have one particular text in the Word of God, though there are quite a few that I will be quoting: one of them being from Matthew 20:28 where we read the words that Christ, the Son of Man has not come to minister unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. But that is only one text out of many that we will be studying. What I did choose is a section from our Confession, namely from the Canons of Dordt. We are still in the second head of doctrine. Let me read to you Article 8, as this covers what we are now dealing with. For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation: that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father; that He should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased for them by His death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever.

For whom did Christ die? For whom did He give His blood? Well, the text in Matthew 20:28 says ‘for many’. He gave His life a ransom for many. In Matthew 26:28 we find a similar statement where the Lord Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper says, speaking about the cup of the Supper, For this is My blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So, there are many for whom Christ shed His blood. Now then, who are these ‘many’?

There have been and there still are people that say the ‘many’ are ‘all men’. All men will be saved, and the benefits of Christ’s death accrue to all men. The people that teach that all men will be saved, we call the ‘universalists’. Do they have a Biblical ground for their teaching? They think they have. They claim that the Bible teaches universal redemption. They like to refer to words like John 1:29, where we hear John the Baptist say about the Lord Jesus, He is the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. They understand the term ‘world’ as meaning all men. The Lamb of God takes away the sins of all the inhabitants of the world.

Another text that they like to quote is 1 John 2:2, where the apostle John is speaking about Christ being a propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world. The universalist says, See, there it is again. Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, namely meaning that all men, all the inhabitants of the whole world will be forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ.

And apart from these texts that speak about the world, and Christ’s meaning for the world, the universalists like to quote other texts and passages from the Bible, where we read the word ‘all’ or ‘all men’; for instance in 2 Corinthians 5:15 where the apostle says, And that He, (Christ) died for all. The universalist says that Paul is teaching universal redemption. All men will benefit from the death of Christ. The same in 1 Timothy 2:4, God will have all men to be saved. 1 Timothy 4:10 – God is the Saviour of all men. Romans 8:32 – Christ was given up for us all.

Well, what can these texts mean? They must mean that all men will be saved, that the death of Christ will be beneficial for all men. Is that so? Is that indeed what the Bible says? Is this the only possible interpretation of the terms world, all and all men? Suppose it would be true. Then we would run into difficulties. Then we could conclude nothing else than that the Bible contradicts itself. Suppose it would be so that the Lord Jesus is the Saviour of all men and that all men will be saved by His blood. What then does it mean when the Bible speaks about people that perish? What then does the Bible mean when it speaks about people that will be sent into hell? Let me give you only one quotation out of the many, from Matthew 25 where the Lord Jesus as the Judge is saying to those on His left hand, Depart from Me, and when it says in the conclusion of that story, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment. The Bible teaches that there is punishment – everlasting punishment upon the wicked, that there are people that perish in hell never to be recovered from that eternal punishment. Well, how then can it be true that all men are saved by Christ? How then can it be true that Christ is a universal Saviour who delivers all and everyone from sin? That would mean that the Bible contradicts itself, saying on the one hand, all men will be saved … saying on the other hand, some men – many men will perish forever. So the position of the universalists is not Biblical.

What does it mean when the Bible speaks about the ‘world?’ Well, that obviously cannot mean all the inhabitants of the world individually. What does it mean when the Bible says ‘all men?’ It cannot mean that all men individually will be saved and that Christ saves all and everyone without any exception. It cannot mean that because the Bible says that it doesn’t mean that. How then must the question be answered, For whom did Christ give his blood? What is the extent of the atonement? Well, there is not only the Universalist, but there is also the Arminian. Now don’t confuse these two because they are different. Arminians are not Universalists. Arminians do not teach that all men shall be saved. No, Arminians do teach that Christ died for all men. Yes, that is what they teach. But they do not say that all men will be saved. The Universalist says that Christ died for all men and all men will be saved. The Arminian says that Christ died for all men, nevertheless not all men will be saved. What is that? What do they mean? They do believe that Christ died for all men, and yet there are people that perish - people for whom Christ died. Yes, people for whom Christ died, can still perish. Christ has shed His blood for them for the remission of their sins, and yet these people can still perish. What then is the effect of the atonement? What then is the effect of the work Christ did upon the cross? Obviously, not what we have recently seen, that Christ by His blood brings us to God. No. If we are brought to God, then we are saved, aren’t we? And if we are saved, we are saved forever. Therefore the Arminian understands the effect of the atonement to be something else. What did Christ do when He died upon the cross? Did He save people? No, He made their salvation possible. He doesn’t save any, but He makes them all redeemable. Do you see the difference? He doesn’t make their salvation a fact, but He makes their salvation a possibility. Therefore, the Arminian doesn’t agree with the Universalist. The Universalist says Christ died for all, and consequently all will be saved. No, the Arminian says, Christ died for them, but that doesn’t mean their salvation. That only means the possibility of the salvation of all men.

