You'll be happy to know that
the city of Apopka has agreed to reduce our impact fees by
$10,000. So they made that decision Friday. And we should have all
that in writing this week. So permits should be coming right
away. But I told the contractor that
we really didn't want to break ground until after our conference.
And that'll be here before you know it. 17th 18th and 19th is
that right on the dates so sometime the week of the 20th hopefully
we'll be able to get started on our on our new building but
very thankful that the Lord well Lord knew we could make better
use of that money than they could so that was a good thing we will not have services of
course the next two Wednesday nights Christmas and New Year
so we'll forego our normal ways tonight service for the next
two weeks He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. And what is it to fear God? Simply
put, it is to be afraid to stand in his holy presence without
Christ, as your substitute. That's what it is to fear God.
Lord, how could I ever dream of coming before you a strange
fire? As far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed
our transgressions from us. Like a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our
frame and he remembers. that we are. But dust. And the Lord have pity on us
this morning. Meet with us, enable us to worship him. Let's stand
together. Tom's going to come lead us in
number 33 in your spiral. Him no number 33. Behold, I come, our Savior said,
the Savior promised long. I come to do Thy will, O God,
and thus our hope was born. Behold, the Virgin has conceived
and born a Son of flesh. His name is called Emmanuel,
God dwells in human flesh. The angels left their high abode
to see this mystery. The great almighty sovereign
God, a babe of feeble clay. Mortals beheld His lovely face,
the Father's only Son. How full of truth, how full of
grace, Christ came to save His own. His spotless life of righteousness
and sin-atoning death Fulfilled his father's holy will and satisfied
his wrath. Our glad Hosannas, Prince of
Peace, your glory shall proclaim. Enthroned in heaven as our king,
we love to praise your name. Please be seated. for a call to worship scripture
reading Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33, beginning in verse
one. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto Jeremiah the second time. while he was yet shut up
in the court of the prison, saying, thus saith the Lord, the maker
thereof, the Lord that formed it to establish it, the Lord
is his name. Call unto me, and I will answer
thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest
not. For thus saith the Lord, the
God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning
the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the
mounts and by the sword. They come to fight with the Chaldeans,
but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have
slain in mine anger and in my fury. And for all whose wickedness
I have hid my face from this city, behold, I will bring it
health and cure, and I will cure them, and I will reveal unto
them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity
of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build
them as at the first. And I will cleanse them from
all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I
will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and
whereby they have transgressed against me. Verse nine, why? And it shall be to me a name
of joy, a praise, and an honor before all the nations of the
earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them, and
they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all
the prosperity that I procure unto it. Thus saith the Lord
again, there shall be heard in this place, which you say shall
be desolate without man and without beast, even the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man
and without inhabitant and without beast. And here's the verse,
beloved, and I want us to rejoice in verse 11. The voice of joy
and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom, and
the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, praise
the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth
forever, and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the Lord, for I will cause to return to captivity
of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we do thank you once again
for gathering us together in thy presence. As we heard this
morning, Lord, the only means by which we can do that is to
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's who we've come, Lord,
to worship, to raise, to, Lord, just to lift him up, to worship
him. But we're in need of your Holy
Spirit, Lord, to enable us in power and the truth of your word
to be able to do that. Lord, we take comfort in the
promises of your word. You said that if we call unto
thee, you will answer and that you would show us great and wondrous
things that we know not of. Lord, nothing would be greater
than to be able to have more light, to be able to see Christ
more, to be able, Lord, to see him once again, Christ and him
crucified and him resurrected according to your scriptures.
