Back in our text in Galatians, we read in verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. The passage that Paul
quotes here is from Deuteronomy 21, verses 22 and 23. It reads,
And if any man have committed a sin worthy of death, and thou
hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon
the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. For he that is hanged on a tree
is accursed of God, that thy land be not defiled, which the
Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. In the 20th chapter
of Deuteronomy, we read what Paul quoted in verse 10 of Galatians
3. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. I've titled this, Christ, a blessing,
a curse, and a blessing. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 11, I'm going to read
a couple of verses. Deuteronomy 11. We begin reading in verse 26. This is the Lord speaking to
Israel. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a
curse. A blessing if you obey the commandments
of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse If
ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn
aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other
gods which ye have not known. And it shall come to pass, when
the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land, whether
thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon
Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal. Now here our
God lays it out plainly, obey his commandments and be blessed,
and obey them not and be cursed. And the curse of God is not to
be taken lightly. Unlike a curse from a man, which
has no effect on the one being cursed, the curse of God carries
with it an unimaginable terror, both in this world and that which
is to come. In Deuteronomy 28, flip over there with me please.
Deuteronomy 28, verses 13 through 24. We read, And the Lord shall make
thee the head, and not the tail. And thou shalt be above only,
and thou shalt not be beneath. If that, thou hearken unto the
commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this
day, to observe and to do them. And thou shall not go aside from
any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand
or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. And it shall
come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the
Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his
statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses
shall be upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shall be thou in
the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall
be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of
thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kind
in the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou
comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord
shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, and all
that thou settest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed,
and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of
thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make
the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he hath consumed thee from
off the land, whether thou goeth to possess it. The Lord shall
smite thee with consumption, and with a fever, and with inflammation,
and with extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting,
and with mildew, and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. and thy heaven that is over thy
head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall
be iron. The Lord shall make the rain
of thy land powder and dust. from heaven shall it come upon
thee, until thou be destroyed." We have here a warning to the
nation of Israel that this text can also be applied to every
lost man and woman. When the scriptures tell us that
God is angry with the wicked every day, it means much more
than he's just mad at them. It implies that the died have
been cast, And it is only a matter of time before the wrath of God
is manifested in eternal damnation. In the book of Nahum, chapter
1, we read a most vivid description of God's fury. Nahum, chapter
1. God is jealous. and the Lord
revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord
is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit
the wicked. The Lord has his way in the whirlwind
and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He
rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers,
Dacian languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and
the hills melt, the earth is burned at his presence, yea,
the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
his indignation, and who can abide in the fierceness of his
anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by Him. Who can abide the fierceness
of His wrath? John 3.36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not on
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The lost sinner is standing on
the gallows with a noose already around his neck and the hangman's
hand is already on the handle of the trapdoor. The lost sinner's
head is presently on the chopping block and the executioner's axe
is already raised and ready to fall. The lost sinner is standing
blindfolded in front of the firing squad and the riflemen have cocked
their guns and taken aim at his heart The lost sinner is already
strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber with the IV
stuck in his veins, waiting for the poison to be administered
that will end his life. I'm saying all that to say this,
the lost sinner outside of Christ does not realize that all that
separates him or her from this life and a life of unimaginable
suffering is a single heartbeat. One single breath, the warning
for the wrath of God, clings to him like the very skin that
surrounds our body. It is ever present, waiting to
be set in motion by a God who will by no means clear the guilty.
