This sermon examines the doctrine of limited atonement, which states that Christ's redeeming work was limited in design and accomplishment, intended for certain specific sinners and securing salvation only for them. Gustavo Barros traces the concept of limited atonement throughout the Bible, from the Old Testament's sacrificial system to the New Testament's teachings on Christ's love and sacrifice for the church. He discusses passages from Ephesians, Hebrews, and Revelation that support the idea of a specific group of people being saved through Christ's death. Barros also emphasizes the importance of understanding the interconnected nature of God's attributes, as displayed in Christ's life, death, and resurrection, which ultimately reveal the glory of God.

Would you please open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Today we come to our last study in the doctrine of limited atonement. So Ephesians chapter 5, and if you can, I want to invite you to stand? We're going to read verses 1 and 2 and then verses 25 and 26.

Here's the word of the Lord. Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. And then in verse 25 he says, husbands loved your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. You may be seated. Let us ask the Lord once again to be merciful to us.

Oh Father we say amen, Amen. How we need you. Speak to us. We remember right now those Greeks who came to see Jesus and their request was, we want to see Jesus. And that's our request this morning.

Show us Christ through the preaching of the word. Help me to be faithful, help this congregation to be faithful so we may glorify you in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Psalm 19 says that the heavens declared the glory of God and there is an aspect as you study the scriptures that creation itself is one of the great theaters where God displaces glory. You see creation and you cannot but see that there is a creator orchestrating, organizing, upholding everything. So God's glory is displayed in creation.

God's glory is displaying so many areas of our lives. God's glory is displayed in history. You think about the institution of marriage, family, government. It's all God's glory being displayed. But the Bible is very clear that the greatest display of God's glory was in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The greatest, the clearest display of God's glory was in the life death of Jesus Christ. The scripture shows that the most glorious and majestic manifestation of the Trinity was Christ Jesus, his life, his death, and his resurrection. It's interesting when you study the Gospel of John, as you're studying the Gospel of John, you see how often he used the verb to glorify, the verb to glorify, dokatsu, for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So I have some examples John chapter 7 39 chapter 12 verse 16 verse 23 verse 28 of chapter 12 chapter 13 verses 31 through 32 chapter 17. So John, that's just a few, John often connects the verb to glorify with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And some scholars, they even label as they are dividing the book of John, they come to chapters 13 through 20 and they call that the book of glory Because that's the passion of Christ and that's the last and greatest sign as God is showing the sign of his glory through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to John's gospel, the ultimate expression of God's glory is Jesus' sacrificial death and triumph resurrection. And God is glorified in the cross in mercy and justice. God's love and justice are put on full display and you remember as we were studying God's simplicity how all his attributes are all interconnected. The cross of Christ is the greatest display of God's simplicity.

All his attributes are in full display in the life, especially his death and resurrection. John Piper says, he notes that all God's works exist to display the glory of his grace And the cross of Christ is the climatic revelation of the glory of His grace, which is the apex of the glory of God. So if the death of Christ is the greatest revelation of God's glory. When you're dealing with the death of Christ, we are dealing with something very special. So as we are studying the doctrine of atonement, the death of Jesus.

Remember this, that's not a just a superficial academic impractical or divisive contentious subject. No, by no means That's the greatest subject of all, the death of Jesus Christ. For whom Christ died, what is the extent, what did Jesus accomplish on the cross? Those are key questions. To use the word cross, they're crucial questions for our lives.

Think about Revelation chapter 5 and as we get a glimpse of the heavenly worship they're singing about whom? Jesus and his death, what he accomplished with his death. We can conclude that the centerpiece centerpiece of worship in heaven for all eternity will be the display of the glory of the grace of God in the slaughtered and resurrected Jesus Christ. So I pray that despite my weakness, my failures, I pray that as we come to this final study in the subject of the death of Jesus Christ, I pray that instead of being bored and discontent, that's another study, I pray that we'll be excited, I pray that our hearts would be growing more and more, thanksgiving, joy, glorification, exaltation of Jesus Christ, Amen. So the outline of this morning sermon as we continue our journey through the Tulip as we are walking through limited atonement here we are we're going to continue our walk through limited atonement verified that's part two and then you're going to come to the conclusion limited atonement applied.

So before we go, let's just go back, before we go forward, let's go back and just remember how we define limited atonement. Remember, clarity, a well-established definition is key. What we believe by limited atonement. We believe that Christ's redeeming work was limited or definite in design and accomplishment. That is, it was intended to render complete satisfaction for certain specific sinners, and that it actually secured the salvation of these individuals and for no one else.

