Steven Lawson: For Whom Did Christ Die?

these are the words of our Lord I am The Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep he who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who is not the owner of the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them he flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the Sheep I am The Good Shepherd and I know my own and my own know me even as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the Sheep verse 26 but you do not believe because you're not of my sheep my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand I and the father are one the heart of the gospel is the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a very centerpiece of the five doctrines of grace is the saving death of Jesus Christ for his people Christ crucified is the sum in the substance of our message it is the Alpha and the Omega of what we believe and what we teach and the question that must be raised is what did Jesus accomplish in his death upon the cross did Jesus die for all did he merely make salvation possible or did he actually save did Jesus merely make Redemption possible or did he actually accomplished redemption upon the cross that is the question did Jesus merely make propitiation of the Father possible or did he actually satisfy and placate the righteous anger of God toward his elect this is the question did Jesus die for those who were already in hell and if so for what reason did Jesus die for those who will perish or did he only die for those who will believe upon him and who will find themselves in heaven the focus of this session is upon for whom did Christ die and I am deeply persuaded that the clear teaching of Scripture is that Jesus Christ died for the sins of those who were entrusted to him by the father in eternity past that God the Father chose his elect and he gave them to the son and there were stipulations as he gave them to the son that he must be willing to come into this world and to be born of a virgin to live a sinless and perfect life but that he must go to ovaries cross and there he must be lifted up to die and there upon the cross all of the sins of all of those whom the father had given to the son before time began were laid upon him and his Christ shed his blood upon that cross not a drop was shed in vain upon that cross as Jesus died there was a transaction between the father and the son and we heard about this in the last lecture that there was no payment given to Satan the transaction was between the son and the father in fulfillment of the eternal covenant of redemption and as the thaw as the son laid down his life upon the cross he was not short changed and he was not over charged but he received exactly what he bought and what he paid for there was a precise transaction that occurred he did not die for the entire world but only receive the elect instead upon that cross Jesus received exactly through the merit of his Redemption all that he purchased and only what he purchased upon the cross in the time that we have today I want to look at multiple verses in the Gospel of John I wish I had time to take you through every book in the New Testament I wish I had time to take you through virtually every book in the Old Testament I wish I could start in Genesis and take you all the way through the book of the revelation but because of time restraints we will focus our attention upon the Gospel of John and it is my prayer that you and I will be so strengthened in our worship of this Lamb who laid down his life for us and I pray that you will never come to the Lord's table the same again that your name was written upon the ephod of his heart that he did not die merely for an indiscriminate blob of people but that he died for specific individual sheep upon that cross and that we who were entrusted to him were upon his mind and upon his heart as he laid down his life at the cross let's begin here in John 10 I want to give you several headings as we walk through the Gospel of John I want you to note first in John 10 that it was a definite atonement by definite own Minh Thuy mean that it was for a definite specific group of people whom he called by name individually and specifically as we look at this text in in verse 11 which I've already read jesus said I am The Good Shepherd this is one of seven I am State that our Lord makes in the Gospel of John it is a declaration of his deity and it is an identification of who he is and what he has come to do I am The Good Shepherd that he is a Good Shepherd means that he loses not a one of his sheep he is not a faulty Shepherd he is such a good shepherd that every sheep entrusted to him by the father to be in his care he will save every one of his sheep and he says in verse 11 this is what makes the Good Shepherd good the Good Shepherd lays down his life it is the language of atonement it is the language of his death it is the language of his self sacrificial death upon Calvary's cross that he lays down his life please note for the Sheep it is obvious who the sheep are the sheep are those who have been entrusted to him before time began you will note in verse 3 earlier in this this passage to him the doorkeeper opens referring to the Good Shepherd and the sheep hear his voice it goes deeper than the ear it penetrates down into the depth of the soul and when the Good Shepherd calls them effectually they were given ears to hear and they respond to his voice there was a community sheepfold there in Israel and as Shepherds would bring their flock into a town they would commit their flock to the community sheep baa there would be multiple sheepfolds are flocked in the community sheep fold in the shepherd would have a rare night to have a rest in an inn and he would spin the night and an end he would come back the next morning and he would come back for his flock there would be a 10 flocked in this large community sheepfold and the shepherd would come up to the doorkeeper and he would show his credentials that he is here for his flock and he would be given entrance into the larger flock and he would begin to call his sheep by name the other sheep would just continue to graze the other sheep would keep their heads down but when they would hear their name called out by their Shepherd they immediately recognized the voice of their Shepherd and that head would pop up and then that sheep would begin to make its movement through the multiple flocks and go directly to his own Shepherd and the Shepherd then would lead out his sheep one by one he would call out brown ear spotty white nose and that head would would pop up until