In John chapter 12, verses 31,
32, and 33, our Lord Jesus himself defines the meaning of his death
upon the cursed tree. Now, whenever you read a passage
like this, where a specific definition is given to the meaning of our
Lord's death or other places where a specific definition is
given to the gospel. Do not mistake or make the mistake
of presuming this is the only meaning. There are many passages
where the gospel is defined, many passages where the death
of Christ is defined, defined in different terms, but never
in contradictory terms. So that this declaration by our
Lord Jesus, while it encompasses the meaning of his death and
tells us that which is the sure result of his death, is not the
only declaration of the meaning of his death. Isaiah 53 is another. And yet everything taken in in
the whole of scripture regarding the death of our Lord Jesus Christ
is included in what he says here. My subject tonight is the crisis
of the world. Let's begin reading in John chapter
12 verse 31. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This, he said, signifying
what death he should die. Our Lord, as we saw this morning,
anticipating his death upon the cursed tree was exceedingly troubled,
exceedingly sorrowful. as he anticipated what he must
endure as our substitute. And yet now, as he speaks of
his death upon the cross, he speaks with confidence, speaks
with assurance, speaks with absolute certainty concerning that which
would be accomplished by his death upon the cross. Read it
again. Before we leave here tonight,
I want these words to be fixed in your heart and in your mind.
Now, that is now, as I die in the room instead of my people,
is the judgment of this world. Now, now, as I come into this
world, the seed of woman to crush the serpent's head, now, shall
the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up
as a sacrifice to God from the earth, I will draw all men, that
is, men from everywhere, men of all kinds unto me. This, he said, signifying what
death he should die. No wonder the Apostle Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And before I look at these statements
that fell from the lips of our Redeemer here in John chapter
12, let me deliberately digress. When we use the word cross with
reference to that which is delightful in our memory, with reference
to that which we preach, with reference to that in which we
glory, as Paul uses the word in Galatians 6, 14. We are not
referring to the mere historic fact that Christ died. He died
upon a wooden beam, no question about that. It's commonly called
a cross, but the cross the Romans used rarely was a cross piece. It was just a wooden beam upon
which one was crucified. The knowledge of the fact that
Christ died and died upon the curse tree is necessary for our
salvation. Neither here is Paul speaking
about, Harry Paul is not speaking about that historic fact, though
that's necessary. He also is not speaking about
that literal wooden beam upon which the Savior died. I stress
this. I stress this. You will look
on the ends of these pews. We bought them secondhand. If
I had ordered them from the factory, I would have required that they
didn't put that plus sign on the end. You can't hardly buy
church furniture without religious emblems of one kind or another.
The wooden emblem, the symbol of that wooden cross is utterly
meaningless. I'll tell you what I would do
if God would give me the wisdom and grace to do what I think
I would, what I know would be right. If I should find, if I
actually should find and knew for certain I had found that
piece of wood upon which the Son of God was crucified. I would
burn it and throw it to the wind because men worship the wood
and not the Redeemer. We all love idolatry by nature. And when the scripture speaks
of the cross of Christ, it is not talking about that wooden
beam. It certainly isn't talking about
the image of the cross or the silly sign of the cross as if
there's something magical or superstitious. People everywhere
think there's something wonderful about the cross. If you have
a piece of jewelry, an image of a cross, if it's cheap dime
store jewelry, throw it away. If it's worth something, melt
it down and sell it. Get rid of it. It's absolutely meaningless,
but worse than meaningless, it's just a piece of religious superstition
and idolatry. What does Paul mean then when
he talks about the cross? What do the scriptures refer
to when it speaks of the cross? I just read just a moment ago
one of Horatius Bonar's hymns in our book, one of the few about
the cross that's good. Hallelujah for the cross. What
can we praise God for? Thank God that Christ died on
the cross. Thank God he did. And thank God,
give praise to God for the message of the cross. When the scriptures
speak about the cross, when Paul says, God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking
about that which our Savior describes here in John 12, verses 31, 32
and 33. He's talking about that which
is the message of the gospel. He's talking about blood atonement,
blood atonement. Turn to Romans chapter five.
