All right, go with me back to
John 19. John 19. Someone has mentioned
to me several times recently how amazing it is that the scriptures
fit together so perfectly. They all go together so perfectly. And they do. They do. One explains another one perfectly. This one supports that one, you
know. And the reason they do is because
even though they were penned by different men in different
places, Totally different times. Thousands of years between them.
Even though they were penned that way, God wrote every single
word of it. Every single word in the book. Almighty God wrote it. I want
us to see something right here in this scripture. It's been
a real blessing to me. And I want us to see how all
of the word of God declares the exact same thing. It all fits
together so perfectly. Verse 23 says, Then the soldiers,
when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four
parts to every soldier a part. So there were four soldiers.
Okay, there were four parts and every soldier had a part. So
there were four soldiers. Took his garments and made four
parts to every soldier a part and also his coat. Now the coat
was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said,
therefore, among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast
lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
which saith, they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture
they did cast lots. These things, therefore, the
soldiers did. These two verses are about our
Lord's clothing. His clothes. He parted his garments
and then there was a coat laying there. Now before we get into
this, I want to say that we are not going to worship the Lord's
clothes. We're not going to worship his
clothes. A man could wear the very clothes that hung on his
back. But if God didn't choose to cover
that man in his own blood, he's going to die in his sins. Moses
made a serpent of brass. We know that story. He made a
serpent of brass, and the reason was because the people were being
bit by these deadly vipers, these deadly snakes. And whoever was
bitten could look at that serpent of brass, and whoever looked
lived. And God told Moses to do that
for one reason only. It was to point us to the Son
of Man, right here. The One who was made what was
killing us. That serpent of brass is what
was killing them. And the Son of Man was made to
be what was killing us. Our sin. If anyone has been bitten
by sin, look and live. Our Lord said, As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. Alright, but after that happened,
years later, that brass, you know, the people died and moved
on and all that kind of stuff, they found that serpent of brass. It was in the days of Hezekiah. They found that serpent of brass
and they started worshipping it. They started worshiping this
serpent of brass that Moses made. So Hezekiah got a hold of it
and he ground it to powder. It'd be just like if somebody
found an actual chunk of this cross right here, petrified piece
of wood. You know what we ought to do?
We ought to get a hold of it and then we ought to grind it
to powder. Hezekiah said about that serpent, it's worthless
brass. That's all it is. It's just worthless
Brass. Don't worship that. Worship the
one it represents. So we're not going to worship
the Lord's clothes, but we're going to worship what they represent.
They represent something. We have the most beautiful picture
of substitution right here I might have ever seen in my life. The commentaries said, I read
the commentaries on this, and they said, Back then, Hebrew
men wore mainly four garments. That was their main dress. Aside from their coat, their
outer robe, they had four garments. They had a headdress. It was
blazing sun, very little shade, so it protected them. They had
this headdress. They had an undershirt. or like a gown, a long shirt
that covered their breastplate. They had a belt or a rope that
gird their loins. When they would go to work, they
had these coats on and they would pull them up and tie it all up
so they could go to work, gird their loins. And then they had
sandals so their feet would be shod. four garments, four soldiers. Verse 23 says, then the soldiers,
when they had crucified Jesus. Now I see why it took four soldiers
to crucify a man. I can imagine this scenario.
Our Lord willingly laid down a picture of Isaac, Abraham and
Isaac. Isaac willingly crawled up on
that altar. He was tied up. Our Lord willingly, there was
no resistance, not from our Lord. But if a man was kicking and
screaming and fighting, It would take one soldier per
limb to hold that man down. I can see they're getting ready
to do it. Four soldiers come. I can see
four soldiers reach down into a pile and each pick up a nail
and hold that nail while they're holding a limb down. But I can see them sharing the
hammer, taking turns with the hammer. This man holding this arm down
while that soldier is literally driving a nail through his arm. Can you imagine? And then it's
my turn. Pass it back. Wicked, wicked, vile, sinful,
wretched men. But so sadly, you know who they
represent? Me and you. When God opens a sinner's eyes,
really, when God really opens a sinner's eyes, When God reveals
to a sinner what his sin has done, that sinner does not just
believe that Christ came to pay for sin. That sinner believes
Christ came to pay for me. He had to come all the way down
here to pay for me. I drove the nail. I drove the
nail. I crucified him. I by wicked
hands slew the Lord of glory. He died because of me. Isn't
that what every sinner comes to see? He died because of me. He died because of me. Verse
23 says, Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, our
Lord was stripped of everything. He hung there naked. He was stripped of everything.
