The Bible Baptist Church located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor David Edmondson. If you have your Bible and can
turn along with me this morning, turn to the 19th chapter of the
Gospel of John, John chapter 19. I want to begin reading in
verse 31, John 19, 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,
not only on a Sabbath, but on a Sabbath in the Passover week.
So the Jews 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 being the Lord Jesus. But 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 there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record,
that being John, he's the author of this gospel narrative. When
John saw it bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth
that he saith it's 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. Now let me share something
with you that you may not know. In our Lord's day, criminals
who were crucified by the Romans were not only crucified, but
they were left on the cross to rot. They were usually left to
be devoured by ravenous birds of prey, such as vultures. There
are many flesh-eating birds of prey. But this occurred on the
holy Sabbath of the Passover week, and the chief priest, in
order not to defile the Sabbath, this high day, as the scripture
calls it, desire that the legs of the three men crucified should
be broken in order to hasten their death. They didn't want
these bodies on the cross during the Sabbath. Isn't it amazing
that they could be so zealous in not defiling the Sabbath,
but with their wicked hands, they crucified and killed God
in the flesh. No doubt, man's religion can
be mean and merciless. Now this breaking of the legs
was often done with an iron bar, not only as additional punishment,
but in the instance it was meant to be a finishing stroke. This
not only hurried death, but it caused excruciating pain. The Jews' ferocious hate For
the Lord Jesus made his enemies forgetful of any humanity that
might have otherwise been felt. The more pain and shame they
could cause the Lord, the more pleased they would be. And even
after our Lord's death, these God-haters desired to harm Him. Was it not enough that they had
scourged His back? Did it not suffice that they
had dug a crown of thorns deep into the brow of His head? Was
it not sufficient that they had nailed His feet and His hands
to a tree? When the Roman soldiers recruited
Simon of Cyrene to help carry the Lord's cross, it wasn't to
show mercy or compassion, but it was to keep the Lord alive
so that they could inflict more pain and suffering to him on
the cross. Oh, if you want to see something
of man's heart by nature, the Jews, out of regard to their
own religious ceremonies, basalt pallet, "'that those who hung
on the cross "'should have their legs broken "'and that they might
be taken away.'" Verse 31. So the Roman soldiers, they go
at once to perform this hideous act of cruelty, and they begin
with the two malefactors which hung on each side of the Lord
Jesus. The repentant thief, the one
whom Christ had promised to be with him in paradise that very
day, He wasn't delivered from the excruciating pain caused
by the breaking of his legs and the suffocation of his lungs.
When the legs were broken, the one being crucified could not
push up or support themselves in order to have clear passage
in their lungs to breathe, and they'd soon suffocate. And what
a picture we have here of the believing child of God being
saved from eternal misery, but not from temporary pain. The
saved thief serves as an example of that. Friends, in this world,
the believer will have tribulation. We must, through much tribulation,
the scripture says, enter into the kingdom of God. God never
promised us a rose garden. Believers are going to suffer
pain. The same diseases afflict the godly as well as the ungodly. Repentant and unrepentant men
and women share the common lot of mankind and are born to troubles. as the sparks fly upward, Job
5, verse 7. And just because we're pardoned,
just because we're forgiven, we will not necessarily escape
tribulation. However, the Lord did say this,
These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you shall have
peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world." What
great news to know that our Lord, our Savior, our substitute and
sacrifice has overcome the world, he's working all things together
now on the throne of God for our good, for his glory, for
Christ's sake. The discipline of the Roman soldiers
was very stern. There's no doubt that the soldier
that was given this task of breaking the legs would carry out that
commandment and do just as he'd been told. But no, moved by some
strange impulse, Moved by some unknown thought, the child of
God calls it divine providence. This soldier remarks that the
one called Jesus is already dead. And though he was commanded to
break the Lord's legs, instead this soldier pierces the Lord's
side with a spear. No one told him to do that. But
in this, the soldier fulfilled two prophecies of which he himself
was totally ignorant. He didn't know that these were
in the scriptures. He was a Roman soldier. How marvelously
does our God rule the sons of men. while he leaves them to
