Well, good evening to everyone.
It's always a delight and an honor for me to come back to
Kingsport, Tennessee. A place where God raised up a
gospel ministry some years back. And I'm so thankful for what
the Lord has been pleased to bring to pass here in this city. It's the king's city. King's
port. It's where the king's gospel
is preached. Take your Bible and find the
book of Lamentation. Now, it's not hard to find. Isaiah,
you know where that is. Then Jeremiah. And then the little
book of the Weeping Lamentation of Jeremiah, God's prophet. I would encourage you sometime
this week to sit down and read these five chapters, and it just
makes your heart break, because Jeremiah is describing the destruction
of Jerusalem, the destruction of that city. Now, I'm gonna
bring a message from Lamentations chapter one, Lord willing, verse
12. Verse 12. Is it nothing to you,
all ye that pass by, Behold and see if there be any sorrow like
unto my sorrow which is done to me wherewith the Lord the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger Now the
first sermon I brought here in Kingsport when we first met that
first time in September I believe it was a second weekend the weekend
after Labor Day in September 2006 And when I brought that first
message, it was from this text. Tony, you probably remember.
There were just a handful of us then. And I'm so thankful
the Lord has added to the congregation as he has done so. And I want
to go back to what I repeated back almost 12 years ago. And
this message from Lamentation chapter one, verse 12 is one
of my favorite, favorite Verses it's one of my favorite sermons.
I've preached this message more than once But it bears repeating
it bears it bears repeating because it tells us so much about the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ The title of the message is what
happened at the cross Something big happened Something of vital
importance happened at the cross talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ There upon Calvary tree dying for the sin of his People
is it nothing to you? Let's take this verse and apply
it to the Lord Jesus Christ and hear him Cry out from the cross
those who would pass by that day. Is it nothing to you? I All ye that would pass by,
behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which
is done to me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day
of his fierce anger. Now we know, Jeremiah being the
prophet of God, all the prophets had one message. To him, give
all the prophets witness. All the prophets, doesn't matter
where you go, what book, what prophet, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
other prophets, all the prophets, sin of God, all preach the Lord
Jesus Christ. We know that all scripture is
given by the sovereign purpose of God. Doesn't matter where
we read in this book. This book is the word of God.
It doesn't just contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God.
It's the inspiration God has given to His prophets, His men,
to write out for us that we might hear God speak through His Word. All scripture is given by the
sovereign purpose of God, by the inspiration of God, to teach
us the way of salvation in and by and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ alone God,
the Holy Spirit takes the word of God, takes the things of Christ
and reveals the gospel unto us through his word. The word of
God declares that there is salvation in no other. Don't look for salvation
anywhere else, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the prophets
of God bear witness of him. Acts 10 43 to him, give all the
prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believed
in him shall receive the remission of sin. And then I quote this
scripture all the time from Romans 15, whatsoever things were written
a four time, this was written a four time. We're written for
our learning that we through patient and comfort of the scriptures
might have Hope now the hope we have in Christ is a good hope
Because Christ he is our hope Christ in you is the hope of
glory and all our hope of salvation is wrapped up in his person who
he is and what he has done for us and All our hope of salvation
being justified before God is all wrapped up in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His saving mercy, His saving grace, being justified
freely by His grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All scripture, no matter where
you go from Genesis to Revelation, all scripture, Old Testament
or New, all scripture leads us to the Lord Jesus Christ. His person, who He is, His priestly
work as they used to say years ago in the Roman Empire all roads
lead to one place Rome and That's true when we read this book When
we read this book always read this book looking for Christ
looking for his person looking for his work and And we know all scripture leads
us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this text here in Lamentation
1 verse 12 is no different. No different at all. Now down
through church history we find God's preachers using this text
to preach the gospel from. Lamentation 1 12. We find in
the book of Lamentation God's prophet Jeremiah weeping and
lamenting the awful destruction of Jerusalem at the hand of the
Babylonian army who invaded the city invaded the land and there
was a terrible terrible destruction You can read about in the closing
parts of the book of Jeremiah The king of Israel Zedekiah had
been taken captive and his sons put to death before him. They
blinded out his eyes After they killed all of his sons in front
of him is the last thing he ever saw on this earth Then they put
him in prison then he died He was kept there until his death.