I want you to look at two or three passages in this regard. Romans
chapter 5. The doctrine of the cross, the
doctrine of the gospel is blood atonement. Atonement accomplished
by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Atonement accomplished by the
blood of God's Son being shed unto death. Atonement means at
one with. Reconciliation with God. Romans chapter 5 verse 6. For
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. but God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved in his life.
When we were still enemies, Christ died for us and we were reconciled
to God by the sacrifice of his son. And now, since Christ Jesus
is alive, we whom he reconciled to himself by blood atonement,
we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. We don't, by faith, make atonement. We don't by anything we do accomplish
atonement. Our believing on the Son of God
does not atone for our sins or redeem us. But by faith in Christ,
we receive that which he accomplished in our room instead at Calvary.
As Paul uses this term, the cross, as it's used in the scriptures.
It's talking about the message of the gospel. Blood atonement
is talking about a legal propitiation. That's exactly the word that's
used in Romans chapter three, where he speaks of God setting
forth his son, setting him forth to be a propitiation for sin. The word is mercy seat, mercy
seat. God Almighty commanded that Moses
place in the tabernacle an ark containing in it the law of God
covered with a mercy seat. where atonement was made by blood
being sprinkled on the day of atonement once a year. And God
said, that is where I'll meet you. Christ is the mercy seat. Christ is that one who by his
blood has satisfied the justice of God in the room instead of
his people. This is what all men by nature
know. God demands satisfaction. All men know that. All men by
nature have a sense of guilt and a God consciousness. We go
down to Mexico, I've told you many times, and usually go to
visit the Mayan ruins where those heathen, barbaric, brilliant
men, and if you look at the pyramids and see what they built, it's
obvious they were brilliant men, but heathen, barbaric men who
didn't know God from the sun. They'd bring sacrifices, human
sacrifices, cut out their hearts while they were alive and cast
them off their altar to their gods. Why? Because they knew
God must be satisfied for sin. And they kept on doing it until
their whole civilization, if you can call it that, died out.
Why? because they knew that no sacrifice
they ever made could satisfy God's justice. Every man knows
God requires satisfaction. You know it and I know it. Whether
you're a believer or an unbeliever, Jesus Christ alone has satisfied
the justice of God. His cross then is propitiation,
a legal just propitiation for sin. The cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ in a word is substitutionary redemption. Jesus Christ, God's
son, dying in our stead. That's the message of the cross.
Free justification by his blood, life through him that died. Now,
let's go back here to our text in John chapter 12. This word crossed in as we use
it, and I will refer to it frequently in this message. Our Lord is
here speaking about his death upon the cursed tree. He's talking
about the cross. He refers to the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We glory in that which is here
given us as the revelation of God's glory. Now is the judgment
of the world, this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all, all men, that is all of every race
and kindred and tribe and tongue, all sorts of men out of every
realm of society unto me. Not a hint, not a hint, not a
hint. that somehow or another he will
draw every human being unto himself. We know better from the plain
statements of scripture. The word all here is given and
then men added in italics to make the words read more smoothly. But our Lord's talking about
all kinds of men. This, he said, signifying what
death he should die. Now, this is an astounding thing. Brother Rex anticipated unknowingly
what I was planning to say here. He asked me, said, I was thinking
this afternoon when God commanded Moses after the children of Israel
were bitten by fiery serpents, he commanded Moses to make a
serpent of brass and hold it up for folks to look at and looking
to be healed. Why did he choose to have him
make a serpent, the image of the very thing that was causing
the destruction. When he asked that question,
this is what I said to him. Isaiah 55, listen. God says,
my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. and my
thoughts than your thoughts. Here is, in my opinion, if you
could offer evidences, if you could offer, as we call it, proof
of the certainty that the gospel we believe and preach and rejoice
in is the only true gospel. The certainty that the revelation
of God in the sacrifice of his son is the only true revelation
of the only true God there is. This is the only place in the
universe where you will find an answer for sin that's totally
