Well, lest I forget to do so,
I want to encourage you to do what you've done for a couple
of years. All of you just shut down the weekend of September
4th, 5th, and 6th. Come to Danville. We'd love to
have you at conference again. It's always a delight to have
you. And I do thank God for this assembly, for the blessed, unique
relationship God's given us together. You're constantly on my mind,
my heart. I pray for you continually, and
I'm excited for you. I have been from the beginning.
Excited for what God has done and may yet be pleased to do
with you and through you in this place Open your Bibles again
tonight to the 19th chapter of John's gospel. I Have a friend in Arizona, I've
never met we just correspond I And he was telling someone
he's acquainted with something about me. And he's asking about
me. He said, well, he's a pastor
and a commentator. I'd never referred to myself
as a commentator. John Gill was a commentator. I'm just a preacher.
But the fellow asked him, well, what's a commentator? He said,
I'm not sure, sir. I think it comes from two southern
words put together, common and tater. So he called me commentator,
Don. And that's a pretty good description.
But I've been working on my commentary on John for the last couple of
days while I've been here. And this is what I've been working
on today. And I want to bring you the message from John 19,
verses 28 through 42. I encourage you to keep your
Bibles open. And I would encourage you to take notes as you go along.
There's many things here stated by the Apostle John in this portion
of his gospel of deep interest that are silently passed over
by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And of course, folks who are
curious and curiosity, we have our time to eat. Don't ever read
the book of God, study the word of God, just to gratify curiosity. Folks ask the question, well,
why did Matthew, Mark, and Luke not say this? Why did John say
it? We're not told. And when we're
not told, it's best not to ask why. But be assured that everything
written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John was written by divine
inspiration, by the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit,
using these men as instruments to give us his word entirely
perfect, without error, and to show us in many ways that the
book you hold in your laps now, indeed the Word of God. Let's begin reading in John 19
and verse 28. John 19 28. After this Jesus knowing that
all things were now accomplished That the scripture might be fulfilled. That's important. I'd underscore
that. That the scripture might be fulfilled. How many times
you go through the Gospels and read that our Lord did something
or others did something in connection with him, that the scripture
might be fulfilled. And it means exactly that. This
came to pass so that the scripture might be fulfilled, so that we
might have set before us clear testimony that these things are
of God, that the scripture might be fulfilled. He said, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon
his and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Verse 31. The Jews, therefore, because
it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the
cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day,
besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they
might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and break
the legs of first the first and of the other which was crucified
with him But when they came to Jesus they saw that he was dead
already and break not his legs but one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood
and water and he saw it he that saw it bear record and and his
record is true and he knoweth that he saith true that you might
believe for these things were done that the scripture might
be fulfilled a bone of him shall not be broken and again another
scripture saith they shall look on him whom they had pierced
verse 38 and after this joseph of arimathea being a disciple
of jesus but secretly for fear of the jews besought Pilate that
he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took
the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus,
which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. Then took they
the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices
as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where
he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new sepulcher,
wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore,
because of the Jews' preparation day, for the sepulcher was nigh
at hand. And my subject tonight is Christ
Crucified, the Fulfillment of Scripture. Christ crucified the
fulfillment of Scripture. Our Lord Jesus lived and died
and was buried in the sure hope of the resurrection glory that
sinners trusting Him might live and die and go to their graves
with the sure hope of resurrection glory with Him. Did you get that? Christ lived and died. He was buried in the sure hope
of the resurrection glory awaiting him. That sinners like you and
I might live and die and go to their graves in the sure hope
of his resurrection glory. So that we might live standing
as it were on the tiptoe of faith. looking unto Jesus Christ for
the mercy of God and eternal life. Now, let me show you seven
things in this portion of scripture I pray that God will inscribe
upon our hearts and let us never forget. Number one, Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures. I would encourage you sometime,
when you sit down to read the four Gospels, that as you get
to the chapters toward the end of the Gospels, dealing with
our Lord's betrayal, His arrest in the garden, His mock trial,
and His crucifixion, that every time you read something done
by Him, that you check the cross-reference, or done with Him, or something
that He did. Check the cross-reference and
go back to the Old Testament where it is referred to. It almost
looks as though the Jews and the soldiers had a Bible in their
hand and they said, now what are we supposed to do next? What
are we supposed to do next? Because God was absolutely in
control. God was absolutely in control. Yes, wicked men, with their wicked
hands, according to their wicked wills, crucified the Lord of
glory, but they did nothing except that which God, before the world
began, determined must be done. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of Him, they took Him down from the cross.