Amen? So remember it's very important you have a clear definition of what we understand by limited and remember that everyone, every Christian has to limit the atonement of Christ. We are going to either limit the extent or the power, but we have to limit. Because if we have an atonement that's unlimited in extent and unlimited in power, then there is no hell. Everybody is going to be in heaven.

So Somehow we need to limit the atonement of Jesus. So just remember what it means. It means that Jesus, when he came down from heaven, he had, just like the high priest, just like the good shepherd, he had the names of his chosen people in his heart. He knew for whom he was dying. And then that's the definition defined, but we need to verify is it true, is it biblical?

Can you find these doctrines throughout the scriptures? And that's what we started doing last Sunday. Instead of just getting a group of verses against another group of verses we are tracing the whole drama of the Bible the whole story of the Bible to see what the Bible teaches us I really like what David Gibson, he says, he writes, definite atonement is beautiful because it tells the story of the Bible And that is the story of the warrior son who comes to earth to slay his enemy and rescue his father's people. He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, a loving groom who gives himself for his bride, a victorious king who lavishes the spoils of his conquests on the citizens of his kingdom. Definite atonement, he says, is powerful because it displays the glory of divine initiative, divine accomplishment, divine application, and consummation in the work of salvation.

The Father sent the Son who bore our sins in His body on the tree, and the Spirit has sealed our adoption and guarantees our inheritance in the kingdom of light. So the doctrine of limited atonement is beautiful and power because it reflects the story of the Bible, amen. The story of a God who saves, not a God who makes men salvable, but a God who saves. He saves, always saving through a specific sacrifice, a specific mediator, and a specific group of people. So that's all we saw last Sunday as we walk through and you look at Genesis 22.

We could head start in Genesis 3. We're starting Genesis 22. The ram, he takes the place of Isaac. It's a vicarious sacrifice, and Isaac represents a group of people, a peculiar, a limited group of people. And that same sacrifice in Genesis 22 is developed and expanded when you come to Exodus chapter 12.

And then in Exodus chapter 12 we have the Passover lamb. And also the lambs would die for a specific group of people. So you have a vicarious death for a specific group of people and we have the greatest most important day in the calendar of the Old Covenant and that was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And in the Day of Atonement, you remember you also have a vicarious sacrifice dying on the place of a specific group of people. We saw that the office of the high priest also resembles the doctrine of limited atonement.

He's coming for a specific people. He has the names engraved on his shoulder. He's bringing into the inner sanctum the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, a very specific group of people. And then it culminates with Isaiah 53 in the Old Testament where this messianic figure, he takes all, all the imageries and all the offices of sacrifice, priests, and he fulfills himself and we see how the New Testament applies that to Jesus Christ. So that's where we were in limited atonement.

Now in the New Testament, we walk through Romans last Sunday, and today I have to be very selective and I want to go to Ephesians. So first of all, let's go to Ephesians. That's the passage we read earlier. So Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 chapter 5 comes after what? Chapter 4.

4 comes after what? 3? 3 comes after. And you go back to chapter 1 and chapter 1 of Ephesians is key. It talks about God choosing us, predestining us.

So you have a whole context here, amen? So as we come to chapter 5, Paul says, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love, How? As Christ loved whom? Us. And gave himself up for us.

And then What language does he use here? A fragrant offering, sacrificial language. Where's Paul getting this theology of the death of Christ? All from the Old Testament. Look at the object of Christ's sacrificial love.

Ask Christ what? Loved us. Who is the us here? God's people. Go to chapter 1 and you can see, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed whom?

Us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Even as he chose us in him, he predestined us. So the us here is God's chosen people. And then you see how Paul used the language of sacrifice. He loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Brothers and sisters, when you have the understanding of the Old Testament, of sacrifice, offerings, do you ever see the sacrifice and the offerings in the Old Testament being applied to random people outside the covenant? No. So you know when Paul is using this language he is grounded, he's rooted in his understanding that the sacrifice was for a very specific group of people. And then in the same chapter, later Paul says, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. You see, very similar language of chapter of the verses 1 and 2.

Gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word. And you see that Jesus does not practice polygamy. He's not a polygamist. He has one bride in his heart. He came for one wife and that wife was the chosen ones of the Father, according to the rest of the Scriptures.

