Addressing the Doctrine of Universalism

All right, turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, and we're going to be looking this morning at the subject of Universalism. So what is Universalism? This is the belief that all of mankind will eventually be saved.

In other words, Universalism is the teaching that everybody goes to heaven and that nobody goes to hell. This is an old idea, but it's coming back into style these days. Now that our culture has rejected traditional Christianity, people are what they call deconstructing.

Who's heard of this? People will say, I've deconstructed my faith. This used to be called apostasy, but today it's called deconstruction. So people will say how they no longer hold to the religious beliefs that they grew up.

With.

So I guess it sounds better to call yourself, say, deconstructed than saying an apostate. But ultimately it's the same thing, that you're abandoning your beliefs, that you're abandoning your faith. So some have deconstructed, many have deconstructed and have become atheists.

Others want to hold on to some semblance of spirituality, so they deconstruct and they become universalists. They say that everyone, no matter what you do, no matter what you believe, no matter what path you choose, the universalists will say that because God is love, he will, in the end, accept everyone, no matter what.

So most universalists would say that hell doesn't even exist, and if it does, it's more akin to something like purgatory, where people only have to go for a short time and then.

Get out.

This is a strange doctrine indeed. And when I say strange, I mean strange as in it's foreign to the scripture. This is not what the Bible teaches at all. But why do people believe this? Well, I think it's pretty obvious.

People believe this because it sounds nice, sounds good. Everybody goes to heaven. On the other hand, it gives people a license to sin, gives people a license to do whatever.

They want.

It doesn't really matter. They can blaspheme God, they can mistreat people.

Who cares?

Because in the end, everything will work out okay. So there's kind of a happy face you can put on it, but then there's a dark side to it.

As well.

Because if universalism is true, you realize, if that were true, then preaching the gospel is absolutely pointless. Preaching the gospel is actually not true in their system because we're saying that you must believe in Christ.

They're saying it really doesn't matter whether you believe in Christ. I would say this is a devilish lie. It is a devilish lie straight from the pit because they're telling people, you really don't have to receive Christ as Savior after all.

All right.

Christ’s Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46

So that's universalism. And then there's a quasi form of universalism, if I can call it that, that some people say, okay, not everyone goes to heaven. Like Adolf Hitler, he's probably not in heaven and really, really bad people aren't there.

But most people will go as long as you're, what, a good person. So there's the universalism where everybody goes, then there's kind of a quasi universalism where most people go. Well, is this what Jesus taught?

Let's look at Matthew 25, verses 31 through 46. We want to look at what the scripture teaches. It doesn't really matter what I think. It doesn't really matter what someone else thinks. As Christians, we look to the teachings of Jesus.

So Matthew 25, verses 31 through 46, Jesus says, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

And he will set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me and I was in prison and you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?

And the king will answer and say to them, surely I say to you in as much as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Then verse 41, he will also say on to those on the left hand, depart from me.

You cursed into what? Into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels where I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

And then they also will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them saying assuredly as I say to you, as much as you did not do it to one of these, the least of these, you did not do it to me.

And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. And may God add a blessing to the reading of his word. So you notice in this passage, Jesus is clearly talking about both heaven and hell, both the kingdom of God and eternal punishment.

And who goes where is up to who is that up to you to decide is, is it up to me? It's not up to us. It's up to Christ. More than that, it depends on how a person responds to Christ. Notice what he says in verse 40, Jesus says, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to who?

You did it to me.

So number one, everything depends on how a person responds to the son of God, heaven.

Or hell.

It depends on what you do with a person of Christ. And number two, here is the point in regards to this idea of universalism. Jesus clearly says that some get eternal life and others receive everlasting punishment.

We could be here all morning reading verses in the Bible like this. There's plenty of them, but I just wanted you to hear it from Jesus.

Okay.

The Authority of Scripture Against Universalism

So universalism, again, this is the idea that, you know, everyone goes to heaven, everyone saved no matter what, where do people get this idea? Well, people believe it because they want to believe it.

