Sermon #1511 Miscellaneous Sermons
Title: Four Fables—Four Questions—Four Facts
Text: 2
Timothy 4:1-5
Subject: Damning
Religious Fables
Date: Sunday Morning—
Tape # X-17a
Introduction:
(2 Timothy 4:1-5)
"I charge thee therefore
before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing and his kingdom; (2) Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their
own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be
turned unto fables. (5) But watch
thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full
proof of thy ministry."
The prophecy made by the Apostle Paul in our text
has come to pass in our day. Around the world, particularly in our own country,
and specifically in
I am not talking about Papists, Hindus, Buddhist,
and Mohammed’s. I am talking about men and women who profess to know, worship,
trust, and serve the living God by faith in his Son Jesus Christ, through the
power of the Holy Spirit. Our friends, relatives, and neighbors, having turned
away from the truth have been turned unto fables.
Four Fables
You know what a fable is. It is a brief story,
dreamed up by a man to teach a moral, ethical lesson, but factually it is a
lie. Here are four common religious fables, dreamed up by men to teach people
moral principles. They are universally embraced, proclaimed, and defended.
These four fables will be presented throughout the city, across this country
and around the world today as the very truth of God. But they are in fact lies
which are damning to the souls of all who believe them.
1. “God loves everyone.” He does not! Nowhere does
the Bible say or imply that he does. The proof text most commonly used to
“prove” this assertion is John 3:16. But neither John
(Psalms 7:11)
"God judgeth the righteous, and God is
angry with the wicked every
day."
(Psalms 11:5)
"The LORD trieth the righteous: but the
wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth."
(Romans 9:13)
"As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
(Isaiah 43:1-5)
"But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. (2) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. (3) For
I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One
of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave
“God is love.”
We rejoice
in that. But God’s love is in Christ. In the Bible there is no assurance of
God’s love given to anyone apart from faith in Christ.
2. “God
wills the salvation of all men, without exception.” The proof text by which
blaspheming freewillers attempt to prove this notion
is 2 Peter 3:9.
(2 Peter 3:9)
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance."
Reading this verse in its entirety and in its
context, we have no difficulty understanding it. The “us” God is not
willing should perish and the “us ward” to whom he is long suffering is
his elect. We are assured of this, for in verse 15,
the Holy Spirit tells us plainly that this long suffering of our God is
salvation.
(2
Peter 3:15) "And account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul
also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you."
3. “The Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood and died
to redeem and save all people.” In order to prove
this doctrine we are often referred to four texts, which, we are told, prove
universal redemption (John
(John 3:16)
"For God so loved the world (Obviously, the world of his
elect, or his elect scattered throughout the whole world.), that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life."
(Hebrews 2:9)
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of
God should taste death for every man."—The words “every man”
should read simply “every,” referring to…
·
Every Son (v. 10)
·
Every Sanctified One (v. 11)
·
Every Brother (v. 12)
·
Every Child (v. 13)
·
Every One Given to Christ (v. 13)
·
Every One of The Seed of Abraham (v. 16)
·
Every One of His People (v. 17)
(2 Peter 2:1)
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord (Despotes
not Kurios) that bought (agoradzo
not ekagoradzo) them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction."
(1 John 2:1-2)
"My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) And he
is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world."— As in John 3:16, the world of his
elect, or his elect scattered throughout the whole world.
The Son of God did not shed his blood for every
person in the world. He did not die for all without exception! – The Bible
nowhere teaches or implies that Christ died for, redeemed, or came to save
those multitudes who are at last lost in hell. Those
for whom Christ died shall never die! The Son of God redeemed all whom he came
to redeem, and he shall save all whom he came to save.
4. “The Holy Spirit of God is doing all that he can to save all people. He strives to save everybody.”
You know
that is not true. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are multitudes
to whom the Spirit of God has never even sent his
Word. The Bible says nothing of the Spirit trying to reprove, trying to
convince, or trying to regenerate. The Bible declares, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.”
But the perverters of Scripture, those who wrest the Scriptures to
their own destruction, point to Genesis 6:3 as a proof text for the Holy
Spirit’s impotence in grace.
(Genesis 6:3)
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not
always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be
an hundred and twenty years."