That glorious temple built by Solomon was defiled, ransacked,
stripped of its possession, and burned to the ground. The priests
of God were taken captive and put to death. Many were slaughtered
and slain, and many were carried away into captivity for 70 years. Thousands were put to death. Thousands were carried away into
captivity. And all this destruction came
upon them for one reason, their sin and their rebellion against
God. You can read it all the way through
1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles about the coming destruction
in the prophet of Jeremiah's weeping. Now, it's not my intent
to give you a history lesson, a Jewish history lesson, and
that history is important. But when we read that history,
let us always look to Christ and see the gospel. Jeremiah
weeps and beholds as he sees this city just wiped out. Mothers, I'll tell you how desperate
it was. You mothers who have young children,
mothers cut their young children up and made soup out of them
and ate them. This is how desperate this city
was. You read through these five chapters,
it just makes your heart break. for the tremendous agony and
sorrow that was going on in this city. I can't read it without
just sitting down and weeping in my heart. the terrible destruction
and sorrow, but I want to use these words here, found in verse
12 of Lamentation 1, and preach to you the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, most people know the gruesome
historical facts of the cross, but few have any real interest
to find out what really happened at the cross. People see the
bloody gore. They make movies about it. And
people see all the terrible things that men did, and they were terrible.
But few people are really interested in what was going on at the cross. Something of tremendous importance. You know, all human history revolves
around that one central point. The Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Now I want you to imagine in
your mind as the Lord dies, that bloody, horrible death, six hours
of agonizing crucifixion, and hear him say again, verse 12,
is that nothing to you? Is that nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? What happened at the cross? What
happened at Calvary? In Matthew 27 verse 36, we read
about those that were sitting down upon the ground and they
watched him there. What did they see? They saw a
man beaten, bruised, bleeding. That's all they saw. Most saw
just his physical agony, pain, and suffering as the Lord Jesus
Christ was nailed to that cursed tree. Now, what do you see there? What do you see in Christ, in
him crucified? Some passed by, wagged their
head, and mocked him. They said, wagging their head,
thou destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days. Save
thyself. They reviled Him. If thou be
the Son of God, come down from the cross and we'll believe you. You think they really would have?
No. What horrible, horrible agony
and pain the Lord Jesus Christ is suffering. And He's doing
that for us. Now, four things I want to point
out here. First of all, we see the Lord
of glory suffering like no other. Enormous, untold, indescribable,
unparalleled sufferings. He says there, behold, you take
a good look at this. Just don't look at this and go
away. Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. Sorrow untold, agony indescribable. Behold and see if there be any
sorrow. Now truly, And rightly, the Scriptures
call the Lord Jesus Christ a man, the Son of Man, but He's called
the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief. We read in Isaiah
53, He despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. In Isaiah
52, 14, it says, His visage was so marred more than any man. Look over here just a page or
two over in chapter four. I just looked at this the other
day and read this and I said this. And you keep in mind as
you read this whole book of Lamentations, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lamentations four, look at verse
eight. His visage is blacker than coal. They are not known
in the street. Talking about the Nazarite priests
that were whiter than snow, verse seven. Now they're blacker than
coal. They are not known in the streets.
Their skin cleaveth to the bone. It is withered. It has become
like a stick. And that's speaking also of the
agony and suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ, his vision so marred
more than any man. If you're familiar with Psalm
22, he said, I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of
joint. My heart is like wax melted in
the midst of my bowels. Our Lord dies, the death reserved
for the vilest of the vile. Philippians 2 said he humbled
himself became obedient unto death, even, even the death of
the cross. The Lord of Glory subjected himself
to the scorn of wicked men, to the mocking and beating of a
soldier, to the ridicule of the Pharisees, the cowardly treatment
of Herod and Pilate, false accusations of the high priest. You remember
Pilate brought him forth and said, Behold your king. Behold
your king, and they, jeering crowd, said, away with him, crucify
him. We have no king. We have no king. We don't want any king. But Caesar,
he submitted himself to the execution of the godless Roman soldiers
who hated the Jews, who delighted to put another Jew to death.
