I cannot tell you how much I
appreciate you praying for your pastor. Not only as I stand here
to preach to you three times a week, but traveling elsewhere
to preach the gospel, praying as Brother Darwin did just a
little bit ago that God might be pleased to speak through me
to you. The Lord God commands me, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. He commands me to speak to your
heart by his word. And that's my responsibility.
It is my responsibility to speak to your heart every time I stand
here. And I can't do that. No wonder
Paul said we came with fear and trembling, knowing our utter
inability to speak for God. No man can, except God speak
through him. Oh, may he be pleased now to
speak through a worthless vessel to your hearts. Turn with me
to Luke 23. Luke 23. Verse 32. There were also two other malefactors
led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, There they crucified him and
the malefactors, one on his right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. Had they known the mystery
that no man can know, the mystery of God's free grace in Christ,
the redemption and salvation of sinners by the Lord of glory.
Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,
but they didn't know. They didn't know. Forgive them,
for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and
cast lots, and the people stood beholding. And the rulers also
with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save
himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers
also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and
saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a
superscription also was written over him, in letters of Greek
and Latin and Hebrew, this is the King of the Jews. And one
of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying,
If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. Matthew adds that they
both railed on him. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? These two thieves railing, mocking
him. And then suddenly something happens,
and one of them is a completely changed man. He says to his fellow
malefactor, Dost thou not fear God? seeing thou art in the same
condemnation, and we indeed justly in the same condemnation as this
man, this man who is himself God. We're in the same condemnation
with him, but we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward
of our sins. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom.'
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise." Now let's take our place one
more time at this scene of horrible sin and woe, a blessed, glorious
mercy, love, and grace just outside the gates of Jerusalem on that
dismal hill called Calvary. I had before my mind's eye the
scene of three crosses, three criminals, soldiers and religious
folks, priests and street people, all gathered together for one
purpose, to slaughter the Son of God. Scattered among the others, I
see a few weeping women. Out at a distance, one or two
broken-hearted disciples. There is much to be seen on the
very surface of things, but other things are hidden beneath the
surface. Standing there they beheld him. Let's do the same. Here I see
something of the character of God. The character, the real character
of man. The nature of God's great salvation. A clear display of substitution. I see here sin pardoned and sin unpardoned. A man suffering in the room of
another man, a man going to hell because of his own sin, and a
man taken up to glory because of this one who dies beside him.
Here is a Savior despised and a Savior embraced, a sinner forever
lost. and a sinner forever saved. I fear trying to impress men,
trying to impress you while I attempt to speak of the glory of God
displayed at Calvary. I fear coming to men with the
words of man's wisdom or with rhetoric and oratory making a
show. I pray God will speak to you.
So I've given considerable thought and I hope by God's Spirit to
the things I want to show you this evening that strike me as
lessons we ought to carry with us continually, lessons that
are clearly taught and displayed at Calvary. Here's the first,
and I'm going to spend a little time here. How deep, bitter, and universal. How base, vile, and complete. is the utter hatred of man for
God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. Enmity against God. Hatred. Hatred. What can you say about the character
of man? How can I best describe your
character and mine by nature? How can I best describe the men
and women of this world? How can I best describe your
sons and daughters and mine? What one word or phrase is suitable
to properly set before us what we really are. God hate. That's it. God hate. That's what's in man. That's
the root of all evil. That's the basis of all the wrathful
course of godless, reprobate men and women by nature. The
carnal mind not is at enmity. The carnal mind, the scripture
does not declare, exercises enmity. The carnal mind, the scripture
does not declare, is just a display of enmity. The carnal mind is
God hate. enmity against God. Oh, how fallen
man hates God. Everything about God. Now, don't
misunderstand me. I am fully aware that men love
their thoughts of God because they think God is like themselves. Men love of God, they can use
like a good luck charm. They love a God they can use
like a doormat to keep them out of hell and bring them into heaven.
Men love a God that they can manipulate and use when they
want to and shove them aside when they don't want to be bothered
with Him. But the carnal mind hates God. Hates God. We see these priests and these
scribes, the soldiers and the people, Herod and Pilate. And this is what I hear. hatred
echoing through Pilate's judgment hall, malice ringing in Herod's
court, in bed, motivating and moving every word and every deed
performed on this infamous night. The arrest, the scourging, the
mockery, the spitting, the smiting, the cries, crucify him, crucify
him, the wagging of the head, the drunken songs jeering him,
the railing, the thieves railing, the nailing of him to the tree.
