Some 1500 years before the death
of Christ on the night of the Passover, when the Lord was giving
instructions regarding the eating of the Passover, he said in Exodus
chapter 12, verse 46, neither shall you break a bone thereof. That Passover lamb was to not
have any bones broken at all. And then we also read in Numbers
chapter nine, verse 12, Again, instructions concerning the eating
of the Passover, they shall leave none of it into the morning,
nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinances
of the Passover, they shall keep it. So the Passover lamb was
to not have any broken bones. Why that detail? Now turn back
to John chapter 19. Now the Lord had died. That's one of the many things
that I find so mysterious. The God-man died. I can't wrap my head around that. He died. God can't die. Man can't satisfy God. Only God
can satisfy God. The law demands the death of
the sinner. Man can never satisfy, but the God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, did both. He satisfied God, and he died,
really dead. Isn't that remarkable? Now, after his death, Verse 31
of John 19, the Jews therefore, because it was the preparation,
they had no idea that he was the Passover. They were getting
ready to celebrate the Passover. It's kind of ironic. that they
want him taken down because we can't have a dead body nailed
to a cross on the Passover day. So we need to take these bodies
down. We don't want that to mess up
our religious ritual. I think it's interesting the
way John always calls it the feast of the Jews, the Jews Passover. They had no idea what it meant. They had no idea of the spiritual
meaning, but they wanted to observe their high day. So the Jews,
therefore, because it was the preparation that the bodies should
not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath
day was a high day, besought Pilate that their legs might
be broken, that they might be taken away. Death by crucifixion
quite often would take days. Be up there, take three or four
days to die. That's a horrible thing to think about, but that
was the case. So the religious leaders wanted them to break
the legs of the people who were on the cross because they wouldn't
be able to hold themselves up anymore. And somehow you would,
that seems so painful, but evidently if you couldn't do that, you'd
suffocate. And so they said, break the legs so they won't
be hanging there while we're observing and celebrating this
high and holy day, the Passover. Then came the soldiers and break
the legs with an iron bar evidently. They break the legs of the first
and of the other which was crucified with him that they would die
quickly. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead
already, they break not his legs. Why? That the scripture might
be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken,
the psalmist said. in the Passover instructions,
not a bone is to be broken. They didn't break his legs because
a bone of him cannot be broken. Verse 34, but one of the soldiers
with a spear pierced his side maliciously. He saw he was dead
and just took that spear and pierced it through his side.
out of malicious desire. And what happened? Blood and
water came out. Blood and water. Christ, our
justification. Christ, our sanctification. Everything
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blood and water came out, verse
35, and he that saw it, bear record, And his record is true. And he knoweth that he saith
true, that you might believe. This is why I'm saying this to
you, that you might believe. Wouldn't it be something if every
one of us in here believed from hearing this? Verse 36, here's John's comment. I love the way John always comments
on this. For these things were done that the scripture should
be fulfilled. Don't you love that? These things
were done for this one purpose, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And he quotes a verse from the
Psalms, a bone of him shall not be broken. Then again, another
scripture, they shall look on him whom they have pierced. All this was done that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Bones of Christ. Why does the scripture make this
issue? The bones of Christ. Well, where is the first time
bones are mentioned? Do you remember? Turn with me
to Genesis chapter 2. Now this passage of scripture,
we're thinking about this. One of the many things that I
don't understand and believe is the idea of union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal union with Christ. And this is teaching that so
clearly, and I got, I think, more of a clear view of that.
Though it's not clear, still it's a mystery, but union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look in Genesis chapter two,
beginning in verse 21. And the Lord God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of
his ribs One of his bones. And closed up the flesh instead
thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man, made he a woman and brought her unto the man. Now can't you see the gospel
clearly in that? Christ died. The church is brought out of
him. And I see this taking place before
the foundation of the world. Now, how am I eternally united
with Christ? I don't know. But if we're believers,
in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, I was taken from
Him. And look what Adam said. Isn't
this mysterious? Isn't this glorious? Somehow,
before time began, I came out of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
somehow Christ is first. You know that. You know that.
He's God. But somehow the elect have also
always been eternally united to Him. And this picture of what
happened to Adam in the garden is exactly what happened on the
cross. Christ died. The church comes from Him. And look what Adam said. Verse
23. And Adam said, this is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they
shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now, when Paul deals
with this in Ephesians chapter five, and he talks about the
two shall be one flesh, quoting from here, he says, I speak a
great mystery, but I'm not talking about men and women right now.
