Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm gonna continue a message that I began last week
out of John chapter 19, verse 30, concerning the finished work
of Christ. And the title of the message
is The Glory of the Cross. This is part two, and this will
conclude it. The Glory of the Cross. And I'm taking that from
John 19, 30, Here, the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the cross,
dying for the sins of His people, His sheep, God's elect, those
who will come to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works,
those who will continue in the faith. And it says, when Christ,
when he said, I thirst, the soldiers, it says here, this is verse 29.
Now there was, John 19, 29. Now there was said a vessel full
of vinegar. That's probably sour wine is
what they were talking about. And they filled a sponge with
vinegar and put it upon a hyssop and put it to his mouth. And
verse 30 says, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he
said, it is finished. Now that phrase, that sentence
there, short sentence, it is finished, shows forth, sets forth
the glory of the cross. Because the glory of the cross
is found in the glorious person of Christ, who he is, and the
finished work of Christ, what he accomplished in his death. And it says here, when he said
it's finished, he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. And I
related some of the issues that surrounded his death out of this
chapter. You can read the whole chapter.
But one of the things I referred to last week, and I want you,
if you'll look with me to the book of Galatians, chapter six,
in verse 14. This is where the Apostle Paul
wrote these words. In Galatians 6, 14, he says,
but God forbid that I should glory, save or accept in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. And the word glory there means
to boast. It means to glory as in confidence. It's the same word that Paul
wrote when he wrote Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3, when he
said, we are the circumcision, talking about believers, and
he's talking about spiritual circumcision there, the new birth,
which worship God in spirit and have confidence in Christ Jesus,
and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Our confidence is in Christ Jesus. So he says, I glory in the cross. Glory in not only, and as I said
last week, it's not in the piece of wood, not in the wooden cross. That was the means of Christ's
death. But he's talking about the death
of Christ, the blood of Christ, and the righteousness of Christ.
You see, in order to save his people from their sins, in order
to save his sheep, he had to die. He had to be obedient unto
death, as Philippians 2 says, even the death of the cross. He had to shed his blood. The
blood of Christ means the death of Christ. And the reason he
had to do that is because God must be just when he saves sinners. Now God is a merciful God, and
this is the glory of the cross now. This is the glory of the
finished work of Christ, the Messiah, the God-man. In order
to be merciful and gracious, and even to love His people,
God must be just and righteous and holy. In other words, God
cannot be, He cannot show mercy. Or grace, He cannot be gracious. Or He cannot love sinners. apart
from his holy law and justice being honored and satisfied and
that's why Christ had to come. First John 4 and verse 10 says
herein is love not that we love God but that he loved us now
he's talking about believers there not unbelievers not not
those who who go through their lives in unbelief and die and
perish in their sins. But he says, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. That word propitiation, which
is used a few times in the New Testament, but it's really the
truth of it is all through. But it means a sin-bearing sacrifice
that brings satisfaction. And Christ is the propitiation
for the sins of His people. He satisfied the justice of God. He made, and we read this back
in Daniel, in the book of Daniel, chapter nine, when Daniel was
prophesying of the Messiah. Daniel 9, 24, when he spoke of
the 70 weeks, with 77, 490 years, the time period between Israel
going back to their homeland out of the Babylonian captivity
up to the coming of the Messiah into the world, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he says in verse 24, he came to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity and
to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and
prophecy and to anoint the most holy. All of this showing the
death of Christ as being the very glory of God. Now, it is
the glory of God that through the death of Christ, the blood
of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the one who died and
was buried and arose again the third day, His resurrection,
it is the glory of God that He can be both a just God and a
Savior. He can be both a righteous judge
and a loving, merciful Father. Because in that transaction of
Christ on the cross, we actually see every attribute of God's
nature honored and magnified working consistently together
in the salvation of His people. What a glory that is. You know,
the old Jewish rabbis, used to speak of the Shekinah glory of
God. The word Shekinah means God's
presence. And the Shekinah glory, for example,
during the Old Covenant, rested in the tabernacle over the mercy
seat. Because that was all a picture
of Christ, the High Priest of His people, Christ, the sacrificial
Lamb, who died and shed His blood, Christ the mercy seat, the altar
of His people. And in that mercy seat, in all
of that, God showed His Shekinah glory, the greatest manifestation
of everything that God is, right there. For example, you can see
something of the glory of God in creation. His wisdom, His
power. Paul wrote about that in Romans
chapter one. In Psalm 19, the heavens declare
the glory of God. The firmament, His handiwork.
You can see something of God's glory in Providence. The way
things work out in this world, in our lives, it's all guided
by God. He's the governor of this world.
