Matthew's Gospel, chapter 27. The story of the Lord Jesus Christ
being crucified really began back in chapter 26 when the Lord
was in the garden. And there, as we saw, He was
being made sin, sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. And
from that time, Matthew 26 until now, been a long time here, haven't
we? We can't seem to leave here,
and that's fine. We've stopped at the foot of the cross, and
we've spent over 15 messages now, 15 weeks on this, because
Christ crucified is the sum and substance of the gospel, is it
not? Now while the gospel, that is
the good news, includes all that God has said and all that Christ
has said, the whole counsel, all that Christ said and did,
yet it all points to this event, Christ crucified. This is what
the apostle And several of our brethren use this as sort of
a slogan or a way to identify preaching. They say, we preach
Christ. Christ is crucified. We preach
and believe the gospel, as written in 1 Corinthians 15, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. Christ prophesied
in scripture. How? clearly revealed. And why? Why
Christ died? Why? You know, Matthew's Gospel,
it's Matthew's account of the Gospel, the same Gospel as Mark,
Luke and John, but Matthew's account of the Gospel, as we
have seen, includes so very much of what our Lord said, doesn't
it? so very much of what our Lord said and did, his miracles
and so forth. And every time we look at whatever,
we try to point men to Christ, don't we? Christ crucified. And
Matthew's gospel, you see, contains many things, such as the Sermon
on the Mount. But the whole gospel of Matthew was leading up to
this, wasn't it? See, after this, there's nothing
more to write. after our Lord was crucified
and died, buried and rose again a few days, forty days after
that, ascended back to glory, the end. Christ was crucified and risen.
So this whole Gospel of Matthew culminated in this event, didn't
it? Christ was crucified and then risen. That's why we've
stayed here. And as we said, it began over in chapter 26 where
the Lord said to his disciples that we are going to Jerusalem.
And the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of wicked men,
and they will take him and crucify him. Read with me Matthew 27,
verse 22. This is what Pilate said to the
people. What shall I do then with Jesus
which is called Christ? They all say unto Him, let Him
be crucified. Christ crucified. Verse 23, the
governor said, Why? What evil hath he done? Well,
none, but Christ must be crucified. And they all said unto Him, let
Him be crucified. Our Lord said that, didn't he,
Samuel? He said, after he arose, he said, Ought not Christ to
have suffered these things? Yes. All the Old Testament scriptures
from Genesis to Malachi speaks of a lamb slain, doesn't it? That's Christ crucified. And so it culminates in that. Christ and Him crucified. So
it is in preaching, though we may not deal with the actual
crucifixion of our Lord or the atonement in every single message. This is the subject we've been
dealing with in every particular message. Yet all we say and all
we do is for the purpose of pointing men to that one who hung there,
like the serpent that was lifted up on the pole in the wilderness.
The remedy for sinners. But our Lord is not on a cross
now. He's on a throne. He's on a throne. And so I said all that so you'll
know when we say the gospel, whenever we say the gospel, whenever
we say we preach Christ, what we're talking about is Christ,
the Christ of scripture, and him crucified, how he died for
our sins according to scripture, and why. And Christ crucified,
risen, not just crucified though, he's not dead, he's now risen
He's ascended, he's exalted, he's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high, and he's coming again. This one who was
slain, all men, it says, shall behold him whom they have pierced,
the slain one, the crucified. He said, I am he that was dead,
but, lo, I'm alive. And he's got scars to prove that
this is indeed Christ that was crucified. Well, the Lord has
just been crucified, and now his lifeless body hangs on the
truth. And as I said, as we said Wednesday or Sunday, This is
just a mystery of mysteries, isn't it? His lifeless body hangs
there, hung there until the evening. That's amazing, isn't it? This
is the body of which Scripture says, a body hast thou prepared
me. Christ said that. A body hast
thou prepared me. A tabernacle, a dwelling place.