Now, how does the Arminian defend this position? He uses the same text as the Universalists – John 1:29, about Christ the Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world. 1 John 2:2 – Christ being the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. John 3:16, God so loved the world … And then again these texts speaking about ‘all’ and ‘all men.’ God being the Saviour of all men – John 12:32 Christ drawing all men unto Himself. These texts are frequently used by the Arminian to defend his position, in which he expresses to believe not in limited, but in unlimited – in general atonement. But do not do injustice to the Arminian position, - not to say that all men will be saved, no – but to say that all men are solvable, redeemable.

But this opinion leads the Arminian to state and to frequently state, God loves you. Whenever he speaks, he says it indiscriminately to all people whom he meets, God loves you. Another statement he makes, is Christ died for you. Yes, Christ died for you.

Well, what do we say about this approach? Is it Biblical? Well, you say (and this is what many say today, also in Reformed circles) it sounds nice. It is certainly a broad gospel preaching. It is a generous offer of mercy to all. If you say to people, ‘God loves you, and Christ died for you’ – well, that’s certainly is a broad gospel invitation. That is a rich gospel. There is nothing narrow in it. There is nothing depressing in it. It is really an uplifting message.

Yes, that may seem to be so, but there is a problem. There is a problem and it is this problem. Christ died for all, and not all will be saved. Why not? Is Christ able to die for all and to make redemption possible for all, but is He not able to actually redeem all? Can He only make their salvation possible? Can He not make that work which He did upon the cross effectual in their lives? Why then does He not fully accomplish salvation in their life? Why did He show His love to all for dying for them on the cross? Why did He show His great sinner’s love by giving His blood for all? And why then does He not really and actually deliver them? Why is it that He died for all and that yet many perish?

Do you know what the answer is? The answer is, Well, salvation is possible. Salvation is available, but man must decide whether he will have it or not. Christ has made salvation possible. Now salvation is proclaimed to man. It is offered unto man and the offer comes with statements like God loves you and Christ died for you. But now, man must give the answer. He must decide whether he will turn to Christ and accept Him, and allow Him to come into his heart, so to be made a partaker of salvation – or he must decide to not do any of these things. Christ has done His work, and now it is up to man. ‘Eternal life, eternal death – the choice is yours.’ Man must decide whether he will be a partaker of grace or not. And only when man decides favourably, then the death of Christ is going to have effect in his life. That’s the Arminian position.

You can hear that almost everywhere. This is the message which is preached in many a church, in many a gospel hall, in many a tabernacle. In all sorts of evangelical churches and also in many Reformed churches, this is the message. And in almost every evangelism campaign, this is the message. If the preaching is not modern and liberal, then the preaching is invariably almost, Arminian, and the approach is almost always along the lines I have just showed you.

But you will be able to see, I hope, that in this manner, Who saves man? Who makes salvation possible for man? Who is man’s Saviour? - Almighty man with his decision – with his choice to come to Christ! And God is dependant on the choice of man. If man chooses to make the wrong choice, God cannot alter it. If man refuses to open his heart, Christ cannot enter into man’s heart. Christ is only allowed to enter into man’s heart when man allows Him to come in. That is in simple words the Arminian position. God is made dependant on man and on man’s decision. Man is his own saviour. And Christ can only follow suit when man opens his heart.

So far, we have seen what the Arminian says and what the Universalist teaches, but what does the Bible say? What is according to the Scriptures, the extent of the atonement? What does the Bible say in answer to the question, For whom did Christ give His blood? Well, you know, we confess as Calvinists that the Bible teaches ‘limited atonement.’ Limited atonement! - What does that mean? It means that Christ did not die for all men. He died for some. Now don’t misunderstand the word ‘some’. When I say ‘some’ I do not mean one or two or five or at the most ten or twenty. No, the ‘some’ are many. Sometimes the ‘some’ are called a little flock. At other times the ‘some’ are called a large multitude which no man can number. And therefore the Lord Jesus speaks about ‘many’. He gives His life a ransom for many, and His blood was shed for many. Yes, the ‘some’ are many. They are a large multitude, but when I say ‘some’, then I mean to emphasize this point that Christ did not die for all. He did not die for all. There is no general atonement, no unlimited atonement, but a limited one.