he would gather are see I'm not calling you again come on now and he would gather together all of his flock he would leave not a one behind and he would lead them out of the city and out into the to the countryside there where he would build his own sheep fold for just his own sheep he would leave an opening there for his own sheep and he would lay down in that opening and by that he would become the door of the Sheep that would allow his sheep in but he would seal them in with his own body and he would protect them from any wolves or any harm and they would be free to go in and out and find pasture you'll note in verse three to him the doorkeeper opens than the sheep hear his voice and calls his own sheep by name personally individually with this call he does not call whosoever will that is the outward call of the preacher but the inward call of the shepherd is individually by name just like when Jesus stood in John chapter 11 before the empty grave and he cried out Lazarus come forth and it was Lazarus who came it has been well said if he had merely said come forth the entire graveyard would have been raised he calls his own sheep by name and he puts forth verse for his own he puts forth please note all all his own his own sheep and he goes ahead of them and the Sheep follow him because they know his voice verse 5 a stranger they simply will not follow Buddha may call out but they will not follow him Confucius may call out Muhammed may call out but they will give a deaf ear to any other voice that will call to them they will only answer to their Shepherd their Good Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ and when he calls they come he says in verse 7 I am the door of the Sheep verse 9 I am the door if anyone it enters through me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture the thief comes verse 10 only to steal and kill and destroy I came that they might have life and have it abundantly and how will they have this life it will come through his death as he will lay down his life that they may gain life eternal for whom did he die verse 11 makes it so clear does it not The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep those whom the father has given to him those whom he is called by name they are his not all are his sheep verse 26 makes that abundantly clear jesus said to those in his day you do not believe why do they not believe not the next word because there's cause and effect here you do not believe because you're not of my sheep if you were one of my sheep you would hear my voice and you would come to me and you would follow me Jesus upon the cross laid down his life for the Sheep he did not die for the goats he died for the Sheep in verse 27 my my sheep hear my voice none other hear his voice my sheep they are his because they have been given to him my sheep hear my voice and I know them not merely know about them I know them you know schoo in an intimate personal loving saving relationship I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and to them only and they will never perish because he's the good shepherd a businessman here today if he had a hundred sheep and if he lost less if he had a hundred sheep and lost two he could say I had a good here there was some business expense that would just ride off we lost too but we made ninety-eight but Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he saves all of this sheep and not a one of his sheep will ever perish and he says no one will snatch them out of my hand and now to double seal double seal this eternal security of every one of these sheep Jesus now in verse 29 speaks of the unity within the Godhead between the father and the son in another passages we could add and the Holy Spirit but here this inner Trinitarian perspective is between the father and the son and how United they are in their saving purposes and in their saving Enterprise it is as if there is but one Savior three persons and in verse 29 my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand all of the sheep are held secure in the good Shepherds hand and then it is as though the father then double seals the hand of the Good Shepherd who is holding the sheet and the father's hand encompasses the entirety of the Shepherd's hand and the Sheep they are held fast and secure and then verse 30 I and the father are one this word one is not in the masculine but it is in the neuter if it was masculine it would be heresy one person but it is in the neuter which is to say two things one is that they are of one essence but there's more than that here not simply that they are one essence but that they are of one purpose and of one will and of one mission and of one mind the beauty of definite atonement is that the father and the Son and the Spirit are one in their saving purposes with our minion theology you are forced to come to this conclusion that the father merely looks down the tunnel of time to see who will choose the son and when the father looking down the tunnel of time just a footnote the father has never looked down the tunnel of time to ever learn anything that is that is heretical the father has never learned anything and if he did look down the tunnel of time and that's all that it is hypothetically all he would see is that no one would ever believe in the Sun because of total depravity that's another sermon for another time but the Arminian says that the father looks down the tunnel of time and foresees of course having no understanding of the word for knowledge and sees believers believing in Christ that's whom the father then tag-teams back and says okay now I choose you because you chose my son that circle is drawn around only believers that's not the right time to say Amen I'll take what I can get but timings everything that's an o me so the father is only saving believers the Arminian then says that the son dies for everyone he's going to go do his own thing the father is only going to deal with believers but the Arminian says that Christ will die for everyone a totally different group and then he says the Holy Spirit will woo and influence and nudge those who hear the gospel but not everyone hears the gospel do they there are untold numbers of people in this world today who have never even heard the name of Christ and so those who hear the preaching of the gospel the Arminian will have to admit that is less than the all that Jesus died for but more than the believers in the Father for sees and so you have each member of the Godhead attempting to say three different groups it fractures the Trinity only biblical theology only true systematic theology says that