And know that his death, look at that, loved her wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her and here that he might sanctify her. The death of Christ is inseparable from the sanctification. Amen. Those for whom Christ died, they must be sanctified because the Spirit dwells within them. So if Christ died for everyone, if Christ died for every single person in the world, in the whole universe, then everybody will be sanctified.

You cannot split the office and the accomplishments of Christ as, oh no, he died here to save, but that does not imply sanctification. It's a whole package. So Paul, using the language of the Old Testament, he is very clear that there is a peculiar group of people. Our faithful groom had one bride in his heart when he gave his life for her. So to say that Jesus loved all people equally is very unbiblical.

He said, Is all I hate? Now imagine, if I loved all women equally, you'd not want me to be your pastor. Amen? Because There must be a peculiar love for the bride. That's exactly how we see in Christ Jesus.

He had a peculiar love for his chosen ones. As we move to the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews is all about Christ's superiority, how Christ is so much better. Yes, the old was good, but Christ is much better. And Hebrews opens by taking us to the Old Testament. Look at that.

After making what? Purification for sins. What is that? But the Day of Atonement. He's the one who's purifying us of our sins.

And now, after making purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And here's the picture of a king and priest. What the author of Hebrews is going to develop and show how Jesus is the great priest now seated at the right hand of God and he's doing well on our behalf, interceding for us. So The whole book of Hebrews is very, very clear that Jesus Christ as the great high priest, the better, the most excellent high priest, he also had a very specific group of people in his heart, engraved on his garments as he marched to the cross. The book of Revelation, as we come to the last book of the scriptures in our journey, the book of Revelation, the whole book of Revelation, if you can summarize the book of Revelation, is the triumph of the Lamb through his life death and resurrection.

That's a summary of the book of Revelation. The triumph, the conquest of the Lamb. So John opens the book of Revelation by saying to Jesus who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priests to his God and Father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen that's how he opens by stating the triumphant powerful victorious death of Jesus Christ. And then he opened our Bibles there to Revelation, go to Revelation chapter 5. And in Revelation chapter 5 as they're singing verses 9 and 10 and they sing a new song saying, worthy are you to take this crow and to open its seals for you were slain by your blood, you ransom people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

And you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God and they shall reign on the earth. You see once again the death of Christ is inseparable from making those for whom he died a kingdom of priests. If Christ died for everyone then everyone is part of a kingdom and a priesthood for God the Father. So, but what we see here in Revelation 5 is very similar to what we see in John, in John chapter 1. In John chapter 1, we see John the Baptist saying, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And then you go to Revelation chapter 5 and it's a very similar scene where one of the heavenly heavenly characters says behold John stop weeping behold the lamb and then he explains you have this parallel here with John the Baptist, behold a lamb standing and this lamb was slain and by his blood he ransomed people for God. The same parallel with John that says, the Lamb who takes away the sin. And then you have of the world, now in Revelation 5 explains that He is the chosen ones from every tribe, language, people, and nation. So Christ died a powerful death for His people who are scattered around the whole world. That's all we see here.

And in heaven, they're singing about Jesus' death. Notice that they're not singing, worthy are you to take this crow and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you make man ransomable. That's not their singing. Praise Jesus because now you can save yourself. Now you can redeem yourself you just need to accept Jesus.

That's not what they're singing in heaven. No because he conquered, he conquered, he accomplished, it's done. He's saved And the only reason why we can choose Him is because He first chose us, died for us, forgave us, and the Spirit applied the work in us. And it's actually texts such as Revelation chapter 5 that inspired so many missionaries to go because they knew they knew that Jesus had died for people all over the place and their duty was to go and proclaim because the shepherd had his sheep spread all over. Turn to me with to Revelation chapter seven.

Revelation chapter seven. In Revelation chapter seven, John hears the number of those who were sealed by God. 144, 000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. And where did they receive the seal? In the forehead.

And the seal in the forehead is a sign, is a picture of ownership and protection. Revelation chapter 6 ends with a question. There is a question in Revelation chapter 6. After Jesus in chapter 5, he sits, he takes the scroll, he starts opening the seals. Chapter 6 shows how Jesus is ruling, governing over all creation.

And chapter 6 says, who can stand? Who can endure the wrath of the Lamb? As the Lamb is sitting down His throne and judging, who can endure His judgments? And this question is answered in chapter seven. The chosen of the Father, the elect of God, they can endure the judgments that Christ is accomplishing throughout the whole earth.

