The 15th chapter of the book
of Mark, the brother read I think about 15 verses or 10
verses somewhere, the 15th chapter of Mark, 10 verses I guess he
read, almost 10, in the book of Mark. I want to talk to you
just a little bit this evening, not long. I'll just kind of bare
my heart to you in regard to the sufferings of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I tried to talk to you somewhat
this morning about the sufferings of the Savior who was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. through his poverty we might
become rich. And I tried to tell you about
the condescension of that great stoop, that great act of humility,
how he left the royalties of heaven, left the glories of heaven,
left his power and authority, laid them all aside, emptied
himself, took upon himself the robe of human flesh, became man,
identified himself with us, finally stood in our stead and suffered
in our place and in our room and made satisfaction to the
justice of God against sin for us. And I want to kind of talk a
little more tonight about this. And I come to you tonight in
His name certainly, and I say to you, does not the The story
of the Lord Jesus Christ interests you at all, does it? Well, you've
heard it read just now by Glenn, and I ask you this question.
You've heard it read from the fifteenth chapter of the book
of Mark. Now, did it fall flat and stale
to your ears? Did you say to yourself, it's
a dry work. It's a dry work to listen to
that. It does nothing to stir my attention. Did you say that? Do you feel
that way? But if you take up a newspaper
and read about some murderer, you say my attention has been
interested, my wits have been awakened by some spectacular
murder or robbery that I read about in the paper. But the hearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ does not stir me at all. Now, that
is the reaction of most people, and I trust that it's not the
reaction of for those of you that are gathered here this evening.
I don't think it is because I think that that stirs your very soul
and brings about some attention when you hear of the doing and
the dying of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus. And it penetrates
your very innermost being and fondles your heart and awakens
and arouses your curiosity and your attention that you want
to know more about it and that you're interested in it because
he's made you interested. If there's anything in the world
that ought to interest a man, it's the story of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If there's anything in this world,
this ought to interest a man. God dying, God dying in man's
stead ought to have number one priority in regard to the interest
of the men and women of this world. The world over, God dying,
God suffering in the stead and place and room of sinful men.
That ought to cause an interest, cause a stir of our attention
to everybody, but it doesn't. It doesn't. No, sir, and I've
noticed by various publications, newspapers, television
programs and so forth, that year after year, learned men, not
men like myself that don't know anything, learned men, men that
have spent 12, 14, 15 years in studying, education, delving
and prying looking into various facets of life. Learned men. I've noticed that these learned
men, year after year, spend their time, some of them in, as I read
here not so long ago, sorting out butterflies, or the making
out the order of various shells, making out the order of various
rocks and layers and formations and what have you. digging into
the earth, seeking to discover what strange creatures once lived
in the earth. Spend a whole lifetime doing
that. Learned men, men who have attained
worldwide recognition, men who are scholars, who have received
certain laurels from their peers, who have had bestowed upon them
certain honors that come from devout and studious men, recognition
and so forth. And they've spent all of their
lives, for the most part, going to the bottom of the sea
to discover what's down on the bottom of the sea. find men of every race and creed
and color occupied with all sorts of things. Yet the story of God
Himself who became man and as a man suffered and fled and died
is thought to be a small thing for their minds to be occupied
with. becoming man, God suffering as
a man, God bleeding and dying as a man is of no interest to
this human race. But how long a butterfly lives
is of great interest to a lot of people. How long or how old
is some formation of rocks is of great interest to a whole
lot of people. But yet the story of God himself
becoming man and dying as a man creates very little attention. People are not very interested
and they think that this story is too small for their minds
to be occupied with it or to dwell upon it. Not interested
in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. What's true with them is true
with me to a degree, and I suspect that it's true with you, that
if we hear of any sad story, that is, a sad story in regard
to the misfortunes of our fellow man, we're interested. We're
interested in a shipwreck. We're interested in how many
lives were lost. We're interested how many were
saved. We're interested in hearing their
testimony. We're interested in hearing their
story of rescue and survival and the terrible ordeal that
they underwent. We're interested in that, and
we'll just be very attentive to the news programs that relate
the story of some shipwreck. or the blowing down of a house,
or the blowing down of a city by a hurricane, or a tornado,
or a cyclone. Interested. We want to know about
it. Run and turn the television set on. The news is coming on. I want to see that. I want to
see that. There's so many. There's 87 people got killed
in that town. There's people, they found people
up in a tree, and they found parts of people two miles away. We're interested in that kind
of thing. The story of God himself becoming man, dying as a man,
bleeding and suffering as a man, creates very little interest.