Lord Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures throughout
the biblical accounts of our Lord's crucifixion We read the
things were done to him by the hands of wicked men that the
scripture might be fulfilled We see this clearly stated in
three places here in John 19 verse 24 and 28 and 36 and the
scriptures are set forth plainly let me read to you what was fulfilled
look at verse 24 and They said, therefore, among themselves,
let us not rend it, but cast lots for it. That's told about
his garment. Whose it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled. They parted my raiment among
them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things,
therefore, the soldiers did. Because God said, this is what
you're going to do. Psalm 22 our Savior said they part my
garments among them and cast lots for my vesture in John 19
verse 28 After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished
that the scripture might be fulfilled saith I thirst Listen to his
words in Psalm 69 they gave me also gall for my meat and in
my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink Soldiers said wait, wait, wait
a minute The Prophet David said in Psalm 69. We're supposed to
get some vinegar and give it to him when he's thirsty. Oh
They did what they did to fulfill Scripture because God Absolutely
ruled their thoughts and their deeds though what they did they
did with wicked heart with malice and intent for which they're
responsible All right. Look at verse 36 John 19. I For
these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken.
Way back in Exodus chapter 12, the Lord God gave a beautiful
picture, a type, a representation of our Redeemer and our redemption
in the Passover when God told Israel to take a lamb and to
slay the lamb and eat it. but to not break a single bone
of that land body. Because Christ, our Passover,
is coming to be sacrificed for us. In Numbers chapter 9, they
shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of
it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover, they shall keep
it. Psalm 34, he keepeth all his bones Not one of them is
broken. Zechariah is more specific. He
says, the Lord God, speaking by Zechariah, I will pour upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Now, here
in John 19 are these three specific prophecies. given in Exodus,
Numbers, the Psalms, and Zechariah, which received perfect, precise
accomplishment when our Lord was crucified upon the cursed
tree. I could give you many, many others.
These prophecies tell us that the death of our Savior at Golgotha
was a thing planned, predestined, and promised by God Almighty,
and at last performed according to His will. hundreds of years
before it came to pass, every part of the solemn transaction
arranged in the divine councils and the most minute particulars
were revealed to the prophets. Don't you find that amazing?
the most minute things that you, if you were, if you were writing
a history book, you would have no point mentioning that. Nobody's
interested in casting lots for his garment. Nobody's interested
in why they didn't break his legs. They just didn't break
his legs. We'll just say that. But the scriptures are very precise
and very minute. So that from first to last, this
was a thing accomplished by the purpose of God fulfilling clearly
established known prophecies of the Old Testament, so that
in the highest, fullest sense possible, when Christ died, he
died for our sins according to the scriptures. But why press
that? Because I want you to be comfortable
with this blessed assurance. This book is the book of God. This is God's word. This is God's
word. It is given with such credibility
that it's impossible with reasonable judgment to even question that
fact. The fact is it's impossible to
explain so many accomplishments of specific details by any means
except this. Holy men of God. Spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost and the fact that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God this book Written by so many
men over a period of 1,500 years Written by men most of whom never
knew one another never met one another all tell the same story
and present the same doctrine, and they all do so with no contradiction
of any kind anywhere in the book. That's the stamp of God upon
scripture. To say that these things are
matters or just matters of luck or chance or coincidence is as
preposterous and absurd as it is blasphemous. I know people
talk these days are all caught up with the spiritual stuff, you know. That's
what the world means by spiritual. You've got some dirty old man
sitting on the ground somewhere in the middle of India with a
wrong scraggly beard, and he goes, and he makes a prophecy. And folks, oh, he's such a spiritual
man. Or you turn on television and
you hear about the prophecies of Nostradamus. He wrote way
back yonder, was it in France? Four, five, six hundred years
ago, he wrote that in the year 2000, somewhere there was going
to be a big explosion. Wow, that took a lot of foresight,
didn't it? And people are all excited about
that. And those same people laugh at you. You young people, your
teachers in school, your professors in college, your companions at
work, laugh at you when you tell them this is God's Word and you
believe it. Don't pay any attention to the laughter. The fact is
to deny the absolute inspiration of Holy Scripture is to run totally
contrary to facts that are clearly established. This is God's Word. There is no other rational explanation
for these things being done except that they are the fulfillment
of the divine prophecies of the inspired Word of our God. Why is that so important? Because
we base all our hope on the revelation of God, who has given us the
revelation of his son in his word. And the fact is, if there's
one thing in this book, are you listening to me? If there's
one thing in this book that's not so, the whole thing falls
to the ground. There's one thing. Find just
one thing in this book. It's not so. Everything falls
to the ground. But there's everything in this
book is given with such precise clarity that upon examination
you look at it and you say, there's no other way to understand that.
