I now come to the “I” in TULIP.  It is “Irresistible Grace” and the London Baptist Confession of Faith states it like this: “The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the word of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened”.  Simply stated, this means that men cannot resist the grace of God if they are one of the elect.   Just because the gospel goes to all men and all men can hear it, doesn’t mean that they will be saved by it.  Only the elect will respond and repent of their ways before God. 

 

      Even though people reject the gospel, even if they are elected, the Holy Spirit will convert them one way or another.  It is ONLY the Holy Spirit that leads us to God: not works or thoughts or anything (Romans 8:14), (1 Corinthians 12:3), (2 Corinthians 3:6).

 

      After the Spirit calls us, He makes us reborn by giving us a new heart (John 3:3-8), (Titus 3:5), (Galatians 6:15).   Then the Holy Spirit raises the sinner from his spiritually dead state and makes him alive in Christ (John 5:21), (Ephesians 2:1, 5), (Colossians 2:13).  This is how irresistible grace works in the heart according the Scriptures.

 

                 I now come to the L in TULIP, Limited Atonement.  This basically means that when Christ died, he did not die for the whole world, only for His elected people (Matthew 1:21), (2 Corinthians 5:21), (Galatians 1:3, 4), (Titus 2:14). It also shows that even though God chose some, He still had to redeem them from their sins or else our reconciliation would not have been secured (Romans 5:10), (Colossians 1:21, 22). 

 

                 When Jesus was sent into the world by God the Father, He came to save only those to whom the Father had given Him.  Jesus came to save and die ONLY for His elect and none of them will be lost or left behind (John 6:35-40).    Also, all of the ones that accept Christ as their Lord and Savoir are the true sheep and the ones who reject Him are the ones who are predestined to be damned to Hell (John 10:11, 14-18) (John 10:24-29).  It is not on human will or act whether we are saved or not but on God who has mercy (Romans 9). 

 

                  Jesus was a man of great prayer and He even prayed for His elect in John 17.  In this prayer, Jesus makes it very clear that He is praying not for the whole world, but His elect ONLY.  It is an encouraging prayer to those who are saved. 

                       After the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln was asked to make “a few appropriate remarks” as someone called it.  His speech was very brief, but it became a timeless masterpiece in the history of the United States.  In this piece of wonder, Lincoln paid his respects to the soldiers who gave their lives for the cause of our wonderful country.  This paper will be remembered for generations to come.  He presented this speech on November 19, 1863 to a large crowd at a memorial service for the men who died at this massive battle. 

 

                      At about this time, Mrs. Lincoln was facing a very difficult time in her life: her children were dying quickly.  She had lost all but one of her children, Robert, who she would not allow to enter the Army because of the death of her four brothers who fought for the Confederacy.  At the closing days of the war, Lincoln was able to secure a relatively safe position on General Grant’s staff.  But despite all that Lincoln did for his wife, he could not detain the feeling of death and mental disorder from his love. 

 

                      Things in Washington were not going well also.  Many politicians were very dissatisfied with Lincoln and his policies.  So the Democrats took matters into their own hands by nominating (of all people) General McClellan.  This man was a pathetic general, so why would he make a better President.  Anyway, Lincoln won an easy victory over this so-called “general” 212 to 21 to be precise.  This now began his second term as President. The start of Lincoln’s second term could not have been better, Lee surrendered.  Yes, in the month of March, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse while fellow soldiers looked on.  Many soldiers on Confederate side tried to assassinate Grant, but to no avail.  

 

 

                       The assassination of the great man Abraham Lincoln is as follows:  Lincoln, his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Grant were to attend a comedy at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. called Our American Cousin.  A man named John Wilkes Booth, an actor who was mentally disordered, was planning to shoot Lincoln in the back of the head while no one was watching the door to the President’s Box.  So at 10:30 PM, while the president’s personal guards had gone to go have a good time, Booth snuck right up behind the President’s chair, and while all eyes were on the stage he took his .44 – caliber derringer that he carried everywhere and put it to Lincoln’s head and fired.  The president slumped over in his chair unconscious.  Booth escaped but was killed by Federal troops 12 days later. 

 

                        Lincoln was taken back to his house where he was nursed until he died at 7:00 AM the next morning.  This great and godly man has left us great examples such as love, perseverance, and trust in God.  This man was probably the greatest president we have ever had and will ever have.  For he showed that he loved this country and the people in it more than himself, and because of these things he will be remembered for many more generations to come.