It's insignificant that anyone
know time and place when God reveals Christ in them. Yesterday
is gone. It's insignificant. Totally,
totally insignificant. I urge you never, never, never
even think about basing your hope of heaven upon some experience
you had 20 years ago or an hour ago. The hope of heaven is Christ
in you now. We trust the Son of God. But
for some of us, conversion is something that is so traumatic
that if we mistake not, we can look and understand when God
first revealed himself in us. That was 39 years ago today.
I don't guess I've ever said that publicly to anybody. But for 39 years now, there's
one thing I have purposefully endeavored to meditate on, to
set aside some time during the day, much time in most days. Think about, study, ask God to
make known more fully to me. And that is the ransom of my
soul by the sacrifice of God's darling son on Mount Calvary. The wonders of redemption accomplished
on that hill outside Jerusalem are more wondrous today. than
ever they've been. And I pray they will be more
to you when you leave here today than they've ever been. Let's
go back to Mount Calvary one more time. Luke chapter 23. What a scene of infinite. What a scene of grace. What a scene of infinite love.
What a scene of matchless instruction. Luke 21 verse 1. And the whole multitude of them
arose and led the Lord Jesus unto Pilate. Verse 2. And they began to accuse him,
saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king. And Pilate asked him, saying,
Art thou the king of the Jews? And he answered and said, Thou
sayest it. Then said Pilate to the chief
priest and to the people, I find no fault in this man. And they
were the more fierce saying. He stirreth up the people, teaching
throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. When
Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean.
And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction,
he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that
time. And when Herod saw Jesus, He
was exceedingly glad, for he was desirous to see him of a
long season, because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped
to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with
him in many words, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests
and scribes stood and vehemently accused him, and Herod with his
men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him
in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. And the
same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before
that they were at enmity between themselves. The Lord Jesus was
brought hurriedly to Pilate, and the Jews slanderously accused
him of many things. But Pilate saw through their
accusations. He clearly saw that these men
were merely ranting as envious men who were fearful of losing
their powers over the people, losing their positions, losing
their influence. And then when Herod heard that
the Lord Jesus was Galilean. He sends him to Herod. And Herod
was anxious to hear him. He had heard a lot about this
man. Herod thought perhaps John the Baptist had been raised from
the dead. And when he couldn't persuade the Son of God to dance
before him, he, with his men of war, mocked the Savior. Sent him back to Pilate. Said,
I haven't found anything worthy of death in him either. And Pilate,
willing to please the Jews, delivered Jesus to their will to be crucified. And Pilate and Herod, those two
jackals, became friends that day, who had before been themselves
less than friendly, at enmity with one another. The soldiers
took the Lord Jesus and delivered him again to mockery and scourging. But Pilate and Herod and the
chief priest and the mob and the soldiers are all insignificant
little imps, hardly worth mentioning. There is one thing, however,
one thing I'm confident this passage is written to teach us.
to show us plainly. And that is the great, great
humiliation of the Son of God who emptied himself as Jehovah's
obedient servant in the depths of humiliation that he might
lift us up into everlasting glory by his grace. The apostle wrote,
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though He is
rich, He who is God Almighty, Creator, Possessor and Ruler
of all things, eternally inhabiting the praises of the angels of
God, now stands before little, peon, political men. And men whom he himself has created,
who are jealous, petty, little religious leaders, and stands
in trial before them. Slandered. Slandered. Accused of things that could
not have any foundation whatever in reality. and makes no effort
to defend himself, but rather commits him to God who judges
rightfully and righteously and stands silent before them. Oh,
what an example he gives us. We who belong to God, let us
ever, ever walk before our God with confidence of his care Never
seeking to defend and care for ourselves before such petty little
men. Let's read on, verse 13. And
Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and rulers
and the people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto
me as one that perverted the people. And behold, I, having
examined him before you, have found no fault in this man. Three
times now he's cleared of all charges, touching those things
whereof you accuse him. Nor yet herald, for I sent you
to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I
will therefore chastise him and release him." Isn't that good?
