Turn to Psalm 38 and read David's
words as follows, Psalm 38. Psalm of David to bring to remembrance. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy
wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure, for thine
arrows stick fast in me. and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over mine head, as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I
am troubled I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long,
for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there
is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken. I have roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before
thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth,
my strength faileth me, as for the light of mine eyes it also
is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand
aloof from my soul, and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that
seek after my life lay snares for me, and they that seek my
hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day
long. But I as a deaf man heard not,
and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I
was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope.
Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, hear me, lest otherwise
they should rejoice over me. When my foot slippeth, they magnify
themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my
sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity,
I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively,
and they are strong. And they that hate me wrongfully
are multiplied. They also that render evil for
good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that good
is. Forsake me not, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. Verse three, there's no soundness
in my flesh because of thine anger. Neither is there any rest
in my bones because of my sin. Mine iniquities have gone over
my head. As a heavy burden, they are too
heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I am troubled. I am bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long. There is no rest in my bones
because of my sin. My sin. My sin. This is a psalm which is introduced
with the title, the psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. To remembrance. To bring what
to remembrance? To bring David's sufferings to
remembrance? Yes, but much more than David's
sufferings. This is a psalm in which we see
the sufferings of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is
a psalm to bring to remembrance the death of Jesus Christ. the substitutionary death of
Jesus Christ, when he died and bore the wrath of God against
sin, when he died, offered up as a sacrifice for sin, when
he was laid on the altar, not for his own sins, not for his
own sin, but for the sins and the sin of others. This is a psalm to bring to remembrance
the death of Christ in the place of his people. It's a psalm in
which he speaks personally of his sin and owns it and confesses
it. And a psalm in which he speaks
of the anger and the judgment of his God against it. A psalm
in which he speaks of the reaction and the hatred of others towards
him and how they've rewarded evil for good. A psalm in which
he speaks of his own reaction to them, of how he took his situation
upon himself And though innocent himself, he earned the sins of
his people and therefore he answered not the wrongful accusations. And a psalm in which we see his
faith and his trust and his hope in God. This is a psalm of remembrance. of remembrance of the sufferings
of the Lord Jesus, of his body broken and of his blood shed. The psalm of substitution. In 1 Corinthians, when Paul speaks
of the remembrance of Christ's death in the bread and the wine,
he reminds us For I have received of the Lord that which also I
delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in
which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks,
he break it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he
took the cup when he had sucked, saying, This cup is the new testament
in my blood. This do ye, as often as ye drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. This do in remembrance of me. This do ye as oft as ye drink
it in remembrance of me. And when David writes this psalm
to bring to remembrance, it is to bring to our remembrance the
body which Christ had which was broken upon the cross. and the
blood of Christ which was shed for the sins of others upon the
cross. The same remembrance that Christ
taught his disciples to remember on the night before he was betrayed. This do in remembrance of me. David writes, so Lord, rebuke
me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure,
for thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me
sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. Because of my sin. Now David
himself was a sinner, like you and I by nature are sinners. David under the teaching of the
Holy Spirit knew he was a sinner and felt the guilt of his sin
and felt the rightful judgment of God against his sin. He confessed
it, he owned it, he knew it by experience, he was taught it.