Sad, isn't it? We want to know all about how
they suffered, how much they suffered, and what they lost,
and the survivors, but very little interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's pathetic, isn't it? It
ought not to be so with us. I think I understand why it is
so with the bulk of the human race, because being a member
of Adam's race and at one time having no interest in the Lord
Jesus Christ, being lost before God for the want and lack of
love of Jesus Christ, his Son, I understand to a degree why
they are not interested. But I can't for the life of me
understand why people who profess faith in him are not interested
in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, interested in the
story of his bleeding and dying, who he died for, and why he suffered,
and who he suffered for, and the miseries, and what constituted
his sufferings, and him being a substitute, how long must he
suffer in order that our sins be paid? I'll tell you, brethren,
have no interest in him who had no motive in suffering but for
the good of man. No motive, no vainglory there. Nothing, no selfish interest
in his sufferings. Only this true, pure, good motive
that led him gladly and willingly to lay down his life and to surrender
himself the hands of wicked men. The only motive was for our good. There was nothing selfish that
ever crossed his pure and holy soul, yet men have no interest
in it. I tell you this as I thought
about it here this afternoon. I would admire him even if he
never saved even if he passed me by. If I heard the story and
I could hear that story and could get it fixed in my mind, I believe,
I believe, brethren, that I'd have to admire such a man as
the Lord Jesus Christ, even if I had no share in his blood. Yet I think I'd adore him and
love him, even if I had no interest. even if I was never washed in
that fountain filled with blood that flows from Emmanuel's veins.
I believe I'd be interested in the Lord Jesus. I believe I'd
love Him. I'll tell you, the death and
the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ somehow, someway binds
me to His cross. Oh, He's worthy. And it's hard
for me. It's hard for me to understand.
Although I've been at this for all these years, all these years,
here and other places, having conversation with all types of
individuals, learned men, ignorant men, healthy men, sick men, black
men, white men, men preacher men, women preachers, and religious
people, yet I can't for the life of me understand. why those who
profess faith in Him are not interested in Him. Not interested
in Him. Even if I was never washed in
His blood and was cast into hell, if that were possible, I'd still
feel I must admire Him for His love for others anyhow, that
He died for somebody. If He didn't die for me, if He
didn't die for me and pass me by and send me to hell, then
I believe that I'd have to bow my soul before Him and honor
Him and bless Him and attempt to praise Him because of His
great love for others, that He rescued some. Even though He
didn't rescue me, He rescued some! I must love Him for His
God-like character. I must love Him for His God-like
suffering. When He suffered, He reviled
not. open not his mouth. I've got to admire him for that,
don't you? He who made the world, the only
manifestation of feeling, of agony that was expressed in his
suffering on the cross was, he said, I thirst. He said, I thirst. His lips were parched. His body was wracked with fever.
His throat was cracked and dry. They drove those nails, wooden
spikes, through his feet and through his hands a half a yard
or a yard away from any vital organs in his body and soon,
soon these wooden spikes brought about infection and fever in
his soul, and he began to chill and to shake. And the first thing
that we want when we have a fever is we want water, water. We want
a drink of water. Oh, give me a drink of water.
