I often try to find a reason
for the sad, pathetic state of what's called Christianity in
our day. I dare say that in this congregation,
very few of you know more than just a few people who would declare
that they are absolute unbelievers. that they're not Christians,
that they're lost. Most everybody we know, most
of our family, most of our friends are very religious. Most of them
go to church fairly regular. And yet it appears that their
faith in Christ, their faith in the Lord God, whatever it
is, it appears to have little, if any effect on their lives
at all. How come? How come? One reason I'm sure is that we
live in a generation of men and women, of religious hucksters,
who have conned people into making a profession of faith. We have
huge rallies and revival meetings and meetings in arenas and theaters
and we get folks to sing and we massage their minds and their
emotions and we get them to make a profession of faith and tell
them they're Christians and they don't have a clue what's happened
to them because nothing has happened to them. Nothing's happened to
them. Christianity, Christianity, faith
in Christ. never less than surrender of
my life to the Son of God as my Lord. Christianity, faith in Christ,
is never less than the surrender of my life to Jesus Christ my
God and my Lord. As God the Holy Ghost will enable
me, I wanna talk to you about my blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, crucified, risen and crowned. My text is Romans chapter
14 and verse nine. The title of my message, Crucified,
Risen, Crowned. Romans 14 verse nine. For to this end, That is, this
is the purpose for this. This was the intent. This was
the design. To this end, Christ both died
and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
and living. Here the Apostle Paul, writing
by divine inspiration, teaches us that the purpose of God in
the death of his son, the purpose of God in the death of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the purpose of Christ in laying down his life
at Calvary was the sovereign dominion of Jesus Christ as Lord. We read in Psalm 2. I have set
my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give
thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. I stand here today as God's messenger
to declare of Christ, He is Lord of all, both of the dead and
of the living. He is Lord of all. This is the
claim of the gospel. He who died at Calvary in the
place of sinners, rose again on the third day, triumphant
over death, hell and the grave, and descended to heaven as the
King of glory. And he is Lord of both the dead
and the living. Many, many years ago, 500 years
ago, a little more, Martin Luther stood against the current of
popular religion. In his day, papacy, the darkness
of papacy, was even more dominant in the world than it is today.
Luther stood face-to-face, toe-to-toe against the religion of his day
because of the stern conviction he had for the truth and glory
of God. Listen to what he said. If I
profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition of the
truth of God, except precisely that point which the world and
the devil are at that moment attacking, that I'm not confessing
Christ, however boldly I may be professing him. Where the
battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. And
to be steadily on the battlefront besides In any other place is
merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point where
the battle rages. Here are the places where the
battle rages today. This is the place where Babylon
is altogether opposed to God, his church, and his truth. This
is the place where both the religious world and the secular world oppose
God most vehemently. Watch the news networks. Most
all of them have some kind of religious expert and they talk
about religious things. If you listen to politicians,
liberal, conservative and otherwise, they all invoke God's name and
cry God bless America and praise religion. But at these points,
the whole religious world is in opposition. The whole world
enraged by any declaration of God's glorious sovereignty. Declare
to men that God rules and you could just as well spit in their
faces. all being everywhere are opposed vehemently to the declaration
of Christ's effectual atonement that Jesus Christ actually did
redeem his elect from their sins. They're opposed not to mercy,
but to omnipotent mercy, not to grace, but to irresistible
grace, because declaring Christ's effectual atonement and God's
Holy Spirit's irresistible grace takes away from man That which
he thinks is his most cherished honor, and that is his mighty
free will. And the whole world is absolutely
opposed to the sovereign, absolute lordship of Jesus Christ. Rebels are to be confronted,
confronted with the crown rights of the sovereign Christ. not
coddled and cajoled into letting Jesus have his way with them.
Preachers of this day bow and scrape and do everything they
can to make sinners feel good and coddle them and cajole them
and make them feel good about themselves so that they can get
them on their side, get them on Jesus' team. Sinners must
be confronted face to face. You must bow to the Son of God
or you're going to hell. People profess fervently their
faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. But at
the point of man's rebellion and the point of Satan's most
constant attack, they're silent. and thus their profession is
but an empty, cowardly form of religion. The point of man's
most obstinate rebellion and Satan's most furious attack is
the sovereign dominion of Christ. And that must be asserted over
and over and over again by any who are faithful to Christ in
this generation. He is Lord of all. Go to the
New Testament. You will find that the gospel
of God's glory has always been preached by faithful men with
a singular emphasis upon Christ's lordship. That is the fact that
he is Lord. The fact that he died on the
cross, no one questions. And no one questioned in their
day. They knew that. But Peter declared to those Jews
who had crucified him, Peter said to those men, He could have
said a lot of things, but this is what he said. He said, him
whom you crucified, that very same Jesus whom you nailed to
the tree, God has made Lord and Christ. What a confrontation. What a
confrontation. Well, Peter didn't know how to
get along. He knew how to get along. He found that in Pilate's
judgment hall. He knew very well how to get
along. All you have to do is deny the Savior. But he comes
down to these very men who crucified the Lord of glory, and he said,
God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ. The love of Christ no one ever
questioned. The issue was his sovereignty. His mercy and grace
was never questioned. but his right to show mercy to
whom he will and be gracious to whom he will, that was the
issue. Men and women are not being confronted
these days with the sovereign claims of Christ in the gospel.
