I have entitled this message,
Delivered. Delivered. Now, if someone was
looking through titles for a message they might want to listen to
and saw this message titled, Delivered, they'd probably think
it's about some kind of miraculous deliverance that God has given
one of His people. Maybe a deliverance from some
horrible circumstance and troubling circumstance. Maybe some deliverance
from some sin they feel entrapped by or some deliverance from a
sickness or an illness. But this is not about somebody
being delivered. Although it's the reason behind
all deliverances, it's about Christ. being delivered look in verse 31 for he taught
his disciples and said unto them the son of man is delivered into
the hands of men now the question is who delivered him we don't really understand any
of this if we don't understand who it is that delivered him
into the hands of men. His father delivered him. I know it says the men shall
kill him, but they are the instruments God used to kill him. And I love the way this says,
shall rise from the dead. It doesn't say he shall be RAISED
from the dead. It says he shall RISE from the
dead. Verse 32, But they understood
not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. I couldn't help but
think that this is probably the way they felt a great majority
of the time. But we read in verse 30, And
they departed thence, and passed through Galilee. And he would
not that any man should know it." How often have we seen in
the Gospels this taking place? He doesn't want anybody to know
about it. He says, don't tell anybody what I did. Don't tell
anybody where I'm at. Why? You would think that he
would want everybody to know, wouldn't you? You'd think he'd
want everybody to know who he is and what he's doing. But what
this reminds us of is this gives us some understanding of why
the Lord came to this planet. He didn't come to gain a hearing. He didn't come to get a following.
He came for this specific purpose. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins that is what
he came to do he came to glorify his father and he came to save
his people from their sins and that's what glorifies his father
he came to He came to die on the cross to accomplish this
purpose, to save His people from their sins, to glorify His Father. And when He said it is finished,
mission accomplished. That's why He came. He came to
glorify His Father. He came to save His people from
their sins. Now, does this mean when He told
people not to tell anybody about it, He was indifferent about
the spread of the gospel? Of course not. Of course not. But understand this. He came
for this purpose. to save His people from their
sins, to glorify His Father. Now I love that confession of
John in 1 John 4 and in 2 John where it says, Whoso confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Who so confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God, but is of that
spirit of antichrist. Now I love the simplicity and
the power of that. He was before he came. That's speaking of His eternal
deity. Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He is the eternal God. He was
before He ever came in the flesh. He's the eternal Son of God. He came in the flesh. Christ
became flesh. Christ became a man. Sin excluded,
but He became a man like me and you with the limitations of the
flesh. Now somebody said, what do you
mean by limitations? Couldn't he perform miracles? Yes, he could as the God man,
but he never performed any for himself. You know, when the devil
said, why don't you command that this stones be made bread? He didn't do it. He could have,
but he didn't. Why? Because you and I can't. And that's why he did not do
it. He became flesh with all the
limitations of the flesh, and He did what He came to do. He came to keep the law, He kept
the law. He came to pay for the sins of
His people, He paid for the sins of His people. He came to glorify
His Father, He said, I've glorified Thee on the earth, I've finished
the work that Thou gavest Me to do. Now, when He came, He
was not attempting to market himself. He was not attempting
to gain a hearing. He came to save his people from
their sins, and he did what he came to do. Now look in verse
31. For he taught his disciples. Now, don't miss this. I want to be one of these disciples
he teaches, don't you? I don't want to be simply taught
by myself or taught by some man. I want him to be my teacher. He taught his disciples. That's
the great desire of every believer. He taught his disciples. And he said unto them, the Son
of Man, hold on for just a second there,
the Son of Man. Do you know this is the way He
referred to Himself more than anything else in all the scriptures,
the Son of Man. Now, remember who He is. He's
the great I AM. He's the Son of God. He's the
Creator. He's the brightness of His Father's
glory and the express image of His person. He's the Redeemer. He's the Savior. He's the wonderful
Counselor. He's the mighty God. He's the
everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace. And
what is the name He refers to Himself more than anything else?
The name of His humiliation. The Son of Man. We sing that
song, Man of Sorrows. What a name. For the Son of God
who came, ruined sinners to reclaim, hallelujah. What a Savior! Now, look what He says to them
when He's teaching them, and like I said, I want to be taught.