That's where it comes from. It doesn't come from the Bible. People believe it because they choose to believe it. Maybe you've heard of churches that are called, it's in the name, universalist churches.

Typically today they're joined together with the Unitarians. It'll normally be a Unitarian Universalist church. Most of these places have dropped their original teachings and they, at least in New England, they tend to be more of a political advocacy group.

But originally, what is a Unitarian? A Unitarian is someone who denies the Trinity. They say that God is one. They deny Father, Son, and Spirit. So a Unitarian would deny the Trinity and deny the deity of Christ.

But again, a Universalist is someone who thinks that everybody is saved. So both of those teachings, they've kind of linked together, these two traditions, both systems are directly opposed to the teachings of scripture.

So today, universalism, you say, well, okay, that's them. That's those churches. Today though, it's crept into Baptist churches, Methodist churches, non-denominational churches. This idea of universalism, I'm telling you, it's everywhere and it's creeping in more.

And more.

It's in all denominations. So you might ask, where do they come up with this idea? If it's not taught in the Bible or if the Bible teaches the opposite, where did all of this originate? Well, it's usually an emotional argument.

That's really what it comes down to. People want to believe it and they make some sort of emotional argument. And if they look at the word of God at all, because we have to understand, how do we look at God's word?

We believe what the Bible says about itself, right? We believe that the scripture is the word of God. So God's word is in here. This is true. They believe the Bible is more of a book written by men. Just one example, a local Baptist church in the area that went universal, the pastor there, now that they are a universal type of church, the pastor there now openly, this isn't gossip, this isn't anything like that.

He openly teaches that Moses didn't write the Torah. He openly teaches that Isaiah didn't write Isaiah. They'll openly say, a universalist typically will openly tell you that, yeah, there's plenty of things in the Bible that are not true or that the Bible is not reliable.

So a universalist, mark it down, they will always, they have to, they will always attack the authority of scripture. So that's where it starts, attacking the authority of scripture. Either the Bible is true or it's not.

So as Christians, we follow the teachings of, right, as Christians, we follow Christ. How do you know what Jesus taught? Right, it's in the Bible. So if the Bible's not accurate, how can you possibly know?

And that's kind of where they are at this point. They say, yeah, you can't really know the truth. Now, there's certain things they're certain about, and it's usually some advocacy for something immoral, but as far as gospel truth, they say, well, you can never really know.

All right, so all of that to say this, this is a relevant issue. This is happening everywhere. It's happening locally, nationally, globally, and it's only going to increase, I promise.

You.

So universalism is on the rise, and if we are not vigilant, let me say this, if we, me as a pastor, but you as a congregation, if we are not vigilant, it will happen here too. Oh, that can never happen to the Morris Corner Church.

Of course it could. It could happen anywhere, because once a pastor starts attacking the word of God, once a congregation puts up with it, or God forbid the congregation agrees, that church ceases to be a legitimate New Testament church.

So in Sunday school, we were talking about Romans chapter 12, the passage about renewing your mind. Every day, we need to make a conscious decision that we are going to renew our mind. I'm going to follow Christ.

Today I believe the Bible, and we have to constantly be doing that in moving forward, and we have to fight against the tide, because it will overtake us if we're not vigilant. So a universalist typically will not make an argument from the Bible.

I mean, I just read Matthew 25, the words of Jesus. Was that clear? I don't know how you could be more clear than that. So we could close the Bible and go home point proven, but sometimes they will quote the.

Bible.

So you can just make a note of this. First John chapter two, verses one and two, sometimes a universalist will quote a verse like that, because I want to at least address one or two of their arguments.

Christ’s Atonement for the Whole World

First John two, one and two, it says that Jesus died. This is what they would say, that Jesus died for the sins of what? The whole world. Now does the Bible say that?

Yes. It does.

Jesus is the propitiation for not only our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. So the argument goes that if Jesus atoned for the sins of all mankind, if everyone has their sins atoned for, then everyone's saved, right?

