Mercy and Wrath at Calvary

Q: What does the Bible say about mercy and wrath at Calvary?

The Bible reveals the love and mercy of God at Calvary, where Christ paid the penalty for sin, showcasing both God's righteousness and justice. At Calvary, the mercy and wrath of God converge in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:18 states that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Yet, it is through Christ's crucifixion that we see God's attributes of mercy and justice perfectly reconciled. While God's wrath against sin necessitates punishment, His love provided a substitute in Jesus, who bore the sins of humanity. This act not only displays God's grace but also His commitment to uphold divine justice.

Q: How do we know the power of the gospel is true?

The power of the gospel is true because it reveals the righteousness of God and serves as God's means for salvation to all who believe. The gospel is described as the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). This power is not dependent on human merit but is rooted in God's righteousness, which is revealed through faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel satisfies the demands of God's justice while offering grace and salvation to lost sinners. As we place our faith in Christ, we experience transformative change, confirming the gospel's power in our lives. It is this efficacy that assures believers of its truth.

Q: Why is the concept of being a debtor important for Christians?

Being a debtor emphasizes our obligation to proclaim the gospel in gratitude for God's mercy and grace. Paul describes himself as a debtor in Romans 1:14, acknowledging that his life and ministry are a response to the immense mercy he has received from God. For Christians, recognizing this debt is crucial because it instills a sense of urgency and responsibility to share the gospel. Our acknowledgment of being 'bought with a price' (1 Corinthians 6:20) calls us to glorify God in all we do, which includes proclaiming the truth of the gospel to a world in need. The debtor's mindset motivates believers to fulfill their calling to spread the message of Christ's redemptive work.

Q: How does the gospel represent God's righteousness?

The gospel represents God's righteousness by revealing His perfect justice and the means by which sinners can be justified through faith in Christ. In Romans 1:17, Paul states that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. This righteousness is not based on human effort but is a divine gift made available through faith in Jesus Christ. It underscores God's integrity, as sin must be punished, but through Christ's atonement, believers receive His righteousness imputed to them. This means that God remains just while justifying the ungodly, demonstrating His love, mercy, and holiness simultaneously. The gospel illustrates God's commitment to uphold His law while providing a pathway for salvation.

