The collection taken here today
is for the support of the Oatry Homes Trust. Let us commence our service by
singing together hymn number 95. The tune is Irish 160. And did the holy and the just,
the sovereign of the skies, stoop down to wretchedness and dust,
that guilty worms might rise. Hymn 95, tune Irish 160. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? Legend is the past, the guilty
past, night, night. Yes, the Redeemer met the truth
His way to Judah on high Sacrificing love on earth, Tis
of the faith and time. Eternal power in Cain's face,
And sound the hearing which said, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, O come, Dear Lord, Lord help me, I'm
a-strayin', In my house every night. By thee is the sea the center
of heaven, and the earth the home of the brave. ? O tell me, tell me, O God divine
? ? O tell me, tell me, O God divine ? ? O tell me, tell me,
O God divine ? Purchase my hope, which I have
not found, and make it holy now. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to Luke and chapter
23. Luke's Gospel, chapter 23. We'll
commence our reading at verse 33. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. And
the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his
raiment and cast lots. And the people stood beholding.
And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, he saved
others. Let him save himself. if he be
Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription
also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew, this is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors
which was hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save
thyself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with
me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour,
and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth
hour, and the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was
rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous
man. And all the people that came
together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance and
the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding
these things. And behold, there was a man named
Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and a just. The same
had not consented to the counsel and deed of them. He was of Arimathea,
a city of the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom
of God. This man went unto Pilate and
begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped
it in linen and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein
never man before was laid and that day was the preparation
and the Sabbath drew on and the women also which came with him
from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how
his body was laid and they returned and prepared spices, anointments
and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandments. May the
Lord bless that reading of his own precious word and grant unto
us a spirit of real prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, we do desire to bow before thy great majesty and to call
upon thy great and holy name. Thou art the high and lofty one
that inhabited eternity. whose name is holy. And Lord,
we are unholy. We are unclean. We are unrighteous. And we do desire, most gracious
God, to bow in confession of our sins and of our wanderings
and of our backslidings. As the dear apostle himself declares,
and Lord, we prove it daily to be the case, That which I would,
I do not, and that which I would not, I do. I find a law within
my members that when I would do good, then evil is present
with me. And so we constantly find a conflict
within our hearts, O Lord, and we do desire that today, as we
gather round thy word, we may truly worship our Lord Jesus
Christ. For the Son of Man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. and that we read of him,
that this man receive his sinners and eateth with them. Gracious
God, so we come to thee, and that we pray that thou wouldst
forgive our many sins, that thou wouldst wash us in thy precious
blood, that thou wouldst cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
and that we may know those wonderful blessings that are in Jesus Christ
our Lord. We come this day, O Lord, on
this day set apart for divine worship, set apart to remember
the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that we may be
enabled to meditate on these things, and that Thou wouldst
grant Thy Holy Spirit's aid, and the opening of Thy Word,
and the opening of our hearts, our eyes, and our ears, that
we may receive and see and understand which we read in thy word, then
opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures, and we pray that it may be so with us here today,
that thou wouldst open thy word, that thou wouldst open our hearts,
that thou wouldst guide us by thy counsel and teach us thy
truth. Lord, we do pray. There are many
millions of people, O Lord, that are gathered together today throughout
the nations of the earth to remember this tremendous act of divine
mercy. We think, O Lord, of that infinite
love of our Eternal Father. For God so loved the world, He
gave His only begotten Son. He gave Him to suffer, bleed,
and die for the sins of His people. And on such love my heart still
ponders, love so rich, so full, so free. We desire, O Lord, a
heart of gratitude, of thanksgiving, for all thy tender mercies, especially
for the gift of thine only begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, in whom we live and move and have our being, who himself
is the creator of the heavens and the earth, we desire, O Lord,
a spirit of true worship, of true humility, a spirit of love,
that faith that worketh by love, faith in the glorious person
of our Lord Jesus Christ, faith in his precious blood, in his
glorious righteousness. Grant us this faith even this
day. Grant us, O Lord, a living hope
in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant that thou
would be with us in this service. and come and grant the opening
of the word of truth to our heart and to our understanding. And
that thou wouldst look upon each one that has gathered with us