And when circumstances came upon him such that his enemies rose
up against him and such that he felt the hand of God go out
against him in his lifetime, he knew the right of that. But God didn't teach David these
things simply to teach David his own individual case. God
used David as an example. And God caused David to write
of these things in the Psalms and in Psalm 38 as an example. God taught David through his
own experience what his savior would experience for him. When
David felt the accusations of others against him and felt their
wrong accusations and felt like they accused him when he was
innocent of what they accused, when he felt like he was wrongfully
treated, He was being taught that there was one who was innocent,
who would come into this world for David, who was entirely innocent,
and yet who would be hated and judged of others, hated and accused
and persecuted by others, and ultimately would go to a place
of execution at which he would be caused to bear the sins of
others, that he never committed, that he never did, thoughts that
he never thought, words he never spoke, deeds he never performed. He would bear the sins of others
and feel the wrath of God against them. He would be brought to
say in person, there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. He himself had no sin, but when
he was hung upon a tree and God made him to be sin in the place
of others, when he was hung upon the tree and God took the sins
of his people and laid them upon him and he bore them in his own
body on the tree, then at that moment he knew there was no rest
in his bones. because of his sin. He knew his
iniquities were gone over his head. He knew that as a heavy
burden they were too heavy for him. He knew that his wounds
stink and were corrupt because of his foolishness. He knew he
was troubled. He knew he was bowed down greatly
and he mourned all the day long. He knew the wrath of God poured
out upon him. He knew the chastening hand of
God. in his hot displeasure. He knew
God's arrows stick fast in him and his hand gone out against
him. The innocent suffered for the
guilty. The innocent was crucified and
the guilty was set free. He who had done no wrong, in
whom no fault could be found, was nailed to a tree and crucified. And those that had murdered and
lied and hated and deceived, like you and like I, went free. We read from Luke chapter 23,
where Christ was brought by the people unto Pilate. And Pilate
questioned him, and questioned him regarding the accusations
of the Jews against him, and he found no fault in him. So
he sent him unto King Herod, and Herod questioned him with
many words, and Jesus answered him nothing. So Herod had his
men beat him, and set him at naught and mocked him. and arrayed
him in a robe and sent him back to Pilate. And Pilate received
him again and found no fault in him. He says, you've brought
this man unto me as one that perverted the people, and behold,
I haven't examined him before you, have found no fault in this
man touching those things whereof ye accuse him. No, nor yet Herod,
for I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done
unto him. I will therefore chastise him
and release him, for of necessity he must release one unto them
at the feast.' And they cried out all at once, saying, Away
with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, who for a certain
sedition made in the city, and for murder was cast into prison. Pilate therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them, But they cried, saying,
Crucify him! Crucify him! And he said unto
them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found
no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices
of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence,
that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired. But he delivered Jesus to their
will. So we see the innocent Jesus
delivered unto the will of the people that he should be crucified. And we see the guilty Barabbas,
a murderer, set free. We see the Lord Jesus standing
as a substitute for sinners. The guilty were released and
the innocent were slain. And that is the context of David's
words in Psalm 38. Jesus was innocent. but He took
the sins of His people. He stood as the innocent in the
place of the guilty. He took their sins upon Him and
He was slain. But so great a substitute was
He that He didn't merely go to the cross to be slain, for Barabbas'
murder, or for the murder of others, or for the sins of others.
He didn't merely pay the price for their sin, but he took the
guilt of their sin upon himself. He bore their sins in his own
body on the tree. He was made sin. that they should
be made the righteousness of God in him. He was a substitute. He exchanged places and he took
their condition upon him, their guilt upon him, their sins upon
him. He stood as the sinner in the
place of sinners, in the place of execution. And he said of
their sin, my sin. He said of their iniquities,
my iniquities are gone over my head. He bore it. He was made it. He stood guilty. And God the Father looked upon
his son, who in himself was innocent, guiltless, perfect. And he took
the sin of the people and made him to be it. And he took the
sins of his people and laid them upon him. And he said, the sinner
must die, the guilty must die. And he brought the axe of judgment,
he brought the sword of judgment, he brought the fires of judgment,
all down upon his own son. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy
wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure, for thine
arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. Yet
the Lord in righteousness had to bring this about, because
his son bore the sins of his people, because his son was made
sin, because his own son stood as the guilty sinner. Barabbas,
the murderer, was set free. You, if you know Christ, may
have been that murderer set free. and the will of the people was
brought to pass upon Christ. Crucify Him. Crucify Him. My sin. My sin. In the first few verses
