I feel a measure of nervousness
trying to deal with what I want to preach on, but I've entitled
this message, The Stripping of Christ. I think that title would let
you know why I feel some amount of intrepidation in trying to
deal with this. The stripping. of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, before Christ was nailed
to the cross, he was stripped naked. I know the crucifixes in the
paintings always have a loincloth on him, but he was stripped naked. When the Roman soldiers would
crucify someone, They would take any belongings they had for themselves,
their clothing, their sandals, whatever it might be, where they
could either wear them or sell them. Now, after he was stripped
naked, he was nailed to the cross. He
was dropped in his stand and immediately the soldiers began
to divide his garments. Some say that that means some
took the outer garment, some took the sandals, some they just
split them up. And others say that it meant
the outer garments were ripped. in four different pieces where
they would divide them. And the inner garment, the tunic,
was a seamless robe. And it was of great value, and
it would have lost value if they would have ripped it. So right
while our Lord was hanging on the cross, they were casting
lots to see who would get the inner garment, the seamless robe,
where it could either be worn or sold for quite a bit of money.
All this was going on right at the foot of the cross. Let's read John's account of
this. John chapter 19. Verse 23. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts
to every soldier apart. There were four soldiers who
were acting in this crucifixion and they took every soldier apart
and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam. It was a seamless garment. woven
from the top throughout. They said, therefore, among themselves,
let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.
Now, did these men have any idea that they were doing what God
had already determined for them to do? No, they were cruel, heartless
men doing what they wanted to do. But read what the scripture
says, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, they
parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture, my inner
garment, that seamless robe, they did cast lots, and I love
the way John says this, these things therefore the soldiers
did. Now I would like to begin where
we always ought to begin with God. The stripping of the Lord
Jesus Christ and taking his garments and parting some of them and
casting lots for the rest was prophesied 1,000 years before
it took place in Psalm 22. Turn with me there, hold your
finger in John 19 and turn to Psalm 22. Verse 18. Now we know from verse
1 of this psalm, this is the psalm of the cross. Verse 1,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The very words of
the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. I believe he probably
quoted this whole psalm while he was hanging on the cross.
And look what he says in verse 18. They part my garments among
them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Now, it's amazing to look at
the events surrounding the cross. It's almost like they said, let's
look up what we're going to do next. I mean, everything they
did was what God said they would do. Everything was according
to his prophecy. Everything they did, they did
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Paul said in Acts
chapter 13 verse 29, when they had fulfilled all that was written
of him. Everything that took place was
that which was written of him. When they'd fulfilled all which
was written of him, they laid him, they took him
down therefore and laid him in a sepulcher. And even that was
prophesied in Isaiah 53. He made his grave with the rich.
It was a rich man's sepulcher that they put him in. is the Word of God and everything
that was done was done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. And that's another way of saying
that God's will might be fulfilled. Everything was simply God's will
being done. Him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God you have taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain. of a truth, Acts chapter four,
verse 27, 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, were gathered together to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Now, these
men were acting freely. They hated Christ. They didn't
care anything about Christ. and they were doing what they
wanted to do. Peter didn't say you with hands that were tied
by the sovereignty of God and you didn't have any choice. No,
he said you with wicked hands, willfully wicked hands have crucified
and slain. When they stripped him naked,
nailed him to a cross and gambled for his clothing, they were doing
what God's hand and God's counsel had determined before to be done. Let me remind you, God is completely
sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of men. Should these men be held responsible
for their actions if their actions were predetermined by God? I
mean, they didn't have any choice. God determined for them to do
this. Should they be held responsible? No, they are responsible. You
see, you can be held responsible for something you didn't do,
can't you? It happens all the time. These men were not held
responsible. They were responsible because
they were doing exactly what they wanted to do. Now, God is
sovereign and men are responsible. God is in complete control of
every one of your actions, even the thoughts that go through
your mind, and you're completely responsible for everything you
do and you do what you do freely. Now, someone says, how can that
be? I don't know. But it is. It is. God is absolutely responsible. I mean, sovereign. He's responsible
for everything that happens. He's absolutely sovereign. And
men are completely responsible. To deny either is to deny them
both. And they're not at odds. That
to say God is sovereign is to say God is God. He really is
God. Anything less than an absolutely
sovereign God who controls everything and everybody is an idol, a figment
of men's imaginations. The only God there is is the
absolutely sovereign God. And if I say men are not responsible
because God determined for them to do something, I make them
victims who are being treated unfairly by God. I love what
Paul said in Romans 9, thou wilt say unto me, why does he yet
find fault? For who has resisted his will?
