Open your Bible with me to John's
Gospel, chapter 11. John, the 11th chapter. We'll begin reading at verse
47 and read through the end of the chapter. John chapter 11,
verse 47. Then gathered the chief priest
and the Pharisees, a council, and said, what do we? For this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him. And the Romans shall come and
take away both our place and the nation. And one of them named
Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them,
ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he, not of himself,
But being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should
die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that
also he should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth, they
took counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus therefore
walked no more openly among the Jews, but went thence unto a
country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and
there continued with his disciples. And the Jews' Passover was nigh
at hand. Many went out of the country
up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. And then
sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves as they stood
in the temple, what think ye that he will not come to the
feast? Now both the chief priests and
the Pharisees had given commandment that if any man knew where he
were, he should show it, that they might take him. several obvious lessons to be
gleaned from these verses of scripture. Certainly, the first
thing is clearly obvious to anyone who reads the scriptures with
an open eye. God Almighty can and often does
reveal himself and his word and speaks truth. by men who have
no knowledge of the truth they speak. This man Caiaphas was
a lost, reprobate man, but what he spoke was the truth of God. Now don't misunderstand what
I'm saying. I'm not suggesting that the fellow across the street
who's standing up preaching a lie at this moment, declaring free
will works religion, is speaking the truth of God. But God often
uses men who themselves do not know God to speak the truth of
God. He used Balaam, a false prophet,
to declare some of the richest truths revealed in all the Word
of God. And here Caiaphas, the high priest,
is moved by God the Holy Spirit to declare plainly that it was
expedient that Christ should die to gather together God's
elect among the Jews and the Gentiles scattered across the
world, that one man should die and not the people. This man Caiaphas plainly declares
that. Here's the second thing. how
desperately wicked, how utterly depraved is the heart of man. I'm not talking about a few men,
I'm talking about you and me and every man. A mighty miracle
had been wrought just a short distance from where these men
were gathered. A man who had been dead for four days was raised
up before a great multitude of witnesses. The fact could not
be disputed. Lazarus had been dead for four
days and the Lord Jesus raised that dead man back to life and
set him among the living. But these men so obstinate are
they in their hatred of God so Determined are they not to bow
to God, to his revelation, to his word, to his son, though
plainly, obviously set before them. They chose rather to plot
the murder of the man who raised him from the dead. And they did
it in the name of God. The chief priest and the Pharisees
and the multitudes under their influence would not believe. They would not believe. Here's the third thing. We behold
in these verses the insanity. I chose my words on purpose.
The insanity of people who reason without faith. without faith
in Christ. The insanity of the reason of
men opposed to God. These elated fools reason like
this. They said the only way we can
preserve the nation of Israel is to destroy Christ, his church,
and his gospel. That's the only way we can do
it. If we don't destroy this man, destroy his influence, destroy
what he has declared, destroy those who follow him, if we don't
destroy this man, the Romans are going to come and take away
our nation. We're going to lose our freedom.
We're going to lose our liberties. The only way to preserve our
liberty as the nation of Israel The only way to do that is to
destroy Jesus Christ and His influence above man. Sounds like politicians in Washington,
doesn't it? Sounds like folks sitting on
the Supreme Court making a decision. Great, learned, brilliant minds
reasoning with the insanity of God-hatred. And men who reason from hatred
reason from insanity. No need trying to understand
what they reason. The very thing that they said
would come upon them if they didn't destroy the Messiah. If they didn't destroy the Christ. If they didn't destroy his influence,
the very thing they feared in just a few years came upon them
and the Romans destroyed that city and that nation and their
religion. Destroyed it altogether. Just
wiped it clean. Wiped it clean. So will the nation
of Israel still exist? No. They just planted over there
in the ground, that's all. That nation was destroyed 2,000
years ago, so thoroughly destroyed that it will never be regathered,
so thoroughly destroyed that there's not a Jew living who
can even prove what tribe of Israel he came from, or if he
did. When God turns things upside
down, God turns them upside down. Here's the third thing. The religious
hypocrites held before us in this text clearly exemplify the
fact that lost people, Men and women with hearts full of sin,
hearts completely filled with venom and hatred toward God. Lost people are often people
who love religion, religious duties, religious traditions,
and religious ceremonies. They love them. They love them.