the father chose his elect and gave them to the Sun and when the Sun went to Calvary's cross he laid down his life for the very same group that the father sovereignly royally lovingly chosen eternity past and that the holy spirit has been now sent into the world to to convict of sin and to draw powerfully and to reach to regenerate and to grant repentance and faith to this very same group that the father chose and that the son purchased at the cross and that the Holy Spirit now bursts into the kingdom of God glory to our God glory to our God look at verse 30 again I and the father are not to 1 of 1 mind of one purpose of one intent of one will on one mission with one plan of eternal salvation from before time began this my friend is Bible truth this is definite atonement that there is an indivisible unity within the Trinity within the Godhead of their saving purposes as they save one group by their one saving efforts what an economy within the Godhead come back to John chapter 6 if you would John chapter six and in verse 37 John 6 verse 37 all that the father gives me first of all please note that the word all does not mean all the world it's all of a certain group it's all of an inner concentric circle within the larger circle all that the father gives me will come to me please note that they are given to the son before they ever come to the son they are the possession of the son before they ever come to the son please note that they belong to the son because they are given to the son by the father before they ever come to the son this speaks of the doctrine of election the doctrine of election stands behind the atonement and defines the extent and the intent of the atonement all that the father gives me every single one of them will come to me that is because they will hear the voice of the Shepherd and they will respond to the voice of the shepherd and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out of course he will not cast them out within time where they were given to him before the foundation of the world they are the father's love gift to the son that there will be a bride for the son a chosen bride for the son and that they will worship the Sun forever and ever and be conformed into the image of the son of course the son will receive them when they come within time for they have already been given to him before time verse 38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will he's come on a very specific mission with specific intent he is after all those whom the father has given me I've come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me now Jesus in this verse is not saying I need to be in Galilee on Tuesday because as the Father's will I need to be in Nazareth on Thursday because it is the Father's will much larger issue here it is the saving purposes of the father and the Son and the son says I've come not to do my own will you remember I talked about the fracture within the Godhead that the Arminian must say well the father will only deal with believers while the son will just do his own thing and he'll die for a totally different group no this says Jesus says that I've come to do the will of my father and now in verse 39 he more clearly and specifically defines for us what this will of the father is this is the will of him who sent me that of all that he has given me I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day and every step in between from having received them in eternity past to raising them up on the last day and all of the work of salvation in between the son is yielded to the will of the Father he is one with the father I was in London a few years ago and I was at London Theological Seminary that was started out of the Ministry of Martyn lloyd-jones and it just happened to be the John Owen we of lectures on the atonement and one of the foremost authorities in the world on Jonathan John Owen was giving a lecture on the death of death and the death of Christ I was sitting there for breakfast ready to go out to look at historical sites in the City of London the students were there in the pastors and I asked them give me the number one reason to believe in definite atonement lay down the ace of spades what is the professor saying he said the number one reason to believe in definite atonement is the unity of the Godhead before we walked out we were up in pastor pastor Gallagher's office and I asked dr. Sproul give me the number one reason to believe in definite atonement they said it is rooted and grounded in the nature of God that is what John 6 is saying that is what John 10 is saying but the father and the son are one come with me if you will now to John chapter 12 and as I'm looking at my clock I realized I had it upside down which frees I'm a Baptist and I realize I'm down to five minutes I thought I had like two hours I guess so let me let me hasten you need to listen more quickly if that's our problem that's our problem all right John chapter 12 verse 32 jesus said and I if I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself have you ever heard of pastors refer to this as the lifting up the name of Christ in preaching it has nothing to do with free tching we do need to lift up the name of Christ in preaching but not from this verse the very next verse verse 33 clearly defines that what Jesus meant by what he said is he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die if he be lifted up upon the cross in his death is this not one powerful statement is this not an extraordinary statement that he will draw all men did you hear that all men to himself now what does this mean if Jesus died for all men I want you to know all men will be drawn to Christ and will be saved and the one who would hold to a universal death of Christ that he redemptive Lee died for all men must be honest with inconsistent with their own position and say then all men will be drawn to Christ someone else must say well what are you saying here is that he will possibly hypothetically draw all men to himself that's not what this says Jesus spoke with certainty that he will draw all men to himself so what is the meaning of this because we know that all men are not drawn to Christ hell is full of men who never came to faith in Jesus Christ this must mean either all of a certain group of which we looked at in John 6 and in John 10 all of the elect or I think in this context all men without distinction all kinds of men Jews Gentiles males females civilized barbaric educated unlearned this word all can mean either all without exception or all without distinction all without exception would mean that he would