Go with me, if you would, back
to Mark 15. Mark chapter 15. Our brother just read for us
the account of our Lord's suffering on the cross. in order to pay
the sin debt for his people. His great suffering. He had to
give his life. And in my notes after that I
wrote, oh may I never let that just roll off my tongue. He had to give his life. He had to give His life. He had to shed His blood. He had to let the blood drain
out of His body. He had to break His body. That's what it took in order
to put away every single sin from every single soul that the
Father gave to Him. That's what it took. As our Lord was accomplishing
this, there was a centurion, a Roman soldier, a man who had
given his life to war, fighting, a man who had committed himself
to carrying out the orders of his wicked superiors. A man who
had climbed the ranks and become the captain of a hundred men.
That's what a centurion was. He was a captain over a hundred
men. This centurion quite possibly
could have been one of the ones who physically apprehended the
Lord and beat Him with everything
He had in Him. and physically drove the nails
into the wood. Verse 39 says, And when the centurion,
which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out and
gave up the ghost, as this centurion stands there witnessing the Lamb
slain. Can you imagine how holy this
sight was? The sun stopped shining for three
hours. Can you imagine how holy this
sight was? Here this centurion stands witnessing
the Lamb slain. He's just taking it all in. This
big, strong, brutal man. Having his eyes opened to literally
see Christ crucified. Verse 39 says, When the centurion
which stood over against him saw that he so cried out the
way that he cried out in all of his glory, all of his power,
all of his control, the earth was quaking, rocks were rending. When he saw how he so cried out
and gave up the ghost. When he saw that the ghost was
not taken from him. That's what this centurion saw.
The ghost was not taken from him. He gave up the ghost. When he saw that he sovereignly
willingly gave it up. He said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. When the centurion, which stood
over against him, saw that he so cried out and gave up the
ghost, it slayed this man. It slayed his hard heart. He said, truly, This man, this
man, this man was the Son of God. This man truly was the Son of
God. God manifest in the flesh, not
God's Son. An eye-opening experience. This
is an earthquaking experience. This is a heart-rending experience. When a sinner comes to see that
this man, Jesus, is not just God's Son. This is God the Son. The Son of God. This centurion
saw this man. That's what the gospel is all
about. That's what the gospel is all
about. The gospel is so singular. The Apostle Paul called it the
simplicity of Christ, the simplicity of Christ. It is simple in the
fact that it's singular. Oh, it's so complex and everything
that God purposed to do and everything he accomplished. But the gospel is this man. That's the gospel. What is the
gospel? This man. That's the gospel,
and that's what I want us to consider this morning. This man. There is every man on this earth,
all of mankind, which includes women, children, all of mankind. There's every man, and then there's
this man. this man. God-given eyes see
this man. God-given ears hear this man. A God-given heart believes on
this man. Our only hope is in this man.
A sinner's only hope is in this man. Here's the reason why. Look
with me if you would at Psalm 39. Psalm 39 verse 4. David said, Lord, make me to
know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is that I
may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days
as a handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before thee. Verily,
And that means this is the truth. This is the truth. Every man
at his best state is altogether vanity. And silah means, let's
pause right there and think about that. Altogether vanity. Vanity means
empty, worthless, of no value. Of no value. Nothing good in
man. There is no Worth. There's nothing worth saving.
There's nothing worth saving. Well, there's a little bit of
good in everybody. No, there's nothing worth saving. There's
nothing worth saving. Good for nothing. We're all constantly
having to make the decision on whether or not we're going to
keep something or throw it away. Always. Or should we keep that
or throw it away? So we assess it. We look it over
real good. And if we come to realize that
it's of no value to us, I can't see how I would ever, ever need
this. I don't want this. You want to
eat that? No. It's of no value. It's of no value. If we come
to realize this is of no value to me, then we Come to one conclusion. Throw it out. Throw it out. No value. That's man before God. That's man before God. No value. No value. Worthless. Altogether vanity. Not only that, not only is man
altogether empty, God says man is altogether evil, not just worthless, bad. Look with me at Genesis chapter
6. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 says, And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Every imagination. Every imagination. Every thought of his heart. Only
evil continually. That's all man is. That's all man was. That's all
man is. That's all man will ever be.
