on our Savior and His death. I'm going through Luke on Wednesday
nights. What had happened was, our Lord
Jesus Christ had been put on trial. And the Jews kept crying out
for him to be crucified. Crucified. We want him to die. Pilate asked him three times
in this chapter, why? I found no fault in him. There
was nothing. I found no evil in him. And they kept crying,
crucifying. And it says there, finally, in
verse 24, And Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. He passed the sentence on him.
He wanted him crucified. Well, I'll pass the death sentence
on him. I'll pass the death sentence
on him. And then look what happened. And he released unto him, in
verse 25, him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison. Now, that's Barabbas. And that's
who they desired. They wanted a murderer and a
sedition. And it's turned loose. They got
out of prison, but look what it says, but he delivered Jesus
to their will. To their will. And there's lots
of preachers this morning that's delivering Jesus up to the will
of men. Crying out that Jesus can't do
anything unless you let Him. Can't come into your heart unless
you open it. Can't give you life unless you
allow it. Can't do anything unless you
are pleased to let Him. They deliver Him up to the will
of men. And that's a horrible thing for a preacher to do. That's
a horrible thing for a preacher to do. He'd be better off doing
anything than standing up and delivering Jesus to the will
of men. Ain't that right? Ain't that
right? I tell you, if God's helping
me, I might do it. If God's helping me, I won't do it. Now look here.
Down in verse 26, and as they led him away, they led him away. And then let's pick up down there
in verse 32. As they led him away, and there
were some other men evidently there in the presence that had
already been tried and convicted and sentenced to death. And it
says in verse 32, there was also two other malefactors led with
him to be put to death. Now, a malefactor is a criminal,
an evil person, and committed an evil act. And so here are
these two malefactors, these two evil people, these two criminals,
these men that committed these evil deeds, led with him. When Christ was being led out
of there, Simon picked up his cross, and helped Him bear it.
There's two other men that was going along with the Lord Jesus
Christ, and they no doubt had their crosses with them, because
everybody had to bear their own cross. And as they led Him away,
why did they lead Him away? Because it's His hour. It's His
hour. It's time for the Lamb to be
offered. It's the day of atonement. It's
the day of the Passover, the final Passover. when God offered
the Passover sacrifice Himself, when God said, Behold, the Lamb
of God was taken away, the sin of the world. This is His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to save His people from their
sins. And this is the time appointed from all eternity for our Lord
Jesus Christ to be led away as a lamb to the slaughter and not
open His mouth, not open His mouth. Now, Pilate is an incredibly
weak, sinful man, and he's doing a horrible deed in delivering
the Lord Jesus Christ up to these people and their will. But yet
behind it all is God. It's the Father, our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is delivering His Son up also to the will of the
people, and delivering His Son up to be a sacrifice and an offering
for sin. And I can show you that. Look
with me in Acts chapter 2. And until a person understands
this, that there was a purpose in the death of Christ, that
Christ was not just a martyr, not just a revolutionary who
happened to be crucified, a victim of his time, a victim of his
circumstances, that the Lord Jesus Christ was actually a sin
offering and had been offered as a sin offering as a lamb from
the foundation of the world. And God had a time appointed
for him to come and offer himself as a sin offering, as a sacrifice. And look here in Acts 2 and verse
22. You men of Israel. Simon Peter is preaching
here on the day of Pentecost. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God. The only man
ever approved of God. The only man ever that God sent
his approval on. Among you by miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves
also know, you were there and you saw it. Him, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Him who did the miracles and the wonders and signs. Him
that God caused Him to do them in the midst of them. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, But they didn't know anything about that. You have taken and
by wicked hands have crucified slave. God delivered him up to
man's will and man done just exactly what's natural for him
to do. And the wrath of man praised God in our salvation. And you
know, let's look together at this place where I took our Lord
Jesus Christ. It says there in verse 33, and
they were come to the place which is called Calvary. There they
crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. This place where our Savior was
crucified was a place of guilt. It was a place of guilt. You
see, there's two other malefactors with Him put to death. Now, our
Lord Jesus Christ, there were three crosses there. And our
Lord is one on the right and one on the left, and our Lord
Jesus Christ was in the center. He is on the center cross. Ain't
that what it says? The malefactor is one on the
right hand and the other on the left there in verse 33. And he
was put between those two things as if he was the greater criminal.