There's no other way to explain this. The book of God must never
be read merely as a book of human composition. It is the word of
the living God, the infidel who denies it, runs in the face of
reason and credibility. And it doesn't have any ability
to discern anything spiritual. I say this, I'm emphasizing this
because we've got a lot of young people here. And I've been where
you are. And I want you to understand
that those folks who would ridicule the word of God, and then offer
you expressions of moral judgment about right and wrong, or teach
you something that's good or bad. Understand this. That man, that woman, that mother,
that father, that brother, that sister, that teacher, that professor,
that brilliant intellect who doesn't know God has absolutely
no ability and no qualification to think about or express an
opinion about anything moral or spiritual. None whatsoever. None whatever. I get a little
more than angry. Whether it's righteous indignation
or just indignation, I don't know. But I hear folks talk about
something being morally wrong and promote the murder of babies. And they talk about, oh, what
a moral evil it is to kill that lion in Africa. Don't you understand
how absurd that is? In this day, in this day, if
you get caught kicking a dog, they'll send you to jail. But
you can murder your baby in your wife's womb, and they'll pay
you to do it. It's absurd. It's absurd. And the whole world
is absurd who doesn't know God. Their thinking's absurd, their
reason's absurd, their logic is absurd. All right? Here's
the second thing. We must rest our souls upon the
finished work. of our Lord Jesus. We've already
read, and I preached to you last night from verses 28, 29, and
30. We rest our souls upon our Savior's accomplishments. John
records three of our Savior's seven final words as he hung
upon the tree. Let me give them all to you.
Our Savior looked out upon the multitudes, whose hands dripped
with his blood. And he said, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.
Father Don prayed just a little bit ago, our God, God of mercy. Would you listen now, he describes
himself, he delighteth in mercy. Isn't that good? God so delights
in mercy. that when God hangs in our flesh
upon the cursed tree and our hands drip with His blood, He
says, Father, forgive them. They don't know what to do. Our
God and Savior is more ready to forgive sin than we are to
confess it. More ready to be gracious than
we are to seek grace. More ready to show mercy than
we are to seek His mercy. He delights in mercy. Then our
Savior said to the dying thief who said Lord remember me when
you come into your kingdom The Savior looked at that thief That
dying thief What is that? What's a man have to do to be
saved? Tell me what that thief did What did he do? He didn't have
time to show much repentance He didn't have time to reform
his life He didn't have opportunity to go out and serve his neighbor.