Romans 1, Paul says in verse
14, I am debtor, I'm debtor, because of the mercy of God to
me. He said I was a blasphemer, I
was injurious, but I obtained mercy, I obtained mercy, and
because of the mercy of God to me, I'm a debtor. And because
of his divine call to the ministry of the word, he put me, Paul
said, he put me in the ministry. He entrusted me with the gospel. Literally entrusted me with the
gospel. So I'm a debtor. And because
it is by the preaching of the gospel that me and are saved.
He wrote that. He said, God didn't send me to
baptize. He sent me to preach the gospel.
Please God for the foolishness of preaching the gospel to save
them that believe. So I'm a deather. I have an obligation
to fulfill. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. Necessity is laid upon me. I
must preach the gospel. Woe is unto me if I don't. I
have an obligation to fulfill. I have a duty to perform. I have
a debt to pay. I'm a debtor. I have a debt to
pay. I'm a debtor to the Greeks. He says I'm a debtor to the Greeks
and to the barbarians. I'm a debtor to the cultured
and the uncultured. I don't make any distinction,
he said. I'm a debtor to the wise and to the unwise, to the
smart and the not so smart. I don't make any distinction.
I'm a debtor to the old and to the young, for the gospel of
Christ crucified is the same good news to all nations and
to all people at all times. I'm a debtor to the Greeks, to
the barbarians, to the wise, to the unwise, to the Jew, to
the Gentile, to the old, to the young, to whomever. Because my
Lord said, go ye into all the world and preach this gospel
to every creature, every human being. I'm a debtor. And when I stand before God's
throne, dressed in beauty, not my own, when I see thee as thou
art and love thee with an unsinning heart, Then, Lord, shall I fully
know just how much I owe. What a debtor I am. I won't know
it till then. You see, the scripture says you're
not your own. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Oh, what an awesome, awesome
price. You're bought with a price. You're not your own. Therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is his. I read one time about one of
these door-to-door religionists, one of these door-to-door folks
that go around trying to proselytize everybody. And he came upon a
person that knew the law, knocked on the door. And they got into
a little confab, and it upset the religionist, and he finally
said, You do know you have an immortal soul, don't you? No,
he said, I have no soul. The man said, you have no soul?
Of course you do. No, no, I had a soul, and it
was lost. And my Lord Jesus Christ found
it, and he redeemed it with his blood. And so it's not mine,
it's his. You say, I'm not my own, I'm
bought with a price, and therefore I glorify God in my body and
in my soul, which is His. How do you answer that? Like
Paul answered it, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor to
my Father who chose me before the foundation of the world.
I'm a debtor to my Lord Jesus Christ who bought me with his
precious blood. I'm a debtor to the Holy Spirit
who one day in my darkness and in my rebellion and in my self-righteousness
awakened me and called me and taught me the gospel. I'm a debtor
to these old prophets whom God used to speak to the people. I'm a debtor to these apostles
who loved Christ and died preaching his gospel. I'm a debtor to the
reformers who stood against the powers of evil. I'm a debtor
to the preachers who came my way with the gospel of Christ. I'm a debtor to my parents who
took me to church when I was a little boy. I'm a debtor, you
see. I'm a debtor to everybody to
whom I preach. I'm a debtor to you, to tell
you the truth. I'm a debtor to withhold nothing
that's profitable. I'm a debtor to declare all the
gospel, all the counsel of God, because it's only the truth that'll
set me free. I'm a debtor. I've got an obligation to fulfill. duty to perform and I've got
a debt to pay. And he says, so much, verse 15,
as in me is. So much, verse 15, as in me is. Whatever gifts God gives
me, with whatever gifts, ability he gives me. Whatever the difficulties,
whatever the opposition, it doesn't matter. Whatever the enemies,
whatever their forces, so much is in me is. I'm ready. I'm ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Rome, headquarters
of the most pagan, wicked empire that ever has lived on this earth.
Rome, headquarters of the Caesars. Rome, where persecution was the
greatest, where they fed believers to the lions. Rome, seat of Satan,
city of wealth, idolatry, evil and blood. It's easy to preach
the gospel at a Bible conference. I'm ready to preach it at Rome,
he said. I'm ready. I'm not intimidated. I'm not intimidated. Because, verse 16, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. No, I'm not ashamed. I know that
my generation is. I know the gospel of a crucified
Christ, the blood of the cross, is offensive to the natural man.
That's right. You call him a sinner, you offend
his dignity. You offend his self-righteousness. I was sitting at my desk one
day studying and the phone rang and a lady whom I know who attended
services in the church here, she said, it's been an
accident. My husband's been hurt. He worked
for the city and he was burning over a manhole and it blew up
and it knocked him unconscious and we have him down here at
the hospital. and he's come to and he's and he's scared and
he wants to get right with God and he wants you to come talk
to him I said I'll be right down so I went down and I told him
I was awful sorry about what had happened and I'm glad that
he was not more severely injured and the doctor felt like that
he was going to be alright but he was scared and when men are
scared they try to get religious you know And he said, well, I
need to get right with God first. I said, okay. I said, are you
a sinner? He said, a sinner? I said, yeah,
are you a sinner? Well, he said, I wouldn't say
that. I said, what would you say? Well, he said, I'm, you know,
