Either way, either way. But if
you will, take your Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 22. Psalm chapter 22. As I was contemplating this message
this week, I realized that the gospel is much like Ezekiel said,
it is a river. And we can, in many things, wade
out in our ankles. In some things, we wade out into
our waist. But this morning, I realized
that I have jumped off the pier and went into the deepest part
of the ocean, and so we're going to swim around a little bit.
We're going to swim around in this, and may God use this for
our comfort. May God use this for our comfort.
The title of the message is Christ Forsaken. Christ forsaken. In chapter 22 of the Psalms,
verse 1, it says, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime,
but Thou hearest not, and in the night season am not silent. But Thou art holy, O Thou that
inhabitest the praise of Israel. My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? The prophet here, David, In this
22nd chapter of the book of Psalms, we have written for us exactly,
exactly what took place when the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, was nailed to the cross. This is exactly what took place
when the Son of God suffered under the just and holy wrath
of God for the sins of His people. In the night you remember our
Lord when He was betrayed of Judas. Peter not understanding
what the Lord had said before. And you wonder how he could not
understand. The Lord told him. He said, I
go up to Jerusalem and I shall be betrayed. I shall be delivered
into the hands of the Jews. They will crucify me and I'll
rise again the third day. Now how could he misunderstand
that? But yet he did. He misunderstood. And he grabbed his sword and
he cut off the priest, the servant of the high priest's ear. And
the Lord Jesus in that chapter, in Matthew chapter 26, when he
healed him, he said this. He said, why are you doing this? I must go, that the scriptures
should be fulfilled. I must go, that the scriptures
should be fulfilled. How marvelous is this, that all
that was done in the life of Jesus Christ, all that would
be done on this day, was perfectly recorded for us and purposed
of God from eternity, written down, so we could not mistake
it. This is unmistakable that this
chapter in Psalm chapter 22 and many other places, this is exactly
what took place so that there is no misunderstanding who this
is talking about. Consider this that all these
men did on this day was exactly what they desired
to do. Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus
Christ because he wanted to. The high priest called those
false witnesses and tried the Lord Jesus Christ in a mock trial
because he wanted to. Those soldiers beat him and the
Jews spit on him and mocked him because they wanted to. Yet all
of these things were done according to the decree and will of God. In Acts, over in Acts chapter
4, the church praying says this, For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
and the Gentiles and all the people of Israel were gathered
together. for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done." Think of the great detail that's going
into this, that these soldiers, just regarding the soldiers and
how they took the garments of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they
coveted them, they wanted them. And so what did they do? They
cast lots for them. Now think, these Roman soldiers
knew nothing of the Scriptures. They knew nothing of this prophecy.
In Psalm 22 and verse 18 it says, For they part my garments among
them and cast lots for my vesture. And that's exactly what they
did. You see, they parted his garment.
In other words, there was a piece of his clothing that had seams,
and they parted each one, so each one had a piece. But he
had a coat that didn't have any seams, so what'd they do? They
said, we don't want to rip this coat up. It's a good coat. What
are we going to do? Well, let's roll dice for it.
And that's what they did. They had no idea they were fulfilling
the prophecies of God, and yet they did. And even so in our
text, in this first verse, we read of such a fulfillment of
prophecy when Jesus was nailed to the cross. Go over to Matthew
chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27 and look at
verse 45. You can see this being fulfilled.