He was the one with the greatest crime. He was the one treated
with, set out to be the one in the middle that everybody would
know that he's the one, he had even a sign over his cross. And so that Paschal Myers, when
they would come there and they'd see these men being crucified,
they'd see one, two, three men being crucified, they'd see that
man on the middle cross and a sign above his head. And those two
men on those crosses were there for their own crimes. Ain't that
what that one said in verse 41? He said, and we indeed justly.
We're here because we committed crimes worthy of death. But this
man has done nothing amiss. So what is Christ doing there
if he has committed no crime? If he's committed no sinful act?
If he's not a criminal, if he's not a malefactor, what's he doing
there? I'll tell you what he's doing there. He's pouring out
his soul unto death. He's pouring out His soul unto
death for His people. He's numbered. Look in Isaiah
53. You need to see this. He's numbered
with the transgressors. Now here's two transgressors.
I'm a transgressor. You're a transgressor. And He's
numbered with the transgressors. He says they are transgressors
so I'll number myself among them. I'll be regarded as one. I'll
be treated as one. You know, we transgress God's
law. We transgress man's law. We transgress our own consciences. We transgress our own principles.
We transgress everything that there is to transgress. We've
transgressed it! Ain't that right? And look what
it says here in verse 12 of Isaiah 53, Well, I divide him a portion
with the great, and he shall divide the small with the strong.
And here's why, because he has poured out his soul unto death,
and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bared the
sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. And so
while Christ is there on that cross, our Lord is not guilty,
but He is guilty by imputation by God charging Him with our
guilt, with our transgressions. He was numbered with the transgressions,
and here He's carrying the sin, the guilt of His people, and
beloved, making intercession for them on that cross. I'll
tell you something. Christ is there for His people.
And if Christ does not bear your guilt, doesn't bear your guilt,
now He's not guilty. But He's going to die as a guilty
man. Well, where did He get the guilt? He got my guilt and your
guilt. If you're a believer, if you
understand what Christ done on that cross, He took on other
people's guilt. Other people, those stuff that
we're here to talk, we deserve to be. And I say, I deserve to
be in that. But God took Christ and put Him
in my place, and so He recharged Him with my guilt. Now let me
tell you something. Let me give you a Bible lesson
here right quick. In the Scriptures, there are three imputations.
And the word imputate means to reckon to, or to count, and put
it on somebody else's account. I reckon you to be something.
I count you to be something. And look with me now, you keep
Luke 23, and look in Romans 5, and I'll show you what I mean.
There's three imputations in Scripture. That means that God
counts and reckons something to be so. And it is so. In Romans 5, in verse 12, you
see, we became sinners. How in the world did we become
sinners? Everybody will regard themselves, they'll say, you
know, I guess I'm a sinner, but I'm not that bad. Well, how in
the world did you become a sinner? How did you end up becoming,
regarded as God is guilty, a sinner? Well, look in Romans 5.12, Wherefore,
as by one man, Who is that one man? That's Adam
that God made in the Garden of Eden. Sin entered into the world. That's how sin got in this world.
Through a man called Adam. Because God said in the day that
you eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, you'll die.
And watch what happens now. Sin entered the world and death
by that sin. When he committed that sin, he
died. He was separated from God. And now watch this, and this
is how we became sinners, so death passed upon all men for
that all have sinned. Why do we die? Because we sinned.
Where did we sin at? We sinned when our father Adam
sinned. God regarded us all as sinners for what He did. Death passed upon all of us because
of His sin. And then it passes on us because
of our sin. Now look down in verse 18. Romans 5.18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, or the one sin of one man, judgment came upon all men
to condemnation. Now watch this. Even so, the
righteousness of one, the free guess, came upon all men unto
justification. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, many
shall be made righteous. By one man we became sinners,
by another man we're going to be made righteous. By one man
we're made dead, and by another man we're given life. By one
man we come into condemnation, by another man we come into righteousness.
