There's not a page in this book
that is more holy, more inspired by the Holy Spirit, more needful
than any other page. Every word is the Word of God. I couldn't help but think, after
I read this portion of God's Word from Matthew 27, We're on holy ground. How I pray the Lord will enable
me to rightly divide this word of truth. And for us to worship and be able to understand
what's being said in these vital, vital verses. The scripture that we're looking
at this morning tells us of the hour of hours. This is the hour
all the Old Testament pointed forward to. This is the hour
all the New Testament is telling us about. And this is the hour
that all of eternity will look back upon. The title of the message
is taken from verse 36. Sitting down, they watched him
there. What do you reckon they saw?
I would imagine that they were very smug, very happy, finally
finished with this Jesus of Nazareth who'd been such a thorn in their
side. But what I'm more interested in this morning is if the Lord,
by his grace, would enable us to sit here this morning and
watch him there. And as we do, there's a few things
I see. The first thing I see is this.
Man's sinfulness. The sinfulness of sin is on display
for all to see here. Even a casual reader of God's
Word can see man's cruelty and inhumanity. Man's sin for sin's
sake is on display. Here's a man who was betrayed
by a friend with a kiss. They brought him before the judges,
No charges could be found against him. Matthew said they had to
take him by subtlety. Mark said they had to take him
by craft. Here's a man on trial where the judges, the most moral
men in town who are supposed to uphold truth and justice,
the judges are looking for witnesses who will lie on this man so they
can put him to death. And they couldn't find any. They
found many people because of the sinfulness of man. They found
many people who wouldn't tell a lie. They couldn't find false
witnesses who would agree. Look back in chapter 26 of Matthew,
verse 59. Now the chief priests and elders
and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put
him to death, but found none. Yea, though many false witnesses
came, yet they found none. They found none that could agree.
And at the last came two false witnesses and said, this fellow
said, I'm able to destroy the temple of God and to build it
in three days. Now, if you look over John chapter
two, our Lord never said that. John two, verse 18. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, What signs showest thou unto us, seeing that thou
doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Destroy this temple in three days, and I will raise
it up. Then said the Jews, Forty-six years was this temple in building.
Will thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple
of his body. They didn't quote him. They lied
about what he said because they're still trying to put him to death.
This mock trial is taking place in the middle of the night. Which
is against Jewish law. You can't have a trial like this
in the middle of the night. But these men had to do what
they were doing under the cloak of darkness. Trying to cover
their sin. Here's a man. He's tied up. He's beaten. He's spit upon. He's mocked. Look here in Matthew
chapter 26 again, verse 67. Then did they spit in his face.
And they buffeted him. They had him blindfolded and
others smote him with the palms of their hands and said, prophesy
unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? You know,
we've got your blindfold and you can't see, but if you're
this prophet, tell us who it was. Just beats you in the face. Just wickedness on display. Here's a man who had a few friends,
swore they'd die for him. They all deserted him in this,
his great hour of need. Here's a man who's humiliated,
being stripped naked. We read that. They stripped him
naked in front of this crowd of mocking, jeering soldiers. And they made fun of him for
a while. You know, they put this scarlet robe on him. They got
tired of that. They stripped him naked again. Made fun of
him. Mocked him. Put his own clothes
on him. Took him out to crucify him.
Here's a man that the government Says he's innocent. Pilate said
he's innocent. I'm washing my hands of the blood
of this just man. And he sent him out to be scourged
with a cat of nine. This is an innocent man. A cat
of nine tails. You know what that is. Pieces
of leather, straps of leather with pieces of bone and rock
and glass crushed up in it. And they'd rake it across the
back of the victim. Just to peel the skin off his
back. Just to clear the hide off of
his flesh. They did that to an innocent
man. Here's a man they took out to
crucify. An innocent man. The most painful,
shameful, ignominious death that they could think of. Where they
drove railroad spikes in his hands and his feet and hung him
naked on a cross waiting for him to die. And crucifixion is
a slow, painful death. Many times it took days. And
they'd even give the victim vinegar to drink. We read there where
they ran and gave vinegar to our Lord. The reason they did
that? They tried to prolong His life.
If they could prolong His agony, they'd prolong their fun. How
sinful is man? This is cruelty simply for cruelty's
sake. And what's on display is pure
sin. What's on display here is the
sin nature of all mankind. Man hating God. The hatred of
man for God's Son and unbelief in God's Son. The problem is,
this is no mere man. This is the Son of God. The Son
of God manifests in the likeness of sinful flesh and they hated
Him as God. They hated Him as God's Son.
