Good morning. So good to be here,
isn't it? Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
23. The name of the message is The Death
of Deaths. The Death of Deaths. Luke chapter
23. This weekend is Memorial Day
weekend. Remember those who have sacrificed
all for the freedom of our country. And we are to never forget that
sacrifice, never forget the cost that they made for us to live
in freedom. And yesterday, doing some work with John and Chet,
Brother John mentioned that that is what this weekend's all about,
is remembering the soldiers who died to set us free. But today,
I'd like to speak of death, the death of deaths. The death of
deaths. The most important death that
ever occurred in this world. A death which purchased redemption.
If you're a believer, a death which purchased redemption for
you. A death which freed all of God's
elect from the tyranny of sin, from the bondage of sin, from
the change which has bound by our natural birth. And the believer is now free. Absolutely free. So free that
the scripture says, we looked at it in Sunday school, stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. The believer is free in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And today we'll look at the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. We often speak of
it. Now we'll look at it. And then we'll partake of the
Lord's Supper. which is remembering for the believer that that death
was for me. That death paid the penalty for
all my sins. Sins that I know I do. Sins that
I don't know I do. Omission and commission. All of them. Past, present, and
future. The death of deaths, beloved.
Let's first look at and consider Pilate delivering Jesus Christ
to be crucified. Luke 23.18, And they cried out,
all at once, saying, away with this man and release unto us
Barabbas. Here before us we have a beautiful
picture of substitution, beloved. Barabbas is guilty. The law has found him guilty. As a matter of fact, he's in
prison and he's awaiting his execution. He's a condemned man. Ready to be executed. Guilty
before the law of the crimes which were committed. And what
a picture of substitution. He is set free and Christ will
die instead of Barabbas. Look at verse 19. For a certain
sedition made in the city and for murder was cast into prison.
There's the crimes. He's guilty of them. And he's
in prison. Ready to be executed. Awaiting
the carrying out of a sentence in prison. Why? Because the law
must be satisfied, right? It must be. It absolutely must
be. Pilate, therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried again, saying,
Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Now imagine Barabbas
hearing that while he's in prison. He doesn't know they're speaking
of Christ. And I've heard, Tim James gave
that picture too, and I've heard it from other preachers, that
here comes those Roman soldiers, and Brabus can hear the footsteps
of those Roman soldiers as they come towards the cell, and he
thinks, it's over, I'm gonna die. And the door opens up, and
these burly Roman soldiers come in, tough men, hardened men,
and they said, you can go free. You imagine he probably thinking,
you're playing a sick joke on me, aren't you? No, you can go
free. Someone else is going to die
in your place. What a picture of substitution,
beloved. But they cried saying, crucify him, crucify him. Remember
over an ax? Now think of this. As they're
crying, crucify him, crucify him. You can turn to Acts 2.23
or I'm going to read it, but you can turn there if you like.
But think of this. But they cried, saying, Crucify
Him! Crucify Him! And Acts 2, 23 proclaims
this, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. Ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. Everything is falling out according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. It's coming to a climax, the
whole reason why the Lord Jesus came to this world. To redeem His people from their
sins. And here in this passage we see
it come alive. Christ is crucified according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. And Barabbas
goes free. Christ must die for the sins
of His people, beloved. in order to redeem us, in order
for justice to be satisfied. And justice will be satisfied,
either in the sinner or in the substitute. It shall be satisfied. Luke 23
continues, and he said unto them the third time, What evil hath
he done? I have found no cause of death
in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go. And they were instant with their loud voices
required. And remember, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. And they were instant with loud
voices requiring that He might be crucified. And the voices
of them and of the chief priests prevailed. According to the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. And He released unto them unto
him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison where Abbas
goes free, whom they desired, but he delivered Jesus to their
will according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God." Christ was delivered to their
will to be sacrificed by God's determinate
counsel and foreknowledge to be sacrificed for the sins of
his elect. Now let us look at our Lord who
was delivered to be crucified on the hill called Calvary. And
let us remember the scripture over in John as we read this
account of crucifixion, greater love hath no man than this. As we read this account, Greater
love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his
friends. Let us keep that verse in mind,
because here we are going to see the greatest manifestation
of love this world has ever seen. God the Father giving His Son
to die for the sins of His people. And Calvary is a place of indescribable,
infinite love, beloved. Enduring love. Eternal love. Self-denying love. Saving love. Everlasting love. Divine love
is manifested at Calvary's cross. Now let us look at the crucifixion
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as they led Him away, they
laid hold upon Simon the Cyrean coming out of the country. And
on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
And there followed Him a great company of people and of women,
which also bewailed and lamented Him. But look at our King. Here's our King. He's going.
