Let fear, fear, love, fear, and
distrust remove, O'er their retainer, the ransomed soul. Now go back with me to Matthew
27. Matthew 27. Read verses 54 through
56 with me. After Christ died, Baal was rent. Verse 54 says, Now when the centurion
and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and those
things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, truly, this
was the Son of God. Luke's Gospel says he said, truly,
this was a righteous man. And many women were there. beholding
afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto
him, among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James
and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's children." There was
a vast multitude watching our Lord being crucified, vast, much
more than we can imagine. tens of thousands. Our Lord Jesus of Nazareth, He
attracted a large crowd wherever He went. He was called famous. They said His fame went throughout
everywhere, all Judea. He was very popular before this. And they followed Him by the
thousands all the time. He healed them. He truly healed
them. He was a miracle worker and they
knew it. They saw these miracles. He fed thousands of people. Not just 5,000 men but women
and children one time. That was 10 or 12,000. Another
time 7,000 men and then women and children. 15,000. Fed them all. He was a healer.
They saw Him heal everyone that came to Him and raise the dead. They all saw this. You know,
today there are obvious charlatans or crooks out there who claim
many of these miracles, don't they? And they attract millions. They do. People follow them today. What if a true miracle worker
I mean, everyone see very clear, this man, this is real. How many
millions? Though millions followed Jesus
then, there were few true disciples. There were few who really believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. There were few. There were not
many that were hungry for righteousness. They wanted their belly filled,
but not many hungered and thirsted for the righteousness which He
came to bring. Not many were seeking the truth
that He spoke, but a few by God's grace were, only by God's grace. I hope that after this we'll
all see, well those who have, like the soldiers and the women,
have seen Him, that we will be so infinitely grateful that we've
been chosen to behold Him, to fear Him. and confess Him like
these soldiers and these women. But the vast majority of human
beings, listen to me, this is serious, the vast majority of
human beings are lost and without God, without hope and without
Christ. And though most claim to know
God, love God, love Jesus, they hate Him. Because that's what happened
here. In the end, all of them hated Him. They were all crying
out for His crucifixion. But the point being, can the
vast majority be wrong? Always. Always. There is a way that seemeth
right to men, but our God said, Always wrong. Whatever is highly
esteemed among men, God said, it's an abomination. Whatever
the masses agree on, whatever everybody believes is wrong. But a few, a few, a remnant out
of this vast majority. John 2, look at this. John 2,
verse 23. when he was in Jerusalem at the
Passover and the feast day. See, he went there every year.
He went there every year since he was a child. And when he turned 30, he went
there. And 31 and 32. 33, he didn't come there as a
mere one of the people. The Lamb had come. But verse
23, the Passover, and many believed in His name. Why? They saw the miracles which He
did. But it says, He did not commit Himself unto them. He
knew. He knew all men. And it said,
read on, And needed not that any should testify of man. He
knew what was in man. He didn't need men to testify
of Him. He had a much greater testifying
of Him, didn't He? He didn't need for men to testify.
And many were doing it. It's not just the cry. On and
on they went until in the end none of them were confessing
but one. This is my son. He knew what
was in me and what's that. He turned one time and said,
you follow me because you saw the miracles. You follow me because
you're seeing things and entertainment. You're just watching me. You're
not looking to me. These crowds sat down and watched
Christ crucified like they're today sitting and watching a
man preach. Hearing with ears, but they don't
hear. Some didn't hear. Out of entertainment or out of
habit or because it's what they did on the Passover. But some of them, by God's grace,
sat down watching Him, their eyes were open, their ears were
open, their hearts were open. And they saw who this was and
what He was doing. He was doing it for them. And
this is what I want for you, for me this morning. The vast majority, though in
the name of God, though in the name of Jesus, are not worshiping
God, not rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and it's all flesh. Why do I keep hammering these
things? Because it's God's Word. Because it's the truth. Because
few people are saying it. And because it doesn't grieve
me to say the same thing. And for you it's safe. And in
a day when nobody is saying it, somebody needs to say it loud
and clear. Over and over again. Over and
over again. And there's some people in here
that hasn't heard it. This is what breaks the hard
heart. This isn't this alone. This is what I heard. Oh, I heard
it. I sat and I heard and I heard and I heard and I bled. Yes,
God saw me. Until one day, I heard. And I was like this soldier. I'm like these women. I was going to give you some.