He tabernacled among us, he dwelled among us, made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. A man. Great is this mystery. God was manifest in the flesh,
but here his body hangs, his body hangs lifeless on this cross. And ours shall one day be lifeless. This mortal shall put on, this
corruption, this body is mortal and it shall be lifeless someday. But even more amazing than that
is that this, the Lord Jesus, this body of his hangs on that
cross. Now stay with me. This is a blessing.
This will be a blessing too. This body that hung on that cross,
that was the Lord's body. That was the body that God had
prepared him, right? And his body hangs there, and
yet it's lifeless, and yet in three days he's going to get
back in it. That body. You say, no, no, it's a glorified
body. Well, yes it is, but it's that body. Because if you went
to the tomb, that body was gone, and it didn't corrupt. It didn't rot. In several years,
you'll go looking for hours, and it won't be there, not because
it rose, but because it rotted. Not his. Not his. His body, Scripture says, would
never see corruption. Listen to this. Think about this.
Had his body been left in the tomb for 300 years, not just
three days, but 300 years, it would not have rotted. Because God said it wouldn't
suffer corruption. But he had no sin. Sin is the corrupting influences
upon our body. is not a sinful thing. But sin
has ravaged it, hasn't it? The effects of sin upon it. I
believe our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Scripture, had the
dew of youth on his brow as a 33-year-old man. That's not... Gabe, I was
looking at pictures of you the other day when you first came
here and you've aged a little bit. You're still young, 30 years
old, but you're aging. As a matter of fact, in the last
month you've aged greatly. Loss of sleep will do that to
you. But sin, sin now is what ages us. Sin is what ravages
these bodies. You know that? Sin, a life of
sin is what ravages these bodies. Sin with all of its aging effects,
with its disfiguring and marring. Adam, I don't know how long he
lived. in the garden before sin, but
he didn't age. But just as soon as he did sin,
walked out of that garden, he began to age, didn't he? And I believe the dew of youth
was on the brow of the Lord Jesus Christ, though he was not beautiful
to look at. Scripture says he was not no
former comeliness that we should desire him, though he was not
what you would call a handsome man, yet he was young-looking. Now, I don't think there was
one spot or one blemish in his flesh, do you? I know there wasn't. This is our Lamb, and He's without
spot and without blemish. And yet our vile bodies, now
listen to this, here's the mystery though. Yet our vile bodies,
that's what Paul called these bodies, vile bodies, because
of the corruption that sin has done to it. And our vile bodies,
Paul wrote, he said, the Lord shall raise our vile bodies. Someday we are going to get back
into this body. Yes. These bodies. Our Lord, His body was changed
or else that veil, whatever it was that covered His physical
body when He was here, was removed. And His glorified body, I believe
He had a body that He appeared and walked and talked with Adam
when He was in, the Son of God. That was the body. And whatever
happened, but it was Him as His body. Because when he appeared
to his disciples afterward, he said, it's me, myself. This is the one you've known.
I look different. They didn't recognize him, did
they? Those that knew him best, Mary and others, they didn't
recognize him at the tomb. They thought it was a young man.
But it is. Eternally so. And so it will be with God's
people. though ravaged by sin, and though eons of time may reduce
these bodies into dust." You know, God created us out of dust,
and can he recreate it? "...dust thou art, and the dust
thou shalt return, but this mortal shall put on immortality. The
Lord shall raise these vile bodies." Yes, it will be us, ourselves. and a glorified body without
sin, see, there'll be no more sin. We'll know each other just
like Moses and Elijah were known, and our Lord said, it's me, it's
myself, it's us. But that's not our subject, that's
not our story here. But I thought you'd enjoy that.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall be changed,
made into His likeness, yet it's going to be these bodies. That's
a mystery, isn't it? It's all a mystery. Any man thinks
he knows anything, but nothing yet is he ought to know. But
it's a glorious thought, isn't it? That when I see, by the grace
of God, when I see Deborah Huth, it'll be Deborah
Huth. And she'll know me and I'll know her. Now, if you saw Virgie Jones
right now, you wouldn't recognize her. You all would not know your
own mother. She'd have to say, it's me. But when you get there, you'll
be like her, and you'll know her, and you'll know even as
you've been known. You'll know each other. I love the story, Bunyan's
follow-up to The Pilgrim's Progress, Christiana and her faithful companion,
they went over the river of death and got over the other side.