And remember, He's been whipped and beaten. He's hardly recognizable. And Jesus turning unto them said,
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me. Weep for yourselves and for your
children. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that
He must go to Calvary, beloved. He must go in order to redeem
His people from their sins. This is the whole reason why
He was sent. This is the whole reason why He came to this earth.
To redeem His people from their sins. To purchase them. To purchase sinners. Chosen, lost sinners. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 50. Isaiah chapter 50. And how would He purchase and
how would He redeem chosen lost sinners given to Him by the Father
in eternity? By the sacrifice of Himself,
beloved. By the sacrifice of Himself.
Isaiah chapter 50. Scripture declares this in verses
6 to 8. I gave my back to the smiters.
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me.
Therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint. And I know that I shall not be
ashamed. He is near that justifieth me.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand together Who is
mine adversary? Let him come near to me. Now
see where it says flint there? Weep not for me. Weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves. His face is set like a flint,
like steel unbending. He must die in the place of his
people. He is adamant, impenetrable,
unbreakable, hardened against all opposition, resolute and
undaunted, constant and unmoved by the words and the blows of
man. His face is set like a flint.
He must redeem his people from their sins. He will not be moved by anything
Anything His enemies can say or do, He has His face set as
a flint in what He must do, in what He has come to do, what
He has come to accomplish. He will not be dismayed by His
enemies. And He was not when they came to apprehend Him in
the garden. They came to Him as a thief with swords and staves,
but He was unmoved. Even in the high priest's palace,
he was unmoved. In Pilate's hall, he was unmoved. While the soldiers, they beat
him and they mocked him. He was unmoved. His face is set like a flint
to that which he must accomplish. He was adamant, impenetrable,
unbreakable, hardened against all opposition. He must die as
the sinner's substitute. He must die in the room and place
of His people. And even at death itself, with
all its terrors, He was unmoved and willingly gave Himself as
the sacrifice for the sins of His people, because Scripture
declares, And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call
His name Jesus. For He shall save His people
from their sins. And how does the Savior accomplish
this? By His death upon Calvary's cross,
beloved. And He proclaims, daughters of
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your
children. For behold, it continues in verse
29, for behold the days are coming in which They shall say, Blessed
are the barren in the wombs that never bear, and the paps which
never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say
to the mountains, Fall on us. Oh, in that great day sinners
will say, Oh, cover us from the wrath of the Lamb. But it will be too late. They shall begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills cover us. For if they
do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
And there were also two malefactors led with him to be put to death. The sinless one, the perfect
spotless Lamb of God, dies between two guilty sinners,
two guilty sinners who the law has found guilty. The law must
be satisfied. He stood forth before the law
and the eye of the law being the surety of His people and
their representative. He stood before God's law, Christ
Himself. Though laden with the sins of
all His people, they were imputed to Him, yet there was no shadow
of sin in Him. He's perfect, spotless, Our sin
was put upon Him, imputed, but sin was not in Him. And there He is, the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God, dying for the sins of His people. And the Lord laid on Him, it
is said, the iniquity of us all, of all of God's elect. That is
the Church. 53, six says this, all we like
sheep have gone astray. That's us by nature and by birth. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
All his people's sins were laid and imputed upon him. And then we know his perfect,
spotless righteousness is imputed to us. What a savior. What a savior. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, Luke 23, 33. And when they were
come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified
Him and the malefactors on the right hand and the other on the
left. Here on Golgotha, the Romans called it Calvary, is where the
Lord of life and glory offers up that holy sacrifice of Himself
for the transgressions and the sins of His redeemed, by which
He obtained, by which He obtained, and He
obtained it all by Himself, by which He obtained eternal redemption
for all that are sanctified, all His people, all His people. Luke 23 continues, Then said
Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted His remnant and
cast lots. And the people stood beholding,
and the rulers also with them deraided Him, saying, He saved
others, let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the Chosen of
God. They had mocked him in his office
as great prophet of the people when they smote him and said
unto him, prophesy thou Christ who it is that smote thee. They
mocked him as the great prophet. And here again they mock him
in his priestly office as he redeems his people from their
sins. They say he saved others, let
him save himself. They mock him in his priestly
office here. And then it says, And the soldiers
also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and
saying, If thou be king of the Jews, save thyself. Now they
mock him in his kingly office. And they say, If thou be king
of the Jews, save thyself. Turn if you would to Psalm 69.