I mean, some people buy into this. If Jesus died for everybody's sin, including the sin of unbelief, then that's atoned for. Everybody is saved. Well, first of all, the term world in Greek is cosmos. So it's a general term referring to humanity.

It's not ultra specific. So whether that verse is saying literally every human being who ever lived or just for people in general, that verse really doesn't prove anything. But here's the thing. Every Bible believing Christian, whether you think Jesus died for just the elect or for every human being who ever lived, Christians agree that there's a condition.

What's the condition? If a person is going to go to heaven, Jesus, maybe he died for the sins of the whole world, but to get to heaven, you must do what? You must believe. You must receive Christ as Lord and Savior.

A true universalist would say, well, you don't have to. You don't have to believe because Jesus died for everyone. Or they might not even appeal to the cross of Christ. Okay, let's turn to John chapter three.

And I suspect you probably know some people who believe this way. And again, people believe it because it sounds so nice, right? Sounds so good. But my job as a pastor is not to teach what I want to be true.

My job is to teach what the Bible says is true. Yes, the death of Jesus is powerful enough to save everyone, right? We agree with that? Yeah, the death of Jesus is powerful enough to save everyone. In John 3 .16, let's look at John 3 .16.

And there is some universal sounding language in the Bible.

That's true.

What does it say? John 3 .16 starts out, for God so loved what? God so loved the world that whosoever, right? This is universal type language, that God so loved everybody, that whosoever. So the gospel is being proclaimed to all people.

Should we preach the gospel to all people?

Yes.

Do we want all people to be saved?

I do.

I hope you do. We have to keep reading, right? John 3 .16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever,.

What?

Believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So the people who don't perish, they believe. So you must believe. Okay, look at verse 18. This is even more clear as far as the point that I'm trying to make.

He that believeth in, is this in red letters? Some of you have a red letter Bible?

Okay.

So that means that these are the words of Jesus. Jesus says, John 3 .18, he that believeth, and he's referring to himself in the third person, but he says, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned, what?

He's condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. So forget all the theological debates for a moment. Forget about all of the convoluted arguments that we could make about theology.

The most clear message in the New Testament is that a person must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The message of the New Testament is the message of the gospel, and Jesus and the apostles called upon people to repent and believe the gospel.

So if the good news is, as the universalists say, that everyone's going to be saved no matter what, my question is, why didn't Jesus go around saying that? Why didn't the apostles go around saying that?

Why didn't they go around saying, you know, the good news is you're all going to be saved in the end. Did Jesus ever say that a single time?

No.

And here's the thing. Not everybody wants to be saved. Isn't that true? Some people, they don't want to be saved. I think there's a lot of people in this country, I don't know if it's the majority or not, but there's a lot of people, especially if you're 30 years old and above, there's a lot of people in this country, they know basically what Christianity is.

There's a lot they don't know, but they know kind of the basics. Jesus died on the cross and rose again, and Christianity, and it calls you to live a different.

Way.

I think most people know to some degree about what Christianity and Jesus and the Bible is all about. They're just not interested. They're just, they're living life on their terms and they don't want to be saved.

You know, just in that word salvation, salvation is defined, one way it's defined in the Bible is salvation from sin. Part of following Jesus is you at least need to be willing, you know, sometimes it takes work, but you at least need to be willing to let go of your sin.

I think most people are not willing to do that, are they? They love their sin too much. They love their life too much. They want to be in control. Bottom line, some people don't want to be saved. On the other hand, nobody wants to go to hell.

I know there's going to be one wise guy here or there that will say that I want to go down to hell and be with my buddies and do whatever they think they're going to be doing, which of course is not true.

You're going to be alone in outer darkness, suffering, torment all by yourself, but nobody wants to go to hell. And here is something that is universal among all saved people. Nobody likes sorrow. Nobody likes misery.

