I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the gospel according to John. John's account. John chapter 19. I'm going through the book of
John and these are the next verses that we're dealing with. I thought about, as I was going
over my notes this morning, how relevant these verses are for
this particular hour. John chapter 19, verse 25, And
there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister
Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene, When Jesus therefore
saw his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he
saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he
to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home." The Lord is now hanging upon
the cross. His garments have been taken,
his coat has been gambled for, and the scripture reveals that
three women are standing by, and this particular account in
John's account of the gospel concerning these three women
before the Lord Jesus Christ died. Now I know that because
we will We'll read just looking, we won't be here today, but look
at verse 28. I mean, right after what I just
read. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. So you know
that what we just read was an account of these three women
standing there before He actually gave up the ghost. Well, all
of the disciples, forsook him, but one of them has come back. The Scripture reveals there the
one that the Lord loved. And without a doubt in my mind,
it's John. The Scriptures give the account
of John writing that concerning himself. Never even put his own
name in there, just said the one that the Lord loved. So John
is standing there. There's another account, hold
your place right there, and there's another account of these three
women and it's found in Matthew 27. It was a crucifixion, Matthew
27, and I'd like to read, starting in verse 50, through 56, and
it's still concerning these three women. Matthew 27, 50 says, Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent, entwined from the top to the bottom, the earth did
quake, the rocks rent, the graves were open, many bodies of the
saints which slept arose, came out of the graves after his resurrection,
went into the holy city, appeared unto many. Now when the centurion
and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake
and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying truly,
this was the Son of God. And many women were there beholding
afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto
him, among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James,
and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's children." So now we
find that this account of these women that were standing there,
John's account, takes into consideration those three women after the Lord. had given up the goat. One before
and one of them after. Now I want us to just look for
just a few minutes at that account. You know, when I first read this
in John, and I say this to my embarrassment, but I'll be honest
about it, and then we'll behold the miracle of God's grace to
give us any light. I read that account Carl, and
when I read it, it was almost like just a kind of a thought,
you know, well, the Lord's mother, earthly mother was there, and
her probably sister-in-law, because it says her sister Mary, but
it was doubtful. One of the writers says that
you'd have two sisters both named Mary, but probably it meant,
the wording could mean sister-in-law. And so there was, and then Mary
Magdalene was there, and so it was just a matter of fact, but
nothing in Scripture is just written for just mere information. We know that. So I began to look
and I wanted to see what is the Spirit of God setting forth concerning
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here in Matthew, we'll be
in John in just a second, but looking at Matthew, I noticed
concerning that just right after the Lord had died, He cried with
a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, verse 50, and then 54,
it was talking about this soldier, a centurion, and they that were
with him, maybe his some soldiers under him. And the Scripture
says in 54, they were watching Jesus. They were watching Him.
And I looked up that word. They were watching Jesus. What
were they doing? It says, keeping an eye on Him. Kind of keeping an eye on Him.
This guy, they say, is a criminal. probably pretty notable in their
mind, criminal. Quite a reputation that he's
got. But then the scripture says in
Matthew 27, 55, 56, it says many women were there beholding. They were beholding. And I looked
at that word, and it is to witness with intense feelings. They were
viewing attentively. They were considering. You know, you ever find yourself
in a situation and you see it happening, and you know it happens,
you know it's happening, you know it's right, and you're trying
to grasp hold of the reality of this thing. This is real. This is really real. I'm thinking a week and a half
ago, not even that much, my daughter Sarah called me and she said,
Cody Groover died. And I said, what? She said, Dad
would you call Would you call and find out and make sure? Call
somebody and make sure." And I said... And I'm trying to compute
this. I'm hearing what you're saying.