That's our desire this morning. But Lord, we're in the way and
we ask that you would get us out of the way and enable us
through faith. to behold him, to hear him, to
rest in him, and to give him all the glory. You've raised
up your man that's going to preach once again. We ask that you would
bless Brother Greg, fill his mouth, bring to mind all the
things that you showed him this week, and give us the ability
to hear, that all, Lord, our questions would be answered as
we leave. For we ask all these things in the precious name of
Christ our Lord, amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number 229 from your hardback hymnal,
229. Tell me the old, old story of
unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His
love. Tell me the story simply as to
a little child, For I am weak and weary and helpless and defiled. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in. That wonderful redemption, God's
remedy for sin. Tell me the story often, for
I forget so soon. The early dew of morning has
passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest tones and grave. Remember I'm the sinner that
Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always, if
you would truly be. In any time of trouble, a comforter
to me. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the same old story When
you have cause to fear That this world's empty glory Is costing
me too dear Yes, and when that world's glory Is dawning on my
soul Tell me the old, old story. Christ Jesus makes thee whole. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Please be seated. Adam Charon
is going to bring special music. In the garden of Gethsemane He
sweat great drops of blood for me Alone, alone, alone Great Father, may Thy will be
done I came to save my chosen ones Alone, alone, alone Yet they could not watch and
pray with him for just an hour. They did not see his time had
come. They told the soldiers there,
let my disciples go, and I will go alone. Alone. Alone. My Savior died alone, took all
my sin as his own. Could have called 10,000 angels,
but he died for the sinful ones alone, alone, alone. mocked trials and false testament. To the cross my Savior went alone,
alone, alone. But the cross upon His bleeding
back led Him up all Gotha's track alone. Christ walked alone. The nails were long and rough,
As they pierced God in the flesh And the blood of God was shed
Sovereign love, amazing grace The rock of ages hanging in my
place Alone, alone, alone alone. My savior died alone. He took all of my sin as his
own. Could've called 10,000 angels
when he died for the sinful ones. Could've alone, alone. He said, it is finished. He paid a debt that he did not
owe. Alone, alone, alone. He is the way, the truth, the
life. So put all of your faith in Christ
alone. Thank you, Adam. Will you open
your Bibles with me to 1st Corinthians? Chapter 15. 1st Corinthians Chapter
15. At him that we sang a few moments
ago, tell me the old old story. That's what I want to do this
morning. And I want to tell it simply. And I want to tell it clearly. Let's let's ask the Lord to bless
our our time together about with me for prayer. Our merciful Heavenly
Father. If the message of the gospel
is to be heard. You have to speak. Truly, the miracle of preaching
is in the hearing, and Lord, we ask that you would give us
ears to hear. For we know that the seeing eye
and the hearing ear is of the Lord. Lord, for Christ's sake
and for thy glory's sake, and for the hope of our salvation,
we pray that you would speak. Amen. I have four points I want to
try to make. this morning concerning the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who died? That's my first point. Why did he die? That's my second
point. For whom did he die? That's my
third point. And what did he accomplish in
his death? That's my fourth point. That's simple. Who died? Why
did he die? For whom did he die? And what
did he accomplish in his death? Now the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the reason for everything. I'm telling you the truth from
God's perspective. Everything that happened before
the cross was for the cross and everything that's happened since
the cross is to point back to the cross. Truly the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ is the reason for everything. Everything. That's no exaggeration. I'm not, I'm not trying to, uh,
trying to be, you know, uh, profound. I mean, it's just the truth.
