Tonight, I'm going to preach
upon this subject in his sight. In his sight. Verse 48, and all the people that came
together to that sight. Several translations translate
this word spectacle. Spectacle. What's a spectacle? It's something that you want
to see. It's got spectators. You want
to see what's going on. And it said they were gathered
together for that spectacle. And what I thought about when
I read that verse of scripture, I thought, oh, I pray that that's
what's going on here this morning. That we are gathered together
for that spectacle. And look what it says next. Beholding
the things which were done. When they saw that spectacle,
there were some things that were done because of that spectacle. Literally, things that were caused
to be. Now, when they saw that one,
they saw a corpse, a dead body hanging on the tree. And when
they saw the things that were caused to be. Now, I don't know of anything
more mysterious than thinking of the God-man dying. And that spectacle was his dead
body, lifeless body, nailed to a tree. We just heard in that
song, Pam sang, "'Tis mystery all, the immortal dies. Who can explore his strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph
tries to sound the depths of love divine. "'Tis mercy all,
let earth adore, let angel minds inquire no more." Now, he died. like no man ever died. You can't compare his death to
anybody else's. I love it when he says, Father, into thy hands I place my spirit. No one else could use language
like that. He spake as equal with the Father, into thy hands
I commend, I place my spirit. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. He allowed death. He said, death,
you can come now. The centurion, as we considered
last week, beheld this and said, surely this man was the son of
God. Now, there he hangs. lifeless upon the cross. This is the theme of the eternities. Now I want you to think about
that. The only information we have of what took place before
there was time was this. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. We know that God elected a people
from the foundation of the world, those people were chosen in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he is the lamb slain before there was
ever any creation. And what about that time when
time is no more? What will the song of the redeemed
be then? Worthy is the lamb that was slain. That's the song of heaven. Shouldn't it be the theme during
all of what we call time? Shouldn't it be the theme at
this time? Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Now, seeing this spectacle, Jesus
Christ who lived, now what he's talking about seeing is this
dead body nailed to the tree. His spirit's no longer there.
They don't really understand what has taken place yet, but
seeing this sight, this spectacle, what is it that we see? Well,
first, we see the end of sin. What's the one reason why somebody
would die? There's only one reason, isn't
there? Sin. By one man, sin. entered the
world and death by sin so that death passed upon all men in
that all have sinned. He was made sin and this is its
end. Death. You're going to die. You may live another five years,
five days, 50 years, but you're gonna die. Even King David said,
the way of all flesh is coming to me. I'm getting ready to die.
You're gonna die. And here is the end of sin, death. Now, in this site, we see how God
views Sin. When he sees sin in his son. And I want us to notice the wording. This is important. Not when he
saw sin on his son, but when he saw sin in his son. Not sin that's on him that could
just be brushed off and washed away, but sin in him. who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. When the Lord God the Father,
Jehovah, beheld sin in his son, there's only one thing he could
do, kill him. That is how God views sin, even
in His Son. Did the Father cease to love
His Son at that time? Of course not. Of course not. But this is how
God views sin. This is how God views my sin. This is how God views your sin.
When He sees sin, death must come. And that's how we see this
one dead now. There's only one reason for his
death, and that reason is seen. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? But we see so much more things
glorious when we see that one hanging dead on the tree. We
see what Hebrews 13 20 calls the blood of the everlasting
covenant. That covenant that was made before
time began when Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. We see in that dead one the blood. The blood refers to death. We
see the blood of the everlasting covenant and this is the covenant
that David was speaking of on his dying bed when he said, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my
salvation and all my desire, though we make it not to grow.
Now, before time began, the Father gave Christ a people. It's called election. God elected
a people gave them to his son for his son to bear complete
responsibility for their salvation. You know, people make fun of
election. They do. I've had people say to me, oh,
so you believe in the frozen chosen and all kinds of things
like that, you know, like such a monstrous doctrine. You know,
one of these days, everybody's gonna believe in election. Everybody. There won't be any doubt about
it then. But God elected a people Christ said in John chapter 17
verse 9, look at this distinction He makes. He says, I pray for
them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which you have given me. How many different ways are
there to take that? Christ became surety for God's
elect. before time began. And here's
what happened. God placed the entire responsibility of my salvation
upon his son. He said, you're going to pay
for his sins. You're going to put them away and he'll be part
of your bride forever. That's true of all of God's elect.
