Go ahead, Tim. Thank you, brother. Yeah, Drew and I were talking
today when we first met. We were the young pups. Often sitting at the feet of
men like Henry Mahan, Scott Richardson, Jack. Those men taught us a lot. But
now the hoary hairs are upon our heads, and we're the old
guys. Thank God that God has called
some young men to step in when we're gone, because we're just
blips on the radar. Ain't nothing to us. The gospel
will go on when we're long gone, until Christ comes again. Thank
you, Dave, for reading that lengthy portion of Scripture. Dave's special to me. I remember a night many years
ago I preached a message that got me in trouble with a lot
of folks. Got you in trouble with a lot of folks too, didn't
it? The Lord saved Dave out of a charismatic movement. But I'm
telling you right, he taught me how to speak in tongues. You
remember that? Tie my tie, tie my bow tie. You
remember that? We've had some good times over
the years. Good to see Larry Brown, who's doing all the publishing
of these works. I appreciate it. Larry and I
have a lot in common. We were just comparing bloody
marks on our skin because our skin's so thin now that we'd
bump into something and we'd bleed underneath. It's a delight
to see you all again. See your faces, be among you. I drew a Melinda's house again.
See the cats and the birds. I'm thankful. The title of my
message is 9 AM to 3 PM. Because what David just read
took place between 9 AM and 3 PM. Paul the Apostle said in 1 Corinthians
2, I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Now he was determined, but that's
a state of being. He said, I've chosen this. This is what I'm determined to
do, to preach Christ and Him crucified. In another place,
in Galatians 6, he said, God forbid that I should glory saving
the cross of Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto
Me and I am crucified unto the world. What has just been read
in your hearing is a glorious Thee, glorious event. I am just thinking of the words
of Judas as he returned the thirty pieces of silver to the legalists
who Thought it was okay within the law to betray Christ for
30 pieces of silver, but couldn't take the 30 pieces of silver
back because it was against the law. But Judas didn't say, I
betrayed innocent blood. He said, I betrayed, and I just
saw this tonight, THE innocent blood. The only innocent blood
that ever lived upon the topside of God's earth was his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he just read of a glorious
event, that evidently was a spectacle to those who had the stomach
to sit down and watch the Lord Jesus Christ as He hung in agonies
and blood on the cruel cross. It said some soldiers sat down
and watched Him there. Many in religion today think
they look at the scene of the cross as they over the sanitized
versions painted by men who found a way to market the event Whether
with paint or press or whittling knife, they've made crosses and
crucifixes a common way for folks to think that they see Christ
in the events of the cross. Those who have such things and
desire such things and wear such things or display such things
prove that they are ignorant of the stupendous portent of
this event. that happened some 2,000 years
ago, and they neither understand nor perceive what went on between
9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on that day when the
King of Kings, the King of all Kings, allowed Himself to be
manhandled and then in perfect obedience offered Himself a sacrifice
to God the Father, the Judge of all the earth. It has been
said, and rightly so, that the three areas of Scripture that
men and women are most ignorant of is what happened in the fall,
what happens when God saves a sinner, and what happened on the cross
of Calvary. It says these soldiers were watching
Him just moments before they treated our Lord with such malicious
cruelty. They were not there to learn
of Christ. They were unable to stop and consider what great
thing was happening in this short period of time right before their
eyes. In just a few swings of the clock's pendulum, God will
hang an ebony drape over the sun. He'll hide the day star
and these who've gathered here to sit and leer and laugh and
mock will miss altogether the wondrous magnitude of what, in
a blip of time, will alter the universe of men. The darkness
that will cloak their eyes is no match for the darkness that
permeates their minds and covers their hearts and souls. That
which transpires these few hours cannot be received by sight,
for no man has seen with the eye what transpired in that darkness.
It is only by the Scriptures and by God-given faith, believing
the Scriptures, that someone may get a hint of what went on
there. When Christ the Mighty Maker
died, for man the creature's sin, man didn't kill Him, though
He wanted to. It says that these priests wanted
to destroy Him. God didn't kill Him. He died
of His own volition and power. How can that be? Life. He who is life died. Died. He came out on the other side
of that punishment that God poured out in those dark three hours
and said, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And then
with a loud voice He cried, It is finished. And redemption was
done all together. They watched Him there. That's
the report. The absence of illumination intimates
that they did what they did as a matter of course. It was probably
like a public hanging used to be in this land when somebody
was publicly hung. They didn't have TVs and radios
and record players, so it was a gathering. They got together
and watched people die. That's probably what was going
on here. These soldiers saw nothing that
they considered to be astonishing or of great value or of any importance. We heard nothing from them until
all the graves started to open and dead men started walking
around and they felt earthquakes beneath their feet and heard
the splitting of rocks. Now they were astounded at a
visual display of earthly power that they couldn't imagine could
take place, but they could feel it and they could see it. But
that has nothing to do with faith. But they proclaimed that Christ
was surely the Son of God because all this was taking place. But
many have said such things about Christ without any understanding
of what went on in Calvary. What do you see here? Do you
see a martyr? Some self-help guru? Some failure who gave it his
best shot? Some philosophical fellow who
spouted mottos to adorn your walls? Someone trying to do some
good thing, really wanting to make some kind of religious point?