contrary to human reason. Totally contrary to human reason,
who would ever have dreamed such a thing? who would ever have
dreamed that the cure for the bite of the serpent might come
from one made like a serpent. God made that serpent to be the
cure in anticipation of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who is the Holy One of God,
who is himself the Holy God, comes into this world in the
form of a man. By man came death, by man comes
also resurrection from the dead. By man came sin, by man comes
also deliverance from sin. By man came the transgression,
by man the transgression must be put away. And not only that,
our Lord Jesus Christ dies upon the cursed tree being made sin
for us, the very thing that would destroy us. He is made for us
and by that means we are delivered and God is justified and the
glory of God is revealed. Oh, infinite wisdom, infinite
goodness, that God should save his people by becoming what we
are. that God should overthrow Satan
and his usurped authority in all the world by himself being
bruised by the serpent. That God should judge the world
and save his people by the sacrifice of his darling son upon the curse
tree. In this 12th chapter of John,
our Lord Jesus in the verses we looked at this morning, rehearsed
before it came to pass his agony in Gethsemane. Here in verses
31, 32, and 33, our Savior rehearses, as it were, his accomplishments
upon the cursed tree. The Lord Jesus, by his death
upon the cross, sealed every purpose of God purpose of God for the world,
for the devil, and for his elect. He sealed every purpose of God
for the world, for the devil, and for his elect. Let me give
you just two things to look at this evening. First, let's look
at our Savior's success in death. And then, let me spend just a
little bit of time showing you the significance of his declaration. He spoke of his death upon the
cursed tree. And we're told that he says,
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me. This, he said, signifying what
death he should die. First then in verses 31 and 32,
our Savior speaks of his success as our Redeemer. I was thinking earlier this afternoon,
back in the book of Genesis, you don't need to turn there,
in the book of Genesis, book of beginnings, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Why are those books given to
us in that specific arrangement, in that specific order by God's
providence? Brother Lindsay this morning
spoke to you about our Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Moses and Elijah spoke to him on the Mount about the death
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. What a strange way to talk about
death. I don't recall anyone else ever, their death ever being
spoken of in that way. The death he should accomplish
at Jerusalem. We're finally conquered by death.
We finally give over to death. We finally bow to death, but
conquer, accomplish death. The death he should accomplish
at Jerusalem. The word death in that passage
in Luke chapter nine, I believe it was verse 37, 31, 37, somewhere
in there. The word death in that passage is a very unique word.
It is the word exodus. Moses and Elijah stood on the
mount as they anticipated his glory by his sacrifice on the
cross. And they spoke to him about his
exodus, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Well, that's the
reason the book of Exodus was named Exodus. Exodus is the going
out, not just the going out, but the going out in triumph.
Not just going out in triumph, but going out with the multitude
redeemed and delivered. In the book of Genesis, Genesis
speaks of the calls of bondage. Sin entered into the world. The
book of Exodus describes and pictures for us in manifold ways
the deliverance of God's people from the bondage we are in by
sin. The book of Numbers or the book
of Leviticus speaks of that deliverance in a specific legal way by just
sacrifices lifted up to God. The book of Numbers tells us
that it is a specific number who must be delivered. The numbering
of the children of Israel represented as 144,000 and that 144,000 represented
as a great multitude which no man can number. And the book of Deuteronomy restates
the whole thing a second time. So that in the mouth of two or
three witnesses, every word may be established. And so this thing
is established by God. And Moses, the law, and Elijah
the prophet stand with the Savior on the mouth of transfiguration
and speak to him about the death he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Here our Savior tells us this
is what he will accomplish. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto me. These three things, our Savior
says, shall be accomplished. Now is the judgment of the world. This is a statement so broad
I can't begin to explain it. I'll just declare what little
bit I am certain of concerning it. The word that is translated
judgment here is the word crisis. If you were to write it out in
English letters or in Arabic letters just as it is written
in the Greek text, Just in Arabic letters, you'd write it out.