This is what these women were doing. They were beholding. They were looking with intense
attention. Trying to grasp hold. Not just
watching. One of them was just keeping
an eye on him. They were just... This is the one that the Scriptures
is prophesying. This is God. This is God in human
flesh. Here is the Messiah. He is laying
down His life, paying by the shedding of His own blood for
the guilt and sins of His people, Here's the Redeemer. Here's the
Lamb of God. This is the one that we've heard
in the Scriptures. We're sitting here looking and
beholding what is actually happening. But then the Scripture says not
only were they beholding, but they were beholding afar off. You know the amazing thing even
about them standing where they were, beholding afar off. It's an amazing thing because
even that was prophesied. Let me read this to you, Psalm
38. Psalm 38 and verse 11. Now listen to this. My lovers
and my friends stood aloof. That is, I looked it up, detached,
withdrawn. from a distance. My lovers and
my friends stood aloof from my sore, from my stroke. And my
kinsmen stand afar off. The Spirit of God even had set
forth where these women would be standing, giving evidence,
this is the Messiah. This is He. And they're beholding
afar off. Now two things I considered in
that marvelous part of them standing afar off, beholding afar off. Number one, it's this. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
alone. He suffered alone. Isaiah 63,
3, I have trodden the winepress alone. and of the people there
was none with me." They were in heart, they were in spirit,
they were in affection and love, but they beheld afar off. The winepress that the Lord trod
was the winepress of God's wrath. And this press, that which He
suffered, We deserved. He was suffering in the stead
of His people, and only the Lord could bear the weight of the
guilt of the sins of His elect. That would have crushed us to
hell. We couldn't have borne it. We
couldn't pay for our own debt. He must die, and the Scripture
said He was going to die alone prophesied that they would be
separated from Him. But then I see something else.
Not only did He die alone in the fulfillment of Scripture.
They stood far off. But secondly, I see something
with those women standing far off, and it's this. They exhibited
obedience to the Lord by separating themselves having no association
whatsoever with those that were railing upon the Lord. Scripture
says that they were all around, they were wagging their heads
and, you know, just, you know, yeah, He saved others and Himself
He cannot save. What did they do? They beheld
afar off. I don't even want you to even
think that I'm associated with you. I don't even want to be
standing in your midst. You that are disrespectful, listen
to 2 Corinthians 6, 17, "...Wherefore, come out from among them and
be you separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you." A believer is called to a life and a walk
that is consistent with his profession and his belief in the Lord Jesus
Christ. A believer wants to and he will
separate himself from this free will, self-righteous, man-honoring
religion. And he will. He desires to. He wants to. And he sees inconsistencies
in himself. But I'm telling you, there's
a desire in his heart to walk before the Lord and before God's
people in the world. He wants to walk with a consistency. I'm a believer. I'm a Christian. And I know everybody and their
brother is a Christian. Just ask them. But I'm going
to tell you something. A believer is one that acts like
it. He wants to. I can tell you that.
You know, how many instances do we find in our own lives and
in the lives of these in the Scriptures, in every believer,
says, I have failed, I've failed. But a believer? I'm talking about
the desire of his heart. Paul says, to will is present
with me. How to accomplish that which
I would, I find not. So these women were There they
were beholding a far-off. And then back still in Matthew
27 verse 55, many women were there beholding a far-off which
followed Jesus from Galilee. Now, they were companions to
the Lord. They were His disciples. They were women that were going
in the same way. That word followed right there. They had seen His miracles. He had converted them. And they
had now a desire to go with Him. I want to go where you go. Wherever you are, Lord, that's
where I want to be. They followed Him right to the
cross. Where are you going to find a believer when it comes
to preaching? You're going to find a believer
where the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace is preached. That's where you're going to
find a believer. You're not going to find a believer sitting under
a false, man-centered, free will preaching liar. I'm just using
Scripture. They're just liars. That's all
they are. They're just liars. That's what
the Lord told the Pharisees. He said, you're of the devil.
He was a liar from the beginning. He said, you're just like him.
You're just a liar. You're going to find a believer
sitting under the gospel that honors the Lord Jesus Christ,
that gives man no honor, no glory, no praise. That's where you're
going to be. The Lord was preaching in John
6 and He said, no man can come. And they understood what He said.
except it were given unto him of my Father." What he was telling
them is this, you don't have any ability to do anything for
me. You can't even come to me unless my Father says it's okay
for you to come to me. And they said, whoa. Now that's
a hard saying right there. And from that time they followed
him no more. And the Lord, the Scripture bears
out, without hesitation, looked at His disciples and said, will
you also go away? You know, I mean, you think about
this. I mean, this is just, we don't beg people. Don't beg people. Come. I'll invite people. And if they, you know, I just
tell them, I said, just do what you want to do. Do what you want
to do. I'm not going to beg you. The
Lord said, will you go? And listen, Peter said, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Believer, where will you go? If it's not to Him where He's
honored, where He's glorified and praised and esteemed, where
are you going to go? Peter says, Lord, Thou hast the
words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that Thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord said concerning
His people, He said, My sheep hear My voice and I know them
and they follow Me. They follow Me. They walk in
My way. They are where I'm preached.