today, and graciously bless each one, from the youngest to the
eldest. Do grant, Lord, we pray thee,
that we may see thy work and thy power and thy glory, as thou
usest to be in the sanctuary, that we may see signs to follow
the preaching of the word, And that, Lord, there is a sense
in which we meet together under a cloud with the loss of our
late dear sister, Mrs. Field. And, Lord, we pray that
those make up where death has made a gap, that those gather
others in also. And that we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that those remember her family, remember them O Lord,
with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people, and visit them
with thy great salvation, and grant that their hearts may be
comforted, we do humbly beseech thee. Remember all in any trouble,
or trial, or perplexity, or sorrow, or sadness, or bereavement, and
graciously undertake for each one, O Lord, we do humbly beseech
thee. We pray, most gracious God, always
remember the little ones and the children we thank thee for
them and that we pray that thou would bless them we often think
of those beautiful words suffer little children to come unto
me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven We pray
that it may be so, that thou wouldst so bless the little children
and the young friends. Those young friends, O Lord,
that are now on the threshold of life's journey, we lovingly
commend them to thee and to the word of thy grace, which is able
to build them up and to grant them an inheritance among them
that are sanctified. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless them. and that thou would bring them
to living faith in Jesus Christ, and make them true followers
of thee, and of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises, remember them in all the paths of providence, and
graciously undertake for them, O Lord, we pray thee, supply
all their needs, guide and direct them in their education, in any
employment, and graciously grant them a partner in life's journey.
we do humbly beseech of thee, for thy great name's sake. We
pray, most gracious God, that thou, in thy great mercy, wouldst
remember those in the midst of the journey of life, bearing,
as it were, the heat and the burden of the day. We pray for
parents, that they may be given grace and wisdom to bring up
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And
that we pray for all in the midst of the journey of life, that
thou wouldst graciously bring each one to living faith in Jesus
Christ. We pray to be delivered from
the temptations of Satan, for Lord, he sometimes comes as a
roaring lion to devour, and he sometimes comes as an angel of
light to deceive. And we pray to be delivered from
his power, however he comes, and that thou wouldst fulfil
that wonderful promise. when the enemy comes in like
a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against
him. We pray that thou would remember
those of us that are in the evening time of life's journey, and graciously
prepare us for that great change which must come, for each one
of us must die. That thou hast divinely appointed
a Lord, the time of death as thy word declares unto us there
is a time to be born and there is a time to die and after death
the judgment we pray to be prepared for that great day and now my
god prepare my soul for that great day and wash me in thy
precious blood take all my sins away we pray most gracious lord
that that was to send out the light and glory and power of
the gospel into this village and into the surrounding villages
and hamlets that we may see an in-cathering of precious souls. We think of the word of the Lord
distributed in the district, the Bibles and the scripture
calendars, and we pray that thou would bless their testimony.
and that there may be precious souls gathered unto Christ, we
do humbly beseech them, and that there may be a renewing and a
reviving in the Church of God. We think of those wonderful promises,
O Lord, I will bring thy sons from far, and thy daughters from
the ends of the earth, and they shall come from the north and
from the south, and from the east and from the west. O Lord,
do hear us, we pray thee, and have mercy upon us we beseech
thee, and show us thy ways, and lead us in thy paths, we do humbly
pray. And that we pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember all thy servants as they labor
in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion, that thou would
set them free and set them at liberty, and graciously grant
signs to follow the preaching of the word, and grant us that
gracious determination to know nothing among men, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. We pray that they will remember
our brethren, the deacons, and give grace, wisdom, and help
unto them in all the responsibilities that devolve upon them, both
here and elsewhere among the churches. Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst remember the Thy servants that labour in word
and doctrine, not only here in this nation, but we think of
those that Ian Sadler, as he labours in so many different
nations of the earth, in the distribution of the word of God
and the exposition of Holy Scripture. Lord, supply all his many returning
needs, we do humbly pray thee. Remember the Mombasa mission,
we do pray thee and thy servant that labours there, and do good
to him with all sufficient grace and his dear ones, and grant
good success unto their labours. And remember the Savannah Education
Trust in Ghana, and graciously bless them, O Lord, we pray thee,
and the word of their testimony, that it may be down to the great
glory of thy name and the good of precious souls. Lord, do hear
us in heaven, thy holy and thy blessed dwelling place, we do
humbly beseech thee. And we think also of the Oatree
Homes Trust and pray that their work may be blessed of thee,
that it may be to the glory of thy name and to the good of thy
people, we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, O Lord, for
truly thankful hearts. We're thankful, O Lord, for our
little house of prayer, We're thankful for the open Bible.