Men are talked into quickly accepting Jesus as a savior as long as
we soft pedal his absolute authority over them. Nearly everyone claims
Jesus as their savior, but few bow before Jesus Christ, the
sovereign Lord. I was talking to a friend this
week, an older preacher. We're at the age where we're
concerned about who will come behind us. And a lot of preachers,
a lot of fellows who are gifted, capable, but they're not about
to commit themselves to the ministry because they want all of their
ducks in a row. They want everything lined up.
They want everything just the way they want. Now, now, now
I can do this. If that's the way a man goes
about the business of preaching, he'll never be used for anything. I was talking to Brother Todd
and I, but I said, there's something to be said for a young man called of God, just giving his
life to this work. He'll stumble and fall and make
a mess of a lot of things, but he'll learn along the way he's
committed to Christ, committed to the Lord. The problem, I lay
directly at the doorstep of preachers in this day. This is a day of
revivals that don't revive, evangelism that doesn't evangelize, and
salvation that doesn't save. And the cause isn't difficult
to find. The guilt is at the pulpit. The
modern pulpit seeks men to be sympathetic with the meek and
lowly Jesus, to sort of pity poor little Jesus. In the days
of the apostles, it was not so. In the days of our forefathers,
it was not so. Those bold giants authoritatively
declared the rights of the sovereign Christ over the souls of men.
This is what I declare to you today. You're in Christ's hands. It is his right and prerogative
to do with you and yours, with me and mine, whatever he will,
when he will, as he will. Read the promise again. If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, the Lord who
is Savior, The Lord who redeemed, the Lord who calls by his grace. If thou will confess with thy
mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Now the
long and short of our Lord's teaching is this. No surrender,
no salvation. No bowing, no mercy. You must bow to Christ the King
or you will never know the scepter of his righteousness, his grace,
and his truth. Our Lord said, for men come after
me. You want to be my disciple? Come
ahead. Pick up that cross that you're
under. Pick up that cross that you're under and get yourself
under it and come follow me. Well, I don't want that. Well,
stay where you are then. Stay where you are then, you're
not following me. Except the man take up my cross daily and
follow me. He cannot be my disciple. Today, men talk about accepting
Christ as Savior and then maybe somewhere down the line, somewhere
a long time, they may pretty please let Jesus be their Lord.
When they get old and can't do anything else, now I'll let Jesus
be Lord. That's the reason churches all
over this town, all over this county, all over this state,
all over this world are full, their membership roles are full
of people who don't know God from a billy goat. They don't
know God from a billy goat and they don't have any idea what
commitment, faithfulness and sacrifice is. How come? Because
they think they are Lord. So the preachers in churches
figure out a way, how do we get around this? I know what to do. After we get folks in the water
and we get them on a membership roll, start to come to church,
we'll say, now you need to get into the discipleship class and
we'll teach you how to be a disciple. Now we'll teach you how to act
like a Christian. That's all the long and short
of it. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be Prince, Lord, and Savior. As Lord and Savior,
he gives repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. Why is this? Why do preachers
act like this? Why do they make the grace of
God so cheap? Why do they make the things of
God so worthless? I'll tell you why. Preachers
crave popularity. They do their dead level best
to preach a gospel that's popular to the world, a message that
will attract people to them. Therefore, they set forth the
joy of belonging to Christ while deliberately omitting man's total
depravity. The emphasis of their evangelism
has shifted from Christ's Lordship to a message of easy believism. Walk down the aisle, repeat after
me, say this prayer. Preachers, convince themselves
that professed faith is possessed grace. It isn't, it isn't, but
they convince themselves. In their feverish desire to get
a profession, They're ready and willing to compromise the truth
of God and the glory of God. Just receive Jesus as your Savior
and everything will be all right. My God, hell, hell is full of
people who've been led down the Roman's road to eternal damnation. And that's where it always leads.
