Let's take our Bibles this morning,
please, and turn to Luke chapter 20. Oh my goodness. Luke 23. Now, I cannot read as much as I would like
to, because in every one of the four Gospels, we have their take
on the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And God was pleased
to use a variety of statements in one of those descriptions,
and they're not always the same, though there's no contradiction
at all in them. But here in the 23rd chapter
of Luke, we have this awful and yet wonderful and glorious
description. The Son of God hanging on Calvary's
tree. And just in case you might think
this about yourself, if you and I had been there, we would have
done the very same thing to him. And if you don't know that, you
can't be a believer. You're just lost as a goose. All right, let's see what we
can do. I'm going to start at verse 27 and try to read through
verse 49. And if I make it, that's good.
And if I don't, that may not be good. But I've got a couple
of pages of notes, but I'll try to move through them as quickly
as I can. And verse 27, the 23rd chapter of Luke. And there followed him a great
company of people, him being our Lord Jesus Christ, and of
women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But the Lord Jesus
turning unto them said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me,
but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the
days are coming. in the which they shall say,
blessed of the barren and the wombs that never gave, that never
bear and the breast which never gave suck. Then shall they begin
to say to the mountains, fall on us and to the hills, cover
us. For if they do these things in
a green tree, What shall be done in the dry? If they did these
things once, as recorded in the four Gospels, and our Lord was
very much alive when he went to that tree and very much dead
when he left it to go to the grave, though that was temporary.
But this, this is important. Goodness alive. If they do these things in a
green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And we're living
in the dry. And there were also two other
male factors, criminals led with him to be put to death. What
wonderful company for the son of God. Yet one of these men, before
he dies, before that day is over, he'll
be on his way to glory. And there were also two other
criminals led with him to be put to death. And when they were
come to the place, which is called Calvary. There they crucified
him and the male factors, one on the right hand and the other
on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do. And when they parted his raiment,
his clothes, and cast lots, and the people stood beholding And
the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others,
let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, If you
be the king of the Jews, save yourself. And a superscription
was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. And this is what it said, this
is the king of the Jews. Oh, how he rankled them even
more than he had done when he was telling them the truth about
himself and about God and about grace and mercy. And now these
same blind religious people are brought out in this very passage
that has occupied us up until this point. And one of the male factors which
were hanged, this is verse 39, railed on him, that's lashed
out at him, saying, if you be the Christ, Save yourself and
us. And both of them at one time
were saying this very same thing. But here we have a difference. He said, the other, verse 40,
answering, rebuked his partner in crime, saying, Do you not
fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this
man has done nothing amiss." And he turns to our Savior and
he said unto the Lord Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. Christ should look the worst
to the eyes of men. If there's any place where he'd
be able to convince anybody of anything about himself, this
is the worst and difficult position to be in. But this dying thief
saw in that dying Christ a king with a kingdom. And here's what
he said, Lord, verse 42, Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And our Lord said unto him, verily
or amen, I say unto you today, not tonight, today, Shall you
be with me in paradise?" Now that's the only person ever
recorded in this book that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
escorted somebody into the kingdom of glory in heaven. And here is this poor sinner
about ready to die from hanging on that tree. And he gets words that I hope you and I can
hear. The day of my death and yours,
that we might be with him in paradise. And it was about the
sixth hour and there was a darkness over the earth until the ninth
hour. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple separating the holy place from the holy
of holies. And this ain't made out of a
bed sheet. This thing is tremendous. It makes that curtain look thin.