Everything was but the outpouring of man's utter hatred for God. Here we see what the human heart
is by nature. Here man declares in the crucifixion
of God's darling son what he is. Fallen man shows himself
openly and makes an unconscious public confession of his hatred
for God, hatred for his being, hatred of his character, hatred
of his authority, hatred of his law, hatred of his grace, hatred
of his Son. It was man who erected the cross
and man who nailed the Son of God to it. God seems to have
taken the wild ass's coat and laid his reins on his neck and
says, here, for one time give vent to what's in you. And man
says, okay. And he takes God, as it were,
by the throat and drags his holy son from his holy heart and nails
him to the tree and spits in his face and laughs while he
watches him die. You too. Me too. Oh, Brother Don, I wouldn't do
that. I wouldn't do that. I don't hate God. I may be indifferent
to Him. He may not be in all my thoughts,
but hate Him? Oh, no. Is that so? What is your willful unbelief? What is it? He that believeth not hath made
God a liar, because he believeth not the record God hath given
of his Son. So much for looking at unbelief
as something to be pitied. Your unbelief is something to
be blamed. Oh, but pastor, we believe in God's sovereignty
around here. We believe that God must give a man faith or
he can't have it. Nobody on this earth declares
that more plainly than your pastor. And at the same time, I'm here
to tell you that your unbelief is your fault. If you do not
believe on the Son of God, it is because you will not believe
on the Son of God, because in your heart you hate Him. You
despise Him. What is your rebellion to Christ?
Why is it that you will not bow to Christ the Lord? Because you
despise His dominion and prefer to be God yourself. What is your
blasphemy but the crucifying of the Son of God afresh? What
is the mockery of Jesus Christ, the mockery that's in your heart
and comes from your lips every hour except the crucifying of
the Son of God afresh? Dare you look at your hands. My God, they drip with blood. the blood of God's darling son. Blood shed continually in my
heart all the days of my rebellion against Him. Why? Do men continually in their
hearts despise God? Because every man really wants
to be God himself. That's the problem. That's the
pride. That's the pride of man, which
is the cause of all difficulty in the human race throughout
history. Pride. Every man wants to be
God, and every man tries his dead-level best to treat the
world and everybody in it as though he were God. Men object
to God's sovereignty. Oh, we can't have God purposing
things. We can't have God choosing and rejecting. We can't have
God making the decisions. And yet men love to take that
to themselves, do they not? Did you ever see a man who was
willing to relinquish what he claimed to be his right of ownership
to his property? Here, you make the decision.
You take my property and do with it what you want to. No, no,
that's mine. I'm going to be God over my stuff. And yours too, if I can. Because
of man's hatred of God. Oh, what a revelation the cross
is. of what man is. Man hating God and displaying
his hatred most when God displays his love, grace, and mercy most. Man acting like a devil, taking
sides with Satan against God. The cross is a public declaration
of man's hatred for God and His Son. The cross is proud man,
spitting in God's face, saying, I'm holy. I need no Savior. I need no grace to hell with
God and to hell with His Son. I won't have any. Crucify Him! What faith ye of Christ, our
Savior asks, Just a little boy's back. What think ye of Christ? Here's what man thinks of Christ.
Crucify Him. Crucify Him and let His blood
be on me. That's the way I want it. Everything
I see here is man screaming out hatred for God. Now hear me,
my friends. Your unbelief is hatred. Continually exercising
hatred for God Almighty. Here's another thing. What a horribly, intensely evil
thing sin must be. if it takes the blood of God's
own darling son, the death of Jesus Christ, the death of heaven's
beloved, to put sin away. What must sin be if it takes
the death of Jesus Christ to expiate it? Sin is rebellion against God.
It is treason against his throne. Sin. I'm not talking just about
stealing a watermelon, cheating on a spelling test in school,
or stealing something at Walmart. I'm not even talking about rape
and murder. No, no. I'm talking about what you are
in your heart. Your continual, day by day, 24
hour a day, lust in your heart. Sin. That's what we are. That's
our nature. And this is what sin is. It is
the continual attempt of man to sneak up on God Almighty and
rape Him, defile Him, rob Him of His holy character, rob Him
of His purity, rob Him of His right to be God, rob Him of His
throne, and kill Him if we can. That's what makes us obnoxious
to God. That's the defilement of our
race. That's what brought us under the curse. That's what
put us under the sentence of death. And that's what brings
man down to hell. And I'm here to tell you that
it is no easy thing for sin to be put away. Turn over to Hebrews
chapter 10 for a moment. Hold your hands here in Luke
23. God gave A whole system of ceremonies
under the Mosaic Law. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of laws. We commonly think about Ten Commandments.