But in those revelations, you only see parts of God's nature
and attributes. But in the salvation of sinners,
through Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, we see every attribute
of God's nature. Everything that God is working
consistently together, honorably, majestically, gloriously, to
save sinners by His grace. And it's all based upon the righteousness
of Christ, the finished work of Christ. It is finished. Look
over in Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah prophesied of this. And
it says in verse 10 of Isaiah 53, you've read this chapter,
this is a prophecy of the suffering servant of God, the Messiah of
Christ. And it says in verse 10, yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased the father to
bruise, crush the son. Well, what does that mean? Is the father some kind of a
sadist, enjoying hurting people? No. What does it mean it pleased
him? It satisfied his honor and glory
to put his son to death. And he says, you remember when
Christ was on the cross in the book of Matthew, he looked up
and he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And
he wasn't asking for information there, he was making a point.
The son of God incarnate forsaken by the father. On what ground? On the ground of sins being charged
to his account. Sin separates from God. And what
a glorious thing that is. What a mind-boggling thing it
is. The Son of God incarnate, Christ on that cross, legally
separated from the Father. Suffering in His heart and soul
and mind and body. But that's what it took to save
His people from their sins. And it says in verse 10 of Isaiah
53, He hath put Him to grief. when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. But, here's the glory of it,
here's the answer, here's the result of it. Isaiah 53 10. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. The death of Christ on the cross
guaranteed and secured the salvation of every sinner for whom he died. There's not one sinner for whom
Christ died on that cross who will end up in hell. Those who
end up in hell, he didn't die for them. And I know people don't
want to hear that because preachers all up and down this country
are telling everybody God loves you and Christ died for you.
Listen, that's not, you don't find that in the scripture. Find
me one evangelistic sermon. where the true preacher of the
gospel looked out on the crowd and said, now I wanna tell y'all
God loves you and Christ died for you. And quoting John 3,16
a thousand times is not gonna prove that. John 3,16 has a context
and that's spoken in light of God's people. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Those
who believe in Him, who are they? They are those who are given
faith by God. Those are the ones for whom Christ
died. If you wanna say, well, the word
world means everybody without exception, that's all. I can
show you several passages in the Bible where the word world
does not mean everybody without exception. 1 John 5, 19 for one
thing. It says, we are of God and the
whole world lieth in wickedness, or in the wicked one. So understand
that now, that you gotta go by context. And that's not putting,
that's not trying to put people off. You see, the way you should
react to things like that, when you see them in the Bible, is
look, I'm a sinner. I need salvation by grace. And
my only hope is in the death of Christ. My hope is not in
me. It's not in my decision. It's
not even in my faith. You see, faith doesn't save you,
Christ does. And I know when you go through
and you read some portions of scripture, when he says, thy
faith has saved thee, you've got to ask the question, what
was their faith? It's not just that they believed,
it's what they believed, it's who they believed. Faith is saving
faith, which is the gift of God. It's not natural to man. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
That's us by nature. But the gift, God-given faith,
always has an object and a foundation. The foundation is the Word of
God. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. And the object is Christ, crucified
and risen from the dead. And you cannot separate that.
Understand that. Well, look back at Isaiah 53.
He, where it says there, he shall see his seed. The seed there
is his children. The ones for whom he died. He'll
prolong his days. He's not gonna stay dead in the
tomb. You'll read about that in John chapter 20. He's risen
again. We serve a living savior, not
a dead martyr. And he rose from the grave. He
was raised from the dead. death, barren resurrection, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." God is
satisfied by the work of the Son. It is finished. That's what he said in John 19
30, our text. He finished the work. He finished
the transgression. He made an end of sin. He made
reconciliation for iniquity. He brought in the ground of peace
between God and sinners. The Bible says, who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
seated at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession
for us. My friend, God's elect cannot
perish because God doesn't charge them with their sins. Their sins
were charged to Christ. and his righteousness is charged
to them. Now here's my concern as a sinner
who deserves nothing but death and hell, who's earned nothing
but death and hell. Am I one of God's elect? Well,
what does the Bible say about God's elect? It says they'll
hear and believe the gospel. Paul wrote about that in 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13. He said, We are bound to give
thanks unto God for you, brethren beloved of God, because God hath
chosen you from the beginning through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel. You see that? God chose you from
the beginning. through sanctification of the
Spirit, that's setting apart by the Spirit of God and belief
of the truth. The gospel is the power of God
and the salvation to everyone that believes. How do I know
if it's been made the power of God unto salvation to me? Do
I believe it? Do I have the faith of God's
elect? Have I been brought to repentance of dead works and
idolatry? We'll look at verse 11 of Isaiah
53. Now remember, this is all based upon the finished work
of Christ. That's the glory of the cross.
His death, burial, and resurrection. It says, he shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Like a woman in
childbirth, she travails. She suffers. And what she hopes
What she and her husband hopes is that at the end of that travailing,
they'll be satisfied. They'll see a healthy, strong
baby, alive and ready to grow. Well, that's what is said of
Christ here. Like a woman in childbirth who has a healthy
child, he shall see of the travail of his soul and he'll be satisfied.