But it is a tremendous one. It is huge. veil in the temple, was rent
or torn in the middle, starting at the top to the bottom. And
when Jesus cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, He He gave up the ghost. He died voluntarily. He could
not be killed until this moment arrived. Now it's God's time. It's time for Christ to pay the
sin debt for all of His people. Verse 47 through 49. Now, when the centurion saw what
was done, this is a Roman army officer, I forget how many hundred
men. When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying,
certainly this was a righteous man. Another gospel says, this
is truly the Son of God. 48 and 49, "...and all the people
that came together to that site, beholding the things which were
done, smote their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance
and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off,
beholding these things." Beholding these things. Here are seven statements our
Lord made from the cross. They reveal the glorious person,
work, and offices of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. If you look back
at verse 34, here's my first point. Our Lord is the one and
only mediator between God and men, the man, the God-man, Christ
Jesus. I Timothy 2.5. So our Lord then
is a mediator. And in verse 34 you have that
brought out brilliantly. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. These people are dumb
and stupid and don't have a clue. Even in his dying hour, he's
praying to God for mercy to the people he'll leave on this earth,
for the most part, to die and go to hell. As a mediator, Christ must be
a priest. And he certainly does have a
priesthood. He speaks and God moves. He heals people without even
seeing them, like the centurion's daughter, or was it his servant? But he said, Lord, I'm not worthy
for you to come under my roof. If you just say the word, my
servant will be healed. And sure enough, when he got
back to where he was from, the servant was well. Now, these money grabbers in
religion today that have captivated audiences all across America,
and I suppose all the world, they're after one thing. It's
money. But I'll ask you, can they even
think that they could do such a thing as what we've just read
that our Savior did? Oh my, he's infinitely above
us and above them. When I pass by it on the TV remote
once in a while, I just speed up. I don't slow down. Unless
it's somebody that I really want to see what he's saying, and
I know some people that do, and I don't find any fault with that. In regard to this Mediator who
is our High Priest, he's King of Kings and Lord of Lords, in
1 Timothy 2.5 we have this statement to which we will not turn. For
there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man,
the God-man, Christ Jesus. He is the only thing between
us and God. Let me read you a statement out
of Romans to help support that. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again. And who
is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession
for us? He is still our interceder, our
high priest. Our brother, our king, our righteousness. I don't know how many names there
are that apply to who our Lord Jesus Christ is, but there's
plenty. Then we come in the second place. Ed, that was Roman numeral
number one. This is Roman numeral number
two. It has to do with the kingship of our Lord Jesus. Right in this
same chapter, the 42nd and 43rd verses. in Luke chapter 23. And he said
unto Jesus, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.
And Jesus said to him, Amen I say unto you, today shall you be
with me in paradise. Now this criminal was just as
wicked as the other Just like ourselves, we're all in the same
boat. We hate God and love ourselves. But if God grants us mercy like
he did to this dying thief, one day by and by, we'll leave this
world and be in glory. And if not, we'll be in the fires
of hell. So our Lord said to him in verse
43, I know I'm reading it again. Verily I say unto you, today
you shall be with me in paradise. So this refers then to the kingship
of our Lord Jesus Christ as viewed through the eyes of that criminal
that saw so clearly who the Lord Jesus is and what he's capable
of. He is king of creation, king
of providence, King of salvation, King of life, and King of death. He is in a word. Salvation itself is personified
in our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read you another statement
out of your Bibles and if I can I'll give you the reference after
I read it. No, I'll tell you what. I've
got it right there, but I want you to see this in your own Bibles.