We're thankful for the gathering together of the people. We're
thankful for thy word. This is the word by which the
gospel is preached unto you. And we're thankful, O Lord, for
every mercy of thy kind providence. Lord, especially on this day,
we're so thankful for Jesus Christ, for the glory of his name and
the fullness of his grace. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. We do thank thee that we see
that profound mystery of godliness of God manifest in the flesh.
Even our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the eternal Father,
and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. May we behold His glory today. O Lord, we do beseech Thee, so
have mercy upon us and bless us. We do pray Thee. We thank
Thee that He was made of a woman made under the law, that He might
redeem them that are under the law. We thank Thee, most gracious
God, that Thou hast redeemed Thy people. that thou didst live
in this sin-cursed world for thirty-three years, and did no
sin, neither was guile found in thy mouth. And thy holy law
has been fulfilled and magnified and honoured in thy glorious
person, and everlasting righteousness has been brought in for thy people.
We thank thee for Calvary, where the Lamb was slain, where sin
was put away, where divine justice is satisfied. We thank thee for
that perfect sacrifice, for by one offering he hath perfected
forever all them that are sanctified. We thank thee that he died for
our sins. He shed every drop of his precious
blood for our sins and rose again for our justification. He has
swallowed up death in victory and brought life in immortality
to light through the gospel. Oh, we do thank Thee, O Lord,
for that risen Saviour, that Saviour that has now ascended
into heaven and sitteth at Thy right hand. Lord, fill our hearts
with gratitude. We do humbly beseech Thee for
all Thy tender mercies. Every blessing and every favour
freely flows through Jesus' precious blood. Lord, be with us as we
turn to Thy Word Come and touch one's lips with a live coal from
off the heavenly altar and open the word of truth to our heart
and to our understanding and seal it into our souls by the
Holy Ghost we ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 148. The tune is Innsbruck, 715. For wretched strangers such as
I, the Saviour left his native sky, and short he would become. He undertakes for sinners lost,
and having paid the utmost cost, returns triumphant home. Hymn
148, tune Innsbruck, 715. O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? God will be with thee and with
us, eternally. Amen. ? Land of the open sea ? ? Land
of the open sea ? ? No church is there where she must stay ? O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O come ye, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem And for the rest of my life ? His blood will flow besides us
still ? ? Still waits for Him, Lord, and stays all night ? ? Reaching out to us
? ? And in prayer ? ? Bless the Lord
? ? And in prayer ? ? He shall be made ? ? He shall stand on high ? ? And to the moon she sent it back
? ? Jesus, to the altar he switched feet ? ? And sat in the manger
seat ? ? It's a day in the Father's world
? ? And, Lord, to say it now ? ? I am, I know ? Rest now, O Savior, with me. So I'll face Him, be ready, and
hold my heart, And live in awesome pride. Now let me see thy face once
more, And I'll be all that I'm meant to, fantastic. greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the Gospel
according to Luke and chapter 23 and we'll read verse 46 for
our text. The Gospel according to Luke
chapter 23 reading verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. I feel in this very sacred subject
of the crucifixion of Christ, We read of both Moses and of
Joshua, and the Lord said to them when he appeared in a very
special way unto them, he said, take thy shoes off thy feet,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And I feel a
measure of that as we come to the subject before us today.
The place whereon thou standest is holy ground, and we feel to
need much wisdom and grace open this word of truth and this aspect
of the truth before us which is at the very centre in the
heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
said just before he was to suffer, bleed and die, he said to this
end was I born and for this cause came I into the world. And We need to understand why it
was that he suffered and bled and died. Why it was that this
is the very heart of the Christian gospel. The reason being is he
became the sin bearer of his people. He was made sin for us. He was made sin for us. It says
in the epistle to the Corinthians he that knew no sin was made
sin for us so the Lord Jesus Christ he did no sin and he was born without sin born
of the Virgin Mary it wasn't born by natural generation it
was a virgin birth and therefore you see We need
to understand the Christian doctrine of the total depravity of man.
