Rex, thank you very much. I appreciate
the way you put that. You don't realize how you hit
the nail on the head. That's what I want to do, brag
on Christ. That's exactly what I want to
do. Would you pray? That's the best
thing for me. That's what I'm supposed to do,
and that's the best thing for you to hear. If God enables me to
brag on our glorious Redeemer, and there's plenty there to brag
about, isn't there, would you turn to Luke's Gospel, Chapter
18? that song Ruth just sang. I've
done the very thing that she sang in the first verse in vain,
in vain. I've strived to think about,
visualize what it'll be like, what it's been like for those,
our dear brethren, dear brethren, in Christ that God has called
home, what it'll be like when my time comes. I've tried to
visualize that. I think a lot about it. I think
we should think about it. Oh, but as Ruth's saying, so
much of that Consideration is just vain. It's vain. But I can only imagine, maybe
that's the best way to put it, what it's going to be like when
I'm closing my eyes to this world and everything in it. And I'm
stepping in to eternity, and Jesus Christ is going to take
my hand and lead me home. Wow. Wow. I'm looking forward
to that. I'm looking forward to that,
aren't you? Just let me say before I read a few verses here in Luke
18, it's been an honor. It always is. I told the brethren
in the back that I was here for 20 years, and it's just good
memories back there. The prayer, the reading, the
fellowship prior to that is always a blessed memory of mine, and
the same thing out here. What blessed memories. How sweet,
the psalmist said, how sweet, how pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. It's a sight. It's a glorious
sight. Okay, here in Luke's Gospel,
chapter 18, I want to read just four verses, beginning at verse 31. The first word there in verse
31 is then. This that we read up here, what
our Lord said when He said it, then, was not many days, before
he went to Calvary. Not many days from this moment,
it was then. Then, for which the world was
created, that hour that the Son of Man should lay down His life
for His sheep. Why? When the fullness of the
time was come, God sent Him into this world then. that was soon
to happen. Then he took unto him the twelve,
and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall
be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spitted on. And they shall scourge him, and
put him to death, And the third day he shall rise again." Verse
34, there's a message there, isn't there, in these words. As amazing as it is, we read,
and they, his disciples, the twelve, understood none of these
things. And this saying was hid from
them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." Their concept
of a Messiah just did not include a suffering Messiah. That wasn't
their concept. It would be corrected after the
Lord's resurrection, but even when He spoke here and many other
places, in all four Gospels, they just were clueless. The lesson is, It's not what
you know, it's who you know. They knew him. They knew him,
though they seemed to know very little about the mission of the
Son of Man. In 1969, most of us will remember what
I'm about to say that happened in that year. That's 52 years
ago. I was just 18 years old, Rex.
And you were about that age too, weren't you? So except for the
exception of maybe two or three, maybe two, I'm looking around. Most of us can recollect what
happened. On July the 20th, 1969, that's
when three men orbited the moon, landed on the moon, And one man
stepped out. It was watched by 600 million
people around the world. That was something. You remember
that? That's when we were in that race with Russia to put
a man on the moon before they did. And we succeeded. The Eagle has landed, and Neil
Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the moon. You
remember that? You remember that? If you do,
you remember how proud you were to be an American, didn't you? Man, that's something. That's
something. A man on the moon. And the reason
we were proud and took pride in that is because those astronauts
represented us. They were citizens of the United
States of America just like us. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
when you read these words, as we did a moment ago, and you
hear the captain of our salvation say without a doubt that all
things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of
Man, verse 31, which is our text, shall be accomplished. Accomplished. Say it again. Accomplished. Not attempted. I don't know what
an attempt would be worth. I attempt a lot of things and
it ends in failure. Our Lord didn't speak of something
being attempted. These great and glorious things
that all the prophets foretold about concerning the Son of Man,
He said every one of them shall be accomplished. As a believer, you know that
He was representing you. He was representing you. He was
your substitute. He was your representative. Even
now, the writer in Hebrews 9 tells us, even now He appears in the
presence of God for us. Knowing that this is so, Does
his words not make you want to sing? Oh, down at the cross where
my Savior died. Down where for cleansing from
sin I cried. There to my heart was the blood
applied. Glory, glory to his name. Let's brag on him. He represented
us. No wonder the Apostle Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory. Save him the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. When you hear the One, the Lord
Jesus Christ, into whose hands God committed all His people,
that's exactly right, and who He commissioned to put away all
their sins, that was the work of our substitute. And to bring
in an everlasting righteousness, to satisfy God's holy law, and
these things I'm mentioning are not child's play. These are monumental
things. These are things that we yet
don't have much of a grasp on. We rejoice in them, we bow to
them, we believe them, and we thank God for them. Oh, but not
until we get the glory and see Him with an unsinning heart will
we really understand and have a greater appreciation for them. But He came to satisfy God's
holy law and to be our surety. He became responsible to God
for them. God committed all of his people
into the hands of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ agreed, in the
fullness of time, that he would come, being sent by God, and
do everything, accomplish everything necessary to bring them all back
to glory. That's what he's talking about
here. God committed them into his hands. That's why he says he would fulfill
all things, not some things that won't do, that wouldn't get it
done. but fulfill all things on our behalf." When you hear
him say, when you read those words, and you hear him say,
knowing what he's speaking of, shortly after this, he would
go to Calvary. He was speaking of being made
sin, doing whatever was necessary, whatever God Almighty required. When you hear him say, it'll
be accomplished. It'll be accomplished. Aren't you proud of Him? Aren't
you proud of Him? And aren't you thankful? Oh,
child of God, aren't you thankful? Jesus Christ tells His followers,
mission accomplished. Accomplished. This is what one
of those prophets that our Lord just spoke about said in Isaiah
chapter 40. You know these verses very well.