What'd he do? He didn't do a thing. And the
Lord Jesus said to him, today, today, shalt thou be with me
in paradise. Oh, what a word of grace. And
then our savior here in John 19, saw his mother standing, watching him. And he
said, woman, behold, I saw. And then he cried, piercing the
darkness, God sent upon the earth, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Quoting the 22nd Psalm. And if
you want to understand why he was forsaken of God, read the
22nd Psalm and understand, Art, the whole Psalm. is our crucified
Savior crying to God as he hangs on the tree. He cries, why have you forsaken
me? He says, Lord, God, my father, there's never been a man in history
who cried to you that you didn't hear. Why have you forsaken me? But your pure eyes that behold
iniquity. And you know my foolishness. My iniquities are not hid from
you. My guiltiness you are fully aware
of. My iniquities greater than the
hairs on my head. They can't be numbered. And I'm
not able to look up. Forsaken because he who knew
no sin would made sin for us. And suffering all the hell of
God's wrath in our stead, he cried, I thirst. And then at
last, When all was done, he said, it's finished. And father, into
thy hand I commend my spirit. Still quoting the scripture.
He suffered the burning thirst of hell in our souls. As though we ourselves suffered
like that dying thief, or that dying rich man who was found
in hell and lifted up his eyes and said, sin Lazarus that he
may just give me just a touch of water
I'm tormented in these flames such hell our Savior suffered
in his soul for us under the wrath of God that we God's chosen The objects of his
everlasting love might forever drink of the cool water of life Flowing from the throne of God
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and we rest
our souls Entirely upon him Entirely upon him When first you come
to God, you can't come to God except you rest your soul only
on Him. And as you walk with God, you
can't walk with God except as you rest your soul entirely on
Him. And as you grow in grace, you
grow in grace only as you rest your soul entirely on Him. Someone
asked an old saint one day, an old country lady, to describe
for him how believers grow in grace and knowledge of our Savior. And she said, it's kind of like
a cow's tail. It's like a cow's tail. What do you mean? She said,
the bigger the cow gets, the closest tail gets to the ground.
And as we grow in grace, we grow down, not up. As we grow in grace,
we grow to know ourselves more clearly for what we are. And what we are is sin. Just sin. My dear friend, Don
Williams, there's not one good thing in us. And the very best
thought we ever had is full of sin. You understand that? If you know God, you do. And
if you don't understand that, you don't know God. I'm just
telling you truth. Believers grow in grace to know
Christ is indeed all. All our wisdom, all our righteousness,
all our sanctification, all our redemption, all our acceptance
with God, all our hope, all our everlasting glory, Christ is
all. Tis done, the great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and he is mine. Him in Christ dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead I Tell him brother clay either
last night or this morning sometime was talking that I said, I don't
understand a lot of stuff I know Here's one of them I know that
that man sitting yonder on the throne of grace is on the throne
of the universe with the reigns of the world in his hands, that
man. That man who lived for me, died for me, arose for me, and
sat down in heaven for me, that man in a body like this, in his
body resides all the totality of the triune God. In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. That is astounding. Let me give you something even
more astounding. The next word. And you are complete in Him. All the fullness of that God-man
who sits on the throne as our mediator is yours in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Alright, here's the third thing. Our Lord Jesus really did die
under the wrath of God. He died under the wrath of God
as our substitute. He didn't just faint. He didn't
just swoon away. He didn't just sort of go into
a coma and rise again. No, no, he really died as our
substitute. It was late in the afternoon.
The Jews' Sabbath day began immediately after sunset. So they urged Pilate
to break the legs of the crucified, so as to hasten their death before
sunset, so the bodies could be taken down from the crosses before
the Sabbath began. Dead bodies hanging on crosses,
by the law of God in Deuteronomy 21, were a curse, and that would
defile those men and their religious ceremonies. And they didn't want
to be defiled in keeping their Sabbath. You talk about a good picture
of religious people. I've been around a little while.
And the meanest people I've ever met in my life, the most dishonest
people I've ever met in my life, the most cunning, crafty people
I've ever dealt with in my life are religious people. Religious
people who don't know God. Mean, mean, mean. These Jews
thought nothing of crucifying the Son of God. He said, well,
pastor, they didn't realize the Son of God. I know they didn't.
