Good evening, brother. Peace
be unto you. I pray he's with us. And there
is peace upon us. If you will, let's turn to John
chapter 19. As a reminder, there's no service
this Sunday. And then a week from now, our
midweek service will be on Thursday, not next Wednesday. It'll be on Thursday. I'll be
preaching and Lord willing in Danville this Sunday and then
in Lexington Sunday night and And then Danville again Tuesday
night. We'll fly back Wednesday and
it's a late flight. So we Make it on time for Thursday. I pray John 19 This is terrifying to me I understand
the ramifications of what we're doing here tonight. I do remember
who sent me. I do remember why he sent me
and what he sent me to do. I do remember who I am and who
I am not. I recall those things often.
And this is a weighty, weighty matter. I thank God's given me
a message. And I just want to say too, I
like preaching. I really do. I was talking to my pastor about
that. I think the Lord gave me a message.
I enjoy preaching. I enjoy when I have time to study. I love studying. I wish I could
do it all the time. Wish I could preach all the time.
I tried to at the house. They won't run another room.
I think the Lord gave me a message and it terrifies me. And this
might be one of those. It's December 13th, 2023. 50,
60, 70 years from now, somebody might
be wanting to know what date this took place, and you're here. I pray
the Spirit's with us. What think ye of Christ? Is that
an important question? It is. Now, what do you think
about what he did? You think about his person, what
do you think about him? What do you think about what
he did? Because he did something. He's got some statue sitting
somewhere that we can't, it's up on a shelf we can't get to.
He came to this earth, he did something. Now what do you think
about it? I know it's been a long day.
I know y'all probably was up late last night working, got
up early this morning, go to work. You worked all day and it's too
hot or too cold and getting ready to rain or whatever. I don't
know, fill in the blank. And it's gonna be hard to stick with
this. And I'm gonna do everything within my power to swing as hard
as I can. I'm swinging for the fence. I
think that this is it. I think this is it. What do you
think of Christ? What do you think about what
he did? His work, his person, and his work. Here in John 19,
verse 16, we read, John 19, 16. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. This is Pilate's doing. And they
took Jesus and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, not
a cross, not some cross, his cross, went forth into a place
called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew
Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him on
either side, one and Jesus in the midst. He bore his cross
and went forth. I was trying to think of a title
that provokes thought but isn't provocative, but I'll swing for
that fence too. Do you wear a cross? Do you wear a cross? Do you have
one on your bumper sticker? Do we have one on this church?
These are important to some types of people. There's three crosses
spoken of in the scriptures. There's a physical cross. This
was a wooden cross that the Lord carried, but there's a physical
cross. Some people have wood ones, some
people have metal ones, whatever it's made out of. They're on
churches, they're on necklaces, they're on bumper stickers. There's the
physical Roman cross that a whole bunch of people's crucified on.
It's a common occurrence. There's the cross of tribulation,
of being forsaken of men, of having trials in the body. And
then there's the cross of atonement. Paying for your sins. Being forsaken of God. What do we think about this cross? This cross that our Lord bore.
Was it a physical cross? Yeah, it was. Was this tribulation? Was this calamity? Like you cannot
imagine. I pray we don't ever enter into
it. And was it effectual? Was there atonement made? Turn
over to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. What do we think about this cross?
Is this the cross we wear? 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18 says,
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God." There's many people on this earth that
seem to agree with doctrines that people agree with, that
the Lord has taught in their hearts, but when you say that
they had to be saved by the preaching of the gospel, they say, no,
that doesn't fit my experience. Now, I come to the doctrines
a different way. I learned, or I studied, or I
figured this out, and then I found somebody that happened to be
preaching in line with what I already had sorted. You were not saved. If you were baptized under a
gospel where you thought that, you haven't been baptized. You
didn't profess Christ publicly because you didn't know him.
I don't know how I want to say that as plain as I can get it.
Lord saves the means he chose. You say some people say, well,
you limit God by saying that no God limited himself. He said,
this is my means of which I'm pleased to save my people. It's
going to be through a man standing up who's experienced grace and
preaches grace to you. And that preaching is going to
be the cross for the preaching of the cross, not foolish preaching. It says right there in verse
18 for the preaching of the cross. It's to them that perish. Do
you want to perish? It's foolishness, but unto us which are saved.