I speak of Christ and the church. Bone of his bones and flesh of
his flesh, I come from the body of Christ. The bones of Christ
are His body. The bones of Christ are every
believer. We come out of Him. What a pedigree. What a pedigree. Every believer
comes from the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and the church is
called His body. His body. His flesh. And His bones. Now, no doctrine
of the scripture can really be understood apart from this thing
of eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, when
God elected me, when, that's, I've always been elect. There
wasn't a time when I wasn't elect and then all of a sudden I was.
I've always been one of the elect, one of God's chosen. When God
elected me, He did not view me independently of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I was part of Him, bone of His
bones, flesh of His flesh. Before the foundation of the
world, when the Lamb was slain, the church, His bride, came out
of Him. And that's their standing. Turn
with me to Hebrews chapter 2. When's the last time you heard
a freewheeler talk about union with Christ? They've never even
thought it. Never even thought it. Yet this
is one of the primary teachings of scripture. Union with the
Lord Jesus Christ so that we're one. Hebrews chapter two, verse
11. For both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause? He's not ashamed
to own me as his brother. Union, eternal union with Jesus
Christ coming out of him. Now that's mysterious, isn't
it? That's a mystery, that's something we believe. We can't
understand it. I love that passage of scripture
in 1 John 4, verse 17. As he is, So are we in this world. Is he one with the Father? So
am I. Is he perfectly holy and righteous? So am I. Is he altogether lovely,
pleasing to the Father? So are every one of his people. Union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that's where the bones of Christ are first mentioned. the rib being taken out of Adam,
and that is the church, that is his bride, that is his body.
Now, you think about this. When he said to John the Baptist,
thus it becometh us, to fulfill all righteousness, the us just
wasn't him and John. The us was all of his bones.
Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now, when
he lived, his bones lived. When he died, his bones died.
When he was raised, his bones were raised. Now turn with me
for a moment to the book of Lamentations. right after Jeremiah, right before
Ezekiel. Verse 12, is it nothing to you,
all ye that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like
unto my sorrow. which is done unto me, wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
Is there any question who that's talking about? As a matter of
fact, if you read the book of Lamentations, read it all as
the words of Christ, because that's what it is. It's all the
words of Christ. When he says, I am the man that
has seen afflictions, you think, well, Jeremiah, you think you're
the, wasn't Jeremiah speaking? It was the Lord speaking who
saw these afflictions. And this is no doubt Christ speaking.
Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there
be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it profaileth
against them. he hath spread a net from my
feet, he hath turned me back, he hath made me desolate and
faint all the day, the yoke of my transgressions is bound by
his hand, they are wreathed, they become join to me and come
up upon my neck. He has made my strength to fall.
The Lord has delivered me into their hands from whom I am not
able to rise up. Now, these are obviously the
words of Christ from the cross. And he talks about fire coming
down from heaven into his bones. When fire came down upon Christ,
it came down upon me. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. He didn't say I was crucified
representatively with Christ. He didn't say it was just as
if I were crucified with Christ. He said, these are his words,
I am crucified with Christ. When Christ was crucified, Todd
Nybert was crucified. The fire came into the bones
of Christ. All of God's elect were crucified. All those who were united to
Christ, all of his bride, the fire came down and consumed the
bones. They weren't broken, but the
fire came down upon them. But not one of those bones is
broken. Remember, the bones of the Passover
lamb, the bones of Christ, the body of Christ shall never be
broken. Turn with me to Psalm 34. This is the scripture that John
quoted in John chapter 19, in Psalm 34, verse 10. I'm sorry, verse 19. Well, this is not... I hate it when I do this. I've
got the wrong scripture written down somewhere. Let me... Is
it verse 20? Oh yeah, there it is. I was looking
at verse 19. Verse 20. He keepeth all his
bones. Not one of them is broken. He keeps every one of them kept.
Now unto Him that's able to keep you from falling and to present
you faultless, faultless before His presence. with exceeding
joy. He keeps all his bones. Not one of them are broken. They're preserved in Christ Jesus. You see, he saved his bones. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. You know, every
time I start talking about effectual redemption, he's gonna keep all
his bones. I can't express to you how much I despise the teaching
that says Jesus Christ could die for somebody and they could
wind up in hell anyway. That's so dishonoring to God.