And so our sin is Adam's sin committed to us, and our sin
is charged to Christ, and that's what's happening here on this
cross. God made him. to be sin, whom you know sin. Oh, you think sin is something
that is to be taken lightly and regarded and laughed and mobbed
about? You look at the cross and you look at what God regards
sin to be when He put His own son there and forsook him for
it. Sin must be a horrible thing. that God would take sin and put
it on His Son, and charge it to His Son, and reckon it to
His Son, and when it was reckoned to, He was crucified and put
to death. But bless His holy name, not
only did we become sinners by Adam's sin computed to us and
reckoned to our account, not only did Christ become sin by,
and that's worse than being a sinner because He became S-I-N itself. So Christ's righteousness, He
is righteous, never knew no sin, never did any sin, that His righteousness
becomes ours. As He took our sin, we get His
righteousness. God made Him to be sin, He knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteous. How are you going
to be righteous? Only by Christ's righteousness being given to
you. I know that some of you think you're pretty good. Some
of you think you're pretty righteous. Some of you think, well, I ain't
been all that bad. I'm going to tell you how good
you got to be and how righteous you got to be to be accepted
of God Almighty. You got to be as righteous as
God himself. You got to be as good as God.
Mommy's goodness won't do. The church's goodness won't do
and your goodness won't do. You've got to be as good as God
and as righteous as God. And there ain't no place you
can get that except in this man on this cross. Now that's right. There's no ifs, ands, or buts
about that. And do you see what God demands? He demands perfection. He gave
us perfection. He demands us to be as righteous
as Him. So we have the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. He demanded
death by sin? Christ died. He demanded life from the dead
when justice is satisfied and the law is being fulfilled? Christ
was raised again from the dead. How do I know that I'm justified?
Christ said that God's right. All right, now I want you to
place a guilt. Will you take your place as guilty? Then not
only that, but as a place of compassion, look what our Lord
Jesus Christ said in verse 34 of Luke 23. Then said Jesus,
Oh what compassion, what mercy. Father! He said it out loud enough
for everybody to hear him. Father! Now he's crucified. He's got nails in his hands.
He's got nails in his feet. He's got a crown of thorns on
his head. He's naked. He's hanging there naked. Father,
forgive them. Forgive them. What a prayer. What a prayer. He's dying. He's
crucified. He's numbered with the transgressors.
And yet he cries out, Father, forgive them. Oh, what a revelation
of the grace and the mercy and the love that God has towards
sinners, even those that was justly there, and those that
was standing there mocking Him and deriding Him. God commended
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Everybody needs forgiveness.
Everybody needs forgiveness. Some of you have worked with
your wives and said, oh honey, forgive me. Husbands, oh honey, forgive
me. Children, mama, forgive me. Tell somebody on your job, I'm
sorry. Everybody needs forgiveness. If God shouldn't mark iniquities,
who would be able to stand? Everybody's sinned. Everybody's
got something wrong. Everybody's got some evil. Everybody's
got some secret sin. And everybody needs forgiveness.
And our Lord Jesus says, Father, oh, Father, what a sweet word.
Oh, what a glorious word. Father, an intimate relationship,
a glorious relationship, a blessed relationship. Then, after having been through
the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane, then after having been betrayed,
with a kiss, then after having been denied three times by Simon
Peter, then after a mock trial, then after being scourged, then
after having been hated, despised, and rejected, then after being
plucked his hair from his beard, then after being beaten black
and bloody, then after being nailed to a cross, then he said,
Father, yes sir, Then after all those things, he said, Father, forgive him. Here he is making
intercession for the transgressions. Here he is a sinner's advocate
even in his death. Here he is pleading for sinners
even in his dying breath. Here he is a sacrifice and also
an advocate on behalf of sinners. Let me tell you something. When our Lord Jesus Christ prays,
God always hears him. And he heard him right here in
this prayer. Immediately, there were two people converted when
our Lord Jesus prayed this prayer. Immediately, look there in verse
47. First of all, the centurion,
the one that was in charge of those soldiers who nailed him
to the cross and lifted him up. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, Sir, this is a righteous
man. A righteous man. And then that
thief on the cross, he was converted to our Father forgive him. Forgave
this one here on this one side of him. Forgave this man standing
at the foot of his cross. And he says today, in verse 43,
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Two people converted immediately,
and then on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after this, over 3,000
souls were converted that were present at our Lord Jesus Christ's
crucifixion. And all of you would like to
thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ prays, Father forgive
them. And even now, even now, we say, Lord, forgive us for
what we do. Not only for what we do, but
for what we are. For how we feel. For what we
think. One way you can know you as a
believer, you're constantly, constantly going toward the Lord.