We've all sinned. And according to what the Bible
tells us, we're born in sin. We're shapen in iniquity. We're
unrighteous by our very nature. That is what we are, we're sinners.
We read in the Word of God that this is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. And that's why he came. It was
said of the Pharisees of our Lord Jesus Christ that this man,
and they meant it in a derogatory way, this man received his sinners
and he is with them. And you know friends, that is
so true and it's still true today. This man, this glorious holy
God man, who is now in heaven sitting at the right hand of
the Father, he receiveth sinners. And what was needful and necessary
that Christ did. On Tuesday evening we meditate
a little upon the Garden of Gethsemane. And we notice there that in the
Garden of Gethsemane was the fulfilling of that word in Isaiah
chapter 53. He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. That is our Eternal Father laid
our sins, our iniquities on His Son, Jesus Christ. And when we
look at the Garden of Gethsemane and we see the Lord Jesus Christ
sweated as it were, great drops of blood, it says He being in
an agony sweat as it were, great drops of blood, what caused that
agony, what caused that sorrow, what caused that grief of this
holy man? It was our sins were laid on
him. Our sins, not in part but the
whole, were laid on him there. He was made sin for us. He that knew no sin. You know, as we've already intimated that
we're born in sin, each one of us, but Christ wasn't. The Lord Jesus Christ was born
without sin. It says here in Luke chapter
one, that holy thing that shall be born of thee, that's what
the angel said to the Virgin Mary, that holy thing that shall
be born of thee shall be called the son of the highest. shall
be called the Son of God. There are two terms that are
principally used concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the one hand, he's called
the Son of Man, and that is highlighting his human nature. On the other
hand, he's called the Son of God. That highlights his divine
nature. Jesus Christ was not just a man. He was not just a good man. He
was not just a righteous man. He's the God man. As the apostle
says in, he writes to Timothy. Great is the mystery of godliness.
It's a great mystery. How can God be a man and man
be a God? But that is the mystery that
there is in the person of Christ. He is the eternal son of God.
He has been the Eternal Son of God from everlasting, and He'll
be the Eternal Son of God to everlasting. He's Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, and today, and forever. He's eternally the
same. This glorious, holy God, you
see, He's co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. But then we
read those beautiful words in John chapter 1, and the Word. that term or name, the word,
highlighting the divine nature of the Son of God. But listen
carefully to what it says. And the word, the divine nature
of the Son of God, was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Lord Jesus Christ is full of
grace and truth, grace to save, grace to deliver, grace to bring
a poor sinner from darkness into light, grace to bring a poor
sinner from death into eternal life. I am the way, the truth
and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. But that
Salvation, my beloved friends, that was procured by Christ was
a very dear, costly price. It says in Isaiah chapter 53
that he is the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But then it opens to us something
of that deep, profound mystery In Christ he was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. He suffered and bled and died
for the sins of his people and that was why Christ came here
upon earth. That was the reason he came. We have in the holy law of God
the Ten Commandments that we all have broken. We break the
Ten Commandments in thought, in word and in deed. But this
man, he never did. He didn't break any of those
commandments. He lived a life that was perfect.