Nobody likes pain. So a universalist will almost always deny the existence of hell. I would argue that this is probably where it starts. You know, you have a Christian, they've been baptized, they're in the church, but they really don't like this teaching of hell, so that's the first thing to go.

That's the first thing. I don't believe that. That's like an open door to universalism. So nobody wants to go to hell. Once in a while you'll get a rare person who says, well, I know there is a hell and I know I'm going there.

Those people do exist. But most of the time, the argument among universalists and even people of the world, they'll say that there either is no hell or if there is, God would never send anyone there.

Why?

What's their argument? Remember I said it's not a scriptural argument, it's an emotional argument.

What's the argument?

God would never send anyone to hell because God is a God of love. So that's their whole argument. They latch on to the word love and say, well, a loving God would never do something like.

That.

God’s Love, Wrath, and Propitiation

Okay, let's talk about this. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. I know I've done a sermon or two over the past year where I've kind of highlighted this issue, but I think it's the most important thing we're facing as far as people that would argue against Christianity.

I believe one of the most clear ways the word of God, the Bible, is being distorted today is to so overemphasize God's attribute of love that it's to the extent where it really overrides everything else or it nullifies everything else.

So 1 John chapter 4, this is that passage where you see the statement that God is love,.

Right?

And while that's true, God is love, it's what the Bible says, you know, God isn't only love. God is other things. I've told you about this before, that one church sign that said out front, God is love, period, in all capital letters.

Well, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says God is love, but that period in all capitals, that they added. What's the sentiment they're trying to get across? God accepts everybody. What that church was saying when they said God is love, period, they're saying we're a universalist church now.

That's what they were saying. So God, he has no judgment, he has no wrath. Look at 1 John chapter 4, verse 7. Let's look at this section, beloved, let us love one another for God is of love and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

He who does not love does not know God, for God is what? God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him.

In this is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. And beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. I don't think you need to be convinced of that.

Part of the Christian walk is loving God, and the only reason we love God is why, he first loved us in sending Christ to die for our sins. And because we love God, we should show that love by loving one another.

This is the new commandment that Jesus gave, that you love one another. Most people don't have to be convinced of that. So love is key in the Christian life. But it says God is love, and I believe that.

Do we all believe that? God is love? Do you believe that?

Right.

I don't think there's a person on earth who would deny that, very few. But if you say does God have wrath, a lot of people will deny that. So that's kind of more needful that that be preached. So I believe that God is love, but I also believe this other part of the statement where it says, and this would be real easy to pass over, verse 10, it says that Jesus was sent to be what?

The, yeah, the expiation or the propitiation for our sins. What does that word propitiation mean? It means, the Greek term hilosmos, it means that God needs to be appeased. Something or someone, God, needs to be appeased.

Another way it's translated is this, the atoning sacrifice, that Christ was sent into the world to propitiate or to be the atoning sacrifice. Okay, so this Friday is what? Good Friday? What's Good Friday about?

This is the day we observe the crucifixion, it's called Good Friday because it's good that Jesus died, that's the day he accomplished our salvation, so we call it good. So you're kind of getting part of the Good Friday sermon now, all right?

Jesus died on the cross, what? To propitiate the wrath of God. Mankind has sinned and have come short of the glory of God, God must, because he's holy and because he's just, God must punish sin, that means we're all in big trouble, right?

But God loved the world so much that he sent Christ to die in our place. But for the one who rejects Christ, that wrath has not been propitiated, it is still there. Are you in John chapter 3 still? John 3 .16, for God so loved the world, amen, we believe that, but look at John 3 .36.

John 3 .36 says, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. So you have John 3 .16, universal sounding language, God so loved the world, amen, but for the one who does not believe in Christ, John chapter 3, same chapter, says the wrath of God abides on him.

So why did Jesus have to die on the cross? To die as an atoning sacrifice, Jesus had to die to propitiate the wrath of God. Isaiah 53, 4 and 5, and just make a note of this, Isaiah 53, 4 and 5, says, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes, or by his wounds, we are healed.