And in that one hanging on a tree dead, I see the blood, the blood
of the everlasting covenant. When our Lord said, it is finished,
every one of them were saved. Now, let me tell you what else
I see. What every believer sees, when we see that one dead hanging
on the tree in this spectacle, Christ nailed to a cross, I see
the reason for and the moving cause behind everything. I see the reason for, and the
moving cause behind everything else. The cross was not God's
response to Adam's fall. It was not the way to fix up
what he messed up. The fall was for this one singular
purpose, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let that sink in. The cross wasn't God's response
to anything. Everything is for the glory of
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the subject of the eternities,
and it's the only subject for now. The cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Everything that happens in time,
what God has done, is doing, and will do, has this as its
only reason and only purpose, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now see that spectacle? That one nailed to a tree? It
is by that sight only, by that sight only, that I see the true
character of man. Now what do I mean by that? What I am, what I really am,
is seen in my will, in my desire. What a man's will is, is what
he really is. Everything else is just show.
If you want to find out what a man really is, if you could
look at his will, you'd find out what he really is. Now, he
might not act it out. He might try to protect himself.
He might try to present himself in such a way as he doesn't seem
that way. But what a man's will is, the
will, is what he really is. Show me a man's will. And I'll
show you what he really is. Now, we're here in Luke 23. Let's
begin reading in verse 13. And Pilate, when he had called
together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said
unto them, You have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth
the people. And behold, I've examined him
before you, and found no fault in this man touching those things
wherever you accuse him. No, nor yet Herod, for I sent
unto him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I
will therefore chastise him and release him. For necessity, he must release
one unto them at the feast. It was necessary because God
purposed it. And they cried out all at once, saying, away with
this man and release him to 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
fault, 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 that
for sedition and murder was cast into prison whom they had desired,
but he delivered Jesus to what? Their will. Don't speak of man's free will
because it is evil. Chained to an evil nature, when
given the power to do what it wanted to do, it murdered God. That is the will of man. Preferring a murderer to Jesus
Christ. Now that is the, that's what
man really is. You know, God is just. You believe that? God is just. And when he punishes, The punishment
fits the crime. He doesn't over-punish. He doesn't
under-punish. The punishment always fits the
crime. And I think of what Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 22, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him be anathema, maranatha. Let him be damned upon the return
of the Lord. If someone doesn't love Jesus
Christ as he is, they ought to be damned. Amen? That's the truth. And we see
the true character of man in his will. Now, God has an agenda, and that
agenda is the glory of His Son, and if I'm opposed to it, or
if you're opposed to it, we must be damned. And when I'm sent
to hell, if I'm opposed to Christ, when I'm sent to hell, you know
all of those who love Christ are going to say amen to my damnation. They're going to be saying God
is just, right, holy and true. The true character of everybody
in this room and everybody outside of this room is seen in this
spectacle. That's me and you. That is the
truth. In this sight, I love this, in
this sight I see the absolute sovereignty of God over the free
and the uncoerced actions of men. Now, when men put the Lord to
death, When the men were driving the nails in his hands and feet,
was there anybody that was saying, I don't really want to do this,
but the sovereignty of God is causing me to do it? Nobody thought
anything like that. They hated him. They were doing
exactly what they were wanting to do. They spit on him. They
hit him with a reed. They pressed a crown of thorns.
Why? Because they hated him. They said, we'll not have this
man reign over us. They were doing exactly what
they wanted to do, weren't they? Nobody was saying, well, I can't
be held responsible for this because the sovereignty of God
determined for me to do this. No, they were doing what they
wanted to do, acting freely. They weren't being coerced. They
were doing what they wanted to do. But listen to this scripture. Acts 4.27 says, Him for the truth
against thy holy child Jesus, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Now in this spectacle, I see
God's absolute sovereignty over the completely free actions of
men, and I see God doing what only God can do, bringing good
out of evil. What's the most evil event to
ever take place on this planet? It's the cross, isn't it? There's
where men got to do what they wanted to do, the cross. What's the most glorious event
to ever take place? the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
and what he accomplished. But God took the most evil thing
to ever take place and brought such glory from that. That's the salvation of all of
God's elect. That's the complete glorification
of the Son that took place because of that. Oh, the sovereignty
of God over the free actions of men. I couldn't help but think
about what Joseph said to his brethren. He said, you meant
him for evil, but God meant him for good. to save much life. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did. Now in this site, this spectacle, and I think that's a good name
for it. In this spectacle, we see all that God has been pleased
to make known about himself. We see men, We see God's sovereignty,
Him bringing good out of evil, Him controlling even the free
and wicked actions of men for His own glory. But this spectacle is the greatest
display of the character of God. Is God really going to punish
sin? Is he really absolutely just? Is he really absolutely righteous? Cross is the answer to that question. Is God really holy? Holiness is a hatred and detest
of sin. Is God really holy? Is He really
of two pure eyes to behold iniquity? Look at the cross and you'll
find out. Is God's purpose always done? Are His decrees sure and steadfast
and whatever He determined in eternity will come to pass in
time? cross. Does God really love sinners? The only answer to that is found
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This spectacle declares
all that God is. It demonstrates His power to
put away sin, to make it to where Here's what the cross did. They
talked about the things that were done. You know what was
done? I was made to be sinless. What power! I was made to stand
before God without guilt. What power is in the cross? Take it as far as you want it.