C-R-I-S-I-S. It's the word crisis. Our Lord
Jesus then is saying now, now. This hour, he has said before,
mine hour has not yet come. Mine hour has not yet come. Mine
hour has not. Mine hour has come. Now is the
crisis of the world. The hinge of the world. the turning point of the world.
The thing upon which all history hinges is this. My sacrifice
in the room instead of my people. The world was made for this purpose. The world was created for this
hour. God created the world. And this
is the reason that he might show forth his glory in the ransom
of his people by the sacrifice of his son. Now is the crisis
of the world. Our Lord speaks of his death
in this manner because everything hangs on this. I'm sure you've all been in situations
that were considered to be critical. You see a loved one who's very
ill, been through surgery, and the doctor tells you that the
next few hours are critical. That generally means if they
make it till morning, he might be all right. Is that right?
He might be all right. This is a critical hour, the
crisis. Our Lord Jesus says this is the
critical hour. The death of Christ was the death
of sin. The death of Christ was the crushing
of the serpent's head. The death of Christ was victory
over death and the accomplishment of life. The death of Christ
secured not only the regeneration of God's elect, but the regeneration
of the earth itself. The death of Christ was the crisis
of the world. The death of Christ was also
the judgment of the world. the judgment of the world in
the sense that by our Lord's death upon the cursed tree, the
world was convicted and found guilty of its horrid hatred of
God Almighty. Here stood perfect love sitting
parking lot at Walmart, waiting on Shelby to go in and pick up
some things this afternoon. And I was, didn't have anything
else better to do, just sitting there watching folks go by. About
everybody these days, you know, wears some kind of a saying on
their clothing. I can't tell you how many people
walked by me, had something about love on their shirts. Something
about love. The whole world talks about love,
especially the religious world. Oh, Oh, love, what a wonderful
day. James Jordan, Jesus Christ. Was and is the embodiment of
perfect love. And the world nailed him to the
tree. The world had standing before it perfect righteousness,
perfect righteousness. Perfect righteousness and nailed
it to the tree. Jesus Christ. is God's darling
son. And the world spit on him and
crucified him and laughed while he died. How could that be? How could that be? Now, Mark,
when I'm talking about the world, I'm talking about you and me.
It's exactly what we'd have done if we'd been there. Exactly what
we'd have done. Why? How can that be? Because
man by nature has such an inward, deep hatred of God, that if we
could, every human being, you, me, your children, my children,
you who are yet without Christ, right now, if you could get hold
of God, you'd take him by the throat, pull him off his throne,
kill him, and throw him in hell. That's man's enmity against God. Huh? Not me? I love Jesus. I love God. You love your imaginationary
thoughts of God. But he who is God Almighty, who
demands that men bow to him, who demands the right to rule
and exercises his rule, every man by nature despises and would
kill him if they could. The world was then sentenced
to death. when it put the Lord of Glory
to death. Here we see the clearest possible display of the heinousness
of man's sin, the clearest possible display of divine justice. When God found sin on his son,
God Almighty cried, Awake, O sword, against one that is my fellow.
Smite and slay the shepherd. And if God Almighty finds sin
on you, you shall not escape. You shall not escape. If God
killed his own son when he found sin on his son, you think you're
going to get by? It shall not happen. By the cross,
you're judged. By the cross, you shall be judged. By the cross, God judged the
world. And by the cross, let us judge
the world. It's religion. It's favor. It's frowns, it's fame, it's
friendship, it's riches. Love not the world, John said. Love not the world. That's talking about his people. That's talking about his people.
