The collection taken here today
is for the support of the Oaktree Homes Trust. Let us commence our service by
singing together hymn number 1123. The tune is Rockingham
398. Stretched on the cross, the Saviour dies. Hark! His expiring
groans arise. see from his hands his feet his
side runs down the sacred crimson tide hymn 1123 tune rockingham
398 Search upon the cross the Saviour
lies. ? Happy is he that findeth the
words of life ? ? Seeing from his hands is where he is found
? ? How shall I sing the hymns of
joy? ? ? How can I contend each dreadful
sound? ? ? And the root of every living
thing ? ? The light of day ? ? How pretty it was to see ? ? Through summer, winter, spring
? ? Surprised in grace ? ? Echoes
repose ? ? Still the angels cry ? ? O come all ye faithful ? O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the
world, ? Let me go free ? ? And go on
the road ? ? And let my cross ? ? Never prevail ? ? Then follow to the hour of grace
? ? The pilgrims know thy glory now ? ? Till all is calm ? ?
And spirit mild ? ? Jehovah it was ? ? At the beginning too
? Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the gospel according to John and chapter
19. John's Gospel, chapter 19, and
we'll read down to verse 37. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus
and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple
robe and said, Hi, O King of the Jews. and they smote him
with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again,
and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may
know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate saith unto them,
Behold the man, When the chief priest therefore and officers
saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, take
ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered
him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die. because
he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the judgment
hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus
answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me except
it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me
unto thee hath the greatest sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought
to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,
if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever
maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore
heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the
judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in
the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of
the Passover, and about the sixth hour, and he said unto the Jews,
Behold your King. And they cried out, away with
him, away with him, crucify him.' Pilate said unto them, Shall
I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We
have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him
away. And he bearing his cross went
forth into a place called The Place of a Skull, which is called
in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other
with him on either side, one and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate
wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many
of the Jews for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh
to the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priests of
the Jews to Pilate, write not the King of the Jews, but that
he said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I
have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts
to every soldier a part, and also his coat. Now the coat was
without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore
among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it,
whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which said,
they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they
did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers
did. Now there stood by the cross
of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciples 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. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
which saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon
his head. and put it to his mouth. When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished,
and bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore,
because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain
upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was
an 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 the first and of the other which was crucified
with him. And when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith
came thereout blood and water. And he that saw it bare record,
and his record is true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that
ye might believe. For these things were done that
the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith,
they shall look on him whom they pierced. May the Lord bless the
reading of his most precious word and grant to us a spirit
of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we do desire to bow before thy
glorious majesty. We desire, O Lord, to thank thee
on this day for the remembrance of those tremendous things that
took place at Jerusalem, over 2,000 years ago. We come to thank
Thee for Jesus, the Son of God. We thank Thee for that wonderful
glory of the incarnation of the Son of God. And we thank Thee
for the wonderful glory of the holy, sinless life of Jesus,
the Son of God, and thereby bringing in everlasting righteousness
for His people. We come, Lord, to remember and
to thank Thee for that tremendous act of sacrifice when He offered
Himself, Jesus, the Son of God, in that one glorious offering.
For by one offering He hath perfected forever all them that are sanctified. O most gracious Lord, lead us
by thy spirit, hear the prayer of our opening hymn, that thou
would soften our hearts and strengthen us in the spirit of the inner
man and grant that spirit of faith that we may lay hold of
that hope that is set before us in our crucified saviour,
our hope in that precious sin atoning blood that was shed at
Calvary. Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Oh, we pray that today, as we
gather together around thy word, that the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God our Father and the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon us. We thank thee
that he died for our sins and rose again for our justification. and is now bodily ascended into
heaven and sitteth at thy right hand, that glorious Saviour,
that great Redeemer, who has the power of an endless life,
who has said, because I live, ye shall live also. We thank
thee that death has been swallowed up in victory and life and immortality
has been brought to light in the gospel. Gracious God, fill
our hearts with a solemn gratitude for what Jesus has done. The
law has been fulfilled and magnified and honoured in his glorious
person. Divine justice has been satisfied
in that holy sacrifice of Calvary where sin has been put away and
divine justice has been satisfied and God and sinners are reconciled
and peace is made between God and man. and a new and living
way is made into the holy place. Gracious God, we do thank thee
then, as we gather together around thy precious word, we pray that
thou wouldst bless us as a church, as a congregation, and bless
each one that gathers with us today, and grant that the word
may be a living word that we may be enabled to witness as
the dear apostle did, for our gospel came unto you not in word
only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance. Blessed Holy Divine Spirit, we
pray for thy heavenly power. We pray for thy divine unction.