I know they didn't. But they did know he was a man
perfectly innocent, who had done nothing but good, and they couldn't
even conjure up a fault to charge him with. And they thought nothing,
because of their hatred of him, in a mob crowd of gathering against
him, spitting in his face, demanding his execution in the place of
a criminal like Barabbas, crying, let his blood be on us. We don't
care. Put him to death. But we don't want to defile ourselves
on the Sabbath day. What hypocrisy. What hypocrisy. And I'm going to tell you something
about folks in false religion. They live in constant hypocrisy,
deceiving themselves and being deceived. They live in hypocrisy. So, preach, you can't say they're
all hypocrites. Yeah, they're sincere hypocrites. They're sincere
hypocrites. Let me give you another example.
Do you realize that after Solomon's temple was destroyed, and after
the Babylonian captivity, all of the furnishings in the tabernacle,
the showbread table, golden candlestick, mercy seat, and the Ark of the
Covenant. Do you realize those things were
never found? They rebuilt the temple, but they didn't have
any of those things. But every year, now listen to
me, every year for 400 years, that man who was the high priest
of Israel that year went back there behind the veil where there
was no mercy seat. and no work of the covenant and
pretended to keep the Passover sacrifice. For 400 years, they
all faked it just to maintain their status quo and religious
power. It's called hypocrisy. So these
soldiers came at the insistence of the Jews and broke the legs
of the two thieves. But when they came to the Lord
Jesus, these experienced, hardened soldiers realized he was dead
already, so they didn't break his legs. Not out of compassion
for him, as you'll see in the next verses, but they did it
and were compelled by God's purpose and God's providence not to break
his legs. Because God said, not a bone
of him shall be broken. Can you imagine one of them just
even hesitating to come along with a mallet, crushing legs?
They wouldn't even look at him. But they did this time. Well,
he's already dead. Let's not pick up the hammer
again. Let's leave the mallet. We'll go to the next fellow.
Look at verses 34 and follow it. One of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side. forthwith came
there out blood and water John said I saw it. I bear record
is true. I know what I'm saying is true that you might believe
These things were done over 36 that the scripture might be fulfilled
a bone of him shall not be broken and again Another scripture saith
they shall look on him whom they have pierced That soldier walked by and they
said, he's dead already. Good enough for him. And shoved
the spear in his eye. How come he did that? To demonstrate
beyond dispute that this man hanging on that cross is indeed
dead. And forthwith came out water
and blood, water by which we're washed in sanctification, the
spirit of God and blood by which we're redeemed in free justification,
the blood of God's darling son. This is a matter of great importance. The scriptures fulfilled that
we may look on him whom we have pierced. Though that reckless
hardened Roman soldier Never dreamed of it. Though he never dreamed of it.
Can you imagine, Cyril, a thing more vile, more wicked, more
detestable than for a man who's been there now all afternoon
into the near sunset hours? engaged in the mock trial from
the night before, spitting on the Savior's face, beating him,
dragging him through the streets of Jerusalem, hanging upon the
cursed tree, laughing at him, spitting in his face, spitting
in his face, pulling out his beard, spitting in his face,
beating him with his fist, and now he's dead. Now he's dead. What? I can't hurt him anymore.
So he takes his spear and shoves it into his eye. Can you imagine
anything more wicked? Can you imagine anything more
wicked? Understand now, though this soldier knew nothing of
it, he was as surely the servant of our God as the angel Gabriel. As surely the servant of our
God as John the Baptist himself. Not a willing servant, not even
a knowing servant, but servant nonetheless. the king's heart,
and every other man's heart is in the hands of the Lord, he
turns it like rivers of water, whithersoever he will." That
means, I just saw you start to bite your fingernail, God ordained
that. And you did it because God gave
you the strength to put your hands in your mouth. You understand
that? You've been preaching God rules
the thoughts of all men? That's what the book says. God
rules the actions of all men? That's what the book says. Either
God rules everywhere and everything, or God rules nowhere and rules
nothing. There's no in between ground.
There's no in between ground. You either control totally, or
you don't control. I plan tomorrow. Get done preaching. We'll have lunch together. I
think that's on the schedule. And then I'll probably spend
a little time over at Curtis' house. Along about three o'clock,
we'll take off and go to Philadelphia. And I'll get on an airplane and
fly back to Lexington. Get in my truck, drive home,
get home about midnight tomorrow night. That's my plans. That's
my plans. And I like to be in control.
