Now that last message is still
on your mind, right? Freedom. That freedom came at a price. We're going to look at that price
this morning. Before we get a passage of scripture,
I'm going to do something I've never done before. Turn back
your Bibles and you should have a map. You should have maps. The title of this message is
The Cost of Our Freedom or Liberty or The Brook Kidron. The Brook
Kidron. You should have in your Bible
a Jerusalem in the time of Christ. In the back of your Bible. It
should be, it's my page set. I don't know about yours, but
it would be. One more map, but the one before
the last one. Jerusalem in the time of Christ. It's got a picture of the temple,
the court of Gentiles, Solomon's porch, Gethsemane. I want you to look at that. with me here. This brook of Kidron, or Sidron,
as it's called in the New Testament, was visited by David, Solomon,
Asa, Josiah, and other kings. You remember Christ, and we'll
look at this passage in John, where he crossed over the brook
Kidron to Gethsemane. So this book is kind of, it has
historical significance in the scriptures. What I want us to
do this morning is to look at this picture and to the west, I'm sorry, to the west you have the temple,
the court of Gentiles. Then, if you go towards the desert,
if you go down as you're going east, you see a little thing
that says Mount of Olives and Gethsemane. So the Garden of
Gethsemane goes down this valley, up, and the Garden of Gethsemane
is to the east. So you go down the Garden of
Gethsemane, down the valley, and there's a little brook. a
creek, we would call it, Kidron. You go up, you go up about, if
you look at a cross section, about two to four hundred feet,
you've got the temple, and in between the temple and the brook,
according to Jeremiah, 26 and Jeremiah 31, there was also a
common cemeteries, common person cemetery. People of non-significance
would be buried there. So you had the temple. And what did you have at the
temple? Sacrifices. Sacrifices, sacrifices, blood. We have a time that just goes
sometimes. That's all right. So you got the temple sacrifices
going on at a quite a clip and blood, you know, all the stuff
that's going on with, you know, sacrifices. It's a bloody it's
a bloody religion. They're sacrificing either turtledoves
or sacrifice. You didn't have any money like
Mary and Joseph. They brought two turtledoves. That's if you
didn't have any money. If you had money, you had lambs. You
brought something a little bit more significant. So they're killing
these animals or slaying. And the blood's got to go somewhere. So they're washing this off.
the altar, and guess where it goes? It goes down the hill, filters through those cemeteries,
and it ends up in the valley, the brook, Kidron. So, you kind of get the picture. Kidron, in the Hebrew, Kidron,
Sidron in Greek, it means black Ashy, dark, or gloomy. Now, we have a tendency to perhaps
think of this brook, it would afford the weary traveler a cool
and refreshing drink in summer or whatever. But that's not the
case. According to Bible historians and those familiar with the topography
and the lay of the land, this brook only ran continuously in
the rainy seasons. And then if you had another,
there's another map in here somewhere, the contents would run out, flush
out, and go to the Dead Sea. That's where it ended up. So
it only ran continuously when the rains came heavy. So most often, it was only a
stagnant brook. I want to paint a really good
picture here. It was a cesspool. of black and foul sacrificial
blood remains washed from the temple site, and then it would
come down past the cemetery, which is nasty, and it settled
in the brook most of the time. The scene is this of a truth.
All the corruptions and offensive odors and tastes combined in
this brook and rendered it polluted, foul, and non-drinkable. So that's
the broken rug. Now, I've seen, I've been coming
down here 30 something years to this area, Southwest Missouri. And you're drier, a whole lot
drier than we are in Southeast Missouri. That would be an accurate
statement. And I've seen on Table Rock Lake where you, you know,
during the summer months, when you go back, you kind of go back
trying to catch the big bass, you go back, go back, and then
you go back to this little bitty pond of floating styrofoam and
just nasty, just nasty. So you don't, you don't, you
back up. You don't even get into that. That's the picture. in southwest Missouri. That's
the picture of southeast Missouri. We've got a park that runs through
Jackson, and it runs when it's raining. But when it's not running,
you just get pockets. It doesn't flow. You just get
pockets of little cesspools. You get pockets of infested,
larva-breeding, vile-ridden creek is what it is. That's the picture
of the brook Kidron. Now, turn with me to John chapter
17. John chapter 17, and verses 20, Christ says, Neither I pray for
these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word, through their spoken word, preached word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
the word of God. The significance of the preaching
of the gospel, I'm coming more and more to realize, is God's
means. And he says that they all may
be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast
sent me, and the glory which Thou givest me, I have given
them, that they may be one even as we are one. Verse 18, chapter 18, And when
Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciple
over the brook Hedron, Where was a garden into which he entered
and his disciples? And Judas also, which betrayed
him, knew the place. For Jesus oftentimes resorted
thither with his disciples. So I bring that point up. Jesus
was in the temple. He's in the temple preaching.