Psalm 69. So they mocked Him in all His
offices as He dies and bleeds for the sins of His people. And
note also in the text when it says He saved others, and they're
mocking Him. He saved others, let Him save
Himself. Little did He know, or little did they know, that
there He's hanging on the cross, saving a number of people that
no man can number. All the elect of all the ages,
beloved. Look at Psalm 69. They offer our Lord vinegar.
Psalm 69, 21, look at this. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. So they
fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 69, 21. But look at, as I continue
to read this portion in Psalm 69, Indignation and wrath fell
upon them. Look at verses 22 to 29. Remember
in the scripture said about the mountains, the call for the mountains
to fall on them. Look at this. Let their table become a snare
before them. And that which should have been
for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened
that they shall see not and make their loins continually to shake.
Pour out thine indignation upon them. and let thy wrathful anger
take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate,
and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou
hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou
hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity,
and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted
out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me up on high. My goodness. My goodness. If you're saved,
rejoice. Rejoice. Look at verse 37 of Luke 23. And saying, if thou be king of
the Jews, save thyselves. And at that very moment, the
Lord Jesus Christ is redeeming the whole church. All of his
elect of all the ages, both Jew and Gentile. It's at this time
that Christ is said as a king on the holy hill of Zion. He
is king of the Jews, king of his people, king of his people,
beloved. Never did the glory of the Lord
Jesus shine out more fully. Never did Christ more fully prove
His suretyship, or His love for His people, as at Calvary. Look at Luke 23, verses 38 to
43. And the superscription was also
written over Him in the letters of the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew,
three languages that were prevalent at that time. This is King of
the Jews. One commentator said, God, by
His determinate counsel, had them write that. And it's true,
He is the King of His people. King of spiritual Israel. King
of His people. Look at this in verse 39. And
one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying,
If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us. And we know earlier in
another account of the crucifixion that both were railing at first
upon Christ. And look at this though, something's
occurred. Oh, one of the malefactors, the dying thief has been born
again. Look at this, but the other answering
rebuked him saying, does thou not fear God seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, something's
happened. Something has occurred. Oh my, the Spirit of God has
plucked the bran from the fire, beloved. For we receive the due
reward of our deeds. He's had revealed to himself
that he's a sinner in desperate need of Christ. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. He sees the innocence of Christ, the perfectness of
Christ, the sinlessness of Christ. God the Holy Spirit has revealed
Christ to this poor, wretched sinner. 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 thou shalt be with me in
paradise. What words of mercy flow from
the Savior's lips here. As He says to this sinner beside
Him who was reviling Him earlier, and who has now been regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God, by God, the Holy Spirit, by His
power, He's under divine conviction and He looks by faith which was
given to Him, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to Christ alone, and
the Lord Jesus Christ says, today thou shalt be with me. paradise what words of mercy what words
of grace to this dying sinner what words of assurance what
words of assurance for us who believe when we die will be with
the Lord just like Some false religion out there
says there's soul sleep, and that's just lies from the pit
of hell. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. To be present with the Lord.