He hadn't done anything wrong. But to gratify you, I'll beat
him real good and release him. Verse 17, for of necessity, now
that's important, mark that word. The other gospel writers tell
us that it was a custom. Luke writes by inspiration and
says, of necessity, he must release one unto them at the feast. And
they cried out all at once, saying, away with this man. and release
unto us Barabbas, who for certain sedition made in the city and
for murder was cast into prison. Pilate therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them, but they cried, saying,
Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third
time, Why? What evil hath he done? I have
found no cause of death in him." Fourth time, the Lord Jesus has
cleared of all charges. Three times by Pilate, once by
Herod. I will therefore behead him. I'll chastise him and let him
go. And they were instant, with loud
voices, requiring. Now imagine this. Pilate and
Herod had almost absolute power in their realms. These were not
elected officials, these were appointed Roman officials. They
had almost absolute power within their realm. And the people demanded
him not to do what he wants to do. Requiring that he might be
crucified. And the voices of them and of
the chief priest prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will." What a
terrible terrible display we have here of the utter depravity
of our race. Here are two political men. Men, as I said, with almost total
power in their realm, at least politically. These self-serving,
base, weakling men are coward before the Jews who were their
captives. What for? What could cause these
men with such power, such political power, to cower before men who
were their captives? The Jews had been conquered by
them. They were their captives. What
could cause these men to cower? They simply desired a moment
of approval from the lowest men in the entire realm. What proud man won't do to win
the applause of other men. Every time I read those words,
Pilate delivered Jesus to their will. I want to shout it around
the world. You want to know what your will
is like? You want to know what the human
will will do with God if it could? You want to know what the will
of man is? Pilate delivered the incarnate
God to their will to do with him as they would and they were
thirsting for his blood. What a picture we have here of
the utter hatred of man for God. And these men, Rex Bartley, are
just like you and me. If we'd been in the crowd, we'd
have been crying, crucify him, crucify him. That's the nature
of man. The carnal mind is, not like
Pilate and Herod, We read here Pilate and Herod were at enmity
with one another. That is not what the book says
about your heart and mind. This is what it says. The carnal
mind is hatred for God. That's what it is. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. What is it that moves man through
this world? What is it that motivates and
inspires men and women by nature in the totality of their lives? Hatred for God. Hatred for God. We teach our children to be hypocrites
from the time we start teaching them religion of any kind. Teaching
the same about loving Jesus and loving the Lord. Ain't nothing
of the kind. Ain't nothing of the kind. There'd
never been a child walked on this earth who loved Christ and
loved God. Not until he's made to be a child
of God in the experience of His grace. Never otherwise. And yet there's something indescribably
glorious here. I call your attention to those
words of necessity in verse 17. by the arrangement of divine
providence, the Romans had arranged a custom. And they did it because
that's what they wanted to do. In order to placate and appease
these Jews whom they held in captivity, the Romans would on
their high feast days release a prisoner. Any prisoner they
wanted to. Any prisoner in the crowd. had
released a prisoner to them so that they could please the Jews. Luke tells us no. God the Holy
Spirit tells us this was of necessity. You see, divine providence had
arranged for there to be even in the midst of our Lord's lowest
humiliation before men. standing on trial as a common
seditious malefactor worthy of death. He stands here, and he
by having Barabbas released in his stead, and him standing the
innocent in the place of the guilty, going to the cross to
die on that piece of wood that had been designed for Barabbas's
execution. He says to the whole world, See
here, why I have come to this hour. I have come here to die
the just for the unjust. A substitute for sinners who
deserve to die. And so he steps in by necessity
and takes Barabbas's place. Verse 26. And as they led him
away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrillian coming out
of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might
bear it after Jesus. And there followed a great company
of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus, turning unto them,
said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me. What a word! I'm not here seeking your pity.
I'm not here seeking your pity. Let us weep for him whom we have
pierced and mourn for him as one mourns for his only son,
because we pierced him, not because he's to be pitied. He says, weep
not for me, but for yourselves and for your children. For behold,
the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the
barren, and the wombs that never bear, and the pats which never
gave suck. Then shall they begin to say
to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For
if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the
dry? Now Luke is the only gospel writer
who records this particular part of what took place at Calvary.