Revelation, chapter 1. Some people's heart would flutter
now when you talk about going to the book of Revelation. They
think that's all there is, you know. Who can tell me when Christ
is coming so I'll be ready in such idiocy as that? Chapter 1. The book doesn't have
an S on it. The book of the revelation of
St. John the Divine. Verse 18. John has been given this vision
beginning back at verse 9. while he was prisoner on the
Isle of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea. And we read in this 18th
verse of this first chapter the very words of our Lord Himself. I am He that lives and was dead
and behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And then he says, and have,
that is Christ has the keys of heaven. You see that word? No, you don't. It ain't there. He that lives and was dead, behold,
he's alive forevermore. And he has the keys of heaven,
hell, and death. How can I say heaven when it's
not in there? Because the word that is there
is Hades. And it is the departed place
of all the spirit that is in man, whether he's lost or saved,
a child or a grandfather or whatever. The point being, he has control
over all of these things. Heaven, hell, and of death. Let me give you another reference. By the way, that was chapter
1. Well, no, I went ahead and told you, didn't I? Gosh. Well,
if you still got chapter 1, just turn over to chapter 3, and we'll cover it from this angle. Third chapter of Revelation,
verses 7 and 8. Now you remember there are seven
letters to the seven churches. This one is to the church in,
I believe in, let me find it, Philadelphia. All right, beginning
with verse seven. And to the angel, or the messenger,
or the preacher, whatever you call him, to the angel of the
church in Philadelphia write, These things says he that is
holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David. Now watch
this. He that opens and no man shuts. Today is the day of salvation. He has the key of David. He that
opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens. Let me ask
you a question. Is there anything anywhere at
any time concerning anybody that can cause the Lord Jesus to not
be able to do something? Now, if you've got that notion
in your head, you've got the wrong God. This man spoke this
world into being, and that's a pretty tall order.
But what's greater than all of that is that he purchased for
us the very, very righteousness
of God Himself and gave it to His people. If you've got some
other kind of righteousness, you don't have that one. But
if you despise all other kinds, you just might have the right
one. Our Lord said, I know your works
Behold, I have set before you an open door and no man can shut
it for you have a little strength, referring to the church at Philadelphia,
and you have kept my word and you have not denied my name. These are very commendable things. And some of those seven letters
could not say this because they had left their first love and
found an interest elsewhere. If you would just read the second
and third chapters of the Revelation, you'll find all seven of them
in order one after the other. The Lord Jesus is King of mercy,
King of grace, and King of salvation. He said to that poor old thief,
today you shall be with me in paradise. The dying thief rejoiced
to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Have we done so? The words of that hymn that I
just quoted you is in the song book. I forget the title right
now, but you might want to look at it. Now the third thing, Roman numeral
three. Christ identifies himself with
people like ourselves. He fulfilled all the whole law
for his people. Therefore, their righteousness
that they have in the sight of God is imputed righteousness. It can't be any other kind. And
in Romans 10 and verse 4, for anybody who thinks they can keep
even one of the Ten Commandments. The Lord Jesus in Romans 10.4, Paul, I'm sorry,
made these words, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every believer. And if He's not that to me, I
don't care what else I can do or say or whatever. I'm not regenerated. I'm not born again. I just think
I'm saved and I'm as lost as a goose. Next scripture comes from the
Gospel of John. This comes out of John 19. Now
there stood by the cross of the Lord Jesus, his mother and his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciple standing by, which turns out to be the
very one that writes to us this revelation in the Gospel of John. When our Lord saw His mother
and the disciples standing by whom He loved, He said unto His
mother, Woman, speaking to Mary, Woman, He didn't call her mother
of God. She disqualifies and so do you
and me. We have a very real human nature
and it is fallen and sinful. Thank God for his grace and mercy
from delivering us from it. Then said the Lord Jesus in verse
27, unto his mother, woman, behold, your son. And from that hour, that disciple
took her into his own house. His own house. Let me read you just a tiny bit
further than that. Romans 5, 19 through 21. This has a great deal to do with
our Lord identifying himself with certain people. Romans 5
verses 19 through 21, for as by one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. That's Adam in the garden. He brought sin and condemnation
on every human being to ever have lived anywhere in this world. And it's true until the end of
time. By the disobedience of one man,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, shall many
be made righteous. Now only Christ could do that.