Constantly, constantly, continually going toward the Lord. That's
one way you know you're a believer. You're constantly going toward
Him. Constantly crying out to Him. But, you know who it is that gets
me my forgiveness? You know who it is that pleads
to the Father for me? God don't hear me for my sake.
I don't care what I say or do. He hears me for Christ's sake. And when somebody's there, the
devil's there to accuse me, my conscience is there to accuse
me, our Lord Jesus Christ goes to the Father and says, Father,
forgive them. Cleansing. He's the one that
does that. Not only was it a place of guilt
and a place of compassion, but it is a place of derision. Look
in verse 35. And the people stood beholden.
They stood there watching, gawking. And the rulers also with them.
Here's what the rulers did. And as the rulers go, I mean,
these are the people that are somebody. Also with them derided
him. saying, he saved others, let
him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers
mocked him, it says here in verse 36, and the soldiers also mocked
him coming to him and offering him vinegar. And if the rulers are doing this,
imagine what the common people are going to do. If the rulers
are wicked, imagine what the common people are going to do.
And these people wanted to do like somebody else does when
they get in trouble. If you're the king, save yourself. If you're the king, and if you
can prove it to me, I'll believe you. And if you'll come and show
me that you're God, if you'll come and give me some kind of
sign, then I'll believe you. That's what these folks were
saying. But let me tell you something. If I, Lord Jesus Christ, would
have got off the cross, not one person would have believed in
that. Huh? Ain't that what it says? Verse 37, Save yourself! Save yourself if you be the king
of the Jews. Save yourself! Save yourself. Save yourself. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Save yourself. Their words were
full of ridicule. Ridicule. Contempt. Mockery. That's why the Scriptures
say that tend to mercies of the wicked are cruel. It says here that He saved others.
Back in verse 35. He saved others. He saved others. Why can't he save himself? And
he did save others. Oh, he saved a multitude before
he ever went to that cross. Abraham was saved before he ever
went to the cross. Jacob was saved. Noah was saved. But in the New Testament alone,
Zacchaeus, come out of that tree. Today, I must abide at your house,
for today salvation has come to this house. Lazarus, come
forth. He saved Lazarus the dead man. Lepers came down from the hill.
He cleansed them. Ten at one time just speaking
to them. And there's Mary Magdalene. Thy
faith is safe if you go that way. There's a woman taking in
adultery. Anybody here at Cundinia? No?
I don't either. Bartimaeus, sitting by the wayside,
begging, oh, be quiet, be quiet, no, no, I've done it, I need
Jesus in Nazareth. He said, be of good cheer. He
commanded thee to be calm. And oh, Bartimaeus got up, what
do you want? I want to see. Okay. Eyes was open just like that.
And guess what? He followed the Lord Jesus in
the wilderness. Everybody who gets their sight, they follow
the Lord Jesus. So he did save others. Then they
said, let him save himself. Let him save himself. Well, I
tell you what, beloved, if he saved himself, if he come off
that cross, he couldn't save anybody else. He couldn't save
anybody else, could he? Huh? He couldn't save him. Bless his name, but he did not
come off that cross. He did not save himself. And
his father didn't save him. His father never came to save
him. The angels never came to save
him. None of his people came to save
him. But you know why? Because if he saved himself,
he couldn't save us. If he took himself out from under
the wrath of God, then you and I would have been under the wrath
of God. If he had took himself out from under our guilt, then
you and I would have had to face all our own guilt. If he had took
himself out from under our sin, and away from our sin, as our
substitute, then we would have had to face our own sin. Look
in John 12.24 with me just a moment. Let me show you this. John 12.27
You know, People do that all the time.