I'll go ahead. This will get your attention.
We talk about the majority being wrong. Two million women meet
every year in India for a festival to some goddess. They meet every
year. Two million women gather together. Three million persons
met in 2004 to watch the Boston Red Sox in a parade after they
won the World Series. Three million people turned up
for that. Several years ago, 4.2 million
people showed up to watch Rod Stewart. 5.5 million people gathered in
Manila in the Philippines to watch the Pope do his little
stuff. Five and a half million people. Every year, 7 million people
gather in Nigeria to hear this prophet, this false prophet. million people traveled there
to hear this false prophet. In Iraq, in December of 2013,
19 million people showed up at a
shrine to worship Allah. In July 14th through the 25th
of this year, in a festival in India, that only happens every 144 years,
a Hindu festival in which everyone that can get in the waters of
the Godavari River, the holy waters of the Godavari River
will be cleansed and go to heaven, 48 million people. Can't everybody be wrong? And
right now, Probably 300 million people are hearing a false gospel right now about a Jesus who wants
to and can't, who tried and failed, a God that loves everybody when
nothing can be further from the truth. And here we see it. Here we see it. And we hear it
time and time and time again, over and over again. We're not
worthy of the least of His mercies and of all the truth that He's
shown. Why do we keep hearing it? Because
we forget. Because He keeps reminding us.
And like the Scripture says, I will always have you in remembrance
of these things. The covenants. He remembers for
us. He sends a man. You keep telling
them these covenants? Can everybody be wrong? They
are. God looked down to see if there
were any. Any that did understand. He said, none of them understand.
They're all together filthy. None righteous. Not one. There's
none that seeketh after God. Not one. Somebody said, but God. And at
the foot of this cross, the most unlikely fellow A fellow responsible
for Christ hanging on that cross. And a harlot standing there beside
him. Well, far off. She didn't feel
worthy to be there. And God, in great mercy, hid
this thing from... hid the son. The son was at his
zenith. The Son of Righteousness had
arisen, lifted up with healing in His wings, and nobody saw
it but a few. Our Lord, when He came, you see,
the offense of the cross meant another reason why we keep hammering
these things like a nail in a shear blade. We keep hammering these
things. I just listened to somebody preach
the other day, and there was no offense in it. No offense
in the message. You can preach it anywhere. You
can preach to Armenians, you can preach to the whole world
and nobody will be offended by it. That's not the gospel. Paul said, if I preach circumcision,
why do I suffer persecution? Because he didn't preach the
law. He said, why do I suffer persecution? Why am I hated if I preach that
God loves everybody, Jesus? You're not. He preached true
God, true Christ, and man as He really is. But there's the
offense. Why did Jesus Christ hang on
the cross? Because God loves everybody.
Number one, it showed the holiness of God, the wrath of God, the
judgment of God against sin. Either we are going to pay for
our sins or a substitute did. Well, Christ, when He came preaching,
He preached the offense of God choosing the people. Remember,
He came into His hometown and He preached. He stood up and
said, there were many lepers in the days of Elijah. Many lepers. But God didn't heal any of them. He healed a Gentile. He was preaching
election day. And those people rose up to cast
Him off the brow of the hill. But that wasn't His time. In that same time, he said, many
widows were in the days of Israel and the day of Elisha. God didn't
feed any of them, but one, a Sarepta. He chose her. He went to her
house. He went to that one widow's house in the midst of all those
widows. He went to that one widow's house and he fed her every day. She reached her hand down in
that barrel and it never went dry and the crews never failed.