It's the truth. The only way that we are going
to be able to understand and believe the answer to those four
questions is by divine revelation. The natural man cannot receive
the things of the Spirit. I'm not talking about the historical
event of what took place 2,000 years ago. I'm talking about
who died, why he died, for whom did he die, and what was accomplished
through his death. You see, that has to do with
the why, not the what. Psalm 103, verse 7 says that
God showed unto Moses his ways and unto the children of Israel
his acts. Now most people in the world
today are like the children of Israel, the unbelieving children
of Israel who died in the wilderness. comfort themselves in thinking
that because they believe in the acts of God that therefore
they have assurance of salvation and they have no understanding
as to the ways of God. The children of Israel saw the
plagues. They saw the dividing of the
Red Sea. They saw the mountain quake. They saw the man on the
ground every single morning for 40 years. They saw God send the
quail and the rock, the water that came out of the rock. They
saw all these miracles of God. Every day they're reminded by
that pillar of smoke and every night by that pillar of fire,
the presence of God. And they would have all agreed,
that's God, God's doing that. But they didn't know why. They
didn't know why. They believed in the what. They
saw the acts of God, but God showed to Moses his ways. Now that's my hope this morning,
is that the Lord would show us why he did what he did. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 2, I. Determined. Not to know. Anything among you among you
save Christ in him crucified. Now was Paul speaking. Exaggerating
was he exaggerating by saying I know he was saying everything
comes back to the cross. Everything comes back to the
cross. If God gives us grace. to believe what he did at the
cross of Calvary through the Lord Jesus Christ, then we've
got everything, everything. And he went on to say, the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. Men don't want to hear about
the preaching of the cross. Well, I know all about that. But unto
us which are being saved, it is the power of God." The preaching
of the cross, God says, is the power of God. The power of God. Now the Lord tells us in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you The gospel. The gospel. You see, what and
why happened at the cross is the gospel. That's the good news. It's the work of redemption for
sinners. Truly, this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Your and I greatest need is to
be safe from our sins, to be forgiven before God. So Paul
says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I
preached unto you. In another place, he said, it's
good for me to repeat myself again and again, and it's safe
for you. It's safe for you. We preach
the same message. which also you have received,
and wherein you stand. I preach the gospel. By God's
grace, you receive the gospel, and we cannot be moved away from
the gospel, by which also you are saved. Apart from this gospel,
there's no salvation, apart from What happened at Calvary's cross?
There's no gospel, there's no salvation. By this gospel you
are saved. If you keep in memory that which
I preached unto you, unless you believed in vain, unless you
just gave an intellectual assent to some historical events and
thought, well, because I believe in that, therefore I'm saved,
that's not going to last. If God gave you grace to believe
the gospel, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which
I also received. Paul said, I didn't make up this
gospel. This is God's gospel. He gave it to me. And I just
delivered to you what he gave to me. And that's my hope this
morning, just deliver to you what God's given to us. For I
delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received.
Notice the next word. Not that Christ died, but how
that Christ died according to the scriptures. In the first
hour, we looked at the scapegoat from Leviticus chapter 16. That's
how Christ died according to the scriptures and all the pictures
and all the types and shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout
the old Testament were fulfilled. at Calvary's cross. And everything
that's happened since is pointing back to Calvary's cross. How? That's what I want to preach
to you this morning. How that Christ died according to the
scriptures. And the answer to the first question is Christ. Christ. Who died? Who died? The God man died. Christ Jesus,
the Messiah, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the creator
and sustainer of all of life, was made flesh and dwelt among
us. And we beheld his glory as the
glory of the only begotten, the only one that's full of grace
and the only one that's full of truth. It's Christ that died. The anointed one, the Holy one
of Israel. The one sent of the Father. The
one who was seen in the beginning. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word of
God dwelt among us. He dwelt among us and the Word
of God went to the cross. Now I can't explain to you how
it is that God could die, except that the God-man did die. fully
God, fully man, laid down his life on the cross for his people,
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's called Emmanuel, God with
us. Christ is God. He's the one who made us. He's
the one that gives us the next breath to draw. He's the one
who purposed everything in this world. He's the one with whom
we must do. He's the one that we have hope
of being made like and seeing him in all of his glory. He's
God. That's who died. That's who died. The prince of peace, the Messiah,
the anointed one. Scripture says that he was anointed
with the oil of gladness above his fellows, whatever whatever
measure of the Spirit of God we've been given. The Lord Jesus
Christ had the Spirit of God in it in his fullness. There
was no way for him to fail. No way for him to fail. He's
God. Two years. The glorious self
existent I am. The eternal, immortal, invisible
God died. He's called the light of the
world. Without him, there is no light. Without him, there's
total darkness. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. And what's the first thing? Let
there be light. Let there couldn't be anything without light. And
the Lord Jesus Christ was that light. He's called the bread
of life. He said that manna that your
fathers ate in the wilderness, that wasn't something Moses gave
them. That was a picture of me. I'm the bread of life who came
down from heaven. Unless you eat of my flesh and
drink of my blood, there's no life in you. It's who died. Who died is God. Now this is so important because
of the answer to the next few questions in terms of who he
died, why he died, who he died for and what was accomplished
in his death can only be believed if we believe that he's God.