Lord, if you're there, if you really exist, that's the way
these people were. If you really exist, give me
some time to sign. You saved me from this trouble,
then I promise that I'll serve you. People do that all the time.
Folks will get in jail. You know when they get jailhouse
religion and they go for a judge, they say, oh, judge said I've
accepted Jesus and he's saved me to get out of there. And I
mean, they forgive just as quick as they get out of jail. Folks
get cross over religion, you know, they get in a war and they
start getting shot at and get scared to death. And they start,
Lord, you'll save me from this. I promise when I get old, I'm
going to be the best Christian there was. I'm going to join
the church and I'm going to start living for Jesus. Man, his wife leaves him and
he gets all shook up and he goes to the preacher and said, Oh,
preacher, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? If I could
just get God to put my marriage back together, I promise. They're
always putting God in a bargain. But God don't bargain. Wherever
there's sin, it's going to be punished. Wherever there's guilt,
it's going to be born. Wherever there's sin, there's
going to be death. And that's why Christ couldn't come off
that cross. If He did, I'd be not a soul on the topside of
God's earth ever to be saved. I ain't got one Savior. I ain't
got one God, and He's not called on. I ain't got one Savior, and He's
not Buddhist. He's not the Pope. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in John 12, 27. Talking about not coming off
that cross. Saved thyself. Now is my soul troubled. And
what shall I say? What should I say? Should I say,
Father, save me from this hour? Should I say that? But for this cause came I unto
this hour. That's the reason I'm here. That's
the reason I'm here. Not only was it a place of ridicule,
a place of derision and compassion and guilt, but look also back
over in our text with me. In verse 38. It was a place of
testimony. It was a place of testimony.
Look in verse 38. And a superscription also was
written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. Three languages. There were Greek people there,
that was the common language of that day. Then the Latin,
that's what the Romans spoke, they spoke Latin. And then there
were the Jews there with their Hebrew. So for anybody that the
languages of that day, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and all three
of those things said this, this is the king of the Jews. This
is the king of the Jews. And this is what they accused
him of. He claimed to be king. Caesar will be upset if we have
any king but him. That's what they accused Paul
of, coming and preaching that there's another king, even one
Jesus. But they put it there to mock
him. They put it there to mock him, but yet, beloved, the words
were absolutely true. Absolutely true. Let me show
you over here in John 19. Look what happened here. These fellas, you know, they
despise the fact that this king, meek and lowly, riding on a colt,
a foal of an ass, didn't come to set up an earthly kingdom.
In John 19, it says this, God makes the wrath of man to
praise him even here. And verse 19 says, Pilate wrote
a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was not to
the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Then said the chief priest of the Jews to Pilate, write not
the King of the Jews, but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Now watch what Pilate said. What
I have written, I have written. Now Pilate did not know that
his hand was in the hands of God Almighty, and he wrote just
exactly what God wanted to be written, because he is not only
king of the Jews, he's king of kings and lord of lords. Huh? God was the one who really read
it. Watch it. Testified to every man, particularly
the Jews, that they had crucified their King, crucified their Messiah,
crucified the Son of the Highest. And there was the King of the
Jews. King of the Jews. Then not only
that, there's the place of salvation. Look here. Oh, I love this. I
love this. In verse 39. is a place of salvation. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged reeled on him, saying, If you be the Christ, save yourself
and save us. Save us all of us. Save us. Save
us. Save us all now. Save us. Save us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Don't you fear God? Ain't you got any fear of God
at all? You ever been around people that have no fear of God,
none whatsoever, and just say anything? Without any regard
to who's there? Men, women, children? Just say
anything. I mean, have no respect for nothing,
not themselves or nobody else. And that's why this fellow said
to him, don't you fear God? Ain't you got no reverence for
God? Ain't you scared to death to face God in eternity, seeing
God in the same condemnation? You're dying too, you know. You're
crucified too, you know. You're dying too now. And you
and I, we're here justly. Justly, we're here because we
deserve to be. We committed the crimes for which
we're guilty of worthy of death. And we're just getting the reward
of our deeds. We're just getting payment for
our sins. But this man hath done nothing amiss. And look what
our Lord said to him. He said unto Jesus, Lord, first
thing he called him was Lord. No man calls Jesus the Lord but
by the Holy Ghost. Lord, Jehovah, God, Sovereign. And then watch what happens.