It was all laying to the side. And they nailed him to that pole.
They said it was a pole that they would take a top beam and
nail it onto the top of it. So they stripped him of everything
and then they nailed him to that pole and then four men raised
that pole up and dropped it in a hole. all his, you talk about
all his joints being out of socket. And then I can envision two soldiers
holding that pole in place while the other two get shovels and
fill the hole up. And now what we have is four
putrefying, worthless, despicable sinners standing at the foot
of the cross. That's what we have. That's the
scenario. Four unworthy rebels standing right there at the foot
of the cross. Because our Lord was willingly
stripped of everything. They didn't do this to Him. He
gave His own life. But because He was stripped of
everything, Because he was hanging there, dying on a pole, because
of that reason, one unworthy sinner was able to lay hold on
the helmet of salvation. That's what he got. One unworthy sinner was able
to put on the breastplate of righteousness. One unworthy sinner had his loins
girt with truth. And one unworthy sinner had his
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. Is that not our story? Something in this flesh convinces
us from time to time we were worthy of that salvation. We
were worthy of the gift. that came from his death, came
from his dying. This is my story. Those men deserve
nothing but to die. That's me. Christ gave it all. They got
it all. That's me. That's me. Verse 23 says, Then the soldiers,
when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four
parts, to every soldier a part, and also his coat. Now the coat
was without seam, woven from the top throughout." Started
at the top and went down. Four sinners looked down and
there's our Lord's coat or robe, outer covering. And this robe, I'm sure, was
unlike any robe they'd ever seen. This was a very, very expensive
robe, a very costly robe, it had no seam, not one seam. John Gill said, or one of the
commentators said, the finest robes back then were made where
the body of the robe was one piece. And then the sleeve would be
woven into one piece and attached to the body. And then the other
sleeve would be woven into one piece and attached to the body.
Two seams. The finest robes had two seams. But this robe had no seam. No seam. Nothing had ever been
added to this robe. No patchwork here. It was absolutely
perfect the day it was made. What is this road? Go to Isaiah
61 with me. Isaiah 61 verse 10 says, I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God. For he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels.
You mean a guilty, vile, spotted sinner like me? He would let a sinner like me
wear his robe, wear his righteousness. God demands perfection, doesn't
he? He demands perfection. There
is nothing perfect on me. Nothing. All I see are the seams
of my fig leaves. Adam and Eve, as soon as they
sinned against God, they started sewing fig leaves. Can you imagine
the seams that were all over them? All their works. That robe is
His work. It's seamless. It's absolutely
perfect. Look at Matthew 9 with me. Matthew 9 verse 20. And behold a woman which was
diseased with an issue of blood twelve years. came behind Him
and touched the hem of His garment. For she said within herself,
If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole. If I could just touch His robe,
if I could just touch the hem of His purity and the hem of
His goodness and His holiness, if I could touch it but wear
it, If I could get rid of all these filthy rags and wear it,
she said, if I could just touch it, I'd be made whole. Go to Matthew 21. Matthew 21 verse 6. And the disciples went and did
as Jesus commanded them. and brought the ass and the colt
and put on them their clothes. And they sat him thereon. They
took their own clothes. They took their own works. They
took their own righteousnesses. And they laid him on that colt.
The purpose of the donkey is to bear a burden. They laid him
right on there and then he sat on him. Verse 8 says, and a very
great multitude spread their garments in the way. They took
their own garments, they took their own righteousness, and
they started laying them down in the dirt as he started walking
on them. You know what they were saying?