This is the pre-incarnate Son of God, before the Word from
eternity, that Word that was made flesh that just spoke in
Luke 18. This is Him speaking 700 years
or so before. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her. Lift up your voice. This is good
news, that her warfare is attempted. Oh no, that her warfare is accomplished
and her iniquity is pardoned. That's the captain of our salvation. What a glorious, glorious and
mighty Savior He is. It's no wonder that our text,
our Lord's words begin with the word, Behold. Behold. Don't rush by. Behold. Don't just give this careless
glance. Pitch ten here. Behold. Listen up. Our Lord is saying,
pay attention. He took these disciples aside
in private from the multitude. I've got something to tell you.
This is not for everybody. I'm telling you this. I'm telling
you this. This certainly merits a behold,
doesn't it? This great work of accomplishing,
obtaining the redemption of His people. I'm trying to seek for adjectives. How do you describe it? This
marvelous work of salvation, which is the Lord's doing, it
certainly deserves a behold. Don't rush by. This demands our
undivided attention. What the Lord is speaking of,
again, isn't just anything. This will determine This accomplishment
that he speaks of will determine whether God is able to justify
a sinner or not. As Brother Scott Richardson used
to say, and you heard him many times from right here, before
God can do anything for you, He's got to do something for
Himself. God must be absolutely just when
he justifies a sinner. There cannot be any infringement
upon his holy law or his just character. Because this will
decide that our Lord speaks of how a holy God can do that very
thing, justify a sinner. This is the only way there will
ever be There never was another before or since. This is the
only way there will ever be where mercy and truth can meet together
and righteousness and peace can kiss one another. It can't happen
any other way except here, this work that he speaks of. This
certainly demands a behold. Because our Lord speaks up here,
what he spoke up here could not be realized any other way. This
was a one and done accomplishment. Either accomplishment or failure.
There's no in-between. Either he succeeded or he failed. Either he put away the sins of
his people or he didn't. Either he redeemed his people
or he didn't. It wasn't an attempt. It was
either an accomplishment or it was a failure. And Christ said,
I'll accomplish it. I'll get the job done. And this was not something that
just anybody could do. No, no. Nobody else could. There was only one just God and
Savior. Just as our Lord, speaking on
another occasion to His disciples, said to them in answer to their
question, who then can be saved? Remember when they asked them
that? with that rich young ruler they seemed so impressed by,
and our Lord sent him away sorrowful because he wouldn't bow. Our
Lord sent him away, wouldn't give him a false hope. And they
said, who then can be saved? And he didn't say, well, that's
not a problem. That's easy. It's easy as ABC. No, that's what ignorant preachers
say. He said, with men, this salvation
is impossible. Impossible. I wish some of my
loved ones, Jim, you pray for your, would hear that and believe
it. They think it's easy. They think
it's easy as ABC. They think it's up to them, trotting
an owl, saying a sinner's prayer. Making a decision, going on your
way. Christ said, no, no. It's impossible. No matter what
I do, it was impossible. No matter how many religious
hoops of tradition I jumped through, it was impossible. I think I
mentioned this Sunday morning. I did everything I was told to
do, and it was impossible. Impossible. I did everything,
and these were religious folks instructing me, giving me directions. I did everything I was told to
do, and it was still impossible for me to be saved by myself,
my doing. Thank God, our Lord went on to
say, but not with God. Because through the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's only begotten son, He made the otherwise impossible
possible, didn't He? So great, so glorious, that it
could only be accomplished by the eternal God Himself being
made flesh, being made likened to His brethren, before He could
bring many sons to glory, He became a partaker of flesh like
them. That very fact, that consideration,
is a pretty strong indication of what a wondrous thing salvation
must be. If it required God Almighty,
if it required the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, the eternal Word of God by whom all things were made
that was made, if it required Him to come here and be made
flesh and tabernacle for a while among us, salvation must be a
monumental work that it could not be accomplished any other
way. Is that not so? I remember Silly, silly. I'm being nice, stupid really.