Limited? Limited in the sense that not all will be saved, and that not all are in Christ, when He dies for them. Right from the beginning, the purpose or the scope of the atonement was limited. But those for whom Christ died, they will be infallibly made partakers of salvation. This is what we have read in Article 8 of the second Head of Doctrine. Let me read a few of these words again from the Canons, and just without almost one word of comment, emphasize a few of these passages.

For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all – man? No, to all the elect! – bestowing upon them alone, the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation. For them alone – for them alone Christ gave His blood, but when He has done so, He will not make salvation for them possible as the Arminian teaches; no, He will infallibly bring them to salvation. Their salvation is secure as it says in the rest of this article. He will effectually redeem them.

So, for whom did the Lord Jesus give His blood? For the elect! For those that were chosen from eternity – for those that were given to the Son by the Father – for them alone He died. Them alone God loves. I may not say to all indiscriminately God loves you. I have no warrant in Scripture to say that. I may not say to all of you indiscriminately, Christ died for you. I have no warrant in Scripture to say that, because it is not true. God loves only His people whom He chose from eternity. Christ only gave His blood for His people – those that were given unto Him by the Father.

No general atonement – but a limited one! That is not only the Calivinistic position, but I believe that it is the Biblical position. The Biblical? Yes, let me try to prove it to you. I will do it in two different ways. In the first place, not by giving you a list of texts that we can look up in the Bible, but by drawing some lines. The first line is from what the Three Divine Persons are doing with reference to the salvation of man. We believe that salvation is from the Lord. Now, God consists of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three persons are actively engaged in redeeming the sinner. What does the Father do? The Father’s work is electing. That is what the Father does. He elects His people. What does the Son do in the work of redemption? Well, He gives His blood. He pays the price. He gives His life a ransom to so save them. What is the work of the Spirit? The Spirit is the Sanctifier. The Spirit is the one that applies the work of Christ to the sinner’s heart. The Father elects. The Son redeems. The Spirit sanctifies.

To whom does the work of the Father extend? What is the extent of the election? Ah, you say, the elect! Right! Does God elect all men? No, He elects His people. He elects a certain number of people – the chosen ones – those that are called the elect. So, the extent of election is ‘limited’. To whom does the work of the Spirit extend? Whom does the Spirit sanctify? Whom does He make partakers of the work of Christ? Ah, you say, only God’s people - only those that will ultimately arrive in heaven - only those to whom He gives a new heart. Right! So the extent of the work of the Spirit is ‘limited’ to the people of God. And the work of Christ …? Does that extend to all men? Does it? Does He give His life for all men? Do you see what you do? You break the unity in the Trinity. You break the harmony between Father, Son and Spirit? Does Christ love more people than the Father loves? Does Christ give His blood for more people than the Spirit sanctifies? That would be disharmony in the Triune God, and that cannot be.

The second line I draw from the work of Christ as a Priest. We know and confess that the Son, that Christ is a Priest. What are the two main activities of the priest? You say, He brings the sacrifice, and He prays. Right! The Son as a Priest brings the sacrifice. The Son as a Priest also intercedes. Now, take the last one first. For whom does He pray? For whom? He Himself says in John 17:9, I pray for them – the disciples. He Himself says, I pray not for the world, but for those that Thou hast given Me. So His intercession is ‘limited’ to His people. Yes. Now, for whom did He do the other part of the priestly work – bring the sacrifice? He prays for a certain number of people. Did He die for all? That would break the unity in the work of the Priest. The Priest would sacrifice for all, and He would pray for some? Is that possible? You see, that there is going to be a breach in this way of the two works of that one priest. These arguments should be sufficient to convince us that the Bible teaches us ‘limited’ atonement. Yes. For whom did Christ give His blood? For the same number as for whom He prays. For whom did Christ give His blood? For the same number as are chosen by the Father and sanctified by the Spirit.

Well, then what about these texts in the Bible that speak about the world and about all men - these texts that make the case of the Arminian so strong as it seems. Can we dismiss these texts as being irrelevant? No, of course we may not dismiss them, and we cannot dismiss them either because they are in the Word of God. They are in the Bible. But we should seek to understand them aright. And we may not go by the sound of the words. That is the problem. That is so often done, that the sound of the words determines the meaning of the words. And many people that are perfectly unequipped to explain the Scriptures, yet undertake to explain the Scriptures and the result is that they wrest them. Pink says, with a quotation from the book of Job, To a multitude of evangelists and preachers of today, we would say, ‘O that ye would altogether hold your peace.’ It should be your wisdom. And he is right!