All our righteousnesses are filthy rags, just laying them in the
mud. That's what every sinner will
say and do when he sees the righteousness of Christ, the perfect work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Mark chapter 10. This is blind Bartimaeus. Mark chapter 10 verse 48. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind
man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he casting away his garment. rose and came to Jesus. He cast away his own garment
and he came to Christ. And I tell you this, if a sinner
is going to come to Christ, he will have to throw away his own
righteousness. He'll have to. He'll have to
cast it all away. I wish men and women could see
that. I really do. We must be emptied of self if
we're going to be filled with Him. We must be. Our Lord said
concerning those who are caught up in the lies of religion, He
said, all their works they do for to be seen of men, they make
broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their
garments. They keep making their own garments
bigger and bigger and bigger. They're trying to establish their
own righteousness. That's what they're doing. But
our Lord said, I did not come to call the righteous. I came
to call sinners. I came to call those who don't
have any good works. I came to call those who don't
have any good works. Sinner who doesn't have good
works, that's amazing news. No covering of their own. That's me. That's me. No covering. Go with me to Luke 15. Luke 15 verse 11, he said, A
certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his
father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after,
the younger son gathered all together and took his journey
into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous
living. Gone. Wasted it all. Verse 14, and when he had spent
all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to
be in want, in lack. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields
to feed swine, and he would fain have filled his belly with the
husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And
when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my
fathers have bread enough and to spare? And I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father
and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven
and before the father, I'm a sinner. That's where this man has come
to. I'm a sinner. Verse 19 and am
no more worthy to be called by son. Make me as one of the hired
servants. I've fallen from you. I'm not
worthy of your favor. If I could just be one of your
hired servants. Verse 20, and he arose and came to his father,
but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had
compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And
the son said unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven
and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and
put it on him. That's what God the Father says
to every guilty sinner who comes to the foot of the cross begging
for mercy. Every single one. You take the
righteousness of Christ and put it on him. The righteousness
of Christ himself and you put it on that sinner right there
that wasted it all with riotous living. feeding with the swine. Now let me show you something
back in our text. Go back to John 19. Verse 23 says, Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts,
to every soldier a part, and also his coat. Now the coat was
without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore,
among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it,
whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith,
they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they
did cast lots. These things, therefore, the
soldiers did. It does not say that the Lord
saved any of these four men. It doesn't say that. I pray he
did. I really do. I pray that they
were standing right there when the Lord said, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. I sure pray that. But the fact
is, these four men reveal the truth about the righteousness
of Christ. Four men were standing there. Only one received the robe. Only one received the robe. They
cast lots for it. Proverbs 16.33 says, The lot
is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing is of the Lord.
It's all of the Lord. It's the Lord's doing. It's the
Lord's choice. It's the Lord's will. Did Christ
die for everybody? Was his blood shed for everybody? Did he put that righteous robe
on everybody? The answer is no. No. Every sinner who has his own
robe, and here's the vital piece of this, every sinner who has
his own robe, and most every sinner does, but every sinner who has his
own robe does not need the robe of Christ. Has no need for it. But our Lord said every sinner
who needs it, every sinner who begs for it, every sinner that
hungers and thirsts for this righteousness. Isn't that what
He said in Matthew 5? Blessed are you if you hunger
and thirst for this righteousness. He said they're going to be filled.
He said you ask, you're going to receive. You seek it, you're
going to find it. Where? The foot of the cross. The foot
of the cross. Every sinner who comes to the
foot of the cross for mercy is going to find a robe laying there.
Every single sinner who comes to the foot of the cross for
help, for salvation, for forgiveness, they're going to find a robe
laying right there. It's the robe that Christ Himself took
off. It is a perfect robe wrought
from the top. This whole thing started at the
top, woven throughout. And any sinner who comes in need
may freely pick it up, put it on, and wear it as his own. That's good news. Where did you
get that robe? I got it from the Lord Jesus
Christ. He willingly gave it to me the
day he laid it down to die for my sins. Look at Revelation 7 with me. Revelation 7 verse 9 says, after this I beheld and lo a
great number which no man could number of all nations and kindreds
and people and tongues stood before the throne and before
the lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. and
cried with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood
round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts
and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God
saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God
forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are
they which came out of great tribulation. and have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb." The
blood that was shed on that cross. If you are a cold, naked, trembling
sinner, come to the foot of the cross. You're going to find a
robe there. That robe has been washed and
made white in the blood of the lamb. That seamless robe is a
wedding garment. That's what it is. It's a wedding
garment, and it was made for you. It was literally not made
in vain. It's not a spec robe. It was
made for you. I'm telling us the truth. I'm
telling us the absolute truth. Every sinner who needs the righteous
robe of Christ will have it. Every sinner who needs it will
have it. So Lord, we need it. We need
it. Robe us in your righteousness.
All right, let's stand together.