One of the old Puritans once said, if there be justice in
heaven or fire in hell, sinners shall not go unpunished. In 2
Peter, turn there with me please. In 2 Peter, we have a description of the
natural man before God bestowed mercy. 2 Peter chapter 2. We begin reading in verse 12. But
these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed,
speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall
utterly perish in their own corruptions, and shall receive the reward
of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in
the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes,
sporting themselves in their own deceivings, while they feast
with you, having eyes full of adultery, and they cannot cease
from sin, beguiling unstable souls, At heart they have exercised
with covetous practices, cursed children, which have forsaken
the right way and have gone astray following the way of Balaam,
the son of Bosa, who loveth the wages of unrighteousness. And
in Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 and 10, Paul tells us and gives
us a similar description of the state of natural man. And He
tells us, after listing those things, and such were some of
you, but God who is rich in mercy hath quickened us together with
Christ, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ. Now
first, Christ a blessing. In Matthew 1, we read how the
angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him,
for that which is conceived in her, in Mary, is of the Holy
Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And a similar text is found in
Luke 1, and it says, and the angel said unto her, unto Mary,
fear not, Mary, For thou hast found favor with God, and, behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and he shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom shall have no end. And one other text. Turn with
me to the book of Luke. Luke chapter 2, speaking of Christ
the blessing. Luke chapter 2, we begin reading
in verse 25. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, he took Him up in his
arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation. which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed him,
and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Yea, the sword shall pierce through
thine own soul also, and the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. But in each of the Gospels we
read of Christ becoming a blessing, but we also read of him becoming
a curse, to be crucified on a Roman tree, a cross. Now it's extremely
important to note that Christ was made a curse. Not because
of anything He did or was, but because of what we are, what
we do, was He cursed. Christ was no curse in Himself.
We're told that He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. But
because He was willing to take on Him all the sins, of his elect
people, he became cursed of God the Father. When Darwin threw
it with your last, we were discussing the text in Romans 9 where Paul
says that he could wish himself accursed for his kinsmen, his
brethren, according to the flesh. We talked about that and discussed
how we would gladly give our lives for those we love, for
those that are our children, our parents, our spouses. our
brothers, sisters. But he and I both admitted that
if we were to look into the pit of the damned, that no one would willingly take
the place of another. And yet our blessed advocate,
knowing what he would suffer in our stead, stood in our place
and endured unimaginable sufferings on our behalf, at the hand of
the Father, suffering all the punishment that was due His elect
people, that they would have suffered for eternity. And He knew what He was about
to endure. This is why we read that He prayed to the Father,
Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless,
not My will, but Thine be done. He said to His disciples in Matthew
26-38, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. We also find
those same words spoken by Him in Matthew 14-34. My soul is
overwhelmed to the point of death beyond sorrow. This word used here for sorrow
in the ancient Greek is a very uncommon word, and it is only
used these two places in the entire New Testament. Our Lord
began to experience a sorrow that's beyond our comprehension. Most of us, I think, sitting
here today have experienced grief and sorrow at the loss of a loved
one. We know what it's like to have
a broken heart. We know what it's like to have
an empty feeling inside us. I remember reading a story about
30 or more years ago about a man in Lexington who lost his wife,
his daughter, and his granddaughter in a car wreck on Christmas Day. And I remember thinking, how
does a person survive that much sorrow, that much grief? Years
ago, my first cousin and his son both drowned on Father's Day. They were out
kayaking in the Licking River near Cynthiana. And I recall
his funeral and how his wife displayed unimaginable grief,
burying her son and her husband. And another tragedy that has
stuck with me over the years, David, being a Navy man, you're
no doubt familiar with this. There were five brothers, Sullivan
brothers, who were all serving on the same ship in World War
II, the USS Juno, and that ship was sunk by a Japanese torpedo.
