Word of Salvation – Vol.24 No.04 – October 1977

 

Universal And Particular

 

Sermon by Rev. G. I. Williamson on John 17:2

Scripture Reading: John 17:1- 21

Psalter Hymnal: 209, 116:1- 3, 281:1-5, 280.

 

The words of our text were spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ shortly before He died.  They were spoken as He lifted up His heart in that great High-priestly prayer on behalf of His own.  And in these words we have His own clear statement respecting the work of redemption which He was about to accomplish completely.  “Thou gavest Him authority over all flesh,” said our Saviour, “that to all whom Thou hast given Him He should give eternal life.”

Now you will observe that there are two distinct teachings contained in these words the one of which is broader and the other narrower !  For He has received authority from the Father over all flesh.  And yet, He has received that authority in order that He might give eternal life to those whom the Father has given Him.

There is, in other words, a UNIVERSAL ASPECT to the work of Jesus Christ, and yet, there is also a limited or PARTICULAR ASPECT to that work.  The one has reference to all men, while the other has reference only to those whom the Father has given Him.  And it is very important to a proper understanding of the gospel that we understand both of these aspects, and hold fast to both of them without wavering.  For the sad fact is that many have made shipwreck of the faith because they have not held to both of these truths, but only to the one or else the other!

1]  THE ONE-SIDED INTERPRETATIONS

Take, for example, the case of those who have tried to hold to only the universal aspect of the work of Christ.  They say that in order to be the One Who has authority over all flesh, our Lord must have come to the world to provide salvation for all men without distinction.  They say that Christ cannot really be the Saviour of the world – and the only Saviour of the world unless He came to die for all men without exception.

This is a very popular view today, especially among those who are leading the World Council of Churches.  They are saying that Christ has already saved all men, and that the only purpose of Christian missions is to go and tell people that they are already saved in Jesus Christ.  They may not know it.  No, they may not even be willing to admit it!  But that does not make any difference according to these people.  Christ has died for them just the same, and they are already saved.

2. But of course, there are many Evangelical Christians who would firmly deny that this is the teaching of the Bible. They would say that this cannot be true, since the Bible itself plainly tells us that men are lost until they believe in Jesus Christ.  It even warns us quite plainly that there will come a day in which a great many people will be condemned to destruction precisely because they have not heard the gospel or because, having heard it, they have not believed on Christ.  And yet, the strange thing is that many of these Evangelicals also believe that Christ came to die for all men.  They realise that many people are lost.  They realise that they have no hope unless they hear the gospel, and believe it.  And they realise that many who do hear it reject it and perish forever.  But they still say that Christ came to die for all men.  And if you ever talk to these Evangelicals, you will notice that they always pick out of the Bible just those texts which only seem to agree with this view.  They love to quote John 3:16, for example: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”  They love to quote that text which says, “Whosoever will may come.”  And there are many other texts of the same sort that seem to be the complete proof for their belief that Christ came to die for all men.

But there are also those who have taken the other side of our text as if it were the whole truth of the matter.  And for them, this other side also becomes the basis of their restricted view of God’s grace.

1. There is a church in America in which the minister is said to preach only to God’s elect. He never says anything for all men, but only speaks to those who are the ‘chosen ones of Christ’.  It is said, also, that this denomination does not believe in the necessity of doing mission work, because – they say, what is the need for it?  God has already made His selection, and He will see to it that those whom He has chosen will come to faith in Christ.  So it is not necessary to preach the gospel to sinners as such.  And it is not necessary to invite people to come to the Saviour.
2. This teaching also makes a constant appeal to certain texts of the Bible, such as the second part of our text. Christ came to the world they say to die for His sheep.  He came so that “to all whom (the Father had) given Him He should give eternal life”.  And so, these people too, seem to have an eye for only one ‘set of texts’ drawn out of God’s Holy Word.  They are the texts that speak only of God’s dealings with those whom He has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.  And because these people see these texts only, they deny that there is any gracious dealing of God with those who are not numbered with His sheep.  And the strange thing is that it is so often thought that this is the teaching of the Reformed Faith or of Calvinism, as it is often called.  If we ever read anything about ‘Calvinism’ or ‘Calvin’ in our newspapers, or magazines, it is usually this idea that we read about.  Calvin himself and Calvinists after him – are supposed to be the people that believe that the Lord only has dealings with a few people, who are His elect, and of course it is assumed that since Calvinists are few they must think themselves to be that elect number!