And it says, in a moment, they were both changed. And to Hamlet,
it says, they both were looking at one another, and one would
say to the other, he'd say, well, you're beautiful. And the other
one would answer, you're gorgeous. Look at you. Well, it's you. It's me, Job said, whom I shall
behold, me myself, in my flesh with these eyes. But as I said, that's not the
story. Look at verses 55 and 56 of Matthew 27. Here is our
story. Now, the Lord's body hangs there.
And it says, verse 55, many women were there beholding afar off,
which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him, among which,
or that is, these many, among them was Mary Magdalene, and
Mary the mother of James and Joseph. You know, it doesn't
call her the Lord's mother there, does it? James and Joseph. She's not going
to be referred to as that anymore, the Lord's mother. No. She's
the mother of James and Joseph. That's Mary, the former virgin.
That's who that is. James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon,
and sisters. She was there. And it says in
the mother of Zebedee's children, her name was, I wrote it down,
Salome. Salome. Go over with me to Luke
chapter 8. This is recorded in all four
Gospels, I believe. I know it's three. I should have
looked it up in John. But Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter
8. We just read how that many women,
many, were there following him, standing afar off, but beholding,
listening, watching, observing, And they had been following him
for quite some time, ministering unto him. In Luke 8, verses 1-3,
it came to pass, this is right after the story of the woman
who came and washed his feet with her tears and dried them
with the hair of her head. It's right after that story,
that blessed story in Mark 8. Would you like to hear that?
Oh my, what a story that is. Well, after that, chapter 8,
it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city
and village preaching and showing the glad tidings, good news of
the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,
twelve apostles were with him, men, twelve men, and certain
women, certain women, that is, chosen women, elect women. You love that when you see that
word, don't you now? See it often, don't you? Certain
women, particular, peculiar, chosen, loved, ordained, redeemed,
called, justified. Women, certain women, which had
been healed of evil spirits and infirmity. Mary, called Magdalene,
out of whom went seven devils. And Joanna, the wife of Chizza,
Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others. which ministered
unto Him. They waited on. They served the
Lord Jesus Christ of their substance. This is what they did all the
time. This is all they did, is follow Him around and wait on
Him and listen to Him. Ever since He called them, this
was back in Galilee, they just followed Him. And that's all
they liked to do. They didn't have to speak. They
didn't have to be apostles. They just wanted to be beholders,
followers, ministers, servants. It says many of them. Many. There
were just twelve men, but there were many women. Many women. And they followed. They followed. We'll go back to our text. And
in chapter 27 of Matthew says in verse 55, that they beheld a fire off. They were beholding a fire off. Now, you've seen that, and I've
just got to make this statement, okay? So much of what is taught and
believed today is just just absolute lie and superstition and tradition
and so forth. You've seen that blasphemous,
graven image of Mary holding the lifeless body of Jesus. You've
seen that, haven't you? That's just not so. Is it? Do you find that here anywhere,
that Mary took His body down and held it in her arms? Absolutely
not. And that's indicative of modern
religion. You've got a helpless Jesus in the arms of a woman.
Are you paying attention? That's indicative of modern,
the great horror religion. That a helpless Jesus, a dead
Jesus in the arms of an evidently pretty powerful woman to hold
this 150 pound man in her arms. That's just not so. That's just
not so. Mary didn't touch that body. Pilate had that body taken down
by his soldier. Right? We're going to read it.
We're going to look at this Wednesday night. The rich man. We're going
to look Wednesday night at the Lord willing at a rich man and
how he was buried with the rich. You know where that comes from?
Well, anyway, Pilate had his soldiers, and I think I know
one soldier that volunteered for the job. Do you? To take this body down. Wednesday
night we looked at the centurion. I believe he said, let me attend
to the removal of the body. So he's not going to be abused
anymore. The Lord has saved this man, sanctified this centurion.