in the Psalm, we see the Lord God, the Father's response to
what the Son was made to be. as the innocent made guilty,
as the substitute, as the sacrifice. God's wrath poured out upon his
son. We see his wrath, his hot displeasure,
his arrows, his hand that pressed him sore, his anger, all pouring
out upon his own son. We see his judgement. eternal
in its weight and everlasting judgment and eternal judgment
and hatred of sin all poured out upon the sun in the space
of three hours in the darkness upon the cross. In the next few verses we see
the sun's confession. There is no rest in my bones
because of my sin. My iniquities have gone over
my head. As an heavy burden, they are
too heavy for me. We see the effects upon him of
God's wrath poured out upon him. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I'm troubled. I am bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with
a loathsome disease. There's no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and so broken. I have roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart. In verse 9, fourthly, we see
Christ's desire. Lord, all my desire is before
Thee, and my groaning is not hid from Thee. My heart panteth,
my strength faileth me, and as for the light of mine eyes, it
also is gone from me. Despite his state, despite the
judgment, despite the death that he endured, he still longs for
his God. His desire is before God. His
heart pants. His strength fails him. But he
looks, he hopes, he looks under his God. Even whilst God beat
him and bruised him and judged him. and even while all others
around looked upon him in hatred. For fifthly in this psalm we
see the reaction of others. My lovers and my friends stand
aloof from my soul. My kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my
life lay snares for me. And they that seek my hurt speak
mischievous things and imagine deceit all the day long. They hated him when he was before
Pilate. And Pilate said unto the people,
I find no wrong in him, I find no fault in him. They said away
with him, crucify him. We will not have this man to
reign over us. They hated him without a cause. They accused him falsely. They
derided him and spat upon him and mocked him. As he hung upon
the cross, they mocked him. They scoffed at him. They said,
save thyself. He saved others, but himself
he cannot save. He says he's the son of God,
well if he's true, if he is the son of God, surely he can bring
himself down from that cross and save himself. Surely he can
summon a legion of angels. Oh, the fact that he doesn't,
they concluded, demonstrates he isn't what he claimed to be.
The fact that he's silent to our accusation shows he's got
no answer. shows we were right all along
he can't answer us therefore we are right so they scoffed and they mocked
because he would not do what they thought he should do because
he would not save himself as they'd save themselves because
he did not act as a man as they acted because he was not a sinner
like they were sinners But what was Christ's response
to them? Sixthly in this psalm we see his response. He was silent
before them. As a deaf man I heard not. I was as a dumb man that openeth
not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth
not and in whose mouth are no reproofs. He could have answered
every accusation. He could have exposed every accuser. He could have shown every lie
that they brought against Him. He could have taken the Scriptures
and the Word of God and shown them how they twisted it and
mistreated it and wrested it. and how blind these people were,
though they were Jews, though they were the chief priests,
though they were the custodians of religion, though they studied
the word of God and thought they saw, and yet were blind. He could have shown them. every
answer to every accusation. He could have shown them all
the promises and all the prophecies which pointed under him and how
he was the fulfillment of all of them. He could have demonstrated
exactly who he was. But it was not his purpose to
be brought onto their ground and to act as they would act
and to answer as they would answer. He was sent to give himself as
a sacrifice and an offering for sin. He was sent to be the innocent,
given his life for the guilty. He was sent to be slain that
day, at that hour, at the hands of guilty wicked sins who hated
him without a cause. He was there because he purposed
to be there. They crucified him because he
moved them to do so. Their sin was their sin. Their
hatred was their hatred. Their guilt was their guilt.
But he came to save his people from their sins. He could have
answered every word, but he would not, because he would take their
sin and bear the sins of his people he would bear the sins
of his people, though he himself was innocent, and he would suffer
in silence. Many a time God's people are
accused and are questioned and are mocked. Many a time the haters
of the gospel and of Christ and of his people will come unto
them with accusations and with taunts and questions and demand
answers. But Christ opened not his mouth. In thee, O Lord, do I hope thou
wilt hear, O Lord my God, was his answer. And his answer to
the sin which he bore, their sin, The people's sin, the sins
of his people that he bore as a substitute, the answer to the
sin which he bore was not to say, well, I didn't do that. Was not to say, well, that's
theirs. Was not simply to say, well,
they're the sinner, but I'll pay the price to set them free. No, he went far further than
that. He took the sinner's judgment,
but he took the sinner's sin and his guilt. He bore their
sins, he was made sin, he was made guilty before God, and he
said freely, I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for
my sin. My sin. My enemies are lively
and they are strong. They that hate me wrongfully
are multiplied. They also that render evil for
good are mine adversaries because I follow the thing that good
is. They rewarded evil for good. They slew the innocent. They
were multiplied against him. Yeah, the answers are not a word.