2]  THE BALANCED INTERPRETATION

But the truth is that it is the Reformed Faith or Calvinism which holds to the exact truth of both parts of our text!  For it teaches what we must call a true universalism as well as a true particularism..  It teaches that Christ is the Saviour of the world, and that He is also the Saviour of His people!  Let us illustrate what we mean.  The Bible says that God makes His sun shine and rain to come upon the unjust as well as the just!  Now think for a moment what that means.  A godly man is in danger of a ruined crop in his fields.  So he goes to the true and living God through the only Mediator, Jesus Christ.  He prays the prayer of faith and God hears that prayer and answers it.  He sends the needed rain.  But do we not all realise that when that rain comes it also falls upon the land of the unbeliever who lives just up the road.  Perhaps he has been cursing the weather.  But even so, when that rain comes, it falls just the same upon his parched land as it does upon the land of his believing neighbour.

So, you have a general or universal blessing, and yet it is certainly sent in a special way for a particular person.  And when that blessing comes it only makes the wicked man worse off than he was before.  For now he does not give thanks to the God of heaven!

Or take a moment to think of God’s wonderful works of providence, as He rules all flesh according to the counsel of His will.  It is time for the Saviour of the world to be born.  But the Scripture says that He must be born in Bethlehem, the city of David.  And so, He that has “authority over all flesh” must bring it to pass.  But how does He bring it to pass?  Well, the Bible says that the Lord controls the heart of Caesar.  And so, because of this fact, “there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.”  Therefore, all the people in the Roman empire had to obey, all the Jews too had to go up to the city of their paternity, and so Mary and Joseph had to go up to Bethlehem.  But even though this act of divine providence affected the lives of thousands upon thousands of people, it was all done because of God’s special purpose for His holy child, Jesus.  There was a general aspect and there was a special aspect.  And the general aspect was there for the sake of the special aspect.  And what about some of the miracles of the Bible.  The Scripture says that when Joshua led the hosts of Israel against the Amorites, “He said in the sight of Israel, ‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Aijalon’.  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.” Now, of course, the Modernists of our day do not believe that this ever really happened.  But the Bible says it did.  And when it did, you can easily see that it was a day to be remembered, not only in Israel, but even to the ends of the earth.  Would it be unlikely that in many places on this globe, on that memorable day, others besides Israel benefited by that miracle?  And yet, it is perfectly clear that this great marvel which affected the whole world, was really done for the sake of the people of God.  Again, we have a universal side, and yet a special effect.  And was it not so when our Lord calmed the sea of Galilee?  There were other boats too that set out across the sea that day.  When that terrible storm was suddenly stilled, they too were benefited by it.  But for all that, it was done for the sake of those who belonged to the Saviour.  So it was too, on the night in which Paul and Silas were suffering in prison.  The great earthquake was sent of the Lord to set His servants free.  But the Scripture says that all the others were also loosed from their fetters.

Now these things illustrate but faintly the work of our Lord as the Redeemer of the world.  But they are true illustrations.  For it is certainly true that the Son of God has “authority over all flesh” and that He is also: “the Saviour of His people”.  He is, to quote the words of the Apostle Paul; “the Saviour of all men (and at the same time) especially them that believe.”

