Matthew 27, verse 36. Just one very brief verse this
morning. And sitting down, they watched him there. They watched him die. They heard him say some things. They saw his face and his wounds. Everyone saw a man hanging on
a cross. But what else did they see? If
anything, when you see this, when we study these verses, these
last chapters of Matthew, what do you see? This direct context
here is speaking of the men who had just gambled to see who would
get his robe, his clothing, his vesture, What did they see? These are the ones that had abused
him and mocked him all the way. What were they doing now? Were
they gloating? Were they laughing? We know that wicked men were
not done mocking him in verses 39 through 44. They continued
to mock and scorn him. Not everyone there mocked him
that day. We know that his mother was there. The Apostle John was there. He
spoke to them both from the cross. The important question this morning
is, what do you see? And by God's grace, I can tell
you what I see. Some of it, a little bit. And
I see it by God's grace. By his sovereign grace alone,
we're able to see more than just a man dying on a cross. And in one word, which is hard
to just use one word concerning what happened there, but this
is a pretty good word. I see salvation. I see free, full, accomplished
salvation. the salvation of sinners, the
salvation of his people, his sheep from their sins. But Chris,
maybe you're thinking, Chris, how can you see accomplished
salvation there when you weren't saved until 2,000 years later? I wasn't saved. How can you say
he accomplished salvation there? I'll tell you how. Two things,
two very important things we see there. We see that salvation
is an eternal work of God. God's people have been saved.
And they're being saved. And they shall ultimately be
saved. As we've seen in the text here, in the context of this
verse, everything that happened there happened that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. And what are the scriptures but
the revelation of God's eternal purpose of grace in Christ toward
his people? What did God reveal in the saving
of his people from Egypt? We studied the book of Exodus
and we saw how that by the shedding of blood and the killing of a
lamb and that blood going on the doorposts and at the top
of the door, that God delivered his people from bondage. And
here we know that Christ is our Passover. If this one, that verse 35 in
our text, in our context this morning says was crucified, this
one who was crucified, they crucified him. If that person who was crucified
that day is your lamb, your Passover, then God will not punish you
for your sin. Deliverance, salvation, freedom
from bondage. That's what we see here. And
it's an eternal work. God's been declaring it from
the beginning. If he is your Passover, you will
not die, but he has died in your place. He will rather free you
from bondage and bless you eternally. What did God reveal in all of
the deliverances wrought by all of the champions and judges of
Israel when delivering his people from their enemies? All of the
victories over all of the enemies of earthly Israel. What was pictured
in those triumphs? What was pictured by every lamb,
every bullock, every goat, every drop of blood shed in the Old
Testament? How was Moses saved? by what happened in our text,
by the person and the work that he accomplished in our text.
That's why when we look, when we sit down, by God's grace,
he said, be still and know that I'm God. We sit down and watch
him. Key word, there. We watch him
there. We watch him there in the book
of Genesis. We watch him there in the book
of Exodus. We watch him there in all the word of God. Because
this is an eternal salvation. How was Abel saved? How were
Enoch and David and Abraham saved? Salvation is an eternal work.
The blood that was shed on Calvary is the blood. The scriptures
call that blood the blood. Hebrews 13 20 now the God of
peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus That
great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant Make you perfect and I want you to think about this
what he's saying here He said the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of
the sheep. Okay, and then the benediction begins through the
blood of the everlasting covenant. May he make you perfect. How
are you going to stand perfect before God? The blood. And listen to it,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Working in you make
you perfect in every good work to do what's well pleasing in
his sight What makes you perfect before God the blood what makes
your works perfect before God the blood? Through faith in his
blood without faith, it's impossible to please God but through Christ
Jesus through his indwelling power Paul said not I but Christ
liveth in me and And by that precious blood, all that we are
and all that we do is perfect before God. Holy, acceptable,
righteous, all that we do by faith. Christ himself is the surety
of that everlasting covenant of grace of which his blood is
the blood. His blood has secured all of
the blessings of that covenant for his people. Eternal life
holiness the eternal fellowship and blessing of God his blood
secured that And it did so eternally That's
what we're saying now salvations and eternal work Ephesians 1 I Won't have you turn there,
but listen carefully Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ which hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Does that sound like salvation
to you? In whom we have redemption through his blood. He chose us
in him before the foundation of the world and in him which
we are before the world began we have redemption through his
blood. I've always been redeemed. Eternal. And do you know what we're going
to be singing in eternity? I'm tempted and sometimes we
have to try to clarify though we're stupid and don't know what
we're saying and don't know how to even talk about eternity.