Our text is being fulfilled while Jesus Christ was on the cross. In verse 45 it says, Now from
the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth
hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus
cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama, shabbat nafi. That is to say, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? It was then that Jesus Christ
was crucified. It was then that the sky became
dark, and it was dark for three hours. Three hours. There was a darkness that was
not natural. From about noon to three o'clock
there was an eclipse of sorts, but it was no regular eclipse
of the sun. A regular eclipse does not last
so long. And yet this darkness lasted
for three hours while Jesus hung in suffering agony upon the cross. And this darkness not only covered
where they were, but it also covered most of, some say up
to all of the Roman Empire was covered in this darkness. There
was a heathen historian that wrote this concerning that day. He said, either the divine being
suffers, or he suffers with him that suffers, or the frame of
the world is dissolving. They knew that this was an unnatural
darkness that covered the earth. And this darkness was on account
of the suffering of the divine being, Jesus Christ. For it was in the darkness, in
this darkness, the Son of God was suffering under the divine
justice of God. It was here, listen, it was here
in this darkness that the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for
His people. This is the word of reconciliation
that we preach Be ye reconciled to God, for God hath made Him
to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we should be made the
righteousness of God in Him." Now, as you read the accounts
of the New Testament concerning the cross, you would notice this.
They're brief. They do not go into great detail
as to His sufferings. They tell us what He did and
how they did it and how it was fulfilled that was spoken by
the prophets. But yet you do not read any great
detail. I believe there are seven sayings
the Lord has in the New Testament from the cross. If you want any
detail as to what went on on the cross, you have to go back
to the Old Testament. And I tell you, if you look at
this chapter in Psalm 22 and the chapter in Psalm 69, you
will see exactly what took place in the midst of this darkness.
In the time that the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin and suffered
for his people, these two chapters spell out the heart of his suffering. The heart of his suffering. It was here the Father imputed
the sins of all His elect. And this was pictured from the
beginning. Remember when Adam sinned, he was naked before God. And it was God who came and offered
a sacrifice to clothe his nakedness. Well, behold now, Jesus Christ,
as He was crucified, see that He was stripped of His clothes. This is important. No man was
crucified. This was the most ignominious
death. It was only the death of a slave.
Roman citizens could not be crucified. Only slaves. Only the lowest
form of men. And this they did to everyone
that was crucified. They stripped them of their garments. They were crucified naked. And you see, the Lord was crucified
naked so that He should provide a cloak of righteousness for
His people. It was in this three hours our
Savior was made to be sinned. It was here that we may view
sin's nature rightly as it is detestable. in the sight
of God, that when the Son of God was made sin, notice what
God did to His own Son. He completely forsook Him. Jesus was the only true and righteous
man that ever was. There was never more righteous
man than the Lord Jesus Christ. He did no sin. He thought no
sin. Nor was there any sin in Him
at all. He was perfect. Isn't that what everybody desires?
To have, to be, you know, the perfect person. Or you want the
perfect person. You think you do. This was the
perfect person. And they hated him. If you had
a perfect person in your... you would hate him. Isn't that how we feel about
people that are better than us sometimes? We just get so jealous
of them. But I tell you, there was never
a more perfect man than Jesus. Even Pilate and his enemies,
Herod, said, we find no fault in this man. The Jews hated him
without a cause. And He only did that which was
good. He healed the sick. He preached the truth of God's
Word. And yet, He must needs go to the cross in order to save
His people. This was a necessity. Jesus must
of necessity, in order to fulfill the will and eternal purpose
of God, He must have all the sins of His people made His own. Made His own. This was the reason for the darkness. There was a darkness at this
time upon the face of the earth because God was making a transaction. God was making a transaction. A transaction of imputation of
sin to His beloved Son. He made Him to be sin for us. Thus, Christ, by the mouth of
the prophet, says this in Psalm 69. Look over at Psalm 69 and
see what the prophet, what Jesus Himself, is saying on the cross. Psalm 69 and verse 1. See this
as it is, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Save me, O God, for the waters
are come into my soul. I sink in deep mire where there
is no standing. I am come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat
is dried, mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that
hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. How many people hate you? And yet how do we feel when someone
hates us? And yet Jesus here says, more
people hate me than I have hair on my head. And without a cause, being mine
enemies wrongfully are mighty. Then I restored that which I
took not away. Behold His decry of righteousness. He said, I didn't, I'm restoring
something that I didn't do. You see, man fail. It was man
that sinned, but yet it must be by man that man is restored. And he said, I didn't take it
away, but I'm restoring what I took not away. O God, now listen
