Alright, go back with me to John
chapter 12. John chapter 12. Let's read verse
27 again. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour." The gospel is not just a bunch
of religious sounding words. You know that? We're going to
go to church on Sunday to hear the gospel. It's not just a bunch
of religious sounding words. The gospel is something very
specific. Very specific. The gospel can be summed up in
two words. Two words. substitution and satisfaction. That's the gospel. That is the best news that a
sinner has ever heard in his life. You know, if a person knows
he's a sinner, you know why we all come to this church? This
is a house for sinners. This house is full of sinners. And the gospel is the best news
that a sinner has ever heard in his life. It's, to this flesh,
too good to be true. It's just too good to be true. Oh, well, it's true. God said
it. We're not making it up, are we? The reason that this is the best
news in the world to me is because God has revealed to me through
this book, through this Word, that I am on death row in God's
eyes. If He leaves me to myself, okay,
if I'm a sinner in this world, and if God leaves me to myself,
then I'm just a sinner waiting to die. That's all I am. I want
to prove that to you, okay? Turn with me over to Isaiah 13. Isaiah 13, look at verse 9. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,
cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. And he shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it. Now, what are we in this house? This is a house full of what?
Sinners. And he said he's going to destroy
the sinners out of this world. He's going to lay it desolate.
Verse 10. For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light, the sun
shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not
cause her light to shine. and I will punish the world for
their evil and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause
the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness
of the terrible. I will make a man more precious
than fine gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore
I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of
her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day
of his fierce anger." Now that's pretty clear, isn't it? That
doesn't need any explaining. Somebody will say, Yeah, but
that's the Old Testament. That's the Old Testament. You
know, our church doesn't even use the Old Testament. We just
use the New Testament. All right? Go with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians 1, look at verse
6, "...seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels." Now He's coming back. One day He's
coming with His mighty angels. Verse 8 says, "...in flaming
fire." taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified
in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. Because
our testimony among you was believed in that day. And do you believe
God is really going to do that? Do you believe He is really going
to do that? Surely God is not going to do that. Surely He's
changed His mind by this point. Well, can God lie? Cannot, can he? Ask Noah. Ask Noah. God said, I'm going
to destroy this earth with water. He said, Noah, build an ark. And for 100 years, Noah told
the world, you better get inside this ark. Destruction is coming. You must be in this ark. That ark represents Jesus Christ. And the world laughed, and the
world mocked, and God shut the door. Shut the door to the ark. And He rained down His wrath
on this world. And he killed the entire world,
but eight souls. Everybody acknowledges the flood.
Well, not everybody. Noah's Ark. I know we acknowledge
it to some point because it's such a children's thing. You
know, we're going to put a playhouse out in our backyard and it looks
like Noah's Ark. God saved eight souls. Eight. It would be like that
row plus you guys. Eight. Only the souls that God put inside
the ark were saved. Every soul that was outside the
ark was damned. That is salvation. That's salvation. Either we're going to be in Christ
or we're going to be out of Christ. That's the only thing that makes
a difference. Who maketh me to differ? Christ. What made the
eight souls inside the ark different from the eight souls outside
of the ark? Well, they were better people. No, they weren't. The
ark is the only thing that saved them. Go with me over to 2 Peter
3. 2 Peter 3 verse 3 says, Knowing this first, that there shall come in the
last days scoffers walking after their own lust, and saying, Where
is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the
heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water
and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed
with water perished." He's saying they're willingly ignorant of
the fact that this world used to be just like it is right now.
It was in the water and out of the water. But all of a sudden,
the word that was holding it all back, let it go. And the whole world being overflowed
with water perished. Verse 7, but the heavens and
the earth, which are now by the same word, and that's Christ
the word, they're kept in store. reserved unto fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Verse 10 says,
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also,
and the works that are therein shall be burned up. If God leaves
us to ourselves, we are dead men and women walking. You know
what you call that? The truth. We're going to meet
together to hear the truth. The truth is not being told.
It's nothing but lies. It is nothing but lies. We know
it's lies because it is not consistent with the truth. The truth is a fearful thing. It is a fearful thing. But let me show you the gospel.
I mean, we've seen the gospel, but let's see it again. The gospel can be summed up in
two words. Two words. Alright, turn with
me to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews 9, look at verse 27. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, every soul will die, because it has been appointed
unto men once to die. But after this, the judgment. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, not all, but many, I mean many as the
stars of the heavens and the sand of the seashore. A number
no man can number, many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. I was on death row. That's where
I was, in my cell, in my bondage. waiting for God's wrath to punish
my sin. But Christ came and He opened
my cell door and He took my place. And it wasn't enough that I go
and He stay. He had to take all of my sin
off of me. And he had to lay that all over
himself. And he had to sit there in that
cell with my sin all over him. And when the judge looked at
him, the judge had to see my sin all over him. He had to see
that sin. That's substitution. It's substitution. And then God poured out His wrath
on Christ because of my sin. My sin was all over Him, so God
killed me in Christ. Do you know why God killed Christ?
