Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's Holy Word. And now, the message. Now today I'm going to be preaching
from the book of John, chapter 19. I'm going to be preaching
from the last verses of this chapter. And the title of the
message is Christ the Double Cure. Christ the Double Cure. Now this is speaking of his death
on the cross. He had just spoken the words,
it is finished. And I preached on those last
week concerning what Christ actually accomplished on the cross of
Calvary for the salvation of his people. He accomplished the
sovereign purpose and will of God from the foundation of the
world. The Bible says that he was the Lamb slain from the foundation,
that is, in the mind and purpose of God. He accomplished the redemption,
the justification of his people as he took the sins of his sheep,
all who believe on him, who believe on Christ, he took their sins
and he drank damnation dry. We're going to be talking about
that a little bit. And they were adopted into the family of God.
He finished the old covenant law which was abolished by way
of fulfillment and he established the new covenant. He fulfilled
all the types and the prophecies of scripture regarding his person
and his finished work to satisfy law and justice and enable God
to be just and justify the ungodly. Now we're going to look at the
last moments of his death while they were taking him down from
the cross. It says in verse 31, after Christ, it says, he gave
up the ghost, literally meaning that the breath of life went
out of his body. The death that he suffered is
something to behold. There's a mysteriousness about
it. that we cannot grasp and understand. We know he died under
the legal penalty of sin, where the sins of his people laid to
his charge, counted to him, imputed to him. And we know that he suffered
in his very being. The Bible says he learned obedience
by the things which he suffered. That means he experienced untold
agony and pain in his very soul. And it was a real death, it was
a suffering that we cannot describe. And yet it was a suffering without
sin. And then he gave up the ghost.
The breath literally left his human body and he died. And it says in verse 31, the
Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that the bodies
should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day. For that
Sabbath day was a high day, that was an important day. and they
besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, that is, the
legs of the ones who were crucified, including Jesus Christ, and then
the thief on the right and the thief on the left, and that they
might be taken away. Now, there's an irony about this
situation because it shows you that men by nature are so religious,
but they don't know the truth. They don't have the love of Christ
in their hearts. They don't have the spirit of
Christ. And here these Jews were so worried about their preparation
for the Sabbath. Now, you know the Sabbath was
a day of rest, and it was unlawful for them to leave individuals
hanging up on a cross during that Sabbath day. So what they
were doing is they were going to Pilate saying, well, let the
soldiers break their legs and make sure they're dead so that
we can go ahead and take them down off the cross. And we won't
have to break our law of the Sabbath. Now, they didn't care
about murder. You know, the thing about this
is, man by nature murdered the Lord of glory. Now, I know the
Bible says it was well within the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. Christ came into this world to
die. God meant it for good, but we meant it for evil. That is
fallen humanity, us too, represented in the ones who crucified the
Lord of Glory. In other words, it was for the
good of His people that God sent His Son into the world to die
for their sins, but it was out of a murderous heart that man
took the Lord of Glory, took Jesus of Nazareth and put Him
on trial and tortured Him and accused Him. The Bible, you remember,
says that they hired witnesses, false witnesses, to bring an
accusation against him falsely. And yet out of all of that hatred
and wickedness and evil and murder that was in their heart, they
still were so concerned they didn't want to break their Sabbath.
What a great picture of religiously lost men and women, so meticulous
about their little traditions and their ceremonies. but with
hatred in their hearts. I'm going to tell you something,
folks. Some of the most wicked people on the face of this earth
are religious people. They hide under religion. And
Christ told the Pharisees this. He said, you strive to pay tithes
of anise and mint and cumin, but you neglect the weightier
matters of the law, justice and mercy and love. Now, you think
about this, and then here's another thing that's ironic about this
whole situation. Here they were so concerned about
the Sabbath, and the Sabbath day, the Sabbath law under the
old covenant, was a picture of Christ and the believers rest
in him. You see, we don't keep a Sabbath
day today. We have Christ who is our rest. We rest from our labors. Stop
trying to work our way into God's favor. Stop trying to work our
salvation out, but rest in Christ and his finished work for all
of our salvation. The Bible says that when a sinner
comes to a saving knowledge of Christ in the new birth by the
power of the Holy Spirit, he enters into the rest of Christ. Christ having finished his work,
the believer enters into his rest. But here they didn't understand
the Sabbath, they wanted to keep it, they didn't want to break
their law, but they hated the Lord of Glory. Well, it says
in verse 32, it says, Then came the soldiers, and broke the legs
of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him,
they broke the legs of the thief on the right, and the thief on
the left. But it says, But when they came
to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, They break not
his legs. But one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood
and water." Now, that's the reason that I called this sermon, or
titled this sermon, Christ the Devil Cure, because of this statement
about blood and water, and I'm going to show you that in just
a moment. But let me make this point first. You see, in breaking
the other's legs, that would speed up their death and make
sure that they were dead. So that shows you that man had
something to do with the deaths of the thief on the right and
the death of the thief on the left. But now here's the thing
about it. When they came to Christ, he was already dead. You know
when he was dead? When he said it was finished.