You're going to touch this body. You're going to treat it with
dignity and respect. His sufferings are over. His
humiliation is over. And he took that body. And then
Joseph of Arimathea is the one, the rich man Joseph is the one
who took the body and wrapped it up and put it in his own tomb.
But that's not our story. But I brought all that up to
show you how all that stuff you see is a lie. They were afar off. Didn't I
say that? They were beholding afar off.
You say, what about when the Lord spoke to them at the foot
of the cross? I believe John brought her up here when he first
came. John brought her up to see, but then removed her, Tammy,
to keep her from witnessing any more of this horrible scene.
Didn't he? Took her out of that. And it says she stood, she wasn't
leaving though. She's going to be holed from
afar. She's not leaving here. She's
following him. Barbara, she's followed him a
long time. She's not leaving now, in the end. How about you? Far off what? Beholding what?
What were they taken with? Who were they taken with? Christ
crucified John Davis. That's who they were beholding. Christ crucified. Behold. And
ministers or servants of the blessed Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ and Him now crucified. Beholding Him. Many women. Many
women. There are quite a few women in
here. I haven't counted them, but I think there are probably
more women than men. It's a little different than
Armenian religion, which you'll look hard to find
any men. But it's generally the case it
was back then. Twelve apostles, but many women
it said. There's a reason for that. Many
women. See, the Lord Jesus Christ is
called the Son of David, isn't He? Have you ever wondered why
Solomon had so many wives, 300 wives? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
has the resilient. A greater than Solomon has been
here. Many women. That followed Him. As the stars
of the sky. That's how many. He's a greater
than Solomon. Now, don't anybody in here or
anybody that listens to this use this in any evil or fleshly
means. Get that to the impure, there's
nothing pure. But the Lord Jesus Christ had
many women. Not for sinful purposes, but
for the purpose of getting rid of their sin. You see? And this perverted generation,
this anti-Christ generation has taken the altogether loveless,
sinless, pure Son of God and His relationship with these and
made it to be impure thing. God Almighty has got nothing
but judgment for this generation. Huh? This so-called Jesus Christ
superstar, that thing, folks? The Lord Jesus Christ had many
women, not for sinful purposes, but for the purpose of removing
their sin, redeeming them from their sin. Mary Magdalene was one. She was
one that lived in open sin, in that lifestyle. She was an adulteress. That's the way she lived with
any man. The Lord Jesus Christ came and removed that sin from
her, and now she has one man. Now she knows one man and is
known of one. Now she's a chaste virgin until
the day, well forever, reserved completely for this one man.
her husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Lord has met and
known many more women at Wales, hasn't he Irene? The Lord has
had many women. He's met it at the well. This is the well. This is where
the Lord Jesus Christ was waiting on you, waiting to be gracious.
Yes, it is. This is the wellspring of water, which is Christ, the
water of life, where you came drawing, trying to get something
out of it. You were religious, weren't you? And couldn't get
anything out of it. But Christ was waiting on you. They said,
You're mine. You're mine, Irene Davis. The
Lord has had a lot more women than just one at the well. The
Lord, the kinsman redeemer. Our great Boaz has had a lot
more Moabite maidens land in his field. Is anybody enjoying this like
I am? The great kinsman redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ, has had many more Moabitin, poor Moabitin
beggars land in his field. Their help was to land in his
field of our great Boaz, whom he let fall handfuls on purpose,
whom he brought to his table, whom he spread his skirt over
you, whom he said, You're mine! That one. You don't want that
one. Yes, I do. That's a certain woman. that
I brought here for this purpose. The Lord, much greater than Boaz,
has passed by us and lay and looked upon us. The Lord has had many more women
than just one. The Lord has had many more women
than one with an issue of blood. Hasn't he? Many more women who have tried
everything for years. Just to get rid of this awful
malignity. And when the Lord came in the
gospel, he dried it up. Who, they by faith, reached hold
and took the hem of his garment. And immediately, the fountain
of her blood was dried up. And they confessed with their
mouth like she did. The Lord. The Lord has had many,
many women. Many women followed Him. Many. All of Christ's people are female. That's right. All of Christ's
people. When the scripture says in Christ
there's no male or female, no Jew or Gentile, that means there's
no stature, no rank, there's no difference, right now. In Christ, right now, there's
no respecter of persons with God. Because you're a man, doesn't
mean you're greater in God's eye. Because you're a woman,
doesn't mean you're lesser. All servants. But the truth of
the matter is, all of God's people are female. How is a female described
in Scripture? How are men to treat their wives
as the what vessel? What kind of vessel? Weaker. All of God's people are weak,
aren't they? Women are told to keep silence,
aren't they? You know, do you want to speak
in the presence of the Lord? I don't, but I'm called upon
to do so. But do you? I put my hand over my mouth.