They hated Him as King. Look back in Matthew 26 again. Verse 62, And the high priest
arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which
these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace, and
the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee
by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ,
the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said. Nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the
Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, coming in the
clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his
clothes, saying, He has spoken blasphemy. What further need
have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his
blasphemy. What do you think when you heard him say, He is
the Son of God? They answered, He is guilty of death. Guilty
of death, because he claimed to be who he is, the Son of God.
And they crucified him as king. We read that this is the charge.
They wrote it over his head, this is Jesus. the king of the
Jews. And you know those Pharisees,
they told Pilate, don't write he's the king of the Jews, write
he said he's the king of the Jews. Pilate said, I've written
what I've written. He's the king of the Jews. And
they hated him as king. And I'm telling you, the same
nature is in all of us today. Man's nature has not changed
one whit in the last 2,000 years. Man by nature hates God Almighty. And people tell him, I don't
hate God. I love God. I love Jesus. Well,
the Jesus you hear preached, what's not to love? He's kind. He's weak. He just wants to heal
people, wants to bless people. If they'll just let him, he'll
save you if you'll just let him. What's not to love? He's pitiful.
Of course you love him. But you tell people about the
Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, you tell them about the
one who's sovereign to save his people, you've got a problem
on your hands. You tell people about the Lord, you watch them,
they'll get angry, blinded by rage. They'll say the same thing,
what these folks said in verse 25, Matthew 27. Let His blood be on us and on
our children. The only reason a person could
make that statement and condemn the guilt of the crucifixion
of God's Son on their children is they're blinded by sin. But
Jesus Christ, no matter what human nature loves or hates,
the truth is the truth. Jesus Christ is king. He's king
of kings and he's lord of lords. And if any of us ever come to
him, we're going to come to him and we're going to bow at his
feet as king. He's king. And kings do as they
please. Kings never invite their subjects
to come up to the throne room. And when they come, kings never
invite them to bow. The king commands it. The king
issues commandments. And the gospel message is not
an invitation from this weak, effeminate Jesus you hear preached
today. The gospel is a commandment from
God to repent, to come and bow before the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we will bow, either here or in judgment. We will bow. Every knee will bow. Every tongue
will confess that he's the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
But men by nature hate God and refuse to bow to him and never
will unless God moves in mercy and power and gives them life. But what we see here as we sit
and watch him there is man's sinfulness and hatred of God
that's clearly seen at Calvary. Second, as we sit and watch him
there, I see God who's holy. God's chief attribute is his
holiness. Everything about God is holy. Yes, God's love, but he shows
that love always in a holy fashion. Yes, God's gracious and he's
merciful, but he always shows that grace and that mercy in
a holy fashion. And God is just and he always
shows that justice. in a holy fashion. Everything
about him is holy. His name is holy. Holy and reverent
is his name. The angels that Isaiah saw flying
around the throne of God cried, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. And at the cross, we see just
how holy God is. At the cross, we see how much
God truly hates sin. Because when God saw sin on his
only begotten He saw sin on that beloved Son, the Son of His love. A holy God killed Him for it.
The Apostle Paul said He spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all because the sin of God's people was charged
to Him. Our Lord Jesus, you know, did not die for His own sin.
He died for the sin of His people. He was made to be sin for us. God made Him to be guilty of
the sin of His people. And the father fully punished
the son for those sins. Judgment was not mixed with the
slightest hint of mercy, just because that was God's son. God
didn't mix any mercy in there. What God exhausted upon his son
was pure, unadulterated justice and wrath for the sins that were
found on him. He exhausted his wrath upon his
son. Those physical sufferings of
our Savior are horrible. It's heartbreaking, heart-wrenching
to read these things that happened to our Savior. What he was suffering,
he is suffering for me. Those physical sufferings are
heartbreaking. Behold, he said, is there any
suffering like unto my suffering? Those physical sufferings are
just a hint of the sufferings of his soul. poured out his soul
in offering to God. And as he hung there, our Lord
cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, he didn't
ask that question for his own information. God never asks questions
so he can find something out. God asks questions so we'll learn
something. Our Savior cried, My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me, so that we would know the holiness
of the Father, that the Holy Father, who is one with the Son,
turned His back on His Son, took His presence away from His Son
because sin was imputed to Him. God will by no means clear the
guilty. And God's Son was made guilty
of the sins of God's elect as He hung there on that tree. And
this transaction is so heinous, God turned off the sun. For three
hours, God turned off the sun. And in that three hours of darkness,
something awesome happened. The Lord Jesus went behind the
veil. Just like the high priest of
old went behind the veil. Out of sight of the people of
Israel, God turned off the sun. And out of the sight of man,
Christ went behind the veil. into the presence of the holiest,
into the presence of his father with blood. That priest only
went there to go into that Holy of Holies once a year with the
blood of the sacrifice. Christ entered in one time into
the holiest of all with his own blood as a sacrifice for the
sins of his people. And that blood atoned, it paid
for, it put away every sin that was charged to his account. The
father saw the blood. He said, that's enough. I'm satisfied. That sacrifice
is accepted. And I know the sacrifice is accepted
because the third day after they laid that dead body in the tomb,
the father raised him from the dead. And at Calvary, we see God who's
holy more clearly than we see it anywhere else because how
he punishes sin in his son. As we sit and watch him there,
I see God's eternal purpose fulfilled. Eight different times in the
four counts of the crucifixion, the apostles write that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. Matthew 26 again, look at verse
53. Thinkest thou that I cannot now
pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? But how then? shall the scriptures
be fulfilled." That thus, it must be. It must be this way
because this is the eternal purpose of God. Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures. Our Lord said, for this cause
came I to this hour. This is the whole purpose of
His coming. To come to this hour and be a sacrifice for His sin.