A little song was popular among religious folks many years ago,
but one verse of it said something to the effect, suppose God searched
over heaven and couldn't find somebody willing to be. The supreme
sacrifice, I don't remember the rest, that's not worth remembering.
That's absolute nonsense. There was no search over heaven.
It was purposed by God, before God created the heavens and the
earth, that only the line of the tribe of Judah should prevail. As the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, only He could undertake this great work and accomplish
it. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ said in this text. Everything the prophets talked
about, everything they foretold, and it was all about Him. He
said, shall be accomplished. This first shall here in our
text. Everything written, all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall
be accomplished. In verses 31, 32, and 33, there
are five shalls. And they were all fulfilled. But this last one in verse 33,
in the third day he shall rise again. Not if the first one wasn't
accomplished. Not if he didn't do everything
God sent him to do. No. Lord's resurrection from the
dead was God the Father's eternal amen, evidence, proof that he
was satisfied with the work of his Son. I mean, it's not without
good reason that they sing in heaven, worthy is the Lamb. They
don't sing that to a failure. They sing that one who accomplished
the salvation of his people. Behold him. Behold him. Would you pray that we would
do that this night? That's my first. I've got three,
just three divisions. I'll try to be brief. The first
one is, behold him. The second one is, behold him.
The second and the last one, behold him. Behold him again. It's true as our Lord says here
in verse 31, we go up to Jerusalem. And they did. They followed him
for a while until the mob came in the garden and they all forsook
him and fled. But for a while, this was so. We all go up to
Jerusalem. That includes them. But it's
only one that the prophets spoke about. It wasn't them. It wasn't the disciples. The
prophets didn't talk about them, didn't foretell about them. They
told about Him. The Word of God, one old Puritan
said, the Word of God is about God the Word. Remember after
our Lord had accomplished everything He spoke of here, everything
He meant here, He appeared to his disciples and he said, and
beginning at Moses and the prophets, he expounded unto them in the
scriptures the things concerning himself. These are the words,
he said, which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that
all things, I like that, all things must be fulfilled. John, come up here and I'll show
you some must-be things, things that must come to pass. Those
things which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. Yes, Christ said we go up
to Jerusalem, but it is Christ and Christ alone that will be
put to death. It is Christ, that same Christ,
that shall rise from the dead the third day. It's not about
Peter, it's not about James, it's not about John, it's not
about any other man, but the God-man, mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Only of Him. Only of him was
the prophet speaking when he said, again, Isaiah 63. You know this well. Who is this? There's two questions asked,
the first one in verse 1 of Isaiah 63. Who is this? Who could this
be? Who is this that cometh from
Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.
Who could that be? And the answer is this, I that
speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Now, who could that
be other than the Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to save unto
the uttermost every sinner that's ever came to Him? And there's
been a multitude that no man can number. And the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, continues to cleanse each and every one
of them from all sin. And his precious blood will never
lose its power. To all the ransomed church of
God be saved, the sin no more. Who else could it be? Wherefore,
the prophet went on to ask, wherefore art thou red in thine apparel,
and thy garments like him that credith in the wine fat? What's
caused your dripping in blood? Why? And here's the answer. The answer from him alone who
could claim to be that one. He says, I have tarded the wine
press alone, alone, single-handed redemption. I've tarded the wine
press alone, and of the people, there was none with me. Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior. He says in verse 5, I looked,
and there was none to help, none to help. I'm alone. I'm enduring this alone. I'm
trotting this winepress under the wrath of God alone. There's
nobody with me. Can you imagine? No, you can't. And I can't either. The loneliness
that the Son of God must have been enduring at that time. My
soul, there's never been such loneliness as that. The Son of
God, He who knew no sin, being made sin? Being made sin? God forsaking Him in holy, righteous
justice? He had to forsake Him when He
was made sin. He had to turn His back on Him.