But what about these texts in the Bible? Are they not in the Scriptures? Yes. How long have they been in the Scriptures? O, they were there already, when our fathers at the Synod of Dordt wrote this Article 8 in Head of Doctrines 2. They knew them, and yet they have written this article. Yes. It is not our discovery in the twentieth century by which we now are all of a sudden aware of the texts that speak about the ‘world’ and about ‘all men’. No, they have been there always. They have been there in the days of the Reformation. They have been there ever since there was the confession of limited atonement.

But what does ‘all’ mean? What does ‘world’ mean? Let me be brief because too much time has been spent already in exposition. Let me briefly comment on a few of these things. ‘All men’ often means, not all men individually, but all sorts of men, all kinds of men. Christ is the Saviour of Jews and Gentiles – of Jews and Greeks and Romans and all sorts of people – all sorts of men. ‘World’ – We saw already that the word ‘world’ does not always have the same meaning. Sometimes it is the created world. Sometimes it is the wicked world. In John 1:29 and in 1 John 2:2 it means the world as the wide extent where there are fallen sons and daughters of Adam for whom there is only one Propitiation of sin – for whom there is only one Lamb of God. And not only for the believers in the days of John, and not only for the believers from among the Jews, but for all the believers in all of the world, there is only one Lamb and there is only one Propitiation.

Maybe there are a few texts that need some more elaborate study. In our next study, in a little different context, I hope to expand on John 3:16 For God so loved the world and on 1 Timothy 4:10, God is the Saviour of all men. Then I hope to give you some more information about these texts. And if you would like to be further informed about these so-called Universalistic passages, I can do no better than refer you to some good books, for instance, Professor Murray’s book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, in the chapter on the extent of the atonement, or Pink’s book on the Atonement, the two chapters on the extent of the atonement, or John Gill’s newly reprinted book called the Cause of God and Truth, who gives a concise explanation of all the texts involved in the discussion on Limited Atonement.

But whatever ‘all’ and whatever ‘world’ may mean, the Word itself interprets for whom Christ died. John 10:11 - The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep. And in the same context, Jesus is talking about wolves, but He didn’t die for the wolves. In the same context the Lord Jesus is speaking about the hirelings, but the Good Shepherd doesn’t give His life for the hirelings. - Only for the sheep!

What does Paul say in Ephesians 5:25, Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved … who? - all men? No, the church! He loved the church and gave Himself for it.

Congregation, I had to give you this mainly doctrinal study today. I know there was little application today, (so far at least), but I feel especially in our day and age when we are inundated by a flood of Arminian teaching and preaching and radio messages and books and booklets and all sorts of attractive readable material, I felt it necessary to expound with you on the doctrine of ‘limited’ atonement. We should speak Biblically and think Biblically and be aware of the many distortions of the Gospel.

Let me in concluding say a few words by way of practical application and conclusion. The first remark I would like to make is that we should be very careful in the way we talk about the death of Christ. We should not talk in general terms about the death of Christ. Let me be very frank with you; I notice this general talk more and more, also among our people. Among young people and among older people, it is becoming more and more customary to say things like, Christ died for us.

I don’t know how it was when you were young, but when I was a young man, a young boy, I knew one thing, that one has to be converted before he can say, Christ died for us. We were taught that when we spoke about the Lord Jesus and the about the death of Christ, that we should say, Christ died for His people. This can be quite different than saying, Christ died for us. But today, it seems that we take the easier way of saying, and as if we now are allowed to say, Christ died for us. You know, that if you would make that statement honestly, you must also be able to give an account, (be it ever so brief) of what the Lord by His Spirit has done in your heart. Otherwise He did not die for you. At least, you are not able to say it. Us? What does that mean? It does not mean all and everyone here in church included. It means His people only – those to whom grace has been given, in whose heart grace has been magnified. And if we have not learned anything of this spiritual experience, having come from darkness to light, - if we then yet say, ‘us’ we are using a device which Satan has invented to lull us to sleep and to make us quiet. Before we are able to say ‘us’, we in person must have learned to strive to enter in through the narrow gate. And how many of those who say ‘us’ have never done that! So be careful, and don’t allow yourself to be made a vehicle of error in our days to bring error into people’s minds, if not in the first place in your own mind. That’s the first thing I would like to say as a practical conclusion.