It's not surprising for us to see these women bewailing and
lamenting and weeping. It's shocking that those few
women are the only ones who could behold what's going on here and
not weep and lament and bewail. But as our Lord Jesus, surrounded
by these hellhounds, sees these women weeping, He says, Weep
not for Me, but for yourselves and for your children. Two reasons. One, he desired no pity. He's on a mission. He made the
world to come to this place. He made the world so that he
could come to this place. And here show forth the glory
of God in the wonders of redemption. He says, weep not for me. I'm
not here as a helpless victim of circumstances, but weep for
yourselves. He turns. Oh, what a Savior. And looks with tenderness and
compassion upon these people who are heaping to themselves
the wrath of God Almighty. Weep for yourselves. You're bringing
about your own destruction. Verse 32. And 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 the right hand and the other
on the left. It is not by accident that Luke
wrote, and there were also two other malefactors, two other
violators of the law, two other men who were worthy of death,
two other men who deserved to die, led with him to be put to
death. The obvious indication is that
our blessed Redeemer was one of three guilty men. Do you see that? There were with
him two other malefactors. He is one of three malefactors. He was reckoned among the transgressors,
Luke tells us. He was numbered with the transgressors,
Isaiah tells us. Matthew says, and the scriptures
were fulfilled which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors. Being our surety and our representative. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
darling son, has made sin for us. And when he bare our sin
in his own body on the tree, he hung on that tree. not by
the hands of men, not because of a Roman court, not because
of the Jews court, but he hung on that tree under the wrath
of God Almighty by the court of heaven as one who deserved
to die. He was made sin. Now I don't understand everything
I know about that. But I hang all my hope of eternal
life on that one fact. He was made sin for me, that
I might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now, we'll look
at this 23rd chapter of Luke and these first verses a little
more later on the Lord willing. I want us to, one more time,
in just the next few minutes, look at the last things our Savior
had to say. Beginning in verse 33. The Son
of God speaks, and this is the first word he speaks, after he's nailed to the tree.
Verse 34. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them. They've got no idea what they're
doing. Imagine that, darling. Forgive them. Here is Christ our mediator.
our high priest on his way to his glorious throne of grace,
from which he continually makes intercession for us at the throne
of God, where he continually intercedes for us as our advocate
with the Father. And he looks upon men whose hands,
dripping with his blood, And he says, Father, forgive me. The fact is, if we are to be
forgiven of sin, these things are necessary. We must have a
priest, a mediator, someone able to represent us acceptably before
God Almighty. We must have a sacrifice, a blood
sacrifice, A sacrifice that God has ordained, appointed, provided,
and accepted. We must have an altar upon which
to offer the sacrifice. The sacrifice must be slain,
and the sacrifice must be accepted. Christ is our priest. His body,
His heart, His soul, His blood, His life is the sacrifice. And he with his own hands offers
the sacrifice on the altar of his own glorious divinity. And the Father has accepted the
sacrifice. And now we're forgiven. We're
forgiven. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Now this is the only thing that
makes these words meaningful. It's the only thing that makes
them meaningful. All that I've said about the priest, the sacrifice,
The sacrifice being slain, the sacrifice being accepted of God.
This is the only thing, those are the only things that make
these words meaningful. I have prayed for thee. I have prayed for thee. That's
what the Son of God says to you, my heart. And now, if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the
righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. He is the justice
satisfying sacrifice for our sins. Look down at verse 43.