Those are just ten little portions of what the law required. Ten
little portions of what was required in the law. God gave hundreds
of laws to Israel. You read about it back there
in the office. A continual ministration of death. a continual ministration of death,
a continual revelation of and convincing of death. That's all
it was. Have you ever considered what
money was spent? What labor was exercised? What time was put in? fulfilling
the ceremonies of the law in the blood sacrifices offered
at the altar of God in the Old Testament. And you know what
they were good for? Nothing except death. That's
all. All they could do was continually
tell you you're doomed, you're damned, you're lost, you've got
to have somebody to stand in your stead before God. That's
all they could do. Look here in Hebrews chapter
10. For the law, having a shadow, a shadow of good things to come,
and not the very image of the things, can never, can never,
with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually,
make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. If they
ever found a sacrifice, or if they could ever with accumulated
sacrifices have put away sin and made the sinner perfect,
then the sinner would have no more conscience of sin and have
no more reason to offer sacrifice to God. The law couldn't do it. But in those sacrifices, There
is a remembrance again, a continual reminder made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Not possible. Now look at that next word. Wherefore. And he begins to talk about another
sacrifice coming into the world with which God Almighty is well
pleased. by which sin must be put away,
and by which the conscience of man must be purged. Lo, I come
in the volume of the book, our Savior says, it is written of
me to do thy will, O my God. Now, if all the sacrifices and
ceremonies required by God performed by the priest that God had ordained
in the tabernacle and temple at the altar and on the mercy
seat which God had prescribed. If those things could never take
away sin, do you really think your works are going to do it?
Do you really imagine that your reformation is going to do it?
Do you really think you weeping crocodile tears and say, oh I'm
so sorry Isaiah, that's going to do it? Do you really think
Your free will decision to accept Jesus is going to do it? Oh,
no. No, no. Not all the labors of
my hands can fulfill thy laws demands. Could my zeal no lanker
know? Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone.
Christ must save and Christ alone. The fact is, even God can't take
away sin. Can't do it. Not in his absolute
character as God, rather he must assume flesh. The word must be
made flesh and dwell among us. Only God incarnate Only God in
human flesh, only the God-man Jesus Christ, the sinner's substitute,
can take away sin. If sin is to be put away, it
must be put away by the sin-atoning death of a substitutionary sacrifice
of infinite worth and value. One who is God and man in one
glorious person. That's the meaning of these words
found in Hebrews 9. Now, once in the end of the world,
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And he did it. When he had by
himself purged our sins, what a word. When he had by himself
purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. This work of putting away sin
was accomplished by Him being made sin. By Him being made sin
and bearing our sin in His own body on the cursed tree. And
when He bare our sin in His body on the tree, when He had suffered
all the fury of God's holy wrath to the full satisfaction of justice,
He took our sin away. On one great day, as the prophet
Zechariah had said it must be, in one day, he removed the iniquity
of all his people forever. He took away the guilt and he
took away the penalty. and He took away the punishment
of sin by His sacrifice, and He comes by the power of His
grace and sprinkles our consciences with His blood and announces
us free from sin. Immediately, immediately, as
soon as the guilty sinner looks to the Lamb crucified, immediately
the Spirit of God by His blood declares, no guilt, no condemnation,
judgment is over, you're free. as free from sin as He is. My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord,
praise the Lord, oh my soul. Now, here's something else. How incomprehensible, how immeasurable,
how infinite the love of God in Jesus Christ must be. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. God commendeth his love. God opens up his heart and holds
out his love for youth of youth. in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Hereby perceive we the love of
God because He laid down His life for us. Herein is love,
not that we loved God. I'm so sick and tired of hearing
religious fools talk about how much they love Jesus. Would to
God somebody stand up and talk about how much God loves sinners.
Herein is love, not that we loved God. We didn't, we wouldn't,
and we couldn't. But that He loved us. Loved us. Loved us with an everlasting
love. Loved us as He loves His own
Son. Loved us once, for all, forever,
never to be diminished, never to change His mind. He loved
us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Oh,
here is love to the uttermost. Unquenched and unquenchable love. The Lord of Glory, in verse 32, is identified as
one of the malefactors. There were two other malefactors
crucified with him. He was reckoned among the transgressors. He was numbered with the transgressors. and taking his place upon Calvary's
cursed tree. The Son of God, bearing the sins
of his people, suffering the horrid wrath of God due to us
because of sin, dying the just for the unjust that he might
bring us to God, offers an intercession to God. See here, guilty sinners, thirsting for my blood, hating
God, executing your darling son, their
hearts dripping with the lust of my blood and their hands dripping
with my blood. Forgive them. That's called the free forgiveness
of sins. Free to all who receive it. Free to all upon whom it is bestowed. free to all for whom it was accomplished,
but costly, oh, infinitely costly to him who gives it. Father,
forgive them. Having loved his own, which were
in the world, he loved them to the end. Something else here. Let it be understood, the purpose
of our great God and Savior is always accomplished, exactly
as He will. It is unalterably fixed, relentlessly
pursued, and perfectly performed. Our Savior came here to do a
work. He came here to save His people
from their sins. He came here to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. He came here to seek and to save
that which was lost. He was determined to accomplish
it. The scripture says, our Savior Himself said, I am straightened
until it be accomplished. He came here to accomplish His
decease at Jerusalem. How will He do it? By what means
shall the Holy Lamb of God be crucified. How will the darling
of heaven be nailed up upon the cursed tree according to the
curse of the law, identifying him as the cursed one? The altar
must be built, and it is, by man's hatred of
him. The sacrifice must be slain. slain by man's enmity. The work must be done, done by
man's base will. The work shall be done exactly
according to the purpose of God our Savior. Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou
restrain. He was delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, and executed by the hands
of wicked men who exercised their will as they took the nail, drove
it in his hands and feet, shoved the spear in his side, and spit
in his face. And all the while he is God.