He is our righteousness. There ain't no other kind. I
mean, there's a bogus kind. It's fake money, but a bunch
of people have it. Moreover, verse 20 in Romans
5, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. that as sin
has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our precious
Lord. I'm telling you, those are some
glorious, glorious statements. Just stagger our ability to conceive
of them, that it could be so wonderful. so complete, so perfect. We can't add one ounce to a trillion
gallons. Just spoil the whole thing. The whole thing. Now we come in the second place to this word substitution. Substitution. I've got this printed off for
me, so I'm going to jump back to that gear if it's alright. Christ, Roman numeral IV, Christ
is God manifest in the flesh, without sin, without spot, without
so much as a single thought of anything in regard to His wonderful,
wonderful method of treating His people and of representing
the triune God of heaven and earth. Hebrews has this statement, Oh God is forever and ever. I think you'll find that in chapter
one of Hebrews. Thirdly, God deserted Christ
on the tree, on the cross, with the vile and
ugly and awful treatment afforded him, but don't get too blown
up in pride because if I had been there, I'd have been right
there with him and so would you. Thy throne, O God, is forever. God deserted Christ on the cross
Some call that God forsaking God. But it was short-lived. But it was awful nonetheless. Spurgeon calls it a two-word
gospel. That is, substitution has to
have another word with it, and it's called satisfaction. Substitution
and satisfaction. They go hand in hand. Then we come to Roman numeral
number five. And here we're in regarding the word of suffering
in regard to the Lord Jesus. He said on the cross in verse
28 of John 19, I thirst. Oh, what a thirst it was. The
humanity of Christ. Christ is a man, but He's God
in human flesh. That must never, ever be removed
from our thoughts about who Christ is and what He does. Then, number six, Roman numerals. Our Lord said in John 19 verse
30, He said, It is finished. It is finished. In John 19 and verse 30, we read,
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, it is finished,
done, complete. What is it? It's what God sent
him to do. And what was that? To redeem
his people who could not be saved any other way. Even though they, like ourselves,
have gone through periods of time in which we thought we were
pretty special. You know, we'd come down the
aisle, cry on what people call an altar, and it ain't no altar
at all. And I wished I could forget it, but it's stuck. I wish some other things would
stick, but it's not there. Our Lord said, I must be about
my father's business. He said that as a child of some
12 years old or so. And his last words, it is finished. It is the word of victory. All the prophecies. In regard to this statement about
being finished, we must try to answer this question, What do
we mean finished? And here it is. All the prophecies
are over. They are not in our day and generation. There is no more. When Christ
died, our prophet died in it. We have what's in this book.
But some people like to be inventive and, you know, give themselves
fancy names and tell people they can do this, that, and the other,
and they can't do it. All the prophecies. His sufferings
are finished. To die no more. to suffer no
more. The atonement was completely
accomplished. We're not left to do anything
except fall on our face before God and beg for mercy. And He has to do that for you
or you'd be too proud to do it. I don't mean these things literally
necessarily, but it's what we think about ourselves in our
mind. It's the spiritual aspect of things. And we have a duty,
especially in this place where the gospel has come from so many
different people over the years, that I lost my thought. I don't know why, but I did.
If it comes back to me, I'll let you know. It is the end, the end of the
believer's sins. It is the fullest fulfillment
of the law of God that could be imagined. And to cap it all
off, this guy we run into in our Bibles in many places, he's
called Satan, he's called the devil, he's called the wicked
one, this, that, and the other. But I'm here to tell you that
when Christ said, it is finished, that old boy was nothing. He's
in the hand of Christ. That chain is in our Savior's
hand. He does what God permits Him
to do. No more and no less. People talk about being afraid
of the devil. Well, who's running the show?
Christ is. I don't like my circumstances.
I don't like my income bracket. Whatever. You know, that's just
tough. Being a child of God doesn't
exempt us from these things. I know preachers tell you how
to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. They can have it. I don't want
it. I don't believe it either, for that matter, but if you insist,
I'll not say anything to you about it. Finally, in the 23rd
chapter of Luke, again, verse 46, our Lord uttered these simple
words. And they show themselves to be
a word of contentment. It's in the 46th verse. He said, into your hands I commend
my spirit. And he gives up the ghost and
dies. My, my, my, my. Mr. Rogers, if you'd come, sir. Are we off the air?