Nothing can be done without thee. Dwell therefore in our hearts,
we do humbly pray thee. grant that living witness in
our souls, and grant us precious faith to lay hold of Jesus Christ,
convince us of our sin, and lead to Jesus' blood, and to our wandering
eyes reveal the secret love of God. We pray for those divine
drawings of our heavenly Father, for none come except the Father
draw. And there I said, whatsoever
ye ask in my name, I will do it. So we come to our eternal
Father, and we ask that thou wouldst bless us here this day,
that thou wouldst pour forth thy Spirit, that thou wouldst
open the word of truth. We do humbly beseech of thee. We pray that the Lord Jesus may
come and stand in our midst, and that we may behold his glory.
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Oh, do hear us, O Lord, we pray
thee, for thy great namesake. Remember our brethren the deacons.
Give needed wisdom, grace, and help in all matters. Remember
each one of our brethren and sisters in Christ. Remember us
with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people. Visit us with
thy great salvation. O Lord, we do beseech Thee. We're
unworthy of the least of Thy tender mercies, for we all have
sinned and come short of Thy glory. Oh, but do come and open
Thy word and open our hearts to receive it. We do humbly beseech
of Thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that Thou wouldst visit every longing, hungry soul Bring those
in darkness into light. Bring those in bondage into liberty. Bring those that are far off
to thy footstool, O Lord, we do humbly pray thee. Let the
word of the Lord have free course and thy name be honoured and
glorified. Bless the little ones and the
children. Bless them with the fear of the Lord, which is the
beginning of wisdom. Bless each one of our young friends
with that rich grace that is in Christ Jesus. Bless them with
light and understanding in thy word. Bless them with faith in
Jesus Christ. Bless them, O Lord, in life's
journey. Unfold thy holy mind and will. Grant them a partner in life's
journey. We do humbly pray thee. Oh, do
heal us, Lord, Remember the prodigals that have wandered away and stretch
out thy almighty arm and cause them to return. Gather them in
among thy people, O Lord, we beseech thee. Let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. O Lord of
hosts, O God of Israel, O thou that dwellest between the cherubim,
shine forth. We do humbly beseech thee and
let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the son of
man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. Gracious God, we
do pray that thou would remember parents and give them grace and
wisdom to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. And oh Lord, we do pray that
thou would bless all in the midst of the journey of life. Bless
them O Lord, with light and understanding, and the spirit of wisdom and
understanding. Gracious God, incline thine ear,
we humbly pray thee. Remember those of us that are
in the evening time of life's journey. Prepare us for that
great change which must come. We do humbly beseech thee. We pray that the glory and light
and power of the gospel may shine into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. Many, many precious souls may
yet be gathered in that we may see a building, a renewing, a
reviving, a replenishing in the church of God. Remember all thy
servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of
Zion. Set them free, set them at liberty, Grant that gracious
determination to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. And though, Lord, we live in
such solemn days, when the power of Antichrist is seen and so
prevalent and sin runs down our streets, unrighteousness abounds
on every hand. And yet, Lord, on this day, millions
and millions and millions of people are gathering to remember
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Oh Lord work mightily, work powerfully,
work effectually, pour forth thy spirit undeserving as we
are that we may see thy work and thy power and thy glory as
thou usest to be in the sanctuary. We do thank thee, O Lord, for
every mercy of thy kind providence. We do thank thee for all thy
goodness that has passed before us in the way. We do pray for
truly thankful hearts for thy word. This is the word by which
the gospel is preached unto you. Come and touch one's lips with
a live cold, from off the heavenly altar, come and breathe thy word
into our hearts. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 815, The tune is St. Cross, 404. Jesus, when on the bloody tree,
he hung through soul and body pierced, that all things might
accomplish be, contained in scripture, said, I thirst. Hymn 815, tune
St. Cross, 404. and four. ? In the midst of the world ? ?