It's so contrary to the scripture. Somebody that believes something
like that doesn't come close to believing the gospel. He keeps
all his bones. Not one of them, even the least,
not one of them is broken. Look in Psalm 35, 10. He even talks about what his bones
are going to say. This is the Lord speaking. He says in Psalm
35, 10, all my bones shall say, Lord, who is likened to thee? which delivereth the poor from
him that's too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from
him that spoileth him. Who is like unto thee? Now that's
something all the bones say. Who's like to thee? You know,
there's nobody, there's no thing, there's nothing that you can
say, God's like that. You can't do it. There's nothing
to compare him to. Now, you can see someone, and
maybe he's faithful, and you say, well, that's, you know,
being like Christ, he's faithful. You can say somebody might show
some of these characteristics, but not really like God. But
there's nobody, you can't look at anybody and say, God's like
that person. God, no, he's not. No, he's not. God is utterly
unique. With whom can you compare me?
And who shall you make liken to me? He's altogether glorious,
altogether holy, and you can't compare him with anybody. Who
is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises,
doing wonders? That's who He is. And all of
God's people worship Him for who He is. Who's like thee? We admire Him. We think He's
so glorious. We love all of His excellent
attributes, every part of Him we love. We wouldn't change anything
about Him if it weren't in our power. And you can't say that
about anybody else, but you can say that about God. Who is like
unto thee? And look what else the bones
say. I think this is interesting. This is something that all the
bones say, and remember the bones, this is the body of Christ. This
is what they have to say. Which delivereth the poor from
him that's too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from
him that spoilth him. The bones all recognize that
they are poor and that they are needy. And this is very real
to the bones. They recognize that they're poor.
You know what that means? They don't have anything to bring
to the table. They don't have anything that
could recommend them to God. They really believe, I've got
nothing. All I have is sin. I don't have anything that he
can accept. I'm poor. And isn't that the
first beatitude? Blessed are the poor in spirit. I'm poor, but not only am I poor,
And I have nothing. I have great needs. I need to
be in Christ. I need to be found in Him. I
need for God to freely elect me by His grace with no cause
in me. I need election. People argue
about election, but I need election. I need Christ to justify me.
I need Him to make me not guilty before Him. I need Him to redeem
me. I need Him to pay for my sins so that I don't have any
sins. Oh, I need Him to preserve me. I need Him to give me a new
heart that I can't produce. I need Him to give me faith.
I need Him to give me repentance. I need Him to give me love for
Himself. I need Him to preserve me. How
great are my needs. I'm poor and I'm needy. But look what it says about this
one. All my bones shall say who is likened to thee which deliver
us the poor from him that's too strong for him. Yea, the poor
and needy from him that spoil him. You know, I thought of three
people that are too strong for me. The law. God's holy law. The devil. And my old man. Too strong for
me. Now that word delivered is the
same word used with regard to the Passover. His deliverance
of the children of Israel. He delivers. Exodus chapter 12,
27 and 28. Hear the word again. When I see
the blood, I will pass over you. David spoke of the bones in several
other places. While none were broken, they
were broken in another way. Turn to Psalm 51. He said in verse seven, purge
me with hyssop. Now remember what hyssop is.
The first time it's mentioned is that branch that was dipped
into the blood to put the blood over the lentil in the Passover.
That's the same thing as saying, see the blood. When I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. That's my only plea, that I'd
be seen in the blood. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness
that the bones which thou has broken may rejoice. Now he didn't
have any physically broken bones, you know that. But he had something
different, a broken heart. a broken heart. He said in the
same psalm, a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Now, what
is the most outstanding characteristic of something that's broken? It
doesn't work. It's that simple. It doesn't
work. That's why David said, creating
me a clean heart, O God, mine's no good. It doesn't work. It
doesn't work. I can't be saved by my works
in any way to any degree. That's a heart that's broken
before God. Look at Psalm 32. Now this is David talking about
when he kept silence over the issue of Uriah. and Bathsheba,
and the murder, the affair, the things that took place, he said,
when I kept silence. And he kept silent about it for
over a year, if you read his history. I mean, this happened,
and he just went on business as usual, acting like nothing
happened, for over a year. But look what he says. When I
kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the
day long. For day and night, thy hand was
heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledge my sin unto
thee. Mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I confess my transgression unto the Lord, and thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin for this. shall everyone that's godly pray
unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely in floods
of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art
my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble, and shall compass
me about with songs of deliverance. Now while I kept silence, my
bones. That's the new man, the new nature. He was roaring the whole time.