And the more unbiblical they are, the more they love them.
They love religion. They love religion. Here's a
great multitude, here in verse 55, plotting to murder the Son
of God. They're plotting to murder the
Son of God. And they are meticulously purifying
themselves for the observance of their Passover. Now, we've
got to figure out a way to murder this fella. We've got to put
him to death. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
It's time. Let's go wash up now. We've got to go to church. Let's keep our Passover. We've
got the law requires, the law demands. Lost people, people
who hate God, love religion. Love religion. They'll fight
for it. They'll fight for it. You're
not going to take Ten Commandments out of the city hall. We'll march
against it. No, no, no, no. You folks have
taken Christ out of Christmas as if he were ever in it. And
they'll fight you over their traditions. The more contrary
to scripture they are, the more vehement they are in their defense
of their religion. The Jews Passover was nigh at
hand. Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves as
they stood in the temple. What think ye, that he will not
come to the feast? Do you reckon he's really not
going to come up here, and we're really not going to get a chance
to kill him? No, we're here to observe the
Passover, and he's not coming up here! Why, how does he call
himself a self-respecting Jew? He's not coming to the feast.
Oh, he will come to the feast. In fact, the reason he ordained
the feast, the reason he created this day, the reason all things
have come to pass as they are at this very hour is because
he created the earth and lived in this world that he might come
to this hour And he who is our Passover before the day was done
would be sacrificed as our Passover. Oh yes, he will come to the feast
because it is expedient that one man should die and not God's
chosen nation, his people. Jew and Gentile, black and white,
male and female, bond and free, scattered among the nations of
the earth. It's expedient that one man should die and not all
the host of God's elect. My subject this morning is substitution. Christ in my place. That's what substitution is.
It is Christ in my place. This book. Oh, God help you to get this. This blessed book is a book of
just one subject. And that subject is substitution.
The whole purpose of God in the writing of the books of Holy
Scripture is to reveal his purpose of grace in the redemption of
our souls by Jesus Christ, our substitute. The whole purpose
of God's book is to reveal to us the person and work of Christ,
his darling son, our blessed substitute, by whom our sins
are put away. Justice is satisfied and we are
made holy and righteous before God. If you miss or fail to understand
the gospel message of substitution, if you miss or fail to understand
the gospel message of substitution, this book is a sealed book to
you. Apart from the message of substitution,
you can't understand anything written in this book. If you're
confused about substitution, this whole book is a massive
confusion to you. You don't understand any of it.
But Brother Don, so many people, What about the prophecy, and
the tongues, and the miracles, and the wonders, and the signs,
and the moon turning to blood, and the sun turning to darkness,
and wars, and rumors of wars, and earthquakes, and famines,
and tornadoes, and all the signs of the times? This book is all
about Christ the Substitute. Miss it, and you missed it all.
And you'll be chasing signs and wonders and tongues and visions
and prophecy and schemes and nations and earthquakes and tornadoes
and Middle East crises and loss of oil and more oil and all the
stupidity with which the religious world is engulfed in our day. We rejoice in the revelation
of Scripture. and the doctrines of the gospel,
and we're not at all bashful about preaching them. Sometimes
I'll get a little bit of a snide remark from folks or a comment coming my way that comes
second, third, or 20th hand, well, he's a doctrinal preacher.
I don't take it as a slap in the face. I take it as a compliment.
If I didn't preach doctrine, I wouldn't pretend to be a preacher.
Doctrine is the teaching of the book. But isolate any doctrine
from the substitutionary work of Christ and the doctrine is
wrong. God created all things out of
nothing, but God who created all things is Christ our substitute. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. We rejoice
and the sovereign purpose of God, God's election and predestination. You mean God chose somebody to
be saved before the world was? Of course he did. Of course he
did. Any idiot can read the words
in the book of God and see they're written there. Of course he did.