His physical and mental agony is beyond words. No one ever
suffered like he suffered. And I would not minimize his
physical suffering, his soul agony, but if that's all you
see there, come back and look again. Come back, take another
look. That's all you see is just the
physical agony of this real man, the God-man, the Son of Man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Come back and look again. Take
another look. Look again with the eye of faith and ask God
to show you something of His sole agony upon the cross, His
sole agony. Listen to Isaiah 53. He hath
put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin. That's what happened there. Isaiah
53, 12 said he poured out his soul unto death. That by crucifixion was not only
painful, but it was shameful. There he stripped naked in public
shame, nailed to a tree, suffering the violence of wicked men. Death by crucifixion was not
only painful but shameful. He dies a cursed death to show
that he bore the curse of the law for his people. For you remember
the reading in Galatians 3 verse 13 where it says, He redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. You
remember the rest of the verse? Cursed is everyone that hangeth
upon the tree. When they stoned those people
under the law to show they were cursed of God and under the judgment
of God, they took them after they were dead and hung them
up, hung them up in shame. That's exactly what was happening
to the Lord Jesus Christ. being made a curse for us. His physical pain pales in comparison
to his soul agony as he endured the holy wrath of God for our
sin as he bears our sin in his own body upon the tree. Think about that. He, his own
self, bear our sins, the sin of God's people In his own body
upon the tree. And then consider this. He's
the only one who never deserved to suffer. We deserve it. The wage of sin is death, but
he's the only one who never deserved to suffer because he had no sin. He knew no sin and he did no
sin. And yet he suffers like no other.
And consider this. Such a high priest became us,
who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and yet he suffers the wrath
of God on behalf of his people. And consider this, he had power
to prevent these suffering, and yet he suffers like no other. You remember when they came to
arrest him, and Peter thought he was going to defend the Lord?
He took his sword out, And being a fisherman, he wasn't good with
a sword. He wasn't a soldier, he was a fisherman. Thought he
would defend his Lord and the Lord told him, Peter, I don't
need your help. Put up your sword. I could call
12 legions of angels to wipe out these few worms. But then how shall the scripture
be fulfilled? You see, he must suffer for our
sin according as it is written in the word of God. So his suffering,
his physical suffering, tremendous, but his soul agony as he dies
in the room instead of his people. The second thing we want to consider
is this. We see from the scripture that
these sufferings come by the sovereign and eternal purpose
of God. Preacher, are you sure about
that? I'm sure. Read again the text. Lamentation
112. Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow
which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me. The Lord hath afflicted me in
the day of his fierce anger. The Lord Jesus Christ looks beyond
the instruments of the cross to the author of the cross and
says it is of the Lord. This is the Lord's doing. This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Over in
Matthew 16, if you want to turn there, you can, but if not, I'll
read it to you. But in Matthew chapter 16, you
remember when the Lord said to the disciples, Matthew 16, 21,
from that time forth, he began to show unto his disciples how
that he must go unto Jerusalem. that he must suffer many things
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and
be raised again the third day. And Peter took him and began
to rebuke him, saying, Lord, you sure about that? You sure
you want to do that? You sure you want to go to Jerusalem?
Be it far from thee. This shall not be unto thee.
Now look at verse 23 carefully. But he turned and said to Peter,
get thee behind me, Satan. For thou savorest not the things
that be of God, but those that be of men. My friend, the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ is no accident. He dies the appointed
death at the appointed time for the appointed people for the
appointed reason. We sang about it a while ago.
It is well with my soul. Why? He put away our sin by the
sacrifice of himself. The work, now remember this,
The work that wicked men did that day was not enough to accomplish
our redemption. It's not what men did that day.
That's not our hope. They nailed him to a tree. They
put a spear in his side. They put a crown on his head. They beat him and mocked him,
ridiculed him. But it was not what men were
doing that day. That is our hope. That's not
our hope. It's what God was doing. That's
what God was doing at the cross. That is our hope of salvation. It's what God accomplished in
Christ and Him crucified. The crucifixion and death of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as I said a moment ago, He didn't die by
accident. He died by purpose. He was not
just a helpless victim of unjust men. He is and was the appointed
sacrifice of a thrice holy God. This is the Lamb of God. This
is God's provided Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God. John
said there He is. That's the Lamb. The one all
the prophets have been writing about and waiting upon. There
He is. Lamb of God that taketh away our sin. Did he do it? Did he get it done?