who gives them the strength to raise the hammer and sense enough
to hit the nail, directing every blow, directing every event,
directing every thought as the sovereign of the universe, absolutely
accomplishing His will. Oh, how willing, how anxious
the Lord Jesus Christ is to save poor lost sinners. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. I hear a dying thief cry, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And the Lord Jesus said, today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. This dying thief, as far as I
can tell, from all representation given in scripture, appears to
have been a man who had done nothing but evil his whole life
long. We know nothing about him except
he was a thief. A thief who had exercised terrible
violence in the execution of his crimes. A thief who cussed
and blasphemed God right up to the last hour he lived on this
earth. I've heard preachers at times
talk about men dying and they talk how terrible it is and men
are terrified when they come to die. Not always. Here are
two thieves. They're not only about to be
executed, they've been executed, they just haven't quit breathing
yet. Still cussing God, blaspheming. joining with the folks who executed
them, mocking the Son of God. But he's a thief, loved and chosen
of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ had
come to this place at this hour specifically to save that thief
by his blood and by his power. By his death upon the tree, the
Lord Jesus declares to that thief the certainty of everlasting
salvation and says, today, not tomorrow, Not after you have
spent so much time in purgatory. Not after many, many long, long
years when at last you have been sleeping in your soul and you'll
be raised from the dead. Oh no. Today, shalt thou be with
me in paradise. And when the Lord Jesus entered
into heaven with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. He carried that thief with him
up to glory. And he's still in his heart rejoicing to save
sinners by his grace. Oh, how willing, how willing. How willing is he to save sinners?
He's this willing. Never once in this book, not
one time, did any sinner come to him seeking mercy who didn't
get it. So Brother Don, I've been seeking
mercy and I hadn't got it. You're a liar. You've been seeking
something else. You've been trying to drive a
bargain with God. You've been trying to strike a deal with
God. You've been making promises and resolutions and telling God
what? If ever you come to the throne
of grace seeking mercy, a sinner, absolutely doomed, damned, helpless,
fit for nothing but hell, seeking mercy. I want to tell you something. When the Lord Jesus, with his
blood, entered into heaven, having obtained eternal redemption,
and carried that dying thief in his hands up to glory, he
carried you there too. You see, faith in Christ is not
what causes God to be merciful. Faith in Christ is the result
of God's mercy. Faith in Christ is the precious
gift of God's darling Son. Now hear this. How near a person may be to hell,
and yet be saved. This dying thief had one foot in hell. damnation was his, another breath or two, and hails
his everlasting portion. And the Son of God, the head of the crucified Christ, reaches into the very gaping
jaws of hell with omnipotent mercy and bids him plucks him as a brand from the
burning and carries him to glory. That's what he did for me. That's what he did for me. How near a person may be to Christ and yet be damned forever. This other thief, just as near. He saw everything the other fella
saw. He heard everything the other
fella heard. He experienced outwardly everything
the other fella experienced. He is right beside the crucified
Son of God. Right in His presence. In the
immediate presence of the Lamb's own blood. There He is! And He
went to hell. You see, outward nearness to
Christ. Be it in religious duty, being
in familiarity with the Word of God, being in moral reformation,
being in baptism, being in observing the Lord's Supper, outward nearness
to Christ is not salvation. Being near Him is not salvation. Being in Him is salvation. In Him. In Him. Well, what made the difference
between these two men? Romans 6.23 will give you the
answer. The wages of sin is death. That's it. That fellow went to
hell that day because he fully deserved it. And if you go to
hell, it will be because you fully deserve it. But the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That other
fellow went to glory because Jesus Christ our Lord was pleased
to save him by his free grace.