And to deny the accomplishments of his death is to deny his deity. And people will give lip service
to the deity of Christ and then they'll turn right around and
deny the very essence of deity, sovereignty, and holiness, and
immutability, and omniscience, and omnipotence. Those are the
characteristics of God. And that, the fullness of the
Godhead, was in Christ bodily. He himself is the resurrection
and the life. He's the law giver and he's the
law keeper. He's the author and finisher
of all faith. He is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believe it. He's our advocate
with the father. He's the ancient of days apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no access to God. We
have no hope of salvation. This is who died, God. He is the captain of our salvation,
and God has made him to be for us all our wisdom, all our righteousness,
all our sanctification, and all our redemption. Christ is all. He's God. Make no mistake about
it. Compromise it, not one wit. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
express image of the Father. He is the second person of the
triune Godhead, and he is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. If we believe that in truth,
not just in word, but in truth, then the rest of it will just,
oh, how could he fail? How could he come and just make
a stab in the dark? No. The second question is, why
did the Lord Jesus Christ die on Calvary's cross? And the answer
to that is twofold. Number one, to satisfy divine
justice. I will in no wise clear the guilty.
Sin must be paid for, and it must be paid for in a way that
satisfies God. And God Almighty, the Father,
pleased him to bruise him. It was God the Father We looked
at that scapegoat in Leviticus chapter 16. It's the father now
that has his hands on the head of his son, who transfers all
the sins of all of God's people to his son. And when God saw
sin on his darling son, the scripture says it pleased him to bruise
him. Why did he die? God's holy justice
demanded it. From the very beginning, the
Lord told Adam, in the day in which you sin, you shall surely
die. You shall surely die. And without
the remission, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission
of sins. We saw that in Leviticus 16. Blood everywhere. Aaron went
into that sacrificial system with clean linen, head to toe. What do you think he looked like
coming out of there? Covered in blood. There's the
God man. Satisfying God's justice. You and I can't satisfy God's
justice. Men try it all the time. Well, I'm going to. I'm going
to make up for all the all the sins that I feel bad about. Can't
do it. Can't do it. Your sins are a
lot worse than you think they are. And they go much deeper
than you think they do. There's a stain that has stained
the soul of man that cannot be taken away by man. There's only
one thing that goes deeper than the stain of sin, and that's
the stain of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to
die to satisfy God's justice. There's no. No satisfaction of
God's justice apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. I said there's
two reasons why Christ died. The first one was to satisfy
justice and the second one was to fulfill all righteousness. Righteousness had to be established.
Not only did justice had to be met, but a perfect offering of
righteousness that was pleasing to God had to be offered up.
Turn with me to Philippians chapter 2. This is the simplicity of the
gospel, brethren. This is the why of what happened in the event that ties all of
human history together. We're not exaggerating here.
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is the reason for everything.
And the confusion that's in the world is caused because men are
trying to find some other reason for things that are happening
other than the cross. It's all about the cross. Philippians chapter 2, look at
verse 5. Let this mind be in you which
is also in Christ Jesus. It's called the mind of Christ.