One widow. Was she better than the rest
of them? Oh, no. She just belonged to Him. He chose her. And everybody
got furious. Everybody but the widow. Christ didn't come to die for
good people. See, this is the offense of the cross. Christ
didn't die... If there's any good people, He
didn't need to die at all. He didn't need to come at all.
If there's anybody good, anybody righteous, if we can get to God
by our goodness, why didn't Christ come? Why didn't He die? Somebody
answer that question today. They're not even asking it. And
they were all filled with wrath and cried, crucify Him. This
is the offense of the cross. They said our Christ didn't come
to die. He came to make us good Jews.
He came to set up this kingdom for us good Jews, you know. Christ didn't come to die for
good people. Verse 51 in our text says, when the veil was
rent, the earth did quake. God shook the whole earth. And you could jot this down and
read it for yourself. Isaiah 13 is one of the most
sobering, frightening scriptures in all the Bible. I was going
to read it with you, but my time is getting away. Isaiah 13. It tells us what our God is going
to do when He comes. What He did then, what He is
going to do again. But only some at the cross that
day feared Him. And I fear only some in here
do so too. And verse 54 says there was a
centurion. There was a centurion with Him. It says when He was watching
Jesus, He was sitting there watching. He was there. And I think he
was in on it. Maybe the mockery of Christ. Sure he was. If he was right
there, he was right in the midst of it. Maybe one that cast lots
for his robe. Maybe the one that got the robe.
I bet it was. But he had been watching Jesus.
He had been watching this man hang on the cross. And it says,
After watching Him and seeing the earthquake and those things
that were done, everything that happened on that cross, when
He witnessed everything that happened on that cross, when
He heard everything Christ said from that cross, it says, what
happened? He feared greatly. When you fear
greatly, have you ever been greatly afraid? Anybody? I mean greatly
afraid. You tremble, don't you? And he said, he confessed with
his mouth. He feared in his heart the Lord.
And he confessed with his mouth and said, truly, this was the
Son of God. The Son, not I. The Son of God. Multitudes probably ran away
in fear after the earthquake, but this man stood right, he
fell on his face. He fell down at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what he said, this
is the Son of God. And verse 55 says, many women
were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee.
It tells us they were ministering unto Him. It tells us who a few
of them were. I want you to look with me for
a few moments, okay? At who it was that they were
beholding. Who it was that they saw. that
struck fear in them. A helpless martyr? Oh no. Who it was that they followed,
and who it was that saved them, and then who it was that was
watching, and who it was beholding Him. Now who was it that they
were beholding? Who was it that they were watching
and they followed? These soldiers And there was
more than one, thankfully. And these women were watching
and listening to and beholding not just Jesus, but the Lord
Jesus. Not just a man. Most thought
it was just a man named Jesus. See, He can't come down from
heaven. No, they beheld the God-man, the Son of God. And it wasn't
until He was crucified that this soldier broke. It wasn't until
he was crucified that this hardened soldier broke. Now, here's what
I'm going to try to show up. There's a vast difference between
these two groups of people here, but the same. A vast difference
between a soldier and a woman, and yet the same. They're both
objects of God's grace. Both say the same way. A vast
difference in these, the strong and weak. soldier, the strongest
of men, and those women were the weakest. They watched, they
beheld, they heard, and what they saw was not a weak man or
a martyr or a poor dying Jesus. And this is what all of God's
elect see, and this is what breaks the hearts of all of God's people
and causes them to confess Him unto their salvation. They see
an almighty sovereign Lord hanging there according to His will,
doing according to His will in all these things. They were ordered
and sure according to God's Word. They didn't see a victim. They
saw a victor. They didn't see a man. He said,
this is the Son of God. They saw a man, yes, but hanging
there of his own will and volition. And they heard and saw the Creator
of the universe shake the earth. And boy, when God shakes it,
He's going to have your attention. These charlatans say, God's trying
to tell me something. If He's trying, then He's not
God. And they all feared greatly. This is why David said, and he
beheld all the masses, he said, there's no fear of God before
their eyes. The transgression of the wicked
tells me there's no fear. The way they're acting, the way
they meet, No fear. Don't see any fear. Don't see
my trembling when God's Word is prayed. But these all feared
greatly and confessed and bowed in wonder and marveled and believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of their soul. Rock-hard
soldiers. A Roman soldier. Now, these were men of violence. You know, our military's, well,
I'm not going into that. But think about it. These fellas,
you've never seen soldiers like these. Some of you have seen
that movie, The Gladiator? They were all like that. Hand-to-hand
combat with swords and knives. They'll kill you or be killed.