How can he hold me responsible for that which he in his sovereignty
determined for me to do? Why does he yet find fault? Who
has resisted his will? Nay, but O man, who are you to
reply against God? I love Paul's answer. Who are
you to think that you can sit in judgment on God and say, I
agree with this and I don't agree with that. God is God. And men are responsible for their
actions. Now that's just so. That's just
so. And these men who rip Christ's
clothes off and tore them up to divide them and then decide
to roll the dice for the inner garment, the tunic that was without
seam. They were doing what they wanted
to do because they were wicked men, but this was God's will
being done. So the first thing I see in these
soldiers stripping the Lord Jesus Christ is God's will being done. And I also see the wickedness
of man. Turn with me to Isaiah. Now, you can read the newspapers
and get some idea that men are evil, can't you? I mean, all
the horrible crimes that take place, all the unjust things
that are done, you can get some idea that men are bad, no doubt. But you know, you really don't
get the true picture from that. Man's sinfulness is seen in his
attitude towards Jesus of Nazareth. Now look in Isaiah 53, verse 1, who hath believed our
report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he, the Lord Jesus, shall
grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a
dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Oh, how truly he was acquainted with grief. And we hid as it
were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. Now I want you to notice in those
verses I read, there are three words used to describe our attitude
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, we didn't desire
Him. We didn't desire Him. chose Barabbas over Him. We didn't
desire Him. The Son of God, the altogether
lovely One, the express image of the Father, the absolute sovereign
of the universe, the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
He who is altogether lovely, we didn't desire Him. What's said next in those verses? We despised Him. We'll not have
this man to reign over us. We despised him. Now, I realize
people don't despise the Jesus of false religion. He's nothing
more than a genie. You get him out of your back
pocket, rub him, and you get your wish. You know, you're in
trouble. There you go. He's a genie. They ought to call him genie
instead of Jesus, shouldn't they? But the Christ of the Bible, men
despise him. They despise him. We will not
have this man, we're not going to have this. And the third word
that's used is, and I think this is the saddest. And when I think
about this being a description of me, we esteemed him not. To have no esteem for the son
of God, what could be more wicked than that? They, we, Isaiah says, we esteemed
him not. And that's what you and I are
guilty of, not desiring him, despising him, and not holding
him in high esteem, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these soldiers
are a testimony of what you and I are. Now I know on those crucifixes
they have him with a loincloth, but remember a crucifix is an
idol in the first place. I can't stand seeing those things.
They're idols and nothing more. Next time you see a crucifix,
know it's an idol. People wear them on, but don't
wear anything like that. But it's interesting how they
always have him with a loincloth, but he was stripped naked. before that jeering mob. And
this is hard to talk about. It's hard to think about, isn't
it? To think of the Lord Jesus Christ being stripped naked before
that jeering mob. Now what was the first thing
said of Adam and Eve after the fall? Their eyes were opened and they
knew they were what? Naked. Naked. And this symbolizes, all of a
sudden, their shame. You know, before the fall, they
had innocent natures, and walking around naked was not an issue,
because they didn't have sinful natures that would have all kinds
of other... No, but after the fall, the scripture
says they knew they were naked, and they were filled with shame,
and they ran and hid from the presence of God, and they even
tried to cover themselves and cover their nakedness with their
own fig leaves. which represents man's attempt
at saving himself and covering his sin with his own works, man's
attempt to hide his shame. Now, Christ was stripped of his
clothing to show us that he was stripped of his righteousness. and felt all the shame much more
acutely than you or I ever could. You see, we're used to sin. It's
as natural to us as breathing. But all of a sudden, the Holy
Lamb of God was stripped of His righteousness. when he was made
sin, when he bore the sins of his people, he felt all the shame
and all the degradation of sin from the cross. And he said from
the cross, in that 22nd Psalm, he said, I am a worm. and no man, I'm not even fit
to be called a man. That's how the Lord Jesus felt
about himself when he was stripped of everything. He felt all the
shame and the guilt and the horror of sin by burying our sins in
his own body on the tree and his nakedness is an emblem of
his shame. his shame before his father,
those sins actually became his sins. And he said, behold, you
can read this in the book of Lamentations chapter one, behold,
I am become vile. He's the only one who ever became
vile. Me and you were born that way. He became vile. Stripped of his righteousness,
being made a curse for us, he was stripped that we might be
clothed. He was stripped that we might
be clothed. And these four soldiers ripped
apart his outer garments to divide them. The world wants a divide in Christ,
don't they? They want a divided Christ. This is seen in denominations.