It's called understanding the ways of God. It's called believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's called having having the
revelation of the Gospel made known to your heart by the Spirit
of God. And now the Lord saying let this
mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus who being in
the form of God. Thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. He knew he was God. It would
be blasphemy. He was charged with blasphemy
by his enemies. What good work do you persecute
me for is what the Lord asked his enemies. For good works we
persecute you not, but because you, being a man, make yourself
out to be God. You've blasphemed God by claiming
to be God. And now the scripture says, he
was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be with God.
He didn't consider himself robbing from God. We saw that in Malachi
chapter three, how it would have men robbed God of his glory last
week. He didn't consider himself robbing
God of his glory by claiming equality with the father. Why? Because he is God. He is God. So let this mind be in you which
is also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it
not robbery to be with God but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men. Never has there been a condescension
like that before. God. made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. God, born of a woman, born under
the law to redeem those who were being cursed by the law of God. And being found in the fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Now why did Christ die? He died
in order to satisfy divine justice and he died in order to establish
perfect righteousness. What is perfect righteousness?
It's perfect obedience. Now often we think of the sinless
perfection of the Lord Jesus' life as being his obedience,
but here God tells us that his obedience culminated at the cross. Going to the cross. was his obedience
to the father. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
had agreed with his father in eternity past in the covenant
of grace to redeem his bride. And he had to go to the cross.
He had to die in order to fulfill all righteousness. in order to
establish his perfect obedience to the father. It wasn't just
his sinless perfection that was his obedience. It was most importantly,
his willing obedience to lay down his life for his sheep at
Calvary's cross. He established righteousness. Now that's what God requires.
God requires from you and me perfect obedience. Let this mind
be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. Thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made of himself no reputation. You see, all we like sheep have
gone astray. We have all together become filthy. There is none, there is none,
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Every imagination of our heart
is only evil and that continually. We can't establish righteousness.
We have no, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We are all
as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy rags
and we do fade as a leaf and our iniquity like the wind has
taken us away. Jeremiah chapter 23. says, and he, and he, the Lord
Jesus Christ, shall be called the Lord our righteousness. 10 chapters later in Jeremiah
chapter 33, and she, speaking of the church, and she shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. How can that be? Well, it's called
imputation. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
righteousness. before God, and he died in order
to fulfill that righteousness. There could not be any righteousness.
There could not be perfect obedience to the Father apart from the
cross. So who died? The God-man died, the Christ
died, the Messiah died, Emmanuel died. creator and sustainer of all
of life died, the I am died. Why did he die? Two reasons,
two reasons. To satisfy justice and fulfill
righteousness. That's why he died. You ask the
world, the religious world, why did Jesus die on the cross? Because
he loves everybody. That'd be reason they'll give. What doesn't the Bible say for
God so loved the world? And that's why he died. He died making an offer of himself,
not to man, but to God. Justice had to be satisfied.
Righteousness had to be fulfilled. That's why he died. The love part comes in the next
question. For whom did he die? For whom
did he die? And the scripture tells us that
God has loved his people with an everlasting love. There's
never been a time that God didn't see his people in Christ. Christ
laid down his life for his friends. He loved his people and he died
for them. Turn with me to John chapter
10, John chapter 10. Oh, I want the, this is. You see, if you get this question
wrong, then you miss the first two altogether in terms of who
died. If you think that he died for
everybody, and he's doing his best to get everybody saved,
then you've misunderstood the whole gospel. John chapter 10,
look at verse 11. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. That's who he died for. You remember
the Lord's going to separate the sheep from the goats on the
day of judgment. He died for the sheep. And he said, if one
sheep gets out of fold, I'll leave the 99, I'll go get the
one. And I'm not going to lose a single one of my sheep. Not
one of them. I'm the good shepherd. I was
talking to Lenore. Is Lenore here? I thought I saw
Cyril earlier. Anyway, they used to raise sheep.