The answer is me. God killed me. My sin. He saw Gabe Stoniker's sin. And after God finished punishing
my sin in His own Son, as soon as every last sin was punished,
God was satisfied. He was satisfied. And He said
to me, you're free to go. You are free to go. There's a
song that we sing and it says, Lo, the great King of kings,
with healing in His wings, to every captive soul a full deliverance
brings. And through all the vacant cells
the song of triumph rings, our Comforter has come." Satisfied. God is satisfied.
That is what the first verse in that text is saying in John
12. Go back over to John 12 with
me. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking in verse 27. He says, Now is my soul troubled. Why? Is He not God? Yes, He is. But here's the glory
of the gospel. God became a man. Do you know
God couldn't take my place? I could never trade places with
God. So God became a man. And a man
took my place. And as a man bearing my sin,
sin he had never known, sin he had never committed, knowing
why he came, knowing I am about to endure the wrath of God, knowing
he was about to die, knowing he was going to be separated
from God, he said, my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Verse 27. Father, save me from this hour. He was saying that for me. He was saying that as me. He was my substitute. He was
my substitute. And he answered that cry by saying,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Why did Jesus Christ
come to this earth? Was it so he could do some humanitarian
work? That's what people think. Is
it not? He came down here so he could
do some good humanitarian work. Did he come so that he could
do some motivational speaking? That's what people think. It
seems silly, but that's what people think. He came to preach
and to, you know, Did He come to show us the example
of how we can save ourselves? Now you watch me, and you follow
me, and you'll be okay. He said it was for this cause. For this cause, Christ Jesus
came into this world for one reason only. It was to go to
that cross and die. From the day he was born, his
whole focus was on the cross of Calvary. Everything he did
led him to the cross of Calvary. His greatest glory was the death
he accomplished. That was his greatest glory.
He accomplished it for his people. Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory. And he said, okay, I'm going
to have mercy on some sinners. That's my glory. Verse 27, Now
is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me
from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. Father, glorify thy name." How
glorious is that? Father, I'm ready. Glorify thy
name. Glorify the name which is above
every name. Father, glorify thy name. Then
came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified
it and will glorify it again. This is the third time that God
the Father spoke out loud. He spoke out loud three times.
He spoke at the beginning of his ministry, the very beginning
of his ministry. He spoke in the middle of his
ministry, and this is the end. All three times declare the good
news of substitution and satisfaction. All three times. Let me show
you that. Go to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, look at verse
16. And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the heavens were
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from heaven,
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, when we confess the Lord
in believers' baptism, we are confessing our union to Him. That's what we're confessing.
We died with Him. You know it's appointed unto
men once to die. And we died with Him. And we
were buried with Him. And we rose with Him. When our Lord was baptized by
John, He was confessing His union to us. He died for us, as us. He was buried for us, as us,
and He rose for us. And when He came up out of that
water, God the Father spoke out loud from heaven, and He said,
ìThis is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.î Now why was
He well pleased? Hereís why. This is something
that the flesh canít get a hold of. But it's going to be glorious
to see, glorious to experience. The reason his father was well
pleased is because for 30 years he started this ministry at 30
years old. And for 30 years Jesus Christ
walked this earth. Every thought for 30 years that
he had was perfect. Every single thought that he
thought. Every single word that he said, every emotion that he felt, earned
heaven. The emotions in his heart earned
heaven. They were worthy of heaven, to
walk straight into the gates of heaven. Even though he never stopped
being God, he is called the Christ because he was always 100% God,
but he also was 100% man. Now, I will sit down and any
of you guys can come up here and explain that to me. I cannot explain that, but do
you know why I believe it? God said it. And I don't have
to understand my God. I have to believe Him. So He walked this earth 100%
as a man. I mean a man. A man. And God the Father watched that
man for 30 years and God the Father said, He's perfect. He's
perfect. Do you see this man? He's my beloved son and I'm well
pleased. He's holy and He's sinless and
He's righteous. I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. God was satisfied in Him. Now
listen to this. Here's the glory of substitution.