Here's the second word of our Savior. As he hangs upon the cursed tree,
the dying thief cried, 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. Here is the sovereign king, the
ruler of the kingdom of God, saving whom he will, opening
the door which no man can shut, shutting a door that no man can
ever open. Here's the Prince of Peace giving
peace that no man can give, promising mercy and eternal life that no
man can merit. To whom? To a dying thief. A malefactor. One who's suffering
justly. and acknowledges it. One who
has no ability, no opportunity, no time to perform any good work
of any kind. Don't you love it? But surely
man's got to contribute something as that thief. Surely man's got
to do something as that thief. Lord, remember me. Remember me. What a prayer. Remember me. I often ask you, individually,
collectively, other friends around the world, remember me. Think well of me before God. and seek His grace for man. That's the word. Lord, think well of me when you
come into your kingdom before God and seek His grace for me. And the Lord Jesus says to that
thief who never tithed, never went to church, never baptized,
never observed the Lord's table, never read this book, he said,
today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Would you be with him
in paradise? Bow before him, seek his grace,
and call on him, the Lord, to remember you. Remember me. But you'll notice that out of
this whole crowd, all these soldiers, all the priests, all the Levites,
all the scribes, all the Sadducees, all the Herodians, all the Jews,
all the Romans, and that of the thief, the Lord God Almighty chose to
have mercy on that one worthless thief. Because salvation is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. He has compassion on whom he
will have compassion. Now turn to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. I saw something preparing this
message that I think is helpful. Here in John 19, verse 26. I'm not sure about the order
of these things, but I think this is probably the third word
our Lord spoke from the cross. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, that's John,
he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Now, perhaps he is saying to
Mary, look here at John, your son. And he said to John, he
said to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour,
that disciple took her into his own house. Perhaps the Lord Jesus
is here just providing for the care of his mother when he left
this world. Perhaps that's the case. If so,
certainly that is commendable. Certainly John here takes Mary
into his house and cares for her from that day forward. But
he says to John, that disciple, behold thy mother. What's the significance of all
that? Well, perhaps when the Lord Jesus says to Mary, Behold
thy son. Perhaps he's talking to Mary
about himself. Perhaps. Mary, mother, only he
doesn't call her mother, he calls her woman. He said, don't you
remember the song you sang about me when I was still in your womb? My soul doth magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Savior, for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed, not the blessed virgin. the blessed
sinner saved by grace, just exactly as you and I are blessed of God,
saved by His free grace in Jesus Christ. Now, now, because this
One who is God, who has come into my womb to redeem my soul,
I have found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and I shall forever
be blessed of Him. Woman, don't forget what you
say. Remember what you say, Behold
thy son. Woman, don't you remember what
I told you when I was just a boy and you upbraided me for carrying
in the temple? And I said to you, I must be
about my father's business. This is my father's business.
I've come here to accomplish redemption. But I think, principally,
what our Lord is doing here, I think, and I'll leave it to
you to say yea or nay. I know this is good. Our Lord
is speaking here as the head of His church, the body. You remember when Mary came and
the Lord Jesus was ministering to the disciples and the disciples
said, Master, your mother is calling for you. And he looked
at his disciples and he said, Behold, my mother and my father
and my brother and my sister. Mary is just in a temporary relationship
with me. That's not my family. This is
my family. This is my family. Now, Mary,
see that man over there? That's your son. John, John,
see that woman standing beside you? That's your mother. But they're not in akin at all.
I'm not in akin to you either. None at all. No kin at all. I'm kin to her. Kin to her by
marriage. But will you hear me? Will you
hear me now? This is just a temporary relationship. Just for a little while. Just
a temporary relationship. This one. This is forever. Because the Son of God, by His
blood, makes us one in Himself. And so when we come to the communion
table, the Apostle tells us, is not this the communion of
the body of Christ? Now, look at Matthew 27. Verse
46. And about the ninth hour, it's
about three o'clock in the afternoon now, there have been three hours
of darkness over the face of the earth. And Jesus cried with
a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lemma sebachthani. That is to
say, my God, my God, why hast thou Forsaken me. This is the only time in all
of Scripture where the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is represented
as speaking to His Father by the word God. The only time. Everywhere else He speaks of
Him as His Father, except now. as he hangs on the tree. Now
he is reduced to one who is as a creature to
be pitied. And he cries at the height of
his obedience. Imagine that. Not like a disobedient
son, but at the height of his obedience to the Father. My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Let me tell you why. Because he is of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity. And he cannot look upon sin. And so the Son of God The incarnate God, the Son of
Man, the Darling of Heaven, the Beloved of our souls, being made sin for us, is forsaken
of God. Why? He's forsaken of God. that we for whom He died can never be forsaken of God. Oh, you sang that a little bit
ago, if that is Her love. Oh, behold what manner of love
He has bestowed on us. Herein is love, not that we love
God. but that he loved us and gave
his son for us. Hereby but proceed we the love
of God because he laid down his life for us. Pastor, God can't
die. I know that. God can't forsake
God. I know that. God can't be made
sin. I know that. I don't know much,
but I know that. I know that. But the God man
was made sin. And the God-man was forsaken
of God. And the God-man died. And we've been ransomed with
the blood of a man who is God. Now look at John 19 again. Verse
27. 28, excuse me. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Two little one-syllable words. Certainly this expresses Our
Savior's physical agony and the thirst that He endured as His
blood burned within Him. And fever scorched His body. Yes, this man is a real man. And He thirsted as never man
thirsted. But there's more here. This one,
being forsaken of God for us, cries, I thirst. As the heart
pacteth after the water brooks, so pacteth my soul after thee,
O God. But there's something else here.