Let’s be honest with
God’s Word. Every word, every phrase, every verse of Holy Scripture must be
interpreted in its context, both its immediate context and the whole context of
Divine Revelation. Genesis 6:3 is not talking
about God’s saving operations, but about Noah’s generation and the wrath of God
upon that generation.
The whole religious world, to one degree or another,
declares that salvation is accomplished by the will of man, the worth of man,
and the work of man. But the Word of God declares that salvation is by the will
of God alone, the worth of Christ alone, and the work of the Holy Spirit alone.
Four
Questions
Listen carefully.—If
these things, so commonly and so universally embraced, believed and taught
throughout the religious world (Baptists and Papists—Charismatic and
Non-charismatic—Protestants and Pentecostals—Fundaentalists
and Liberals—Russellites and Campbellites—Mormons
and Methodists), are true…
·
If God loves all men without exception…
·
If God wills the salvation of all men without exception..
·
If Christ died to redeem all men without exception…
·
If the Holy Spirit calls all men without exception,
I ask you to answer these
four questions.
1. What does the love of God have to do with
anyone’s salvation?—–Absolutely
nothing!
If God loves all men alike,
then when you tell me that God loves me, you’ve told me nothing. The love of
God is totally insignificant and absolutely meaningless. If that is the case,
then…
·
There is no distinction
between God’s love for the saved and his love for the lost.—He loves people who
are suffering his wrath in hell just as fully as he does those who are
glorified in heaven!—Either that, or God is mutable, changeable, and fickle,
like man!
·
There is no power
in the love of God to save and keep his own. His love really doesn’t matter.—It is nothing but a helpless, frustrated, defeated passion
in the heart of poor God!
·
There is no comfort
in the love of God.—How can anyone derive even the
slightest comfort from a love that is helpless and useless?
·
There is no motivation
in the love of God.— If God’s love for me is the same as his love for Judas,
Pharaoh, and Cain, why should I love, serve, and seek to honor him?—Indeed, if
the difference between me and those who are damned is me, God ought to serve
me! He ought to praise me!
2. If the Lord God wills the salvation of all and
some are not saved, as is the case, what
does the will of God have to do with anyone’s salvation?—Absolutely nothing!—If that
were the case, God’s will would be just as irrelevant and meaningless as yours
or mine. But that is not the case. He declares, “I will do all my pleasure!”—“Our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased!”—“Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth,
in the sea, and in all deep places!”
3. If the Lord Jesus Christ
shed his blood for all alike, if he died to redeem and save all men and some go
to hell anyway, what does the
blood of Christ have to do with anyone’s salvation?—Absolutely nothing!
If, as is universally
asserted, Christ died to save all men and some are not saved, then that
blasphemous absurdity must follow that Christ died in vain for some, his blood
was a meaningless waste, he suffered and died for nothing, his death really has
nothing at all to do with anyone’s salvation!—Horrid blasphemies these are; but
they are inescapable conclusions that must be made, if we entertain the notion
that Christ died for the multitudes who are in hell.—If Christ died for all men
without exception, if he shed his blood to save the entire human race, then the
shedding of his blood was…
·
An Atonement that does not atone!
·
A redemption that does not redeem!
·
A ransom that does not ransom!
·
A deliverance that does not deliver!
·
A sin-offering that does not satisfy!
·
A propitiation that does not propitiate!
4. If God the Holy Spirit is
gracious alike to all, if he calls all alike, if his power is exercised upon
all alike for the saving of their souls and some yet perish in unbelief under
the wrath of God and are forever lost, what
does the power, grace, and call of the Holy Spirit have to do with anyone’s
salvation?—Absolutely
nothing!
If the Spirit of God strives
to regenerate and save all men alike, if he seeks to bring every man and woman
in the world to life and faith in Christ, and some are not saved, then…
·
He has no power to give life to anyone!
·
He has no grace to regenerate anyone!
·
He has no ability to save anyone!
To say that God loves all
people alike, that he wills the salvation of all, that Christ died to redeem
and save all, that the Holy Spirit strives to save all
is to declare, “Salvation is not of the Lord at all, but rather it is the
response and work of man that saves!” It is to declare,
“God has done all that he can do, but salvation is altogether up to you!”