It's the power of God. The Lord did it. If the cross
is preached, the Lord did it. On the front of our bulletin,
it's changed a while back. I put a different text on there,
but we preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. Unto
the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto
them which are called, both Jew and Greek, don't matter what
your background is, cross the power of God and the wisdom of
God. Wouldn't have it any other way. What kind of cross is this? Is it physical? Yes, there's
a physical one. Is this a trial like no trial
that anyone's ever experienced? This cross is the cross of crucifixion.
This is the work of Christ, the work of the person of salvation. My subject is the cross of Christ.
That's my subject tonight. People say, I don't know what
you're talking about. I'm gonna tell you what I'm talking about. I'm talking
about the cross of Christ, the work of the Savior, the work
of God. Physically, I don't have crosses
on this building. I don't have crosses on my neck.
I don't put fish on the back of my car I don't have catchy
little bumper stickers and license plate covers and all those things.
I don't do it. I'm not concerned about those
things Don't wear them around my neck concerning trouble. I
Want some of you I want to pay attention to this. Okay, lock
eyes with you pray for people and I want God to make an effect
when you and I I got some notes for you that I didn't write,
somebody else can read later that didn't get preached from here, but I
read them. I know what's best. Trust me, God sent me here to
do this. Have you ever seen me have a prayer list? Have you? You ever seen me get up and read
a big old long list, everybody need prayer? I do that on purpose. That's a cross of tribulation.
That's people wanting to carry around a car, say, oh, look at
all the pain. Now, do we have to know about
our brethren's sufferings? Of course we do. I don't know
what to pray for. That's gossiping. And that's being seen of men.
And God won't bless it. My experience is different. Well,
the word of God is different than your experience. Which one
are you going to bow to? What you like or what God says? I mean it, take it with you this
week. I mean, and I mean like over the next four days. You
hear what I'm saying? Carry it with you. I want to fully deal with
this cost concerning Christ. I don't have things on the building.
I don't have things on me. I don't have things on the stuff
I own. I don't have, I don't put on a show for men to make
sure I remember and I know everybody's secret troubles. Unspoken prayers
and all that's garbage. I have one thing and that's the
atoning work of the son of God. You interested in that? Do you
care about it? This ain't Kevin Thacker asking.
I'm going to show you in a minute. God says, is it nothing to you? Weeping prophet. We'll see it
in a minute. I don't want to get ahead of
myself. I want to fully deal with wearing crosses, the physical
and the metaphorical, by showing the work of Christ. I want to
deal with the people drawing attention to themselves and gossiping
about other people's sufferings and all the murmuring and bellyaching
about what goes on in this body. All that much speaking that they
have their reward publicly. I want to deal with that by showing
the work of Christ. What think ye of Christ? Who
do you say he is? What do you say he did? That's
now we're getting that we're getting on shoe leather. We're
about to get in our text as we go through John to our Lord saying
it is finished. What does that mean to you? Is it nothing to you? Are there
things that's more important to you than that? For millions
of people, there are more important things. There in 1 Corinthians
1 verse 17, it says, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made of none effect. In chapter two there in verse
two, one page over, it says, for I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's a good topic to talk about.
That's not nonsense. That's a good thing. Over in
Galatians, Paul said, he goes, God forbid that I should glory
save other than, except for, in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. What is this cross? Paul said,
I shouldn't glory in anything saving Christ's cross, saving
Christ's work, his atonement he made for us. What's this cross
we glory in? What do we think about it? This
ain't talking about the tree that Christ was crucified on,
that's just the means on which it took place that the scriptures
were fulfilled. Paul said, and this being found in the fashion
of man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. That's the physical one. This
isn't speaking, that's talking about the Roman cross, the top
of death. Our text there in John 19, this is speaking of the wooden
cross too, it says he took his cross, he bore his cross. Sometimes
that cross means our sufferings, doesn't it? The believer's trials,
the believer's temptations in this world, the pain that we
go through. And the Lord told us that. He said in Matthew 16,
he said, if, if, what happens to you when the Lord says if?
He said, if any man will come after me, Lord, make me come
after you. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. That does not mean we take
up a physical cross. and walk with it. I saw it growing
up. I was a little bitty fella. Children will call out the best
things on earth. They'll just line out us old
folks sometimes, won't they? Little bitty ones. I was four
or five years old. I saw a man had a big ol' huge cross, I mean,
six by sixes. And he was walking up them hills
in Eastern Kentucky, just dragging that thing. And I thought, he's
a fool. That thing's heavy. It's humid out there. It's like
102. Couple days later, saw the same
man walking. I said, there he is again. But he went and got
him a castor from Home Depot and screwed that thing in the
bottom. He had a wheel. And I thought, that's cheating. Don't you little
bitty kid. He don't mean that. I told my
dad, I said, he don't mean that. He's cheating. He put a wheel
on it. He said, that's exactly right, son. He's cheating. He
don't know what he's doing. He's a fool. You nailed it. That's
not what the Lord was talking about. He was talking about the
tribulation and the affliction that comes because of his word.