I've been to the hospital when folks have been operated on,
and some of them are on morphine, some of them. I've been there,
and when they got out of the operating room And they brought
them down to the room, and they first started to rally, first
started to come to themselves. They wanted some water. Want
some water! Want some water! Give me some water! Give me some
water! And sometimes they'll take water in spite of what the
doctor says, and make them deathless sick, and they'll vomit up in
spite of that. Oh, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I got to love Him and admire Him. He said, I thirst! I thirst. No man would give Him
drink. except Gaul mingled with Myrrh,
and he refused it. First, I got to admire him. All
the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ were altogether unique,
and that by themselves. And I'll tell you why, because
of who he was. The Scriptures say, and I sure
believe this, that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, was King of Kings,
Lord of Lords, that He was, or the Bible says that the government
was upon His shoulders. That He was Lord of Lords, King
of Kings, and the government was upon His shoulders. He was
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. and he suffered. That's one reason
why his sufferings were so unique. Oh, the Prince of Peace. Mighty
God. Almighty God over all and above
all, yet he suffered. No wonder his sufferings were
unique. I'll tell you, he was the eye of heaven. Someone said
he was the sun and the star of this bright world, and yet he
suffered. Someone said all the hallelujahs
of eternity rolled at his feet, and yet he suffered. The uniqueness in the suffering
of the Lord Jesus Christ is manifested because of who he was. Yet he
was all of this, God over all and above all, and besides him
there is no other. Almighty God, yet in the eyes
of men, He was despised and rejected of men, Isaiah said. Our Lord
Jesus Christ had the purest motive, no selfish motive, in His undertaking
in the behalf of others, only for the good of others, and yet
He was despised. Did you know that He was despised
and rejected of men right down to His dying hour? right down
to his dying hour. He lived upon this earth hardly
some years. And when he entered into his
public ministry, from the time he entered into his public ministry
until the time, the very hour that he died, he was despised
and rejected of men. Boy, that is saying something,
isn't it? Almighty God, Prince of Peace,
Government was upon his shoulders. He was despised. Men despised
him and rejected him. They said, we will not, right
down to his dying hour. We will not! We despise him. And when, as Glenn read to us
here, as they got a hold of him and led him through this crowd,
led him through this great gathering, this great multitude of people.
Why did they gather there that day? They gathered there to mock
him. They gathered here. They said,
it says, Glenn read that, I noticed this, it says, and they began
to salute him, mock him, and they said, Hail, King of the
Jews! And they smote him in the head with the reed, and did spit
upon him, and bowing their knees, worshipped him. And when they
had mocked him, mocked worship, they bowed down before him. They
said, Hail, King of the Jews. They bowed down and made certain
gestures, mocked him. They hit him in the head with
their reed, with their staff. They spit on him and when they
mocked him, they took off the purple from him and put his own
clothes on him and led him out to crucify. Sufferings of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the uniqueness of his sufferings is found in
the fact that he was God. He was God, he was God. The government
was upon his shoulders. And all the hallelujahs of eternity
rolled up at his feet. He was despised and rejected
of men. As a man of sorrows acquainted
with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him, he was
despised and we esteemed him not. We recognized him not. We didn't identify ourselves
with him, our Lord Jesus Christ. He was deserted. by friends and
foe alike, and no comfort from God. Even God deserted him in
that hour. He was tried by Pilate, tried
by Herod, tried by Caiaphas, scourged and beaten with rod.
He was despised. Sufferings of the Lord Jesus.
No suffering or no sorrow like his sufferings. Why? Because
all of his grief, all of his agony, all of his pain, all of
his sorrow was born for others. That's the reason there was none
like him. Because all that he bore, all
that he underwent, he did it for others. Can you relate to that this evening?
I think you can. I think you can if you'll think
about it a little bit. You know, whatever you and I
may suffer, we deserve it. That's right, we deserve it. And directly or indirectly, we
can trace it to sin, or trace it to the fact that we're sinners.
Whatever it is, don't make any difference now, whatever you
suffer in this life, or you will suffer, you deserve it. And it
can be traced directly or indirectly to the fact that you're a sinner.
You deserve it. You deserve it. We get upset
sometimes if someone says something about us that, well, we don't
think that it's altogether true. But in most cases, whatever they
say about us is true. In most cases. And I'd be, I'd
almost say 999 times when anyone says anything about it, it's
true. Our characters are very seldom
slandered. Generally, we're told, folks
tell the truth about it. And if we're hurt, if our feelings
and our pride gets offended, it's generally, we generally
deserve it, don't we? I know I do. As I look back over
my life, and I haven't had all of that, you know, grief or torment
or suffering. I haven't had very much of that.
But what little that I think, you know, that I may have been
slighted out. As I look back over it and evaluate
all that was said and done and all that, most of it was true.
Most of it was true. What I got, I received. I deserved
it. I deserved it. In fact, they didn't tell the
whole truth. They told the whole truth about me. It had been more
than you could have borne, probably. But whatever you suffer, whatever
I suffer, we deserve it. But listen, that can be traced
back to the fact that we're sinners. But listen now, our Lord Jesus
Christ, when He suffered, He was no sinner! He was no sinner. We're sinners! We're sinners,
every one of us now. We're sinners. I don't know what
you think your self-image is, but I know what it is. I know
what it is. You may say, God knows my heart.