They weren't afraid of anybody. Violent men. Fighters. I bet
you they recruited the worst young boys in town for this job. Warriors. Cruel. Beyond cruel. Fierce. And they'd seen many men come
and go. They'd seen many a man accused
of insurrection crucified. And they tortured these men.
They've seen them break like babies. They've seen the hardest
of men bawling like babies, crying out for mercy. Not this man. Not this man. Just humanly speaking, what they
saw in this man, even Pilate, Beholding this man, he'd seen
hundreds, even thousands come before him, begging, screaming,
crying for help before him as he passed sentence upon them.
And this man stood before him and said, I've got power to kill
you. And he looked in the eyes of somebody and said, you have
no power at all. And Pilate shook in the presence
of the one in chains. Pilate said, And his wife was trembling. This
ain't no mere man. This ain't no mere Jesus. This
is the Lord in whose hands you are right this minute. And everyone
on this planet, why did He come? Who did He die for? Why did He
die? Did He do His job? What's it
mean? This is the gospel. If He's just
a man, He didn't save anybody. If He's just a man, it's true
what they said. He saved others. He can't save
Himself. Open the doors and the windows.
Let our community hear this. Anyone offended by this? This
is the offense of the cross. God's making this man to be sin
for us, for the people that killed Him, for this soldier that's
standing there that spit in his face. You understand that? And I did the same thing. For
years, a young kid sitting in a pew didn't care if Jesus Christ
came or died. I did the same thing and spit
in his face. This hardened fellow standing
there at the foot of the cross saw more than a man. This soldier who was in on the
mockery and the beating of him, the manhandling of him, the man,
he never heard a word out of his mouth. They were beating
him, punching him, taking rods, took a thorn in the crown, a
cane on his head. He didn't say a word. He didn't flinch. They ran back to hit him. He
didn't flinch. They took it full force. They took it full force. You understand me? It's not a
man. It's God. What's He doing? He's
my captain. He's my substitute. This is my
Savior. Facing the forces of evil. Being
made sin for me. He's got to withstand this for
me." They watched Him, oh, they nailed
His hands, and I'm not saying this to make us feel sorry for
Him, but to give Him all the glory. And they drove those spikes
in His hands and His feet, and He didn't utter a peal. They didn't have to pull his
hands. Nailed it, I'm sure. Drived it
harder. And they hung him on that cross
and dropped that cross down in that hole. And then while he was hanging
there, and you know he hung there for six hours. under the hot sun. Well, three
hours the sun didn't shine. Darkness. That's the time we're in right
now. It's three hours of darkness. But he hung there and he only said seven things. He's not begging for mercy. He's not asking for help. There stood his mother, he's
not asking her for anything. He's giving. And this soldier,
and these women, and some of them heard him cry the first,
oh, they saw a strong, they heard a strong voice. His voice wasn't
breaking, it wasn't trembling, it was with strength, a voice
full, it was with clear eyes. And he looked toward heaven with
a voice full of mercy and grace and a strong voice, a voice of
compassion, said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And this soldier, he's listening. And then he saw him look down
from that cross, and there stood his mother, the woman that bore
him. She's weeping, she's wailing,
she's full of sorrow. And they hear his voice full
of strength, yes, a clear eye, an eye of love, like dove's eyes
looked upon that woman down there that he loved, that he's hanging
there for. And he said, Woman, behold, that's
your son. Go home with him. And behold,
your mother. Take care of her. He's not asking
anybody for anything. Not seeking help. He's giving
it. In complete control of himself. They saw him. They heard his
soldier. Heard this thief. He's the one
that put that thief up there. He knew that fella from years
gone by. Sorry fella. Worst of the worst. Chief of sinners. He hugged him
on that cross at that old badden. He's getting what he deserves. All of a sudden, a drastic change
come over him. He'd been cussing, crying Jesus
before then, and all of a sudden he looks and says, Lord, Lord,
would you remember me? When you come into your kingdom,
I'm getting what I deserve. Lord! And this centurion heard
that, and he heard the Lord say to him, and words of comfort
and assurance and of certainty and of authority say, today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. I'm telling all this again, aren't
I? Does it need to be heard again? And then he heard a cry. He'd
heard men hanging on crosses like a cry out of hell. And now he heard one, a cry out
of hell, my God, my God, thy thirst and his shivering. And then he heard with a loud
voice once again with a clear eye overlooking that whole crowd
with a clear eye and perhaps he smiled when he said this.