Four
Facts
Now, I want, by the grace
and power of God the Holy Spirit, to declare, in plain, simple, unmistakable
terms, the teaching of this Book about these things. I pray that God will speak
through me and cause you to hear what he has to say.
1. The love of God has everything to do with our
salvation.—It is
the very foundation of our redemption (Jer. 31:3; 1 John 3:1;
4:7-10, 19).
(Jeremiah
31:3) "The LORD hath appeared of
old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee."
(1
John 3:1) "Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him
not."
(1
John 4:7-10) "Beloved, let us love
one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth
is born of God, and knoweth God. (8) He that loveth
not knoweth not God; for God is love. (9) In this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him. (10) Herein is love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins."
(1
John 4:19) "We love him, because he
first loved us."
How I wish I had the words
and the ability to preach the love of God! It is infinite love! Everlasting
love! Indestructible love! Love that “passeth understanding!” And it is
saving love (Eph. 2:4-5).
(Ephesians
2:1-5) "And you hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: (2) Wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times
past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (4) But
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye
are saved!)"
God’s love is not helpless,
but almighty! God’s love is never frustrated, but always effectual! God’s love
is not weak, but strong and saving!
·
The love of God is in Christ.
God loves sinners in Christ
and for Christ’s sake (John
·
The love of God is immutable!—It does not change! Those who are loved of God are
loved of God forever!
·
“God is love!” We rejoice to declare it!—But the Lord our
God is also a God of burning, unquenchable wrath!
“It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God!” – “Our God is a consuming fire!”—He
declares, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” There are in this
world vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy, vessels of mercy prepared by God
for glory, and vessels of wrath fitted by unbelief and sin for destruction (Ps.
11:4-7; 7:11-13; 5:5; 2:12).
(Psalms
2:12) "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath
is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in
him."
(Psalms
5:5) "The foolish shall not stand
in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of
iniquity."
(Psalms
7:11-13) "God judgeth
the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. (12) If
he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his
bow, and made it ready. (13) He hath also prepared for him the
instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutors."
(Psalms
11:4-7) "The LORD is in his
holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his
eyelids try, the children of men. (5) The LORD trieth
the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth
violence his soul hateth. (6) Upon the wicked
he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an
horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. (7) For
the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his
countenance doth behold the upright."
If you imagine that God
loves every person without exception, how can you explain…
·
The flood? – “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord!”
·
·
Hell?—“I never knew you!”
“But,” I hear someone say,
“God is no respecter of persons.” Right you are. To say that God loves all men
alike is to declare that he is a respecter of persons, for he takes men to heaven
only because of something they do by which they distinguish themselves from
others!
If what I have shown you
from the Word of God about the love of God offends
you, it is because your heart is evil. An honest heart knows that none of us
deserve or merit the love of the thrice holy Lord God. Only in Christ can the
holy God love an unholy object, because in Christ the unholy are made perfectly
holy!
2. The will of God alone is the cause of our
salvation in Christ (John
(John
1:11-13) "He came unto his own, and
his own received him not. (12) But as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God."
(Romans 9:16) "So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."
If salvation depended upon
the will of man no one would ever be saved. What is the condition of man’s
will? It is the same as the man’s condition.—Spiritually
dead!—Depraved!—Perverse!—In Bondage!
(John
5:40) "And ye will not come to me,
that ye might have life."
(John
6:44) "No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the
last day."
(Romans
3:10-12) "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11) There is
none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12) They
are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is
none that doeth good, no, not one."
What
does the Book say?
·
It was not my will that brought me to Christ, but God’s will (James 1:18; Eph. 1:3-5, 9,
11; John 6:37-39).
·
If God almighty willed the salvation of all, all would be saved (Isa.
3. The blood which Christ shed at Calvary, the
death he died as the sinner’s Substitute upon the cursed tree was an almighty,
effectual atonement for sin (Isa. 53:9-11; Rom. 5:10-11).
(Isaiah
53:9-11) "And he made his grave
with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;
because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
(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. (11) 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."
We do not make atonement by
believing on Christ, we receive the atonement he made!
(Romans
5:10-11) "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. (11) And
not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom we have now received the atonement."
Christian or Pagan?