Hell is full of people who've been led down the Roman's road
to eternal damnation. In a feverish hurry to multiply
results by mass production, most are willing to lower the standard
of the gospel. Preachers backs against the wall,
he's expected to produce. I remember once as a young man,
I was just, I hadn't been converted long. I was just a young man.
I was shocked. I was absolutely shocked. I heard
a preacher. They say, I need some decisions
today. I need some decisions today.
And he's talking to men in the church, figuring out what to
do to get folks to make a decision. Expected to produce. Success
is judged not by faithful adherence to the gospel, faithful proclamation
of Holy Scripture, but by the size of a man's audience. Unlike
our master, Most preachers never warned their hearers to count
the cost of following him. Read the Gospels, our Lord did.
In John chapter six, he had been performing miracles, and man,
thousands were following him. I mean, thousands crowded around
him, and he began to talk to them. He talked to them about
God's sovereign election. He talked to them about faith,
life by faith alone. Faith, that's the gift of God
and the work of God. You, you're totally depraved,
incapable of anything. You cannot come to me except
my Father give you life and faith. Those are his language. And you
know how it ended up? They turned and walked no more
with him. He preached away his crowd. Now,
let's look at our text, Romans chapter 14, verse nine. Paul
is talking here about meats and drinks and the observance of
days. He tells us that God's people
are not to sit as judges over one another for one simple reason. We all have but one Lord before
whom each of us stands or falls. Just what? Don't be too quick
to take it on yourself to tell another fellow what he ought
to do. Or tell another woman what she ought to do, how they
ought to behave themselves, how they ought to dress and eat and
drink and where they ought to go and not go and all the stuff
that religion does. Don't be so quick. Don't be so
quick. If Jerry Sadler belongs to God,
he's God's servant, not mine. And in spite of all his weaknesses,
and he's got some, in spite of all his weaknesses, in spite
of all his faults and failures, in spite of all the things that
his wife could tell you if she would, after all these years
of marriage, he's God's servant. and God's able to make him stand,
and he will stand, because he's God's. He's not mine. I ought not treat
him as mine, and he's not yours. You ought not treat him as yours.
Let's begin reading at verse seven. For none of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live,
we live unto the Lord. And whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or
die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ both
died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the
dead and the living. Here in verse nine, the Spirit
of God tells us that the sovereign dominion and lordship of Jesus
Christ is the result of his death and resurrection in the place
of sinners as a substitute for sinners. He died and rose again
and now he is Lord of all. Let me briefly raise and try
to answer three questions and I'll be done. Spend the bulk
of my time with the first one. Here it is. What has the Lord
Jesus Christ done for sinners? Our text says Christ both died
and rose and revived. He was crucified, he arose, and
he was crowned. This is the entire story of the
gospel. There's more to the gospel than
this, obviously, but these are the essential elementary facts
revealed in Scripture about the gospel. How that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Our text tells us these three things that Christ has done for
us. Three great accomplishments of our Savior. First, the Lord
Jesus died He was crucified. If the Lord Jesus Christ were
nothing more than a mere man, the fact of his death would no
more be of interest to us than it is, than the death of any
other man is. All men die. Great men and insignificant
men. Great philosophers and great
warriors. Great philanthropists and great educators. But their
death really is meaningless. All men die. all men die, one
way or the other, all men die. And there's nothing unique about
the fact that they die. In the case of our Savior, there's
much that's unique. Indeed, everything about his
death is unique. Unlike that of any other man,
his death was the vicarious, voluntary, substitutionary, expiatory
death, a sacrifice made for sin. It's unique. His death is unique
because of the one who died. Christ died. Christ died. He who is himself God died. He who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God died. He who is in all things, in his
eternality, in his immensity, in his immutability, in his infinite
being, is God, as fully God as the Father and the Holy Ghost.