We speak of eternity past and eternity future. There is no
future or past in eternity. But in eternity, you know what
we're going to be singing about? Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive honor. You see how what we see, we look
at the cross and we see eternity. We see an eternal salvation. Even they there, those perfect
angels, when they look to him who hung there that day, what
do they see? Worthy is the Lamb. Revelation
5, 9, they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation,
and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall
reign on the earth. Oh, they're singing about our
text this morning. They're still watching him. And
they still see what I pray by God's grace we see right now.
The eternal salvation of God in a person. In a lamb. A lamb slain. Revelation 7-9, after this I
beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of
all nations and kindred and people and tongues stood before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes. How were they
white? Who are these in the white, arrayed
in white? These are they which have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And
palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, you
know what the first word they said was? When they're looking
at the Lamb, they stand in their white because they're washed
in the blood. And they're beholding the Lamb. And you know what the
first word out of their mouth was? Salvation! Salvation! Unto our God, which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb. Oh, do you see God's salvation?
Christ is the eternal Savior. Salvation is an eternal work.
He has always been my Savior. I just found out about it one
day. By His grace, He revealed Himself to me. And I said, there's
my Savior. There's my Savior. Second Thessalonians 2.13, we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God has from the what? The beginning. Chosen you to what? Salvation. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Number two, Salvation is a person. That's why I can look at the
cross and see salvation accomplished. We're not the only ones who have
looked upon him and seen salvation. You remember Simeon? In Luke
chapter 2, verse 30, he looked at Jesus of Nazareth and said
to God, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Was Simeon at the
cross then? No, probably not. He wasn't when
he said this. What's the significance of that?
He was looking at an eight day old baby. And he saw the same
thing that we see when we look at Calvary. Salvation. I've seen your salvation. Why? Because salvation is a person,
not an event. The person. He was God's salvation
before he was ever born into this world. He is the child born,
Isaiah 9, but also the eternal son that was given by God, his
gift. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Do you know who that is? That's
his son, a son given to redeem his people from their sin. This
is who Simeon saw. And he said, salvation. In eternity,
they're looking at him and saying, salvation. And so what do we
see this morning when we look, when we watch him? This little
baby that Simeon looked into the face of was made under the
law. He was there that day to be circumcised
according to the law, made under the law, born under the law.
Why? That he might redeem them that
are under the law. And how did he do that? With
that precious blood that flowed down that tree. The precious blood that came
out of him when they whipped him and pressed the the thorns
down upon his brow and ripped out his beard and pierced his
hands and feet inside. He hung there crucified with
the sins of his people on him, condemned by the law of God in
their place, and suffered the penalty of that law against them,
the very wrath of God against sin, against my sin. He was God's
salvation before the world began. Second Timothy one man who has
saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to
our works But according to his own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began He was God's salvation when he
was eight days old He was God's salvation when he said it's finished
He was God's salvation the day he revealed himself to me, and
this morning, if you need to be saved, I've got something
to say to you. There is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby you must be saved. God hath given unto us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the
Son hath life this morning, and he that hath not the Son this
very morning hath not life. In eternity, salvation is attributed
under the lamb that was slain right now. In eternity, as we
sit here, he is God's salvation. Do you see salvation in the crucified
son of God? Do you see in him how God can
be just and yet justify you? Do you see your sins washed away
in that precious blood? What do you see this morning?
Many see in Him merely an example, a martyr, an opportunity to be
saved, but salvation's up to them. But by God's grace, I see
salvation. Free, full, finished salvation. What do you see? And they watched Him there. Every word deserves our attention.
who, sinners, vile, wretched sinners, expressing the ultimate
depravity and crucifying the Son of God, they, what they do,
they watched. They looked upon the very Son
of God. They watched Him. They watched Him there. Have
you ever just sat down, as they did, and contemplated the spectacle
of this man, the man, the God-man, dying on a cross? May we spend this entire year
watching, looking, beholding Him, and praying to God that
we might see That's what we're doing this
morning, some of us. I pray most of us, I pray all of us. Beholding
the Son of God, do you see His blood? Do you hear His word of
forgiveness? His word of triumph? His word
of victory? And let me say this, salvation
is without question the eternal work of God. Christ, the person,
the man, the God-man is without question now and always has been
the salvation of God. But we need to understand also
that this in our text, this is the hour. This is the hour. They watched him there. They
watched him there. It wasn't Christ in the manger
now that was pictured by the slain Passover lamb. David said in Psalm 85, 10, mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where'd that happen? It happened
there. Right here at the cross. We don't
preach, Paul said, Christ the example, or Christ the benefactor
of man. He said in 1 Corinthians 1, 23,
we preach Christ crucified. Oh, may it be so. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified, the power of God. And Christ crucified, the wisdom
of God. May we declare Him, if God gives
us another year. Oh, may we with all of our hearts,
and by God's grace, with His power and blessing, declare Christ
crucified. This is why we must, with Paul,
determine to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him
crucified. Isaiah said it is by his stripes
that we are healed. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. Paul said in Hebrews 9, 16, for
where a testament is, a covenant is, there must also of necessity
be the death of the testate. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. They
watched him there. We've seen already here our own
depravity. We sold him for 30 pieces of
silver, falsely accused him. We believed a lie concerning
him. We condemned the sinless one.