I'll be with you ? ? God keep its praise ? ? God keep
its praise ? ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? ? O'er the land of the free and the home
of the brave? ? ? Alleluia, alleluia ? ? Alleluia, alleluia ? ? Let us wish upon a star and pray
? ? Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ? ? Tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss,
tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, tiss, ? Hail, Lord of glory, Christ
the Lord! ? ? The Lord reigneth with glory
evermore. ? ? And in the home sweet Christ
was born ? ? Christ, our God, at thy birth
was born ? ? Still in earthly tombs ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's ? The King and Queen ? ? And all
His people ever peace ? ? And all His ancestors ever praise
? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Paul's epistle
to the Galatians. chapter 6 and we'll read verse
14 for our text Galatians chapter 6 verse 14
and God but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. But God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives the Lord Jesus Christ
here what we might say his full title. Sometimes we read Jesus,
sometimes we read Jesus Christ, but here we read the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the eternal son of the eternal
father. Indeed, as we've read together
in John's Gospel, it was the chief accusation of the jews
against the lord jesus when they crucified him he made himself
the son of god they could not receive him they
could not receive him as the messiah they could not receive
him as the son of god they could not receive him as the redeemer
of mankind And as we read in Isaiah 53,
he was despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. And the wonder of wonders is,
my beloved friend, this just shows the awful depravity and
sinfulness of man by nature. You might say, what does it reveal? Here was a man that lived a life
that was holy, and pure, and righteous, and loving, and kind,
and compassionate. He went about doing good. He
healed men and women, boys and girls of their diseases. He made
the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He had compassion, constantly
and continually. So what is it that they hated?
in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's that
very thing, my beloved friends, that they hated. Light is coming
to the world. Jesus said, I am the light of
the world. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in your hearts with the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. and that is what they hated,
the light. You might say, why did they hate
it? Because that pure, that holy,
that gracious life of our Lord Jesus Christ exposed their wickedness
and their evil and their unrighteousness and they rose up in hatred against
the glorious person, the pure the holy, righteous person. You
know, I often quote to you Psalm 37 and verse 37. I quote it because
it speaks of the glory of Christ. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright for the end of that man is peace. That man, my beloved
friends, is Jesus Christ. Mark the perfect man. Behold
the upright for the end of that man is peace You see my beloved
friends our poor sinful wretched human nature You find it in particular with
Jews, but you find it in the Gentiles too. We found it in
our own hearts in our own experience We love to be able to say we've
done something Look what I have done. Look at
my good works. And we like to look upon our
own righteousness. But you know, as we have in our
text, but God forbid, the eyes of glory save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. We're not to glory in anything
else. but the cross of Christ. Not
by works, the apostle says, doesn't he, when he writes to Titus,
not by works of righteousness that I have done, but according
to his abundant mercy. That abundant mercy that flows
from the cross of Calvary. That abundant grace that flows
from Calvary, where the lamb was slain, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. That is what we
see in the cross of Christ. But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of
glory. We read, do we not in scripture,
who is this King of glory? It's Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ,
the King of Glory, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. You know all the worth, dignity
and power of the life, of the sufferings, of the death, of
the resurrection, of the ascension of Christ is in this. He is the
eternal Son of God. That is the foundation of our
faith. It is a fundamental doctrine of our most holy faith that Jesus
Christ is the eternal Son of God. There are two terms that are used in Holy Scripture
speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the one hand, he's called
the Son of God. He's declared to be the Son of
God with power. And on the other hand, he's called
the son of man. The son of man. That is what
David is referring to in Psalm 80, when he says, let thy hand
be upon the man of thy right hand. He's speaking there prophetically
of Christ at the right hand of the Father. Let thy hand be upon
the man of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest
strong for thyself. He's the Son of God, He's the
Son of Man. On the one hand, the term or
the name, the Son of God, highlights His divinity, that He is indeed
the Eternal Son of God. On the other hand, the term,
the Son of Man, highlights His humanity, that He became a real
man, a real man. You know, friends, as we look
at these sacred doctrinal truths, and they are sacred and they
are precious. You know, it's wearisome sometimes when some
people, when the minister preaches a doctrinal sermon and they say,
dry doctrine cannot save us. They're totally misunderstanding
what Joseph Hart meant in that statement. Completely misunderstanding. Doctrine isn't dry in and of
itself. Martin Luther said doctrine is
heaven. The precious doctrine of truth.