die for every person who has ever lived that would mean that all people who have ever lived will be saved in the end so it does not mean all without exception it must mean all without distinction and within this context you will note in verse 20 that this now is the first time that there is a group that is coming that is outside of this rail in verse 20 now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast not only Jews but also Greeks all kinds of people were coming and all kinds of people will be drawn to Christ and they are those for whom Christ has died come to John chapter 15 if you will very quickly John chapter 15 and and verse 13 I want you to see here a specific atonement greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends that is a reference to the that is a reference to the cross he says in verse 14 you are my friends if you do what I command you to do no longer do I call you slaves once slaves now more intimate as friends and in verse 16 you did not choose me but I chose you you my friends you who have been my my servants and I have appointed you my friends that you would go and bear fruit this this group this you these friends in verse 19 are those who are chosen out of the world notice he says if you were of the world the world would love his home but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world because of this the world hates you for whom did Christ die it is very clear in this passage that Christ laid down his life not for the world but for those chosen out of the world those who are his friends who give evidence of this by their obedience to the commandments of Christ come to John chapter 17 and I want you to note the priestly intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ his priestly atonement in John chapter 17 in verse 2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh that is authority over all the human race every man every woman who has ever been born Jesus has authority over them all but there's a second all in verse 2 it as a smaller concentric circle that to all whom you have given me that there is the elect out of all flesh the father has chosen and given to the son certain ones verse 3 they are those who know God and know Jesus Christ verse 6 of this smaller group this all those whom you have given me he says in verse 6 I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world they were yours they were yours because you chose them they were yours because you chose them by yourself and for yourself as they were yours and you gave them to me and they have kept your word they're very easy to see in the world they are very easy to detect you can know what their route is because you can see their fruit they are those who walk in paths of obedience to the word now look at verse 9 this is an extraordinary verse I ask on their behalf these whom you have given me he says I do not ask on behalf of the world why because the father is pulling in the same direction with the Son and the son is in the same direction with the father the father is chosen out of all flesh certain ones whom he has given to the son and as the Sun now intercedes in verse 9 he says I do not ask on behalf of the world because the father has not chosen the entire world and the whole world will not be saved but in the middle of verse 9 of those whom you have given me he is saying I ask on behalf of those whom you have given me for they are yours they are yours by sovereign election please note that Jesus's intercession here is not for the world it is for those whom you have given me and those for whom he intercedes in prayer and right now those for whom he intercedes at the right hand of God the Father are the very same ones for whom he interceded upon Calvary's cross the intercession in heaven at the right hand of the Father and the intercession upon the cross is identical regarding those for whom he is interceding and because at the right hand of the father he's not praying for the world he is praying for those whom the father has given to the son therefore upon the cross the son is a submissive son the son is an obedient son the son is one with the father the son will not do his own thing the son will not break rank the son will not live in insubordination the son will do the will in the work of the Father and the son will lay down his life for the Sheep one last text and we're finished John 1 verse 29 John 1 verse 29 and were finished the next day he saw John coming to him and said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins the sin of the world someone may say see their world takes away the sin of the world John 3:16 God so loved the world he gave His only begotten Son whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life well first of all you must understand this Greek word for world cosmos is used 10 different ways in the Gospel of John it is used to refer to the entire universe to the physical earth to the evil world system to a large group to the general public to Jews and Gentiles to the human realm to the non elect and also at times to only the elect so when we come to a verse like this behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we cannot immediately say it means everyone because that's not how John uses the word John every time in fact that would be the minority position would you also note that it says he actually takes away the sin of the world if he takes away the sin of every person then no one will ever suffer perdition in the flames below it has to mean something other than every person if you just look at language to understand what does it mean no this means he takes away the sin of the world of Jews and Gentiles to be brought into a saving relationship with the Father and we know who they are because he will spend the entire rest of the Gospel of John specifically carefully identifying who they are as the Sheep and those whom the father has entrusted to the son I wish I could go all day maybe I just did I wish I could go all night but time does not permit let me close in prayer father thank you for this session to give thought to the sin bearing wrath absorbing reconciling propitiating death of your son upon the cross we cannot be wrong at this point and father we praise you for the mission with which you entrusted to the son and we praise the Sun for the accomplishment of this mission of redemption that not a one of his sheep will be lost and all for whom he died will never perish we pray this in Jesus name Amen you you

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Length: 45min 34sec (2734 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 18 2015