And you can try to imagine the depth of the grief and the sorrow
that those young men's parents suffered knowing that all five
of their sons were gone. And yet those instances of sorrow,
those instances that we know personally cannot be compared
to the sorrow that our Savior endured when He began that he
made sin. It's no wonder that we read that
he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Acquainted. Grief was his constant companion. The Scriptures tell us that he
sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. I've read accounts
of this. And they say that the only way
that can happen is if so much pressure is exerted on a part
of the body. If you were to stick your hand
in a press or a vice and squeeze that hand until the blood was
squeezed out of the veins through the pores of the skin, that's
what our Savior suffered as He began to be made sin. The pain
and the suffering that He endured on our behalf would have killed
the strongest man who ever lived. Scripture tells us that he, being
in an agony, sweat great drops of blood. This word agony means
intense pain of the mind or body. But as horrible as that is, our
Lord experienced much more than that. He was in an agony of His
very soul, the very core of His being. Had He not been the very
God-man, He could not have endured these sufferings. He, knowing that His very soul
was soon to be made an offering for sin, was crushed by that
thought. Luke tells us in chapter 22,
verse 43, that there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven,
strengthening Him, sustaining Him from dying before He could
be nailed to the tree and be crucified. It is in any wonder
That we read in Lamentations 112, Is it nothing to you, all
ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me. We're with the Lord. hath afflicted
me in the day of his fierce wrath." There was never such a concentration
of God's wrath in one place or upon one person as there was
on that day when our Father's ire with its full force fell
upon the Savior. It was as if all the oceans of
God's fierce wrath that was due His elect people were condensed
into one man. When individual sinners die,
there is a pouring out of God wrath for that particular sinner's
transgressions. But on this day, all of God's
fierce wrath, which was due for the sins of a number that no
man can number, was placed on one man, our Lord Jesus Christ. The word fierce means hostile
and violent, ferocious, extremely powerful, and destructive. It was as if all the world's
oceans of wrath were concentrated into a cup, and our Lord was
made to drink that cup of wrath. Is it any wonder that He cried
out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? For untold
billions of years, our Savior had enjoyed unbroken fellowship
in the presence of the Father. But now, there is a separation
of the most painful sorts that can be imagined. And our imagination
is so limited by our actual experience, even though it's experience of
our deepest sorrow, that we cannot begin to scratch the surface
of the depth of the suffering of Christ on our behalf. Martin Luther said that Christ
died as the greatest sinner who ever lived. And in one sense,
that is true, but we need to be careful with such a statement
and understand that Christ had no personal sin. He could not
sin. Therefore, He could not become
an actual sinner. C. H. Spurgeon said of that statement
by Luther that it was an overstep of words If he meant that Christ
became a sinner, that was not possible. But we read in Isaiah
how He could be looked upon as the greatest sinner in the eyes
of God's holy law because it tells us the Lord hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all. In Leviticus chapter 16, we see
a picture of the scapegoat. Leviticus 16. This is a picture of the sense
of God's people being laid on Christ. In Leviticus 16 verse
20, speaking of Aaron, it says, And
when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle
of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live
goat And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of a
live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all the iniquities unto a land not inhabited, and He shall let
go the goat in the wilderness. Therein the high priest confessed
the sins of the people and laid them on the head of the scapegoat. They were imputed to the scapegoat
and He carried them away, never to be seen again. Isaiah tells
us He had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. The same Scripture in Isaiah
tells us that it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He had put
him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, He shall see His seed. He shall
prolong His days. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in His hand." I've contemplated that text for years. And I cannot comprehend what
it means that the soul of God Himself was made an offering.
An offering for our sin. Christ knew no sin, and yet,
in 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us, for He hath made Him to be
sin for us. He who knew no sin was made sin. Why was that? That we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. It's astonishing to me
to realize that the Son of God has something in common with
the damned in hell. And yet He does. They both know firsthand what
it is to suffer the undiluted fury of a holy God. As a result of being found guilty
before the law of God, Now to my last point, we see
again Christ a blessing. Galatians 3.14 tells us the result
of Christ becoming a curse. That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles. But what is this blessing of
Abraham? He spoke of this when he held the infant Jesus in his
arms. That Scripture that I just read a few minutes ago. He declares,
Lord, now let us all Thy servant depart in peace according to
Thy Word. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou
hast prepared before the face of all people to lighten the
Gentiles and the glory of Thy people. And Joseph and his mother
marveled at those things which were spoken of him. One reason I think they marvel
was because up to this point, the only nation that was blessed
of God was the nation of Israel. All other Gentile nations were
under the curse of God. But Simeon declares that the
very child that he's holding in his hands would be a light
to lighten the Gentiles. Let's look at a couple passages
and clarify what this blessing of Abraham is that is spoken
of here. over in the book of Genesis,
this blessing of Abraham that was to come upon the Gentiles.