And if you don't like that, I'm sorry you don't like it, but
I'm not sorry for it. Of course he did. Elections is plain as
the words Holy Bible right there in front of your book. This is
as plain as it can be in the book of God. Predestination? Well, of course, if God's in
glory, he predestinated everything that comes to pass. And if things
are not predestined according to his will, there's no such
thing as, God, your religion's a joke. It's just a joke. But
election and predestination are in Christ. We were chosen in
Christ. Bob, we were predestinated to be conformed to the image
of our crucified substitute. We were accepted in Christ our
substitute before the world began. Providence. Oh, divine providence. Don't you love it? All things
working together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose. But providence is the
working of all things by the hand of our substitute who holds
the reins of the universe to give eternal life to as many
as God the Father gave him to redeem and save. Is that what
it says? Read it for yourself. John 17,
2. How we rejoice in glory in the doctrine of the atonement.
Jesus Christ, God's son, by the sacrifice of himself, made atonement
for the sins of God's elect. He made atonement, reconciliation. He calls God and man to be one
again, not God and all men. Oh, no. Atonement is not the
possibility of God and man being brought to one. Atonement is
the reality that Christ brought God's elect. and God Almighty
together again who were broken apart by sin, broken in fellowship,
broken in the blessed communion of God and man as man was created
in the garden, but brought together now by the sacrifice of Christ,
our substitute. We delight in the prospect of
resurrection. wonder what it's going to be
like when these bodies come out of the grave. I try real regularly. I wish I could say I try to every
day, but real regularly. Skip, I try to imagine if the
Lord were to come right now. Oh, what shall it be like when
those who sleep in the earth are raised in immortality. And we who are alive remain quickened
together with them and raised up together with them and meet
the Lord in the air. And then glorified. Completely, completely conformed
to the glorified Christ, our substitute. Possessing with Him
all that he possesses, enjoying with him all that he enjoys. But all those things are meaningless,
separated from the substitute. Substitution gives meaning to
everything in the book. I want you to get this. The theme
of the Bible is substitution. The whole purpose of divine revelation
is to teach us that God will not speak to nor will he be spoken
to by any man apart from Christ the substitute. God will not
speak to, nor will he be spoken to by any man apart from Christ
the substitute. Will not. Well, we're all going
to heaven, we're just going different ways. No, we're not. No, we're
not. No, we're not. Christ the only
mediator between God and men. God Almighty only deals with
sinners in the substitute. Your eternal salvation, your
eternal destiny, your eternal life or eternal damnation is
altogether determined by your relation to to God's appointed
substitute, Jesus Christ the Lord. Everything in the Bible
sets forth Christ the Son of God, the incarnate God-man, as
the one, the only, the all-sufficient substitute for sinners. walk to those disciples on the
road to Emmaus back here in Luke 24. You remember after the resurrection
he walked along with them and he talked to them and beginning
at Moses and in all the prophets he taught them things concerning
himself and they didn't know who was talking to him. And he
showed them from the scriptures things concerning himself. And
then he opened their understanding. cause them to understand that
everything that was written back here in all the Old Testament
scriptures was about him. About the necessity of his death
as the sinner's substitute. About the necessity of his resurrection
as our substitute. About the necessity of his gospel
being preached to men. The gospel by which sinners have
been turned to God in the sacrifice of his own dear son. Substitution
is the sinner's only hope. the substitutionary sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus is the only hope we have, the only hope God's
elect have today, the only hope any will have tomorrow, and the
only hope God's elect have had in days gone by all the way back
to the days of our father Adam. In the Old Testament church,
God's elect believed on They trusted in that substitute, the
Lord Jesus, who was revealed by God in the beginning, in the
garden, the seed of woman. That substitute. That substitute
who was portrayed in all the Old Testament sacrifices, in
all the Old Testament ceremonies, in all the laws, in all the holy
days. Those things spoke of the substitute.
They weren't just religious shows. They weren't just religious ceremonies. They weren't meaningless. What
goes on in our day in religion? What goes on in most churches?