How do you know? Because his next word is neither the things
that are in the world. Don't set your heart on this
world and don't wrap your heart up with the people of this world
or the things of this world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the father is not in him. Brother Don, I thought we're
supposed to love everybody. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love men and do good to men. But we set our hearts upon our
Redeemer, love our Redeemer, and love those our Redeemer loves. David said, I count them mine
enemies. I hate them that hate thee. Read the 139th Psalm. The Lord
makes it very plain. Don't set your heart on this
world. Treat this world as God treated Esau. as that which is
utterly insignificant and meaningless. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but of the world. And here's
the reason you dare not set your heart on it. The world passeth
away. and everything in it men lust
after. The lust thereof passeth away,
but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Paul said, by the cross the world
is crucified unto me. I count the world, Paul said,
a dead thing. A dead thing. I worship Him who
died in my stead, and He by whom I now live, in whom I was crucified. The world is now dead to me. That means there's nothing in
this world that should cause me fear. Now, when I was a boy and didn't
know any better, got took to graveyards. Older
boys would take the younger boys down to the graveyards out in
the country at night and scare the bitches off of us. You know
why? Because I was silly enough to
be scared of dead things. I was silly enough as a little
boy to be scared of folks who had been in the grave for years
and years and years. And the older boys knew better.
And they'd scare the britches off of us, leave us there screaming
and running, and then just laughing like he was having a good time.
You know what I did when I got to be an older boy? I took the
younger boys to the graveyard and scared the britches off of
them. And while they ran off screaming, scared to death, I
just laughed and hooted and hollered because they didn't have enough
sense not to know dead folks can't hurt you. Will you hear
me, children of God? Nothing here can harm you. I'm crucified to the world, and
the world crucified to me. It's a dead thing. Particularly,
though, if you look at Galatians chapter 4 and verse 3, when Paul
speaks of the world, in the book of Galatians, as he takes up
our Lord's statement, though now is the judgment of the world,
Paul speaks of the world the elements of the world as the
law. The law. The commandments of
the law. The ceremonies of the law. All
the holy days of the law. And he says, I'm dead to it. I'm dead to it. Because Christ
is the end of the law. In fact, he says that we are
dead to the law by the body of Christ in Romans chapter 7 and
verse 4. Look in Galatians chapter 2.
Just listen. It says in verse 19, I through
the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. I'm dead to the law. That means there's nothing in
God's holy law, nothing in God's holy law, nothing that can harm
me. No reason for me to be afraid.
I'm dead to the law and the law's dead to me. Dead to it. Well,
what is our relationship to the law? I'm dead to it. But in what
sense? Well, let me see if I can understand
this. I'm dead to it. That means I
don't have any relationship to it. Well, how's the law related
to you? It's dead to me. It doesn't have
any relationship to me because the law has been fulfilled in
my Redeemer and I was crucified with him and now I live. But the life that I'm talking
about, that I live, that life that's in me, that's not me.
That's not me. I died a long time ago. It's
Christ living in me. Christ living in me and I in
him. Now, is the judgment of the world. Probably, probably more than
anything else, this means what our Lord said when he spoke in
John 14 and says, when the spirit of truth has come, he will convince
the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He's talking
about now is the judgment of God's elect to all the world. When Christ died, judgment was
finished. You know, as I said a moment
ago, God demands satisfaction. My guilty, screaming conscience
tormented me and tormented me and tormented me. When God began to deal with my
soul in such a way that I can remember and know something of
the experience of it, I laid in bed at night, scared to death
of falling into hell. Terrified. And I read the Bible,
and I'd try to pray, and I'd try to pray and read the Bible,
and I'd go to church, and I'd try to act better and make promises. And all that I did, I'd go to
bed at night, and my conscience screamed with guilt. That's not
enough. That's not enough. That's not
enough. That's not enough. But I've given
up. That's not enough. But I quit. That's not enough.
But I turned over this thing. That's not enough. And one day,
sitting where you're sitting, just about this time of the year,
I heard a man declare, as I had never heard before, the death
of God's darling son. And God revealed his son in me. And I saw him hanging on the
tree in my room instead, and my conscience said, that's enough.
Justice is satisfied. I'm crucified with Christ. Now, here's the second thing.