He died, God redeemed the church with his own blood. God did that. Well might the sun in darkness
hide and shut his glories in when God the mighty maker died,
the man for creatures sin. Let none ever think about robbing
Christ of his glory as God. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That one who came here in human
flesh That one who is God took into union with himself forever,
our humanity. This one who is God in the flesh
died. And though he lived here as a
man, though he walked on this earth as a man, though he learned
and grew in wisdom and stature as a man, though he hungered
as a man, though he thirsted as a man, though he suffered
as a man, though he died as a man, he never ceased to be God. Yonder he sits, and in him, that
man, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That makes
his death unique. He who died is God and he's a
man. Emmanuel, God with us. He died as the God-man, a real
man. I don't know where we have more
trouble, Mark, grasping the reality of his eternal Godhead or the
reality of his manhood. as fully as he is God. Jesus Christ, our God and Savior
is man. Man just like you. Man just like
me. While he walked on this earth,
he suffered as a man. He was abused as a man. He was mocked and derided as
a man. He was belittled and shamed as
a man. He was betrayed as a man by a
friend as a man. He suffered as a man, a man. But this man was unlike any other
man. This man who was tempted in all points like as we are
was yet without sin. He never knew sin. He lived amongst sin all the
time, but he never knew sin. He walked the streets with drunks
and harlots, publicans and sinners, but sin never touched him. It
never contaminated him. It never polluted his mind, never
corrupted his heart. He knew no sin. Imagine a man
who never knew the cold heart of malice, the bitter heart of envy, the
hot heart of lust, the hard heart of unbelief. Such a man our Lord was while
he walked in this earth. And Rex, he lived like that. Enduring everything you and I
have ever endured or can endure. But he wasn't married. He didn't
have children. He didn't have to live in these circumstances.
He never was abandoned by a child or by a husband or by a wife.
Hang on, hang on. Somehow, in his union with his
people, somehow, In his perfect manhood and his attitude and
relationship with fallen humanity, our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted
in all points like as we are. Nothing ever broke your heart
that didn't break his. Nothing ever injured you. that
didn't injure him. He's a man just like we are. And yet this man was perfectly
obedient to God, doing the will of God in all things, the immaculate
Lamb of God, replete with every virtue. So that whatsoever is
lovely, whatsoever is of good report, whatsoever is worthy
of praise, whatsoever is commendable, whatsoever there is that's desirous,
that's what Christ was in his infinite fullness and he is. So pure was he, so pure while
he walked on this earth. The apostle tells us he knew
no sin. His death is unique because this
is a man who is God. And he died in circumstances
under which no other man ever died. The time of his death identifies
him as the Messiah, but not alone. That's not the only thing that
does. But he died at exactly the time God told us in Daniel
chapter nine, Messiah would be cut off. Go with him to Gethsemane. And hear this man pray. Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Oh my God, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Oh God, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. And his heart breaks within him. He breaks out into a sweat of
blood. And he says, nevertheless, not
my will, thy will be done. He's betrayed by the kiss of
a friend. hauled off like a common thief
to the judgment hall, berated, belittled, stripped, beaten,
paraded through the streets as a felon, and he's crucified upon
Golgotha's cursed hill. There, God speaks in silence. Three hours of darkness. to cover
the earth. Then the Savior cries, it is
finished. And when it did, that thick veil
hanging in the temple, separating the holy place from the most
holy place, split smack dab into from top to bottom. And the graves
of many were opened. and the saints of God walked
the streets of Jerusalem that night. Do you ever wonder what
that means? Every time I do, I look at it
and I say, well, let me see if I can find out. And every time
I do, I walk away saying, one of these days I'll find out.
But something miraculous happened. When this man died, the graves
were opened and the saints of God walked the streets of Jerusalem.
indicating that this man who died is a man by whom the graves
are opened and the way of access to God is made open. What happened
in this man's death? His death was the death of sin.
His death was the end of the law's curse. His death was the
death of God's wrath against us. His death is the death of
Satan, the death of hell, the death of death. Oh, death, where
is thy sting? Because Christ has died, death
has died, and those who live and believe by him shall never
die. Well, why? Why did he die? There can only be one answer.
He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Christ died being
made sin for us that he might put away our sins. And so fully
did he own our sins that this is how he prayed. Innumerable
evils have come past me about, mine iniquities. Mine iniquities, oh my God, my
Savior speaks for me bearing my sin and says, mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're
more numerous than the hairs of mine head, therefore my heart
they lift me. His death is altogether unique
if you consider how he died. He died as a substitute. He died vicariously. He died as a willing sacrifice
in the place of guilty sinners that sinners might live by him. Only if God's own son, becomes
the sinner's substitute and sinners die. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Our Savior died the painful,
shameful, ignominious death of the cross. voluntarily as our
substitute, so that he might be made Lord. What has he accomplished? He accomplished death for us
in his crucifixion. Second, he's risen. Not only
did he die, Christ rose again the third day according to the
scriptures. He was delivered for our transgressions.
He was raised again for our justification. What's the significance of that?
The resurrection declares that God's law is satisfied. The resurrection declares that
God is reconciled to man and man to God. The resurrection
declares that sin is put away and forgiven. The resurrection
declares the triumph and victory of Jesus Christ, the God-man
over sin, Satan, death, and hell. Christ Jesus arose from the dead
as he lived, not as an individual man, but as a representative
man. So that when he arose, scripture
says we were quickened together with Christ. and made to sit
with him in heavenly places. When he sat down in heaven, we
sat down with him, being risen with him. And then he's crowned. Our text adds this third thing.