Man, I like to be in control. If they'd let me, I'd fly the
plane. I don't even know how to fly. But I like to be in control. It's a guy thing. But I've lived 65 years now,
and I realized I don't control anything. Nothing. We were driving back from the
motel over to Clay's house tonight, and some gal came off the freeway,
came across the lane. I don't think she looked. She
was talking on the telephone. And when she nearly ran us off
the road, I don't think she even realized we were there. And when
we pulled up behind her, she still hadn't known it yet. What kept
everyone else off the road? Just God controls. That's all. That's all. We think we control
because look at that. Look how steady his hand is.
He can control that glass of water. I can't even control the
hand that holds it. God either controls everybody
and everything all the time or God controls no one and controls
nothing. There's no in between ground.
We worship God in control. Oh, God, teach me to trust you
as God in control, always, all the time, doing exactly what
you will for the glory of your name and the good of your people.
This reckless, hardened soldier was God's servant. As is Satan
himself, but the vassal of our God God's not in competition
with the devil God's not in competition with evil God's in control of
the devil and God's in control of evil All right. Here's the
fourth thing the crucified Lamb of God Who was pierced Crucified Lamb of God who was
pierced is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness Turn back
just a few pages to Zechariah's prophecy Zechariah go back to
Matthew then Malachi then Zechariah Zechariah chapter 13 When the
soldier pierced his side there came out water and blood and
John tells us this record is true. It's the fulfillment of
this prophecy. Christ is the fountain open for
sin and uncleanness. Zechariah 13, verse 1. In that
day, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. for sin and uncleanness. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and
power. All right, here's the fifth thing.
The man, Christ Jesus, is himself God. If you compare John's statement
in verse 37 with the prophecy back here in Zechariah, you're
still there? Zechariah chapter 12. You can't fail to see that God
the Holy Spirit here again gives us one of those sweet, subtle
declarations of our Savior's divinity. Listen to John 19.37
and hold your hands to Zechariah 12 in just a second. Again another
scripture saith they shall look on him whom they pierced now
John 1937 is talking about our Savior that soldier had just
pierced him and John said the scriptures fulfilled they should
look on him whom they pierced and look in Zechariah 12 verse
10 and Hear the Lord God speak And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and the supplications Now what does it say? Have you got it? They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. That man hanging yonder. bearing our sin in his body on
the tree, that man hanging yonder, suffering all the furious wrath
of God in our stead, that man, that man dying with thirst and
fever and pain and agony, that man forsaken of God, that man,
he's God, he's God. Well might the sun in darkness
hide and shut his glories in when God The mighty maker died
for man the creature sin Number six And I want you to hear this and
hear it well Our Savior the Lord Jesus Has
many disciples in this world Unknown to you and unknown to
me There are many who boldly and confidently assert that they
know who God's people are. I had a preacher's wife tell
me one time, she said, I can tell a believer by looking at
him. I said, do what? I can look at a person and tell
them what not to say. I said, you're badly mistaken. Many,
however, confidently think they can make such judgments. They're
not hesitant to denounce those who do not agree with them about
one thing or another as being reprobate unbelievers. They don't hesitate to denounce
as Pharisees and hypocrites folks who don't meet their measure.