to this, O God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sin are
not hid from thee. He who was righteous was made
sin for us. He was made to be sin. Jesus
did not sin, but He was in such a way made sin that it was His. in the eyes of God's holy justice. Now we know that while our sins
were made his own, yet he did no sin. This time when the Lord
Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, believer know this, this
is a mysterious thing. It is not something that we can
really wrap our minds around, but this is so. When Jesus Christ
was made sin for us, he himself on the cross still did no sin. He did no sin. He was made sin,
but he did no sin. You and I are sin, and that's
all we do is sin. But when He was made sin, you
notice on the cross, who is He still crying to? He's crying
to God. He's still trusting in God. He still has his faith in God
while he hangs upon the cross. Even as he was made sin, he still
cried and trusted God for all of his strength and all of his
salvation. He said, Save me, O God! In verse 13 of chapter 69 of
Psalms, he says this, But as for me, my prayer is unto Thee,
O Lord, in acceptable time. O God, in the multitude of Thy
mercy, hear me in the truth of Thy salvation. You see that he
still cried unto God. Verse 16, Hear me, O Lord, For
thy lovingkindness is good. Even while he was suffering under
the wrath of God, he said this, Thy lovingkindness is good. Even as he suffered. Jesus the righteous bore the
reproach of all of our sins. His heart was broken because
He was made to bear our sins, who in His holy body on that
tree. And this was no natural transaction,
but only one that God could perform. Only God could impute sin to
His Son, and only the righteous Son could have endured it. There is no earthly example of
this. I'll give you something close.
Listen. If a man were sentenced to death, and he was guilty of
murder, sentenced to death, and someone came along and said,
I'll take his place, I'll die in his stead, if that was legal
in some way to happen. And the man took his place and
died in his stead. You see, he could take his punishment,
but one thing he could never do is take his guilt. Isn't that
right? He couldn't take his guilt. The
man would have still committed the crime. The man still would
have been guilty of the crime, even though he was alleviated
of the punishment. But you see, this is not what
happened on the cross. What happened on the cross was
this, that the Son of God bore our sins in His own body. He bore the guilt of them before
God. poured out all of His justice,
all of the punishment due our guilt that was now made His own. There is no example of this. This is something that only God
could do. This is a divine transaction
made that the innocent man be made guilty. before the eyes
and holy justice of God." So Jesus, bearing our guilt, our
sin, our reproach in His own body, suffered under the strict,
holy vengeance and wrath of God. O believer, let us see this,
that He who suffered for our sins, see how that God was not
willing to impute our sins to us. He was so not willing to
impute our sins to us, He imputed them to His Son. He charged His own Son with our
guilt. And His Son willingly bore the
reproach, despising the shame, bore our reproach, our sins. and satisfied the wrath of God. Oh, believers, see who suffered
for our sins willingly. See that our sins could not be
overlooked by the divine justice of God. How then can God be just and
justify the ungodly? Here is God's purpose and salvation
displayed when Jesus says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? God forsaking God. Who can know
it? Who can understand it? In 2 Corinthians 5, 19, to wit,
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them. Where were they imputed? They
were imputed to Christ, for He hath made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin. Even When they were imputed to
Him, He did no sin, that we should be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Is there any affliction then
like His? We all suffer affliction, don't
we? As believers in Christ, we suffer in this world. But there
is no suffering like His. There is no suffering. Is there
any sorrow like unto His sorrow? that he who is righteous was
made to be sinned and forsaken of God. Forsaken of God. Oh, we have sinned. We deserve
to be forsaken. And yet in love Jesus stood as
our mediator between us and God and bore away our sins forever. Forever. He willingly bore our
sins Despise the shame for the joy set before him what joy the
joy of your salvation You know that it was a joy for him in
that he knew this would save you This would do it he knew
this would do it Behold, he was despised and afflicted,
rejected, smitten of God, bore our sins, and suffered the just
for the unjust that he should bring us to God. For he was forsaken
of God so that we should be accepted of God. So then, as soon as God's justice
and vengeance were satisfied, He said, it is finished. Finished. The work of salvation
is accomplished. It is accomplished by Jesus Christ
in His being forsaken of God. Death and wrath were the sentence
of God's justice, but when Jesus died they were paid in full. Therefore death could not hold
him because sin was removed. So then see that he who was made
sin, forsaken of God, smitten of the wrath of God, is now delivered
from death and seated on the throne of God. Therefore, because
he was forsaken, go back to your text, now then look at the result
of this. Look at the result of his being
forsaken of God. In verse 22 of chapter 22 of
Psalms, he says this, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation
will I praise thee. This morning the Lord has sent
me to declare his word to his brethren. You who believe, he
is not ashamed to call you his brethren. Why is he not ashamed? Because your sin is removed.