He taught His disciples and said unto them, The Son of Man is
delivered into the hands of men. Now, this cannot be understood
unless we begin here. Who delivered Him? who delivered him. Now, if we
would say Judas, we'd be right, wouldn't we? It was Judas who
betrayed him. It was Judas who sold him for 30 pieces of silver
and delivered him into the hands of his enemies. Judas, we'd be
right if we said Judas did that. But would we be right? Acts chapter 2, verse 23, Peter
on the great day of Pentecost said, Him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Acts chapter 4, for of
a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel. That covers everybody, doesn't it? We're gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. It was the Father who delivered
him. Now in Mark chapter 14, verse
21, when he's fake of his betrayal, He said, the son of man indeed
goeth as it's written of him. I love the way he said that.
This is only what's written. Everything that he did is what
was written. The son of man indeed goeth as
it is written of him. The fulfilling of scriptures,
the fulfilling of God's purpose, but woe to the man by whom the
son of man is betrayed. It would have been good for that
man to have never been born. Who delivered him? In Ephesians
5, verse 25, it says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself. And that word gave is
the same word translated delivered here. He delivered himself up. Turned himself in. turned himself in. Willingly, he delivered himself
up. Now don't ever look at the Lord
as a victim. It's so important. Don't ever
look at the Lord. as a victim. There's three things
that came into my mind that he, how he demonstrated that. I remember
when Judas betrayed him, this is in the scriptures, Judas betrayed
him. And the men come with staves. Some said it's anywhere between
500 and a thousand men at this time that came to arrest the
Lord Jesus Christ. Where they got that number, I
don't know, but I've read that from several sources. It was a big
group of people and they came to arrest Christ. And Christ
said, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
And he said, I am. And you know, I don't know this,
but I almost like thinking about this. I like thinking about it
thundering at that time. I am. And what happened to those
men? They fell backwards. They were
driven back by irresistible, invincible omnipotence. They
fell backwards. Now, I love thinking of, The
Lord saying again, whom seek ye? I wonder how they sounded
the second time when they said Jesus of Nazareth. I love to
think, as a matter of fact, this is one of my favorite scriptures.
When the Lord is before Pilate, he remains silent, doesn't he? He remains silent. How come? Scripture said he would. Isaiah
chapter 53 said he would. He knew he stood guilty before
the law of God. He remained silent. He didn't
say anything while they were questioning him. And all of a
sudden, Pilate bursts out, speakest thou not to me? He was getting
mad. Speakest thou not to me? Don't you know that I have power
to release you and I have power to crucify you? Lord did not stay silent for
that. He said, you have no power at all over me, none at all,
except it be given thee from above. When the Lord is carrying
his cross to Golgotha's hill, there's women wailing and weeping
and upset. And he looked at them and says,
daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me. Don't weep for me. I don't need your pity. Weep
for yourselves. You see, the Son of God doesn't
need our pity. We need His. We need His. Oh, Lord, have pity on me. Have
mercy on me. Now, turn with me to Romans chapter
8. Verse 32. God the Father that spared not
his own son. But, and here's the word, delivered
him up for us all. How shall he not? What could
possibly prevent him from freely giving us all things? Now, I wish that I could speak
of this as it ought to be spoken of. He spared not his own son. If there was ever a time where
we see the demonstration of God not being a respecter of persons,
it's right here. Sin on his son, in his son. His son was bearing
our sins in his own body on the tree, the sins of God's people.
And God the Father spared him not. He didn't look the other
way. His wrath, his justice came down
upon his son. You see, his son was the sin
bearer. Scripture says he bore. He bore
our sins in his own body. Now don't miss this. You know
what that means? That means my sin left me. And it went to Him. And He bore
my sins. He bore the sins of all He died
for. He bore the sins of His people
in His own body on the tree. And sin can't be two places at
once. If it left me, it's gone. He
took it upon Himself. Look in Matthew chapter 27. then released he," this is talking
about Pilate, "...then released he Barabbas unto them. And when
he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified." Now, turn
to Luke's account of this same passage in Luke chapter 23. Now,
he delivered, he kept Barabbas from being killed.