Every attribute of God is displayed in the cross. I think of that
statement when the Lord said, My God, My God, why have you
forsaken Me? That statement tells everything
there is to know about God. And I say that with fear, with
fear. But that statement, if you want
to know who God is, that is the most God-like thing God ever
did when God forsook God. We see who He is through God
forsaking God on Calvary's tree and making Him to die. In this spectacle, How many times
do we read in all the events leading up to his final death?
How many times do we read that the scripture might be fulfilled?
Oh, this holy book that we have, it really is written by God.
It really is our only rule of faith and practice. And everything
he did, he did that the scriptures might be fulfilled. When he cried,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Well, he said it
in Psalm 22.1, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. They pierced
his hands and his feet. It was said that in Old Testament
Scriptures. They parted my garments and cast lots for my vesture. It was told in Scripture. I thirst
that the Scripture might be fulfilled. The Holy Scriptures. He is the
fulfillment of every type and every sacrifice. Here's Abel's
lamb. Now, I guarantee you Abel didn't
think that lamb's blood that he brought put away sin. He knew
it was the coming Lamb of God. Here is the Paschal Lamb where
God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. This is
the Lamb's substitute for Isaac. This is the tabernacle. This
is David's son and David's Lord. This is the fulfillment of every
Old Testament time. I made the I make this mistake
every morning, Sunday morning. I always read Paul Prather's
religious article, and he made the statement how the New Testament,
we believe the Beatitudes should take place over the Ten Commandments,
and we believe God's, you know, we need to pay attention to what
the New Testament says and not what the Old Testament says.
There is a man who has no understanding of God or the gospel. To make
a statement like that, you can't preach the gospel without preaching
the Old Testament scriptures and what they mean. And the apostles,
when they were preaching on the day of Pentecost, they didn't
have a New Testament. Everything they read was from
the Old Testament. And that's how they preached the gospel.
In this death of this one, You know, I sort of hope somebody
hears this somehow and tells Paul Praetor, this preacher said
this about you and I hope he listens to it and I hope the
Lord saves him. That's what I hope. He makes public those statements.
Well, I'll make public these statements. The Old Testament
is just as inspired as the New Testament and it's just as important
and you can't understand the New Testament without the Old
Testament. This death shows the complete fulfillment of holy
scriptures. And in this sight, this spectacle,
I see the only death that actually accomplished something. Remember
in Luke 9, verse 31, when Moses and Elijah appeared to the Lord,
and it says, they spake of the death which he should accomplish. Now, when I die, what's it accomplish? Well, it's
a demonstration of my weakness. It's a demonstration of my sin.
The wages of sin is death. What about people who die for
just causes? Well, I'm glad they do. I'm very thankful for the
men and women who have given their lives to protect this country. I'm not saying anything against
that, but I am saying this. If a man dies, it's not an accomplishment.