The moment a believer departs, breathes his last breath. Oh my. My. He just starts living
or she just starts living. As Brother Donnie once said,
we leave the land of the dying and go to the land of the living.
My goodness. My goodness. Today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. The dying thief is a trophy of
God's rich, free and sovereign grace. And so is every believer
in Christ. Trophies of the grace of God.
And let us not pass by this scripture without noting this view of wonderful,
everlasting love of Christ to His people. In the Lord saving
this thief, we see some wonderful truth. Think of this. Here before
us is a sinner saved with no merit. No merit. Here before us is a
sinner saved with no predisposition for salvation. Here before us is a sinner saved
with no service, no ordinance, no means, no works, neither baptism nor the Lord's
Supper, but on the contrary, everything of demerit, a life
of infamy, A thief whom the law has condemned. A sinner by birth, nature, and
practice. And within the short period,
it will be all over. Dying under the hand of justice.
Yet the Son of God, yet the Son of God took Him at His death
to everlasting joy. Everlasting joy. What will any
man call this? Was Christ, or was he not in
the whole instance with the dying thief, all of his salvation? He had nothing. Christ is everything
to him. Lord, just remember me. Oh, he's one of the Lord's sheep.
And we see the hand of election. The hand of everlasting love. My salvation is of the Lord. And God's people say, praise
His mighty name. Praise His mighty name. Next
we'll look at the death of Jesus. Look at verses 44 to 46. And
it was about the sixth hour. And there was a darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour. and the sun was darkened,
and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, He gave
up the ghost. He willingly died. And note the cry of our suffering
Savior, the great substitute for sinner, as He dies as our
sin atoning substitute. He says, Father, Into Thy hands
I commend my spirit. Just as in life he committed
his whole self to God, in death he commits his whole self to
God. Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. And let us remember the scripture
in Hebrews chapter 9, which says this, neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own, he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. It is finished. It's obtained. And if something's
obtained, there's nothing for us to do. We freely receive the grace of
God, the mercy of God. That's why Paul penned, I've
obtained mercy. I didn't deserve it. Just like
that dying thief, it's unmerited. Lord, just remember me today.
Thou shall be with me in paradise. My, my, The salvation of God's people
is complete. He gives up the ghost. This is the death of deaths.
He has redeemed His people, purchasing them with His own precious blood.
And here before us, the death of Christ is life for His people. Out of His death, we receive
life. life. We obtain eternal redemption
through the sacrifice of Christ. And Christ did it willingly. Weep not for me. There's never been a greater
manifestation of love. Never. He was numbered with the transgressors
and died under the penalty of our sins before God as our great
high priest, the sinless, perfect Lamb of God. And he entered once
in the presence of God and made a once for all atonement. And
through this offering, he perfected all believers and obtained eternal
redemption for us. Turn, if you would. Turn, if
you would, to Hebrews 9 12. I know I just read it, but I
want us to look at that. By the sacrifice of himself. Let's start verse 11. But Christ
being come, and high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood, by the sacrifice of Himself,
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption, for us, for His people. Look at Luke 23, verse 47. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God. He glorified God, saying certainly,
this was a righteous man. Hawker believes the centurion
was regenerated. He glorified God. The centurion glorified God by
confessing that Christ was the Son of God and declaring Him
an innocent person by saying, certainly this was a righteous
man. He was declaring that Christ
was clear of the charges exhibited against Him. and that he had
suffered wrongfully. And beloved, he was the righteous
man. Because there's no other who's
righteous. Scripture declares that every son of Adam is unrighteous. There's no unrighteous, no not
one. But there was one righteous man. The God-man. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who left
the glories of heaven to come to this world. And to die upon
the cross. for the sins of His people. And He has accomplished in our
text what He set out to do. The God-Man, God incarnate in
the flesh, redeeming His people from their sins and setting us
free from the guilt and the penalty of sin before the holy law and
justice of God in our place. What a sacrifice. And truly,
again, this is the death of deaths. Some might give their life for
a friend or for a family member. Christ gives his life for all
the elect of all the ages. Greater love hath no man than
this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. Hebrews 9.28, I'll read it, it
says this, I had you turn back to Luke, but stay in Luke. Hebrews
9.28 says this, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second
time without sin unto salvation. He bore our sins, beloved, and
He paid all that God demanded, everything. If you're a believer,
Christ paid for everything that God demanded for you. by the
sacrifice of himself on Calvary's cross. There's nothing left.