In the second place, for whom did Christ die? For His people! For the sheep! For the Church! Do you see the great importance of belonging to that people of God? Do you see how greatly important it is to be one of the sheep of the Shepherd? He died for them. What if I am not a sheep? He died for His Church. What if I am not part of that true and living Church? He died for His people. What if I am not a child of God? - Then I have not been purchased by the blood of Christ, and that means that I stand outside. Do you see how greatly important it is that we are of the Church and that we are within the flock of Christ? Have you learned to be in earnest about these things? Have you been born anew already? Did the Lord visit you with His grace already? Has the Spirit opened your eyes to see your need already? Has the Spirit drawn you unto the Lord Jesus to plead mercy from His hands?

O, how important a thing it is that we see that we must be one of Christ’s sheep. And what a precious thing it is if we are privileged to be a child of the Lord, if we are made one of His people! What a blessing that is and what a blessing it brings! O, why is it that since the stakes are so high, since we must be one of the sheep of the Lord Jesus, one of the children of God, will it be well with us, - why is it that yet so many are so dull and indifferent and hardly pay any attention to the Gospel when it is preached? Why is it that there are always people that begin to yawn in church and wait for the final ‘Amen’ and then they can leave? Why is it that when the Gospel of Christ, and the death of Christ is spoken about and preached about in the pulpit, that there are still people who do not see any beauty and any preciousness in that blood of Christ? O, let your eyes be opened that you may see what is really necessary!

And you who are truly sheep, you that have experienced that grace that the Lord drew you, - you that have seen some of the mercy of the Almighty God displayed in the Lord Jesus, and that have experienced some of the powerful work of the Holy Spirit, that have been changed from darkness into people that walk in the light and that may see beauty and preciousness in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, though you may not be able to fully comprehend it and appropriate it,- yet what you should do that have known that experience of ‘changed by God’s Almighty hand’ – give thanks to God for His unspeakable grace! For a grace it is to be purchased by the blood of the Lamb!

And then in the third place, many say that preaching as we have had today is negative preaching! Negative – it is only telling what it is not. It is only discussing the errors and then after having discussed the errors, there is another negative element, because then the preaching begins to speak about ‘limited’ atonement. Limited to some only! Limited to the elect only! That’s negative preaching. It gives only room for some to believe. Is it negative? Is it? Congregation, I tell you, it is not! For even though we firmly believe in limited atonement that does not mean that we have to be limited in the offer of grace. Certainly not! Though we believe that Christ died only for His people, we may yet preach the Gospel to all because we do not know who they are for whom Christ died, since we do not know who are the elect of God, but since God is pleased to gather His elect, we may preach the offer freely to all. I hope to give you more details, more Scriptural references on this point the next time on our concluding message on the Doctrine of Limited Atonement. But there is no limitation as far as the offer is concerned. No limitation as far as the offer of grace is concerned! Do you know who does the limiting? Without any hesitation, I dare say that the Arminian limits the Gospel. He limits the Gospel. He limits the work of atonement. What does the Arminian teaching say which sounds as a teaching and a preaching which is so broad to say to all men, ‘God loves you and Christ died for you’? - That’s a limited Gospel they preach. What is the limitation? They say, Do you know what Christ did for you? Here you are, and there is God. There is a big gulf between God and you, but Christ built a bridge half way across the gulf. Half way! And now you have to finish building the bridge, and then you are there! -- That’s limiting the grace of God! The Bible teaches us that for those who are God’s people, Christ built a bridge all the way from hell to heaven and He carries all these over the bridge for whom the bridge was laid. That’s no limitation. That tells us that He is a perfect Saviour. He doesn’t stand there with His hands folded waiting till man will make his decision in favour of Christ. He doesn’t stand there waiting and seeing and being frustrated when man continually turns away from Christ and refuses to allow Him into his heart. No, the Saviour concerning whom the Bible speaks of, is a perfect Saviour and He does all the work from beginning to end. He delivers His people. He finds them in the place of misery, in their lost condition. He finds them in the house of bondage. He finds them under the dominion of Satan and evil. He finds them slaves, unable to rescue themselves. He finds them depraved and miserable all over – in mind and will and heart and affections, paralyzed everywhere. So He finds them. What does He do? Does He put them on their feet and say, Now you walk? No, He carries them. He carries them in His bosom till He has brought them safely into the promised land, till He may land them in the Father’s bosom. And so He delivers with a perfect deliverance and so His blood atones for all their sins – without any limitation. No, this is not a negative preaching. This is the preaching of the perfect redemption of the perfect Saviour, Jesus Christ, for all those that are His people. And this Gospel may be preached freely to all.

If you are not yet one of His sheep, if you are not yet one of His people, then the door is still wide open and the invitation comes, Come unto Him! Amen.

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