Now Barabbas, one of those crosses had his name on it. He was scheduled
to be nailed to that cross that very day, this man named Barabbas. And I think of him laying in
his cell If you knew you were going to be crucified that very
day, how much would you be stressed out? I don't care how hard and
harsh this man was. He was stressed out to think
of the pain he was getting ready to experience. I don't know that
he felt guilt or remorse. I don't even know that he felt
fear about going into God's presence. I don't know, but I guarantee
you he was afraid of the cross. And he's laying there in his
cell, and he hears the soldiers coming, and I have no doubt he
felt a sense of dread thinking about what is going to take place.
And they open up the cell, and they said, you've been set free. Jesus of Nazareth has taken your
place. Now look in Luke chapter 23. Verse 18, verse 17, this is still
speaking of Barabbas. For of necessity, he must release
one unto them at the feast. Now, is there anything in the
Bible about this as far as the Old Testament Scriptures? Is
there anything in the Old Testament Scriptures that says on every
feast day, the high priest must of necessity release somebody
and let them go? Now that's not found in the Old
Testament Scriptures. Let me tell you why it was a
necessity, God's purpose. That's why it's a necessity.
As a matter of fact, everything's a necessity. Aren't you glad
it's that way? Everything is a necessity because
everything is according to the purpose of God Almighty. It was
necessary that he release someone at the feast. Verse 18, And they
cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release
unto us Barabbas, who for a 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 found
no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him,
and let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices
of them and of the chief priests 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. Now, humanly speaking, And somebody
says, if you're speaking humanly, why are you speaking at all?
Well, to make this point, humanly speaking, here we have the innocent
being condemned and the guilty going free. Humanly speaking,
the murderer is set free. The one who never sinned is condemned. But if that's all I see, I've
not seen the gospel. See, Proverbs chapter 17, verse
15 says, He that justifieth the wicked and condemneth the just,
they are both alike an abomination to the Lord. Now here is the
mystery of the gospel. What an announcement. Here is
the mystery of the gospel. When Christ bore my sins in His
own body on the tree, they became His sins. They became literally His sins. He said in Psalm 40, innumerable
evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities Not Todd's iniquities
that are charged to my account. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head. That is Jesus Christ the Lord
speaking, owning the sins of his people as his own. He owned them as his own. They really were his. And God
spared not his own son. Why? Because he was guilty. Because he was guilty. And he delivered him up to his
own law, which said, The soul that sinneth shall surely die
on the tree he was paying the debt God's holy law demanded
for sin. My sin became His sin. Now, He never sinned in His person.
You know, people have accused us of saying that. Well, you're
saying Christ sinned. I've heard that from a lot of different
quarters. I'm saying no such thing. Christ never sinned in
His person. And to claim that somebody is
saying that Christ sinned in His person when He was made sin
is to willfully misrepresent that person. That's just building
up a straw man and beating it to death. People are good at
that, aren't they? Christ never sinned in his person, but he
was made sin. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't do it. I know it's so. This is one of
those things that I believe. I don't grasp it completely,
but I believe it. The Bible says he was made sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And that's why the father delivered
him. Look in Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four, I want you
to see this. Verse 25, who was delivered,
given over. Who was delivered, why? For our
offenses. and raised again for our justification."
Now, he was delivered for our offenses. Raised again for our justification. Why was he raised? Because everybody
he died for was justified. Now, God does not treat me as
if I never sinned. In God's sight, literally, I
have never sinned. That's what justification is.
That's why we can have boldness to come into God's presence.
That's why we can have boldness on the day of judgment. I have
no sin. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Now, Yes, he was
delivered by Judas. Yes, he was delivered to the
power and authority of the governor. Yes, he was delivered over unto
the will of man. There was a universal hiss going
against him. Yes, he was delivered to sinners,
but they were all pawns in God's hand doing what God determined
for them to do. The Lamb, having been slain from
the foundation of the world, is now slain around 33 AD, according
to the eternal purpose of God. Now, this is glorious. I don't know how else to say
it. That God the Father would deliver up His Son, that God
the Son would deliver up Himself. How this glorifies God. It was
the Father that delivered Him up. I think of what people said
to Him from the cross. They made fun of Him. They said,
He saved others. Himself, He cannot save. Never have truer words been spoken. For me or you to be saved, He
could not save Himself. This is how the sinner is justified
before God. The universal hiss of mankind
is, let him be crucified. We'll not have this man to reign
over us. And then they actually said in
wicked contempt, let his blood be upon us and our children.