The number 144 is symbolic. Think about seven, how the number seven, the number ten, it's always a number of completion, perfection, and that's why you have this multiplication of 7 and 10 showing that's the complete number of God's people, bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. The 144, 000 is the church, those who belong to the true Israel who is Jesus Christ. And notice that the seal comes from God. God is the sovereign one placing the seal.

He is the one who has the stamp to seal people. But you see, it could go in so many ways here, but what is important for us is that there is a definite number of people. There is a limited number of people. It's a large, it's a vast number, but it's limited. That's what he's showing us.

Look in chapter 14. Turn with me to chapter 14. And then explains the seal. Then I look and behold on Mount Zion stood the Lamb and with him 144, 000 who had what? His name and the Father's name written on their forehead.

So what is the seal? What is the seal? The name. The name of the Father and the Son. What does it mean, the name?

It means that they belong. When you baptize someone in the name of the Father and the Son, it's like slaves. They were bought and you belong now you have a new name that's what he's showing the seal is the name of the father and of the son and in verse 3 says no one could learn that song except the 144 000 who had been redeemed from the earth Now you go back to chapter 5 and they're singing about the Lamb who redeemed people from all the four corners of the earth. It's all connected here. The seal is the name of the Father and the Son on their foreheads implying the unity of the Trinity in redemption.

The ones chosen by the Father are the ones redeemed by Jesus blood. So God numbers, God knows, and God cares for his own. He knows each of his sheep by name. He knows. This large and definite number reminds us of the many in Isaiah 53.

One more, Revelation 13. Revelation chapter 13. Then we are told, verse 8, that all who dwell on earth, we worship the beast. Look at that. Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Brothers and sisters, there is a book in heaven and this book belongs to whom? The Lamb, the book of the Lamb belongs to the Lamb. Names were written before the foundation of the world. They start seeing, okay, oh there is a ceiling, God's seals, Now there's this book with the names written, all showing the sovereignty of God over his elect. The Lamb died for those whose names were written in his book before the foundation of the world.

And that's very personal. The records have the personal names. Each personal name right there. You say, but my name was my parents who chose anything that God was not sovereign over that. And remember you have a new name in Christ, a name that was written long ago, long, long ago.

Well, let me ask you, Who wrote your name in the book of the Lamb? Did you write your own name? Before the foundation of the world you went up there and you, hey let me put my name here. Who wrote your name? God, Why?

Did before the foundation of the world he look at you and in eternity future he saw you in time and said, wow, Hannah, Oh, she will choose me one day, so let me put her name here. Or was just His gracious, merciful, undeserving, unconditional election. So from Genesis to Revelation, we see that the atoning sacrifice through the mediator or the high priest was always, always limited in his scope, extent. Always, from Genesis to Revelation, you have a sacrifice dying on behalf of a very specific group of people. And the mediator there also is mediating a very specific group of people.

Amen? So we see how the doctrine of limited atonement is not just getting a verse here and there and then, oh, but you see here it says world, here it says all. No, it's the whole drama of the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, we see the atonement comes after election. God choose them and for those whom he chose, he provides the sacrifice necessary to bring them home.

But as we... There is one group of books in the Bible that we have not covered, and that is the Gospels. So, right now I just want to show you how limited atonement is not only clearly demonstrated throughout all the Scriptures, but it's clearly taught by the One who knew better than anyone else why He came to earth. Amen? Jesus knew very well why He came.

He knew the purpose, the extent, why he was coming to earth. And the first thing that we need to know about Jesus is his name. His name is Jesus. Remember what the angel tells Joseph? You shall call his name Jesus, why?

Why? He will save his people from their sins. Just His name is right there. He's going to save His people from their sins. And you see that He's not named Because Jesus means Yahweh saves.

Yahweh saves. See that His name is not Yahweh can save. It's not Yahweh is a potential savior. It's not Yahweh makes man saveable, but instead it's Yahweh saves. And this statement right in the beginning of Matthew, it's like book ends in this book of Matthew because as we come towards the end of Matthew we see Jesus going back to his name and explaining why he's dying.

So the Lord's Supper is just this, has this beautiful connection with his name. So look at that. In Matthew 26, verse 28, and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to the disciples saying, drink of it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. You see chapter 1, chapter 26, playing here, showing this connection, the blood of the covenant, there is no way but to be a specific group of people. And it says that's poured out for many using the sacrificial language of the Old Testament, using especially the language of Isaiah, fulfilling all those sacrifices.