This concept that Jesus died to satisfy the wrath of God, this is brought out in the song by Keith and Kristen Getty, titled, In Christ Alone. This is one of those modern hymns that the church has really embraced, and it has good theology.

Here's what it says in the second verse, till on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied, for every sin on him was laid, here, in the death of Christ, I live. You know, I hear a lot of churches now are refusing to sing this song, unless that verse gets changed.

Why?

Because more and more people today are going the universal route, that God is beyond that, God is above that, God doesn't have wrath that needs to be satisfied. One universalist preacher I heard recently said that the death of Jesus, he said, was completely avoidable and unnecessary.

So sad. And, you know, that guy actually came out of one of the local Bible-believing churches that we used to fellowship with. Is God, what would his argument be? Well, God is God of love. Is God a God of love?

Yes.

How do we know that God is a God of love? Because he sent his son into the world to offer you salvation. But, you know, that's up to you. There's some people that don't want to be saved, and if they don't want to be saved, God will, you know, respect their choice, for lack of a better term.

My friends, universalism, it might sound nice, but I'm just telling you, this is not a loving doctrine. This is not a loving thing. I just want to use this illustration before we close. If you went into a doctor's office, and your doctor examined you, and he was pretty sure that he saw early signs of cancer, but he didn't want to upset you, so instead he just gave you a clean bill of health and said, you know what, you're fine.

Go on your way. Be happy. Be fine. You're perfectly healthy. Would that be a loving thing to do?

It would be cruel.

And the only reason he doesn't want to tell you the truth is because he might have to see you cry or express grief. He doesn't want to deal with any of that. This is why preachers are doing this. They don't want to preach the truth because somebody might not like it.

I just want you to know the reason I do a sermon like this is not because I get some sort of pleasure about talking about hell or God's judgment. I don't like it just as much as you don't. We're not supposed to like it, but we preach the truth.

I tell you the truth because I care about you, and I don't want anyone in this room, I don't want anyone who hears this to die and go to hell. Let's just finish this. 1 John chapter 4. It's ironic. It's ironic.

You don't have to turn back there, but this verse, this passage that says God is love, this passage that is used to teach a sort of a universal salvation, it's right smack in the middle of a section that talks about God having wrath and needs to be propitiated.

It's ironic, really. So why did Jesus have to come to this earth? One last thing. If you lived this life and you never heard of Jesus, you never read the Bible, would you get the idea that God is pleased with mankind?

I don't think so. Last night, it was dark out, and we were driving, and we just saw the sky all lit up. There's a violent lightning storm over towards New Hampshire, and just all the death and destruction, natural disasters, all the things that happen in this world.

You really wouldn't get the idea that God is pleased with the creation, would you? How much pain and suffering is in the world? How do we know? How do you know that God is love? How do we know that God even cares about us?

How do we know? Romans chapter 5, verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's how we know God loves us, and that's what love looks like, that Jesus suffered the wrath of God so that we don't have to.

But we do have to do something, and what is that? We need to receive the free gift of salvation, so Christ suffered the wrath of God that we don't have to. That's what true love looks like. I'll close with this, as Charles Wesley wrote in the hymn, And Can It Be?

We're going to sing this next. He wrote these words, so when we think about Jesus and what he did for us and how God so loved the world in sending Christ to die, the son of God dying for us, he wrote these words, Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

That is the love of God. Jesus dying and rising again for your salvation. Let's pray, and Father, how grateful we are for your love, how grateful we are for that divine agape love, that self-sacrificing love that Christ displayed by going to the.

Cross.

Lord, help us this week for that to be the meditation of our mind, and Lord, we pray for those who do not know Christ. We pray not only for those who are not saved, Lord, we pray for those who don't want to be saved, that they would be overwhelmed by your redeeming grace.

When they realize what Jesus did for the world. Lord, we love you, we praise you, and we thank you for the mercy that you have showed us in Jesus. We pray it in his name, amen.