Look over in Acts chapter 2. This attack of man did not take
God by surprise. God just took the reins off for
a few minutes. Acts 2, verse 22. You men of
Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know, him being
delivered by your will. No, sir. Him being delivered
by the counsel of the chief priests and elders. No. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." When men
display just how wicked we are. Not they are. Now remember, this
is the exact same nature that I have and that you have. And
if God took His hand off us, we'd do the exact same thing
if we could get our hands on God's Son. Men display the wicked
nature of our heart. But in so doing, they accomplished
God's eternal purpose of redemption. Look over a couple of pages of
Acts chapter 4. This was God's eternal purpose. Acts chapter 4, verse 26. The
kings of the earth stood up. The rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ, for of a truth against
thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed. Both Herod and
Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and all the people of Israel,
they covered the four corners of the globe there, didn't they,
were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy
counsel determined before to be done. When they did what their
wicked hearts desired to do, I see God fulfilling His eternal
purpose of redemption for His people. For, as we sit and watch
Him there, I see the Old Testament picture of substitution fulfilled.
All throughout the Old Testament, substitution, the sacrifice is
pictured. Just a couple of Wednesdays ago,
we looked at Jehovah Jireh, how the Lord will provide. How Abraham
was able to take his son Isaac off that altar and take that
ram, caught in the thorn bush by his horns, and lay him on
the altar in the stead of his son Isaac. Isaac lived because
that ram was his substitute, died in his stead is what scripture
says. And at Calvary, that picture
of substitution is fulfilled in Christ, the Lamb of God. God's
elect go free because Christ was taken captive as our substitute. God's elect live because God's
Son died as a substitute in our place. Arthur Fink said this,
God has often forgiven sinners, but God never forgives sin. The
sinner is only forgiven on the ground of another having borne
his punishment. For without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. And at Calvary, as we sit and
watch him there, we see our great substitute more clearly than
we see him anywhere else, suffering and dying that his people would
live. Fifth, as we sit and watch him there, I see the work of
the Holy Spirit. Matthew 27, back in our text,
verse 44. The thieves also, which are crucified
with him, cast the same in his teeth. Saying the same things
as these high priests and elders. Come down from the cross, we'll
believe you. Look over at Luke chapter 23. Luke, in his account, tells us
something. Matthew didn't write. Both of these thieves were making
fun of our Lord. Both these thieves were trying
to do something. Do you know what they were trying to do?
Get the Lord to come down from the cross and spare them, save
their skin. They wanted to be set free at
the expense of justice. The thief on the cross has the
same message that false religion has. Just let us down from this
cross and save our skin and ignore justice. And look here at verse
39, Luke chapter 23. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us." He's not so much interested in the Lord saving himself as
saving us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Does not
thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And
we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds.
But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. I don't know
how much time transpired between these two verses, but in that
time, something happened. This thief learned something.
He learned the fear of God. He learned to speak to the Lord
with fear and reference. He learned he's a sinner that
deserves what he's getting. He deserves to go to hell. He
learned thirdly that Christ is King. Must be a king. He's coming
into his kingdom. And four, he learned who to come
to for salvation. He didn't just hang there and
learn doctrine. He learned to who, who to come to for salvation. Well, who taught him these things?
Pharisees didn't teach him because they didn't know themselves.
The apostles didn't teach him. They're nowhere to be found.