That's right. He does know your heart. He knows
it. He knows how black it is, too.
He knows. He reads it like an open book.
You're a sinner before God. And if you're honest with yourself,
you'll have to admit it. You'll have to admit it. You're
a sinner. You're a sinner. But our Lord
Jesus Christ was no sinner. He was no sinner. If you suffer, it's because you
deserve to suffer, because you're a sinner. You deserve it. If
you're beaten with rods, you deserve it. If your character
is vilified and slandered, you deserve it. They're just caught
up with you, that's all. But our Lord Jesus Christ, He
was no sinner. And He was no sin. Listen, neither
suffering or death could lawfully and legally be laid to him. Doctor,
you know the reason why men die? Because they're sinners. That's
the reason men die. The wages of sin is what is death. The reason we die is because
of sin, because we're a mass, a puke, we're buried in this
thing called sin. We wouldn't have died if Adam
in the Garden of Eden had not listened to the devil's lie and
lost paradise for us. We wouldn't have died. Adam had
still been living and all of his offspring. But he listened
and he lost paradise. Sin entered into the human race,
into our bloodstreams, and we all become rebels, lost, hellions
before God, every one of us. Sinners and whatever falls our
way is dust! We die and spend eternity away
from God. Then that's our just due. That's
where we ought to reign throughout eternity, separated. But He,
the Lord Jesus Christ, He suffered and He was no sinner. In Him
was no sin. Can you get a hold of that? It's
hard for me to. In Him was no sin. This man of
Galilee, This Jesus of Nazareth who was acquainted with grief,
who was despised and rejected, who went about doing good. Miracle
after miracle, this man whom they took in the dead of the
night, sold out for thirty pieces of silver, old Judas' cat. They embraced him and kissed
him and smote him and spit upon him and took him to a cross and
killed him. He had no sin. had no sin. He didn't get what he deserved!
That is, apart from our being a substitute. You see, what I'm
saying is this. Neither suffering or death could
lawfully and legally be laid upon him. In him was no sin. Alright, let
me ask this question What was it that our Lord, as
a substitute, had to endure? What was it? Did you ever just
think about it? I know that immediately we say,
well, He suffered the penalty that was due us. And that's a
good answer. That's right. He suffered our penalty. He suffered
our due. But what was our due? I'll tell
you what our due was. Well, what ought one sinner to
have suffered? The answer is eternal misery
and hell. That's what one sinner ought
to endure if he dies outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's what he will endure, eternal misery and hell. Everybody's
going someplace. Everybody's on one road or the
other. Everybody's either walking controlled by the Spirit or controlled
by the flesh. One of the two. Under the power
and dominion of Satan or under the power and dominion and the
influence of the Spirit of God. One of the two. Either walking
on God's road or you're walking toward hell. One of the two.
They'll wind up in one or two places. Either going to wind
up where Jesus is or going to wind up where the devil is. One
of the two. one of the two. And if you wind up there, there's
nothing but eternal, eternal, everlasting, inconceivable misery
forever and forever and forever and forever and forever. No end
to that misery. But listen, I said this now,
what ought one sinner to have suffered? Eternal misery in hell. But he died not for just one
sinner. He didn't die just for one sinner. You see, he died for tens of
thousands times ten thousand times ten thousand of sinners. Now you think a little bit, if
the penalty for sin is eternal misery in the regions of the
damned being eternally tormented second after second after second
after second after second throughout the endless, the endless, fathomless
ages and eons of eternity. Think about the crushing blow
Think about what the crushing blow must have been when God
poured out his wrath upon the Lord Jesus Christ. When he poured
out this blow after blow upon him, not for one sinner, but
for 10,000 times 10,000 sinners. Think of what it would have been. Oh, the awful torment! The awful
agony! Oh, the hells of 10,000 times
10,000 times he suffered it! There is no way that you or I
or anyone else could conceive to any fashion or degree what
our Lord endured when he suffered on that cross. There's no way.
And it would not have been possible for him to have endured even
for one sinner if he had not been God. No, sir. His Godhead gave him the capacity
for the misery and the suffering and the grief that he bore. It
was God and yet it was man. Man couldn't have endured it.
apart from God. He was God, and He endured it.
