One object, one thing I want
you to see. I want you to be convinced. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit convince
you in the depth of your soul that Jesus Christ is a great
Savior for great sin. He is a great Savior for great
sin. I want to convince you of your
sin. the indescribable greatness of
your sin, that you may be compelled by God's grace to seek mercy
in Christ our great Savior. But rather than talking so much
about your sin, I want to talk to you about the greatness of
the Savior, because I'm convinced that it is only by the revelation
of Christ crucified that anyone ever really comes to know anything
about the greatness of their sin. Let's turn together to Mark
chapter 14, verses 26 through 31. Mark chapter 14 and verse 26. When they had sung a hymn, they
went out into the Mount of Olives, and Jesus saith unto them, All
ye, let that every one of you. Peter, yes, but also Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, James, all of them, all of them. All ye shall be offended because
of me this night. For it is written, I will smite
the shepherds and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that
I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter saith
unto him, Although all shall be offended. Now, I'm reading a little bit
between the lines, but not much. This is what he says. I can imagine
Bill or James doing this. I've only been a little suspicious
of them anyhow. But not me. Not me. They may all be offended, yet
will not I. Jesus saith unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, that this day, even in this night, before the
cock crowed twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spoke
the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not Deny
thee in any way. I won't even come close. I won't
even slightly deny you. But don't be too hard on Peter.
Likewise also said they all. What a great Savior Christ is. You see that in this text from
three perspectives. First from the people he saved.
And then from the punishment he suffered. and finally from
the perseverance of his love. First, we see the greatness of
our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior in the people he saved. You see, our blessed Savior knew
exactly what he was getting when he saved us. That sometimes kind
of floats over our heads. He knew exactly what he was getting
when he saved us. My sin often astonishes me, just
as When our Lord said this to Peter and to the others, they
were astonished, they were offended. And my sin, while I'm convinced
of my sin, and while I'm convinced of the guilt and depravity of
my very being, to the very core of my being, my sin in actuality
often astonishes me. But Larry is never astonished
by faith. He knew exactly what he was doing. The Lord Jesus knew when he chose
me, he knew long before he saved me, what a vile, fickle, wretch
of a man I would be. He knew before he saved me that
I would constantly be in need of his grace, constantly in need
of his forgiveness. Just in case you might be wondering,
he knew the same thing about you. He knew what we were before
he saved us. And we see this clearly exemplified
in our text. Our Lord knew beforehand what
these disciples were going to do. He knew the weaknesses, sins,
and infirmities of these twelve men. And yet he told them plainly
what they were going to do. And when he did, we see here
that he never even considered casting them out, turning them
out, turning away from them, forsaking them. Told them how
they would be offended by him, how they would deny him and forsake
him. Their pride was offended when
they heard it. They didn't even really believe. None of them
really believed they were really capable of such things. Isn't that astonishing? It's
astonishing that they didn't really believe they were capable
of doing such a thing. Peter said, not me. They may
all forsake you, but not me. If I die with you, I'll not forsake
you. I'll not come close to forsaking
you. I'll not be offended by you, not in the least. And so
said they all. And yet our Lord's knowledge
of these poor disciples and what they would be and do didn't prevent
him from choosing them, didn't prevent him from saving them,
didn't prevent him from making them his disciples. It didn't
even prevent him from making them the chief preachers of his
church and people. He chose these fellows and said
you'll be my apostles. You'll be my messengers. You'll be the
ones by whom I will cause my spirit to speak through you to
record the very word of God infallibly explaining to men what I taught
while I was on this earth. You'll be mine. You see his knowledge
of what poor disciples we would be didn't prevent him from choosing
us either. Our Lord loved us and chose us. Though he knew he would get no
love in return from us except he created us. Though he knew
we would never choose him except he calls us by his irresistible
grace to choose Our Lord Jesus loved us, though he knew that
so long as we lived in this world, our love for him, at best, would
be an alloyed love. The Son of God chose us, as he
did his disciples, to be his intimate friends and companions, though he knew long beforehand
exactly what kind of friend he would be. with such a charitable, gracious,
forbearing Savior. Children of God, how charitable,
how gracious, how forbearing we ought to be. Hold your hands
there and mark and turn back to Ephesians chapter 4 for a
minute. We ought never conclude that
a person has no grace. Or that someone does not know
the Lord Jesus Christ because we perceive that he or she has
many weaknesses and corruptions about them. I keep saying this. I keep repeating
it. And I recognize that people,
they don't hear. They just don't hear. And preachers
are the worst of the lot for that. Preachers are the worst
of the lot. I recall some time ago, I was in a preacher's house
because he's not a preacher anymore, and I'm thankful. But he and
his wife were called by somebody in the congregation. I'd known
them for years. I said, well, if she's saved, my dog's saved.