The debt is paid. Now, I know we can't always fathom
that day because that's we know what we are. We know we know
how much we sin. We know everything we do is tainted
with sin. But this is a truth. And this is a truth proclaimed
from Scripture, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And eternal means eternal. It means forever. It means it'll
never end. It means you can't mess it up. Because it's in Christ
and Him alone. Now religion tells you it's all
about what you do. No. Grace Preachers proclaim it's
all about what Christ did. And it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Wonderful. Someone told me not
long ago, if I believe like you, I could go and do whatever I
want. No, you can't. Because the love
of Christ will constrain you from sin. It does, doesn't it? It does. It's amazing. When we think of what He did
for us. Look at Luke 23, 48 and 49. And all the people that came
together to the site, beholding the things which were done, smoked
their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance and
the woman that followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding
these things." And next we see our Lord and
Savior buried in the tomb again, where never a man was laid. Look at Luke 23, verses 50 to
53. And behold, there was a man named
Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and a just The same
had not consented to the counsel and deed of them. He was of Arthamea,
a city of the Jews, who had himself waited for the kingdom of God.
This man went and departed and begged the body of Jesus. And
he took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulchre
that was hewn in a stone, wherein never man before was laid." One commentator said Christ must
be brought down to the dust of death to fulfill the whole of
his abasement, his condescension. Being laid in the grave proves
the triumphs of his exaltation. God is satisfied. He's raised
for our justification, so he died for our sins and he's raised
for our justification. No wonder Paul said Christ is
all. In the grave, Christ destroyed
the power of the grave by his own death, the power of sin,
Satan and death. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
15, and I'll read Hosea 13, 14, which says this, I will ransom
them from the power of the grave. Who's He ransoming? All His people. All the elect of all the ages.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them
from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from
mine eyes. Hosea 13, 14. Our Savior raises from the grave,
victorious over the grave, victorious over death. Look at 1 Corinthians
15, 55 and 57. O death, where is thy sting? Christ has taken away the sting
of death for the believer. O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And then turn, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 2. Beloved, he arose for our justification,
and God is satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. God is satisfied
with the death of deaths, and proves it by raising Christ from
the grave. Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, For as
much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil. and deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage. We've been set free,
beloved. We've been set free. Set free by the death of another,
and his death gives us life. The faithful in Christ Jesus,
we look to Christ, don't we? We look to Christ for our salvation,
and we never stop looking. We never stop looking. And what
do we behold? We behold the complete victory
over death, over Satan, and over all our sins. And the fact that
Christ has paid it all. He's paid it all, beloved. And
we marvel. We marvel in the fact. And let
you who believe leave this place rejoicing in the fact that Christ
hath attained eternal redemption for you. And that he did it by
his own death upon the cross. And that he willingly went to
that cross. Remember, weep not for me. And that he willingly gave up
the ghost. And he did it for me. And if
you're a believer, he did it for you. And he did it for his
lost sheep that haven't been found yet. Those who are wandering
around. But here, get them. And the reason He'll get them
is because He died for them. My sheep hear my voice and they
what? They follow me. They're here. Oh my. And we say glory to God in the
highest. We who believe are saved by the death of death, the dying
of our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. who died in our room,
in our place, before God's law and justice. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we come before Thee, marveling the fact that You sent
Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for us on Calvary's cross,
marveling in the greatest manifestation of love ever shown, which was
at Calvary's cross. when you, Lord Jesus, died to
redeem your people from their sins. May we never forget the
cost of our salvation, the sacrifice which you made. And may we marvel at the salvation
we have in thee. And one day, Lord, our faith
will become sight. We love you and praise you in
Jesus' name. Amen.