What is your response? to the enemies of God. And then towards the end of the
psalm, seventhly, we see his cry of faith. Having suffered,
suffered in the place of sinners, suffered in bearing sin, in being
made Suffered in being put under the judgment and wrath of God.
Suffered in being forsaken of his own father. Suffered at the
hands of men and the hatred and the mocking and the scoffing
of men. Suffered in silence. Having suffered,
he cries in faith under his God. Forsake me not, oh Lord. Oh my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. Throughout it all, every moment,
every minute, every second, even in the darkest hour, even in
those free hours of darkness upon the cross, his cry of faith
from his heart is, Lord, forsake me not. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Forsake me not, O Lord. I am made sin. I will confess
my sin. This is why I am forsaken. Yet,
Lord, remember me. Remember me. I'm thy son. I was innocent. I stand as the
sinner, but I'm thy son. Take the sin away. Judge it. Pay the price utterly. Pour out all thy wrath upon me. But when it's over, remember
me. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. His faith rises up over all. The faith of Jesus Christ shines
through the psalm from start to finish, despite all that he
endured. His faith is never quenched. This is a psalm in which we see
the substitute slain in the place of sins. But what's depicted
here is echoed in other parts of the scriptures so closely. If there's any doubt of what
David is speaking of here, If there's any doubt that he's speaking
of the sufferings of Christ and not his own sufferings, you just
need to turn to Isaiah in chapter 53, or to Peter's epistle, 1
Peter chapter 2, when he speaks of the sin bearing of Christ.
For not only do we see the Saviour bearing sins, not only do we
see the just suffering for the unjust, not only do we see him
as a substitute in those passages, not only do we see the innocent
being slain, as one who's made guilty, as one who bears the
sins of others. But we see his reaction and the
reaction of others under him echoed in the same way. Psalm
38 verse 13, I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Christ's death, his suffering,
His substitution was one in which he bore not just the sin, not
just the sins, not just the judgment, not just God's wrath, but he
bore the false accusation and hatred of others against him
and he bore it silently. Their words, their questions,
their mocking, their hatred, their false accusations were
as much a part of the suffering, were as much a part of the necessity as the sins themselves. In bearing their sins, he would
not answer. As himself, as the innocent one,
everything they said against him was a lie. But if he took
their sins to be his own, if he could truly say of the sins
of his people, my sin, then he could not answer, and he would
not answer. He so took that sin to be his,
He so owned it as his, that the consequence was he kept silent
in the face of accusation. The accusations were not true
of him as the son of God. But when he bore the sins of
his people, when he exchanged places with them, and said of
those sins, my iniquities have gone over my head, when he said
of those sins, they are my sins, There is no rest in my bones
because of my sins. When he said of those sins, I
will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sins, then he
kept silent in the place of accusation. For every accusation against
every sin stood. Every accusation against every
sin stood against the sinner. So he remains silent. We turn
to Isaiah in chapter 53, we see this reflected in Isaiah's account
of these very same things. Isaiah says, Who have believed
our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He have
no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised. and we esteemed him not. Surely he have borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord have laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is done, so he openeth
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done
no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath 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. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. He bore the iniquities of his
people. He bore their sin. The Lord have
laid on him the iniquity of us all. and he was brought as a
lamb to the Shearers and as a sheep before her. Shearers is dumb,
so he openeth not his mouth. He was silent. As David says,
he openeth not his mouth. He bore his people's sins. And they accused him. All men
accused him. And yet he silently took it.
He silently took it, for he said of the sin that he
bore, it's my sin, it's my sin, I shall bear it. This is what
Paul teaches in his exposition of the Ministry of Reconciliation
in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, where he speaks of the substitute,
he hath made him to be sin for us. who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. He himself knew
no sin. He'd never sinned. He'd never
experienced sin. He'd never committed a sin, but
he never had any sin in him. His heart was not sinful. You
have a sinful, wicked heart. It's a fountainhead out of which
flows sinful thoughts. Just as blood is pumped out of
your natural heart, your physical heart, so your spiritual heart
within is a wicked fountain. Everything that flows forth from
it is sin. And yet Christ, perfect, righteous,
holy, never sinned. never fought one sin, never spake
one sin, never did one sin. He was perfect through and through.