I want to. All of God's people in that sense,
Nancy, are female. He's the great male, the man,
the husband, the God-man. We're all called His bride, aren't
we? The wife of Christ. All of us. His bride. We're the dependent
ones. A woman is generally thought
of as being a dependent one. I don't care if this gets out
or not. Only an ungodly woman would resent this. A liberated
so-called woman would resent this, but women have always been
the servants to men over the years. A good description of
the Bride of Christ is that we're his servants. Oh, he served us
for thirty-three and a third years, but not anymore. We're
his servants. He does service. He does. But
you know what I'm saying. We are subservient to him. We
are the weaker vessel. We are the dependent one. He
is the provider. We don't provide anything for
ourselves. My wife, I get the paycheck and
I don't see it. I give it to her. I give it to
her. Many of you men are that way. But that's where the type starts,
and I better get off of that. But we are the dependent ones,
aren't we? God's people are the dependent ones. We're not independent. He's our great provider. He's
the Jehovah-Jireh. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord that provides for us all things. We're recipients.
We're recipients of all that He provides. is the recipient of the man's
seed, and then life comes forth. So it is with us. So it is with
the bride. Now, notice it says they had
been following the Lord from Galilee, ministering unto Him.
Verse 55 says they were ministering unto Him. They were waiting on
Him. They were watching to see when His cup was empty. This
is what they were doing. Wasn't it? They were watching
to see when his cup was empty. And when I'm going to run, Hannah,
get your son. You know, the disciples were
there and he was talking. This is interesting, isn't it? I never thought about this. But
they followed him everywhere, but far off. They knew their
place. What's wrong with place? This
is what's wrong with people today. All of God's people know their
place, don't they? And anyway, they were following
him, and any time his cup became empty, they would run to fill
it. And his clothes needed washing.
Yes, they did. His clothes did. His clothes needed washing. Have
you ever thought about this? I don't believe he ever needed
it. He didn't have body odor. He
might have got dirt on him, but dirt's not dirty. Is it? It's not unclean. We are. He wasn't. He didn't have to brush his teeth.
You haven't thought about these things. Sin is what corrupts
us. We can wash ourselves and thirty
minutes later we'll start smelling. We have to take all kinds of
man-made things and try to cover it. It won't cover. My wife just
the other day told me something. She warned me about something. Have you ever thought about the
Holy Spirit is the one that tells you, you don't smell good. That's the Holy Spirit. And anyway, they washed his clothes. They served him food and drink. Wouldn't you have? Wouldn't you have? There's a
Mary. Mary, what if the Lord Jesus Christ was here walking
this earth? You love Him now. What if He's
actually here? Where would you go and what would
you be doing? What would you be interested
in? Who would you rather spend time with? Come on now. If the
Lord Jesus Christ was around right now, who would you be spending
time with? Who do you think you'd be taken
up with? Wouldn't you think it was the highest privilege and
the greatest honor just to be around Him and just serve Him
tea or something? Wouldn't you? Huh? How about
now? How about now? He is here. Uh-huh. That's how you know Him. That's how you know His women. They follow Him. They follow
Him. Right now, let me ask you, can
you think of anywhere you'd rather be? Anyone you'd rather be with? It's either so or it isn't. You
see, when Christ Ed, this is a love affair, isn't it? It's
a marriage, Ed, made in heaven. It's a man sent to take a woman,
to know her. And she knows him. And they enter
into a vital union. You've heard that a lot, Ed.