I mean, don't measure up to their own measuring stick. You know
what I mean by that? See the little boys, start to
grow a little bit. My grandson used to come to house. He's 6'2 now, 14 years old, but
he used to be shorter than Nana, and she's not real tall. And
we'd measure him. Every time he'd come, he'd stand
up and stretch out as tall as he could, hoping to get me 5
feet tall. Just stretch out as tall as he could, measuring himself
by his own yardstick. And once you get up so big, you
know, one of these days, you'll be as big as I am. They measure
other folks by themselves. And folks who don't measure up,
they denounce as Pharisees and hypocrites and reprobates. They
tell us a true believer won't do this. A child of God, he couldn't be
a child of God and go there. He couldn't be one of God's elect
and behave like that. That's not possible. A man who
knows God wouldn't follow that path. I've actually had folks
ask me, I've had preachers ask me, do you think Solomon was
saved? And they were serious. Well,
let's see, I think, I think he was a man whose name was given
by God, Jedediah, beloved of the Lord. I think, I think he
wrote a book of remarkable wisdom called Proverbs. I think he wrote
another book of great, great spiritual instruction called
Ecclesiastes. Yeah? And that same man Solomon
wrote perhaps that portion of Holy Scripture that is more clearly focused on the believer's
union with Christ and walk with Christ than any other portion
of scripture called the Song of Solomon. Yeah, I believe he
was saved, don't you? I reckon he knew God. Others have said they were just
sure that Joseph of Arimathea was a lost man and Nicodemus
was a lost man because they were secret disciples. A man's a believer,
he wouldn't be a secret disciple. But God the Holy Ghost tells
us that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were disciples,
followers of Christ, and they proved it. When all the rest of the disciples
forsook the Savior, when Peter denied him, Joseph stepped forth. What a time to stand forward. And Nicodemus came with him.
And they said to Pilate, who had just ordered his execution,
at the demand of the Sanhedrin, of whom Nicodemus and Joseph
had been apart all their adult lives, they said, would you let
us have his body, so we can go and do for him that which ought
to be respectfully done for our God, our Savior, and our Redeemer. I say that because I want you
to understand. All who trust Christ are born
of God. But Pastor, I have so much sin
in my life. I'd be real concerned for you
if you weren't aware of that. Kevin, if you weren't aware of
the corruption of your heart, I'd be real concerned for you.
Oh, but Brother Don, you don't know what I've done. I've behaved
all right, but you don't Oh, you don't know what goes on in
here. I'm ashamed to tell you, but
I must tell you, yes, I do. I do know what goes on in here.
I do. And the man talking to you never feels very safely. and never, never, never feels
very close to God. That's just fact. That's just
fact. A heart colder than ice and harder
than steel. Most of the time. Most of the
time. I try to pray and don't know
how to pray. I pray for you. I call your name before God.
And most of the time, I just repeat words. Oh, God, forgive me. And thank you. Oh, God, thank
you for the blessed assurance that you have. He who trusts Christ. Not he who trusts Christ and
does good. Not he who trusts Christ and
behaves like you ought to. Not he who trusts Christ and
doesn't mess things up. The sinner who trusts Christ
is born of God. And you and I are to treat them
as Christ himself. Let each esteem other Better
than himself. Better than himself. Brother Robbie, I don't know
you real well, but you trust Christ. You believe
the Son of God. That's what you profess. I take
you at your word. That means when I think of Robbie,
when I speak of Robbie, When I do to Robbie anything, I am
to do so as Christ the Lord himself. As speaking of him, thinking
of him, and doing to him. Esteem him as Christ. Is that
what the book says? Is that what it says? It ought to teach us
to bite our tongue, shouldn't it? As Christ. Esteem the other
better than himself. How can you do that? I know that
man. If he believes Christ, he's perfect
and righteous and holy as God's own son. He's in Christ. And I don't know what's going
on inside him right now. But I do know what's going on
inside me. And I'm compelled to esteem him more highly than
myself. Let me give you some examples.
Bad things believers have done revealed to us in this book for
a reason Aaron God's high priest Moses spokesman Moses mouthpiece
on one occasion told the children of Israel to bring him all their
gold and He made golden calves And they kept to feast to Jehovah,
dancing naked like a bunch of Indians in Africa around the
golden calf and called it worshiping God. That was God's high priest. Solomon, that man, oh, oh, Solomon, oh, Solomon, I wish,
I pray, God will give me some insight into your character and
your knowledge of God. The Queen of Sheba said, the
half has not been told. She's talking about just carnal
things. The half has not yet even been considered by us of
the wisdom God gave Solomon. But Solomon, that man Solomon
loved many women. And he went to the temple and
out in the woods and on the hillsides to the altars of idols. and worshiped
with his wives as Solomon. Peter. Ah, I'd like to be half
the man Peter was. Folks, talk about Peter. I wish
I, I'd just, I'd give my right arm, I really would, to be half
the man he was. Can you imagine what it's like
to take on a garrison of Roman soldiers with a pocket knife?