In those three hours or whatever it was, He suffered and hung
on that cross. When men despised Him and rejected
Him, and the pain involved outwardly, and the pain involved inwardly,
and when God Himself turned His back upon Him, and He suffered,
and He suffered the penalty that was due us. He did so in that
amount of time which was equivalent, equivalent to the sufferings
of every one of his people. That was equivalent to what was
their due. He suffered. He suffered. What
he suffered, my brethren, is utterly inconceivable by me,
and I'm sure it is by you. But he suffered. He suffered. all sufficient. The Bible says
he is the ancient of days, yet he bows his head and he dies
and he gives up the ghost. As I said, he was despised right
up to the very hour that he died. There is a verse of scripture
that I think pertains to our Lord Jesus Christ here. In the
book of Lamentations, chapter 1, verse number 12, and I want
to read it to you. Listen to what it says, "...it is nothing to you, or
is it nothing to you? All ye 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." Is there any sorrow? Is there any suffering
like unto my suffering that the Lord has poured out upon me? Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing
to the people of this universe who pass by, who hear the story,
who have read the story of my agony and my suffering? Is it
nothing to you? Is it nothing to you? Is there
any sorrow like my sorrow? I ask you this evening, does
that engage your attention? Does that stir your attention
to hear about God dying, God dying, God Almighty, the giver
of life, sustainer of life, taker of life? The God who providentially supplies
the very air that we breathe. Our life is in His hands, and
if He would remove Himself for a second, we'd be gone. Who gives
us homes and happiness to a degree, and children who become our joy,
and friends who become lifelong helpers. God who gives us health. God who manifests his love to
us in a million different ways. Are you interested in that story? Does that grab your attention? Do you hold on to every word
when the suffering, bleeding Savior is being set before you? I think, for the most part, most
of you are interested. You're interested. You're interested. And I think the evidence that
people are interested are that they're willing to deny themselves
anything and everything that would come between them and hearing
of this story, whatever it is. They deny themselves. They want
to hear it. I can't go without hearing it.
I'm going to be honest with you. I can't do it. I'm a terrible backslider the
way it is, but I'd be ten times worse than what I was if I didn't
have the blessed privilege and opportunity of hearing the gospel
and reading of the gospel weekly, daily. hearing it preached, I'd
be an awful backslider. If I could permit myself, I believe
now, humanly speaking, if I could cut myself off from it for a
month, I've often asked myself this question. What would hinder me from making
it two months? If I can go without it for one
month, Maybe I can go for two. If I can go for two, why not
three? Maybe I'm an apostate after all.
The evidence, I believe, that you've got an interest in the
doing and the dying of God himself is that you want to hear about
it. You want to hear about it. You want to hear the story. I
want to hear the story. I've got to hear the story. I've
got to hear it over and over and over. I've got to hear about
my Lord. My Lord and my God becoming man,
identifying Himself with me and taking upon Himself my ungodliness
and purging me of all of my sins and not remembering them against
me anymore. I've got to hear about that.
If I don't, I'll die. And I thank God that I can. I think that's good evidence,
brethren. If you want to hear it, you've got to hear it. You've
got to hear it. You can't be without it. Now, if that's true with you,
just bow your heart and thank God for it right now. Because
it's not in you. It's not in you according to
your nature to desire. It's not in you. God must have
done something for you. So you have to thank God and
give Him the glory and the honor. I was talking to my mother on
the phone here a little while ago, and she said, you're a good
boy. She said, you're a good boy.
And I said, well, I don't know. And I was trying to back out
of it, you know, but I wasn't trying, I wouldn't want to hurt
her feelings. And she said, well, she said, you're a good boy.
I said, you're a good preacher. that you're a good preacher.
I said, well, now wait a minute. I said, you're prejudiced. Oh,
no, I'm not, she said. My soul. What we have, if we've
got any understanding of what little talent and little ability
that any of us have, God give it to us. God be praised, praise
him, bless his name, that you've got a satisfying in the bleeding
suffering saved. And you've got to hear about
it. You've just got to. Thank God for it. If you've got
no interest in it, I ask you to seek his face. I ask you. The only thing I know to tell
you to do, cry out to God. Cry out and say, Lord, create
an interest in my heart for you. Create an interest in my heart
for you. Help me to hang on. to the preaching of the doing
and dying be interested to the extent that I might be bathed
in his blood. All right.