Remember me. Remember me. when you come into
your kingdom. First of all, he acknowledged
that he's the Lord. Secondly, that he had a kingdom. So evidently
he is the king. And when you get in that kingdom,
remember me. Remember, I said I was guilty.
I said you was innocent. I'm here justly. I'm guilty. But you're not. You're not, but
I am. So would you remember me? And
then watch what happens. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, for God's the only one, Christ's the only one
who can give you assurance. He says unto you, Today, not
next year, not in a thousand year reign, today shalt thou
be, watch this, this is salvation, with me, with me in paradise. Why does this tell us? This tells
us that salvation is by grace. It's evident that salvation is
by grace and salvation is by sovereign grace. God could have
saved either one of those thieves and both of them. But he only
saved one. And he only opened one's heart
and he left the other and he's just condemnation. How else can this thief be saved?
The salvation ain't by grace. What can he do to save himself?
He couldn't get off the cross and get on his knees and pray.
He couldn't bring any money into the church. He couldn't come
to the front. He couldn't go out and witness
for Jesus. Couldn't be baptized in water.
What in the world can he do for himself? He was at the sovereign mercy
of Christ Jesus the Lord. And he just says, remember me,
I've got no, I've got no right, no claim to your salvation. I've
got no right, no claim to your Lordship and your authority.
I've got no right to your blood, your mercy, your grace. But oh
Lord, when you get in your kingdom, would you remember me? That's
why when Joseph was in prison, when those bakers and that butcher
got out there and said, when you get up to the Pharaoh, would
you tell him down there that I'm down here, and remember me? And oh, beloved, and I'll tell
you something else, this is the first man to enter paradise by
the actual blood of the shedding of the Lamb of God. Oh, Christ entered through the
eternal spirit. He entered into the presence
of God and offered His own blood. And this man here, beloved, when
he died, Christ took him right into the very presence of God
just as quick as he died. Oh, beloved, this is the sum
of our Lord's work, the sum of our salvation, the sum of His
sacrifice, and our relationship with Him. Today shall thou be
with me. With me. It's by being in union
with Him. By being with Him. When were
we chosen in Him? Before the foundation of the
world. We were in Him. Elected Him. Represented by Him
in His life. His life was our life. And we
were reconciled by His death. And then He says, I say unto
you, who else can tell you whether you're saved or not? Huh? Who else can tell you? Christ
can't give you assurance nobody else sure can. And then there's
a place of miracles, and I'll wind it up. A place of miracles. Verse 44. And it was about the
sixth hour, that's what happens now. He was crucified at nine
o'clock. Three o'clock in the afternoon.
There at the sixth hour. Noon. This is noon. He's crucified
at noon. This is the sixth hour. This
is noon. And there was a darkness over all the earth until the
ninth hour. Three hours of darkness. And it says over the whole earth.
If you've ever seen an eclipse, it just lasts for a few seconds.
This was absolute darkness. You know another time it was
turned dark? When the passover, when that
venging angel came through Egypt that night, and through the firstborn
of every creature, it was dark that night when the sacrifice
of the lamb was offered there, the Passover lamb. And God said,
where I see the blood, I'll pass over you. It was midnight, it
was dark as pitch. And God's people were saved by
the blood of that Passover lamb when it was dark. And here it
is, dark. And the Passover lamb's being
offered. And God is passing through. And he says, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Darkness, darkness. Oh, and the
sun. The darkness of the sun was symbolic
of God's severity towards this awful sin. And secondly, that rending of
this says, and the sun was darkened. And verse 45, and the veil of
Temple was ripped from the top to the bottom. The darkening
of the veil was a symbol of God's goodness towards us through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have access into the holiest
of all by our Lord Jesus Christ. The darkness declares his severity
against sin. The red veil is God making a
way through our Lord Jesus Christ into the holiest through the
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. I can go into the presence of
God through our Lord Jesus and His blood. And then last of all,
let me show you this. It was a place of death. Verse
46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, you see how controlled He is? Her bi-position is weak
and effeminate, blonde-headed, blue-eyed and all that. Presents
him as one, knocking at your heart's door, begging, pleading.