And Lenore was telling me that their neighbors raised sheep. And she could go out into their
pasture and call her sheep and they would all come running to
her and the sheep on the other side of the fence would not even
raise their head. And then that shepherd would
come out and call for his sheep and they would all run to him
And her sheep would not so much as raise their head. And then she told me this. She
said, the difference is I raised my sheep for wool and he was
raising his for the slaughter. I thought that's a, I want to, I want to hear the
good shepherd calling me to himself. Verse 12, he that is a hireling
and not the shepherd whose own sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth
them and scatters the sheep and the hireling fleeth because he
is a hireling and careth not for the sheep. Here's the false
prophet. who's lying to men. I am the
good shepherd and I know my sheep and I have known of mine and
as the father knoweth me, even so know I the father and I lay
down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they shall hear
my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. There's only one church. There's
only one gospel. There's only one God and father
of us all. There's one faith and one baptism. Christ is not divided. All of
God's people believe the same thing. All these divisions that
we see in religion are not of God. They're not of God. God's sheep are hearing the voice
of the Good Shepherd, and they'll not hear the voice of that hireling. They're not being raised for
the slaughter. Ephesians chapter 5, husbands,
verse 25, love your wives even as Christ hath loved the church
and gave himself for it. For whom did Christ die? He died
for his sheep. He died for his church. Turn with me to that passage
in Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Look at verse 26, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. This is why he laid down his
life for the sheep, to make her holy. And what's the means by
which he makes her holy? The preaching of the gospel,
his word. that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish." The Lord Jesus Christ died for
his church. He died for his sheep. He died
for his elect. He died for his people in order
that he might present them to himself holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their own
wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself, for no man ever hateth his own flesh, but nourishes
it and cherishes it even as the Lord the church. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the head of the body. And he's more, as the head of
the body, he's more concerned about the members of his body
than you're concerned about the members of your body. No man
ever destroyed his own. He loves his body. He takes care
of his body. I got a text yesterday, last
night as a matter of fact, and I'll read it to you. Quote, Christ
died and shed his holy blood on the cross of Calvary for all
mankind. That was text. That same person who sent me
that text would say that most of the people that Jesus died
for were going to hell. Christ did not die to make an
offer of salvation to me and you. The Lord Jesus Christ died on
Calvary's cross offering himself to the Father in fulfillment
of the covenant of grace that he had established for his elect,
for his sheep, and for his church. That's who he died for. And anything
else is another gospel. Anything else is strange fire. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
53. Isaiah 53. Verse four, surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But 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. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned every man to his
own way. There is a way that seems right
unto the man, but in the end that way leads to death. What
is the way that seems right to man? Free will seems right to
man. Good work seems right to man.
Something I've got to do. and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Turn with me to John chapter
17. Verse nine, here's the Lord Jesus
Christ interceding on behalf of those for whom he died. And
he says, I pray for them. He's praying to the father. 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. And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And
I come unto thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. Now let me ask you a question. How many prayers do you pray
where God has to say no? We pray and miss a lot, don't
we? We get a lot more concerned about
our temporal needs than our spiritual needs, and we ask God for things
that we ought not to be asking for. Did that ever happen with
the Lord Jesus Christ? No. You can be sure of this. Every prayer he prayed was in
perfect union with the will of the Father. Lord make them one. What do they
want? They believe the same thing about
who died. They believe the same thing about why he died. They
believe the same thing about for whom he died. They're made
one in that regard. You won't find a child of God
talking about Jesus dying for everybody and God loving everybody
and God trying to get people saved and you know man ultimately
has the decision to make. Believers don't talk like that.
Why? Because the Lord prayed for them.
He prayed for them. For whom did he die? He died
for his church. He died for his bride. He died
for his elect. He died for his people. And that
makes clear the answer to my last question. What did his death
accomplish? You see, if you ask most people,
what did the death of Christ on Calvary's cross accomplish?