He revived, he ascended to the right hand of the majesty on
high. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou has led captivity captive. Thou has received gifts for men.
Yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell
among them. The ascended Christ has led into
captivity all those who held us captive. I want you to turn
to two passages of scripture. Turn to Colossians chapter two.
Colossians chapter two. And then go back to Isaiah 14.
We read this last Sunday night. Colossians chapter two, and then
go to Isaiah 14. When our Lord Jesus died, he
fulfilled the prophecy here in Isaiah 14. We read in verse two,
down in the middle of the verse, they shall take them captives
whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. and it shall come to pass in
the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and
from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made
to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king
of Babylon, against hell and Satan himself. How hath the oppressor
ceased? How hath the oppressor ceased? All right, look at Colossians
2, verse 13. When our Lord arose, triumphant
o'er his foes, like one of those ancient commanders of a great
army, when he's conquered his enemies, they make a path for
him in the streets, and he comes parading down the streets with
his captors behind him, showing his triumph. Look what Paul says
about our Lord, verse 13, Colossians 2. and you being dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. John describes it this way in
Revelation 20, he said, I saw a great angel coming down from
heaven, and he had a mighty chain in his hand, and he has bound
the serpent and cast him into the bottomless pit. Christ is
the triumphant redeemer. All of these things Christ accomplished
for us, and now he's ascended. So what's the result of his work? To this end, for this purpose,
Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord
of the dead and the living. If we preach only the historic
facts of the gospel and don't insist upon the enthronement
of Christ as a result of his death, we haven't preached the
gospel. We're not waiting for some day when Jesus is gonna
pretty please be king if the Jews will let him. Our Lord Jesus
Christ sits today on the throne of David as David's Lord and
David's son and he rules over all things with absolute sovereignty. Jesus Christ is supreme. Exalted to the highest honor
by God Almighty. He said, sit here on my right
hand. And gave him power over all flesh
for one specific purpose. That he might give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given him. And when he's finished,
every knee shall bow. And every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He sits upon the circle of the
earth. Sits upon the throne of heaven. I take that to be the same thing.
And the earth is his footstool. He sits with his feet propped
up on the earth. What's that a symbol of? What's
the reason for that? I have a nice, comfortable, easy
chair over at the house. I don't have one here. I've got
it over at the house. I thought about bringing it over
here, but I've got it at the house. Because if I put it over here, I would
get a little lazy. But when I go home, especially
if I'm real tired, I sit down in that chair, and right in front
of it is a footstool. And I'll kick my shoes off, and
up go my feet. That means the footstool is under
my feet and I'm at ease. I'm at ease. Jesus Christ is
Lord and you're his footstool. And hell is his footstool. And
Satan is his footstool. And he's perfectly at ease. We ought to be. Well might we
commit the totality of our souls and our lives to him who is Lord
of all. Well, how do we get the benefit
of his Lordship? How can we have it? Just one
way. You bow to him. You bow to him. No other way. Well, I was always told to believe
in Jesus. That's why I said you bow to
him. I was always told to trust Jesus. That's why I said you
bow to him. You bow to Christ the sovereign
Lord, trusting him, trusting him. Here, Lord, here I am. Will you take me? Will you take me straight? Stretch
out your righteous scepter of mercy and grace and lay it on
me and tell me I'm yours. You bow to him. Ralph Barnard
used to tell a story about an Indian chief. Missionaries tried
to minister to him for years. He preached and finally, one
night the chief got real concerned about his soul and he came into
the missionary's tent And he said, missionary man, chief give
him moccasins to Jesus and handed him his moccasins. It's a pretty
good sign of great, great, great friendship. And the missionary
looked up at that chief, never got up, he said, chief, Jesus
didn't want your moccasins. He went out in a huff. And he
came back in a little while and he said, missionary man, chief
give him tomahawk to Jesus. And missionary never got up,
he just said, chief, Jesus won't have your tomahawk. And he was
sure enough upset. After a long time, he came in
and pulled off his gorgeous headdress, that thing that signified that
he is the highest man in the tribe. And he said, missionary
man, chief, give him headdress to Jesus. And the missionary
never even looked up at him this time. He said, chief, Jesus didn't
want your headdress. And he was angry. He stormed
stormed out of the tent. After a long while, he came back.
Missionary had just been sitting there praying for him. He said,
missionary man, chief, give himself to Jesus. That's it. I call on you to give yourself
utterly to the son of God. Anything else is damnation. Amen.