When Christ died, something was accomplished. The complete salvation
of his people when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high from henceforth
expecting till his enemies made his footstool when he by himself
purged our sins. That's what he did. He made purification. He made it to where I have no
sin. What a blessed thought. In this glorious sight, I'm saying
the same thing in different ways, I realize that, but in this glorious
sight, I see the answer to Job's question. How can he be clean
that is born of woman? How can man be just with God? I know how man can be just with
God. I don't know how the Lord did
this, But he did it. He took my sin off of me and
he put it in Christ. And Christ actually became guilty
of that sin. Are you saying Christ committed
sin? No, I'm not saying that. Never even implied that. But
I know this. He was guilty and God punished
him, not because it didn't belong to him, but because it did belong
to him. God made it to where his sin was my sin. Or my sin
was his sin. I'm sorry for saying it that
way. My sin was his sin. And he made it to where his righteousness
is my righteousness. And now God is absolutely just
in saving me. And the only way that can be
understood or seen is through the spectacle of that man hanging
on a tree. He said, I am the way, the truth. And the life, no man comes to
the Father but by me. We see one hanging dead on a
tree. And do you know the moment, the
second, the millisecond he died, God had complete satisfaction. Now, the reason hell is eternal
is because no man's death will ever satisfy a holy God. It's
not enough. It's not enough. Sin is an infinite
evil. It's not enough. But when this
man died, God said, I am satisfied. If Christ died for you, listen
to me, if Christ died for you, God is completely satisfied with
you right now. Right now, He's completely satisfied
with you. And you know the only thing that
gives me any satisfaction is knowing that God is completely
satisfied with me because of the death of Christ. That's the
only thing that gives my conscience Satisfaction. I'm satisfied with
that. Are you? I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Now in that sight, I see where
God is satisfied. That's why the Lord didn't go
through corruption. That's why his body didn't go
through the process of decay because God was satisfied with
what he did. and he's satisfied with everybody
he did it for. This is my beloved Son in whom,
not with whom, in whom I am well pleased. If I'm in Christ, God
is well pleased with me. Now in this glorious sight, this
spectacle, and I love thinking about this. What do I see in this? I see the only way my sins can
be dealt with. What do you mean by that? I see
the only way my personal sins, the sins that I have committed,
that I'm guilty of, I see the only way they could be dealt
with. And here's the point. I cannot do anything to take,
to make atonement for my sin. There's nothing I can do to make
up for it. There's nothing I can do to make it better. There's
nothing I can do to make it go away. Oh, I can resolve to be
better and do better and to be real sorry and here's some tears
and here's some repentance and here's some resolves to never
do it again. I can have all that stuff, but
how much does it mean? Nothing. Is it real? No. I can't do anything
about my sin. But he can. And he did. He was manifest to
take away our sin. And in him is no sin. Now once in the end of the world
have he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Would you turn with me to Hebrews
chapter nine for a moment? Verse 12. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the
blood of bulls, and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, typically,
that's what that's talking about, typically, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works, to
serve the living God? Do you see the utter absurdity
of salvation by works in light of His precious blood. The utter
absurdity. They're all dead works. And not
only have they no merit before God, but they're foul and offensive. Would you take your filthy rags
and add them to His glorious, perfect garment of righteousness?
No, purge your conscience from dead works. That's all they are,
is dead and filthy and stinking. And look to Christ alone and
His glorious garment. In this spectacle, I see the
only thing that I dare glory in. Paul said, God forbid that
I should glory. God forbid that I should glory. save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And I see so clearly why Paul
said, and I, brethren, when I came to you, I came not with the excellency
of speech or wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God,
for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Do you see such glory in Christ
crucified that you don't want to hear anything else. Now be
honest. Don't say anything out loud.
But do you see such glory in this message that you understood
why Paul said, I don't want to know anything else save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. You see this sight, this spectacle,
eclipses all other sights, if you see it. If you make an issue of anything
else, you've never seen this sight. Have you ever seen the stars
at night and their brilliance? It's a beautiful sight, isn't
it? But you know, there's only one
reason that you see those stars. Because you don't see the sun.
And if you see the sun in his brilliance, those stars are still
there, but you don't see them because of the dazzling brilliance
of that one star, the sun. And if you get hung up on the
stars, as true as they may be, stars
are still there. But if you get hung up on the
stars, You've never seen the Son. I want to close with Matthew
chapter 17. Verse 1, And after six days Jesus
taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them
up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them,
and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white
as the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with him. And I love the way
Luke's account tells us what they were talking about. The
decease which he should accomplish. What were Moses and Elijah talking
about? They didn't say heavens like
this, no. They speak of the decease which
he should accomplish. Isn't that the best thing to
speak of? The decease which he should accomplish. Then, verse four, answered Peter. Now I think we have to notice
that no one asked him anything, but he had to give an answer. That's like me sometimes when
there's silence and I don't feel totally comfortable with it,
so I gotta say something. I'm usually sorry for what I
say. But then answered Peter. and said unto Jesus, Lord, it's
good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make your
three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. And one of the other count said,
he said this, knowing not what he said. This was really a very evil thing
for him to say. Three tabernacles? While he had spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the
cloud which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well
pleased, hear ye him. And when the disciples heard
it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came
and touched them and said, arise and be not afraid. And when they
had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. Have I seen Jesus only? only if I have seen him as all. And if he's all, everything else
is nothing. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might be gathered together for this great sight. And Lord,
how we thank you, not only for his death, but how we thank you
for his resurrection. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification and we give thanks. Lord, take
this word through this broken vessel and overlook the broken
vessel and cause your word to bear fruit in our hearts. and
enable us to see Thy Son only as everything in our salvation.
Teach us to be satisfied with what You're satisfied with, Thy
blessed Son. Bless this message for Your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.