Our Lord asked the Pharisees, what think ye of Christ? What
think ye of Christ? That's a question that you need
to consider. One man said they can't hang
you for your thoughts. You think wrong about Him, you're
in for a surprise. God will hang you for your thoughts
if they're wrong about Jesus Christ. There's nothing more
important in the whole world to you and to me, and to grasp
what transpired on Golgotha. Nothing more important. Do you know that even if you
have no true interest in Christ, that He, as your despot, has
bought you has bought you as your despot. It says so in 1
Peter. They deny the Lord that bought them. You say, well, has
He bought them in redemption? No, He bought them as the despot,
as the King of kings. He owns and operates all things
and manipulates all things according to His good pleasure. You are
His. I am His. All that walk the streets of
Missouri are His. All that walk the mountains of
North Carolina are His. And He will do with them as He
sees fit. And He will use them. And He
will use them for the good of His children and for the glory
of His name's sake. Everybody gets used. You see,
in God's economy, there's no unemployment. Zero unemployment
in God's economy. Everybody's got a job. Everybody's
got a purpose. They're going to fulfill their
purpose. Just as these who are crying in the courtyard, crucify
Him. Crucify Him. Let His blood be
on our heads and the heads of our children. They're crying
now. Why are they crying it? Because those words from all
eternity have been ordained to leave their mouth and pass their
tongue and say it. For this same group it is said
in Acts 4 that against thy holy child Jesus the Pontius Pilate
and the Jews and Herod gathered together for to do whatsoever
God had foreordained to be done. The first time the word proorizo,
predestination, is used in the New Testament. to do? Well, they were acting
ugly, yeah. They were full of hate and venom,
absolutely. They wanted to kill Christ and
get rid of Him, absolutely. Why? Because that's how you and
I are going to be saved. That's what God is using and
manipulating and moving and gathering and herding people in like little
doggies to do His pleasure. Because He's God. And we need
to realize we're not, but as the despot He bought us. God loves His Son. The Father
loves His Son. He's put all things in His hands. He's given Him authority over
all flesh that He might give eternal life to as many as God
has given in. For to this end Christ both died,
rose, and resurrected, and revived, that He might be the Lord of
the living and of the dead. And if you know Him, if you know
Him, it's because at Calvary He bought you, not as despot,
but as kurios, the Lord. He bought you, and paid for you,
and redeemed you by His blood, and imputed the righteousness
of God to you. Indeed was made by God to be
your righteousness. And your only righteousness is
Jesus Christ. God has made Him to be unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And even now
He lives in intercessory glory and will soon deliver you from
this present evil world to a state of eternal joy and bliss because
of what happened between 9 a.m. and 3 a.m. 2,000 years ago. These
hours These few hours in the realm
of human history so easily viewed by those who sit and watch are
in fact the hinge pin of all history. This is His hour. This
is His hour, it says in John 12. This is my hour. He said,
Lord, glorify me. He said, I have glorified you
and I'm going to continue to glorify you. He spake of the
death. She said, die. Everything that
happened in time and eternity before Calvary is about Calvary. Everything that happened and
shall happen in time and eternity after Calvary is about Calvary. Get it in your head. You are
about Calvary. Your life, your death, your existence,
Your job, your thoughts, your deeds, your actions, your heart
and your mind are all about those few hours that our Lord spent
on the cross. This is the center of the universe. This is it. Everything's about
this. Look at your watch. What time
is it? What year is it? It's the year of our Lord. The
year of our Lord. Everything's about Him. Everything's
about these three hours. If you live in grace, it's about
Christ, the Christ of the cross. If you live in rebellion and
unbelief, it's about the Christ of the cross. Everything hangs
here and turns here. This is the hinge. This is the
axle. This is the pivot. This is the
nail in a sure place. This is history. This is eternity. This is time and tide. This is
the universe and earth and all that dwell therein. They all
have to do with these few hours on the cross. All of it has to
do with that. All of it. In John 19, there
is a word which summarily defines what took place on Calvary. The
Word does not list all that took place, but declares something
about what took place. As to its primary result, in
John 19, in verse 27 and verse 30, a single Greek word is translated
three different ways. It is translated accomplished,
Fulfilled and then with three words it is finished This word is also translated
in another place in Hebrews and in another way in Hebrews chapter
10 in verse 4 the Greek word it means perfect Perfect and
refers to the perfection in the sense of being completed and
finished and accomplished and made to be perfect What a thing! The Word in John 19 and translated
accomplished and fulfilled. The Word is used in verse 30
and translated as finished. And the Word is used in Hebrews
10 in reference to the estate of all those for whom Christ
