Good evening. I'm going to turn back with me to Acts
chapter 2 again. I don't know if y'all have called
it, but past few weeks, Gabe has, in
his messages, said something along the lines of, what happened
at the cross? What happened at Calvary? He
was, just during the message, he was reminding us to think
upon that, and saying it so often, it finally
got through this thick skull, and I started thinking about
it. He's referring to an event that
took place some 2,000 years ago when our King, our Lord Jesus
Christ, was taken. He was beaten. He was nailed
to a tree. He was crucified. He shed his
blood. He laid down his life. Everybody knows this. It's part
of historical record. But our question, do you know
what actually happened on that cross? Where our Lord suffered and died,
do you know what actually happened there? Did he die as a martyr
for his cause? Did he die as an example for
others? Or did he die victoriously, as
we just read in Acts chapter 2, accomplishing the salvation
of his people? Let's read Acts 2, verse 22 through
24 again. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it." I pray our Lord will be pleased
tonight to reveal to us that on that cross, the eternal counsel
and purpose of God was accomplished. The true altar of God was revealed. The Lamb of God was provided,
and our ark of salvation bore us safely. First, gaze upon the man so marred
more than any man. beaten and bloodied, blood shedding
from his hands and his feet where the nails pierced him, blood
shedding from his head where that crown of thorns was thrust
into him, blood shedding from where his beard was plucked out
by the cruel soldiers, and blood pouring from his back that had
been plowed by the whip. Here, in time, we see the everlasting
covenant of God being carried out. Verse 23 says, Jesus Christ being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. Who delivered Jesus of Nazareth
to that tree? Did Pilate? We read in John 1911,
our Lord said to Pilate, thou couldest have no power at all
against me, except it were given thee from above. Who delivered
him? The determinant, the ordained,
the appointed counsel, the purpose of God delivered our Lord. What was that determinate counsel
of God? It was his covenant, it was his
promise. Who did it concern? Turn with
me to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Who does this counsel, the purpose
of God, concern? John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Don't you love how declarative
and affirming that is? All shall. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me. that of all which
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. How many hear the gospel preached
and never see the sun? And Lord, be pleased tonight
to reveal to us our Lord Jesus Christ as he is. Here in this
these few verses, our Lord has revealed the eternal covenant,
the promise of the triune God. The father chose out of Adam's
race a number, and he has committed their eternal welfare to the
son. What is the price of that redemption
that the son must pay for those that were given to him by the
father? The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The price of redeeming
a soul is death. We read in Leviticus 17, the
life of the flesh is in the blood. Blood must be shed for the salvation
of those that are given to the Son. Bear upon Calvary's tree. Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
the requirement of the eternal covenant of God. There he proclaimed,
it is finished. And there he, our high priest,
by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. It is done. Now it goes without saying that
our carnal minds cannot grasp the enormity of all that transpired
upon that cross. All that took place there. But
God's been pleased in his word to record for us in types and
in pictures events that allow us a glimpse. a little bit to see what transpired
there. In that eternal covenant, God
the Son promised to secure the eternal redemption of all of
those given to him by his Father. I just quoted from Hebrews where
Christ fulfilled the picture of the high priest. And when
I think of a high priest, there are a couple of things that come
along with that thought. One is the altar, and the other
is the sacrifice. And when I think of the altars
of the Old Testament, there are two that always jump to the forefront
of my mind. And the first is found in 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 18, turn with
me there. You probably all know this account,
but briefly, after a three-year drought, Elijah had all of Israel
gathered together, including the prophets of Baal. And here in 1 Kings 18 verse
21, he issues a challenge. 1 Kings 18 verse 21. And Elijah came unto all the
people and said, How long, Halchi, between two opinions? If the
Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not
a word. They didn't know. Elijah then said, in essence,
let the true God prove who he is. Each representative will
prepare a sacrifice, but will not put any fire under the sacrifice. And he said to the prophets of
Baal in verse 24, and call ye on the name of your gods, and
I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God that answereth
by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and
said, it is well spoken. That one they knew how to answer.
The prophets of Baal went first, and from morning until evening
they performed their rituals. Then, at the time of the evening
sacrifice, Elijah called all of Israel to him, he repaired
the altar of the Lord, he built a trench about it, he had 12
barrels of water poured over the sacrifice so that it filled
the trench with water, and then in verse 36 And it came to pass, at the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet
came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,
let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that
I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy
word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou
hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord
fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and
the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was
in the trench. I think of that scene. My imagination goes wild with
this scene. I just picture it and can see
all this occurring. And I think of these people of
Israel who were so greatly blessed of God. They had the law. They had the prophets. The Lord And yet, they're unable to answer
a word as to whether the Lord is God or Baal is God. Now, let's put ourselves in someone
else's shoes for a moment. We have people and relationships
that we give our hearts to, that we express good and we do things
for people and we promote them and encourage them. And by and
by, as time goes by, eventually we're going to be hurt. We're going to call on that person,
and they're going to say, no, I'm too busy for you. Or we're
going to receive words, so-and-so was talking badly about you. What do we do? Do we turn a blind
eye and say, oh, that's all right. They didn't really mean it. Or
do we harbor some, hmm, just wait. They're gonna get theirs
when they do. I'm gonna be happy about it.