It's heaven. And when you experience it in
your soul, and that is what we need, the experience of the doctrine
in our hearts. Not just any old experience.
You know, you go into Pentecostal churches and they can talk to
you much of Christian experience, but when you listen to a lot
of it, it's completely detached from Jesus Christ. It's completely
detached from a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Any experience
that doesn't lead you to Christ, don't put it down as Christian
experience. Real, true Christian experience
will bring you to the foot of the cross. It will bring you
to Jesus Christ. It will make the blood of Christ
precious. It will make the righteousness
of Christ precious. Real, true experience brings
us into union and communion with Jesus Christ. That's real experience. You know, we often hear of sanctification,
and it's often said when somebody gets into a lot of trouble and
trial, and we feel for them, and they say, may the Lord sanctify
him. Now what does it mean to be sanctified? I think some people have a funny
idea of what it means to be sanctified. It means to be brought into union
and communion with Christ. The Apostle speaks, doesn't he,
about fellowship in his sufferings. That is when we are brought into
perhaps affliction, providential troubles, trials, perplexities,
family troubles, church troubles, business troubles, whatever those
troubles might be, when it brings us, by the inward teaching of
the Spirit, to the end of ourselves. And that is what the Apostle
means when he says, being crucified. to be crucified. Let's think
of what it is to be crucified. It's an extremely painful thing. And sometimes the Lord's people
have extremely painful things they have to walk in. But when that is sanctified,
it brings us into union with Christ. You can't separate Sanctification
in Christ. So when something brings us to
the feet of Jesus, when something humbles us under his mighty hand,
when we have to walk in these temptations and trials, and when
it brings us to Jesus, and when we have a little fellowship,
when we're humbled under the mighty hand of God and we have
fellowship with Christ. But God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's one
thing, my beloved friends, and I believe I do know a little
of it experimentally, there's one thing the Lord has taught
me, when you come truly in faith to the cross of Christ, to that
suffering Saviour, there is no room there for pride, none whatsoever. And therefore the Holy Spirit,
prior to that, has brought you to feel your own wretchedness, your own emptiness, your own
poverty, your own insufficiency, your own sinfulness. And those
things will truly, truly humble you in the dust of self-abasement. And then you will understand
these words of the dear apostle experimentally. But God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's as much as to say, it says
in another place, doesn't it? This is all my salvation. This
is all my salvation. It's in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, the amazing thing is, in
the sufferings of Christ, is that He, Jesus the Son of God,
holy, was pure, was righteous. As the Bible says he did no sin
and there's something very significant in that he did no sin because
in the first epistle of John we read this and it's a definition
of what sin is. Sin is any transgression of the
law of God that holy righteous law of the Ten Commandments.
Sin is any transgression of the law of God. To transgress, the
idea behind the word transgression is just an illustration of a
field with a fence or a hedge all the way around it which keeps
the livestock in the field and stops wild animals getting into
the field as well. And that's the idea behind the
word transgression. Now the boundary, because that's
the idea behind it, it's a boundary. Now God has put a boundary around
man. And that boundary is his holy
righteous law. And if we break that boundary,
we transgress it. If we break God's holy law and
the Apostle James he says in his epistle that if we break
one of God's holy laws then we break all. We are a transgressor
and the word of God declares cursed is every man that doeth
not all things that is written in the book of the law to do
them. The hymn writer takes up that point doesn't he? cursed
be the man forever cursed that does one willful sin commit but
this man that we have in our text our Lord Jesus Christ this
man he did no sin now again if we look at the holy law of God it's true it says thou shalt
not shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, etc. But it's not
only all negative, it says thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, and thy neighbour as thyself.
Indeed the Lord Jesus Christ has said that to the young man
that came to him, didn't he? Keeping the commandments of God. Do you? Do I? Do we keep God's
commandments like Jesus did in thought, word and deed? That's
the example in Holy Scripture. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. He did no sin, he never transgressed
the law of God in thought or word or deed. But not only that,
He loved his neighbour as himself. That's what the law declares.
