with the old standard. All right,
well, good morning and welcome. And to those listening by way
of sermon audio, coming to you from Sovereign Grace Baptist
Church here in the Dalles, Oregon, welcome. And this morning, we'll
begin our message from Colossians chapter two. And we see in this,
we had Lorne, Brother Lorne read Scriptures from Isaiah 53, which
are the basis for this. But in Colossians chapter two, we'll read verses 13 and 14. And you, being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. Well, I was kind of studying
some other things this week and that verse kind of leaped out
at me and, and especially that part about nailing the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us to his cross. And it kind
of brings a variety of things to our minds when, and we're
going to, We're going to look at those handwriting of ordinances. You know, they're kind of brought
to our attention in Romans, the second chapter, where Jews and
Gentiles alike were affected by this. The Gentiles that said,
from the creation of the world, those things declare God. And
there was a His law was written in their hearts. You know, things
that just by nature, well, we know that it's wrong to commit
murder. We know that it's wrong to steal.
We didn't need the law of Moses to tell us that those things
were wrong from the beginning of the time. As Mike was mentioning
Cain and Abel, they were a long time before the law was written.
And then again, when the Jews were given the law from Mount
Sinai, it just was a statement that said that all the world
became guilty before God. And no matter what we look at
there, so this handwriting of ordinances,
that we have against us. So today we look at this Colossians
chapter 2 and we see the wonder of the gospel laid out in just
a couple of short sentences. We in our nature are dead in
trespasses and sins. You being dead in your sins,
he says in verse 13. And he's forgiven us all trespasses. And so today we're going to look
at this, this kind of the basis for this block
of scripture, I believe. And, and look at this, having
forgiven you all trespasses, the truth that your sins have
been blotted out. Boy, that's a, That's a powerful
statement. Your sins have been blotted out. You know, that means made not
visible. And in the Greek, that word is obliterated. Your sins have been obliterated. That's a very great thing. And so the truth that We're going
to look at the truth that he took those very sins, which are
here recorded as the handwriting of ordinance, which was against
us or that accused us. And he nailed them to his cross,
took them off of our account. and nailed them to his cross.
And as Lauren read to us from Isaiah 53, he satisfied the father
in doing that. And he was numbered with the
transgressors. And we're going to pay particular
attention to that today as we look at that. It's just remarkable what good
news the gospel is. And as we're looking at this
block of scripture in Colossians and Mike mentioned earlier in
Galatians and a few other places, how easily we're entangled in
things. in this world that are untrue
and that detract from the gospel. And they incorporate elements
of philosophy and tradition, Jewish tradition of the elders
and worldly deceptions. All those things keep trying
to get pounded in with the gospel. They try to homogenize them with
the true gospel. And he's laying out very clearly
here in Colossians. He said, you were dead in sins.
Christ took those and nailed them to His cross and obliterated
them, blotted them out. And it was not dependent on all
these other things that we just mentioned, and not to get wrapped
up in those things. So, you know, in 1 Peter 3, verse
18, it says, Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust. That's the crux of the gospel.
That He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. So, I'd like to go back today
and kind of look at the record of what transpired on the day
that He actually fulfilled that. The day that Jesus was put to
death in the flesh. You know, we look at all those
scriptures that tell us the Lord works all things for good, all
things are according to his purpose from eternity. And we see that,
you know, this Roman Empire I think we covered in one of our previous
lessons was founded like 700 years before this event took
place. And they incorporated things
that they learned from the Greeks and from the Persians in regards
to this crucifixion. I think we mentioned in our other,
one of our previous lessons here, They didn't invent that they
they just kind of said oh that works good. Let's use that and
So we see that Rome brought into being by according to the purpose
because it tells us that Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and Jews
were all gathered together to do what your council before determined
to be done. So that means that they had to
come into existence and be in place at that time. The very
tree that Christ was crucified on sprouted from a seed no telling
how long before and grew up to be big enough to be made into
that cross. And then we find these two thieves
that Jesus was crucified between. It says he was numbered with
the transgressors that Lauren read from Isaiah 53. He was numbered
with those transgressors. And there was another there that
was let go. And Mike alluded to that in the
history of the sacrificial goat that was let go in the wilderness.