That's what he did in the garden. He took out his sword. He had
sword about that long, just a fisherman's knife. Took it, ready to die
with the master. But then he denied him. And you'd think he had learned
his lesson, but at Antioch, he sided with the Judaizers. Paul, oh, what a remarkable man
Paul was. After a while, he got tired.
the battle He says enough It came to Jerusalem
James said now Paul We understand your doctrine wins then that's
good doctrine and all that and that's good enough down there
Galatia and over Ephesus and over Corinth among those Gentiles
but but here we've got some brethren who think you ought to keep the
law and If you want to really have a good minister here, you
need to take yourself a Jewish vow shave your head with these
brethren And I could almost picture Paul, give me a razor, I'm tired of
it. And he took a Jewish vow. That man who declared Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believed. John,
John, John, John, who wrote this epistle,
the disciple whom Jesus loved the way he described himself.
John, on one occasion fell at the feet of an angel to worship
him. Yes, Joseph of Arimathea and
Nicodemus remained among the Pharisees for a long time, but
they were truly the Lord's disciples. And God, our Savior, has countless
disciples unknown to you and me. Our business is not to try
to separate wheat from chaff and sheep from goats. Our business
is to feed the sheep. Our business is to preach the
gospel of God's grace and leave the separation to God. One last
thing and I'll be done. We bury our dead in hope of the
resurrection. Our Savior's body was buried
in the tomb of a rich man. Joseph of Arimathea in anticipation
of his resurrection, because our Savior said, Thou wilt show
me the path of life. Thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell. My flesh shall rest in hope.
And after three days, I'll revive and rise again. Our Savior was
buried, Joseph Nicodemus, gave him an honorable burial. So that scriptures that seem
to be contradictory say they can't both be true. He should
be numbered with the transgressors. And he shall make his grave with
the wicked and with the rich in his death. Well, that's contradictory. That's contradictory. Well, God
has a way of demonstrating himself God so that folks have to be
laughed at when they deny him. Joseph of Arimathea was a filthy
rich man. He had scads of money. There,
close to the city, he had a tomb that nobody had ever been buried
in. Dead corpse had never been put
in there and he came to pilot with some measure apparently
of authority with another wealthy Jew named Nicodemus and they
took the body of our Lord and Treated his body with such honor
They wrapped him and they anointed him and they perfumed his body
Preparing him for burial and took him and laid him in the
tomb I'm often asked, should I be buried or cremated? The
scriptures don't tell us. But let me tell you what the
scriptures do tell us. You see this body here? Christ redeemed
me, body, soul, and spirit. And he's coming again in resurrection
glory to raise these bodies from the dust of death. Well, I don't
care what you do to me when I die. Well, I don't much care, but
I would rather you didn't just dig a hole through me in the
ground. So you dig a hole through me in the ground. Christ redeemed
this body, this flesh. He redeemed it. And he's going
to come for it one of these days. And our Lord was buried with
honor because he deserved it. And we bury our dead with honor
to give them honor. But more than that, We bury them. Because soon, Christ is coming. And the trump of God shall sound. And this is the one time, just
one time in scripture, and the only place I've ever found in
the word of God, where one believer has precedence over another.
In the house of God, no precedence. Neither male nor female, bond
nor free, Jew nor Gentile, learned or unlearned, rich nor poor,
doesn't matter in here. Doesn't matter in here. But one
place where one group of believers has precedence over another,
the dead in Christ shall rise first. When our Lord comes, Those
who have gone with him to glory before he comes in his glory
shall precede us who are alive and remain under the coming of
the Lord. We who are gods bury our dead
in the sure hope of the resurrection soon. These bodies shall rise
again and my with these eyes with these eyes, I'm going to
see my Redeemer. And that's our hope. Amen.