But he would make that two to four hundred feet, yard trek. You have to cross the brook.
and go to Gethsemane. So he was often, he says often,
Judas knew where to find him because he was there often. Now the verse I'm going to share
with you is the cost of our liberty and our freedom in Christ. And
I don't know if I'll be able, how good I'm going to be able
to communicate this or turn to Psalm 110. Psalm 110. Stand fast therefore in liberty,
wherewith Christ hath made you free. This freedom had to come
at a cost. I remember I used to say it quite
a bit because I thought it was a really good phrase, and it
still is. Nothing was ever so free that cost so much. I don't know where I got it.
I've been saying that for years. And that's true. So, back to
our Bible lesson, if you can, when the saints are gathered
together, whenever that is, decide when that's the time and everything,
if you can be off doing whatever, and not be convicted based on the love of Christ.
Not based on, I'm expected to be here. And I'll be honest with
you, there's times when I go back with our folks at home,
it's like, I don't want to be here. I don't feel ready, don't
feel qualified, And I get aggravated. I get aggravated myself. I get
aggravated at people, some things I see. But we all are in the
flesh. We all have the flesh to deal
with. And that's why I despise legalism so much. Because I always
want to fight. Always want to argue. And always
find a passage that you adapt to. But where is the love of
Christ constraining that? Now, if the only reason why you and you are together with your
spouse is because you have a piece of paper, then I say the marriage
is in trouble. And when the kids grow up and
they get gone, I want to be with my wife because
I want to be with my wife. As a matter of fact, our daughter,
when she moved out, we changed the locks and started moving
stuff around. She came back and said, what are you doing? No,
we still love you, we just want to do some things. You know,
she couldn't understand it. I don't know how anybody could
read this verse without just choking up. And the picture of
Kidron that I just told you about, it's not a refreshing draught
of water, it's a cesspool a vial of corruption from all the sacrifice,
the blood's coming down and all the nastiness that's in that.
Look at Psalms 107, 110, and verse 7. He, now who is that? The Lord
Jesus Christ, shall drink of the brook in the way. How serious is this gospel? Well,
the scripture says there's only one gospel. There's only one
faith. There's only one baptism. This is how serious it is. This is how beautiful the freedom
and liberty that Christ hath made us free is. He drank of
the blood. The brook is us. The brook is what we are. The brook is what we feel. The brook is what we've been
born with. In Adam, all die. You say, well, I wasn't born then.
Well, if you don't identify with that, how can you identify with
what happened at the cross? You've got to do the one if you
want the other. Jesus Christ drank of the brook
in the way. And in the second part, therefore
shall he lift up the head. That signifies resurrection glory. It didn't take him money. It
killed him. Nailed him to the cross. But
he led captivity captive. Let me read. I don't even know
where I found this at. I don't even know who this guy
is. His name is Fountain Elwyn. But he had a clue, he sure did. I conceive that the brook here
spoken of was not intended to give us the idea of a clear brook
of refreshing water, which was to afford the Redeemer strength
to endure the amazing conflict as the drinking of the water
enabled Gideon's chosen band of men to go forth to battle
against the Midianites. No, in our Lord's case, It was
a polluted and turbid stream, like the water of Marah, which
the Israelites could not drink, it was bitter, for sin had made
it so. It bore along with it, as it
flowed, the curse of the broken law, the vengeance of offended
justice, and the wrath of the eternal God. It was pain, sorrow,
suffering, death. This was the brook of which Christ
drank. The cup which his father gave
him to drink was filled with the bitter water of this brook.
And he may be said to have first put it to his lips when he declared
to his disciples in his way to Gethsemane, my soul is exceeding
sorrowful even unto death. But it is stated in the text
that this brook was in the way. It is described here as running
by the path in which the Redeemer was going in order to accomplish
the accomplishment of His great work of man's salvation. That
work which He had engaged in an everlasting covenant to perform,
which according to this morning's lesson is yours. And by the performance of which
man could alone be accepted with God, which we saw this morning.