do their own will. In this, we see the fulfillment
of Scripture. Not a bone of him shall be broken,
and he must be pierced. What a negative and a positive
we see here. The Savior's bones must not be
broken, and yet he must be pierced. In the type of the Passover lamb,
it was commanded in the law that not a bone of that sacrifice
should be broken. Therefore, not a bone of the
Lord Jesus must be broken as the sacrifice for sin. At the
same time, according to Zechariah 12, verse 10, the Lord must be
pierced. You see, only God himself could
have brought to pass the fulfillment of these two prophecies at the
same time. Now there are many prophecies
concerning the Lord Jesus, prophecies concerning everything connected
with him, from his hair to his garments, from his birth in a
stable to his burial in a borrowed tomb. And yet they were all,
every single one of them were carried out perfectly to the
minute detail. The soldiers were evidently determined
to carry out the governor's orders. and they'd already broken the
legs of the other two. The crosses on Calvary's mountain
were arranged so that the Lord was hanging in the middle, and
he is the second of the three, and we would naturally suppose
that they would proceed in order from the first cross to the second,
then to the third, but they seemed to pass by the second cross,
the middle cross, and proceed from the first to the third.
What was the reason for this? Well, very likely the center
cross of Christ stood somewhat back from the other two as to
intentionally give the two thieving murderers more honor in death
than the Lord was given. This would in some wise explain
how the repentant thief was able to read the inscription over
the Lord's head. And this would have also made
it possible for him to look at the Lord and converse with him.
So the Lord had not his bones broken, but he must be pierced
as well. It was God who put in that Roman
soldier's mind in a hasty moment to make certain the death of
Christ by piercing his sacred side. And as I said a moment
ago, this soldier knew nothing of the prophecy. He was a Roman. He knew nothing of Eve being
taken from the side of man and the church being taken from the
side of Christ. This soldier had never read from
the writings of Moses concerning the side of Christ being like
the door of the ark, through which an entrance to safety was
opened. Why then did this soldier fulfill
the prophecy of the prophet? I can tell you this, it was not
by accident or by chance. The hand of the Lord, the hand
of God was in it all. God's omniscient and omnipotent
providence and purpose is always accomplished. I wish we could
see that clearly. God has respect unto his own
word. And while he takes care that
no bone of his son be broken, he also secures that nothing
written in his word shall be broken either. When we meet with
an unlikely promise in God's word, we should believe it wholeheartedly. When we see things working contrary
to the truth of God, we should believe God and nothing else.
Hold on to what God has spoken. For heaven and earth shall pass
away, but not one jot or one tittle of his word shall fall
to the ground. And it's here that we see the
identification of our Lord as the Messiah. It's here that we
see the Lord Jesus as the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. God's Lamb could only be dealt
with in God's way. Yes, there is the lamb. Kill it, sprinkle its blood,
roast it with fire, but break not its bones. You see, it's
God's lamb and it's not yours. God has provided for himself
a burnt offering, and God has provided himself as the burnt
offering. You know, I wish folks could
understand this. In order to save wretched, depraved
sinners, the Lord had to first do something for himself. Well,
what do you mean, preacher? He had to fulfill his law, and
he had to satisfy his justice. You see, God is a just God. Sin must be dealt with. Sin cannot be simply excused. It must be punished in order
for God to remain just. He cannot. forgive sin at the
expense of his holy law and justice. God the Father, concerning God
his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ says this, there is my Son, bind
him, scourge him, spit on him if you like, crucify him, but
he's the lamb of my Passover, and you will not break one of
his bones. This is how Christ is identified
as the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Do
you see that? It's a mark of identity upon
which faith fixes its eyes. And then the next mark of identity
must be that Jehovah should be pierced by Israel. It's what Zechariah said, and
so it must be fulfilled. Not merely must his hands and
his feet be nailed to the cross, but he himself must be pierced. His wounds are the marks and
the tokens of him being the real Christ. The wound in his side
was a sure mark of his identity to his own disciples. Remember
when he said to Thomas, reach hither thy hand and thrust it
into my side and be not faithless, but believing. Zechariah and
his prophecy went on to say, in that day there shall be a
fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And friends, it
was on this day that there was a fountain opened for the true
inhabitants of spiritual Jerusalem and those who are of true Israel.