We despise him so much, we want to be counted guilty of his death.
That's what he deserves. We hate him. Let his blood be
on us. We're fine with his blood being on our children, then being
charged with his death. This is what we think of this
man. We want to get rid of him. But you know what God's people
say? Let His blood be upon us. And let His blood be upon our
children. He said, all things are delivered
to me of my Father. There's that word again. All
things are handed over to me of my Father. And it was from
the position of absolute authority, we read that He was delivered
into the hands of men. Now I heard a preacher here in
Lexington make this statement. I was shocked when I heard this
statement. He said, on the cross, Christ quit being sovereign. and let men have their way. That's the one time men were
allowed to have their way. Now, I would agree that men had
their way. That's what they wanted. You
with wicked hands have crucified and slain the Lord Jesus Christ,
but there's never a time when his sovereignty was more glorious
than when he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And he bowed his head, his sovereign
head, and he gave up the ghost. Don't think for a second he ever
relinquished his sovereignty. His sovereignty is seen most
gloriously as He hangs from the cross. Now, go back to our text in Mark
chapter 9. For He taught His disciples He always does teach His disciples,
I'm so thankful for that. And He said unto them, The Son
of Man is delivered into the hands of men. God delivered Him,
and they shall kill Him. That is, the Son of God was killed. God delivered him into the hands
of men for the purpose of his death. He's the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and he actually died on the cross. But it also says, he shall rise
the third day. Now this is important. It doesn't
say he shall be raised on the third day. He was raised on the
third day. I wouldn't argue against that,
but it doesn't say he shall be raised the third day. It says
he shall rise the third day. He said, no man takes my life
for me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it
up again. This commandment have I received
of my father. And by his death, sin was punished. By his death, sin was put away. By his death, complete satisfaction
was made. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Now, this lets
us know what the Lord meant when He said with regard to that thief
or that sinner, crying out, God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
That's all he had to say about himself. God be merciful to me,
the sinner. He couldn't make the boast the
Pharisee made. Only God be merciful, be propitious. I love this word, propitious.
Do something about my sin. I can't do anything about my
sin. I can't make it go away. Do something about my sin. Be
propitious to me, the sinner. And Christ said, I say unto you
that that man went down to his house justified. I wish the Lord would give us
the grace to enter into this. That means I never sinned. That
means I stand before God without guilt. That means I stand before
God having kept the law perfectly, having always done that which
is right, having never done that which was wrong. And then he said after that,
For everyone that exalts himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Well, what does it say about
the disciples? Verse 32, but they understood not that saying,
and they were afraid to ask him. But you know what? They would
come to understand that saying. And they would come to preach
that saying. Now, let's end with a scripture
from Revelation chapter 12. And I heard, verse 10, Revelation
chapter 12, and I heard a loud voice. saying in heaven, now has come
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of his Christ. Four, now look what the devil
is called, the accuser of our brethren. He's cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night. Non-stop. Now let me put myself in that
place. What if the devil just took me? Forget you all right
now. What if he just took me? Could
he spend day and night making accusations against me that were
true? Absolutely. Would he have to
exaggerate? Not at all. He could make accusations against
me and you day and night, non-stop. And that's what he does. The
scripture points this out. He's the accuser of the brethren.
And he makes these accusations non-stop, day and night. Verse 11, and they overcame him. by the blood of the Lamb. And by the word of their testimony,
the blood of the Lamb, they loved not their lives unto death. Now, here is what the blood of
the Lamb did with regard to all of those accusations. The blood of the Lamb made them
all untrue. Untrue. No, he's justified. No, he didn't do that. No, he
didn't think that. No, that was not his motive.
No, he never sinned. Now that is the blood of Christ. That is justification. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb. The Lord Jesus was delivered
up, but it was his father who delivered him. And that's why
we have the salvation that we have. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. the blood of the Lamb that makes
us pure and spotless in Thy sight. Lord, drive away anything that
would hinder us in simply resting in Him, believing Him, calling
on His name, looking to Him, rejoicing in Him. Bless this
message for Christ's sake. In His name we pray. Amen.