Most of what goes on in churches. Except where the gospel is preached,
Merle, everything goes on in churches. It's just a show. It's
just a show. It's unbelievable to me. It's absolutely unbelievable
to me what grown up men and women who actually got past kindergarten,
got him a PhD degree, got him a law degree, a doctor's degree,
a mathematical degree. What they will do, because they
get a little religion, they'll have them a living Christmas
tree. Can't you imagine this group of fellows here? You'd
think we'd all gone out and got smashed, falling down drunk,
if you all saw standing up here holding a candle. We're going
to have a Christmas tree. In this little light of mine,
I'm going to let it shine. And folks do that all over this
town. All over the world. And they think it's wonderful. And it's wonderful. That's what all the Old Testament
services would be. Just a sham show. of religion if they didn't declare
the substitute. It's exactly right. It's exactly
right. Just meaningless. Just meaningless. Those Old Testament
saints trusted Christ just like we do. They were justified and
accepted in Christ the Lamb, the substitute, slain from the
foundation of the world. They were accepted in the beloved. just like we are. The Church
of God today rests all hope upon Christ the Substitute. All my
righteousness is Him. All my redemption is Him. The Bible makes it crystal clear.
The only hope any sinner has of eternal salvation is Christ
the Substitute. you all know what a substitute
is. And were it not because we're
talking about things in the scriptures, you know, we're talking about
things taught right here. If I were writing this about
basketball, about teachers, about doctors, about lawyers in the
court, about judges on the bench, if it were talking about anything
else, except Christ crucified. Any idiot would understand it. Anyone would. Substitute. April
the, what date is it, Jarvis is going to be here, the 15th?
Whatever date it is, he's going to be on Tuesday, I'm going to
be in England. You're going to have a substitute preacher. A
good one, but a substitute. That means somebody else is going
to be standing right here. And Alan, if somebody else is standing
here, ain't no room for me. Does that make any sense? We
can't both stand here. One can stand here and another
there, but we can't both stand here. A substitute is somebody
who takes your place. Somebody who takes your place. And Christ Jesus took my place as my substitute before God. that I might take his place as
God's son forever. That's called substitution. That's
called substitution. And to suggest, to suggest that
somehow he took your place and you might still wind up in hell
is to blaspheme God in the most hideous way imaginable. to suggest
it is to blaspheme God. Brother Don, that's not going
to get you any other accolades from men. I hope not. I hope
not. Christ Jesus is an effectual,
just, satisfying, sin-atoning substitute. He's a perfect substitute. Now let me try to answer three
or four questions from this book. I'll answer the questions from
the book. Number one, Who is the substitute? If you will,
you turn back to Leviticus 22. Brother Donnie Bell, a couple
of weeks ago, referred you to this passage of scripture. The
sinner's substitute must be a real man. And he must be the infinite
God. Emmanuel, God with us. He must be both. You see, God
could not suffer and man could not satisfy, but the God-man
both suffered and satisfied. And our Lord Jesus is the perfect
God-man, our substitute. One night recently, going out
the door, Susan asked me about the significance of the fact
that When the second tables of the law were written, God commanded
Moses to hew out two tables of stone. And God wrote the law
again on those two tables of stone. And those tables that
Moses made were put in the ark under the blood. Why? Because
that which man broke, man must repair. The sin man committed,
man must satisfy for it. That which man ruined, man must
restore, but no man can. No man but the God-man. One who is of infinite worth
and infinite merit before God. One whose obedience is of infinite
value, whose blood is of infinite value, infinite efficacy before
God Almighty. Here in Leviticus 22, look at
this. The substitute must be perfect. 22 verse 21. And whatsoever or
whosoever offers a sacrifice, any sacrifice, any sacrifice
of peace offerings unto the Lord, to accomplish his vow, or a free
will offering in bees or in sheep, it shall be the best you can
bring. You got a Bible that reads like
that? Throw it away. If it doesn't read like that, pay attention.
It shall be perfect to be accepted. God won't have anything else.