We said, we have a law and by our law, he ought to be crucified. We said his blood be upon us
and upon our children. We abused and cruelly despised
our king now as the king. We expressed our hatred of him
in every way we could think of to express it as king. It was
when they had the purple robe on him and the crown of thorns
on his brow and the reed in his hand that they said hail king
of the Jews and spit on him. People love to look upon him
and see a martyr, a servant, a benefactor. Somebody to give
them what they want. More loaves and fishes, Lord,
you know. They love to picture him standing outside the door
knocking, waiting on somebody to get good and ready to let
him in. They love to picture him in a manger. They don't mind
him creating the universe and holding the stars in place. But
when he says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, When
he says, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, they gnashed
their teeth. We rejected him as king, and
we still do by nature. Do you see a king when you look
at the cross? Do you see the king of his people,
the king of God's kingdom, the sovereign lamb, the one who said,
I give life to whom I will? Do you see the one who said,
nobody takes my life from me? I lay it down of myself, and
I take it up again. Do you see the one of whom Isaiah
prophesied in Isaiah 9, 6? For unto us a child is born,
a little baby. But unto us the Son of God was
given. God gave His Son to us. God so
loved that He gave. And I tell you who this Son is,
the government shall be upon His shoulder. He's not a little
baby anymore. He never was just a little baby.
He's the governor. And his name shall be called
Wonderful. Counselor, does anybody lack wisdom? Let him ask of God. God will send you the counselor. The mighty God. That's who that
Son is. The mighty God. The everlasting
Father. This is who hung on that cross.
The Prince. The Prince of Peace. Peter said, you killed the Prince
of Life. And you did it according to the
foreknowledge and counsel of God. We must, by God's grace, somehow
See the glory of God here. When Moses said, show me thy
glory. Oh God, show me. Give me a glimpse
of your glory. God said, I'm going to have mercy. I'm going to have mercy. And
this is how God has mercy on sinners. By the blood of his
son. Where was the blood splashed?
When the high priest came to that one place, that all of the
camp of God revolved around. What did he do? He splashed the
blood on the what? The mercy seat. There's only
one way God can have mercy and have communion with sinners.
And that's by that precious blood. I'll have mercy. And Moses saw
God's glory that day. Christ is our mercy seat. When
the Lord said, the Lord Jesus in John 17, he said, the hour
has come. And the next words out of his
holy mouth were what? Glorify thy son, that thy son
may also glorify thee. If we look there and we don't
see God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ, then we just don't
have eyes to see. When Judas went out to betray
the son of God, to be crucified in John 13 31 the Lord Jesus
said right then as he left now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him as
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness shined
in your black heart to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God In the face of Jesus Christ, what do you see? He is glorified there. They watched
him there, and he's glorified there in all of his attributes. His justice. He will by no means
clear the guilty. His holiness is glorified there. His eternal, infinite love for
His people. His mercy and grace. Oh, may God grant that we might
see here this morning as we watch Him there. His very glory. And may we see finally this morning,
as we watch Him there, may we see reason to worship and to
serve him. Paul said his people see that
when they watch him there. In 2 Corinthians 5.14, he said
the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge. God constrains His people. He
works in us what's well-pleasing in His sight, as we read a while
ago. It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of
His good pleasure. You know how He does it? He changes
our judgment. He changes our thinking. His
love constrains us because we thus judge. He changed the way
we judge things. And this is the way we judge
things now, that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, because he died for us. We should not henceforth live
unto ourselves, but unto him which died for us and rose again. Do you judge that way? Is that
the way you think? Is that your reckoning of things?
So when we look and we watch him there, Do we see reason to
present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God
by that blood, which is our reasonable service? May God make it so. The love of Christ constrains
us. Do you see that love? Do you
see that God's so loved? And does that love constrain
you to love him indeed, not in word only? Do you love him because? We love him because of what happened
there. Because he so loved us. If we can watch him there, and
come away the same as we were before we did, And we haven't seen him. May God give us a glimpse this
morning. And keep him before our eyes.
Hold thou thy cross before our eyes, we sing. And may he cause
us to see the lamb that died there. And see where John saw him. He's
not in the manger this morning. He's not on the cross this morning.
He is the lamb slain this morning and he's on the throne. When
we look at him there, we see our King. We see our Sovereign
and we bow and we sing worthy. May God give us a glimpse this
morning and throughout this year. May he bless our eyes that we
might see by His free grace. Let's pray together.