And that comes from family members, and that comes from loved ones,
and that comes from them good old churchy people you used to
hang out with for decades. Those that we care so much about
and we esteem highly over his word. And it comes from them,
he said, take it up and follow me. Just bear it, put it in your
backpack and come on. He said, in the world, you shall
have tribulation. Remember, let's look at those parables of the
sower. I don't want to be that stony ground here. When tribulation
or persecution arises because of the word, this is that cross
of suffering. Take up your cross. I don't want
to wither away to you. This is tough. It's going to
be hard. Like old Joseph said, you've got two years of famine,
five years yet to come. Just hold on to your horses.
Look to him and do it daily. It's going to happen a lot. Paul's
context, whenever he said, I know whom I have, turn over, let's
look at it, 2 Timothy. Turning's good for us. I like
to have a context of things. I don't want to just say stuff
and not know what I'm talking about. I want to know what it meant.
2 Timothy 1, verse 8, Paul said, I know whom I have believed.
This is in the context of troubles and tribulations because of telling
the truth, because of preaching this cross. That's the context.
2 Timothy 1 verse 8, Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Look now in verse 12, For the
witch calls, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that
he is able. keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. What day? That day that he took
that cross and bore it. That day he made atonement. That
day he was made sin. That's me. And I was made the
righteousness of God. That's him. That atonement. What do you think about that?
I commit everything to him in that. And I believe he's able
to do everything he said he's gonna do. I do. When Paul said,
I glory in the cross of Christ, the preaching of the cross is
foolishness. And then the Paris, he's not
talking about a physical wooden cross. He's not talking about
suffering. He's not talking about trials or tribulations or afflictions.
What do you think about the atonement that was accomplished on that
tree? That's his work. What do you think? This is real
important. What do you think about the work? Well, thank you
of Christ. This is eternal life or eternal
damnation. These are weighty matters. It's
important. Turn over to Lamentations chapter
one. Lamentations. After Isaiah and Jeremiah and
before you get to Ezekiel and Daniel, Lamentations one. Many
people prefer Most people prefer a physical cross, that fellow
in Kentucky. Or people that prefer a trinket
to hang around their neck, or people that just prefer to, well,
I put a magnet on my car, I'm good to go. Everybody know everything.
That's a whole lot easier, isn't it? People prefer physical crosses. Most people prefer tribulation. But every person's days are few
and full of trouble. Everybody's got trouble. Do you have trouble?
Lamentations won. It's after Isaiah and Jeremiah
before Ezekiel and Daniel. Everybody's days are few and
full of trouble. The scriptures say so. You got
trouble? Things are tough all over. I got two types of homeowners
insurance. One of it doubled this year.
Just found out the other one up 51% this morning. I got trouble. You do too. You live here in
this county. I just warn you for what's coming next week for
you. Everybody's got trouble. So they prefer to have long prayer
lists and gang up on God and stage mutinies is what it is.
And they say sweet little versey things. And I hope that the graces
and the Arianic benedictions and they quote these things and
they don't have a clue what it means. But it feels churchy and
the whole time they're murmuring against God's providence and
it's perfect. They prefer that over this atonement. We ought to be concerned about
this cross of atonement. Look in Lamentations 1 verse
12. Lamentations to Jeremiah, this
is our Lord speaking. Lamentations 1 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 unto me, wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Is Jeremiah feeling sorry for
himself? No, this is God's prophet. Let's listen to him. Verse 13.
From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevails
against them. And he hath spread a net before
my feet. He hath turned me back. He hath made me desolate and
faint all the day. The yoke of my transgressions
is bound by his hand. They are wreathed and come up,
come up upon my neck. He hath made my strength to fail.
The Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whom I am not
able to rise up. What's he speaking of? Bearing
that cross. being forsaken of God, finishing
the work. And he asked him, verse 12, is
this nothing to you? All those people that passed
by that day, those standing there and those that were on the trees
next to him, that gnashed him with their teeth, he was all
alone, wasn't he? Was anybody with him in that
wine press? He tread the wine press alone. This cross of atonement
was accomplished by himself. And he proves it by asking, is
this nothing to you? Is it nothing to you, all you
that pass by? You want peace? You want peace? Do people like peace? You want
peace? I like peace in my life, don't you? I like to have a peaceful
home. I like to have peaceful work. I like to have just peace
in this county. I need peace with God. You at
war with him? You offended God? Where do you think that peace
comes from? What do you think about his cross? The work of
Christ. Paul said in Colossians 1, and
having made peace, he made peace through the blood of his cross
by him to reconcile all things unto himself. Turn over to Ephesians
1. How can we have true peace? He's
got to reconcile things to himself and he has to buy us. Ephesians 1. Verse seven, we must be a purchased
possession. And that's going to happen through
this cross. Ephesians 1.7, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the blood of the cross, the forgiveness of sins, according
to, how much is that redemption? The riches of his grace. I abound
towards you. in this. I want to do everything
I can to get you to hang in there and listen to me and what this
book has to say. I pray God speak through me to
you, to your hearts. Speak to their hearts is what
I want to do. I can't do that. He's got to do it. Let's ask
him to, huh? I want us to get that. I'm bound
towards you. We're passing by right now. Look
at verse eight. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence. We're passing by this cross of
reconciliation right now. Ephesians 2 verse 16. And that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the entity thereby. That's putting it away. That's
peace. Do you need peace? Do you need
forgiveness of sin? Do you need redemption? Do you
need to be bought with a price? That's what he's talking about
in Isaiah 53. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheeps gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. That's the word. How's peace
going to be made? Christ is going to throw that
cross. Remember in Lamentations 1.14, he said the yoke of my
transgression, my transgression. What do you think about that
cross? Is it nothing to you? Not the
physical one, not the trouble, not the trouble that we face,
not the pain we have in this body. What do you think about
the propitiation? What do we think about the work
of the person? Everybody knows Jesus. Everybody
knows Christ. Everybody knows some doctrine,
don't we? What do we think about the work He did? The work of
the person. Hebrews 9 says, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. What do we think about it? Something
we add to it? I'll tell you, people that listen to other people,
If the theme of the preaching is not this, it's noise. You got loud noise on your hands
is all it is. There may be a cross on the building,
but if there's no cross in the message, you've got nothing but
a social event. You hear me? Listen to me now. If we walk right by this work
of the person, if we just walk by it, if it's nothing to us,
the captain of our salvation and what he did, if we just walk
by that and we're not affected by it, you know what this is?
This is bodily exercise and it profited little. It's wildly important. I want
it to be important to you. I do. If this remission, this restitution,
this reconciliation, it's declared as finished, it's done. And that's praised as the work
of the Holy One of Israel, Christ our Lord, His completed work. That's the tone of the rest of
the comments on this scripture. Don't walk by it. That's the
key to all this. Any page you turn. What about
the Sabbath day? Christ is our Sabbath, He finished
the work. What about giving? How are we gonna understand about
that? Even as a son of man came not to be ministered to, but
to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. That's what
he was doing. Turn over to John 3. Let's do some turning. John
3. Verse 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, He that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh into light, lest his deeds should
be reproved. Why is Christ on that cross?
Because that deserves to be me. My sin put him there. Natural
man don't want to say that because they wasn't that bad. They've
been on a sojourn their whole life and they've been pretty
good. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are
wrought in God. Lord, you did this. My acceptance
with God is your work. is your person and your work.
My right to be there, because you're just and justified, is
because of you and your work. He's everything. Peter said,
for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things of silver and gold from your vain conversations received
by the traditions of your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. That
was a holy one of Israel in that tree. He had no sin. This man was innocent. Because of me, he had to go.
He said, weep not for me. I'm the king. I'm doing this
for you. You weep for yourselves, and you weep for your children. This is good news. This is the
gospel. Substitution satisfaction, isn't it? It concerns Christ. Paul said, I'm a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of
God. Paul, what's that? He said he preached the gospel,
didn't he? Concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's
what it's about. What do we see in that? Jehovah
Sikhenu, the Lord our righteous. When you walk past that cross,
that's what we're walking past right now, okay? Is it nothing
to you? Or is that Jehovah's sick kin
of the Lord our righteousness? How do we have a robe of righteousness?