Only evil continually. Don't turn, but Psalm 14 says,
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did understand and seek God. Were there any
that had a right mind to realize what kind of condition they were
in and seek God? They are all gone aside, they
are all together become filthy, there's none that doeth good,
no not one. David said in Psalm 116, all
men are liars. Lies are not just what we do,
it's what we are. We lie because that's what we
are. It's the nature of man's flesh. John 3 says, light came
into the world, men loved darkness rather than light. It's the nature
of a man. It's the nature of the flesh. Men love what they are. They
love what they are. Committing a sin does not make
a man or a woman a sinner. Men and women commit sin because
they are sinners. When a dog is born, you don't
wait on the dog to bark to see if it will become a dog. Dogs
don't bark in order to become dogs. Well, if it if it meows,
it's going to become a cat. And no, it barks because it is
a dog. And committing sin does not cause
us to become sinners. People are so afraid. Oh, if
I commit a sin, I'm going to become a sinner. Oh no, the problems
started a long time ago. If I commit a sin, it will only
evidence what I am. It will evidence what I already
am. Sin does not come from without. It comes from within. Our Lord
told us that in Mark 7. Look with me if you would at
Mark chapter 7. Mark 7 verse 14. When he had called all the people
unto him, he said unto them, hearken unto me, every one of
you, and understand. There is nothing from without
a man that entering into him can defile him. But the things
which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was
entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him
concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are you
so without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatsoever
thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him? Because it entereth not into
his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draft,
purging all meats. And He said, That which cometh
out of man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of
the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, Deceit, lust, and
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from
within and defile the man. That's all man is. And that's all of us. That's
not describing, well, this one and that one goes to this man.
And this one and that one goes to that man. That's all man. All of those things are all man. That's all that man can be because
that's all that man is. Now, that makes me say, thank
God for the gospel. Thank God for the message of
the gospel. Could you imagine if we didn't have the message
of the gospel? Do you know what the gospel cries?
In the midst of all that, out of the darkness. Do you know
what the gospel cries? But this man. That's the gospel. But this man. Man, man, man,
man, man. But this man. Oh, but this man. That's the
heart and the message of the gospel. Come see this man. You want to have your day ruined?
You want to have a miserable day? Look at man. You want to
hear the greatest news you've ever heard in your life? Let
me tell you about this man. I have a few scriptures here
that I hope will reveal to us a little bit about this man.
Look with me at Luke 23. And we know that everything this
Word says about us is so. We know it's so true. We know
it's true. We know inside the heart. We
know what's going on in here. Therefore, everything this Word
says about this man is true. It's so. Luke 23, verse 3 says,
Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And
he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to
the chief priest and to the people, I find no fault in this man."
No fault. This man is perfect. This man
is perfect. Oh, the heart of this man. What comes out of this man's
heart? Can you only imagine what proceeds out of this man's heart? This man is absolutely perfect. The perfect man. No sin. No guile. Not one stain on his record. Not one blemish in His character. Have you ever met somebody and
thought, man, I love this person. And then about a week later,
you say, ah, well, I don't know. There's not one blemish in His
character. For all of eternity, we're going
to look at this man, and we're going to be in awe, we're going
to be so in awe of the beauty of who He is. This man is kind. It's why we
have the gospel. It's the whole reason we have
the gospel. This man is pure. Out of him proceeds love. Out of him proceeds grace. Look right here at Luke 23 verse
21. But they cried, saying, Crucify
him! Crucify him! That's man. Look at verse 34. Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Oh, this
man. This man. Verse 39 says, One
of the malefactors which were 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, we deserve
this. We deserve every bit of this.
We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. We are vile and wicked creatures,
but this man is the holy lamb of God, the holy, perfect, spotless
lamb of God. Now look with me at Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews 10 verse 1 says, For
the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things, can never, with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year, continually make the comers thereunto perfect. The law cannot make a sinner
perfect. The law cannot make a sinner
perfect. Obeying the law does not put
away man's sin. Verse 2 says, For then would
they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins? But in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins, Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when He said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that He may establish the second. By the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. Is that not beautiful to see
and think about these priests who have been standing there
shedding blood and shedding blood and shedding blood trying to
remit sins for thousands of years offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices over and over, and over, and they could not do it.
Verse 12 says, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. Who were
his enemies? And He's going to bring every
one of His enemies to bow down at His feet and worship at His
feet. For by one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. The gospel is so amazing. And when a sinner who's been
trying to obey God and live right and do the things, make sacrifices,
well, I can't do that. You know, God won't be happy
with that. We're going to make some sacrifices. They've been trying over and
over and over. When the Gospel comes, the truth
of this man, by one offering of himself, this
perfect, holy, spotless man. When the gospel comes and tells
sinners, you're too sinful, I appreciate your effort, but sit down. He
did. He accomplished it. It's done. His perfect, spotless sacrifice,
God is satisfied with it. He's satisfied by the one sacrifice
of Himself. He's satisfied the law, everything
it demanded of us. The law says you better do this
and you better stop doing that. He's satisfied that. The law
says okay. He paid the debt that was owed
to God by suffering the wrath for His people. God is satisfied. He took out the stony heart.