With all his pain, he said with a loud voice so that heaven and
earth could hear it, it is finished. Father, into Thy hands I commit
my spirit. And his head didn't drop. It
didn't loll at that. He bowed his head and gave it to God. And this
centurion, this is the Son of God. This is the Son of God. You know,
it takes a powerful Lord to bring down a proud man. It takes more
than a man to tame violent men. It takes God. Simon Peter was a man. Don't
you picture Simon Peter as a big old rough house scrapping fella?
I do. I picture him as a big, just
brawny fella just to fight anybody at the drop of a hat. He proved
that, didn't he, in the garden? Cussing sailor, you know. You
don't mess with Simon Peter. You're glad you had him as your
friend. James and Thompson are glad Simon Peter was on their
side. Don't you picture him like that? When this man came by. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
by his boat. Not by anybody else. He's proven
a point there. He's proven something, Ron. He
went by this fellow's boat, Simon Peter. He's looking for that
fellow. Who? The roughest of the rough, the meanest of the
mean, the proudest of the proud, the strongest of the strong,
and brought him down like a baby. Follow me. And buddy, he dropped
everything. That's the only Christ you'll
follow. It's the only reason you'll follow Him, if He says
so. Oh my. And then, but then, Peter, Simon
Peter saw a man infinitely more powerful than him, infinitely
more powerful than him. He was scared of him, Stan. He
was scared of him. He had never been afraid of anybody.
He was afraid of this man. And then finally he realized
who he was. This is no mere man. This is him who commands the
waves and winds. This is God. But yet, even that. In all that power and that glory
and that strength and that honor, afraid of that man, he heard
a man speak with such love, such mercy, such grace. He never heard such tenderness
out of the voice of any man in his life. And he thought, now
that's a man. I've never been like that. Thought
I was tough. I ain't tough. Then he saw toughness
with tenderness, didn't he? He saw majesty with mercy. He saw power with grace and love. And Peter's rough, rough, no
good, worthless, sorry fellas. I want to be like that man. I
think I'll follow Him. I'll follow Him. Maybe you can
get rid of this old fella It takes somebody with power to
do that, doesn't it? I'm talking from experience. And then the women. There's these
women. You couldn't have such opposite
from a soldier to a woman. These women, and I don't want
to offend any women in here. I don't think I will. I don't
think there's any feminists in here. But these women were beholden. It says there were many of them.
Many of them. Well, most of the men left. The
women are still there. That's significant. Women are
weaker vessels. See, this is who the Lord calls.
This is who the Lord saves. Women are weaker vessels. They're
nobodies. Back then and even mostly in
other third world countries, they're nobody. They're not even
human beings. They're possessions of men. Servants of men, you
know, abused by men. Objects of their desire and their
abuse. The possessions of men. When,
you know, they didn't have a husband, they didn't get anything. Somebody
died, they couldn't inherit anything. They were just nobodies and nothings
from nowhere. It mentioned a couple of women,
actually there were three or four, named Mary. You couldn't
get a plainer name than that, can you? Mary means bitter, means
sorrow. So all of them were full of sorrow
and bitter and troubled and weak and helpless and nobodies and
nothings, objects of abuse. Are you with me? They need a strong man. They
need somebody that's going to take care of them. Not some wishy-washy
little fellow that they have to help. Somebody's going to
help them. Somebody's going to take them out from under this
hard taskmaster, cruel husband. They need somebody with wisdom,
somebody with power, because they don't know much. A protector,
a provider, and a loving. They need somebody to love them.