They become one. These two are one flesh. And they fall in love with one
another. One's the provider. One's the redeemer. One's the
voice. One's the head. One's the ruler,
one's the master, the other's the servant. One, Christ's Savior. We're His members. And he said, where two or three are
gathered, there I am. He said, lo, I'll never leave
you. This is going to be the last thing we read in Matthew's Gospel.
I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. A good husband stays with his
wife. And a good wife stays with her
husband. If he's a loving one like this,
you wouldn't want to leave, would you? You wouldn't want to leave.
And neither do God's people. And though we sometimes go back
to Matthew 25, though sometimes we feel that we're afar off.
They beheld him afar off, yet Scripture says we're always nigh.
And he's nigh unto us by the blood of Christ, nigh by the
Spirit of Christ. And we feel unworthy to come
near, but he says, come, come near. And all of God's people
are ministers of his, ministers to him. There's no greater service.
Look at Matthew 25, verse 32. The Lord said, Before him shall
be gathered all nations, son of man, shall be gathered all
nations, he shall separate them one from another. As a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats, he shall set the sheep on his
right hand, the goats on his left. Now here's how you're going
to know the difference. God looks on the heart, doesn't
he? You can't. But how are they known outwardly?
Read on. The Lord shall say unto them
on his right hand, that's the sheep, come ye blessed of my
Father. That's why you're on the right
hand. That's why you did what you did. You were blessed. You
were called. You were the Lord in you. But he says, come, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you. The sheep, from the foundation
of the world, for I was hungry, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I
was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came
unto me. Then shall be righteous." That's the people. Answer him
saying, Lord, you see, they are not going to acknowledge anything
that they've done. take glory for it. They don't
even they don't even bring it up. I mean, they don't even think
of it as a good work. It's a reasonable service. They
did it out of love. Freedom. Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered, and
fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee
a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or
when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And
the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily, verily, truly."
This is not figuratively, but this is truly. When the Lord
says, verily, that means this is the way it is. I say unto
you, inasmuch as you've done it unto one of the least of my
brethren, you have done it unto me." How do we serve the Lord Jesus
Christ? He's in heaven. He's in heaven, isn't it? How
do we serve him? Serve the body. That's right. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples. You love him that's begotten. You love him that beget. You
love him that's forgotten. That's how you know. How do they
know you love them? How does anybody know? You don't
say it, do you? Prove the sincerity of your love.
Do it. That's how you know. You love old so-and-so? Well,
he's sick. If your husband or wife were
in the hospital, would you go visit them? It goes without saying. So does this, really. But our
Lord said it. He said it. Barely. He'd done it unto me.
And then he looked at these goats. He said to the goats, you never
visit them. Get them out of my sight. But we've got the right doctrine.
Get them out of my sight. As much as you've not done it
unto me, not done it unto one of these
least, you've not done it to me. Convicting? Yes, it's meant to be. Comforting? Yes, it's meant to
be. Do you love these brethren? Huh? Do you love the Lord's gospel? Do you love this Lord high and
lifted up? Do you love those that preach him? You can't love the message and
hate the messenger, especially the one you heard
it from. Do you love him that beget? This
is how you know. You love those that are begetten. Notice these three particular
women that followed him that are mentioned here. All right? Three very different
women. Three very different women. Two
Marys. Actually, Mary, there were three
Marys. And it mentions in another place. But three particular,
certain women. Stay with me. You're going to
like this. Three women were mentioned. Though there were many, there
were three that were mentioned. Verse 56 says, Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James and Joseph, that's the former virgin, and the mother of Zebedee's children,
Salome. Three particular women, very different, yet they're the
same. They've lived different lives,
but really, to the Lord, they're the same. They're His. Stay with
me. These three women all were loved
by and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Chosen by and chose to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. Looked upon with love and favor
and mercy and look upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold Him. Beheld
by Him and behold Him. Ministered to by Him and now
they are His ministers. Sought by Him and now following
Him just like a dog. All the same, needy women. All
three of them were needy women. What did they need? Him. You know, I've never made this
connection. I don't know why I'm so dumb. But the passage
in Isaiah 4 that says this, In that day shall seven women take
hold of one man. I've never made the connection. And they will say, let us be
called by thy name and take away our reproach. Would you marry
us? All of us will take you as our one husband. Take away our
reproach. I never made that connection,
I guess. I'm just ignorant. Oh boy. And that day. Mary Magdalene. Three very different women. Mary
Magdalene. A harlot. She lived a rough life,
didn't she? Before the Lord saved her, or
Mary the Virgin for that matter, they wouldn't have had anything
to do with each other. Wouldn't they? Mary the Virgin would have
been very proud of the fact that she was a virgin. And look down
on this Mary Magdalene. Wouldn't she? Or Salome, you
know, she was a mother, apparently she wed young, and they usually
did, and she had two fine boys. James and John, the Lord said
they were sons of thunder. Married to a husband, faithful
wife and a good mother and so forth. She wouldn't have had
anything to do with Mary Magdalene. Now, they're bosom buddies. They go everywhere together.