And Matthew records where he said, Father, into thy hands
I commit my spirit. He died when it was his time
to die, not when man decided. But when God the Father and the
Son decided, so it was an act of the Lord of glory, it wasn't
an act of man. God was in control the whole
time. But they didn't break his legs.
In verse 35, it says, and he that saw it, John's referring
to himself there, bear record, and his record is true, and he
knoweth that he saith true that you might believe. For these things were done, that
the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. And another scripture said they
shall look on him whom they have pierced." You see, Christ's death
was in fulfillment of all the scriptures that pointed to the
Messiah, the Savior of sinners. And in this, them not breaking
him, the bone of him should not be broken." Way back in Exodus
chapter 12, when God instituted the Passover, and he told them,
he says, you get a lamb of the first year, a young lamb without
spot and without blemish, and you're to slice that lamb's throat,
you're to slaughter that lamb and shed that lamb's blood, but
you're not to break any of its bones. And you see, that was
a picture of Christ. And then it says in the book
of Psalms and in other books when it speaks of his death,
these things were fulfilled according to the word of God. What a great
and marvelous and wonderful salvation there is to look to Christ. But
go back up to that verse 34. It says, one of the soldiers
with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out
blood and water. Now that's, as I told you, that's
why I named this sermon, titled this sermon, Christ the Double
Cure. One of the greatest hymns that
I believe was ever written, and one I'm sure which you're probably
familiar with, was written by an old preacher named Augustus
Toplady. It's called Rock of Ages. And
the Rock of Ages is Christ. And he goes, the first verse
goes, Rock of Ages. cleft for me, that is, wounded
for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood
from thy wounded side which flow, be of sin the double cure, save
from wrath, and make me pure." Now, when we speak of the blood
of Christ, when we speak of the shed blood of Christ, What we
are speaking of is his death and what he accomplished on Calvary. Now, we've spoken of that before
in the sermon, It Is Finished. We've spoken of it many times
in many sermons when we preach the gospel of God's grace, the
death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ, all that is included
in his accomplishments on Calvary. You see, his physical blood had
to be shed in order for him to die a real death. There was no
play-like here. It wasn't just symbolism, it
was a real, actual death on Calvary for the sins of his sheep legally
charged to him. And you see, his blood was shed
as payment for the sins. So when we speak of faith in
his blood, or being washed in his blood or cleansed by his
blood. We're not speaking of the physical
blood itself. We're speaking of the merits
of his death. It's like when we talk about
the cross of Christ. Paul called the preaching of
the gospel the preaching of the cross. He said, we preach Christ
and Him crucified. He said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when
he was speaking of the cross there, he wasn't speaking of
a literal wooden cross. Now, Christ did die on a literal
wooden cross, and He had to die on that cross. He had to actually
die a physical death. But our salvation is not in a
wooden cross or in a piece of jewelry that you hang around
your neck or something that you hang on the wall. The cross is
an emblem of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he
accomplished in his death. Well, so is the blood. So here
you have blood and water. proceeding out of the side of
the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, what does that represent? Well,
Mr. Toplady in that hymn, Rock of Ages, had it right. He said,
"'Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flow
be of sin the double cure,' and here it is, "'save from wrath
and make me pure.'" What he's showing there in the blood and
the water is the reality and the sufficiency of the death
of Christ, not only to save me from the wrath of God, but also
to make me clean before God. So that the death of Christ is
not only my justification before God, how a sinner is made righteous
before God, but it's also my sanctification before God, how
a sinner is made holy before God. Now, back over in the book
of Isaiah, chapter 40, the prophet speaks of this. He begins in