Standing over the banister of heaven, tears streaming down
his face, you know, begging. But no, no, here he cried with
a loud voice. He's a man. He's the perfect
man. He's the sinless man. He's the
omnipotent. Here he is. Cried with a loud
voice. He wanted everybody to hear him.
He said, Father. There he is saying, Father, again.
into thy hands I commend my spirit." And having said thus, now watch
this, it says, he gave up the ghost. You see, our Lord Jesus
Christ had to be willing to die. His death was a voluntary act.
Voluntary act. He died at His will, at His power. He died, they did not take his
life. He said, no man takes my life.
If I had the power to lay it down, I'd have the power to take
it up again. He yielded up his life into his
father's hands. And bless his holy name, now
I can do the same thing. I said, Lord, here I come. I
don't mind being in God's hands at death now. Before, I was scared
death would be in God's hands when I died. I'm not afraid to
be in God's hands now. Are you? That's exactly where
I want to be, because of what Christ did. Amen. And oh beloved, in becoming obedient
unto death, by dying he abolished death. Death has no more power,
no more sting. And being made sin, he put an
end to sin. There is no more sin for his
people. Here is life and immortality brought to life through our Lord
Jesus Christ's death. And oh, beloved, it's only when
seeing this that people will glorify God. Look in verse 47. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, saw the darkness, saw Christ speak to that thief, you're
going to be with me in paradise, saw that thief admit to being
there justly guilty, getting the rewards of his deeds, Christ,
and he'd been at that trial knowing that Christ had been mocked,
He tried and then he glorified God. Nobody will glorify God
until he sees Christ in his place. Sees him as the righteous one.
Sees him as the one who is the sin bearer. And not only that,
but some people still do this. The sight of this still makes
some men smite their breasts. And all the people that come
together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breast and returned. Smiting your breast means that,
oh, you're sad, you're grieved, there's something wrong with
my heart. And that's like that publican, you know, he went up
to the temple to pray, and he smote his breast and said, oh
God, I'm not. Then he looked his eyes to heaven,
and he said, be merciful to me, the sinner. And so, beloved,
some people still smite their branch when they see it. It's
really, oh, God, this is my problem here. Give me a heart. Give me
a heart to love you. Give me a heart to know you.
And let me say this in closing. Though there were three men on
that cross that day, two thieves in Christ, one was saved, the
other was left. One was saved to show us, beloved,
to keep us from despair. But only one to keep us from
presumption. But there were three that died
on Calvary that day. Three that died on that cross
that day. And there was three other than those. There was the
Lord Jesus Christ who died. And I died with Him. Paul said,
I'm crucified with Christ. I was crucified with Him. When
He was on the cross, we were on the cross with Him. All whom
he represented. We were so, we were bone of his
bone and flesh of his flesh. I've died to everything. I can't
die to sin anymore. I've done died to it, that's
it. And the third one crucified there was the world. The world
was crucified under me and I was crucified under the world. The
world crucified Christ. And Christ was crucified under
the world. And beloved, now, The world has no attraction to
us, I know. Our blessed Savior, our gracious,
eternal God, thank you for your wondrous mercies, your blessed
grace, your glorious Thank you for bearing our sins in your
own body there on that tree. Thank you for loving us from
all eternity. And I pray that you'd be pleased today to take
this message, and in spite of the messenger,
cause the message, cause the message to have some power, some
fruit, some effect. Cause it to fall upon hearts,
not just ears. cause it to fall upon souls,
not just brains. O Father, do what only you can
do, save your people in this place, through the preaching
of the gospel, through the power of the Holy Ghost, we ask in
Christ's name. Amen.