He's not gonna be hanging over the banister of heaven crying
because you won't accept him or anything like that. Oh no. It says in verse 11, by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their
iniquities. What does that mean? That's talking
about the finished work of Christ. That's talking about the glory
of the cross. By his knowledge means by the
things that he experienced in His life, His death, His burial,
His resurrection, and His ascension. Listen, Christ knew suffering. He knew hunger. He knew sorrow. He was not a sinner. He was never
made a sinner. He was never contaminated. He
was always sinlessly perfect. But He experienced the sinless
infirmities of human flesh. He wept. Jesus wept. When they beat his back with
a cat of nine tails, he hurt. In the garden, he sweat great
clots of blood, drops of blood. When they nailed his hands and
his feet and put the crown of thorns, it hurt. And through
all that experience, He was obedient perfectly unto death, even the
death of the cross. And by that experience, by that
knowledge, God's righteous servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect
God-man, based on sin that had been imputed to Him, justified
many. What is that to be justified?
It's to be forgiven of all my sins. Based on what? The fact
that I believe? No. The fact that I've repented? No. It's forgiven of all my sins
by the cross, by the finished work of Christ, by the blood
of Christ. You see, it's the blood of Jesus
Christ that brings about the forgiveness of all my sins, past
sins, present sins, future sins. And then to be justified is to
be declared righteous in the sight of God. Now the Bible teaches
that God knows everything about us, doesn't it? Knows our thoughts,
knows our motives, knows our intentions, even the sinful thoughts
that we have. So how can God rightly and justly
and honorably look at a sinner like me, even a sinner saved
by grace, and declare me righteous in His sight? Well, it's only
by the righteousness of Christ imputed to me, accounted to me,
and that righteousness is His finished work. That's the glory
of the cross. The cross equals righteousness
for God's people. And that's imputed to us so that
He justified many and it's based upon the fact that He bore our
iniquities. In other words, if He bore your
iniquities, if He carried your sins to the cross and died for
them, then you're justified in God's sight. And if you're justified
in God's sight, you cannot perish. You will be brought to faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works. And look at verse 12 of
Isaiah 53. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with
the strong. That's the same thing as Paul
wrote in Romans chapter eight. when He says, He that spared
not His own Son, how shall He not with Him freely give us all
things? Or what He wrote in Ephesians
1, 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And it says that all the
blessings of salvation are given to His people Because verse 12,
he hath poured out his soul unto death. He poured out his soul
unto death. He died on that cross. He finished
the work. And it says he was numbered with
the transgressors. Well, how was he numbered with
transgressors? Their sins, the sins of his people,
sinners, were charged to him. and He went to the cross as their
surety, their substitute, and their Redeemer, and He bare the
sin of many, how many? All whom God gave Him before
the foundation of the world, and made intercession for transgressors. That's the death of Christ for
the sins of His people. And there's no other way of salvation
There's no other way that God can be glorified. If a sinner
comes to God pleading anything other than the finished work
of Christ, that sinner dishonors every attribute of God's nature
that he engaged in the person and work of Christ. That destroy,
and if you say, well, I'm saved by the death of Christ, but by
that you mean that Christ died for your sins, but that wasn't
good enough until you believed it and repented? My friend, that's
not the glory of the cross. That's the glory of your faith.
And God will not share his glory, not with anybody. He's a jealous
God. He's jealous over his honor and
his glory. That's the glory of the cross.
Look over at Jeremiah chapter 23 with me just for a moment.
Here's another prophecy of Christ. And Jeremiah, speaking of the
coming of the Messiah, in verse five of Jeremiah 23, he says,
behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto
David a righteous branch. Now that's Christ, who was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh. Speaking of his
holy humanity that came through Mary, who was a descendant of
David, just like her husband Joseph. So he's God manifest
in the flesh. He said, a king shall reign and
prosper. He's gonna reign and prosper.
Based on what? He shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. Now, how's He gonna do that?
On the cross. In His obedience unto death,
God is going to execute judgment and justice in the death of Christ
for the sins of His people. And that's where God shows His
mercy. That propitiation. mercy based
upon sacrifice, grace that reigns through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And it says in verse six of Jeremiah
23, in his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell safely.
That's talking about spiritual Judah, spiritual Israel. And
this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Righteousness. Does God really
require righteousness? Well, if God did not require
righteousness, He would have never sent His Son into the world
as the surety, the substitute, and the Redeemer of His people.
He would have never sent Him to the cross and crushed Him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. This is the gospel. This is the finished work of
Christ. This is the glory of the cross. And when we preach the cross,
you know, Paul spoke of that in first Corinthians one, the
preaching of the cross, it's foolishness to unbelievers, but
unto believers, it's the power and the wisdom of God. I hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.