He knew no sin. He'd never experienced it. And
yet, as he was there in Gethsemane, knowing what he must face at
the cross, knowing that he must be the sacrifice of his people,
knowing that when he was taken to the cross, he would be slain
and judged under the wrath of God, knowing that he was going
to a place of execution where he would be made sin. and bear
sins, he travailed, he was full of grief as he looked unto it
as he knew what he must bear as one who had never known sin
as he looked and knew that he must experience it he must have
it laid upon him he must bear the sins of his own people in
his own body on the tree he must be made sin that they should
be made the righteousness of God when he looked upon it to
the horror of it the horror of what he must take and endure
filled him with grief we cannot begin to contemplate what Christ
experienced in Gethsemane. If you think through your life
of the most horrible events that you've had to approach, and things
that you've had to approach with some knowledge beforehand, that
the next day you must do this or do that, and you recoil from
it, and you wish you could escape from it, and you can't, and you
hope for it to be over, And as it comes, you endure it and struggle
through and hope to get to the end of it. That gives you some
little glimpse of what Christ had to endure, of what he experienced
as he approached the cross. There was a horror laid before
him. He knew he'd have to go through
the darkness. He knew he'd have to hang in
the darkness upon the cross. He knew he'd have to feel the
fires of God's wrath upon him. He knew he'd have to be made
sin and bear sins. And it was awful. He knew that
in time he must endure eternity, eternal wrath, eternal judgment. He hath made Him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He endured upon the cross eternal
judgment, judgment without beginning and without end. He bore the
sins of all His people throughout all time and paid the price of
every one The pain, the anguish, the suffering went on forever. You cannot measure the depths
of Christ's suffering. It's a bottomless pit. It's an
endless eternal wrath that he drunk up in that cup which he
drank. Inexhaustible. And yet contracted
to the span of three hours in the darkness. Peter in his epistle, 1 Peter,
speaks of the same saviour, his same perfection, his same suffering,
his sin bearing, the reaction of others and his reaction to
them. It says in verse 19, for this
is thank worthy of a man for conscience towards God and your
grief, suffering wrongfully. What glory is it if when you
be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently?
But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even here unto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that you should follow his steps, who did no sin. neither was guile
found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. When he suffered, he threatened
not. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. As he bare
our sins and his own body on the tree, he was silent. They gathered around him. They
spat upon him. They mocked him, they derided
him, they jeered at him. They looked on him as ravening
wolves, as ravening beasts, as bulls. As beasts before him,
hating him. Yet he remained silent before
them. You have wandered around him. in your heart when you've
heard the gospel and shut your ears to it and shut your eyes
to it and shut your heart to it and rejected it or pushed
it aside for another day, you have, as it were, wandered around
the cross of Christ. You've stood and beheld Him upon
that cross. And your heart, your wicked heart,
has shut your ears to him, has shut your mind to him. It's pierced
him through. It's scoffed and it's mocked. And as you hated, he remained
silent and suffered in the darkness, under his father's wrath, under
his father's chastening hand of hot displeasure, under the
arrows that his father sent on to him that stuck fast in him,
under his father's hand which pressed him sore, because of
his father's anger at the sin of his people which Christ bore
and confessed as his own. my wrists are only resting my
bones because of my sins for my iniquities I've gone over
my head as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me were your
sins part of those sins which Christ bore was the burden of
your sins taken as a heavy burden by the Son of God which was too
heavy for Him are your sins too heavy a burden for you Did Christ
take them off you that you should be saved, that you should be
forgiven, that you should be delivered when he was put to
death in your place? Did his wounds stink because
of your foolishness? Was he troubled because of your
sin? Was he bowed down greatly because
you hated him? Did he go mourning all the day
long? Was his loin filled with loathsome
disease? Was there no soundness in his
flesh? Was he feeble and sore broken? Was his heart disquieted
within him? Did he roar all day long? under the grief and the groaning