Our Lord says, this is the result of my death. Turn to Revelation
chapter 12. Now, the prince of this world
is cast out. The Lord Jesus, by his death
on the cross, has taken care of our great foe. He's answered Satan's accusation. Look here in Revelation 12, verse
7. And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels. You know who Michael is. That's
the archangel. Michael is that angel of God's presence. Michael
is that angel we see in Revelation 10, Revelation 20. Michael is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of the covenant. Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought
and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was
their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth
the whole world. He was cast out into the earth
and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, just as soon as this is done, now
is come salvation and strength. the kingdom of my God and of
the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren that's
what the word Satan means accuser is cast down which accused them
before the throne of God day and night remember in Exodus
or in Zechariah the third chapter Joshua stands before the angel
of the Lord. Stands before God in filthy garments,
a chosen priest. And Satan protests. And the angel
of the Lord stood by. Take those dirty clothes off
him. Put clean garments on him. Put a crown on his head. His
iniquities removed in one day. And Satan has got nothing to
say. He's cast out. He's cast out.
Now, the prince of this world is cast out. Our Lord Jesus comes
by the power of his spirit through the gospel and casts Satan out
of the hearts of men. Oh, the old lion still roars,
but he's crippled. He doesn't have any teeth, and
he's on a long chain, held in the hands of omnipotent Savior. and all he can do is roar. Christ, our Redeemer, has brewed
Satan under his heel. And soon, he will brew Satan
under your heels. And then third result of our
Lord's death. Our Savior says, I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. The cross, like
a magnet draws to you, draws sinners to God, draws sinners
to the Savior. Our Lord Jesus lifted up as the
serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, draws sinners to
Him. He alone. He alone, the crucified Christ
alone is the attraction to heaven. He alone attracts sinners to
God. Oh, now the religious world uses
every scheme and trick and gimmick men can imagine. orchestrate
their plans months in advance, plan their musical schedules
and everything planned except preaching, everything else, everything.
And they have their agenda set because they figured out a way
to attract crowds, attract them to religion, to follow them to
hell. But Christ crucified attracts
sinners to heaven, attracts sinners to God. Therefore, Paul said,
I'm determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and him crucified. We lift up the crucified Savior
and he draws sinners to himself. This preaching of the gospel
is the wisdom of God and the power of God. to all who are
saved by God. To those others, to some of you,
it's foolishness. It's foolishness. Let's do something
else. I can't tell you how many times
I've had recommendations. We need to start doing something.
Well, we're going to keep on doing just what we've been doing,
lifting up Jesus Christ crucified. But what's the result of that?
He still draws sinners to himself. And you know who he draws? He
adds to the church every day exactly such as should be said. Exactly. Well, we need to get
some results. You'll compromise the gospel.
We need to start doing something, get us a crowd. You'll compromise
the gospel. Other folks are, you'll compromise
the gospel. But Don, you seem to be stuck
in a rut. Blessed, blessed rut it is. And this is where we'll stay.
I'm determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ
and him crucified. For the preaching of the gospel
is God's ordained means for the saving of his people, the edifying
of his saints. Now, what's the significance
of our Savior in this statement? I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what
death he should die. The significance is just this.
Our Savior says, as a result of my sacrifice upon the curse
tree, I'll call out my elect out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. They shall come. They shall come. And this is how I must die. I must be lifted up. Lifted up. Go back and read Old Testament
scriptures. Particularly read the book of
Leviticus. Every sacrifice God requires
every sacrifice God accepted in all the Old Testament scriptures
was lifted up to God. Every sacrifice lifted up from
the earth on the altar of God's ordaining lifted up to God and
lifted up he was upon the tree to be hung as that one whom God
says is cursed for you and cursed for
me. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse. Made a curse, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. The Lord God then
points from heaven And the Lord Jesus, our Savior, points from
the earth to the cross, to his sacrifice upon the cursory. And he says, here is the one
thing that's made a curse, made a curse that God might be just
and justify every sinner who believes on him. As the children
of Israel looked to that brazen serpent, Moses held up. Oh, God
give you grace, cursed sons of Adam. God give you grace now
to look to Him, our crucified Redeemer, and live forever. Amen.