Now Jesus died for a very specific group of people. And he died to forgive their sins. It's still in Matthew, in Matthew chapter 20, right in the middle before we come to the end, Jesus used the same language here. He says, the Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as what? A ransom for what?

Many. What is a ransom? Ransom was the price paid to set a slave free. So he'd go to the market and the ransom was, that's why he's the Redeemer, he bought us from the market of the slavery of sin and death. So he says that he came not to be served but to serve and He's going to serve by giving his life as the price to set many slaves free.

And that's the language of Isaiah 53. So we see how the name of Jesus, His whole life is inseparable from a very definite atonement as a purpose. As we move to the Gospel of John, and I want to go to John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, We have Jesus declaring himself to be the great and long expected shepherd, the great pastor that they're longing for. You think about Ezekiel chapter 34.

In Ezekiel 34, the Lord speaking through Ezekiel, He says that He is coming as the good pastor. The Lord is coming as the good pastor and He will save His flock and He will judge the false shepherds. Huh? But that's important because he's coming not only to save some but to judge others. So Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, the long expected shepherd, I am.

I'm the good shepherd and he says I know my own and my own know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father. What knowledge is that? It's a covenantal knowledge. It's a loving relationship between them.

And look at how he says, and I lay down my life for whom? Whom? The sheep. This sheep is connected to my own. There is a definite article there.

This sheep, this sheep is connected to my own. So Jesus is clearly saying that he's dying for the ones that he knows. What does he mean that He knows them? He loves them. Remember there will be people in Matthew chapter 7 that Jesus will tell them, I never knew you.

Oh, Jesus is omniscient. He knows about everything, but he's talked about this saving, loving relationship so he's going to tell them, I never knew you. You're not part of my own. I know my own. But you are not part of my own.

I don't know you. Well, Note that Jesus lays down his life for this sheep and therefore once again it's a vicarious death. He's dying on behalf of a very specific group of sheep. And then he says in verse 16, And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

Meaning, not just in Israel. I have my sheep scattered in Gentiles territory. And that's you and me, brothers and sisters. Continuing John chapter 10, no wonder they want to kill Jesus after he says these things here. In verses 25 through 28 He says that some people are not his sheep.

He says, I told you, talking to the religious leaders, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe. Why? What? Read that.

You do not believe because you are not. Huh. I always thought that believing made you part of the sheep, but he says that it's because you don't belong to me. You do not believe. He inverts the things.

We always say believe in Jesus and you will be part of His sheep. He says, you can only believe if you are part of my sheep. So you have to be part of His sheep first to be able to believe. Why? Because he forgave their unbelief on the cross when he died for his sheep.

They don't believe because they don't belong to his flock. Jesus never died for their unbelief. So, if you could stop there, Jesus, wait a second Jesus, so are you saying that you are not dying for every single person? That's right, not every single person. It's part of the flock that the Father has given me to ransom.

John chapter 17, John chapter 17, this beautiful prayer that Jesus is showing himself even more clearly to be the great high priest. We have the priestly ministry of Jesus here. He's praying for them and in John 17, Remember he says that he has received authority over all mankind in verse two. That's so fascinating because he says that the father has given the son of man and that's him all authority over all mankind but you give eternal life just to the ones chosen by the Father. And then in 17 verse 9 he says, it shows how he is the great high priest, he says, He's praying for them.

I'm praying for them whom the Father has given Him. And I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given Me, for they are yours. Jesus is not interceding for every single person. Jesus is the perfect high priest, is the perfect mediator. He has one group of people that he's mediating, interceding, praying for.

Therefore, there is a group of people for whom he died. We cannot simply get a knife and cut the priestly minister of Christ in half. Here's his death. Here's his intercession. Now, he died for everybody, but he's just interceding for some.

You cannot do that with the minister of Jesus. He intercedes for those whom he laid down his life for. Stephen Whelan, it's a lengthier quote but I think it's worth of our attention, he says, The Old Testament priests also served as the guardian of the holy place, the tabernacle, the temple, which maintains the purity and holiness of Israel. The priestly duty then included a defensive posture towards anyone who attempted to enter God's house in a known prescribed way. So there are parts in the Old Testament where you see the priest executing judgment for people trying to enter where they should not be at.