And at the same time, we're smitten because we know that's not the
way our Lord has treated us. Thanks be to God. He said, my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. Instead of his wrath falling
upon these people, these people who had forgotten him, had forgotten
all his benefits to them, Instead of his wrath falling upon them,
he provided an altar-a target, if you will-upon which God's
wrath fell and consumed the altar instead of them. There, on Calvary's cross, hangs
our Lord Jesus Christ. bearing the sin for his lovingly
elected people. And there he became the target
upon which God's wrath fell. Wrath of God fell upon him and
he constrained the wrath from falling upon those he came to
save. This altar here in First Kings
shows how God's true altar focused and contained God's just and
righteous wrath when it fell upon our Lord there at Calvary. Because he bore our sin, he became
the target that was on us. But rather than in this picture,
where the altar was consumed, our altar, our Lord consumed
the wrath until every sin debt was paid. That's the first altar
that comes to my mind. The second altar is in Genesis
chapter 22. Turn with me there. Genesis chapter 22. Verse one. And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of.' And Abraham rose up early in
the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the wood for the
burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which
God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son.
And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father, and said, My father? And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. So they went both of them together,
And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven
and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here am I. And he
said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from
me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked. And behold, behind him a ram
caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. I love this account. There are
so many types, so many pictures. It's just beautiful. But we're
looking at this altar and the happenings here as it applies
to our Lord's death on the cross. Look again at verse nine. And
they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham
built an altar there. I couldn't help but think of
our Lord's words in Hebrews. A body hast thou prepared me."
God prepared himself an altar. Continuing in verse 9, And Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order. There is one thing that sustains
God's wrath, and that's sin. In the Old Testament, God's wrath
is often pictured as fire. Wood is fuel for fire. This wood represents our sin. Without sin, Adam and Eve enjoyed
the companionship and the fellowship of God. But then Adam sinned
and he lost that relationship. He died and we died in him. But before Adam sinned, God laid
the wood in order. God prepared his altar to bear
our sin in his body on that tree. Verse 9 again. and laid the wood
in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar
upon the wood." Isaac, before he ever arrived to this point,
was condemned. We read in verse 2, and God said,
take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him there
for a burnt offering. Isaac here represents me. He
represents the sinner born in condemnation, dead in trespasses
and sins, who in our daily life drinketh iniquity like water. Our sin and just condemnation
being laid upon us, just as Isaac carried up the wood for that
burnt offering. What happened upon the cross?
God's eternal purpose was fulfilled, God's altar was revealed, and
God provided Himself as the Lamb of God. Verse 10, And Abraham
stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The judgments of the Lord
are true and righteous altogether. We, children of a rebel and rebels
ourselves, deserve the judgment of death which is against us. But thank God, He delights to
show mercy. When neither Abraham nor Isaac
was looking for it, a ransom was found. And Abraham, verse 13, and Abraham
lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, behind him a ram
caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. What happened upon the cross? Our Lord Jesus Christ, He who
knew no sin, was made sin for us. I sinned. I am sin. I have committed sin. I was condemned. I should have
died. But in loving kindness, He took
my sin, He took my shame, He took my judgment. and he shed
his precious blood to pay the debt that I could not pay. He
that spared Abraham's son spared not his own son. There upon Calvary's
cross, fulfilling the eternal covenant, our altar, our lamb,
bore the wrath of God. But what of those for whom he
endured that cross? Where were we? On that cross, the wrath and
justice of God fell in like manner as it did in Noah's day. Turn
to Genesis 17. Oh, sorry, Genesis 7, not 17,
Genesis 7. In this chapter, we read how
Noah, his wife, and his son's wives entered into the ark. Verse 16, Genesis 7, verse 16. Go forth. I am in the wrong place. I turned the wrong place. Genesis
7, 16. And they that went in, went in
male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him, and
the Lord shut him in. Verse 23, and every living substance
was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground, both
man and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven,
and they were destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained
alive and they that were with him in the ark. The judgment and wrath of God
fell upon that ark. But those who were in the ark,
they were kept safely. All those in our Lord Jesus Christ,
all of those whom God the Father in loving mercy gave to God the
Son in that eternal covenant are and shall forever be kept
safely in the Lord Jesus Christ. What happened on the cross of
Calvary? The Lord Jesus Christ, our Great
High Priest, prepared Himself, our altar. He provided Himself
as our Lamb. He consumed the wrath of God
on our behalf and He entered into heaven itself with His own
blood to fulfill His covenant promise. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved his
people from their sins. He did it all himself. Salvation
is of the Lord from beginning to end. He gets all the glory,
all the honor, all the praise forevermore. May the Lord make
that a blessing to us.