I'm not the worst man in the world, but said, I've done a
few things wrong, but honey, you, I'm not a sinner. Would
you say I'm a sinner? No, he said, I wouldn't say he's a sinner. I'm going to offend you by closing
the Bible." I said, well, I see you. I don't have anything for
you. The gospel's for sinners. It's
not for anybody else. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
sinners, of whom I'm the chief. And you are too, but you don't
know it. And if you ever find it out, you call me, and I'll
come tell you the best news you ever heard. He never called me. He was like
a gripper, was it Hephaestus or Felix, one of them said, I'll
call you when I have more convenience. You call a man a sinner, you
offend him. You tell him that salvation is by revelation, not
by education. But the Spirit of God has to
reveal the gospel. It has to be revealed to you
that you're a sinner. And you preach redemption from
depravity, from darkness. from deadness, from the captivity
of Satan, by the perfect life of Christ, the righteousness
of the Son of God, by the blood of the Son of God. That offends
their dignity and their wisdom and their pride. You're attacking
every filter of that natural man when you tell him that he's
a sinner dependent on the mercy of God and the regenerating work
of the Holy Spirit. It's offensive. It's offensive.
It's called the offense of the cross. But Paul said, I'm not ashamed.
I know it's offensive to the natural man. And I know this,
that this gospel of our Lord is not only offensive to the
natural man, but it's foolishness to the wise and to the intellectual. That's right, it's foolishness.
What you'd buy for is foolishness to them. What I've given my life
to preach is foolishness to them. That's right, to the wise, it's
foolishness. I want you to listen, turn with
me and read, and listen to a conversation over here in John, chapter 7.
John, chapter 7. They sent these fellows to arrest
the Lord Jesus, and they came back without him. In John, chapter
7, verse 43, they came back without him. Verse 44, John 7, verse
44, And some of them would have taken him, but no man laid hands
on him. And then came the officers, these
fellows they had sent to arrest him, to the chief priests and
the Pharisees, and they said to him, Why have you not brought
him? Why haven't you arrested this
Jesus and brought him to us? And they answered them, the Pharisees,
then answered them, the Pharisees, The officer said in verse 46,
no man ever spake like this man. And then answered the Pharisee,
are you deceived? Are you also deceived? Has this
man deceived you? Now listen to this question. Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on
him? Do you know anybody, if anybody, that believes on this
man? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees or the Sanhedrin
or the lawyers, any of those fellows believed on him? But,
verse 9, night 49, these people who knoweth not the law, these
folks don't know, they're not educated, you see, they don't
have the degrees and the credentials and the records, they don't know
anything. They don't know the law. They don't know anything.
We know. And to us, he's a deceiver. And I ask you, does your doctor
believe on Christ? Does your lawyer believe on Christ?
Does he believe the gospel? Does your professor down at your
young people school, do they believe Christ? Have any of them
believed on Christ? Have any of the magistrates and
the presidents and congress, how many representatives or senators
or these folks that are, somebody, that's what these fellas said
now. You know anybody, somebody that believes on him? Do you? Not many. I didn't say not any. He said not many mighty, not
many noble, not many wise, believe. But I got a good letter. I found
it in my files. 1997. From an attorney in Charleston,
West Virginia. He and I have corresponded for
years. When they took our program off channel 13 years ago, he
wrote the station and sent me a copy of the letter. He said,
I'll never watch your station ever again. He put my picture
off the air. Here's a letter I got from him
in 1997. This is an attorney, a well-known attorney. I just
heard your sermon broadcast this morning regarding the Lord. who
has begun a good work in you and will finish it in the day
of Jesus Christ. Your use of the scripture is
such a logical, persuasive presentation that it had the effect of enhancing
my hope, and I hope many other viewers were uplifted as I was.
I'd like to receive a copy of that message so I can pass it
along to a friend." Well, there's some. There's some mighty and
wise. To the natural man, it's offensive. And to the wise and intellectual,
it's foolishness. And let me tell you something
else. To the religionist, it's a stumbling block. That's right. We studied that this morning
in our lesson. It's a stumbling block. This
is a religious world. It always has been since Cain
and Abel. It's a religious world. But the
religion of this world is a self-righteousness. The religion of this world is
a religion of works. And those people who preach God's
absolute sovereignty, not only in creation, most people will
buy that. But they won't receive his sovereignty and providence. You've heard people say, well,
I'd come unless I'm providentially hindered. What do you mean by
that? Providentially hindered. Who is provident? God's provident.
Why don't you say, the Lord willing, I'll come. The Lord unwilling,
I won't be there. No, it's easier to say, unless
I'm providentially hindered, you know. But God's sovereign
in providence, and He's sovereign in salvation. If any man's saved,
it's because God saved him. God elected him. You preach that,
you preach ruin by the fire, redemption by the blood, regeneration
by the Holy Spirit, imputed righteousness, imparted righteousness too. The
cross, the blood of the cross is effectual, cleansing, powerful,
redeemed all for whom it was shed. You preach that. You preach
the regeneration and quickening of the Holy Spirit, the pervenient