And he did. He loved his neighbour as himself. He went about doing good. Healing,
restoring, renewing, replenishing the love that Jesus Christ had. Joseph Hart says in one of his
hymns, full of love to man's lost race, that's Jesus Christ. Full of love to man's lost race. Jesus wouldn't walk past a beggar
and not give him anything. Nor would he walk past somebody
that was in great need to not help him. That's all part of the life of
Christ and the fulfilling of the holy law of God. Compassion, love and kindness. And Jesus was full of compassion,
love and kindness. He was. In that holy life he
lived, in that holy law he fulfilled. The law was made for man, so
when the Son of God became a man, in that profound mystery of godliness, he was made of a woman and made
under the law. And that was all divinely decreed
by God before the foundation of the world. that the Son of
God, in that profound mystery, would become a man. He would
take into union, with his divine nature, a wholly human nature. When the Lord Jesus was coming
to the time of his sufferings and sorrows, he said, to this
end was I born and for this cause came I into the world. You see,
my beloved friends, the Son of God in his divine nature could
not suffer. The Son of God in his divine
nature could not be tempted of evil. It says so in scripture,
God cannot be tempted of evil. The Son of God in his divine
nature could not suffer death. God is eternal, could not suffer
death. But in that profound mystery
of godliness, of God manifest in the flesh, he could suffer, he could bleed, he could die,
he could suffer temptation. He took all our, when he became
a man, he took all our sinless infirmities. It's recorded in
scripture, how he was weary. He sat by the well being weary. He thirsted. He hungered. He knew all those things. They
are what are known as the sinless infirmities of our nature. And
the Son of God, when He became a man, He knew all those sinless
infirmities in His nature. He suffered great temptation.
He did. But in that holy life, in that
perfect life, The law was fulfilled and honoured and magnified by
our Lord Jesus Christ. What you can't do, what I can't
do, Jesus has done. Jesus has done. He will, it says
in Isaiah 42, He will magnify the law and make it honourable. And that is exactly what Jesus
has done in that holy, sinless, spotless life. He's magnified
the law and made it honourable. And then as he comes to the close
of that life, he then offers that holy, sinless
life, the sacred person of the Son of God offered a holy,
righteous sacrifice. And this is important. You might
say, why is it important? Because the sacrifice to redeem
the Church had to be pure and holy. The only sacrifice acceptable
to the Father was a pure and holy sacrifice. We We sin because
we're sinners. We're born that way. We're all
born in sin, we're shaped in iniquity. And there could have
been tens of thousands of the finest specimens of the sons
of men crucified. Not one of them would atone for
sin. Two men were crucified with Jesus Christ. Their crucifixion couldn't do
anything. But the crucifixion of Jesus,
the Son of God, it redeemed the church. It was
acceptable to the Father because it was holy. It satisfied all the demands
of divine justice because it was holy. I mean the dignity
and the worth of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is in
that he is the Son of God and that makes that sacrifice of
infinite worth. We read in Hebrews chapter 9
and in the first 10 verses the apostle he speaks of the rites
and the sacrifices of the old dispensation and how they were
figures or types of what Christ was to do but then in verse 11
he says but Christ being come and high priest of good things
to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle now the tabernacle
in the wilderness was beautifully typical of Jesus Christ the son
of God The outward adornments of that tabernacle were badger
skins. There was nothing glorious in
that sense. It represents the humanity of
the Son of God, those badger skins. But inside, inside was
the golden mercy, the golden cherubins of glory, the sprinkling of the blood of
the sacrifice and the Lord said there will I meet with thee.
