Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15, our Lord said
as he observed the Passover with his disciples, and what a thought
to think of our Lord doing this with his disciples. What we now
call the Lord's table, he said, this do in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, this wine, you do show the Lord's
death till he come. We're here tonight to remember
and to worship and to glory in and to give thanks for our Lord's
death. just like he commanded his people
to do after he brought them out of bondage. And he said, you
tell your children when they ask, why are we doing this? We
are remembering how the Lord spared us through another, a glorious event that we don't
even know how to enter into. An event that we cannot appreciate. We try, we want to, but this
flesh is so weak. It's just so weak. But we do
say with whatever ability he has given us, thank you, Lord,
for saving our souls. Thank you, Lord, for saving our
souls. So here's our subject tonight. This is the title. Why
did Christ die? Why did Christ die? From the Scriptures, we're going
to see five reasons. Five reasons for the death of
our Lord. Look here at 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Verse 1 says, Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you which
also you have received and wherein you stand, by which also you
are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins, according to the Scriptures. And that he was buried and that
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. According
to the Scriptures. Christ died so that the Scripture
would be fulfilled. That's why Christ died. He died
according to the Scriptures. My dad used to tell me something
all the time. When I became a teenager, I started
working for a man whenever I was 13 years old. And as I had jobs
and everything that I did, he used to tell me this all the
time. He said, a man is only as good as his word. He's only
as good as his word. I don't care how skilled you
are. I don't care how sincere you are. If you give a man your
word and then you don't do it, he won't believe you anymore.
He won't trust you anymore, and he's not going to call you anymore.
Well, over the span of about 2,000 years, the Lord God gave
his word. And his word kept saying, the
Messiah is coming. And He's coming to redeem His
people. That was the whole message and that was the whole reason
for the Passover back in Exodus. That's the whole reason He had
them kill a lamb. It was to show the Messiah is
coming. And He's going to redeem His
people. God gave His Word. Why did Christ die? He died according
to His Word. He died according to the scriptures
that the scripture might be fulfilled. Turn with me over to Isaiah chapter
48. Isaiah 48 verse 9 says, For my
name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will
I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have
refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine
own sake will I do it. For how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory
unto another. I will not allow my name to be
ruined. I will not allow that. Christ
died according to the Scriptures. That's the first reason. Let
God be true. Let God be true. Every single
thing He said will come to pass. That's why Christ died. Here's
the second reason. Turn with me over to Titus chapter
2. Titus chapter 2 verse 13 says, Looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works." Christ died to redeem us from our sins. God said the wages of sin is
death. It's death. And He said without
the shedding of blood there is no remission for sins. None whatsoever. Now here is where I stand. Here's
where I stand. If I stand alone before God,
here's where I stand. I have sinned. I've sinned. Therefore, the only option for
me is death according to the Word of God. That's the only
option for me as I stand alone before God. My only possible
outcome, if I stand alone, is for God to cast me into outer
darkness, eternal hell, and then say, next. That's the only possible
outcome for me. Outside of Christ, there's no
hope. There's no good news. My only
hope before God is that somebody would redeem me from my sins. This is what redeem means. It
means set me free. It means pay my price in full
and set me free. If this is a item in a store, this item has to stay in the
store. I'm not allowed to take this
item and just walk out with it. It's against the law. But if
I take it up to the counter and if I redeem it, if I pay the
price in full, then this item is free to walk right out the
front door with me. A man who is in prison, a man who is bound in prison,
they finally set him free. Sentence is fulfilled. They're
not going to tell him, well, what we've done is we're going
to put some rollers on the bottom of your cell and you can push
that cell around. You can go anywhere you want
to, but you're going to stay inside your cell. No, that man
is free. He is leaving that place. He
is leaving that behind. Redemption. Price paid in full. Set free. What can redeem me
from my sin? The word said blood is the only
thing that can do it. It's the only thing that can
do it. Here's our problem. Here's our
problem. See if you can find Micah chapter
six, go with me to Micah chapter six. Micah chapter 6, look at verse
6, it says, Wherewith shall I come before
the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before
Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old, Will the
Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands
of rivers of oil? Can I just bring the blood of
an animal? That's what they did in the Old Testament. They started
sacrificing lambs, and they kept sacrificing lambs, and they kept
sacrificing lambs. And do you know why they kept
sacrificing lambs, and they kept sacrificing lambs? The reason
is because Hebrews 10 says, it is not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sins. Their sins were not
gone, so they kept sacrificing and kept sacrificing. There is no hope in the blood
of my own works. There is no hope there. Look
at the end of verse 7 right here. He says, Shall I give my firstborn
for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul? Can one sinner die for another
sinner? Can one sinner die for another
sinner? My dad, I've given this illustration
before, this is a good illustration. If my dad committed murder and he was sentenced to die, and I said I will die for him,
I'll take his place and I'll die for him, and they haul me
off and kill me instead of him, justice has not been served.
