Matthew chapter 27. We'll start reading in verse 26. Christ is very soon, very quickly will
be crucified before the religious leaders of the day and soldiers and His disciples are
looking on. Anyway, this is the context that
this portion of Scripture, Matthew 27, and starting in verse 26,
then released he, Barabbas, unto them. And when he had scourged
Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. This is Pilate. Then
the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall
and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers and they stripped
him and put on him a scarlet robe. When they had planted a
crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his
right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him
saying, hail, king of the Jews. And they spit upon him and took
the reed and smote him on his head. And after they had mocked
him, they took the robe off from him put on his own raiment on
him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they
found a man, Cyrene Simon by name, him they compelled to bear
Christ's cross. And when they were come into
a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull,
they gave Christ vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, And when he
had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified
him and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments
among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting
down, they watched him there, and set up over his head His
accusation written, this is king of the Jews. We'll stop there.
This is king of the Jews. It's hard to read this and not
get emotional, not get tore up. Because I hope by the end of
this message, you will see and I will see that my sins, you
personally, you put them there. If you claim he died for you,
you gotta say, my sins put them there. And I've said this story
before, and I remember who it was, the author of the book.
I was in college, somebody gave me a book to read. And I remember
reading it, and as I was getting through it, I was getting madder
and madder because he was accusing me of my sin. And in one of the
statements, he said, you reader, your sins, you put Christ on
the cross. And I took that book and I threw
it all the way across the room and let it sit there for about
a week. But here before us, there's just
three words I want us to look at. It's short wording, but it's
replete with great importance to the needy sinner, to needy
sinners. So much so that this phrase,
which is found in verse 35, they crucified him. This is so important
and is so deep that it's used, this particular phrasing, these
three words occurs in all four Gospels. Matthew 27 here, Luke
23, John 19, and Mark 15. These words are exactly the same. Each word contains a matter of
sorrow and wonder and joy. I cannot even partially examine
the depths that these reverential words express as they stand before
us written by the Holy Spirit. But I know in eternity we will
fully view these three holy words properly and they will properly
be understood. I have but three points. They crucified him. Point number one, the people
involved. Point number two, the work involved,
and point number three, the person or individual involved. They crucified him. The people are the agents involved. They, who is he speaking of?
Angels? No. They gazed in wonder at the
spectacle before the whole world. They witnessed what was going
on. But they did not put him there. How about devils? No,
however, they certainly instigated the motive and cheered the death
of total innocency. He had done no wrong, but it's
they is not who he's speaking of. They, men. Quite right. Wicked, scheming
men of the most religious sorts. Turn to me to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter 2 and verse 22 and 23. Peter's sermon on the day of
Pentecost. Ye 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 all as you yourselves know him. Christ Jesus of Nazareth,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you, you, me, have taken and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain. There it is. They crucified him. And when I say this, men, that's
representing as men, women, boys, and girls. I pray that we can acknowledge if we were present at the cross,
we would have been hollering crucify him. we would have been hollering
crucify. We would have been saying away with such a pestilent fellow. I pray that God would pierce
our hard hearts and penetrate these stubborn heads and say,
did I, did my sins lay hard upon the Savior's brow? If I am to
have a saving interest, I will say, I will say yes. I was, if
I'd have been there, I would have definitely been hollering,
crucify him. We sing this song, alas, and
did my savior bleed and did my sovereign die? Would he devote
that sacred head for such a worm? Now that's been changed. It's
changed such a sinner's eye, and even the latest translation
by the publishers, such a one's eye. No, such a worm. That's
what we are. At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy
all the day. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
one. First Corinthians chapter one.
And in verse starting in verse 26, for you see your personal
calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the
things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the things
which are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no
flesh should glory in his presence." Do you want part and parcel of
this gospel? Take your place. Now, he didn't
say in one of the, I can't remember who it was, Queen Elizabeth,
one of the queens in England said, I'm thankful for, he didn't say not any, he said
not many. David was a king. So, you know,
God saves all sorts of sinners, all colors, all creeds, all nationalities,
all, because we're all sinners. So she recognized being royalty. I'm glad he didn't say not any,
just not many. But the gospel is a common gospel. We are to preach the simplicity
of the gospel. We don't use highfalutin fancy
language and this and that because we want all, even the children
to hear and understand they crucified him. If we will not have part
and parcel of our Lord's death, we will not have portion in his
life and resurrection. Second point, they crucified
him. The work and vow. And I couldn't,
I didn't remember this, but I look up the word crucified here and
it's the same wherever it's found. It means to impale. impale on the cross. It is an ugly death. What a horrible death. And the
scene unfolds at the cross of Calvary. Heaven will watch in
amazement. The innocent is slain for the
guilty. We see on the cross complete
substitution is laid out before all of heaven and all earth.