Can you imagine? The darkness in his soul, did
that darkness, those three hours of darkness, was that symbolic? I suppose it was, but it wasn't
dark enough. It didn't represent the darkness
of soul, the soul anguish that he was then going through, and
he did it alone. There was none else could, none
else with him. In John chapter 18, verse 4. Just soon after the words here
as recorded in Luke, this happened. Jesus, therefore knowing all
things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto
them, them being that bloodthirsty mob and them self-righteous religions,
he said, Whom seek ye? Whom seek ye? They said, they
said, therefore, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. And you know the story, you know
it well. They fell to the ground. He asked them again, Whom seek
ye? They said again, Jesus of Nazareth. I've told you that
I am He. I don't know that there's a better
picture of substitution in the Word of God. The great shepherd
of the sheep is already standing out in front of his fearful disciples.
And he says, OK, I'm he. I'm he. If it's me you seek,
these have to go their way. Oh. And then, again in Luke's account,
we read in chapter 23, after he was drug from the garden,
He stands before Pilate the second time. He's beaten. He's mocked. He's whipped. He's ridiculed.
He's spit upon. His beard's plucked out. He said it not by Herod
and his band of soldiers. They just treat him with contempt.
He's not worth our notice. They said it not. Now he's back
at Pilate's hall. And this mob were instant with
loud voices requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices
of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence,
Luke 23, 24, that it should be as they required. They would
be satisfied with nothing less. And he released unto them him
that were sedition and murder. Barabbas was cast into prison,
whom they had desired. But he delivered Jesus to their
will, to their will. And what did this mighty will that people clamor for and uphold
at the expense of God's will and God's glory, what was this
Mighty will, free called will, what did it do? They crucified
Him, they killed the Son of God. But you know what? There was
a greater will than all those that day, than the religious
leaders that required the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that was God Almighty. God
willed, God required this concerning his son. It was God, not Pilate,
not Herod, not the chief priest, not the Sadducees, not the Pharisees. It was God Almighty who said,
awake, O sword! Awake, O sword! The sword of
my justice, my righteousness. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Oh, you mean the sheep? No, the
shepherd. The shepherd. He's responsible
for the sheep. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd
and against the man that is my fellow. Sayeth the Lord of hosts,
smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. I will turn
my hand upon the little ones. None of those that hated the
Son of God could do to Him what God Almighty Himself did. Is
that right? Isn't that so? They could mock
him, they could spit upon him, they could treat him with contempt
and spite, scourge him and so forth, but they could never do
this, make him to be seen. They couldn't do that. Only God
could do that. The hymn writer said, many hands
were raised to wound him, none would interpose to save, but
the awful stroke that found him was the stroke that justice gave. Our Lord said, prior to that,
I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straight until
it be accomplished? And when the hour was come, he
sat down with his 12 apostles and said, with desire have I
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. That
was the last one. That was the last Passover. Because
even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Behold him. Behold him. all through his life. Oh, that's not accurate. He was
just 33 years old or so, before he created the heavens
and the earth. In eternity past, I don't know
how else to describe it, the Son of God knew, as only He could,
what awaited Him. There was nothing in his cross,
in his passion, which he did not foresee distinctly, even
down to the very last detail, knowing all things. Remember
when he hung on the cross, John 18? Jesus, knowing all things
that should come upon him, said, I thirst. He tasted all the well-known
bitterness of anticipated suffering. You know, sometimes we often
worry about things that don't come to pass, and it's just the
anticipation of facing something that's almost as bad as the event
itself. The Son of God from all eternity
knew, knew, as only He could know, the cup which my Father
giveth me, shall I not drink it? If He doesn't drink it, we're
all going to hell. If he doesn't drink this cup
of God's mighty wrath, if he doesn't take the place of sinners,
if he doesn't satisfy divine justice, we're all going to hell. There's no hope for anyone. But
he did. He accomplished it. Isn't he
something? Isn't he something? Behold him. The prophet Daniel also spoke
of him when he said, 70 weeks are determined upon the people. and upon the holy city, to do
these four things, to finish the transgression, to make an
end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision, and to anoint
the most holy. Think about that. And concerning every one of those
things, I had some things to say on each of those four, but
I won't. But at the end of every one of
them, you can write, mission accomplished. Mission accomplished. He made an end of transgression,
an end of sin. He brought in an everlasting
righteousness forever, forever. He obtained our eternal redemption,
Hebrews 1 and 3. When he by himself purged our
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high."
That sounds like a complete accomplishment. It doesn't sound like an attempt.