I think denominations are about the most ridiculous things. You
know, we've got Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians, all
these different denominations, and these different denominations
will not say, well, you're not saved if you're not on most of
them. Some of them will, I guess, but they'll say, but our denominational
brand's a little bit better than yours. We've got a little bit
more corner on the truth, and we're a little bit more accurate
and a little bit more, maybe a whole lot more accurate. Our
denomination's the best denomination. Lynn's told me I shouldn't say
this, but I'm going to say it. That's stupid. It is, isn't it? Man's denominations. Here you take the truth. I think of Romans chapter 8,
verses 29 and 30. For whom he did foreknow, Then
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, then he also called. And whom he called,
then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he
also glorified. You tell me, which one of those
things is okay to leave out? What part of the truth is it
okay to leave out? We'll take this part, but we
won't take that part. I love the story of Solomon's wisdom.
You can read about this in 1 Kings chapter 3. The Lord was giving
us this story to show us his wisdom. There were two prostitutes
that lived together, and they both had newborn babies. They
weren't very old, but a few days. But they were in bed sleeping
together with their babies, and one of the prostitutes rolled
over on her baby and smothered the baby. mother saw that her baby had
been smothered. So she took that smothered baby
and put it over where the other woman was and put it by her and
she took her baby and kept it for herself. And the next morning
when that one woman woke up and saw the smothered baby, she said,
that's not my baby. That's not my baby. And the woman
with the baby said, yes, it is. Yes, it is. This belongs to me.
And they had a fight and dispute, and so they went to Solomon.
Solomon has the wisdom to know how to handle this situation.
So the two prostitutes come, and they give the story. I was
asleep, and this woman took my baby and took her baby that she
smothered, and she gave it to me and got mine. How are we going
to settle this matter? And Solomon said, well, this
is how we'll settle it. Somebody get a sword. Somebody
brought him a sword and said, we're going to divide the baby in half
and you can have one half and you can have the other. Now,
the woman who was truly the mother of the child said, give it to
her. give it to her. And the other one said, I'm okay
with that. I'm okay with that. Let's divide it in half. Now,
obviously, who was the one who really loved the child? The one
who would not suffer the child to be divided. And if you love
the truth, you can't have the truth divided. You can't have
it split up. And as far as that goes, what
do you have if you did divide the child? You have a dead child. You have death. You have that
which cannot produce life. A divided Christ. That's what
the world wants. But Christ's inner garment was
a tunic that was actually quite valuable because it didn't have
any seam. The soldiers wanted to gamble
for that because it would lose value if they divided it. Now,
throughout the scriptures, the righteousness of Christ is depicted
as a garment. You remember what happened right
after our first parents fell in the Garden of Eden? What happened?
God clothed them. He took away those fig leaves,
and a beast was slain, a lamb, no doubt, and he clothed them. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah 61. Verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me. with the garments of salvation.
He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels. He hath clothed me with the robe
of righteousness." Now turn to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation 7, beginning in verse
13. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Turn to Revelation 19. We looked
at this in Bible study this morning, Revelation 19, verse 8. And to
her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. Now, what is the righteousness
of saints? The righteousness of Christ. It's the righteousness
of the saints. So why didn't he call it the
righteousness of Christ imputed to them? I don't know. I don't
know why he said it that way, but the righteousness of Christ
is the righteousness of the saints. My life before God that I'm going
to be judged on is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
my perfect righteousness before God, the righteousness of the
saints. What about the parable of the
wedding feast? Remember when the king came in
and he looked out over the crowd and there was somebody there
that didn't have a wedding garment? That garment is Christ's righteousness.
And what did he say regarding that man? Bind him hand and foot
and cast him into outer darkness where there'll be weeping and
gnashing of teeth for many are called and few are chosen. Now
that, the robe is Christ's righteousness. Now let me tell you something.