They are where I'm honored. They hear His voice. They hear
it in the Gospel. They hear it as the Spirit of
God gives them an understanding in their heart. And then it says,
concerning these women that were beholding afar off, which followed
Jesus from Galilee, and it says, ministering unto Him. Ministering
unto Him. Well, these women did not follow
the Lord like a lot had. Hey, there was an account given. I'll just tell you what it was
and I'll read a portion of the Scripture. But it was an account
when the Lord fed the 5,000 men and women and children. Remember
that? And He fed them. And then after He left, He went
across the sea and He went to a city called Capernaum. And
after He got there, big portion of that group that had been fed
with the five loaves and two fish, they were looking for Him. And they found Him over on the
other side of the sea there. And they came to Him and they
asked Him, Lord, how did you get here? And the Lord went right
to the heart of it. And this is what He said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because you saw the miracles,
but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled." What he said to them was this,
you're here now not because you love me, but because of what
you think you can get out of me. You're in this just for your
own self-gratification. Now, whatever that is, I've had,
man, I've had people tell me, people, you know, they go to
this big church over here and, you know, you make a lot of contacts,
you hand out your business cards, you know, and this is a good
place to have, you know, meet, you know, it's like being in
the Rotary Club, you know, you just, you're going to patronize
your, you know, your compadres, you know what I'm saying? It's
just a, it just looks good, just looks good on your, Resume. But these women, these women
ministered, the Scripture says. They followed the Lord and they
ministered to Him. And the Scripture bears it. I
want you to look at Luke 8, 2 and 3. Luke 8, 2 and 3. certain women which had been
healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of
whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward,
Susanna, many others, which ministered unto Him of their substance. What these women did, and they
had a heart to do this, they weren't doing it out of self,
they just They had a heart. The Lord had given them a heart. Scripture says these women ministered
unto the Lord and out of gratitude and appreciation for what the
Lord had done for them. The Scripture says they gave
unto Him of their substance. The Lord, who spoke everything
into existence, who owns the world, the earth is the Lord's,
and the fullness thereof. Cattle on a thousand hills are
His. The Lord says, if I was hungry,
I wouldn't tell you. The Lord. But He allowed them in the days
of His humiliation to meet His physical needs for their benefit. for their benefit. They profited. He said, you've done this unto
the least of one of these, my brethren. You've done this unto
me. I mean, we do. We give. This is not out of selfishness. A believer does what he does
because he's in the ministry. We're all, we're in the ministry. Listen, look at Mark. Mark 14.3. Mark 14.3. Being in Bethany in the house
of Simon the leper, he said it, meet, there came a woman having
an alabaster box of ointment, spiked, gnarled, very precious.
She break the box, poured it on his head, And there were some
that had indignation within themselves and said, why was this waste
of this ointment made? For it had been sold for more
than 300 pence and could have been given to the poor and they
murmured against him. And Jesus said, let her alone. Why trouble ye her? He got on
to them. There was a woman that came 300
pence, that's a year's salary. That's how much that box was
worth with that ointment. Three hundred pence. One year's
salary. You think, how much you make?
Got a box of ointment. It's worth thousands, thousands,
thousands of dollars. She broke it. Poured it on him. They said, what? They didn't, you know, it wasn't
out of love for the ointment, you know, selfish, selfish. Jesus said, let her alone. Why
trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work
on me, for ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye
will, ye may do them good. But me ye have not always. She hath done what she could. This is what she had. It's the best I got. I don't
know how much else she had, but I tell you what, that had to
have been a prize. That's one of those things, you
know, I just don't even want to use this stuff. I don't even
want to open this up. I mean, you know how much this
thing is worth? I don't want to start using this. She broke
it, poured it on his head. Look at Romans 16. Romans. Romans 16. One, I commend unto you Phoebe,
our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is in Sincreia,
that you receive her in the Lord as becoming saints, that you
assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you. For she
hath been a succorer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla
and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid
down their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also
the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church that's
in their house. Salute my well-beloved Eponidas,
who is the first fruit of Achaia unto Christ. Greet Mary, who
bestowed much labor on us." What he's saying is just help them.