Well, they let Barabbas go. in place of Christ. And that's
pictured here. And so we see these things regarding
the Lord and what he was charged with. And I want to pay particular
attention to this part of the scripture that says the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. Now, in Jesus' case, there
was no actual crime committed. The Romans reviewed or they viewed
his, these charges that the Jews brought them, brought Jesus to
him, to Pilate. And he says, you know, this is
just kind of a religious skirmish that we don't really have any
interest in. And he says, just take him away and you guys deal
with it. And then he, that didn't work. So he handed him off to
Herod and then it came back to him again. And he said, you know,
I find no fault in it. He's not done anything. There's
no crime against him. So no actual crime was committed,
but by the determinate counsel of foreknowledge of God, there
was an accusation brought against him. It was false physically,
but it turned out to be true spiritually. And for something
to be considered worthy of death to the Romans, it had to be kind
of a serious crime. And this would have probably
fallen under the realm of sedition because they said, He said he
was king of the Jews. And they said, we have no king but
Caesar. So we have that. And so ordinarily religious squabbles
wouldn't have met the criteria for a death sentence. But let's turn over to John chapter
18. And all four gospels record these
things that we're gonna be looking at today. In John chapter 18,
and we'll read the beginning in verse 28, then led they Jesus
from Caiaphas, that high priest, unto the hall of judgment. Now
this is the courtroom. They led him to the hall of judgment,
and it was early. And they themselves went not
into the judgment hall, because it was a Gentile place, and they
didn't want to be defiled, it says. But they didn't want to
enter lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover,
because that Passover was coming to bear right at this time. Pilate
then went out to them and said, what accusation bring you against
this man? What accusation? They answered
and said unto him, if you weren't a malefactor, we would not have
delivered him unto thee. Then Pilate said unto them, take
ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, it's not lawful for us to put any man to death,
that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake,
signifying what death he should die. Now the Jews, if they would
have been authorized by the Roman government to carry out capital
punishment, the method of death prescribed in the law of Moses
was stoning. And that was not to be, because
it was written that he would be hanged up like that in the
wilderness, that snake that was on the pole, the brazen serpent
on the pole. The son of man must be lifted
up, not stoned. So Pilate entered into the judgment
hall again in verse 33 of chapter 18 of John, and he called Jesus
and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus answered
him saying, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others
tell it of me? And Pilate answered, am I a Jew?
He said, I don't have anything to do with this. Thine own nation
and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou
done? And Jesus answered, my kingdom
is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight. Can you imagine what the Lord,
he said, if I'd have wanted to, I could have called 12 legions
of angels to come and take care of this business. He says, my
servants would fight then that I should not be delivered unto
the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from
hence. And Pilate therefore said unto
him, art thou a king then? And Jesus answered, thou sayest
that I am a king. To this end was I born. And for
this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto
the truth. And everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. And Pilate saith unto him, what
is truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in
him no fault at all. The verdict had to be delivered. He was the lamb, spot without
spot. He had to be declared that. And
he was the just, a term that we learned from first Peter,
signifying absolute innocence, absolutely innocent. And it seems
that previous to the trial, and the condemnation of the Lord,
there had been others that had been taken to this hall of judgment,
this very hall and given the sentence of death for serious
crimes that were worthy of death. And it seems that those ones
are listed here in the scripture. You know, the scripture says,
against God, the wages of sin is death. And from the time we're
born, we have that handwriting of ordinances that's against
us, that accuses us. We're born in sin, we're born
with a sin nature, and then we start racking up the list. By
the time we're old, it's a pretty long scroll of things that we're
guilty of, you know. So that begins the moment we're
born. In Romans 6, verse 23 says the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So we have those two elements
right here being acted out. We have these ones that have
been condemned. We have the Lord that's been condemned. We have
the wages of sin bringing death. but then we have the gift of
God, which is eternal life through Christ, right alongside of it. And isn't that something that
we always find in the scriptures? We read all these things that
condemn us, but always there's the good news of the gospel right
next to it, right adjacent to it. And so these three that were
condemned at this time were guilty. There was these two thieves and
there was this one called Barabbas. And if you look in some of the
commentaries and some of the other writings, early writings,
they give names to these two thieves. But it's not in the
scripture, so I'm not going to elaborate on that. But it says
they were two thieves. So let's look at them. Let's
turn over to Luke chapter 23, verse 13. And we'll read down through verse
19. Luke chapter 23, verse 13. And Pilate, when he had called
together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, he
said unto them, you brought this man unto me as one that perverteth
the people. And behold, I, having examined
him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those
things whereof you accuse him, nor yet Herod. For I sent him
to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I
will therefore chastise him and release him." And you know that
custom of the Jews was because it was the Passover and they
had this thing that Mike brought out in the Bible class about
the sacrificial goat that was released into the wilderness.