He won't have anything else. There shall be no blemish therein. The high priest. Y'all probably never noticed
this. In my family, we don't have much
nose. I wouldn't qualify as a high
priest because I got a pub nose. That's a blemish. Now, my mama
thought it was cute, but it's a blemish. It's a pug nose. The high priest couldn't have
any, not even a flat nose. Not even a flat nose. If he had
it, he couldn't serve God in the priesthood. He couldn't bring
a sacrifice to God's altar. He couldn't sprinkle blood on
the mercy seat. The priest must be perfect. If the priest, however,
were himself perfect, Perfect. I mean not a blemish in him.
Perfect specimen of manhood. Whatever Adam was in the garden,
that's that priest. Perfect specimen of manhood.
And he brings a sheep that it's got a dog got hold of one ear.
Just a little bit. Just a little. Not much, just
a little. But it's the best looking sheep.
Fattest sheep. Got the finest wool. But it's
got that little neck right yonder. He can't bring it. He can't bring
it. The priest got to be perfect
and the sacrifice got to be perfect. And it's got to be brought on
the altar that God ordained. An altar of God's making, not
man's. An altar of earth, not a wooden altar. An altar of earth,
not an altar of hewn stone. An altar with no steps going
up to it. An altar that doesn't have any
mark of a man's tool on it. Got to be perfect to be accepted. and the purpose of those ancient
Levitical laws, this and others, was to declare the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ in those ceremonial pictures of the law.
Christ is our perfect high priest. No spot, no blemish, no defect,
no deformity, no sin. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. Christ is the perfect sacrifice. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. And Christ himself is the altar,
the sacrifice offered up to God on the altar of God's own making,
Jesus Christ our Lord. And it's only through him, only
through him, That sinners believing on him are justified from all
things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. In Christ. The Lord Jesus. Every believer. Is a priest to
God. Without blemish. Without blemish. He was manifested
to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. And we offer God
a sacrifice without blemish. The sacrifice we offer is Christ
Himself. And we offer it not upon an altar
in front of the church building, or a confessional booth in a
church building, or a cathedral, the hundred thousand different
kind of altars people invent. We offer ourselves in Christ
our sacrifice to God Almighty on that altar that's in heaven.
We have an altar, Paul said, an altar whereof they cannot
partake who have an altar down here. You mean, Brother Donald,
if a fellow goes to a physical altar, he's an idolater? No. No, I don't mean that. God
means that. God means that. You mean that's
idolatry? Read the book. Read the book. It's just idolatry. We worship
God in the Spirit. Why did our substitute, the Lord
Jesus, come into this world? What was his purpose in coming?
He came to do his Father's will. He came to bring in everlasting
righteousness. He came to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. He came to save his people from
their sins. Is that what the book says? Lord,
I come to do thy will. Oh, my God. Well, what did he
do? Turn to first John, chapter five.
First John, chapter five. What did he do? Well, I wish I could know if
I'm saved or not. How do you know whether or not a person
is saved, Brother Dodd? First John chapter 5. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Oh, I believe that Jesus is the
Christ. Do you now? Let's see. Let's see. Do you
believe that he brought in everlasting righteousness or just made a
stab at it? Do you believe that he put away
the sins of those for whom he died or just made it possible
for their sins to be put away? Do you believe that He satisfied
the justice of God for all the transgressions of His elect?
Or just made it possible that men might have justice satisfied
on their behalf? Do you believe that He redeemed
His people? Or just made it possible for
them to be redeemed? Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth, that
man who was crucified at Calvary, actually fulfilled all the prophets
of the Old Testament, and all the law, and brought in everlasting
righteousness, securing the salvation of his people, having obtained
eternal redemption for us with his own blood? Or he just, he
sort of gave it his best shot, but he's done everything he can,
and now he's loved you so much, he's done everything, everything
he can do, now it's all up to you. What do you believe? Well, if it's the latter, you
do not believe that Jesus is the Christ. Because this one
who's described throughout all the Old Testament as the Christ
made a stab at nothing. He successfully accomplished
his mission. He's Jehovah's servant. He fulfilled
all that Jehovah gave him to do. He did all his father's will. He saved all his people. He put
away all their sins. He satisfied divine justice.