That preacher and his wife, long since flew the coop. Never had
any interest in anything. We don't have the ability to
discern wheat from tares. We don't have the ability to
discern sheep from goats. Don't ever imagine you do. Not ever. Now obviously somebody
who doesn't believe the gospel of God's grace, doesn't know
the Lord Jesus Christ, they're not his sheep and they're not
born of his Spirit. But for those who profess faith
in Christ and the gospel of God's free grace, you and I ought to
be most lenient and most charitable. If we perceive weaknesses in
a brother, We ought to do what we can to distinguish. If we
perceive a sister has fallen, we ought to do what we can to
pick her up. If we perceive that one of God's children has displayed
some character common to us all that's evil, we ought to be gracious
and forgiving. Look at what Paul says in Ephesians
4, verse 32. He's talking about grieving the
spirit. He said, be kind one to another. It's one of my favorite text
descriptions, one of the most tender texts. Be kind one to
another. Sometimes we get thinking, well,
I shouldn't do this, shouldn't do that. It's always good to
be kind. That'd be all right. Well, they
don't cost much. Be kind one to another, tender
hearted, tender hearted. Tenderly affected by one another. That means, Larry, when you weep,
I weep with you. When you rejoice, I rejoice with you. When you
hurt, I hurt. When you're happy, I'm happy. That's what it's all
about. Tenderhearted, one toward another. Well, I'll forgive him if he
asks. Aren't you glad Christ doesn't wait? I'll forgive him if he grovels.
Aren't you glad the Lord doesn't demand that of you? Forgive freely. as you've been forgiven. Forgive
incessantly as you are incessantly forgiven. Even as God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven you. And be ye followers of God. In
other words, imitate Him. Imitate Him. To be a follower
of God in this context, the rest is not talking about dressing
funny and a-walking funny. It's talking about being kind
and tender-hearted and forgiving. That's what it's talking about.
J.C. Ryle made this observation. He
said, the church of Christ is little better than a great hospital.
We ourselves are all more or less weak and all daily need
the skillful treatment of the heavenly position, but there
will be no complete cures until the resurrection day. We need
to remember that. Our Lord's greatness as a Savior
is seen, first of all, in the people he saves. You see your
calling, brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty. and base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should
glory in his name." Merle Hart, the greatness of Christ, is seen
in the fact that he saves folks like you and me. He came to save
sinners. He came to save sinners. But
notice in verse 27, that our Lord's greatness as our Savior
is also seen in the punishment he suffered. And Jesus said unto them, All
ye shall be offended because of me this night. Now look at
the next sentence. For it is written, it is written in Zechariah
13 7, turn back there, Zechariah 13 7, I will smite the shepherd
and the sheep shall be scattered. Now this quotation taken directly
from Zechariah 13, 7, is a prophecy concerning the death of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the sure results of his death. Here in Zechariah
13, 7, the prophet speaks as mouthpiece of God himself, who
says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the
man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the
shepherd. and the sheep shall be scattered,
and I will turn mine hand upon the little one." In order to
redeem and save us, the Son of God assumed our nature. He became
a man. He took our sins in his own body
and bore them in his own body on the tree. And there suffered
voluntarily all the fullness of God's infinite wrath to the
full satisfaction of his justice. for our sins that were imputed
to him. Now look at this text line by
line. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ
here is described as Jehovah's Shepherd. They're the words of
God the Father concerning his son as our mediator. He calls
the God-man my shepherd. because he was chosen, appointed,
called of God and trusted by God as our shepherd before the
world began. He is that one to whom the Father
looks for satisfaction as a shepherd, on whom the Lord God has laid
the iniquity of all his sheep. The Lord Jesus as the shepherd,
appointed by God for his sheep, is the one totally responsible
for the sheep. Oh, I tell you, I find great
satisfaction and comfort here. The Lord Jesus Christ has assumed
total responsibility for the salvation and present, temporal,
and eternal welfare of His sheep. That means, Bob Poncer, if you're
one of God's elect, if you're one of Christ's sheep, if you're
one of those who believes the Son of God, one of those given
to Him before the world began, Christ is responsible for you.