suffered and died. They have been perfected. What a thing! By the blood of Christ. Perfected. I'm looking out at a bunch of
perfect people. I am. You say, no, not me preacher. Oh yes. If you're trusting Christ,
if Christ has bought you and paid for you before God right
now, there ain't no spot, there ain't no blemish, there ain't
no wrinkle, ain't any such thing. The holy, righteous spotlight
of God's law can search you from top to bottom and can find no
one thing to accuse you of. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Why? Because in those few hours
on Calvary Street, He fulfilled the law. He accomplished salvation
and finished it. Finished it. Do you see anything
less than absolute success in plan, purpose, and consummation
concerning Calvary than you don't see Calvary at all? There is
no sense ever in all of holy writ that what Christ did on
Calvary may be seen, viewed, or construed as anything other
than a perfect thing, an immaculate accomplishment of precisely what
was intended to be done. It is done. D-O-N-E, done. Accomplished. Finished. Perfected. Fulfilled. Done. To what may
we apply this declaration? Done. His name. I shall call
His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. Done. Done. He came to seek and save
that which was lost. Make God just to save sinners
by His propitiatory work. Done. Justify His people. Done. Glorify His people. Glorify
God. Done. Make His people righteous. Done. Glorify His people. Done. Sanctify His people. Done. All the prophecies and types
and pictures and shadows of the Old Testament. Deo ini done. The eternal purpose of God and
redemption. Done. The Father's love for His people
and for His children. Done. God's hatred for sin. Done. Full and eternal redemption.
Done. The full declaration of God's character and attributes.
Here. Fully done. Right here on Calvary. holiness,
righteousness, justice, mercy, grace, and love, all taken care.
Here, mercy and truth have kissed each other. There on Calvary Street. All
I need to preach. That's it. I don't need to preach
anything else. I don't care where I come from,
where I started, this is where I end up. As every true gospel
preacher does, the full declaration of God's character and attributes.
All I need to preach concerning what men call practicality. You
know, they say, well, you're a doctrinal preacher, but you
need to preach practical stuff. Well, here's some practical stuff. Would I preach humility? Let's
go to these three hours to our Lord and say, Father, forgive
them, for they don't know what they're doing. They don't know
what they're doing. Would I preach obedience? He
was obedient even to the death of the cross. Would I preach selflessness?
He is the free gift of God and God with Him is freely giving
us all things in Christ. Would I preach love? Paul said to the Ephesian church,
it is like a sweet-smelling savor unto God. We are to love each
other as Christ has loved us. and gave Himself for us as a
sweet-spelling savor. That language is from the Old
Testament. That's the burning of the fat.
That's the burning of the fat. That's what smells good when
you're cooking, don't it? I fried up some bacon this morning. It
smelled good, didn't it? I fried it up. Why? Because that
bacon got fat, and it's fat that brings up that smoke. You can
cook a piece of meat without fat, and it smells fine, but
you got fat on it, The fat belongeth to the Lord. Why? Because that
smoke goes up to heaven in a sweet-smelling savor, picturing the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, for you to love
one another is like a sweet-smelling savor of Christ. Would I preach
love? That's how I'm going to do it.
Would I preach forgiveness? How do I preach forgiveness? According
to Colossians, the elect of God, they have bowels of mercy and
kindness. They all have them. The elective God ought to exist
as the elective God. This is what they have. And they
forgive one another even as Christ has forgiven them. This is the
basis for everything. He is it. He is all of it. Would
I preach forgiveness? That's how I do it. Would I preach
giving? He gave Himself. Would I preach true love? What
is true love? Hereby perceive we the love of
God that He laid down His life for us. Then we ought to lay
down our life for one another. What does that mean? That we
are to commit suicide so we can tell each other we love each
other? No, that's not what it's talking about. If my brothers and sisters in
need and I have the wherewithal to help them and do not help
them, how does the love of God dwell in me? That's what it says. 1 John chapter 3 verse 16 through
18. This is where it's at. 2,000
years later we stand in a little place in Missouri. Who knows about this place? People driving by, they don't
know about this place. They don't know about none of
you. But you know what? Before the world was, God wrote
your names in a book. In a book. God's Lamb's Book
of Life before the world was. You've always been known. You've
always been loved. And that was proven and accomplished. Because you see, love accomplishes. It's not an affection, it's an
action. And love was accomplished between 9 a.m. and 3 a.m. 2,000
years ago. on a hill that looked like a
skull, called Gotha, accomplished by Jesus Christ, who indeed is
the King of the Jews. Who are the Jews? He is not a
Jew who is one outwardly, but one who is inwardly, whose circumcision
is the heart and not of the flesh, whose praise is of God and not
of men. I'm looking at a bunch of Jewish, perfect, kings and
priests right here tonight because of what he did on Calvary. God
bless you brother.