He says this too was part of the design of the priesthood to mediate God's presence to the people, to protect the people from God's wrath and to avenge the enemies of God beginning with the house of Israel. In this defensive posture, it's difficult to think that the priest represents those he stands against in judgment, amen? If he's standing against them, he cannot be protecting them. He says, in fact, this theme is strongly emphasizing Christ's work. Our Lord is zealous for God's house.

He lays down his life for his sheep and friends and simultaneously crushes the head of Satan and all those who belong to him. So this priestly ministry in the Old Testament is in a much greater way fulfilled by Christ, who is also not only saving, protecting, mediating, but he's defending and attacking God's enemies. He says, as our great high priest, Jesus brings redemption to his people and judgment upon his enemies. But if so, then the atonement is an act of salvation and judgment, not merely a general atonement for all. And that's something that we forget about the priestly ministry.

He had an aspect of defense, protection. And suddenly when you come to Jesus, you want to paint Jesus as this guy who has no affiliation whatsoever with protection, judgment. When he died, he did die not only to save but to judge also. Amen? When he died, he died not only to save but to judge, fulfilling his role as the great high priest.

And then the last verse is in John chapter 19. In John chapter 19 we have Jesus last words as he's hanging on the cross. His last words are what? It's finished. It's finished.

And you got to understand how the beginning of the prophecy of the great servant of the Lord in Isaiah 52 says, My servant, my servant will succeed. My servant will succeed. Some translation says he will act wisely. And the idea there is of a warrior acting wise in battle and conquering. Now Jesus declared that he succeed indeed.

He finished the battle and the transaction was paid in full. It's finished. If you believe in an unlimited atonement, then when Jesus says it's finished, it's actually what? It's just the beginning. Now it's up to you guys.

It's the beginning of your salvation. But when He says it's finished, it's because it's accomplished. I finished the work. I guarantee the job that the Father gave me is accomplished. The transaction is paid in full.

Let us not think that Jesus paid for some whom He will not receive. Jesus was not shortchanged. Those whom He died for, He will keep them and will give to the Father in heaven. He did not lose any. He said He is not going to lose any.

He did not lose any. That's why if you believe that Jesus died for people in hell, When he says it's finished, then we have a serious problem here. Then he lost some people. And he said he would not lose any. So, I love what Hamilton and Vickers says, they say, Jesus make the sweetest, most triumphant, most comforting declaration that human ears could ever hear.

It's finished. The righteous life has been lived, The greatest demonstration of humility and love has been accomplished. Perfect obedience to every righteous requirement of the Father has been maintained. The full measure of the Father's wrath has been poured out. The cup has been drained to the drags.

The penalty for sin has been paid. The substitute has taken the place of his people, atonement has been made for every one of their innumerable transgressions, the Saints have been made clean, the Father's wrath propitiated, the laws demand fulfilled, the pains of the people taken, guilt forgiven, old made new, salvation accomplished, love demonstrated, truth upheld, mercy lavished, brokenness healed, evil unplugged, Satan defeated, and the promise of life accomplished. It's finished. It's finished. That's all it means.

What a Savior we have. Can you imagine what savior is that that dies and lives up to you to save yourself? That's not a savior. So as we wrap up and we see how the whole drama of redemption teaches us this glorious doctrine, let me quickly just bring to an end by applying this doctrine to our lives. And the first application that I have for us as we think about the doctrine of limited atonement.

I believe that limited atonement exhorts us to love the church and our spouses with a peculiar and exclusive love. Paul tells in Ephesians chapter 5 that we are supposed to imitate Christ, the imitators of God, and love as Jesus, love the church. We are supposed to love the church. We are to imitate Christ and have a peculiar, special, unique love for the church, just like Jesus had. And we live in a day where people hate the church and more Christians are more and more despising the church, when actually Jesus loves the church with a very peculiar love.

Jesus' definite, peculiar, sacrificial love for his church is to be emulated by all Christians, and we must have a special affection for the local church. The local church must be in our hearts because it was in Christ's heart. Sometimes we sing this hymn and I pray that these words will be real in our hearts. I love thy kingdom, Lord. It says, I love the church of God.

For her, my tears shall fall. For her, my prayers ascend. To her, my cares and toils be given. Until toils and cares shall end. And I pray that that would be a reality in our lives, a love for the local church, peculiar love, or there's a place of special affection for us.