Our Lord Jesus, remember, in all this, is our mediator. He
cries, I thirst. I've come here to this place,
to this depth of humiliation, to this horrible agony and woe,
because I thirst, my God, for the people you promised me. The
people you promised as the ransom of my soul. the people you promised
as the ransom of my, or the reward of my obedience, the people you
promised, the joy set before me, I thirst for them, thirst
for them. Here I am made sin, forsaken
of my Father, mocked and ridiculed of everything suspended between
heaven and earth, suffering the hell of God's wrath, because
in my heart I thirst for Don Fortner. I thirst. Now look at chapter 19 of John
again. Verse 29. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon
Hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head, and gave
up the ghost. an old song, we can hardly call
it a hymn. As the line goes like this, he
hugged his head on a postless chest and died. No. He cried,
as a mighty conqueror, it is finished. Actually, the words
are just one word. He cried And he bowed his head like a
reverent servant who has finished all his service, who has fulfilled
all his purpose, and died in completion of his work. Finished. What? Every mercy has the surety of my people. I told my Father I'm finished
with them. Everything written in the book
of God about me, I finished. Everything I came into this world
to do, finished. What does that include? Did he
come here to magnify the law and make it honorable? Finished.
Did he come here to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself?
Finished. Did he come here to save his
people from their sins? Finished. Did He come here to
make us righteous? Finished. Did He come here to
fulfill all the law, all the types, all the prophets? Finished. Did He come here to put an end
to the law? Finished. Did He come here to
deliver us from the curse of the law? Finished. Finished,
He cries. One more thing. One more thing.
Look again in Luke chapter 23, verse 46. When Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,
and having said thus, He gave up the ghost. The Lord Jesus died with the
word of God on his heart and in his lips. You can read those
very words spoken by him in a psalm, prophetically, many, many years
before in Psalm 31. The Lord Jesus thus entered into
his rest. when you men have worked hard
and you've finished your work for the day. It's been a tough
day. Been a tough day. And you finally
walk into your house. Before you get anything to eat,
before you go take a shower, before you want to talk about
anything, if you're like I am, I tell you what you do. You just sit there and prop your
feet up. I've just got to rest for a minute. Just got to rest. When the Son
of God finished his work of the day appointed to him. He entered
into his blessed Sabbath rest. And that's what the Sabbath was
all about. That's what it was all about.
God Almighty not interested in whether you pick up sticks on
Sunday or not. I just promise you, He's not. He's not interested
in whether you ladies cook on Sunday or prepare your meals
on Saturday night and freeze them. He's just not interested
in that nonsense. What was the Sabbath all about?
The finished work of redemption. was every day through the history
of Israel the Jews saying we're looking for one who's coming
who's going to finish all work for us and he's finished and
when he did he obtained rest for us and he had become our Sabbath
This is how we keep the Sabbath mark. We believe on the Son of God.
Until then, until you believe Him. I'll tell you what you're
doing. I'll tell you what you're doing. I'll tell you why there's
no rest in your soul. I'll tell you why you can't find
any peace. I'll tell you why you can't think
about death and judgment and eternity without terror in you. I'll tell you why. I'll tell
you why your religion's useless. Until you cease from your works,
you're still trying to do something, to work up something, to figure
out some way to please God. I've pleased Him. And I quit working to please
God 39 years ago. And I'm at rest. Now the Savior
says to all who will hear his voice, come unto me, all you
who are trying to work your way to heaven. Come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Amen.