grace and preserving grace and persevering grace of the power
of God to keep his sheep to a full recovery and a full resurrection.
All that the Father giveth me will come to me. Him that cometh
to me I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my will. I came to do the will of him
that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that
every one he hath given me, I lose nothing, raise it up at the last
day. This is the will of him that
sent me, that he that seeth the Son by divinely opened eyes,
and hears the Son by an anointed ear, and believes the Son by
a regenerated heart, will never perish. I raise him up at the
last day." Now you preach that, and your greatest enemies would
be religious people. That's just so. That's right. The chief opposition to that
message is not from the world in general. They don't understand
it, they're offended by it, to the intellectuals it's foolishness,
but the opposition, those that will try to put you out of business,
are the religious people. They're the ones, the same ones,
who convinced the Romans to crucify the Son of God. Isn't that correct? The religious people, the priests,
the chief priests, the high priests, all the priests cried, crucify
him! Give us Barabbas. Paul says,
I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of a word in
the Word. I'm not ashamed of this offensive
which they call foolishness, which is a stumbling block and
a rock of offense to this world. I'm not ashamed. The gospel of
Christ, I'm not ashamed. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. I'm not ashamed. For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. I wrote
to young Timothy and said, Timothy, don't be ashamed. Don't be embarrassed. Don't be intimidated. They're
fools. You wouldn't let a fool intimidate
you, would you? I thought these wise people, they professed themselves
to be wise, but they've become fools. Who said they're wise? They did. God didn't say they're
wise. God said, the fool says there's
no God. He said of the rich man that
had all those things, you know, and was going to tear down his
barns and do more, he was the wealthiest fella in town, and
he said, you're a fool! This night your soul will be
required of you. Then who's these things going to be? They're not
wise men. Don't be intimidated by fools. You don't answer every dog that
barks at you, do you? Why answer them? We're not answerable
to them. I'll tell you who we are answerable
to. I'm not ashamed. No, sir. Timothy,
don't you be ashamed. For both he that sanctified and
they that have sanctified are women. Listen, for the which
cause he's not ashamed to call their brethren. Oh, my goodness,
that's convicting. He's not ashamed of me. Could
I be ashamed of him? He's not ashamed to call me his
brother. And listen, wherefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared them
a city. Oh my, I'm not ashamed. Now, I tell you what it is I'm
not ashamed of, it's the gospel of Christ. It's the gospel of
Christ. He gives five reasons why he's
not ashamed. The gospel of God, the gospel
of Christ incarnate, crucified, buried, risen, exalted, reigning,
coming again. I'm not ashamed, number one,
because it's the gospel of Christ. It's the gospel of Christ. It's
the only gospel. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ Jesus. It's the
only gospel. Paul said, if any man preach
any other gospel, let him be accursed. He said, I don't care
if it's an angel from heaven. Or if I, let me be accursed. It's the only one in God. This
is what the world is saying today. Listen. It's what Billy Graham
said on television. Listen to him. This is true.
This is what he said. It's all right if you believe in Jesus.
It's alright if you believe that Jesus saved you. But there are
other ways of being saved. That's exactly what Schuller
and Graham said. Don't be a fanatic now and think
that he's the only one. A man has to believe on Christ?
Has to receive Christ? Has to bow to Christ? Has to
have one Lord, one Savior, one faith, one baptism, one God and
fight war? No. The Muslims have Mohammed.
The Confucius, the people of China have Confucius, the people
of Japan have Buddha, and the Indians have the Great Spirit,
and they're all looking for light. So they said, I believe there'll
be in heaven. No, there won't. I'm sorry. There's one gospel. There's one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father, one gospel. It's all right if you believe
on Jesus, just don't make him the only one. Isn't that what
they're saying today? That's exactly what they're saying.
My friends, I'm not saying out of my own... I'm not the only
witness. In fact, I didn't originate this statement. The Lord himself
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to
the Father but by me. Did he not say that? He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. The wrath of God abides on him.
This is the record. I didn't say this. God said this.
This is the record. God hath given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. You know what it says? And he
that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath Buddha, Confucius,
Allah, Mohammed, hath not life. That's what it says. And I'm
not ashamed of that. I'm not ashamed. It's the gospel of Christ. And
secondly, it's the power of God unto salvation. It's the power
of God unto salvation. It's the only way God can save
men. It's the power that enables God to be the Savior. It's the
blood and righteousness that enables God to be just and justified. It's the only way God can save
us, is by Christ. Let me ask you three questions. Do you understand and do I understand
that no man can enter heaven without a perfect righteousness?
Do we understand that as a group? No person can enter heaven without
a perfect holiness. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? He's going to have clean hands and a pure heart
he's never seen. That's what it says. Do you understand that a holy
God cannot show mercy to anyone at the expense of his law? You understand that? He cannot
