Grace Baptist Church of Danville June 26, 2011 ________________________________________
There is no love except distinguishing love, no redemption except a particular redemption, no atonement except a limited atonement, no deliverance except an effectual deliverance, and no grace except irresistible, omnipotent, saving grace. _______________________________________________
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Christ Lifted Up — Don Fortner (Tune: #46 — O for a Thousand Tongues — CM)
1. Come ransom’d souls unite with me, Lift up, lift up our Lord! Tell of His death upon the tree, And sound His praise abroad.
2. High over all He lives and reigns, The everlasting God! The Holy One, who was made sin, Has saved us with His blood!
3. Behold Him, now exalted high, Our Savior reigns to bless. Exalt His name, and lift it high, — “The Lord our Righteousness!”
4. Higher and higher — higher still, Lift up the sinner's Friend, Till all whom God the Father will, Shall to His sceptre bend.
5. Exalted Savior, draw my heart, And after You I'll run, Till time, and heav’n, and earth depart, Then take me to Your throne! ____________________________________________
“When Thou shalt make His Soul an Offering for Sin” Isaiah 53:10
Why did the Lord of glory endure such a horrible, shameful, ignominious death for us upon the cross? The Lord God bruised His Son and put Him to grief upon the cursed tree because He made “his soul an offering for sin.” Christ died as He did, He had to die as He did so that He might be a suitable Substitute and Sin Offering to God for His people. Here are four reasons for the crucifixion, four reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ died the painful, shameful, ignominious death of the cross.
1. Christ died the death of the cross because He must bear the curse of the law in His death if He would save us (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
2. The Lord Jesus died the horrid death of the cross to fulfill the Old Testament types as a sin offering.
Those sacrifices were always lifted up upon an altar before God. The brazen serpent was lifted up on a pole. Even so, God’s great Sin Offering, the true Sin Offering had to be lifted up (Numbers 19:9; John 3:14; 12:32).
3. Our Savior died as He did upon the cursed tree to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies concerning His death (Psalm 22:16-17; Zechariah 12:10).
4. The Lord Jesus endured the death of the cross for us, as our Substitute, that God might be both just and the Justifier of all who trust Him (Romans 3:24-26; Psalm 85:10-11; Proverbs 16:7; Isaiah 45:20).
I repeat myself on this point deliberately and frequently because this is the crucial issue of the Gospel. Christ did not die merely as a moral example to display the love of God. The Son of God died because that is the only way God could save chosen sinners. It would not be a display of divine wisdom, but of utter barbarism, if God sacrificed His Son without a necessity!
The fact that our redemption by the blood of Christ is a matter of justice satisfied also assures us that all for whom justice has been satisfied are forever freed from the claims of justice! The law required two goats on the Day of Atonement. The name of the Lord’s goat was Truth. The name of the scapegoat was Mercy. In the redemption of our souls by the blood of Christ, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Today we are told that the sacrificial blood of the Lord Jesus Christ does not, in itself, secure the salvation of anyone, but that it only makes salvation possible for everyone. We are told that the blood of Christ becomes effectually operative by man’s faith, by man deciding to believe on Jesus, by the act of man’s great, imaginary free will. Nonsense! Such doctrine is utter heresy! That is not the teaching of Holy Scripture!
Redemption upon the grounds of justice satisfied is of necessity a particular and effectual redemption. Those for whom justice is satisfied cannot be condemned (Galatians 3:13; Romans 8:1, 33, 34). The Lord Christ is not our helper. He is our Savior! He is not an accomplice in salvation, but the Accomplisher of salvation! All for whom He died are redeemed, effectually, eternally redeemed! He who entered into heaven with His own blood and sat down because His work was finished actually obtained eternal redemption for His people (Hebrews 9:12). He did not just make it a possibility! ___________________________________________________________
“He Shall See His Seed” Isaiah 53:10
“He shall see his seed.” — Beginning with this sentence and going through the rest of the chapter, Isaiah shows us what the certain, just, and inevitable results of Christ’s death must be. Do not ever think that the results of our Lord’s death are uncertain. The Arminian, the freewiller, must say, “There are no sure and certain results of Christ’s death. Everything is left to chance. Everything depends upon what man will do. Everything is determined by man’s will.” Blasphemy! In these lines of inspiration God the Holy Spirit tells us exactly what the results of Christ’s death shall be. It is written, “He shall not fail!” Our Lord’s death was not a gamble, a crap-shoot. He effectually accomplished all that He came here to do. Here we see the infallible efficacy of Christ’s atonement.
“He shall see His seed.” — We do not have to guess who His seed are. His seed is the generation (Psalm 22:30) that shall serve Him, the whole body of God’s elect. He shall see them, every one of them, forgiven, justified, regenerated, sanctified, and glorified (John 12:24, 32). He shall see His seed with Him at His Father’s right hand. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage! His soul’s travail brings forth eternal life for all His seed! None shall perish for whom He died!
“He shall prolong His days.” — That simply means that, once He has by His death fully satisfied the justice of God and put away the sins of His people, He will be raised from the dead to declare in the most public, undeniable manner possible that all for whom He died are forever justified (Romans 4:25). Being raised from the dead, He shall then be exalted and glorified to give eternal life to all His redeemed ones (John 17:2; Romans 14:9; Philippians 2:8-11).
“And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.” — Do not fail to notice that word “shall.” Everything God wants done shall be done by the risen, exalted, glorified Christ. All the pleasure of God’s eternal purpose is being and shall be fully accomplished by King Jesus (Romans 8:28-39). “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” — There is that word “shall” again. Twice it is given in this sentence. The Holy Spirit intends for us to understand that there is absolutely no uncertainty about what the consequences of Christ’s atonement are. This text is talking about a satisfied Savior, not a frustrated assistant! When the Word of God talks about the satisfaction of Christ, it is talking about two things: Christ making satisfaction and Christ being satisfied. By His one offering for sin, our Redeemer has completely satisfied the law and justice of God (Galatians3:13; 1 John 1:9). By His sin-atoning death as our Substitute, our Savior satisfied all types, shadows, and prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Noah’s Ark - The Ram Caught in the Thicket - The Paschal Lamb - The Scapegoat - The Brazen Serpent - The Smitten Rock). The crucified Christ presented to sinners in the Gospel satisfies all the demands of a guilty conscience, all the needs of a convicted sinner, and all the desires of a renewed heart (Hebrews 9:12-14; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Psalm 73:25-26; Philippians 3:7-14). ____________________________________________
THE GRACE BULLETIN June 26, 2011
Grace Baptist Church of Danville 2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438 Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail [email protected]
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor
Schedule of Regular Services
Sunday 10:00 A.M. Bible Classes 10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service 6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service
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