Crimson will flow and justice will be honored. Righteousness
will be placed upon us, the sinner's account. The divine swap initiated
and God will be exalted, glorified, and satisfied. Turn with me to
Isaiah 50. Isaiah 50. Verse five and six, this is crucifixion. This is what we're talking about.
The work involved. Isaiah 50, verse five and six. The Lord God hath opened my ear,
says Christ, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away my back.
I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that pluck
off the hair. I hid not my face from shame
and spitting. Isaiah 52 Isaiah 52 verse 13 and 14 this
is Christ crucified behold my servant says God shall deal prudently
he shall be exalted and extolled and be very uh be very high as
many as many were astonished, astonished at thee. His visage,
that means his face, his person, was so marred more than any man,
and his form more than the sons of men. We got somebody that
lives out by us, and they got a person up on a cross, and he's
got a yellow garment on, and he's real pretty, and Melinda
noticed the other day, he's a little bit red, He was a mangled, bloody mess. They, we crucified, impaled him. Isaiah 53. This says it very plainly. Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he, Christ,
shall grow up before him, his father as a tender plant, and
as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form, because it was
so marred, it was so beaten, nor comeliness. It's like, is
there a person underneath all that blood? And when we shall
see him, we personally, there's no beauty that we should desire. He's despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it
were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he, this Christ, hath
borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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. Lamentations chapter one. Lamentations chapter 1 verses 12 and 13. This is a scene on the cross. there
where they crucified him at Golgotha it says in verse 12 is it nothing
to you all you that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the lord
hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger From above
hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevailed against him.
He hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back, he hath
made me desolate and faint all the day. This is the crucified Lord. View the vicious cross, behold
the man, Like us, yet without sin, immaculate, pure, holy,
harmless, undefiled, says Hebrews. Behold, the Son of God in our
nature, God and man in one Christ. Why, why, oh why? The third thought, they crucified
him. the person or the individual
involved, Jesus Christ. Only he could bring in righteousness.
Only he could honor God's character, law, and sovereign purpose of
free grace. Only he, Emmanuel, could bear
his back to the smiters and say on the cross, it is finished.
There is no other. He is the seed spoken of in Genesis. He is the Messiah spoken of throughout
all the prophets. He's the anointed one promised.
It would be walking the streets and they say, Hosanna to thee
in the highest. He is the wonderful counselor,
the mighty God. As God, only he could love his
elect bride from, as Bruce said this morning, from before eternity,
as man, He was born to make sinners righteous by His holy life and
to take away our sins by His death. He must needs be crucified. The work is done. The great transaction
is done. Why do we try to buy milk and
wine for money? Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the waters, and if you don't have any money, that's
okay, come buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Why do you spend money for that
which is not bread, and you labor for that which satisfies not?
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and
let your soul delight itself in fatness. it done. Christ accomplished salvation
when no one else could. Not Michael the archangel, not
any angel, only the angel of the covenant and that refers
to our Lord Jesus Christ. I close by saying by God-given
faith lay hold of this Christ Lay hold of this one that was
crucified. There was other people crucified.
It was a common, historically. There was other people there
hanging one side and the other. They couldn't save. Lay hold
of Christ. Believe all that he has said
and all that he has done. Be joyful and be at peace. Trust only and always upon the
one and only Kinsman Redeemer. I ask, is this good news to any
here today? Is it good news? It's the only
good news. They crucified him. Another way of saying it, did
he die for you? Let me read this, closing. All whom the Father gives me
will come to me, and whosoever comes to me I will never cast
out." John 6. Cast out, my soul? How often
might this have been your history? You have cast off your God. Might
He not often have cast out you? Yes, cast you out as fuel for
the fire of His wrath, as sapless, fruitless cumbers, and notwithstanding
all your ungrateful requital for his unmerited forbearance,
yet he is still declaring, as I live, says the Lord, I have
no pleasure in the death of him who dies. Your sins may be legion. The sand of the sea may be your
befitting type. The thought of their vileness
and aggravation may be ready to overwhelm you, but be still,
your patient God waits to be gracious. Oh, be deeply humbled
and softened because of your guilt and resolve to dedicate
yourself anew to his service. And so coming, he will and by
no means cast you out. Do not despond by reason of former
shortcomings. Your sins are great, but your
savers merits are greater. He is willing to forget all the
past and to sink it in oblivion if there is present love and
the promise of future obedience. He says, Simon, son of Jonah,
do you love me? Oh, how different is God's verdict
from man's. After such sins as yours and
mine, man's sentence would have been, I will cast him out. But it is better to fall in the
hands of God than the hands of man, for he says, I will never
cast you out." That's good writing. Good reading. This is the best
reading. Matt, would you close us, please?
Lord, we've compensated our failings and
perished, and we beg for mercy. It is by you that we know the
Gospel. It is by you that we are saved. It is by you that
we exist alone. It is by you that sin exists.
It is by you that sin is satisfied.