show mercy to anyone and defy his law, and omit his law, and
disregard his law. He said, I'm going to judge you
by a perfect pendulum. Righteousness will be laid to
the pyramid, to the square. It's a lot. Thirdly, do you understand
that God then cannot by any means clear the guilty? There's no
way. Scripture says sin must be punished. The soul that sinned shall surely
die. What are we going to do? There's just one answer, and
that's Christ come down here, by man came death, by man came
the resurrection. By the disobedience of one we
were made sinners, by the obedience of one we were made righteous.
As we born in the image of the earthy, the man of dust, we're
going by the image of the heavenly, the God-man. He came down as
a man. He gave us that righteousness,
imputed it to us by his obedience. At the cross he met the law,
satisfied it, met justice. honored it. Died. Who received
the condemnation? Christ died. Buried, rose again,
is at the right hand of God who makes intercession. That's how
God can be just, justified. Do you have a mediator? Sure
you do, Christ. Do you have a righteousness?
Oh, perfect. Where is it? In Christ. Do you have an atonement? Oh, yes, sir. Cleansing, justifying,
sanctifying, redeeming atonement. Where is it? In Christ. Everything's
in Christ. I'm not ashamed of that. It's
the power of God to salvation. It's the only way he can save.
It's the only way God can be just and justify me. It's the
only way a sinner can enter heaven is by the blood of Christ. Here's
the third thing he said, I'm not ashamed because it's the
power of God to salvation to everyone that believeth. That
is not every man that worketh. or earn it, or merit, it's to
believe it. Turn one page over to Romans
3, verse 28. Paul said, I concluded, this
is my conclusion, that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Just believe, yes sir, believe. But don't you work not in order
to be saved? You work because you're You're
not saved because you love God, you love God because you're saved.
You're kind to your neighbor not in order to be saved, but
because you're a new person. You love to be kind to your neighbor.
That's it. We're saved by grace through faith. Not in order to
be saved, it's a gift of God to everyone that believes. That's a free gospel. That's
a full gospel. That's an unchangeable gospel.
That's a gospel that meets every person's needs. I can't look. I don't even have to have eyes
to look, I can look in the direction of Christ. I'm not ashamed, it's the gospel
of Christ, it's the power of God and the salvation, and it's
salvation to everyone who believes. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
not we shall be saved. Let me show you something in
John chapter 3. The world uses John 3.16. But
I've often said, and I'll say again, that the gospel is not
in John 3.16. I hear people say, that's the
gospel in a nutshell. No, it's not. Not at all. There's
no cross in John 3.16. There's no blood in John 3.16.
There's no atonement in John 3.16. There's no sacrifice in
John 3.16. But there is in John 3.14. The
gospel is in John 3.14. This is the remedy right here.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Where? Lifted up on a cross.
That's what Christ said. If I be lifted up, I'll draw
all men to me. The Christ to the manger can't
save. He's got to be lifted up. The Christ to the Judean hillside
can't save. He's got to be lifted up. If I be lifted up on a cross,
lifted up like the serpent on the pole, lifted up. That's the
remedy. Now here's the results. That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. The remedy is Christ lifted up. The result is salvation,
eternal life. John 3.16 is the reason. For,
why was he lifted up? For, why do we have this salvation,
eternal life? For, where did it come from?
For God so loved the world. That he gave his only begotten
son. That's the reason that you have
a gospel. God's love. Everything God has
for you is born out of his love. Through Christ. For sinners.
For God so loved. Christ is the power of God and
salvation. To everyone that believes. To everyone that believes. There
will be nobody perished who believes on Christ. Nobody. Alright, here's the fourth reason.
Because, now here, these two things are so powerful. For therein,
in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. The
righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. Now, what are
we talking about? Well, we're not talking about God's essential
righteousness, God's essential personal holiness. He is holy. He's God. Holy in red is his
name. Holiness and reverence is the
scepter of his kingdom. That's right. Paul is writing
here about the holiness and righteousness, number one, which God purposed.
The first time righteousness is mentioned in the Bible is
when God promised Abraham that righteousness. He came out. He said, Abraham, count the stars.
Can't count them. That's how many seeds you'll
have. He believed God. He accounted to him for righteousness,
perfection, holiness. Right then, Abraham was holy
by faith. He believed God's righteousness,
that's promised. Then in Jeremiah, that's the
righteousness of God's purpose. Now in Jeremiah 23, he said,
and a king shall reign, and his name shall be called the Lord Listen to it. In that day Judah
shall be saved. Israel shall dwell safely. This
is his name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. Righteousness is in him. It's
for those who believe God purposed it and God promised it in Christ
and in Romans 3 God perfected it. Turn over Romans 3. Romans
3 verse 19. God perfected it and performed
it. Now we know that what things are of the law saith, is saith
to them who are under the law, that every mount they be stopped,
and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God's
sight, for the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness
of God, purposed, prophesied without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, it's the righteousness
of God, which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, by the obedience