And then in Ephesians 5, Paul says that husbands are supposed to love their wives with a very peculiar love. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. A peculiar love, a unique love. Husbands are commanded to fall after the steps of Christ and love their wives with a sacrificial, definite, peculiar, unlimited love that belongs only to the wife. Jesus had one bride in his heart and in his mind and he still has only one bride in his mind.

Jesus did not love everyone with the same love and no husband should be emotionally involved with any other woman whether in life, pornography, because following after these steps of Christ implies that we have this laser-focused limited love for the bride. Amen. Second, limited atonement affects how we view the nature of the church. If we think that Jesus died for a mixed bag of believers and unbelievers and that's how we're going to see the church. The church has a mixed bag and then there is no point in having holiness in the church, sanctification in the church.

No. The limited atonement helps us to see that the nature of the church, especially the local church as we are picturing to the world, must be a group of people for whom Christ died. And those whom he died for, he sanctified, amen. So to the best of our abilities, we got to make sure that the church is holy. The church is composed of members who love Christ, for whom Christ died.

The church is not Costco, the church is not the Red Lions Club, the Salvation Army. No. The Church is pictured as the flock of Christ, as an embassy of His kingdom. We are the people of a perfect high priest. Amen.

So we must, that's why membership is so important. Membership is an office in the church to make sure that we keep the church pure and holy to the Lord. Third, definite atonement or limited atonement delivers us from the fear of men. Think about the apostles, the Apostle Paul, the martyrs, the great reformers, and so many missionaries that they were willing to advance the kingdom through pain and suffering because they knew that they were securing God's love. Before we were created, our sovereign God had our names already written in the book of the Lamb.

Think about that. Before your fingers and your feet were developed in the womb of your mom, your name was already written in the book of the Lamb. Remember, Paul's confidence in the unbreakable, inseparable love of God, who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? And he talks about famine, sword, and all sorts of trials and persecution. Nothing, nothing.

We have a perfect high priest who died for us and is interceding for us, who has our names engraved in his garments. Fourth, limited atonement encourages us, encourages and motivate missions. Sometimes people think that, oh if you believe that Jesus died just for a limited group of people, then that's going to hinder missions and evangelism. No, that's the completely opposite. The great missionary movement launched by Christians, they were all men and women who treasured the doctrines of grace.

Think about William Carey going to India, Jim Elliot, David Brainerd, Robert Moffatt, David Livingstone, Adonirah Judson, John Patton, and so many others. They knew that Christ had shed his blood for a group of sheep from every tribe and nation and tongue and their duty was to go. I'm going to cover more when you come to irresistible grace, how that affects missions. And the last one here. Limited atonement deepens and expands our worship, praises, and thanksgiving to our triune God.

Knowing and experiencing the reality of limited definite atonement affects us with deeper gratitude. We feel more thankfulness for a gift given to us in particular, Piper says, rather than feeling like it was given to no specific people and we happen to pick it up. Right? Don't you feel much more special when there is a gift, hey, I thought about you. That's for you.

Then you're walking around and you find a box, oh, I just pick it up, this thing here. When somebody designed, thought about, and then he gave his life for that. How can we not grow in holiness, gratitude, humility, when we know that he had our names written in his book before the foundation of the world, and in time He came to die for us. When a church is faithfully and regularly taught that they are the definite and particular objects of God's great love, owing to nothing in them, the intensity of their worship will grow ever deeper. Amen.

Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior. And as we prepare to partake of the Lord's Supper, we must be mindful of the great shepherd that he was stricken and is mitten and afflicted for you and me. He had your name in mind and in heart as he marched to the cross.

And that's why the Lord's Supper is so precious because it's a time when we can just pause, pause everything. Sit at the table, hold the cup, hold the bread, and remember, remember that He had the names right there on the table. Before we ever came to the table, He had the name there. Elizabeth, He had the name. Cheryl, He had the name.

Jose was all on the table there. And now we can come and we have a place in the table with our names because it takes great mercy and kindness towards us. Amen. Father, I pray that our worship would grow deeper and deeper as we learn about the death of Jesus on our behalf. And Lord, as we approach our table, I pray that we approach our table with much joy, gratitude, thanksgiving, and humility, Remembering, remembering the glorious Savior that we have.

I pray your blessing upon this time as we celebrate this beautiful ordinance. Help us to partake in a way that glorifies your name, Lord. Thank you for having our names assigned before we're ever conceived, created, and it's all because of your mercy. If you had not chosen us, we could never have chosen you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. You