Aren't you so glad He took out that stony heart? And he put a brand new sinless
heart with a sinless nature in every single one of his people.
And then he sat down on the right hand of God, satisfied the law,
satisfied God, made new creatures out of his people and then sat
down. Who this man is and what he has done, that is the good
news that God has commanded us to go declare to the whole world. You go tell the whole world who
He is and what He has done. This is the declaration of the
gospel as simply as I know to put it. This is as simply as
I know to declare it. Go with me to Luke 15. Luke 15, look at the end of verse
2. It says, This man receiveth sinners. That's the gospel. This man receiveth
sinners. That's what the gospel is and
that's Who it's to. This man receiveth sinners. The gospel is not for the righteous. It's for sinners. It's for sinners. He came to save sinners. Sinners
are all that we are. But the greatest news that could
ever be told is that's exactly who this man receives. He receives
sinners. Verse 1 right here says, Then
drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And that's exactly what will
happen when a sinner is called to Christ. When God's Spirit
calls a sinner to himself, God will tune that sinner's ear to
hear him. He'll hear him. He'll hear the
most beautiful words of life. Instead of do, he'll hear done. Instead of work, he'll hear rest. Rest. Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. The problem
for man trying to fulfill this law is he will never be able
to do it. Never. The work will never stop. No end in sight. Man thinks something
and he immediately realizes, I shouldn't have thought that.
I better make that right. Man does something and he immediately
says, I shouldn't have done that. I better make that right. He says something and he says,
I shouldn't have said that. He feels something and he says,
I shouldn't have felt that. I better make that right. And
then the gospel comes and says, this man made it right. This
man, put it away, is taken care of. That'll slay a sinner. That will slay the hard heart. That will stop a sinner in his
tracks. That'll make a sinner cry, glory
to God. To God be the glory. Turn with
me to John 7. I absolutely love this account.
I love this. John 7, verse 32. The Pharisees heard that the
people murmured such things concerning him, and the Pharisees and chief
priests sent officers to take him. They said, You go lay hold
of Him and you bring Him to us. We're going to put a stop to
this. We're going to put a stop to what He's preaching. So these officers, just like
this centurion, these soldiers, these big hard soldiers, came
up to the Lord where He was. Verse 33 says, Then said Jesus
unto them, And in the words that he spoke,
in verse 37, they heard, in the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. The Lord spoke, The Spirit moved. Verse 45 says, Then came the
officers to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said
unto them, Why have you not brought him? They came back empty-handed. They said, You go get him and
bring him. And here they come walking back
empty-handed. And they said, Why have you not brought him?
And the officers answered, Never man spake like this man. They just walked back dumbfounded.
No man has ever spoken like this man. And I'm going to tell you,
if God will let us hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ through
His Word, by His Spirit, that's exactly what we'll say. No man
has ever spoken like this man. Oh, the words of this man. Oh,
the voice of this man. The power, the authority, the
sweetness. We will never hear the word until
we hear the word of this man. We'll never hear the gospel until
we hear the gospel of this man. I look one more time at our text,
Mark chapter 15. Verse 39 says, And when the centurion, which
stood over against him, saw that he so cried out and gave up the
ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. God manifest
in the flesh. That's who this man is. That's
who the Son of God is. He is the sovereign. Successful
Savior of sinners. That centurion saw he accomplished
what he set out to do. He finished the work that his
father gave him to do. Thank God for this man. Thank
God for this man. One of these days in glory, we're
going to be with a number no man can number, all with one
heart. We're going to have the heart
of Christ. We're all going to have one mind.
We're going to have the mind of Christ. We're all going to
have one Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, and we're all going to
cry out with one voice, Thank God for this man. Thank God for
this man. Thank God for this man. Come
to this man. Here's the loving draw of the
Gospel. Come to this man. Bow before
this man in heart. Worship this man. Believe on
this man. And give thanks for this man.
In the heart, let's give thanks for this man. Thank God for Christ. Thank God for Christ. We owe
it all to Him. Alright. Let's all stand together.