They've all run and hid. It had to be God, the Holy Spirit
that taught him. And if we're going to be taught,
we're going to be taught the same way. God the Holy Spirit
will teach us. And I love this man's prayer.
This is a prayer of a dying sinner to a dying Savior. And he asked
full of fear. He asked knowing the Lord shouldn't
even dignify his question with the response. But he asked anyway,
because he learned who to come to for salvation. He learned
this man It's the Savior of sinners. If I'm ever going to find salvation,
if I'm ever going to have life, it's in Him. The Holy Spirit
taught Him that. And then look at verse 23. This is the next
thing I see. I see God who's sovereign. Luke
23, verse 43. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. David wrote in Psalm 135, Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that's exactly what he did. Heaven and earth
and the seas and all deep places. Nebuchadnezzar, after he was
put out there in the field like a wild animal, the Lord let his
senses return to him and Nebuchadnezzar said, this is what I've learned.
God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth and none can stake his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? And I want to make this especially
clear. God's sovereign in salvation. Now, God's not more sovereign
in salvation than He's sovereign in anything. God's sovereign
in salvation. He's just sovereign in everything. But I want to
make this point so clear because of this, for this reason. Men
by nature, they'll have God be sovereign in everything except
salvation. God's sovereign in salvation. God told Moses, I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. I'll show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. It's not him that will, it's
not him that runneth, it's of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is a choice, but it's
a choice made by God. And Christ, as He hung there
on that cross, never abdicated the throne. We start out looking
at His kingship. As He hung there, He's king.
When that thief prayed, our Savior, Sovereignly granted salvation. Even though he was hanging there
in bloody agony. Can you imagine the agony that
he was going through? His visage marred more than any
other man. Yet he cared for that poor thief. Can you imagine such a thing?
He cared for that poor thief and granted him salvation. In what men may call his weakest
moment, he was not weak. He sovereignly granted eternal
life. Seventh, as we sit and watch
him there, I see God who is merciful and gracious. Mercy is not getting
what we deserve. Christ showed mercy with this
thief, didn't he? That thief did not get what he deserved.
He deserved hell and death. But God is merciful to sinners
in Christ. Because of the sacrifice of Christ
the substitute, this thief, who deserved to suffer hell, did
not. Because Christ the substitute
suffered hell for him. What hell is, is this. The absence
of the presence of God. The father took his presence
away from his son and his son suffered hell so that thief didn't
have to. And he did the same thing for
every person he ever saved. Everybody talks about that thief
never did anything good. Which one of us has done something
good? None. There's none that do us good.
No, not one. We're not saved because we did
anything good. It's because of mercy that we're not consumed.
And our Lord went a step further and displays his sovereign grace.
Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Mercy is not getting
what we deserve. Grace is getting what we do not
deserve. And this thief got what he did not deserve. He deserved
hell. He deserved damnation, didn't
he? Our Lord said today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. I don't know where that is. I
really don't know a lot about it. I don't know this location.
I don't know the circumstances, what it looks like. But this
is what I do know. Wherever they went, It was paradise
because Christ is there. Hell is what it is because God's
not there. Paradise is what it is. Not because
it may have streaks of gold or pearly gates. It's paradise because
Christ is there. And that thief could go be with
Christ because the blood of Christ was applied to that thief. The
blood of Christ washed that thief white as snow. The righteousness
of Christ was applied to that thief. That thief was so bad,
sinful men couldn't stand to be around him anymore. Sinful
men said, this guy is so bad, we've got to put him to death.
The righteousness of Christ was imputed to this thief so that
immediately he could enter into the presence of the Father, into
paradise, accepted in the beloved. And so is every person that God
saves. Amazing grace that such a vile, open sinner could come
into the presence of God. And if your eye awakened the
likeness of Christ in paradise, it'll only be because of God's
amazing grace that was displayed at Calvary. The dying thief rejoiced
to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sin away. Eighth, as we sit and watch in
there, I see God through His love. Christ did not die to make
God love us. Christ died because God already
loved His people. From before the foundation of
the world, God loved them. He said in Jeremiah 31, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. Now someone says, prove it. Well,
you can't prove love. Because love acts. I tell you
I love my wife. You say prove it. If she needs
anything, I'll do everything in my power to give it to her.
I may not be able to, but I'll do what's in my power to give
it to her because I love her. I tell you I love my children.