verse 1 of Isaiah, chapter 40. He says, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins, double." In other words, God in Christ did not
just put away sin and then leave us in some neutral position,
but he also cleansed us from sin and gave us a perfect righteousness
whereby God could be just and justify the ungodly. Christ died
on the cross as payment for the penalty of sin, but in his obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross, He brought forth an
everlasting righteousness of infinite value whereby God could
be just and justify the ungodly, and then he provided a holiness
for his people. So that Christ did not save us,
save his people rather, just in order to give them power to
make themselves clean, in the death of Christ We see all power
given unto him to save us from wrath and make us clean. The
Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, that of God Christ
is made unto us, that is, his people, all who believe in him,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Over in the book
of Hebrews it speaks of this. In Hebrews 10 it speaks of the
death of Christ. And verse 10, it says, "...by
the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all, so that on the cross I am justified
before God. Christ was made sin, so that
I might be made the righteousness of God in him. The sins of his
sheep, his church, God's elect, were laid upon him." Literally. By an act of divine imputation,
God legally charged them to the account of Christ so that he
became responsible for that debt. You see, on the cross, Christ
became responsible for the debt of sins that he did not commit. They were charged to him. And
that is real. That's not just God doing something
in plain. That's not God acting as if something
is when it's not. Christ became actually guilty
by imputation. And then he literally died and
suffered the pains and the sorrows of all that he had to go through
in payment for those sins. And by that one offering of his
body, he sanctified his people. It says in verse 14, for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And
then down in verse 20, or verse 19 of Hebrews 10, it speaks of
those who have come to Christ for salvation. And that's one
thing that you need to understand about these messages and about
the Bible. Have you come to Christ for salvation? Are you resting
in him and looking to him alone, or are you looking to someone
or something else? Are you looking to your works,
your efforts, like the Pharisees? You see, salvation cannot be
by works. Listen, a sinner cannot be justified
before God by his works, and a sinner cannot be made holy,
sanctified, or cleansed by his works. Your efforts to keep the
law are not good enough and clean enough to save you, to justify
you, or to cleanse you. It takes the blood of Christ,
the death of Christ. That's what was being shown in
picture and type and in reality here when blood and water flowed
from his side. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure. In
Christ I have a double cure, not a partial cure. But a full,
double cure, all I need, everything in Christ, everything that God
requires of me, I find fully and completely, even doubly,
we might say, in the person and work of Christ. And so it goes
on to say, verse 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness or liberty
and confidence to enter into the holiest, that is, the very
presence of God, how? By the blood of Christ. by a
new and living way, which he, Christ, hath consecrated for
us through the veil," that is to say, his flesh, and having
an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience." That's the guilt of sin removed through
the blood of Christ. And our bodies washed with pure
water. That's the cleansing of our whole
person in Christ. Now go back to John chapter 19
and look at this. Now this is the blood and the
water. There's the double cure. Look
at verse 38 of this passage. It says here, and after this,
Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear
of the Jews, he besought Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. And
he came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus." Now, this
man, Joseph, was a disciple of Christ, a follower of Christ.
But still there was fear. There were misgivings here in
Joseph and in others. This was a trying time for Christ's
disciples. The Lord of glory had just been
put to death. Now, it was not a defeat. It
was a triumph. But these were human beings,
weak, sinful human beings. You see, that's who Christ saved.