As I said at the beginning, anyone can attempt anything. There's
an old cub cadet riding lawnmower sitting in my carport that I've
attempted to fix three times. Three times I told my wife, I'm
not paying somebody. I'm tired of paying people. Surely
I can do something. I don't have to pay everybody,
somebody to do everything. And I got on line wrecks. I found a part. I know it's the
right part. But I can't figure out where it goes. Three times
I made an attempt. Three times I've had to pay somebody
else to cut my grass. An attempt doesn't get it done,
does it? But the Son of God? makes reconciliation for iniquity,
brings in an everlasting righteousness, mission accomplished. And that
robe of perfect righteousness in which he clothes every one
of his sheep, every one that he redeemed, it'll never wear
out. It'll never fade. It'll never
lose its value, its merit, its luster. It'll never cease to
satisfy God Almighty. It'll always maintain its virtue,
its righteousness. To sum it all up, like the angel
said, he shall save his people from their sins. He got the job
done. Thank God. Remember when he said, come unto
me, in Matthew 11, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in spirit, and ye shall find
rest. You'll find rest unto your soul. That's what Jesus Christ gives,
rest. He gives believing sinners rest. Religion will wear you out. Religion
does like Pharaoh commanded the children of Israel to do, make
bricks without straw. Oh, no. Yeah, religion, it's
work, work, work. And it's never done. No rest. Because it's not the labor of
my hand that can fulfill God's law's demands. Could my zeal,
no respite, no, could my tears forever flow? These foreseen
will never atone. Thou must save the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou alone. Again, talking about the old
lawn mower. Before it broke down, it was
when it worked. Down in Alabama, we had these
pretty severe storms. In our backyard, we've got some
great pine trees. Every time there's a strong wind.
Boy, the next morning we go out and there's just limbs that just
stub all over the place. And I've got an old wagon. It's
got no motor on it. Man, we start loading them limbs
as much as it can possibly hold. And I tie it down with a bungee
cord and I start dragging it to the curb because the city
will pick it up, come by with a big truck and pick it up. It's
probably 75 or 100 yards from the backyard. And then when you
get near the highway, there's a little incline, only four feet. But by the time I get to that,
I am tuckered out. I am a huffing and a puffing.
We were doing this a few months ago. And Robin said, you know,
you know. And I've been doing this a lot.
I've been doing this for 10 years. And she said, you know you can
hook that wagon to the lawnmower, don't you? I mean, she's standing
right there, Jim. She's seen me out there. I don't
know how many times she's seen me with that rope and that old
wagon, and I'm a dragon. and I'm sweating and I'm fussing
and biting my tongue. And she said, you know you can
hook that wagon to the lawnmower and just drive that stuff up
there. I said, do what? I said, Robert, are you serious?
I ain't got over this yet. And she said, yeah. I said, you're
joking. She said, no, no. And sure enough, I did. Took
the hand off that wagon. Just pushed it against that moor,
dropped a little pin in, and away I went. Uptown Charlie Brown. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
it's not just when we try to appease God when he first gets
us lost. It's like struggling with that
wagon of our own righteousness and works. That's hard labor. That's hard labor. But even after
God saves us, we're so tempted to lean upon the arm of flesh,
aren't we? Oh, may God give us grace to
bring our burdens to the Lord and leave them there. May he
be pleased to enable us to do that again and again. He can bear them. Jesus Christ was prophesied of again in Isaiah,
and I'm done. When we read in chapter 53 of
Isaiah, he shall see of the travail, the labor, the labor of his soul,
and he'll be satisfied. Just as he said, he'll accomplish
it. Jesus Christ is our satisfied
emancipator, our liberator. Looking unto Jesus, the writer
saith, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the majesty on high,
the right hand of the throne of God. What possible joy, what
possible joy, Could it be, if after the Son of God endured
the things that He did, if He failed to see one for whom He
suffered, not with Him, in glory? By any stretch of the imagination,
how could it be true to say that He shall be satisfied? That would
be the very opposite of satisfaction. That would be not joy, but sorrow
and remorse and regret. That would be failure. That will
never be said of the captain of our salvation, will it? Wasn't
it Marvin Friday morning, that dear brother Lindsay's funeral?
Took as his text, Revelation 7 and 14. These are they that
came out. They all came out. They came
plum out, right up to the throne of grace. And the Son of God,
the captain of our salvation, will gather them around the throne
of God Almighty and say, Father, here they are, all those you
committed into my hands before the world was created. Here they
are. I bring them back to you. I present
them back to you without a spot, without a blemish, without any
such thing. And we're going to cast our crown
at his feet and say, worthy is the lamb. We'll brag on him then,
won't we? Amen. Glory to his name. Mission accomplished. God bless
you. Thank you for your attention.