It's not been served. And the reason is because he
committed murder and he's still a free man. He's still there.
The only way that justice would be served is if I could become
my father. And my father could become me.
And I die as my father. Not only instead of, but as. And Marvin Stoniker truly dies
in me. That's the only way. That's the
only way. One sinner cannot die for another
sinner. When God sees that blood, he'd
have to condemn sin. The only thing that will redeem
me is the sinless blood of a sinless man. That's the only thing that
will redeem me. There is only one that has ever
walked the face of this earth totally sinless. This is why
we cling to Jesus Christ. This is why we love Jesus Christ. It's because He's the only one
who ever walked this earth as a man completely sinless. His blood is the only blood that
can pay my debt. It's the only blood. He died that He might redeem
us from our sins. That's why Christ died. Here's
the third reason. Turn with me over to Romans 14. Romans 14 verse 7 says, For none
of us liveth to himself. No man is alive unto himself. We are grafted into Christ. And no man dieth to himself. We died in Christ. For whether
we live, we live unto the Lord. And whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live therefore or
die, we are the Lord's. Verse 9 says, For to this end
Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord
both of the dead and living. That's why Christ died. He died
that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living. Turn
with me over to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10, look at verse
34. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word
which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by
Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word, I say, ye know, which
was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things
which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree, Him God raised up the
third day and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink
with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to
preach unto the people and to testify that it is He which was
ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and dead. To Him all the prophets give
all the prophets witness that through His name, whosoever believeth
in Him shall receive remission of sins." Christ is the conqueror
of life because Christ is life. And Christ died that He might
be the conqueror of death too. He is Lord of all. Crown Him
Lord of all. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law,
but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all. Christ
died that He might conquer life and death. Turn with me over
to Isaiah 25. Isaiah 25, look at verse 6. And in this mountain shall the
Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast
of wines on the leaves, of fat things full of marrow, of wines
on the leaves well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people and the veil
that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory,
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. And
the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the
earth, for the Lord has spoken it." The Lord has spoken it. He'll do it. Christ died that
He might be crowned Lord of all, and He is Lord of all. In spite
of my poor delivery, He is Lord of all, both the dead and the living.
Here's the fourth reason. Go with me to Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 24 says, "...being justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, To declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Christ died that He
might be just and the justifier. Here's what that means. It means
He died that He might be right and that He might make right.
That's what it means. He died that He might be holy
and that He might make holy. That He might be innocent and
that He might make innocent. If God kills me for my sin, David
said it in Psalm 51, didn't he? If God kills me for my sin, then
He is just. He is just in doing so, but He
would not be my justifier. If God just forgives my sin,
if He just sweeps it under the rug, I've chosen you to just
forget about it, then He is neither just nor justifier. The wages of sin is death. That's
the only thing that's right. But if this sinless one, if he
takes all the guilt off of me, And if He takes all of my sin,
and if He takes all of my shame, and if He takes everything that
I am off of me, and if He lays it on Himself, and if He gives
me a clean slate, and if He gives me a brand new record because
He took mine, and He went away with it. If He dies paying the
price of my sins, and if He conquers death, And if he rises from the
ground victoriously, then he is now just because he punished
sin, and he is also my justifier because he took away my sin.
Justified, pardoned, pure. That is why Christ died. That's
the reason he died. Here's the fifth reason. Turn
with me over to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3 verse 18 says, For Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. Christ died that He might bring
us to God. One of these days, I cannot wait
for this flesh to drop and for this spirit to rejoice with joy
unspeakable, for me to see my Lord face to face and realize
the reality of what Christ did. Christ died that He might bring
me to God. That is the reason Christ died.
Ephesians 2 verse 11. Let's turn to one more place.
Turn to Ephesians 2 with me. Verse 11 says, Wherefore remember,
our Lord said, This do in remembrance of me. Wherefore remember, that
ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in
the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise. having no hope and without God
in the world. Had Christ not come, had God
not become flesh, dwelt among us, died among us and rose, there
would be no hope for us. We are the uncircumcision. None
of the promises apply to us. Verse 13 says, But now in Christ
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood
of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace. and that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Now therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit." Christ died to fulfill His own Word. Christ died to
redeem us from our sins. Christ died that He might be
Lord of all, both of the dead and the living. Christ died that
He might be just and the justifier. And Christ died that He might
bring us to God. That's something worth remembering,
isn't it? Something worth remembering. And we're about to partake of
this table. These elements are just elements. They're just bread
and wine. This is for all those who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ as their total only hope of salvation. Nothing added to it, nothing
taken from it. Whoever does not completely totally
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ should not take this table. Our
Lord said that would be taking it unworthily. And He said that
if we do that, we eat and drink damnation to ourselves. But for
all who do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, this is a commandment
from God. We must partake of this table.
There is one body There is one blood, there is one head, there
is one master, there is one union, and it's all in the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, Brother Chris, you
come and read for us.