Bible Readings:
John 10:1 – 42
Sermon Outline:
No Audio Recording of tonight’s sermon.
Titus 2:11–15 (NKJV)
11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
15Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
I The nature of Christ’s redemption
II The extent of Christ’s atonement
Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)
21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
John 10:11 (NKJV)
11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 10:3 (NKJV)
3To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 10:15 (NKJV)
15As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 15:13 (NKJV)
13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Acts 20:28 (NKJV)
28Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Ephesians 5:25–27 (NKJV)
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
1 John 2:1–2 (NKJV)
1My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
John 3:16 (NKJV)
16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
III How should we present the Gospel?
Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV)
25Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Canons of Dort – SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE
The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby
ARTICLE 1
God is not only supremely merciful, but also supremely just. And His justice requires (as He has revealed Himself in His Word) that our sins committed against His infinite majesty should be punished, not only with temporal but with eternal punishments, both in body and soul; which we cannot escape, unless satisfaction be made to the justice of God.
ARTICLE 2
Since, therefore, we are unable to make that satisfaction in our own persons, or to deliver ourselves from the wrath of God, He has been pleased of His infinite mercy to give His only begotten Son for our Surety, who was made sin, and became a curse for us and in our stead, that He might make satisfaction to divine justice on our behalf.
ARTICLE 3
The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world.
ARTICLE 4
This death is of such infinite value and dignity because the person who submitted to it was not only really man and perfectly holy, but also the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, which qualifications were necessary to constitute Him a Savior for us; and, moreover, because it was attended with a sense of the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin.
ARTICLE 5
Moreover, the promise of the gospel is that whosoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish, but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of His good pleasure sends the gospel.
ARTICLE 6
And, whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves.
ARTICLE 7
But as many as truly believe, and are delivered and saved from sin and destruction through the death of Christ, are indebted for this benefit solely to the grace of God given them in Christ from everlasting, and not to any merit of their own.
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.
ARTICLE 9
This purpose, proceeding from everlasting love towards the elect, has from the beginning of the world to this day been powerfully accomplished, and will henceforward still continue to be accomplished, notwithstanding all the ineffectual opposition of the gates of hell; so that the elect in due time may be gathered together into one, and that there never may be wanting a Church composed of believers, the foundation of which is laid in the blood of Christ; which may steadfastly love and faithfully serve Him as its Savior (who, as a bridegroom for his bride, laid down His life for them upon the cross); and which may celebrate His praises here and through all eternity.