of that sin, because of your hatred, because of your apathy,
because of your disinterest, because of your unbelief. Because
he took it. He felt his sin. He felt the
weight of his sin. He felt the gravity of his sin. He didn't dismiss it. He didn't
deny it. He didn't justify it. He didn't
blame it on others. He felt the weight and the seriousness
and the awfulness of that sin. And he felt the wrath of God
against that sin. And he didn't fight the wrath
of God. He didn't fight the justice of
God. He didn't try to escape the justice
of God. Like you have done. Like I have
done. Did he suffer it for you? His heart's desire was for God. His heart panted, his strength
failed him. The light of his eyes was gone
from him. He died in the darkness. All alone. Forsaken by all men. Forsaken by the Father. alone
in the darkness was he alone in the darkness because you sent
him there was it your sins which he paid
the price of in the darkness that savior who despite all still
trusted in God did you stand aloof from his soul Did you stand
afar off? Did you lay snares for him? Did you speak against him? Did you imagine deceits all day
long? Did you scoff and mock at Christ
and the gospel? Do you scoff and mock? Do you
turn aside? If you have, if you do, Have
you seen his reaction? In those hours, he was as a deaf
man that heard not. He spake, and he was as one that
heard you not. You said, oh, answer this question,
answer that question. If you're really Christ, if you're
really the Savior, if this is true, if your gospel's true,
if there's really salvation, then explain this and show me
that. And why aren't you returning?
And why is this going on in the world? And why do you allow these
things to happen? Oh, if you're really God, if
there's really a God, if there's really a Savior, if Christ is
real, then let him do this, and let him do that, and let him
do this. And he goes, a deaf man. that hears not. And as one whose mouth has no
reproofs, he opens not his mouth, but he knows that his hope is
in God. He knows that his God will hear
him, despite all that you may say, despite all that I may say.
He says of the sins that he bears, if they're your sins and my sins,
He says in the darkness, he says, Father forgive them, they know
not what they do. And he takes our sins, and he
says, I will declare them as mine. I will declare mine iniquity,
I will be sorry for my sins, though they were your sins and
my sins. He says they are his sins. He opens not his mouth. He reviles
not again. See how Isaiah said the same
thing, how David said it, how Peter said it. He silently took
it. You see how they contrast his
perfect character and our wretched sin that he bore. When we revile
him, he reviles not again. When we mock him, he opens not
his mouth. Oh, what an example. Oh, what
a saviour. But oh, what hope and faith he
had. Forsake me not, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. His faith rose up. He looked
up from the darkness and he knew that it would come to an end.
And at the end, he cried out, it is finished. And his sin bearing,
his substitution, paid the price for every sin of everyone for
whom he died. There was nothing left undone. God's wrath, God's righteousness
looked down. It looked down to exact judgment
upon sin and it could find no more. It looked down in judgment
and it looked at the Saviour and it looked at the sin that
He bore and it looked again and it was all gone. Every last sin
was gone. There was nothing left. The fires
had consumed everyone. God, if you're His, God, child
of God, He looked down upon the Saviour, and He looked for your
sin, and He looked for my sin, and it was all gone. And He could
say unto you, and He could say unto me, if He bore our sins,
you're not guilty. There's no more sin. The sin
is gone. All I can see in my son is the
righteousness of God. I've set my righteousness upon
Him. I've judged the sin that was
against it. The sin has gone and all there
is is righteousness. All I see is the light and the
purity of my Son in the Gospel. All I see is Christ the Saviour
and my people in Him. They are perfect in Him. They
have no sin. And Christ having taken away
the sin, on the third day rose again victorious. He was set
free. And all his people, having gone
to the grave in him, having been judged in him, having been saved
by him, rose up again on the third day and were set free. Was your sin upon Christ in the
darkness? Was He your substitute? Was He
forsaken for you? Did He take it away? Did He rise
again? Did He, for you, by grace in
the gospel, because of His inexhaustible love for sinners, did He make
you to be the righteousness of God in Him? For He hath made
Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Was his faith rewarded for you? When he said, my sin, did he
take your sin away, never to be seen again? And can you, when
you look unto Christ through the gospel, say of him, my righteousness,
my saviour? Amen.