Absolutely so. Now here are three things to
remember about the cross. I remember when I first brought
this message back many years ago, it was the only message
that was not recorded when we started coming together. But one dear lady took notes
and she wrote these notes down and pasted them on the board
so everybody could see them. Three things to remember about
wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
First of all, God planned the cross. This is no afterthought. Before Adam ever sinned, before
Adam ever fell, the Lord Jesus Christ stood. He stood as a surety
of the everlasting covenant. That is true that the Pharisees
went out and held a council, how they might destroy him, Matthew
12, 14. But God in the council halls
of eternity, I don't know where we Where we came up with that
phrase, but sounds okay to me. In the council halls of eternity,
God determined before the foundation or from the foundation of the
world that the Lord Jesus Christ would be the Lamb slain. In the
mind and purpose of God, it was already done. It was already
accomplished in the decree of God. The Word of God declares
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain
the Lord of glory. Acts chapter 2. They did what
their wicked hearts desired to do. They hated Him. They hated God. They wanted to
put Him to death in a most violent way. They did what their wicked
hearts wanted to do, but in doing so, they executed the eternal
purpose of God. We read in Acts chapter 4 that
Pilate, Herod and Pilate, and the Jews and the Gentiles were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. You see, the cross of Christ
is no afterthought of God. He wasn't scurrying around after
Adam sinned. Adam sinned, but the Lord Jesus
Christ stood from eternity as the surety of that eternal covenant
of grace. God planned the cross. Secondly,
God presided over the cross. Who was in charge that day? Who
was in charge that day when the Lord Jesus Christ stood before
Pilate? You remember, Pilate thought
he was in charge. He said to the Lord, don't you know that
I have power to crucify you? I have power to let you go and
the Lord corrected him says you don't have any power over me
Except that which my father gives you The Lord corrected him Quickly,
didn't he? You don't have any power the
one standing before him had all power in heaven and in earth
My friend we know that God was in charge that day. God has never
vacated the throne. God is always on In charge over
all things ruling and reigning. He said of him and through him
and to him are all things to whom be glory both now and forever. God was in charge that day, wasn't
he? Who presided over the cross? God almighty. Our God eternally
and sovereignly rules and reigns over all things. You remember
Isaiah 46, he said, I've spoken it. I'll bring it to pass. I
purposed it. I will do it. I will get it done. I will get
it done. God planned the cross. God presided
over the cross. And here's the third thing. Here's
the third thing. God participated in afflicting
his dear son. Now this is essential. We know
that it pleased Pilate to condemn him. It pleased The Pharisees,
to see him crucified, and the Roman soldiers, pleased him to
put another Jew to death. But what we must always remember
is that it pleased God to bruise him in our room and in our stead. Isaiah 53, let me just read it
to you. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. I love to talk about the successful
atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not a failure in
any aspect, in any way. Isaiah 42, verse 4 says, He cannot
fail. The atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ was not an attempt to put away sin. It was an absolute
success fulfilling all of God's purpose, fulfilling the law of
God, and putting away our sin. The work men did that day at
Calvary was not sufficient to put away sin. It's what God was
doing at the cross. That's our hope. Smitten of God
and afflicted. Listen to scripture in Zechariah
7, 13. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite
the shepherd. Smite the shepherd. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, and the great
shepherd of the covenant. Smite the shepherd, sayeth the
Lord. And the sheep will be scattered, and I'll turn my hand upon the
little ones. Now, here's the next point I
want us to consider is this. Why did God afflict him? Why
did God afflict himself? Well, the answer's found right
here, right in our text. right in our text, wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Does God get angry? His anger is holy anger, holy
wrath. In the day of his fierce anger,
the cross is seen by most only as a display of man's anger. And we do see that there. But
few have seen it as a display of God's anger. That is the heart
of the matter. What happened at the cross? What
happened at Calvary? How can God be angry? How can God be angry with his
holy son? God speaks from heaven, said,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!
How can God be angry with his holy son? Well, because he was made sin
for us. Listen to these scriptures. You
know them well. Don't turn. I'll just quote them to you.