They will say, well, you know, it accomplished an offer of salvation. And if man will just do his part,
then, you know, then he can be saved. Is that what it accomplished? It actually accomplished the
salvation of God's people. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John,
and Moses and Elijah appeared. Remember that story? Moses and
Elijah appeared. And the scripture says that the
Lord Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah concerning the decease
which he should accomplish. Now what was going to be accomplished
at the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross? Well,
what does Moses and Elijah represent? Moses is the law and Elijah is
the prophets. All the law was fulfilled by
the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the promises
of God are yea and amen in Christ. So everything that God prophesied
and everything that God purposed was fulfilled and accomplished
by the decease of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. Who
died? The God-man died. Why did he
die? To satisfy divine justice and
fulfill all righteousness. For whom did he die? He died
for his church. He died for his people. And he
actually, actually accomplished their salvation so that when
he bowed his head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished.
It was finished. It was finished. God saw the
travail of his soul and God was satisfied. Turn with me to Daniel
chapter 9. Daniel is one of those Old Testament
prophets prophesied during the time when the children of Israel
were in Babylonian captivity and the Lord gave Daniel a vision. And it's written in
prophetic language. And it begins in verse 24. Where
God says 70 weeks are determined now, Daniel lived 490 years before
the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these
70 weeks are to be understood as 70 weeks of years, which is
490 years. And so. 70 weeks are determined. Determined by who? Determined
by God. Daniel, this is going to happen
70 weeks from now. It's determined upon thy people
and upon the holy city. Who's it for? It's for the people
of God. It's for Jerusalem. It's for
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's going to happen? He's going to finish the transgression. It's finished. What else is going
to happen? He's going to make an end of sin. He's going to
put away their sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He's going to bury
them in the depths of the sea. He's going to separate them from
them as far as the East is from the West. He's going to make
an end of sin. He's going to make reconciliation
for iniquity. This is determined. This is what
He's going to accomplish. He's actually going to reconcile
God's people to God. And he's going to bring in everlasting
righteousness. This is determined. This is what
he's going to accomplish. He's not going to try to do these
things. He's not going to make a stab
at it. He's not going to make an offer to man. He's going to
actually accomplish this. Why? Because he's God. And because
he died with a purpose for a particular people. And there's no way he's
going to fail. He will not fail. He's not going
to be discouraged. Isaiah 42, he says he's not going
to do it. He's gonna seal up the vision.
He spoke with Elijah. Elijah represents all these prophets,
including Daniel, of what would be accomplished at his decease
in Jerusalem. What? The sealing up of all prophecies. All the promises of God are fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he's going to accomplish.
This is so important. There's no gospel apart from
this. You see, we're denying the very
essence of who God is if we deny this. And to anoint the Holy One. That passage we were looking
at in Philippians chapter 2 early, wherefore God has given him a
name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ
to the glory of God the Father. I'm going to anoint him when
he ascends back into glory and takes his rightful place at the
right hand of the majesty on high. I'm going to look upon
him for the salvation of all of his people. For he has sat
down. Why did he sit down? Because
he's finished. He's resting. He's accomplished their work. Brethren, he's accomplished your
salvation. Don't add anything to that. Don't
take anything away from that. It's finished. The legalist. The legalist will hear this message
and accuse us of being antinomian. You say, you can't tell people
that. Where's the motivation for godly living? Mark it down. Mark it down. Anybody that responds to the
gospel of God's free grace in the finished, accomplished work
of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, for his people, satisfying
law and justice, is under the law. They're looking to the law
for the hope of their salvation, and the fence of the gospel strips
them of their righteousness. It robs them of their hope. And
so what do they do? They accuse us of being lawless.
God's people aren't lawless. Let me close with one more passage
of scripture from Ephesians chapter one, Ephesians chapter one. You remember that passage in
Psalm 103 verse 7, and God showed his ways unto Moses and his acts
unto the children of Israel? The revelation of the gospel
is by divine revelation. In Ephesians chapter 5, remember
how Ephesians chapter 5 ends up? We dealt with this yesterday. I had a wedding here yesterday,
Alan and Julie got married, and I read from them Ephesians chapter
5, and this is concerning the mystery concerning Christ and
his church. Now, a mystery is not something
that's strange or mysterious. It means that it must be revealed.