I love that way that Daniel puts it in the ninth chapter of the
Prophet Daniel, how that he speaks of the coming of Christ and he
says to the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. That's what Christ
has done. He's brought in everlasting righteousness
for his people, to make them righteous. You'll never be righteous
in yourselves. We never can be, but it's to
be righteous in Christ. It's to be clothed in that glorious
everlasting robe of His righteousness, to cover our nakedness. We're
left exposed and naked because we're fallen sinful creatures. But in the gospel of Jesus Christ
there is a covering, a glorious everlasting robe, and it's called
the righteousness of Christ. In the heart of the gospel It
is the doctrine of imputation. You might say, what does imputation
mean? What happened in the eternal
decrees and purposes of God, when the Father laid upon Him
the iniquity of us all, He took the sin of the church and He
lifted it off of the church and He imputed it to His Son. Jesus
Christ, as if it was his own sin. He was made sin for us. That
doctrine of imputation is very central to the understanding
of the Gospel and of the sufferings of Christ. That the sin of the Church was
imputed to Christ. And then on the other way round,
that perfect obedience of Christ to the law, he lived a holy,
a sinless, a spotless life. That perfect obedience of Christ
is called the righteousness of Christ, and that is taken by
the Father and imputed to the Church. So our sin becomes His,
and His obedience, His righteousness, becomes ours. And that is the
doctrine of imputation. He was made sin for us. He that
did no sin and knew no sin was made sin for us. That we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
from whence we receive the atonement, that is, the forgiveness of sins
in that sin atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And
that here, as recorded here, what we've read together, when
they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they
crucified him. And the malefactors, one on the
right hand and the other on the left. As it says in Isaiah, he
was numbered with the transgressors. He came to the place that is
called Calvary. But before he was in Gethsemane,
just before he was taken to be crucified, he was in the garden
of Gethsemane. And that is where the Father
imputed to him our sin. The Apostle says in one of the
epistles, he took our sins and nailed them to his cross. He
nailed them to his cross. He was made sin for us. He that knew no sin, he that
lived a holy, a spotless, a pure life here upon earth as a man. Horsfield, the apostle in Galatians
chapter 4, he puts it so beautifully and so clearly concerning our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that He was made of a woman, made under the
law that He might redeem them that are under the law. Christ
was made, the Son of God was made of a woman made under the
law that he might redeem them that are under the law. So he,
when he became a man, he was made under the law. And he lived
under the law for 33 years. And the purpose and object of
that was to fulfill him. That law that you and I have
broken, Christ has fulfilled. It says in Isaiah 42, he will
magnify the law and make it honorable. That is what Christ has done.
He's magnified the holy law of God and made it honorable. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. It's interesting, instructive. These are the last words of Christ. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And if we look into Luke chapter
two, we read the first words of Christ. Wist ye not that I
must be about my Father's business? So the first words of Christ
were, my father's business. And the last words of Christ,
father into thy hands I commend my spirit. And when he speaks
of his spirit, he's speaking of his holy soul, human soul. You see, what is proved here,
in this portion of scripture, is that the son of God became
a real true man. And it's declared in Holy Scripture
what human nature really is. And we read it in the book of
Genesis. How God formed man out of the
dust of the ground. He made man of the dust of the
ground. He made his physical frame. And
then we read, and God breathed into man the breath of life.
And man became a living soul. And that is what human nature
is. It's a physical body, but what makes us human is we have
a reasonable soul, and the seat of our intellect is in our soul. It's a reasonable soul, it's
the seat of our reasoning. And it says in the Word of God
concerning Christ, it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren. my mind it just goes to the Paul's
epistle to the Hebrews. And there in the second chapter
of the Hebrews, how clearly he defines exactly what Christ has
done for his people in being made sin for them. And so we read in Hebrews chapter
two, speaks of man, first of the creation of Adam, says one
in a certain place, saying, what is man that thou art mindful
of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him, thou mayest
him a little lower than the angels, thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and it set him over the work of thy hands. That is
what man is. What does it mean? when it says
that he's a little lower than the angels. Well, here again
in the Hebrews, it says concerning angels, are they not ministering
spirits sent forth to minister them who shall be the heirs of
salvation? Angels are pure spirit, but they're
created spirits. God is a pure spirit, but he's
an uncreated spirit. He's from everlasting to everlasting. There's never been a time where
there has not been God and there never will be a time where there
is not a God. God lives eternal in the heavens. Thus saith the High and Lofty
One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Ole. Inhabits eternity. But here,
it's speaking of man, so when it says, a little low in the
angels, what does it mean? It means he has a physical body,
a spiritual soul. So our body is the tabernacle
of our soul. Tabernacle means a dwelling place.