We are accepted in the beloved. The sin of man was the source
from whence this water issued, and it flowed along the Savior's
way through the wilderness of this world to the kingdom of
glory, and in the next, as the brook Kidron, red with the blood
of the typical sacrifice, flowed in His way to Calvary." Now sometimes
when I get to these kind of passages, I just feel like that's it, that's
all I've got to say. And then like in Psalms, see life. Think about it. Think about it. Well, there's a song that we've
Nathan, the song leader, and I was singing it. He said, what
are you singing that song? And I said, a song we've heard
years ago. Deeper than the stain, the blood
still runs deeper than the stain is gone. Who? What man? What Mormon, Joseph Smith, what
Buddha, what Islam, what Mohammed? Who would think of a system to
remove stain by blood? But, without the shaming of blood,
there is no remission of sins. The type is this, beloved, the
brook is us, yet Christ drank in all the foul stench of all
we are, the corruptions, the sin of all his people, and he
also did all that the Father required of him to satisfy the
law and divine justice, so we would be set eternally free. Stand fast. and the freedom that
Christ has made us free. There's been a lot of discussion,
I'm not going to go into it, I don't care to go into it, about
2 Corinthians 5.21. Christ, who knew no sin, was
made sin for us, that we might have his righteousness. That's it right there. That's
it. Now, you can go on and try to
dissect that. A lot smarter people than I do. And some, I think, do a good
job. And some, I think they get so far out on a limb that just
one little chop and they're gone. Christ being made sin for us. We who knew no sin might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. He drank of the brook. in the way. He had baptism where
he had to be baptized with. So that's the interpretation
of 2 Corinthians 5. Also, if you look at Psalms 22
and 69, I don't have to turn there, but those Psalms specifically
speak of the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
sometime this afternoon or sometime this week, go back and read those
Psalms in light of the brook. Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter
15. 2 Samuel chapter 15. We'll start
in verse 19. Then said David the king to Italia
the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to
thy place and abide with the king thou art a stranger and
also an exile Whereas thou camest but yesterday Should I this day
make thee go up and down with us seeing I go with her I may
and return thou and take back thy brethren mercy and truth
be with thee Natalia answered he said king As the Lord liveth
and as my lord the king liveth David's fleeing from Jerusalem
Surely in what place my Lord the King shall be, whether in
death or life, even there also will thy servant be." And David
said to Italia, go and pass over. And Italia and the Gittite passed
over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with
him. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the
people passed over, and the King himself passed over the brook
Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness. And verse 30, and David went
up by the ascent, went down, crossed over the brook, and now
he went up to Mount Olive and wept as he went up, and had his
head covered, and he went barefoot, and all the people that was with
him covered every man's head, and they went up, weeping as
they went. David, as a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ, crossing over Kidron. taking upon Him the burden of all His people that His Father
gave Him before the foundation of the world. David is a type crossing over.
Kidron is head covered, weeping for the sins of his people, sins
of his sheep. He was in deep sorrow. And this
is known also by the Lord Jesus Christ. And also look in verse
30, and David went up And as he went up, he had his head covered,
he went barefoot, and all the people that was with him covered
every man's head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
We, his people, identify with the Lord Jesus Christ. Counting the reproaches of Christ
greater reward than the pleasures of sin for a season. The pleasures
of this world and the pleasures of this flesh. It's fleeting. It's fleeting. At my job, sometimes
I have to be out overnight. One night a week, maybe. Just
depends. If it hasn't been Wednesday night,
I'm thankful for that. But when I go to a motel, I don't
rearrange the furniture. I don't ask for more pictures
to put on the wall. I don't bring a bunch of clothes.
I don't even use the... I just... I don't even use the...
The hangers. Why? I'm just passing through. I'm just passing through. So
this stuff that we say we need, you may need. I don't know. I'm
just talking about myself. I don't need it. I need... Actually, there's only one thing
needful. In hidden Mary, choose that.
Want to sit? You've taken the time out, you've
found a place, you've rented it, and we've come here for the
sole, single purpose, to worship Christ. There's no noise. There's no Halloween structure
next to the cross. There's nobody walking around
with a PVC pipe shaped like a cross with little wheels walking around.
There's nothing going on. Oh, but there's something going
on. Because we're hearing about the
One whom we love. And every time I get cold or
I get hard hearted or whatever, I go to Song of Songs. And if
you want to read a love story of love stories, you go there
and you see what the beloved says about the bride and what
the bride says about her groom. And if that doesn't do it, I
don't know what will. Or, go back to Kidron. We identify once again This our
Lord did for his church, the remnant of his choosing that
we would serve and adore and love him ever so much. We were
once delighted with the world and all that in the world shines
and glitters and the things that we thought we must have. But
now we believe we're like Peter. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief,
for so we believe. We want to grow, we want to be
strengthened and we want to grow in grace. Help us to trust solely
and only in the anointed one. Oh what agonies Christ underwent
for us to cleanse and wash us and set us at liberty. That's
why I took these two messages and put them side to side because
I figured Like, when we first came out of our mess over there,
I preached three messages on unity and harmony. Because we
were so tore up and broke up and everything. And I don't know
a little bit about your past, a little bit about your past,
and I know more about yours. First of all, you're free. You're
free, man. You are free. That's why Paul can say, don't
follow me, but follow me in so much as I follow Christ. There's
that liberty. Everything's lawful, but it's
not expedient. It's servitude. But how do you get there? How
do you get there? You get there... Well, Zechariah
says, they'll look upon me whom they have pierced. That's the
brook. And what does it say? They'll
weep and be mourned Every man apart, every family apart. It's
not the Lord says, you know, He may save in groups, but it's
a very individual thing. It's a very personal thing when
the Lord does something for a sinner. Every man apart. It says every
family apart. Then, that fountain's open. Now that fountain is refreshing. That fountain is for cleansing.