Psalm 5 says, the foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Thou
hatest all the workers of iniquity. And then Psalm 7 says, God judges
the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. God
can only be angry over sin. When you behold the destruction
of that city, go back and read the record, it was because the
constant rebellion and sin and idolatry against God, and He
sent judgment, He sent fire into their bones. God can only be
angry over sin. He too holy to look upon sin
with favor. The wages of sin is death. The
scripture says the guilty must die. The prophet Habakkuk thou
art of pure eyes than to behold evil. God cannot look on iniquity
with favor. He too holy. He too holy. I remember reading a book years
and years ago. I believe it was Arthur Pink
on his book on the attributes of God. And he gave this definition. I've never forgotten it. Talking
about God's anger and his wrath. His wrath and his anger over
sin is a result of his holiness stirred in activity against sin. God is not indifferent when it
comes to this matter of sin. It's either perfection, absolute
righteousness, or judgment. There's no middle ground. If then, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the object of God's wrath, then we must conclude that he's
guilty of sin. Is that right? That's right.
But the scriptures declare of him that he had no sin, that
he did no sin, that he knew no sin, and that scripture I quoted
earlier, Hebrews 7, such a high priest became us who was holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sin. Have we missed something
here? Even his enemy said, Judas said,
I betrayed innocent blood. Pilate said, not once, but three
times, I find no fault in him. The Roman centurion even confessed,
certainly this was a righteous man. He is indeed guilty of sin. but none that he personally committed. He is guilty of sin by the Father
laying upon him the sin of God's elect and our sin actually became
his. He owned them. What love. Psalm 40 declares, For innumerable
evils have encompassed me about. This is a messianic psalm. I think all 150 of them are.
For innumerable evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have
taken hold upon me, so that I'm not able to look up. They're
more than the hairs of my head. Listen to these scriptures. All
we like sheep have gone astray, and we've turned everyone to
his own way, and the Lord laid on him. Who did it? Pilate? Herod? The Romans? The Pharisees? Oh no. The Lord laid on him the
iniquity of us all. The Lord did that. Thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin. My righteous servant shall
justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53,
all these quotes. He bear the sin of many and made
intercession for transgressors. In a word then, Maybe one or
two words. Can you sum up what happened
at Calvary? Can you sum up what God was doing
at the cross? Well, two things come to my mind.
One is substitution. Substitution. Wounded for our
sin, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace
was laid upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. In a word, then, what happened?
Substitution. Do you have a substitute? Do
you need a substitute? Oh, I do. I do. I need someone
to stand in my stead, in my room, and put away my sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He obtained
for us eternal redemption with his own blood. Substitution. What a blessed word. God made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Christ also suffered once for
our sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God.
Can you come any other way? No other way. No other way but
Christ, by Christ crucified. Substitution and then satisfaction. He may complete satisfaction
for all our sin. The law of God demands full payment
for all of our sin. A complete ransom. He gave his
life a ransom for many, says in the word of God. Satisfaction. He may complete satisfaction.
He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Completely so. So much so that
God said their sin and their iniquity, he so fully and completely
made complete payment for our sin, complete atonement for our
sin, that God Almighty speaks from heaven. He knows all things
and he says, yet of their sin, their sin and their iniquity
will I remember no more. They do not exist. They're gone
as far as the east is from the west. That's pretty far, isn't
it? They're cast behind the back of God. Where is that? They're gone. They're cast into
the depths of the sea, blotted out as a thick cloud. The Lord
Jesus Christ made complete atonement for the sin of God's covenant
people. did not die for all of the sins
of all men. He died for all the sin of some,
those elect, given to Him in that covenant of grace. And my
friend, they cannot perish. The blood of Christ cleanses
us from all our sin. When sin was found on the Lord
Jesus Christ, when God made Him sin for us, the wrath of God's
holy justice fell on Him and spent itself completely. He made
complete Full atonement for our sin here in his love Not that
we love God, but that he loved us and he sent his son to be
the propitiation the atonement for our Sin now the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ was not an attempt to put away sin
It's not an attemptment It's an atonement. He made complete
atonement for our sin. It says over in Lamentation 422,
don't turn and read this, I'll just quote it to you. He says
the punishment of thy iniquity is accomplished. Now when you
read through the book of Lamentation this week, just keep thinking
over and over in your mind Christ and Him crucified, and the satisfaction
that He made to God's law and justice on our behalf. For by
the one offering He hath perfected forever, them that are sanctified
by that one offering. Now, let me close with this. Go back to that verse again,
and read the first part of it again to yourself. Is it nothing to you? What is
the Lord Jesus Christ crucified to you? I hope it's more than
just a sermon subject to me. I hope that it's all my hope,