And what makes us human is that we have a human soul. We have
an intellect, a reasoning power, that's given, created by God. And so Christ, when the Son of
God assumed human nature, and he lived here upon earth as a
man. It says here concerning man that thou crownest him with
glory and honor and did set him over the works of thy hands this
is Adam thou has put all things in subjection under his feet
for in that he put all things in subjection under him he left
nothing that is not put under him but now we see not yet all
things put under him but we see Jesus who was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death. The purpose and object
of the Son of Man, of the coming of the Son of God as a man here
upon earth, was to live on the behalf of his people. I can never quote the verses
correctly. Upon a life I did not live, upon
a death I did not lie, hangs my everlasting awe. How true
that is. Upon the life of Christ, upon
what he done in fulfilling the law on our behalf, and thereby
bringing in everlasting righteousness. But not only did he live for
his people, but he died for his people. He suffered and bled
and died for our sins. It was our sins that, my sins
were the nails of the spear. But we see Jesus who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things. This is speaking of his
eternal nature. in bringing many sons unto glory,
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren." When the Son of God became a
man, he became our brother. He became our brother. He said,
I will declare my name unto my brethren. When Christ became a man, he
is as the bridegroom of his church. She was lost and ruined in the
fall. He came to redeem her, to deliver
her from sin and Satan's power. So it says in verse 14 of Hebrews
2, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death, notice the connection again, why he became a man, that
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took
not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behoved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor
them that are tempted. What a tremendous debt there
is. It says here in the Hebrews in
chapter 10, for by one offering, that perfect offering of Christ
on the cross of Calvary, for by one offering hath he perfected
forever all them that are sanctified. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He entered into death. Notice
what it says. He gave up the ghost. You and I will die. You think of the first death
that was ever upon earth. Abel. Abel was a godly man. and he was slain by his brother
Cain. That is the first death upon
earth. The fruit of sin. How awful that
must have appeared to Adam and Eve when their son Cain rose
up and slew his brother Abel. That was the first death upon
earth. And the apostle, he brings up in the epistle to the Hebrew,
He speaks of the blood of Abel and the blood of Christ. He said
the blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of Abel.
What does he mean? He means that the blood of Christ
it cleanses for all sin. The blood of Abel cried for revenge. The blood of Christ cries for
mercy, for grace. It does. How awful that must
have been for Adam and Eve in that time. When they, the blood of their
son, the first death. How that must have been brought
home to them the fruit of sin. As it says in the epistle to
the Romans, the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. His holy human soul, he commended
into the hands of his eternal Father. And in so doing, and
it was a voluntary act of Jesus, the Son of God. We read in Philippians,
and the apostle, he says in chapter two, he says, let this mind be
in you, Philippians 2 verse 5, let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon in the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. That was a death where he was
charged as a criminal. He was crucified like the common
criminals. And yet he did no sin. But it
was a voluntary act. Notice he became obedient unto
death. It was a voluntary act of Jesus,
the Son of God. We look into the 10th chapter
of the Gospel according to John and we find there how the Lord
Jesus Christ he says so clearly concerning his own death. He says in verse 17 and 18 of
John 10, therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my
life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. It was a divine act of the son
of God to lay down that holy human life in death on the behalf
of his people. It's almost as if he embraced
death. He embraced death so that he
might swallow it up in victory. He will swallow up death in victory.
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus,
he gave up the ghost. He entered into death. You know, generally speaking, a human person does not desire
death. We know that We shall all enter
into death. My mind, it went very much in
meditation to that word that we find in the Ecclesiastes chapter
eight. And it says in verse eight, there
is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
neither hath he power in the day of death. And there is no
discharge in that war. Neither shall wickedness deliver
those that are given to it. You see, there's no man has power
to retain the Spirit. It says in the Word of God that there is
no discharge in that war. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. We must needs die, we read in
the word of God. We must needs die, every one
of us. Why will we die? And why is there
a need to be that we should die? The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what Christ is, he
died for his people. It was a voluntary act of the
Son of God. And as we've just read in John,
I have power. I have power to lay my life down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. The purpose was to enter into
death itself. Death is the terror of the human
race. Christ he entered into death
voluntarily that he might destroy death and him that had the power
of death that is the devil he entered into death on the
behalf of his people and then he rose from the grave on the
behalf of his people when he was made sin for us he took our
sins he nailed them to his cross Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. It was a voluntary act of the
Son of God. And what a clear reference here
then, my beloved friends, to the reality of the human nature
of Jesus, the Son of God. He was a real man. He had a real
human soul. And he commended that unto his
Father. We read in the Epistle of James,
the body, without the spirit is dead, being alone. What makes
us human is we have a soul. But when the body and soul are
separated, we die. That is what death is. And as
James says, the body without the spirit is dead, being alone.