Help them. These that have given themselves,
these faithful women that the Scriptures bear out, they didn't
preach, they didn't try to usurp the authority over men, they
did what they could. They did it faithfully. And the Lord blessed it. The
Lord said concerning Mary Magdalene, he said, wherever this gospel
is preached, he said it's going to be for a memorial to her. She's done what she could. The
Apostle Paul spoke of the great blessings to himself and to others. Well, let me wrap this up. Turn
back now to John 19. John 19. It says in verse 26-27, when
Jesus therefore, now this is the account just before he died,
when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing
by whom he loved. He saith unto his mother, Woman,
behold thy son. And saith he to his disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home. Now, let me tell you this, when
the Lord Shade. to his mother, his earthly mother,
26. Woman, behold thy son. The wording is such, and bears
this out, I checked it as many times as I could with as many
references as I could, and the wording is such that he's telling
Mary, his earthly mother, he said, I want you to look, not
to himself, he wasn't saying that. You'd think it was saying,
woman behold himself, but she was talking about, he said, I
want you to look over at John. Because immediately he said to John,
the one that he loved, behold your mother, which actually wasn't
his physical mother, but the Lord was commissioning John to
take care of her. That's what he's doing. He says,
woman, behold thy son, then saith he to the disciple, behold thy
mother. And from that hour, that disciple
took her into his own house. Here in the very final moments
before the Lord gave up the ghost, here he was honoring God's law. Honor thy father and thy mother. His earthly mother Mary is obviously
within earshot of His voice, so is the disciple that He loved. And He said to Mary out of respect
to her, I want you now to look to John
as I've taken care of your earthly needs and the Lord who will never
leave nor forsake His people is using the means that He does
even today. with us. The Lord is the great
physician. The Lord is the great physician.
But let me tell you something. You know what I'm going to do
if I get hurt and get cut? I'm going to go to a doctor.
That's what I'm going to do. But now I know in my heart who
the great physician is. I know that. But the Lord uses
means. He said, now, I want you to look
to John as your son. That's what he said. Woman, behold
thy son. And then to John, he said, I
want you to look to her as your mother. And you take care of
her just as you would your own mother. Whatever is needed of
her. And from a heart of obedience,
That disciple did just exactly what the Lord had bid him. It says from that time he took
her, took her back to his house and was going to take care of
her until the day that either he died or she died. Scripture sets forth that God's
people, having been given a new heart, They hear his voice, and
he said, they follow me. My sheep follow me. He walked
up to Simon and Peter and told them, he said, you follow me.
I'll make you fishes of men, and Scripture says, and straightway
they dropped their nets and followed him. There was a demoniac, Lord willing,
in a couple of weeks I plan to preach out of this passage here.
a demoniac there in a place called Gadara. And the Lord delivered
him, this legion of demons. That demoniac wanted to follow
the Lord, go with Him. He said, I'm going to go with
you. Nobody wanted the Lord. They came out there because a
couple of thousand swine had run into the sea. See if Galilee
had drowned. People come out and they wanted
the Lord out. And he's leaving. He's leaving. And this regenerated
demoniac wanted to go with him. He said, I won't go where you
go. The Lord said, no. No, he said, I want you to go
home. That's what he told him. I want
you to go home. Go to your friends and tell them how great things
the Lord has done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."
And here's what he did. He departed and began to publish
in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all
men marveled. The Lord calls his people to
specific service. To one he says, go here, he goes
there. One he says, come here, he comes
here. Scripture says, concerning the Lord, he that entereth in
by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep
by name, leadeth them out, and when he putteth forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. I was living in Franklin, Tennessee,
and I was just perfectly satisfied. In my mind, I was going to die
in Franklin, Tennessee. Neat little town, great little
town to live in, great town. One day, Brother Scott asked
me, he said, I was here, and he said, why don't you come here
and consider pastoring this church? No. I appreciate the invitation,
brother Scott. I said that's one of the highest
honors I could have. I just, I can't even imagine
him asking me that. Who am I? Scott Richardson? Well, that was in 2001, November
of 2001. July of 2003 the Lord said this
is where I want you to go and I did not know it until about
I'd say two weeks before I got here but two weeks before I got
here I knew it and here's where I am the Lord sends specifically
and now this is where I at this moment expect to die right here
Fairmont West Virginia May the Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.