They had this custom where one that was guilty of condemnation
be released. And that's what it says here
in verse 17, for of necessity, he must release one unto them
at the feast. And they cried out all at once
saying away with this man and release unto us Barabbas. Now
they had to have known that Barabbas had been to the hall of judgment
and been condemned because they knew who he was. And they said,
well, we'll take this man. And we learned that he was in
prison for a number of violations. It says in verse 19, who for
a certain sedition made in the city and for murder was cast
into prison. So he was guilty of sedition,
that kind of rabble rising against the empire and for murder. Someone got killed in his little
riot that he created. And so he was in prison for that
and had been condemned. Mark chapter 15 verse 7 says,
there was one named Barabbas which lay bound with them that
had made insurrection with him who had committed murder in the
insurrection. So that gives us a little bit
more information about him and that there were others that were
involved and likely they were all going to be And whether these
thieves were part of that group doesn't say, but it says they
were thieves. And it's unlikely that a Roman was going to sentence
them to execution for pickpocketing a watermelon or a pack of dates
or some small thing like that. It probably was a pretty serious
crime. In John chapter 18 verse 40,
where we take up from where we were before, the Jews, they all
cried again, saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas
was a robber. And a robber, the definition
of robber here in this case, is one that, through violence,
assaults someone and takes what they have. They don't just, say,
give me your stuff. They go up and whack him with
the bat, hurt him, and if they don't kill him, they take what
they want. He was a robber. And Luke chapter
23 verse 32 says, there were also two other malefactors led
with him to be put to death. So here they're called malefactors
or wrongdoers. It doesn't really elaborate on
what those crimes were other than they were called thieves.
And so, let's go back to John again. In John chapter 19 verse
17. And we're in the active portion
of the Lord being led up to be crucified here. And he bearing
his cross went forth unto a place called the place of the skull.
This hill up there. Which is called in the Hebrew
Golgotha. where they crucified him and
two other with him, one on either side, one on each side
of him, rather, and Jesus in the midst of them. And that same
thing is brought to us in Matthew 27, 38. There were two thieves
crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the
left. So the stage is set. These are all, they've all been
condemned to death in this hall of judgment. Now, it was a custom
of the Romans and it's still the custom of today. When someone is sentenced to
be executed, they stand them up and they say, by order of
the governor of this state or whatever jurisdiction they're
in, they read the name of the person. You've been found guilty
of whatever crimes it is that are capital crimes. Murder, robbery,
sedition, whatever it might be. And they say, you've been found
guilty by a jury of your peers here in the United States. And
therefore, you've been sentenced to die. And they give the date
and the method of the execution. Well, in Roman times, it was
the same. They sentenced them to die. And it was like, OK,
tomorrow or today or whenever it was going to be. And it was
the custom of them to, put a sign over them. And we seen that,
you know, you see might see that in the old Western movies where
they, they hang somebody or something or they shoot them and then they
put a sign on them says cow thief or something. They want people
to know what they did wrong as a deterrent to others. And the
Romans did that same thing. They would put a sign over their
victim with their name, and then a list of their crimes that they
were being executed for. And that would be a strong deterrent
to others, say, oh, I don't want to die that death. That crucifixion
death is an awful way to go. It takes a long time. And this one would have taken
a long time for those other two malefactors, except the Jews,
they said, it's the Passover. We got to get out of here by
sundown. So can you speed this up a little bit? So they would
take a big cudgel and break their legs. so that they couldn't prop
themselves up and keep breathing a little longer. They would suffocate
all the more quickly. So we see these ones here likely
had a sign over their head and a list of their robbers, thieves,
murderers. You know, the Gospels kind of
record this. Had Barabbas been crucified,
his name would have been posted along with the handwriting of
ordinances that he was guilty of. The same would apply to Jesus. And it says he, in John chapter
19, verse 17, He, bearing his cross, went forth
to a place called the Place of the Skull, which is in the Hebrew
Golgotha, where they crucified him and two others with him on
either side, one in Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a
title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of
Nazareth, King of the Jews. No crime. Just an accusation. Then this title then read many
of the Jews for the place where Jesus was crucified was night
of the city and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. And then said the chief priests
of the Jews to Pilate, write not king of the Jews, but write
he said I am king of the Jews. They tried to persuade Pilate
to write a fiction there. And Pilate said, I have written,
what I have written, I have written. He determined it and he wrote
it. And then again, in Matthew 27,
verse 37 and 38, we have this same thing written, only it's
written a little bit differently. And set up over his head, his
accusation written. This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. Then were the two thieves crucified
with him, one on the right hand and one on the left. It's called
his accusation. And the third hour in Mark chapter
15 verse 25, and it was the third hour and they crucified him.