You say prove it. If those girls need anything,
I mean I'll sacrifice anything I can to give it to them. Gladly,
because I love them. We say God's love to His elect
with an eternal love, everlasting love, and the skeptics have proved
it. I point to Calvary. The Lord Jesus willingly sacrificed
Himself for a people that He loves. Look over 1 John chapter
4. The proof that God loves His
people is He gave His Son for them. Now herein is love. Here's the definition
of love if you want to hear it. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. He sent His Son to be the sin offering, the sacrifice,
the covering for our sins. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And that's
exactly what our Lord is doing at Calvary's Tree. Now listen,
the love of God is cheapened in our day. People say God loves
everybody. Yet people still perish and go
where He's not. What kind of love is that? No
one, no one, no one that Christ loves will ever perish. Because
the love of Christ means something. If Christ loves someone, he gave
himself a ransom for their sins. And their sin debt is paid. It's
impossible for them to perish. It's impossible for anyone that
Christ loves to perish because God's holiness demands their
salvation. Because Christ paid the debt.
And the love of God is on display clearly at Calvary. Next I see,
as we sit and watch him there, the obedience of Christ. The
Lord Jesus lived thirty-three and a half years, is what most
of the writers say, about how old he was, in perfect obedience
to his Father's law. Look in Matthew 26, back in our
text, back in one chapter, Matthew 26. He was obedient unto death. In verse 37 of Matthew chapter
26, they took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and
began to be sorrowful and very heavy. This was no walk in the
park now. This is a true suffering for sin. He was sorrowful and
very heavy. Then said he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. I'm going to die right here just
the thought of being made sin. Tear ye here and watch with me.
And he went a little further and fell on his face and he prayed.
saying, O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt, in perfect obedience to his father's will.
Look at verse 42. He went away again a second time
and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass from
me, except I drink it, thy will be done. Perfect obedience to
His Father's will. Obedient unto death, even the
cursed death of the cross. And that's important because
His obedience is our obedience. His obedience, His righteousness
is the righteousness that God infused to His people. The obedience
that we stand in, accepted before the Father, is what's on display
at Calvary's tree. And last, as we sit and watch
Him there, I see a person, a man in whom
my soul delights. Salvation is a person. The life
of a believer is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be so careful to preach
sound doctrine. I go over every single word that
I intend to say before I preach several times. I want to be so
careful to preach sound doctrine. But more importantly. It's my
joy to preach Christ. We're not saved, we come to acknowledge
of the so-called doctrines of grace. We're not saved by a doctrine. We're not saved in God's wrath
by a doctrine. We're saved in God's wrath by
a person. Suffering is our substitute.
imputing His righteousness to us. And as I sit and watch Him
there, I see Him in whom my soul delights. And we come to observe the table
of our Lord. That's what I see in these elements.
I was preparing these elements this morning, thinking about
what they represent. They represent Him in whom my
soul delights. And this table is for believers. We don't restrict it, don't put
any fence around it, it's for believers. Any believer can and
should partake of the Lord's table whenever it's observed.
Because if you believe, this sacrifice was for you. What this
broken bread and this wine represent was shed for you, if you believe,
for your sins. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul gives
us instructions for the Lord's table. In verse 28, he says,
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread,
and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning
the Lord's body. Now examine yourself. For what? Should I examine myself to see
if I've been good enough this week? Should I examine myself
to see, well, have I said too much this week to come to the
Lord's table? Absolutely not. We've all seen, I've seen too
much in the past two seconds to come to the Lord. That's not
what we're examining ourselves for. We're examining ourselves
to see this. Do I believe God? Do I have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ? Examine yourself to see if you
discern the body of Christ. This word discerning that Paul
uses here means to separate or make a distinction. Do you make
a distinction? between the sacrifice of our
Lord and the other sacrifices you hear preached in false religion?
Can you separate that out and tell there's a difference in
this sacrifice? People say, oh God, he died for
everybody. Do you see, make a distinction
between that and what this table represents? The sacrifice of
our Lord for a particular people, the people of his love? As you
sit and watch him there, do you see that sacrifice as the only
sacrifice for your sin. Do you see this wine, what it
represents, the blood of Christ as your only hope of being cleansed
from all of your sin without anything that you add? Then eat
and drink, discerning the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. In
verse 26, this is what we're saying. When we take this bread
and this wine, this is what we're saying. For as often as ye eat
this bread and drink this cup, You do show the Lord's death
till he come. And that word show is to tell
throughly, to throughly teach. Every time we take this bread
and we drink this cup, we throughly teach the Lord's death till he
come. We're throughly, fully telling
that salvation can only come through what this represents.
The sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness
imputed to me. And our Lord said, This do in
remembrance of me. And that's what we'll do. Gladly
remembering Him. All right. Then you come distribute
the bread.