He made us the very righteousness of God in himself. He did it
all. This is what the Lord says about
his servant. You can read it for yourself in Isaiah 42, verse
4. Behold my servant, my delight,
in whom my soul delights. Behold him. Watch him now. Let
me tell you about him. This is the triune God speaking
of Jesus Christ, our substitute. Behold, my servant, mine elect,
in whom my soul delights, he shall not fail. Oh, that's good news. And the gospel is good news.
It's not good advice. When our Lord Jesus cried, it
is finished. I'll tell you what he did. He
bowed his head, giving up the ghost because he
declared mission accomplished. Redemption done. Salvation finished. Justice satisfied, sinners saved. Well, Brother Don, you said Christ
is your substitute. Christ in my place is substitution. When did Christ stand in our
place? Back before the world was. before ever God created
the angels or the heavens. Before he brought the stars and
the sun and the moon into being and placed them where he would
fix them. Before he put man upon the earth,
Christ stood as our substitute, as our voluntary surety in the
covenant of grace. And He assumed all responsibility
for our souls then. And the Lord God declares Him
to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. How
can that be? You know what? I've been studying
that for 43 years. I've been studying it every day
just about for 43 years. I don't reckon, I can't consciously
name a day when I haven't given some consideration to how can
this be. And you know what? I don't have a clue. I don't
have a clue. I'm not God, but I know it's
so. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. And Mark, we were accepted in him
from eternity because he stood as our substitute. He stood as
our substitute. You mean before we were sinners,
we already had a Savior? Yeah. You mean before we were
lost, we were already found? Of course. You mean before we
went astray, we were already fetched back? Yes. You mean before
Adam sinned in the garden, we were already justified? Yes.
You mean before we ever fell, we were already raised up? Yes.
You mean before we transgressed, we were already forgiven? Yes.
Read the book. Just read it. It's as plain as
nose on your face. God hath 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 When? Before the world began. Now if you got a problem with
that, you got a problem. You just got a problem. Then that
eternal substitute in the fullness of time came here to this earth
in our humanity and died upon Calvary's cursed tree as our
substitute. He walked on this earth in obedience
to God the full life of a man. Remember, man broke the law,
man's got to repair it. And in the 33 years of his life
on this earth, our Lord Jesus worked out for us a garment of
spotless righteousness called the righteousness of God that's
made ours in him. But obedience is not enough,
Ron. The sinner's got to die. He's got to die. The soul that sinneth it shall
die. God's not going to change his mind. And when Christ died
upon Calvary's tree, he died for me. My only hope, my only
plea is that Christ died, died for me. He died in my room. He died in my step. He died in
my place. And I died in him. So that the
law of God has absolutely no possible charge to lay against
me. Justice is satisfied. Remember what I told you Tuesday
night when Moses finished erecting that tabernacle? The glory of
God, the Shekinah glory filled that place. And the scripture
says Moses was not able to enter in because of the glory that
filled the place. Merle, that glory, that Shekinah
in the Old Testament is the revelation of God's glory in a shadow, fully
revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, our substitute. And when
the redemption has come, When the glory of God has been fully
manifest in the accomplishment of redemption by Christ, there's
no room for Moses. No room for the law. No condemnation. No guilt. No charge. Because Christ put away our sins. But that's not all. That's not
all. In the last day, When I stand
before the bar of God, the Lord Jesus, who is now my
advocate in glory, will still be my advocate. And he will stand
before the bar of God as my substitute. I'll tell you what I fully anticipate. I really do. Larry, either I
really do expect this or I'm a bald-faced liar, one of the
two. I fully anticipate hearing the triune God look square in
my eyes and speak so that the universe hears and speak to me
saying, this is my beloved Sod in whom I'm well pleased. I fully anticipate Him declaring
to me, so that all hell hears, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Because Christ, my substitute,
has done all things well for me. God give you grace to trust Him.
If you can believe that Jesus is the Christ, it's cause you're
born of God. Amen.