It's hidden. It's hidden, and it has to be
uncovered, and only the Spirit of God can uncover it. You see, taking my four questions
in reverse, anyone who does not believe that the death of Christ
on Calvary's cross did not actually accomplish the salvation of God's
people, that he did not actually die for a particular people,
and that he did not fulfill righteousness and justice have denied the very
essence of deity. They've denied Christ his glory. You have your Bible's open Ephesians
chapter one. This is my prayer for myself
and for you. Beginning at verse 16, I cease
not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers.
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him. This is life eternal that they
might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou
has sent. God, you're gonna have to give
me the spirit of wisdom and revelation that I might know you. And that
the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened. And that
you may know what is the hope of his calling. And what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us word who believe according to the working of his
mighty power. The natural man cannot receive
the things of the spirit. This is our prayer, Lord, you're
gonna have to reveal this to me. Anybody can look back 2,000 years
historically and come to the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth
died on a Roman cross and believed that he raised from the dead.
They know his acts, but to know his ways is by divine revelation. which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his right hand in
heavenly places. God wrought this work, he accomplished
this work, he formed this work when he raised the Lord Jesus
Christ from the dead rewarding him for his accomplished redemptive
work and receiving him back into glory and sitting him down as
a successful Savior at the right hand of the majesty on high.
This is the gospel Well, what a glorious gospel it is. This
is freedom. You see, anything else is the
law. Anything else is going to put you under the burden of something
you got to do. Where is the Lord Jesus Christ
right now? Look at verse 21. He is far above all principality
and power and might and dominion and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in the world to come. And God
has put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. That's who he died for. He died
for his bride. He died for his church. He died
for his body. and he actually accomplished
their salvation. God's pleased with what Christ
has done. The only question left for you
and I to answer, are we pleased with the same thing God's pleased
with? Or are we gonna be like Nadab and Abihu? You know, I'm
sure Nadab and Abihu, when they offered that strange fire in
Leviticus chapter 10, I'm sure they probably thought to themselves,
you know, we've got a better way to do this than what was
prescribed by Moses. We can make this look better. And the fire came out from the
altar of God and consumed them. How that Christ died according
to the scriptures. My friends and my brethren, believe
it. The gospel has everything to
do with what Christ accomplished on Calvary's cross and it is
the reason for everything. Everything. Our merciful heavenly Father
bless your word with your spirit. Give us eyes to see. Hearts to
believe we ask it in Christ name. Amen. Number 31, let's stand
together number 31. And we'll repeat this last two
lines in each verse twice. ? Hear the voice of grace and glory
? ? In our dying Savior's cry ? ? Rending rocks and hills asunder
? ? And the veil to bring us nigh ? ? It is finished, it is
finished ? ? Our victorious Savior cried ? It is finished, it is
finished ? Our victorious Savior cried ? It is finished, see God's
pleasure ? Prosper in our risen Lord Covenant blessings without
measure flow to us by Jesus' blood. It is finished. It is finished. Oh, how sweet the Savior's word! It is finished! It is finished! Oh, how sweet
the Savior's word! ? Finished all justice demanded
? ? Finished all required by law ? ? Finished all portrayed
and promised ? ? In the shadows of the law ? ? It is finished,
it is finished ? Thou believ'd, rejoice with all. It is finished! It is finished! Thou believ'd,
rejoice with all. Jesus finished our salvation
when he died upon the tree. Righteousness and full redemption
? For His loved and chosen seed ? It is finished, hallelujah
? Praise the Lamb of Calvary ? It is finished, hallelujah
? Praise the Lamb of Calvary