God the Father looks not to you for anything, but to his Son,
the Shepherd. All right, now look at it. Those
words, Awake, O Sword, speak of the violent death of our Lord
Jesus Christ as our Shepherd and our Substitute. They speak
of the glaring sword of divine justice which was drawn out against
him, And when he was made to be sin for us, that sword that
was unsheathed in the hand of an angry God was never put up,
but rather was buried to the hilt in the heart of the Son
of God. Awake, O Lord. The word calls
for the sword to awake because it appeared to sleep. It appeared
to have been asleep for a long time. When Adam sinned in the
garden, God's sword was calling for justice, but it seemed to
sleep. Back in eternity, before the
world began, when the Lord Jesus agreed to become our surety and
to swallow the sword of God's justice in his own heart, it
had been a long time since he agreed to it. It had been a long
time since the promise was first given that the Lord God would
cause his son to be stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
So the Lord says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Now look
at the next line. Against the man that is my fellow,
saith the Lord of hosts. You see, in order to save us,
that one who is our Redeemer, that one who bears our sin, that
one who suffers the wrath of God for us, must himself be a
man. You and I, Skip, are men. We sinned against God. And a
man must be punished. The blood of an animal won't
do. The blood of thousands of animals won't do. That one who
suffered must be a man. But he must be more than a man. He must be the holy man who is
himself God Almighty. Look at the next line. The man
that is my fellow. My fellow. You in some kind of
a men's fraternity And men are called fellows. We are fellow
members of this fraternity. We are fellow members of this
organization. We are fellow members of this
group of people. Because here we are all looked
upon as equal. One equal to the other. And the
Lord God says concerning this man, who is himself God incarnate,
Jesus Christ, he is my fellow. for this man is God. You see, in order for Jesus Christ
to be a Savior, in order for him to be a Redeemer, in order
for him to satisfy the glittering sword of God's justice against
our sins, he must be himself God of infinite value, of infinite
merit, so that the sufferings of this man are satisfactory
to God's holy justice and law. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite
the shepherd. God the Father gives the order. Because a holy, just, and true
God must punish them. Do you hear me? God must punish
you. God's going to punish your sin. He's going to punish your sin.
He can't do otherwise. Article in the Friday's paper
here. Folks said preachers should quit talking about hell. Not
this one. Not this one. God Almighty will send you to
hell. Only thing he can do with you.
Either send you to hell or save you. Only two. Only two. He'll
punish your sins in you, Bill Raleigh, or he'll punish them
in a substitute. One of the two. He says, smite the shepherds. Justice demanded. When God's
own darling son was made to be sin, justice demanded that he
be smitten. And blessed be his name since
he is smitten for me. Bobby, we shall not be smitten
by God. Now look at the next line. and
the sheep shall be scattered. This is what our Lord said to
his disciples. Now fellas, y'all gonna forsake
me? Every one of you. Because the
prophet said, might the shepherds and the sheep be scattered. And
it came to pass. Matthew put it this way. Then
Jesus said unto them, all ye shall be offended because of
me this night for it is I will smite the shepherd and the sheep
of the flock shall be scattered abroad. And all this was done
that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all
the disciples will soothe him and bless him. Although I can't
tell you how thankful I am, this text in Zechariah 13, 7 does
not end with that word. The sheep shall be scattered.