Tell me what you believe
about the death of Christ, why he had to die, what he accomplished in his
death, what purpose his death served, and I will tell you what you think of
Christ. This, right here, will determine whether you are a Christian or a pagan,
an believer or an idolater! What do you see in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?
·
The cause of our Savior’s death was the love
of god for his elect (John
Could we with ink the oceans
fill,
And were the sky of
parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a
quill,
And every man a scribe by
trade—
To write the love of God
above
Would drain the oceans dry,
Nor could the scroll contain
the whole,
Though stretched from sky to
sky!
·
The reason why Christ had to die was that God
might be just in the exercise of mercy and grace to the saving of our souls (Rom. 3:24-26).—“By
mercy and truth iniquity is purged!”
Illustration: Daniel and Darius’ Dilemma
(Romans
3:24-26) "Being justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus."
·
The purpose served in our Savior’s death was
the accomplishment of a work no one else and nothing else could accomplish—The
putting away of sin!
►
All the Jewish sacrifices offered under the law could never put away
sin
(Heb. 10:1-9).
Not all the blood of beasts
on Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty
conscience peace, or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heavenly
Lamb, takes all our sin away,
A Sacrifice of nobler name
and richer blood than they!
►
The works of the law can never put away sin (
►
God himself, who created the world by the word of his mouth, could not
put away one sin without the shedding of Christ’s blood (Heb.
►
But Christ, the God-man, put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 1:3).
I am telling you that the
death of Christ was more than an attempt to save. His death upon the cross was
the accomplishment of redemption for God’s elect! What did the Lord Jesus
Christ actually accomplish by his death upon the cursed tree? Hear what God has
to say about the matter (Heb. 10:12-14, 17-20; 9:12, 24-26; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet.
2:24; 3:18; 1 John 1:7, 9; Isa. 53:4-6, 8, 10-12).
(Galatians
3:13) "Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree:"
(Hebrews
9:12) "Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
(Hebrews
9:24-26) "For Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true;
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (25) Nor
yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with blood of others; (26) For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the
end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself."
(Hebrews
10:12-14) "But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
(13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. (14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified."
(Hebrews 10:17-20) "And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more. (18) Now where remission of these is, there is no
more offering for sin. (19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By
a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that
is to say, his flesh."
(1 Peter 2:24)
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
(1
Peter 3:18) "For Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
(1
John 1:7) "But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin."
(1
John 1:9) "If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness."
(Isaiah
53:4-6) "Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. (5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
(Isaiah
53:8) "He was taken from prison and
from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for
he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my
people was he stricken."
(Isaiah
53:10-12) "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. (11) 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.
(12) 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: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Now, assuming that God is
true, and that his Word is true, it is not possible for a man to both believe
the testimony of Holy Scripture and believe that Christ shed his blood to
redeem all men (John 10:11-16, 26).
Illustration: The Paschal Lamb for
4. Regeneration, the new birth, eternal life is
the gift and work of God the Holy Spirit, the operation of his omnipotent grace
(Ps. 65:4; 110:3; John 3:5-8).
(Psalms
65:4) "Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy
courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy holy temple."
(Psalms
110:3) "Thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the
morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth."
Anyone who is familiar with
the Word of God knows that all men and women have some awareness of God, of
sin, of life, of death, of judgment, and of eternity (Rom.
But the quickening,
regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit is much, much more than the mere
revelation of facts. He reveals Christ (Gal.
·
God the Holy Spirit gives impotent, dead sinners life (John 3:5-8; Eph.
2:1-5).
·
He convicts and convinces sinners of sin, righteousness, and judgment,
revealing Christ in the heart (John 16:8-15; 1 Cor. 2:7-10; Zech.
·
The Spirit of God effectually draws sinners to Christ and makes them
willing to come (John
Application:
I have drawn the line (God
has drawn the line!) in the sand. Who is on the Lord’s side? There is no middle
ground. This is the doctrine of Holy Scripture—“Salvation is of the Lord!” That work of grace, which God
has wrought in us is the result of…
1. God’s sovereign, eternal,
distinguishing love for us!
2. God’s eternal election of
us unto salvation!
3. Christ’s effectual
redemption of our souls!
4. The Holy Spirit’s
irresistible grace (Rom.
(Romans
8:28-31) "And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might
be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (31) What shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against
us?"
To God be
the glory both now and forever. Amen!