1. Consider then the universal aspect of the work of Jesus Christ. For the Bible tells us that there is a universal side to the work that He has done.  Could anything be more evident?
2. a) Our Lord, according to the inspired testimony of John, made the world that He later redeemed. For without Him there was nothing made that was made.
3. b) And when the human race sinned against God, and fell into Adam’s first transgression, it was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ Who secured a stay of execution. The Bible speaks of the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world.  And what it means is that the world itself would have been destroyed after man’s first sin, if it had not been for the fact that Christ was willing to come and die on the cross.
4. c) And so, every moment of time that has been given to every human. being – every single blessing that has been enjoyed in this world, from the greatest to the least – has come to man because of one fact alone: the death of our Lord on the cross.  We know incomparably better things than these; to be sure.  But stop for a moment and think how wondrous a thing this is.  Little children that deserve to be in hell are running in the park, exploring in the woods, smelling the wonderful fragrance of a flower, tasting the delightful things that God has made to eat!  Men and women that deserve to be in hell are experiencing the joys of love, and the delights of parent-hood!  People who deserve to be in hell are looking upon the awe-inspiring beauty of the Alps.  And they owe it all to Christ our Saviour!
5. d) And even this does not tell the whole story of Christ’s universal benefaction. For the Bible says that Christ is the Saviour of the world.  And because He is the Saviour of the world, the great commission says that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  We are to tell them that there is none other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, except the name of Jesus.  And we are also to tell them that “whosoever will, may come and drink of the waters of life freely.”  Yes, the offers of grace, too, are as wide as the world, and as mighty as the love of God.
6. e) And then, too, there is the glorious promise of God. “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” Go, tell that on the mountains, says our Lord.  For there shall no man turn unto Me no man in the whole wide world who shall then perish, for I will give to him the crown of eternal life.  And it is because our Lord has received authority over all flesh as our text says that there is this universal aspect of the gospel of Christ.
7. f) And that also reminds us of the fact that it is this same Jesus Who shall judge the whole world at the last day. Yes, every last man, woman and child will one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  And on that day it will be this one man Jesus, Who will declare the destiny of every member of the whole human race.  And what could possibly be more ‘universal’ than that?

2)  But let us also, with equal earnestness, consider the particular or individual aspect of the work of Jesus Christ.  For, as our text says, He is given all authority over all flesh in order “that to all whom (the Father) has given Him, He should give eternal life.”  Our Lord clearly states in this text that the ultimate purpose of His coming to the world the ultimate reason for His death on the cross yes, even the ultimate intention of God in making Him the Lord of all men was that He might save those whom the Father had already given to Him even before He came.  And this means that while it was no doubt our Lord’s intention to benefit all men in some ways, it was not His intention to benefit all men in this way for He came to save only those whom the Father had given Him.  And this is the reason why we cannot help but speak of the limited atonement of Christ.  For we must believe the teaching of Scripture when it tells us that Christ died on the cross to save forever, just those that the Father had given Him.

The trouble is that when people hear these words – ‘limited atonement’ – they usually make the mistake of thinking that it means something that it doesn’t mean at all.

1. a) For example, they may think that it means that Christ’s death is only of a certain limited value or worth. But it doesn’t mean that at all.  For nothing is more certain in all the Bible than the fact that the death of Jesus Christ is of absolutely unlimited value.  Jesus Christ, Who died for sinners, was not only man, but was also very God.  Therefore, His death is of infinite value.  And that means that the death of Christ counts for more than all the people in the world in fact it counts for more than all the worlds in the universe and it would even count for more than as many universes as there are worlds.  To say that the death of our Lord is sufficient to redeem all men is putting it mildly.  But that is not what we mean when we say ‘limited atonement’.
2. b) As another example, people often think that this doctrine of the “limited atonement’ means that there are no universal benefits for all men in the view of those who hold this teaching. They think that if a man believes in this doctrine, he will not be able to believe in any sort of common grace, or in any free offer of salvation to sinners as such.  But again, this is not what the doctrine really means.  For it is certainly true that all as we have already tried to show men do, in a real and wonderful sense, benefit by the saving work of Christ.  The very breath that we breathe is ours because the Son of God is the Saviour of the world.  And the very gospel we preach is indeed full of the free offer of grace to every lost sinner who hears our voice.