It doesn't stop there. Read on, and, and, I will turn
my hand upon the little ones. He says, I will, I will turn
my hand upon these little ones who are scattered when the shepherds
But it includes more than turning his hand to gather these disciples,
turning his hand to gather these disciples back to himself. He's
talking about all those sheep for whom the shepherd was smitten.
Let me show you. Look in verse 8 of Zechariah
13. And it shall come to pass that
in all the land, in all the earth, saith the Lord God, two parts
therein shall be cut off and die. But the third shall be left. God always deals with remnants.
There is a remnant according to the election of grace. Oh,
maybe you're included in that remnant. Now this is what he
says about that remnant. The third that's left. Verse
nine. And I will bring the third part
through the fire. You'll never come to Christ except
through the fire. And I'll refine them as silver
is refined. You're going to pass through
some burning. You're going to go through some trouble. And I will try them like gold
is tried. But when I get done, when I get
done, they shall call on my name. This is then my prayer for my
daughter, since before she came into this world. This is my prayer
for you. This is my prayer for our granddaughter.
Made my prayer for her since before she came into this world.
Lord God, whatever it takes, no matter how painful to me or
to you, whatever it takes, just bring them home. That's all.
Just bring them home. And when he turns his head, before
he gets done, he says, James Jordan would call that man. And
I'm gonna hear it. And he shall say, the Lord God
says, I will say, it is my people. And before I get done, they're
gonna look at me and say, the Lord's my God. In other words,
every sheep whom the shepherd was smitten, shall at last by
the hand of God's mercy be turned to him." Are you beginning to see something
of the greatness of our Savior? Here's a third thing. We see
his greatness in the perseverance of his love. Go back to Mark
14. I'll say nothing about the perseverance
of our Savior's love for us through all the stages of time and all
the stages of our rebellion and ungodliness. Let me just remind
you of the perseverance of his mercy, love, and grace to his
erring, fallen, sinful people. Oh, what comfort I find here.
Our Savior doesn't cast us off or forsake us because of our
faults. our failures and our sins. He knows what we are. He remembers
our frame, Mark. He knows we're just dust. A man takes a wife for better
or for worse, and then after they've been married some time,
this man who loves his wife finds that she's beginning to show
lots of indications that her beauty is fading. She's developing
deformities and she's beginning to show lots of things that to
the eyes of others make her unappealing. But he loves her. He doesn't
even think about casting her off. He loves her. The thought of casting her, no,
he loves her. But our Savior took us with all our deformities, all
our ugliness, and all our corruption, right in his face. Forever, forever. He is merciful and a compassionate
high priest. It is his glory to pass over
iniquity, transgression, and sin. It is the glory of God to
conceal a thing. The same proverb says it's the
glory of a king to investigate a matter. The glory of a king
to find out truth. Mr. Starr in his Investigation
call it say what you want to concerning it In his appointed
office. It is his honor. It is his honor
in the name of the law to search out truth It's honor to do so
Listen to me in the name of grace It is the glory of God to conceal
a matter Put it out of view Our Lord Jesus knew what we were
before he saved us, still he saved us. He knew what we would
be after he saved us, but still he saved us. And he cannot be
induced for any reason, by anyone, by anything, at any time to forsake
us. Can you get hold of that? This
is called salvation by grace. And I'm telling you that Jesus
Christ in His free grace is a great Savior to great sinners. Oh, come to Him now. Believe Him now. Trust Him now
and live forever. Pastor, would the Lord Jesus
save me? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Would He forgive my sin? Oh yeah,
yeah. But you don't know what I've
done. No, but I'm telling you, this Savior has taken me and
put away all my sin. And He turned His head toward
me and calls me to call on Him And calling on Him, He says,
this is my people. And I look at Him with confidence
and declare, this is my God. Amen. Our Father, bless Your
Word to the hearts of chosen sinners for the glory of Your
Son. Comfort and edify Your saints
and grant the sinners this day to be converted unto Thee by
the power of Your grace. Christ's sake.