that it's all of my salvation before God. What is your estimation
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Is it nothing? Is it nothing
to you? Or is it everything? I know this
to be so. God leaving us to our own wicked
heart, our own wicked thought, our own carnal, foolish understanding,
our reply would be nothing. Left to ourselves, left to our
mind, left to the foolishness of our heart, the wickedness
of our heart, our reply would be nothing to me. But my friend,
because God has taught you the gospel and has revealed the Lord
Jesus Christ, it's the power of God. Listen to this scripture.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. The power
of God to put away sin. The power of God to save us in
a just and holy way. We preach Christ crucified and
the Jews it was a stumbling block under the Greeks It was foolishness,
but of them which are called both Jews and Greek Christ the
power of God and Christ the wisdom of God Do you see the wisdom
of God in Christ and him crucified? How God can be a just God and
Savior how God can be? Just and the justifier in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I To approach God who is holy
upon any other ground than the Lord Jesus Christ in Him crucified
is absolute folly. Not only is that true, but it's
also to charge God with folly and foolishness in the death
of His Son. To say, it's nothing to me. I
don't care about Christ and Him crucified. I'm just going to
come to God on my own. I think I can get it done. What
foolishness. Listen to this scripture. One
of my favorite scriptures in the book of Galatians. If righteousness
come by the law, Christ is dead in vain. If you can get it done,
If you can do it yourself. If you don't need a substitute
to make satisfaction. If you don't need the Lord Jesus
Christ to deal with your sin in a just and holy way. If righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. And my friend, He did not die
in vain. Indifferent to the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ is deadly and damning to your soul. Our
Lord said, those who are not with me, against me If any man
loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be what? Anathema Maranatha
let him be a curse when the Lord comes He that believeth on the
Son has everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. But uh-oh Uh-oh, what's that
word? The wrath of God abides on you
to some the Lord Jesus Christ crucified is nothing and To some,
Christ crucified is something, but not everything. But some,
by the Lord's sovereign grace, the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified is everything. He's all my salvation. I'm determined not to know anything
among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He's all my salvation. He is all my righteousness before
God. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Christ is all and in all. In
Him dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily and we stand,
we stand complete in Him. I'm completely justified. I'm
completely sanctified. I'm completely glorified. You
sure about that? Absolutely. Read Romans 8. Already I'm already in glory
seated in my substitute the Lord Jesus Christ by the time you
sure you're thinking right tonight. I'm absolutely sure When he ascended
you see he's a representative man I For one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of another
shall many be made righteous. He represents me in his life,
in his obedience, in his death, his resurrection, and his ascension,
and his enthronement, and seated at the right hand of God. Victorious. Thanks be to God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're already seated
in the heavenly, what it says in Ephesians 2, seated in the
heavenly in the Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid, I should glory save
in the cross of Christ. May God help us to be determined
as Paul to preach Christ, his person. And his work, his priestly
work, putting away our sin. To know nothing more, to know
nothing less, and to know nothing else. But Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, read that text one more
time. You got it there? Now next time
you read this verse, you won't forget this message, will you?
Is it nothing to you? All ye that pass by, you're passing
by this way. Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to your heart and to mine. When I came here, first
came here back almost 12 years ago, it was good news then. It's still good news now. It's
still good. I still love to lift up the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, if I be lifted up, I'll
draw my man. I'll draw my elect to me. It's
still good news. It was good news then in September
2006. It's still good news right now,
isn't it? And it will be to God's elect to all eternity. We'll sing. Don't turn. Let me
just read it to you. We'll sing unto Him who loved
us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. Unto Him that
loved us and to Him that washed us from our sin in His own blood
and made us kings and priests unto our God and His Father.
To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You see,
it'll always be good news to us. Never, never grows old ever
new. And may the Lord bless his word
to your heart. I thank God for you. I thank
God for this ministry that the Lord has raised up. You know,
when we came here back in the day, we didn't come with a five-year
plan or a 10-year plan, and this was going to happen and that
was going to happen. It was just a few folks up here who wanted
to hear the gospel. And we came. And we came. Folks started coming. And we
prayed, Lord, send us a pastor. Lord, raise up a man and send
him here with your message to the King City, Kingsport. There
he is. Been here almost six years now.
What a miracle. This is a miracle, God's grace.
What's going on right here? It's special. It's special. May the Lord continue to bless
this work. May the Lord continue to bless this pastor and his
dear family. Okay. God bless you.