Before you ever have that robe put on you, you're gonna have
to be stripped. You're going to have to be stripped
of everything. You're going to stand stripped
before God with absolutely nothing if you ever put this robe on. Now His righteousness, I have
no doubt. How many times in the New Testament,
for instance, the woman with the issue of blood, what did
she say? If I could but touch the hem of his garment. I shall be whole. I have no doubt
that this is the garment that she touched. This tunic that
was from the top to the bottom, no seams, this is the garment
that people touched and were made completely whole because
of what it represented. Now, as far as the physical garment,
you know that there's no saving efficacy in the garment, but
it's what it represents, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this
garment was seamless. There are no seams, there are
no weak parts, in the righteousness of the saints. He was stripped
of His righteousness that we might be covered by it. I think
of what David said in Romans 4, verses 6-8 when Paul is quoting
him. He says, even as David describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness
without works. Don't miss that. Without works.
Saying, blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, whose sins
are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now this is the righteousness
that every believer is covered by. And this covering is unlike
any other kind of covering, because let's say I've got all kinds
of spots and stuff on my arms, you know, AIDS spots and stuff
like that, but you can't see them, can you? You know what?
They're covered. But you know what? They're still
there. Christ covering, when He covers
something, it's not there. My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole, has been
nailed to the cross. And I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord O my soul. His
covering makes the sin not covered but still there but removed. Separated from me as far as the
East is from the West. Now when Bartimaeus came to Christ
you remember what he did with his garments? He cast them away. He cast them
away. And the best thing for me and
you to do is cast away our garments of filthy rags and look to Christ
only. Now I want to close by looking
at Luke chapter 15. Luke 15. Verse 11. And he said, a certain man had
two sons. And the younger of them said
to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that falleth
to me. What a sense of entitlement. Isn't that what that is? A sense
of entitlement. Give me what I've got coming. And he divided unto them his
living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living."
Give a young man a lot of money, what's he going to do with it?
He's going to have a good time. And this man had a good time.
And he enjoyed this. He wasted his substance with
riotous living. Partying is what it means. Verse 14. And when he had spent
all, there arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to
be in want. What a blessed place to be. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country. He joined a church. That's what
that means. He joined a church. I'm going
to straighten up and fly right. I'm going to change things. And
what did the citizen of that country do? He sent him into
his fields to work. feed swine. That's about the
most degrading thing a Jewish person could do. Verse 16, And he would fain have
filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no
man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, Wouldn't it be something if somebody
came to himself this morning by the grace of God? When he came to himself, he said,
how many hired servants of my father's house have bread enough
and despair and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to
my father and will say unto him, father, I've sinned against heaven. Notice that said first. I've
sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to
be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. You know what this man had lost? His sense of entitlement. That
was gone. He'd been stripped of all that.
I pray that God strips every one of us of every thread of
righteousness we might think we have, that we might be clothed
with his. Verse 20, and he rose and came
to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father
saw him. There's been so much said about
this. His father would go out every day and look out over the
horizon to look for him. Maybe so. But I know this. The father. Saw me. The father saw me. And he had compassion. and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him." Now, he wasn't expecting this kind of reception,
was he? He thought, if I can just worm my way back or weasel
my way back to be a hired servant, I'll be happy. At least I can
get something to eat. He was not expecting this, that when
the father saw him, he ran and fell on his neck, had compassion
on He'd forgot about all the wickedness of this young boy
who squandered his living with partying. And his brother said
with prostitutes, he squandered your living with prostitutes.
I mean, his brother didn't like this. You remember how upset
his brother got when he came back, but not the father, not
the father. Verse 21, and the son said unto
him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and
am no more worthy to be called thy son. But before he could
get the rest out, the part about making me a hired servant, the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe. The best And it doesn't say, hand it to
him. It says, put it on him. You know what that bastrobe is? And put a ring on his hand. signifying
an eternal covenant, and shoes on his feet, grace to walk in
the gospel and bring forth hither the fatted calf and kill it and
let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and
is alive again. He was lost and is found and
they began to be merry. Bring forth the best robe. If you come as a stripped sinner, This best robe is for you. One final scripture. Revelation
chapter 16. Verse 15. Revelation 16 verse 15. Behold,
I come as a thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth
his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. Now how does one go about keeping
his garments? Does that mean you watch over
your life and you make sure it's clean and you don't let any spots
get in your... Well, it'd be good to do that.
I'd be good to do that. I'm all for that. But how do
I keep my garments? By saying with Paul, Oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. Now Christ Jesus the Lord, the
holy spotless Son of God, was stripped of his garments according
to the will of God that I might be clothed with
his glorious righteousness. And you know the way I keep my
garments? by at all times looking at his
righteousness as the only righteousness I have and rejecting anything
else. Let's pray.