They're inseparable companions. Who drew them together? bosom buddies, having lived different
lives according to the sovereign providence of this one. One could
have been the other, the other could have been the one, right?
It's only the sovereign providence that made Mary Magdalene, allowed
her to be as she was and Salome as she was, right? Who maketh
thee to differ? Having lived different lives
according to the sovereign restraining grace of God. I love this. My
pastor years ago said, most people, these so-called holiness people,
or another stanchion of God's nostril, taking credit for something
they have nothing to do with. He said most people mistake the
sovereign restraining grace of God for their own personal holiness. Do you hear that? Listen to this.
Most people think That the reason they don't do this and don't
do that and do do the right thing and are moral and so forth is
their own goodness or righteousness or holiness and all that, when
it's nothing more than the restraining grace of God keeping them from
it. That's right. But let me go a
little further. Our Lord said the publicans and
harlots will go into heaven before they do. There's going to be
more former prostitutes in glory. than deaconesses and so-called
churches. That's right. The Lord said that. Because who maketh thee to differ?
And why would you glories if you didn't? Now, I thought about
this. You know, they walked and women
talked. You know, some women talk a little bit, don't they?
They were walking and talking all the time. They were buddies.
They were following each other for a long time. Mary and Mary
and Salome and many. much of them. And I just imagine
at first Mary Magdalene thought, I don't belong with you ladies.
Don't you? Nancy, don't you think that Mary
Magdalene said that maybe Mary, the mother of James and Josie,
the so-called mother of our Lord, don't you think she said, I'm so ashamed of myself, the
life I've lived. I don't belong with you, you
good ladies. Don't you think she thought that?
Huh? And I know what Mary said back
to her. Don't you? Mary said, Jenny,
Mary said, Honey, you did it. I thought it. I wanted to. The Lord kept me from it. Honey, my soul doth rejoice in
God my Savior. I'm a sinner saved by the grace
of God just like you. I'm no different than you. In
fact, I feel myself to be the chief of sinners. Mary, I'm not
one whit better. Now, let's go follow the Lord. Don't you? You know she did,
because you're doing it too. I've seen many come in here,
if not all of you, come in here thinking, I don't belong here.
I don't belong with these good people. Good people? Would you
show me one? Ask them. Ask them. Ask Salome. She'll tell you,
oh, honey, you don't know my heart. My, my. I'm the one that
feels unworthy. And we're no different. Three
sinners saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary,
Mary, and Salome. Many women followed Him. Behold
Him. Fire off. Well, they came now. We're going to see in a little
bit. And they're everywhere. They're
everywhere the Lord is. John, they're everywhere. But
they're there. And they're going to end up at
the tomb. We still want to minister to
it. I am just quite confident right
now that those three ladies and many others right now, right
now in glory, sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ,
ministering unto Him, beholding Him. Is that where you want to
be? Is this where you want to be? Blessed art thou among women.
Let's sing a closing hymn.