Now gold in that typical sense represents deity. See how in
the tabernacle we see then both the deity and the humanity of
Christ. And when he says here a greater
and more perfect tabernacle in John chapter 1 we read and the
word became flesh and dwelt among us. That word dwelt there in
John 1 is often translated tabernacled. It's the dwelling place of God,
he tabernacled. God said when the tabernacle
was raised and the high priest went in, there will I meet with
thee, that precious blood that was sprinkled seven times, there
will I meet with thee, there will I commune with thee from
off the golden mercy And so it beautifully speaks
of Christ. The blood of the sacrifice typifies
the blood of Christ. It's pure, it's holy. And the
Son of God tabernacled or dwelt among us as a man. But Christ
being common high priest of good things to come by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle, that's his holy human nature, not made
with hands, that say, not of this building, neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. I love those words, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, now I do
not believe, I wouldn't be absolute on it, but I do not believe that
refers to the Holy Ghost. I believe that refers to the
divine nature of the Son of God. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself the Son
of God? You know, under the Levitical
dispensation there was an altar and then there was a sacrifice
on the altar. They were distinct from each
other. And that altar represents the divine nature of the Son
of God. The sacrifice on the altar represents
or typifies the human nature of the Son of God. He offered
his holy humanity on the altar of his divinity, and that is
what we see in the type, and that opens to us more fully,
more completely. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience and dead works to serve the living
God. You see this glorious sacrifice
of Jesus, the Son of God. He speaks in the 10th chapter
of the Hebrews. He quotes to us from the Psalms. In verse eight, he says, and
this is a quotation from Psalm 40, above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin though what
is not neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law
then said i now this is christ that is speaking in the old testament
then said i low i come to do thy will oh god he taketh away
the first that he may establish the second by the witch will
we are sanctified separated through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And this is a reoccurring theme
in the Hebrews, how that just one sacrifice. Now, there'll
be thousands of churches today where they keep the mass. And
what they profess is when they keep the mass, is that they are
re-offering the body of Christ. They say that when the priest
blesses the bread, it literally turns into the flesh of Christ.
And when the priest blesses the blood, it literally turns into
the blood of Christ. And then they profess that they
are re-offering the sacred sacrifice of Christ. that, my beloved friends,
is a blasphemy and it is awful. It is. But here in the Hebrews,
there is a great emphasis that is made. For then, in chapter
9, verse 26, for then must he often have suffered since the
foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world
hath he put away sin. by the sacrifice of himself. There was only ever the need
of this one glorious sacrifice. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. by the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest and his daily
ministry and oftentimes the same sacrifices can never take away
sinners. But this man, what man? The glorious
holy God man, the man Christ Jesus, but this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the
right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool for by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Perfected forever. What a sacred fullness there
is, my beloved friends, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There's another sacred doctrine
I want to speak on. Why was it that Jesus suffered
and bled and died? As a substitute. His life and his death were what
is called theologically vicarious. And that word vicarious actually
means in the place of, in the room of place of. So when he lived his holy life,
he lived it for his people. What they could not do, he did
it. in that pure, that holy life
he lived as a man here upon earth under the law fulfilling an honour
and magnifying it for his people. But then why this pure, this
holy, this righteous man? This man that was full of love
and compassion. Why? Why did he suffer? Why did
he bleed? Why did he die? Well the answer,
the clearest answer you'll find in Isaiah chapter 53. He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. The Father, our Heavenly Father,
laid upon His Son the iniquity of us all. He took our sins and
He nailed them to His cross. Now friends, to understand this,
this is what is known as the doctrine of imputation. To understand
this, we must go to Gethsemane. We read in Luke in particular,
Luke 22, how the Lord Jesus was so in such agony that he sweat
as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Why? Because of that word we've
just quoted from Isaiah 53. It was in Gethsemane where our
Heavenly Father laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. It's
called the doctrine of imputation. He imputed unto His holy spotless
Son the sin of the Church. He took our sins, He lifted it
off the Church and He laid it on our Lord Jesus Christ. the apostle says he was made
sin for us he was made sin for us that was the sin of the church
was imputed to him now the other wonder of wonders is this not
only in the doctrine of imputation is the sin of the church taken
and laid on christ and that is why he suffered and bled and
died for the sins of his people Again we go to Isaiah 53, it
opens so beautifully to us. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities
and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. Our sins, our iniquities. You know, I know I've often told
you and it's something that I will never forget. wasn't far from
here near Wadhurst. I was about my daily work and
I'd been walking in the light of the Lord's countenance and
that morning I willfully sinned in my heart and it was as if
a shutter came down between my soul and God and I cannot describe
to you the distress that I felt as I went about my work that
morning all the distress I felt I'd sinned. I'd really begun
to think I'd sinned away all His mercy, all His love. And as I was driving my truck,
those words dropped into my heart with such heavenly power. He
was wounded for our transgressions. What a view I had of my crucified
Saviour. I had to stop driving I wept
and I wept. It was my sins that crucified
my Saviour. My sins were the nails and the
skin. Oh, the distress I felt there.