But this brook, it had to be crossed. David had to pass over
the brook Kidron. Weeping. And the people who were
with him identified with him. And I'm not saying we're not
a joyful people, because I've, oh no, people tell you at work,
a couple people tell me at work, I've only been there seven months,
they say, you're always happy. Well, I'll take Donnie Bell's
comment. Donnie says, ever since I heard
the good news, I haven't heard any bad news. Really. I mean, I could, you know, we
got troubles. We got troubles. We got sorrows.
He was a man of sorrows. Aquinas was a man of grief. So
are we. But we know how it is. We know how it is. We know it's
going to be okay. But this brook, he had to cross
it. He had to cross it. What agonies
He underwent. What sacrifice He went to set
us at liberty. Just to give you an idea. Turn
to Revelations 5. I saw this the other day. I haven't
seen this before. You know, you think that after you read this
book, you look at it, you look at it, you look at it, and then
all of a sudden you look at it and somebody stuck a verse in there you haven't
seen before. That's the beauty of the grace of God. Those two
on the road to Emmaus, they were believers. Christ is talking
to them. They didn't even know who He
was. And then He says, when He opened their eyes, and that's
what the believer is the same with the unbeliever as is a believer
that God has to do something for them or nothing will be done.
And then they go, well, there's water. What hinders me to be
baptized? I believe with all my heart. Look at this, Revelations chapter
5. What does it cost? Fowl, cesspool, larva ridden. Brooke Kidron, but look at Revelations
chapter 5. And I wept much, John, because
I found no man was worthy to open the book and to look therein.
And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not, behold the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the Root of Jesse, who's that? That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's other names right there.
We didn't talk about this morning. He prevailed. Only He. Out of all the people born in
this globe. Nobody was found worthy. That's
who we're talking about. We're talking about the one who
is worthy. And look at this. He's found
worthy to prevail, to open the book, to loose the seven seals
thereof. And behold, lo, in the midst of the throne and the four
beasts, in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain. That word slain is butchered. That's what Christ underwent
for our salvation. He was butchered. Now what's
another name in this country for a butcher house? What's another
name? What? Slaughterhouse. Now you're
talking Isaiah 53, aren't you? He was led as a lamb to the slaughter? Isaiah 53, verse 6 and 7. Wow. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Sometimes... We don't know how to pray as
we ought, the Holy Spirit helping us. There's times you don't know
what to say. And there's no English word,
there's no Greek word, there's no Hebrew word to adequately
describe the agonies, physical and spiritual agonies that our
Lord went through. So we might stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Praise be to our
elder brother, our kinsman redeemer, our beloved, our friend. Oh, and incidentally,
in Proverbs 17, 17, it says, this friend which loveth at all
times. The friend that loveth at all
times. And I confess to you, I need him all the time. But he said he's a friend that
loveth. And I know that word is abused
and fornicated in this country that they don't understand. They
got John 3.16 on their brain. We're not ignorant of his devices.
A friend loveth our friend, loveth at
all times. And because he did so, from that altar, the blood, sacrifice
and innards and everything was washed down. He drank of that
brook in the way. Suffered, bled and died. He rose again on the third day
and led captivity captive. I'll close with this. If this place Kidron, which we
know from David, we know we didn't look at Josiah, we didn't look
at Solomon, we didn't look at a couple of other places where
it's used, but it doesn't matter because it says Christ frequented
the garden and crossed over the bridge. If this place, Kidron,
and all that it signified, was often visited by our Lord, may
we also go likewise to that place and remember Him. Now, isn't
that what we do when we partake of the Lord's Supper? Do this
in remembrance of Him. May we go likewise and remember
Him who bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, and let us be in
a joy state, be thankful, grateful, and a content people all the
days of our life. Oh, may our God help us to be
so and to go back frequently and see the love that it took,
the sacrifice it took, to make us free. And may the love of
Christ constrain us. May it help us to be so. Amen and Amen.