When Christ took all of the sin off of His people and laid it
on Himself, At that moment, He took all of
His perfection off of Him and laid it on His people. It was true substitution. Hebrews says, He became us. Therefore, do you know what we
became? That man. That man. It was absolute substitution. Every thought he thought, those
are my thoughts. Not really. Oh yes, really. Every word he said, those are
my words. Every word I have said, those
were his words. Every emotion I felt became his
emotions. Not indeed. I did the deed. Every emotion he felt has become
my emotion, not indeed. He did the deed. Right? True substitution. And now, not only does God say,
not guilty, now He also says, well done. Well done. Oh, I'm a sinner. No, you're
holy. and you're pure and you're righteous. Is that not the greatest news
you've ever heard in your life? Is it true? Is it true? God said it is. Here's the second time God the
Father spoke out loud. Go to Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9, look at verse
2. And after six days Jesus taketh
with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into
a high mountain apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before
them. And His raiment became shining. Now watch this, watch the wording
of this. I saw this for the first time. I've always read Matthew's
account of this. And for some reason, the Lord
led me to Mark. This is wonderful. Alright, verse
3. And His raiment became shining,
exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white
them. You've never seen white like
this before. They're not just wearing white
robes. This is so white, no fool on earth could get anything this
white. Verse 4, And there appeared unto
them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And
Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to
be here and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee and
one for Moses and one for Elijah. Now that sounds pretty arrogant
of him to speak up when God himself is talking with Elijah and Moses
who have come back from the third heaven. And Peter is going to
speak up? But watch this, here's why he
said that, bless his heart. Verse 6, For he knew not what
to say, for they were so afraid. They were so afraid. And there was
a cloud that overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud
saying, This is my beloved Son, hear Him. God the Father spoke out loud
in order to tell every soul on this earth there is one substitute
for sinners. Peter saw Christ and Moses. Now, who's Moses? The lawgiver. Moses wrote ten commandments,
right? No, uh-uh, that ain't the way. Hear him. Hear Him. There is one substitute for sinners. There is only one who is able
to satisfy a holy God. God the Father said, Moses cannot
satisfy Me. And Elijah the prophet cannot
satisfy Me. You hear Him. Father, glorify
Thy Name. I have glorified it. Hear Him. Hear Him. They were so afraid. Peter was
standing there so afraid. John 12 says, the people who
stood by heard God's voice and they said it thundered. Have you ever been too close
to lightning? When the thunder cracks as soon
as the lightning hits. Boom! Something in you for a
fraction of a second. is screaming, hide me. This is
too big for me. Something for a fraction of a
second says, I'm low and this is great. I'm nothing, this is
all powerful. Absolute fear. I don't care how
big you are, how old you are, absolute fear. This world has no idea how almighty
this God really is. They don't understand. They're
not afraid of God. They don't understand. When they
go to stand before Him at the judgment, they're not even going
to want to hear His voice. Somebody hide me. Turn over to
Psalm 29. Psalm 29, look at verse 3. The
voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks
cedar trees. the biggest ones on this earth.
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. Judas brought some
men to take the Lord, to betray him so he would be crucified.
And they came with swords and sticks, a crowd of men. And when
they walked up, the Lord said, Whom seek ye? And they said,
We seek Jesus. And he said, I am. And it says,
Every one of them fell back like a tree. Straight over. Boom.
The whole crowd. Boom. And he said, Now whom seek
ye? I'm telling you the voice of
the Lord breaks cedar trees. Look at verse 6. He maketh them
also to skip like a calf. They get out of here. Lebanon
and Syrian like a young unicorn. The voice of the Lord divides
the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness
of Kadesh. That means an earthquake moves
when God speaks. The voice of the Lord makes the
hinds to calve, and discovereth the forest, and in His temple
doth every one speak of His glory." I'm telling you, one of these
days when we finally see God's glory, not one soul there will
think, I have some glory that might match up to that. Verse
10 says, The Lord sitteth upon the flood. Yea, the Lord sitteth
king forever. The Lord will give strength unto
his people. The Lord will bless his people
with peace. Is that not wonderful news? The Word of God says, The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do you know why? It's
because it makes sinners run to Christ. That's why they will
not run to Christ crying, hide me, until they see God as He
really is. Hide me, safe in the rock, it
says. Noah said, get in this ark. Run to the ark, run to Christ. The shelter in the time of storm.
You know what this Word of God says He is for sinners? It says
He is the shield and defender. Run to Jesus Christ. Hear Him. Go to John 5 with me. I'm almost
finished. John 5. John chapter 5, look at verse
25. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. That's mercy. That God would
open up a sinner's ears to, through His Word, hear the voice of God,
that fearful voice. But that voice, the Word Himself,
it's sharper than any two-edged sword. And it pierces the heart
and it says, live. Live. Is that not wonderful? Go back over to John 12. Verse 27 says, ìNow is my soul
troubled, and what shall I say, ìFather, save me from this hour?î
But for this cause came I unto this hour. ìFather, glorify Thy
name.î Then came there a voice from heaven saying, ìI have both
glorified it and will glorify it again.î The people therefore
that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said
an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sake. Everything
God has done has been for the sake of His people. We have this
glorious book. It was written for our sake. That's why. Verse 30, Jesus answered
and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
Now is the judgment of this world. All men and women are going to
be judged in Christ or out of Christ. And here's the good news
of the gospel. Every sinner that God the Father
put in Christ was judged by God right then. 2,000 years ago,
He said, right now is the judgment of my people. We were judged
in Christ. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. That's our adversary. Cast out. When Christ died on
that cross, He secured eternal peace for His people. Total,
eternal peace. Verse 32, He said, And I, if
I be lifted up from the earth, that's on the cross, I will draw all men unto me. Do you see that the word men
is in italics? If you have a Bible that has
italics, those are words that have been added by the translator
to make it easier to understand. And they're good words. But if
you read that without the italicized word, it says, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all unto me. Who's he talking
about? All the ones that God the Father
chose to put in Him. Verse 33, this He said signifying
what death He should die. Why did Christ die? He died to
be the substitute for His people. And he died to be the satisfier
of God's holy law. And he said in chapter 19 verse
30, it is finished. It's finished. It's all done.
Mission accomplished. Salvation secure. That's the
gospel. Alright, let's stand together.