And you know, friends, in my early days I thought I knew a
lot about conviction of sin, but I realised I didn't know
hardly anything But if ever I felt real conviction of sin, I know
you do find it under the law and that is what the Spirit of
God often uses to bring us under conviction of sin is the holy
law of God. I tell you this my beloved friends,
you'll feel more conviction of sin at Calvary than ever you
felt it under the law. When you see that holy, spotless,
loving Saviour suffering bleeding, dying for your sins, for your
sins. It will break your heart. You'll be really convinced of
sin. You'll hate sin. You'll never find that under
the law. You'll hate sin. When you see how Jesus suffered
and bled and died for your sin, God forbid that I should glory
saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world
is crucified unto me and I unto the world. You know there's a
in the epistle to the Romans where in the latter part of chapter
8 the dear apostle he speaks there doesn't he of that wonderful
glory of God in verse 28, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate them he also called, and whom he called them
he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things, if God before us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. I love this verse. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. So this glorious Savior,
He took our sins. He nailed them to His cross.
And in that glorious sacrifice, in the shedding of his precious
blood, in his sufferings and in his sorrows, he offered a
sacrifice to his eternal Father that was acceptable. It was holy,
it was pure. And the Father receives the whole
church in that holy, pure sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. Now,
I want to come to this. He rose again for our justification. He died for our sins. He rose
again for our justification. It was a voluntary act of Jesus,
the Son of God, to enter into death. And it was a voluntary
act of Jesus, the Son of God, to rise from the dead. And in
that rising from the dead is the clear evidence that sin has
been put away. Divine justice has been satisfied. God and sinners are reconciled.
Peace is made between God and man in that glorious risen Saviour. And the evidence? Christ rose
from the dead. The sin of the church is put
away. It is. God forbid. But God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. crucified unto me. The world hates Christian believers. You only look at it today in
the spirit of Antichrist that pervades in the day in which
we live. You can be anything, you can be a Muslim, a Hindu,
a Buddha and whatever you follow is wonderful but if you're a
Christian If you're a Bible-believing Christian, if you believe in
the sacred, bloody sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, you're
one of the worst people that could ever live on this world.
You are. You're despised, just like your
Saviour was. Despised and rejected man, a
man of sorrows, an acquainted And in verse 20 of verse chapter
two here in Galatians, he says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. It's a great thing in the
Galatian, the error that entered into the Galatian church by false
teachers was that once the believer had laid hold of Christ, they
could then produce a righteousness and fulfill God's law, because
they were Christian believers. The apostle immediately foresaw
the terrible error. He says to them, O foolish Galatians,
who have bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth.
before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth,
crucified among you. He says to them, I do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Oh foolish Galatians, this only
will I learn of you, received you the spirit by the works of
the law or by the hearing of faith. Are you so foolish having
begun in the spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Having suffered so many things in vain, have ye suffered
so many things in vain, if it yet be yet in vain? He that ministereth
you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth it by the works
of the law, or by the hearing of faith? You see, my beloved
friends, what a clear distinction is made between law and grace. God forbid that I should glory
saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world
is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Oh that the Lord would
lead us more fully into these sacred precious truths of our
most holy faith for his great namesake. Let us now sing together hymn
number 950. The tune is Tremellin, 250. What
objects this which meets my eyes without Jerusalem's gain which
fills my mind with such surprise as wonder to create. Hymn 950, tune Tremellin, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? Has come back to me ? ? It's
watching me ? ? And counting me ? ? And calling me ? ? Exult of every race of death
? ? And glory make thee proud ? ? This is our land and it is in
thee ? ? Our home and our homeward bound ? And watch them so tenderly, And
for their crimes be told. ? How I love this day, this day
? ? As it's the start of a new day ? And in the earth is hidden light
Of Christ, that I have done. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? I wish I could answer her and
see if we could go near. ? And hear the angels sing ? ?
And hear the angels sing ? ? And hear the angels sing ? ? And
hear the angels sing ? Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each both now and
forevermore. Amen. Thank you.