And so Christ entered into death as a voluntary act. In that corpse
that was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and laid in the tomb, there was
still the Son of God. He gave up his holy human soul
into the hands of his Father, and he entered into death itself.
Do you know, friends, there was never any separation between
the divine and the human. That union that was made in the
womb of the Virgin Mary between the divine and the human is never
to be dissolved. And even in death, it wasn't
dissolved. dissolve. One of the hymn writers says
the Lord of Life experienced death. He experienced death. He's the Lord of Life, he's the
King of Glory but he experienced death. He entered into death
that he might destroy death and hid that at the power of death
that is the devil. You know the Apostle Paul in his first epistle to
the Corinthians, in the 15th chapter, he speaks so beautifully
there concerning man and death. He says, verse 45, and so it
is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last
Adam was made a quickening spirit, and by that he means the person
of Christ. Just as Adam is the federal head
of the human race, so Christ is the great king and head of
the church. He's called the second Adam. The last Adam was made
a quickening spirit, albeit that was not first, which is spiritual,
but that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual.
The first man, that's Adam, is of the earth earthy. The second
man, that's Christ, is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy,
such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly,
that is Christ. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpets
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, but thanks be unto
God, which giveth us the victory. You know, the Apostle Paul, he
dwells on these things in the epistles, and my mind, it just
goes to the epistle to the Thessalonians in the fourth chapter of the
first epistle and he speaks there of that glorious hope there is
because Christ died for the sins of his people and he satisfied
all the demands of divine justice and his holy father was well
pleased with that sacrifice and then because he had atoned for
the sins of his people in his sufferings on Calvary He then
rose from the dead. That's what it means when he
says he rose again for our justification. To be justified is to be declared
to be without sin. Now listen to what the apostle
says about believers when they die and they hope that they will
rise again. But I would not have you to be
ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep. that ye
sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which
are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of
God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, which are
alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. Jesus said, because I live, ye
shall live also. He entered into death that he
might destroy And Jesus, when Jesus has cried
with a loud voice, we read in John, he cried with a loud voice,
it is finished. Salvation's work is done. When he cried with a loud, this
is another thing. He was so weakened in the Gethsemane
that there appeared an angel to strengthen him. and they also
commanded one to carry his cross because he was so weak and yet
here he is coming to the very point of death and he cries with
a loud voice you see the power of God in Christ he cried with
a loud voice he said father into thy hands i commend my spirit
and having thus said thus he gave up the ghost and when the
centurion saw what was done he glorified god saying certainly
this was a righteous man this was a righteous death i love
that in the hymn guide me although great jehovah and it says death
of deaths and hell's destruction this was the death of deaths
adam's Sin was the death of the human race, as in Adam all died,
but Christ's death was the life of his church, of his people.
They are redeemed, they are delivered. He has entered into death on
their behalf and he swallowed up death in victory and brought
life and immortality to life through the gospel. Their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. May the Lord be pleased
to add his blessing to these few remarks that we have made. May we feel something of the
sacredness of this hymn that we're about to sing. Hymn 162,
the tune is Russell, 763. When on my beloved I gaze, so
dazzling his beauties appear, his charms so transcendently
blaze, the sight is too melted to bear. When from my own vileness
I turn to Jesus exposed on the tree, with shame and with wonder
I burn to think what he suffered for me. In 162 Tune Russell 763. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? to Jesus, expert of the tree. From where I come, To tear what
is love apart from me. My gingerbread man, and in the
deepest of my being. I see through the lens of atmosphere And heaven and earth stand at
His feet, At His feet stand they, O Israel. That holds the day-shackle in
hand. Christ, our first Emmanuel, Let my mind in glory be crowned. where he has recorded my faith.
Now let there be no talking on, The glory and the proclaim May
we bless your sacred name ? And bird in the tree ? ? That's
called me ? ? I see it on the ground ? ? In his hand ? ? I
saw it grow ? Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and for evermore. Amen.