Because of him. Because of him. That's what's
in Revelation 7. One of the elders answered, said unto me, what
are these which are arrayed in white robes and which came they,
John? And he said, I said unto him,
sir, thou knowest. You know? And that elder said
to him, these are they which came out of great tribulation
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the lamb. Blood of the lamb. What do you
see in this cross of Christ? Deanne, what do you see in this
cross of Christ? Karen, Mike, Matt? What do you see in this
cross of Christ? I'll tell you what I see. Well,
we're walking past it tonight, okay? Some sleep past it, some
will yawn past it, some will be bored about it, because we've
heard it 7,500 times. We're walking past it right now.
Is it nothing to you? I'll tell you what I see. That
cross, His cross that He bore, I see the eternal purpose of
the Father fulfilled. Do you see that? That important
to you? I see all the Old Testament fulfilled.
All the pictures, all the tops, all the sacrifices, and it's
finished. It's done. We don't have to kill 200,000
lambs walking knee-deep blood. Go get your roast beef sandwich.
Go out to lunch with somebody. Go to Jersey Mike's, get you
a sub, sit down and thank God. I see the Lord as his given names
up there. Because He's on that cross, I
see peace and rest. Jehovah Shalom. The work's over
because it's finished. How you gonna rest? Ain't no
work to be done. It's done. I see He's our provision. Everything's provided for us.
Jehovah Jireh. Everything the Father requires, it's in the
blood of His Lamb. Christ my Lord right there. That's
what I see when I walk past. That's not nothing. What we give
for it. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that
healeth, by his stripes we are healed. Jehovah Rhea, the Lord's
my shepherd, right there is my forerunner. I'm gonna have to
die one day. He already conquered the grave,
I ain't worried about it. That's him, is that your forerunner?
Jehovah Sikhenu, the Lord our righteous, that's the accepted
work right there. Jehovah Shema, Lord's present. I'm with him
on that cross 2,000 years ago, I can't explain it so, and I'm
with him right now in glory, how about you? He said so. Jehovah Nissi, Lord our banner. What message do we carry? I don't
have another one. Now, there's things as we go
through books, I could tell you what this means, and those 70 that
went out two by two, I don't even want the dust on my clothes.
They started doing that in old westerns. They're probably reading
Luke 10. I know what that means, but the
only message there is, Here's that cross. I see that
cross. I see Jehovah M. Kadesh. You
remember what that one is? I'm the Lord that sanctifies
you. You need to sanctify yourself.
That's a lie. You'll go to hell believing that
lie. He is my sanctification. He's our Passover. First Corinthians
5 says it's plain as day. Christ who is our Passover. He's
everything. That rock that was smitten, that's
what's happening right now. And that purifying water, that
life-giving water's coming out on that cross. I see the brazen
serpent. He's lifted up, there's no venom
in him. But if we look to him, we live. In that cross, I see
the love of God toward sinners. The most disastrous thing, the
most horrible thing that ever took place is where the love's
magnified the most. How could I say such a thing?
But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. John said this, it was manifested,
and this was manifested to love God toward us because that God
sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live
through him. Herein is love, not that we love God, stay with
me now, but that he loved us and And, there's a lot of ands
in the Bible, isn't there? Job said, I abhor myself. A whole
lot of people hate themselves. There's suicides every day, right?
And he repented in sackcloths and ashes. The Lord loved us,
but he didn't, love does something, doesn't it? You love your family.
If they're in need, you go out and help them, don't you? That's
what love does, provides for. He loved us and sent his son
to be the accepted bloody sacrifice, the mercy seat, where God would
meet with sinners, the propitiation for our sins. That's what I see when I see
that cross. When I walk by. We walk by every Wednesday and
twice on Sunday, don't we? What do you see? I see the just
one and the justifier, the holy one. This is right. This is true,
true. He dealt truly with us. And that's
the ancient of days that did it. I see peace unto this house. Our brother read to start to
service with. Peace be unto you. Whatsoever house ye enter, say
first, Peace be unto this house. And if the Son of Peace be there,
your peace shall rest upon it." Is that peaceful to you? Now, I told you I was going to
deal with some things in my subject, didn't I? Now, to understand
that, if the Lord would give us understanding, not just knowledge,
if he gave us understanding. Do you want to wear crosses?
Do you want to put them on your building? Do you want to talk
about everyone and their brother and all their troubles and their
belly aching and your snake oil? your remedies, or do you want
to talk about the person and the work who is all and in all
to us? I want that to be my conversation.
How about you? When we walk by, that's what I want to see. Amen.