of Jesus Christ, by the life of Jesus Christ, by the perfection
of Jesus Christ, under all and upon all of them who believe,
there's no difference, all is seen, come shall the glory of
God. Where do you learn about that righteousness in the gospel?
gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed. And then in
closing, verse 18, and the wrath of God against sin is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness of men who hold
the truth in unrighteousness. Nowhere, nowhere is the love
and mercy of God seen like at Calvary. God so loved he gave
That's where you see the love and mercy and grace of God at
Calvary. And that's where you see the
righteousness of God and the justice of God and the wrath
of God against sin. When we go to Calvary and see
that's his son. If God spared not his only son,
I shall not with him freely give us all things that Christ purchased,
but if God spared not his only son, who bore not his sins, but
ours, and put him to death. He won't spare rebels, will he? Those who refuse his son? Brother Bill Clark and I were
in a Bible conference in Ireland, 1972, and we were driving down
through South Ireland, down below the little Dublin And we went
to a town, and Bill said, this is the town of the lynchstone. I said, what's the lynchstone?
He said, well, it's an Irish tradition. It's supposed to be
a true story. I can't vouch for the truthfulness
of it, but we've got a stone here called the lynchstone. Years
ago, this town was owned by a certain very wealthy, powerful man. But
a good man, a good man, he loved people. He lived in a big house
on the hill, and everybody that worked for him, everybody in
the village, he owned all the land, he had all the farming
and all the trees and all the fruit trees and things, and everybody
just worked for him, but they were happy too because he's such
a good master. So benevolent and so kind and
generous, and everybody loved him. He had one son, and that
son wasn't a very Wasn't a very nice young man. And he got in
trouble one night and threw an act of jealousy over some girl. He killed his best friend. Murdered
him. And his daddy was called and
he came down there and he turned the boy over to the authorities.
Said, uh, put him to death. Put him to death. And they said
no. This is your son, and you're
such a kind, benevolent master, and you just take him on back
home and try to help him straighten up. The guy said, you're not
going to put him to death. No sir, we can't do that. We
just can't do that. So they took him home. And early
one morning, they heard the bells up at the big house ringing.
That means everybody come to the big house. The bells were
ringing. Big, big bell. They all got out of their beds
and put their clothes on. From all around people came and
started walking up toward the big house, and as they walked
to the big house they saw out in the yard, there stood the
father, this big master, powerful man. Beside him was his son with
a noose around his neck, over a limb, around him were several
servants. And the people were struck, and
they just stopped. That was that scene, that was
that father and that was that son. with that noose around his
neck and all these servants had his hand tied behind his back
and these servants standing around. And the father signaled for the
choir and he said, now, my people, nobody here is above the law.
The law of this land that I've enforced since I've been your
master and your leader is that if a man sheds blood of another
man, he dies. And there's nobody above that
law, me, you, or my son. And so I have called you up here
to witness the enforcing of the law, the righteousness of this
kingdom." He told his servants, he said, hang him. Hang him. He said, that's awful. Now wait a minute. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to this earth and he was made sin for you. He bore
your sins and my sins in his body. And the Heavenly Father
said, hang him. That's right. My God, why have
you forsaken me? Your sins have separated you
and your God. Hang him. It pleased God to bruise him.
That master in Ireland was shown the righteousness of his law
and his own righteousness, his own integrity. God shows you
at Calvary his righteousness. That's where it's revealed. Not
in all this do-gooder stuff, you know, and run around with
your hair a certain length and your sleeves a certain length
and all that trash. It's the righteousness of God. He will not clear the guilty.
That's right. At the cross, where I first saw
the light, that's where I saw it. I saw the love of God. I
saw the righteousness of God. I saw the truth of God. I saw
the justice of God. I saw the mercy of God. It's
all at the cross. Come on to the cross. Come on
to the cross. That's where it all is. It's
in the cross. And I'm not ashamed of it. It's
the power of God and salvation to everyone that believes it.
To the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith. And let
me tell you this. The older you grow, the more you'll see it.
I write, Ron, the older you get, the more you see it. Am I right,
Richard? The clearer this gospel is. Isn't that right, John? The
clearer it is, the older you get. You say, by the way, are
you getting old and senile? I'm getting old but not senile.
No, sir. Not for a minute. This is the
gospel by which God saves.

Mercy and Wrath at Calvary

What does the Bible say about mercy and wrath at Calvary?

How do we know the power of the gospel is true?

Why is the concept of being a debtor important for Christians?

How does the gospel represent God's righteousness?

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Mercy and Wrath at Calvary

What does the Bible say about mercy and wrath at Calvary?

How do we know the power of the gospel is true?

Why is the concept of being a debtor important for Christians?

How does the gospel represent God's righteousness?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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