That's who the double cure is for. It's for sinners. Paul said that. This is a faithful
saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Christ said it. He
said the whole don't need a physician. In other words, those who are
well and healthy and vigorous, they don't need a doctor. But
he said it's the sick. He said it's the sick. The righteous
don't need the gospel. If you're righteous already,
you don't need salvation. My friend, if you could make
yourself righteous and holy by your works, you don't need Christ. You don't need what I'm saying
to you. Now, you know better than that because the Bible says
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So here's
this man, Joseph of Arimathea. He wanted to take the body of
Christ. And he wanted to put it in his own tomb. And then
look at verse 39 of John 19. Here's something that's rather
interesting. It says, And there came also Nicodemus, which at
the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh
and aloes, about an hundred-pound weight. There's Nicodemus again. You remember Nicodemus back in
John chapter 3. Nicodemus was a master in Israel. He was a member of the Sanhedrin,
a Pharisee, a leader, a master of the scriptures, and yet he
didn't know Christ. He didn't know the gospel. He
didn't even know about the necessity of the new birth. You remember
when Christ confronted Nicodemus, and he said to him twice, you
must be born again. He said, Nicodemus, all that
the flesh can produce is flesh, but only the Spirit of God can
produce spirit. You must be born again. If you're
not born again, you don't have ears to hear the truth and love
it. If you're not born again, you
don't have eyes to see the reality of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. If you're not born again, you
don't have a heart to understand and love and trust Christ and
his truth. You must be born again, and he
said that. And this Nicodemus, some people
say, well, this proves Nicodemus was born again. I believe it's
a good indication. It doesn't say exactly here.
But it indicates that something was on Nicodemus' mind here with
Joseph of Arimathea concerning the death of this man on the
cross. Verse 40 says, "...then took
they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the
spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." Now, this was
common. This is how they prepared the
body for burial. And that's what they did out
of love and respect to the Lord. And it says in verse 41, Now
in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the
garden a new sepulcher wherein was never man yet laid. And I
want you, to me that is so emblematic. You know, we don't want to be
guilty of spiritualizing everything. But these thoughts come to mind.
When I read this, here's a garden, our Lord was crucified in a garden,
and immediately my mind went back to John 12. When the Lord
is speaking of his death, he made this statement, he said,
except a corn or a seed of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it will not bring forth fruit. You see, that seed of wheat represented
Christ in his humanity, the God-man. Christ is God and man in one
person, and that seed of wheat has got to fall into the ground
and die, and it will bring forth much fruit. Well, on the cross
of Calvary, Christ, that seed of wheat, died, and he was buried. And he's about to bring forth
much fruit here. It says he was laid in a sepulchre
wherein was never man yet laid. He died a death that no man had
ever died before. Lazarus died, but not this death. You see, this death was the death
of a substitute, a sin-bearer, a sacrifice, a representative. This was the death of the Lord
of glory, the God-man, for the purpose of salvation of his people. And it says in verse 42, "...there
laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day,
for the sepulcher was nigh at hand." Why did the Lord Jesus
Christ die on the cross? He died on that cross for the
justice of his Father against the sins of his people. He died
on that cross for the love of his Father towards his people.
He said he laid down his life for his sheep. It says he loved
his own until the end. He loved us. You see, Christ
did not die on the cross in order to get God to love his people. Christ died on the cross because
God loved his people. It was the love of God that sent
forth his Son to provide for them in his obedience, his death,
his burial, and his resurrection all that he required of them
in his justice and holiness. And in this transaction, in this
great sorrowful, suffering, agonizing death where he poured out his
soul in suffering He provided the double cure. Christ is the
double cure. You remember the hymn, Rock of
Ages. Christ is the Rock of Ages. He's
not talking about, when Toplady wrote that hymn, he had in mind
his Savior, his Redeemer. Rock of Ages. Christ is our rock. He is the rock of the church
upon which the church is built. He is the rock upon whom we stand
and identify with. He is all to his people. Rock of ages. Cleft for me. That rock was hewn out. It was
wounded, you might say, as Christ was wounded in his hands and
feet. Let me hide myself in thee. Let
the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flow be
of sin the double cure. Save me from wrath. Christ in
his death saved me from wrath. and make me pure. Christ in his
death made me pure before the Father. Now, one day I will be
pure in myself as I am glorified to be made like him. But even
that is the result, the fruit of his death on the cross. What
a glorious story this is. History, God's history in his
Son. Well, I hope that's helped you
to understand the Scriptures. If you'd like to get a copy of
this message, Listen to the announcer, he'll give you the details. The
title of this message is Christ the Double Cure. And I hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's Word. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-833-9000. 432-6969, or visit our Reign
of Grace website at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-422-4222.
432-6969 or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you and may the Lord be
with you.