They need somebody to be merciful to them. They need somebody to
listen to them. They need somebody gracious.
They need somebody faithful to stay with them no matter what. And so there they were. Mary. Mary who? Magdalene. People, it's by design that every
woman that's first mentioned in Scripture is a whore. The
worst. Ladies, I don't know your past,
but it doesn't matter. The Lord does. And the worst
woman in here is the first. That's who He came for. Mary
Magdalene. There are two Marys at the foot
of the cross. One was a virgin and one was
a harlot. Now who made them the difference? One better than the other? Right now, somebody's preaching
somewhere to maybe two sisters, and one of them grew up and had
a horrible life and maybe bore a child out of wedlock, and here's
this one over here that's kept from that, a virgin, until she
was... Who made the difference? And yet they're both sitting
here in the Gospel, both having the same need. They don't think
one's better than the other. See, one's self-righteous. That's
almost worse. Sin is sin. It's damning. But
self-righteousness is to take credit for what God did. And open sin is to shake your
fist in God's face. Sell your body, sell your soul,
and forget God. They're both mad. Who made the
difference? And they're both at the foot
of the cross. And they're both realizing it's by the grace of
God that I'm here. Saved one way. By the blood of
that one hanging there. A harlot and a virgin. A harlot
and two mothers. You know anybody's mothers ever
died and perished, do you? No, nobody. Everybody's mothers.
Too good. These mothers knew that. They
knew. They were no better than Mary
Magdalene. They all knew that. Everybody
at the foot of the cross knows. Are we better than that? No way. altogether become unprofitable.
Why are you there then? God. Christ chose me or I wouldn't
be here. And to everyone at the foot of
that cross, from a soldier to a harlot, from a centurion to
a mother of two, that's where they were. They had responsibilities. They had things to do. People
that need them. Where were their children? I've
got to be here at the foot of this cross. Did you hear that? Those that really see Christ
will be at the foot of the cross. Nothing keeps them from it. I've
got to be there. I've got to see Him. He died
for me. In heaven right now, there's
a vast sea of faces. In that sea of faces is people
like Moses. Abraham, David, Solomon, Elijah. Nobody's name is being called.
Nobody is stepping up front. Nobody is being mentioned. Every
single one of them, there is no difference. Just a sea of
faces of people who have been saved by grace, chosen by God,
given to Christ whom He died for and shed His blood. put away
their sin, and every single one of them is crying out unto Him
who loved them. Him, Him, Him, Him. No difference. And verse 55 in our text says
that these women had been beholding Him. Behold what manner of love. We beheld Him full of grace and
truth, John said. Followed Him. They followed Jesus
from Galilee. That's a long way. They followed
Him all the way to the cross. ministering unto Him. Oh, they
didn't have enough to give Him. They couldn't do enough for Him.
But Him who loved them and washed them from their sins in His blood.
What's a few mites? He shed His blood. And among them was Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's
children. They're all chosen, beholding
Him, following Him, ministering unto Him. Christ is their all. Christ is their Lord. Christ
is their Savior. Christ is their Redeemer. Christ
is their Husband. And they're following Him to
the death. He's their Husband. Till death do they part. Or rather,
when they're joined together in death. Is that you? Which
are you? You say, both. All of God's people,
both. Both. That soldier and his women. Oh, may the Lord use that for
His glory. For His glory. If He doesn't speak to anybody's
heart, glorify Him. Glorify Him. Okay. Brother John,
you come. All right, let's all turn to number 129. Number 129, let's
all turn to 129.