What we do mean is simply this: when Christ died on the cross, it was not His intention to save all men from sin.  Neither was it His intention to die only to make the salvation of all men possible.  For He Himself tells us that the purpose of His death the intention that He Himself had when He died was to give eternal life to all those whom He had already received from the Father.  And the remarkable thing is that no one ever said this more clearly than our Lord Himself.  Listen to what He said to the Jews who followed Him because they had seen the miracle of the loaves!  “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.  And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”  Or listen again to what He said to the false shepherds of the house of Israel: “I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep… and I lay down My life for the sheep and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Father’s hand.”  Or perhaps most conclusively of all, listen to what He said in that great high-priestly prayer, from which we have taken the words of our text: “I pray not for the world but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.  And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them.”  By His own testimony, then, our Lord came to receive authority over all flesh yes – but only in order that He might give eternal life to those particular ones that the Father had given unto Him.  There is indeed a universal aspect – but it is only for the sake of that glorious work by which our Saviour redeems His people from their sins.

3].  THE WONDER OF IT ALL

Now the writer of this sermon must confess that this doctrine did not at all please him the first time he ever heard it.  For at the time, it seemed to him that this doctrine could mean that there was no real chance for him to be saved!  It seemed to him that it would be much better to hear that Christ died to save all men – or that Christ died to make possible the salvation of all men than that He rather died to save His people from their sins.  If Christ only died to save His elect, whom the Father had given Him – he  thought then how can he be sure that he will be saved?

But then he made a wonderful discovery in the Bible.  For there he found that the true and faithful God offers salvation to all men!  He also discovered that He has promised by that faithful word that He will never cast out anyone who comes to claim His mercy.  He even discovered something more wonderful than that.  For the Bible says, “Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

In other words, by God’s general overture of grace in the gospel addressed to all men without exception – there is contained the promise of special grace to all who heed the Word of God.  And then the very thing that had seemed so unpleasant to him, became the most precious gift of God.  For it dawned upon his heart as the sunrise of an everlasting day, that God had promised in this way to show him that he was one of those for whom the Saviour gave His all!

See, this is the only way in which God could really offer salvation in the gospel.  For suppose for a moment, that Christ had died for all men.  Is it not plain that if this be so, then He truly died – at least largely in vain.  For if Christ died for all men, He certainly did fail, for we know only too well that all men are not saved.  And suppose that we were to think that Christ died merely to make it possible for all men to be saved!  Then again, we must admit that this greatly subtracts from His glory and honour.  For if Christ only made salvation possible, then we must go on to ask what it is that makes salvation to actually take place.  And there is no way out of it but to say that it is the sinner himself who must do something by himself in order that he might make that possibility to become a reality.

But if Christ died for some only – and you, by God’s grace, are able to say, at last, He died also for me – then think how truly wonderful it is!  For this is what it means.  It means that two thousand years ago, on a cruel cross outside the walls of Jerusalem, the Son of God suffered the agony of hell!  And why did He so suffer?  Was it because He had done something amiss?  Oh no, beloved in the Lord.  It was because we have committed the evil thing!  But why then did He suffer, you may ask?  It was because He the very Son of God at that awful hour of the power of darkness, bore upon His own breast in anguish, yet in love, our sin and guilt.  You see, it was for particular sins of particular persons that Jesus died.  It was for particular people that He paid the awful price.  As the prophet Isaiah once said, “surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. .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.”

So you see, the two really go together.  For the fact is that there could be no universal aspect of the gospel if there were not also this particular aspect.  There would be no gospel to preach to all the world if Christ had not died in the actual room and place of them that were given Him of the Father.  For what is the gospel what is the good news that is published to the ends of the earth in God’s infallible Word?  Well, it is just this: come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith come, whoever you are come and accept the wonderful grace of God.  But know this: when you do come you are going to make a great discovery.  You are going to discover that long before you were even born, you were already chosen by the Father – already given by Him to the Son of God – and you are going to discover that already two thousand years ago, that same wonderful Saviour took all your sin and guilt away.  And then you are going to thank God – not only that the Saviour has power over all flesh – but much more, that He died to give eternal life to all that the Father has given Him!

AMEN.

(Vol.XXIX – No’s.1,2,3,4 – Typed by World Home Bible League, Penrith, NSW)