And it was the water and the blood that flowed from the side
of our redeeming Lord. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin a double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. It was the water and the blood
that flowed. If you take all the types of
the Old Testament together, you'll find that the purification of
sin was typically set forth by blood and by water. The scripture's
clear. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. Yet the priest, before sacrificing
in the Old Testament, must also wash and the victim itself must
also be washed with water. In Christ, we see one who has
come to atone and to sanctify. He is that high priest who cleanses
the leprosy of sin by blood and water. He's the great purifier
of God's people, who by both water and by blood purified His
people as both water and blood poured out from His pierced side. Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah. Jesus Christ is indeed Emmanuel. Jesus Christ is indeed God with
us. And it's in this that we see
what Christ is to us. He's the Passover lamb and not
a bone of which should be broken. Do you believe that he's the
lamb of God? Then see to it that you have his blood upon the door
of your heart, that sprinkled blood that brings you safety. The destroying angel cannot touch
you. The lamb himself has become your
food to feed on him. Be filled with the fullness of
God. Scripture says you're complete in him. You are perfect in Christ
Jesus. Can you not say of Him, He's
all my salvation and all my desire? Can you not claim Christ as your
all and in all? Or is this simply a doctrine
to you? Or is it life everlasting? One
of the two. One of the two. Christ our Passover
slain, feast on him. Now, what was man's treatment
of him? Well, they spit upon him. They beat him beyond recognition
as a man. The scripture says his visage,
his appearance, was so marred that he resembled not a man. They cried, crucify him, crucify
him, and they nailed him to a cross, and they mocked him as he hung
in agony. And the last act of man was to
pierce him through. That's what men and women still
do who despise and reject him. They will not have God the Son
to rule over them. Oh, do you see the depravity
of our nature? Some doubt if our depravity is
total. It deserves a worse adjective
than that. There's no word in the human
language which can express the venom of man's enmity against
God, our Savior. But it's here, dear sinner, that
we see what Christ has done for elect sinners. Blood and water
from the heart of God's own Son have fallen down upon this dark
and defiled planet and sealed it as His own. Therefore, Christ
has the right, by His work of righteousness, to transform this
world into a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. having given us all that he had,
given his life on our behalf. Christ forever gives a priceless
stream from the fountain of his heart. And this is our safety. As his unbroken bones point us
to the Passover lamb, He shall gather his saints in one body,
and none of his elect shall be missing, and none of his elect
will have anything missing. They shall be made whole, perfect,
holy, righteous, and just. not a bone of Christ's body the
church shall be broken, but will be found perfectly conformed
to his holy and righteous image. What security, what safety the
body of Christ finds when they're joined to their glorious head,
who shall be crowned forever. There's not gonna be any lamed
or maimed or half-wrought redemption. The purpose that our Lord Jesus
came into the world to accomplish shall be perfectly achieved to
the glory of his own name. And it's here that we see the
salvation of sinners. Jesus Christ's side is pierced
to give to sinners this double cure of sins, which is the taking
away of sin's guilt and power. But even better than that, sinners
are to have their hearts broken by a sight of the crucified one. And this by this means that we
obtain faith. They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced and they shall mourn for him. Beloved, our Lord
Jesus came not only to save sinners, but to seek them. His death not
only saves those who have faith, but it creates faith in those
who have it not. And if a sinner cannot come to
Christ with faith and repentance, they must come to Christ for
faith and repentance, and he'll give both. That's how we're saved. He's pierced on purpose that
you may be pricked in the heart. His blood, which freely flows,
is shed for many for the remission of sins. Where there's no shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sins. That's the way it's
always been. God has never turned away a sinner