And the superscription of his accusation was written over his
head, the king of the Jews. And with him they crucified two
thieves, one on the right hand and the other on his left. And then in the next verse, we
had Lauren read that entire chapter of Isaiah 53, because it covers
all of this in detail in Mark 15, 28. And the scripture was
fulfilled. What scripture was that? It was
in Isaiah 53, where it said he was numbered with the transgressors. He was right there in between
them. You know, Matthew Henry, I read a little quote from him
this morning and it said, he was numbered with the transgressors
that we might be numbered among the saints. The accusation of handwriting
is against us. He took that and he nailed it
to his cross. Took it off of our cross, that
death that we deserve, took it from there and nailed it to his
cross. Isn't that just a glorious presentation
that just pictures the love that he had for his people that, you
know, it says, while we were at enmity with him, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not that we were his
buddy when he says, well, maybe a man might die for a good friend
or something, or a good man. But he said, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us, while we were at enmity with
him. And we kind of find that with these thieves. And we'll read that here in just
a moment. We know that those thieves who
were crucified alongside the Lord were condemned in that hall
of judgment. We know from the scriptures that
both of those malfactors were at enmity with him, at the beginning
of the ordeal because the scripture says in Matthew 27 verse 44 you
know that the people were reviling Christ and they were rejecting
him and they were making fun of him and they were mocking
him and they were spitting him and all these things and in Matthew
27 said the two thieves cast the same in his teeth one on
the right one on the left they both They both were blaspheming
and carrying on against him. If you're the Christ, come down,
save yourself, and us too. They wanted relief from the situation,
but they didn't really care about anything else. They just wanted some miracle
to happen, I guess. But something happened with the
one thief on the right. something happened. You know,
Mike was talking about the gospel going out. And you know, the Lord was on that
cross and he said a few things. He said, Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do. He heard some gospel words from
up there hanging on that cross. And there was a change in that
one. but where before he was angry
and sarcastic and unbelieving and blaspheming. You know, that's
just all of us. We're covered under that and
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh.
We depend on our fleshly Just as Mike said, they were trying
to create their own covering in Genesis there. And all through the scripture,
all through time, man is always trying to come up with his own
covering and denying God. And that would be the way that
we would go to our end if it wasn't for God intervening in
our behalf. And you know, in the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, and according to the purpose
of him that worketh all things according to his own will, there
was a change in one of these guys. The spirit of God took
those gospel words and made them effectual in that one thief. And where before, he received
not the things of the spirit of God, because it was foolishness
unto him. Yet now there's a change. He didn't know that his name
was written. He had no idea. And before all this was a subject
of scorn to him. And boy, we see that evidence
everywhere, all that religious stuff. watching a couple of religious
shows early this morning just to, I just do that every once
in a while just to remind myself of what a bunch of malarkey most
of it is. And they're very sincere, you
know, and And they're just very sincerely wrong about just about
everything they say. And it doesn't take you very
long to come to that conclusion. But where before this man couldn't
see, you know, Mike mentioned Nicodemus. He said, unless you're
born again, you can't see the kingdom of God. And the kingdom
of God comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And he was right
there hanging next to him, but couldn't see him until He obviously
was born again because he couldn't see Him spiritually until that
happened. And he was like that blind man
that we read about in John chapter 9. He says, well, I don't know
a lot of stuff, but I know one thing. Where I was blind, now
I see. Couldn't see the kingdom of God
before, but now I can. He heard those words of forgiveness
on the cross. Father, forgive them. Who? Jesus said in Luke 23, 34, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted
his raiment 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 thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription
was written over him, an accusation in letters of Greek and Latin
and Hebrew, this is king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors
which were hanged, railed on him saying, if thou be the Christ,
save thyself and us. But the other, the other thief,
answering him, rebuked him, and saying, dost thou not fear God,
saying thou art in the same condemnation? They've both been condemned at
that hall of judgment. We've all been condemned to die.
We're dying right now. We're hanging here dying. And
he says, and we indeed justly. Now that's something that only
happens when a person is born again, and our pastor says that
all the time. It's only a believer, it's only
one that's been regenerated that says, I'm a sinner and I would
have deserved that if I had that coming. We indeed justly, for
we receive the due rewards of our deeds. But this man hath
done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. The handwriting of accusations
was spiritually taken off the cross of that one thief on the
right hand by Jesus, and then he nailed it to his own cross. The accusations against this
one were blotted out obliterated. And you, being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. This one that
was in the act of physically dying was quickened spiritually
and came to know that his trespasses had been forgiven him. All of
them. He says, having forgiven you
all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against obliterating them. Not just taking
them and putting them in a different place. He says, they're obliterated. And the scriptures are clear
in the Old Testament. Separated so far as the east
is from the west, and in the deepest part of the sea, and
all those things indicate to us this very thing, that they
were obliterated. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. Thank the Lord
that He took our sins and nailed them to His cross, obliterating
the handwriting of ordinances that's against each one of us
by nature, by practice, and by choice. Thank you. And we'll
stop there. And we'll have a closing hymn
and be dismissed. Recording stopped.