Genesis chapter 12, verse 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee. And in
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Now, turn over
to chapter 17 of Genesis. Genesis 17. We're looking at
what this blessing of Abraham is. Genesis 17, verse 1, And
when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto
Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before
me and be thou perfect. and I will make my covenant between
me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.' And Abram
fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me,
behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of
many nations. Neither shalt thy name any more
be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father
of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly
fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come
out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee,
and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting
covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger.
and all the land of Canaan for our everlasting possession, and
I will be your God. As God gave Abram a new name,
Abraham, so he does for us. In Isaiah 62, 1-4, we read about
how God gives us a new name. Isaiah 62. beginning in Isaiah 62, verse
1. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the
righteousness thereof go forth in brightness, and the salvation
thereof is a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all the kings thy glory, and thou shalt be
called a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.
Thou shalt also have a crown of glory, or be a crown of glory
in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of
thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate.
For thou shalt be called Hezabah, and thy land Beulah. For the
Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married." We're no longer called forsaken
like that infant in Ezekiel 16. Turn there with me. Ezekiel 16. We were at one time forsaken,
cast out. And this is a description of
our state, our unregenerated state. before God showed us mercy. Ezekiel 16, we'll read the first
14 verses. Again, the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, call Jerusalem to know her abominations,
and thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, and
thy mother a Hittite. And as for thine nativity, in
the day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was
thou washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at
all, nor swaddled at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon me, but
thou was cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy
person in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when
thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen
great. And now art come to excellent
ornaments, thy breast are fashioned, and thy hair is grown, whereas
thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and
looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness, yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. Then washed I thee with water,
yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered
work, and shod thee with bagger skins, and I girded thee about
with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee
also with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and
a chain on thy neck, and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and
earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head. Thus was
thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen
and silk and broided work. Thou didst eat fine flour and
honey and oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou
didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness,
which I had put on thee, saith the Lord God." What a beautiful
picture of what our God does for lost sinners. He finds us
polluted, vile, wretched, lost, dying, and He says to us, live. Because Christ had died, yea,
rather He had risen again, We now have a new name, a new father,
a new inheritance, a new home for eternity. We are indeed new
creatures. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things become new. Turn it over with me please to
Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23 verses 5 and 6. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name whereby
He shall be called the Lord, our righteousness." Now flip
over a few pages to Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33, verses 15 and 16. In those days, and at that time,
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this
is the name whereby she shall be called the Lord of Righteousness. We have the same name as Christ
because by imputation, we have the same righteousness as Christ.
Now we have all this because our Lord was willing to be made
a curse. Not to any lost men or women
that might be sitting here today or listening over the streaming. As the Lord laid before Israel
a blessing and a curse that I read earlier, So I lay before you
this day a blessing and a curse. Fall at the feet of Christ and
beg for mercy. He promises that he that cometh
unto me I will in no wise cast out. Our God delights to show
mercy. He finds no satisfaction whatsoever. in the death of the wicked. Luke
15, 10 tells us that even the angels in heaven rejoice over
one sinner that turns to Christ for forgiveness. But there is
also laid before us this day a curse. Continue in your rebellion, and you will surely be damned. continue in your hatred of God
and His sovereign rule, and you will surely perish forever. But
know this, if God chooses to show you mercy, and it's 100%
His choice, it is because of no merit or good that He ever
saw in you, but because of the sacrifice of Christ on your behalf,
because Christ was willing to be made a curse. And know this
also, that if you perish forever under the unimaginable wrath
of a holy God, it will be the result of your obstinate rebellion.
And the very God that you now despise, you will despise for
eternity. The very mercy that you curse,
you will curse for eternity. Christ warned us, I tell you,
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And as Paul
implored the Corinthians, I implore you today, we pray you in Christ's
stead, be you reconciled to God. And I'll ask in closing the question
found in Ezekiel 33.11. As I live, saith the Lord, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked
turn from his evil way and live. Turn you. Turn you from your
evil ways. For why will you die, O house
of Israel? Why will you die a lost sinner
when Christ stands ready to save? Jimmy, come and lead us in a
song, please.