You know, I don't know how to explain this, but a believer
has a new man, And a believer has an old man. Which one does God speak to? You. You're made of a new man. You're made of an old man. Who
does God speak to? He speaks to you. And the bones,
they were roaring when David kept silent. Psalm 38. Verse three, there is no soundness
in my flesh because of that anger, neither is there any rest or
peace in my bones because of my sin. Now let me tell you something
that the bones of Christ cannot handle, the thought of sin. I have to have my sin blotted
out. put away to where it is no more,
and the bones can't rest unless sin is taken care of. Now here's the one I wanted to
close with, Psalm 22. Actually, I brought this out
a few weeks ago, and it's the first time I've ever seen this, and
I've been thinking about it ever since then, but while he was
on the cross, He said, I'm poured out like water and all my bones
are out of joint. And they were, this is the psalm
of cross. They weren't broken, but they were out of joint, suffering
God's wrath. But look in verse 17. He says,
I may tell all my bones. They look and stare upon me. Now that's, the Lord is not saying
he can see every single one of his bones. How many bones are
there in human body? I got one of you guys say it, you know
it. I mean, 212. All right, 212. I knew one of
his doctors. But that didn't mean he could
see all 212 of his bones, does it? But he could see all his bones.
Because his bones are his body. While he was on the cross, he
saw every one of his bones. He knew the exact number of them.
He says, I can tell them. I can count them. I know exactly
who they are. I tell all my bones. Oh, the
Lord is so familiar with us. He says, I know the thoughts
I have toward you, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to bring
you to an expected end. Oh, the thoughts he had of his
bones on the cross. And what were they doing? They look. That's the same word
used with regard to the brazen serpent. When the serpent was
held, what were they called on to do? One thing. Look at the brazen serpent. Anything else? No. No. Now, I'm sure some looked down
at the ground to figure out how to keep these serpents away and
get rid of them, but that's not what God told them to do. He
said, you look at the brazen serpent. Look to Christ. Now, when you look to Christ,
you know what that means? That means you're not looking at anything
else. You're looking to Him only. And you know what happens after
you look at Christ? You stare at Him. You stare at Him. Have you ever
been out in public and you see somebody staring at you? You
know, they're just staring you down. Stare at Him. Stare at Him. Now,
why would I stare at Christ? Well, for one reason. I stare
because I'm amazed in all. I love that hymn we sing. I stand
amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he
could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean. I'm staring at that.
I'm mystified by that. I stare. But when you stare, remember
when you're staring at somebody that you're looking at them. You're
looking at them, you're not looking at anybody else. You're looking
at that person you're staring at. Now, staring at Christ crucified,
I don't want to see anything else. All I want to see is that
all that God requires of me is found in that one hanging on
a tree. And I stare, I keep looking.
I don't want to ever lose that wonder of knowing that I'm complete
in Christ. And that all God requires of
me is seen in that one hanging on the tree. And I stare. I stare. I'm amazed. And that's all I
want to see. Don't show me anything else. I'm not interested in anything
else. I stare at that one hanging on
the tree. All my bones, they look. Just like they looked at that
brazen serpent. You know, I think it's really interesting, as pointed
out, everyone that was bitten. If you're bitten, you'll look.
Now, if you weren't bitten, you're not going to look. Not everybody
was bitten. If you're not bitten, you're not going to look to Christ.
But if you're ever bitten with sin, you'll look. and you'll stare. You'll continue
in that look. You know, I heard someone say,
and I've even read it also, for every one look at yourself, you
ought to have 10 looks to Christ. Why would you have one look to
yourself? No, don't look to yourself at
all. Look to Christ only, always. This is what the bones do. They
look to Christ, only Christ, and nowhere else. All my bones
look and stare. The bones are the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. and they were taken from him
for before the foundation of the world. And that is where
every one of God's elect are from. The rib, the bone of Christ. Let's pray. Lord, truly we're amazed And
that word doesn't even supply what we think of being eternally
united to thy son and being his bones, being his body. And Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that we might be enabled by your divine grace to do what your
bones do, to look and to stare and look nowhere else. Bless
this message for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen. Fat Dwayne.