who truly desired salvation. I cannot find anywhere in the
scriptures, and I challenge you to do so. You cannot find any
place in the Bible where a needy, desperate sinner came to the
Lord Jesus and He turned them away. So look to Christ. He's the crucified Savior, and
in Him you find eternal life. Come all who are guilty, come
and trust the Son of God who shed His blood to wash your sins
away. Come all who are foul and polluted,
come and wash in this sacred stream poured out for you. There's life in a look at the
crucified. One, look and live. To the unbelieving,
we say the venom of the poison of the serpent of sin flows through
your veins and you shall die. but there's one who is lifted
high on a pole. Do you see him? Look to him and
live. There's life given at the moment
that you do. Oh, may God grant you the sight
to see Christ and him crucified. Look and live, keep on looking
and keep on living. God will give eternal life to
as many as he gave to Christ. Not one of them shall be lost.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, our Lord said.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. May God, for
Christ's sake, enable you to look to Christ and keep looking
to Him. There's no salvation in any other. He's the Lamb of God slain before
the foundation of the world. To see that, do we go back to
Abel and look at his sacrifice? No, we have to go back further
than that. Do we go back to after Adam and Eve sinned, to the skins
that the Lord Killed the animals to clothe Adam and Eve. Do we
see the blood of the lamb there? No, we, we see it there, but
we've got to look back further than that. How far do we look
back before there was ever an angel created before the earth
was ever made God in the past of eternity? set His affection
upon a people, and gave them to His Son to redeem and to die
for. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. You see, He is
the way. There is no other way. He is
the only way. And He is the truth. He's the
only truth. There's no truth apart from Him.
and he is the life. Christ is the life. We've got
to get to him. There is no other life. And the
Lord himself summed it up this way. He said, no man, no woman,
no body comes to the Father but by me. He died the just for the
unjust that he might bring us to God. What a picture of salvation. The Lord Jesus, our good shepherd,
he finds us, the lost sheep that we are, he puts us on his shoulders,
and he carries us all the way home. Now let me ask you, what
did the lamb do? What did the lost sheep do? He
rested on the shoulder of his great shepherd. Oh, may God enable
you to do just that. Rest on Christ. He said, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, come unto me and I will give
you what? Rest. I don't know about you,
friend, but I need rest constantly. I need rest every day, every
hour. I need rest. I need that peace
of God that passes all understanding, that peace of God that keeps
my heart and my mind in, by, and through Christ Jesus. Christ
has done for me all that God has required of me. Everything
that God required, and that was perfection, Christ has performed
for me. He kept the law perfectly. He
crossed every T and dotted every I of God's law, and God was satisfied,
and I am justified, and it's only in Christ. I had to have
him do for me what I could never do for myself. Remember, All
that we do must be perfect in order to be accepted, and we
can't do anything that's perfect, but Christ did. So I encourage
you this morning to look to Christ. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call on him while he's near.
There's coming a time very soon, dear friends, when time shall
be no more. God's not promised any of us
tomorrow. May today be the day of salvation
for you. You've tried everything that
this world has to offer. You've tried everything this
world has to give. Can you hear the Lord say, let
not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also
in me? In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. Let me leave you with the words
of John. He said, He that hath the Son
hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. May God
enable you to trust in Christ. You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson, the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of God's free, sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky,
and our service times are Sunday morning Bible study at 10 o'clock
a.m., worship services begin at 11 o'clock a.m., Wednesday
evening services at 7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next
Sunday morning at 10 o'clock AM for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.