Your sin is gone. He suffered for your sin. The
wrath of God has passed. He's not ashamed to call you
His brethren. And here it is, you that fear
the Lord, in verse 23, you that fear the Lord, praise Him. All
you seed of Jacob, glorify Him and fear Him, all you seed of
Israel. Are you His brethren? Are you
His brethren? Was He forsaken for you? Then
praise Him, glorify Him, and fear Him, reverence Him, reverence
Him. Now there are many, there are many who confess with
their lips just what I've told you, who are not His brethren. There are many who profess faith
in Jesus Christ who are deceived to think they are saved because
they believe certain doctrines. Many may say the right doctrines,
they may believe in the sovereignty of God, but I'll tell you, if
there is no change in the life of a man, he has no right to
be called the brethren of Christ. Sinners don't be deceived. Listen
to me. I'm going to say this as plainly
as I can. If it looks like a duck and quacks
like a duck, it's not a horse. Got it? It's a duck. There are people I know who profess
the same doctrines that I profess, profess to believe in the same
Christ I believe in, say amen to my preaching, and yet they
are living in adultery, drunkenness, perverseness, fornication. They
have no love for the gospel except when it's convenient for them. They may look good to others,
but they have no love for Christ nor His brethren. John says they're
liars, and the truth is not in them. But we who believe on Christ
know this. We are free. We are made free. Free from the law, but not free
from all law. Believer, what law are you bound
to? You are bound to the law of faith, aren't you? to the
law of grace, to the law of love, to the law of mercy. You are
bound to the law of Jesus Christ, and you believe on Him. You love
Him, and you desire to serve Him. We do desire to be free
from sin. Do you desire to be free from
sin, or you just want to be free from the consequences of sin?
You see, that's the difference between the brethren of Christ,
those who Christ suffered for, and those He didn't. The body is dead because of sin,
but you who believe the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
We believe on Jesus Christ because we have been given life and faith. We fear him, we glorify him,
we honor him because he by his one death has put away our sins
forever, forever. Oh, see that Christ has been
forsaken and praise God for it. He's been forsaken, he honored
God, and he paid his vows. Verse 24, for he hath not despised
nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he
hid his face from him, But when he cried unto him, he heard him. My praise shall be of thee in
the great congregation. I will pay my vows before them
that fear him." Has he not paid his vows? Has he not done what
he said he would do? Did he not suffer as he said
he would? Did he not pay for our sins and
rise again the third day and now is ascended to the glory,
throne of God? Has he not called us And has
he not kept us? These are all his vows. He says,
I will not lose one for whom I died for. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. This is his vow. And look at
this. And the meek, verse 26, shall
eat and be satisfied. As I hear the gospel and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, what am I doing? I'm eating in meekness, humility. I repent and confess my sins
and believe on the Son of God who was forsaken for me. And
you know what? I'm satisfied. You don't need
to give me anything else. I must have Christ and Christ
alone. I must believe on Christ and
Christ alone. I must love Christ and Christ
alone. I believe on Him for all my salvation. I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied
because God's satisfied. Are you satisfied with Him? Is
He enough? Is he enough? He's enough because he was forsaken
of God and afflicted and my sins are forever removed. Praise God.