Romans, the fifteenth chapter,
it says in verse four, referring to the Scriptures,
referring to the Word of God, for whatsoever things were written,
written by Moses, written by David, written by Isaiah, written
by all the prophets. Now these things were written
for our learning. Oh, how I wish, how I do wish,
that men and women and young people today would take seriously
the study of God's Word. You hold in your hand the Word
of God. The Scripture says that that
Scripture came not in old time by the will of men, but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit to write
this book, and God gave it to us for our learning, for our
learning. I see the Bible used for everything
in the world except this purpose, for learning. Sometimes I've gone into homes
and somebody says, well, I want to show you my son's graduation
certificate, or some flowers from somebody's grave, or a photograph. One time a lady wanted to show
me what color her hair used to be before it turned gray. And
they have all these things in the Bible. It's a scrapbook.
That's right, it's a scrapbook. Literally, everything finds its
way into the Bible from our hands and very little finds its way
from here into our hearts. And I would advise you tonight,
if that's what you've been using the scriptures for, go home and
just turn it upside down and dump everything out. Everything
out. And open this book and begin
to study it. This is the Word of God. This
is the only way that God's going to speak to you. He's not going
to speak to you by a dream. If you have a dream, don't you
believe it. If you have a vision, don't you believe it. If they
speak not according to the Word of God, it's because there's
no light in them. The Word of God. I wish I had a ten dollar
bill for every story that I've heard about Men in different
wars wearing a Bible up here in their pockets stopping a bullet. People use the Bible as a good
luck charm. Did you know that? A good luck
charm. Boys wear it in the battle as
a good luck charm. Stick it up here in their pockets.
The Bible will do you no good as a good luck charm. You might
as well carry a rabbit's foot. That's exactly right. This is
the Word of God. This is the story of redemption. This is God's purpose to redeem
a people through Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. These words are concerning Jesus
Christ our Lord. And then I've seen people use
the Bible for decoration. Bribes just love to carry white
Bibles. Most of them, that's the last
time they'll have them in their hand until they die. But to come
down the aisle holding that white Bible with a bunch of flowers
on top of it, that's desecrating God's Word, if that's all you
use it for. To act religious as a decoration. Other people use it to decorate
their coffee table. They lay the Bible around to
decorate the coffee table. Then other people use the Bible
as a source for argument. That's what you men run into
down at the mill and other places where you work. Folks read the
Bible to come down and argue about it. They say, well, a good
book says this, you know, and the Bible says this, and the
Bible says, most of the time, what they're saying is wrong.
The Bible doesn't say that at all. Then I heard an old story years
ago. You've probably heard it, but
it illustrates the point. There are people who use the
Bible, and when they get in trouble, you know, they'll have a decision
to make. They'll say, I'm going, never
pick it up, they're going to open it up and whatever it falls
on, that's what they're going to do. Did you ever hear folks
doing that? Yeah, they do. Close their eyes. That's God's
word, mercy to me. Tell a story about the old fella
that hadn't opened the Bible in years and years and years.
He got in real trouble, so he decided, well, I'm just going
to let the Bible tell me what to do with it. I don't know whether
this is true or not. But he opened the Bible put his
finger down and said, Judas went out and hanged himself. And he
thought, well, that's not it. He did it again, you know. He
found, go thou and do likewise. And he was getting discouraged
by then, so he tried one more time and said, what thou doeth
do quickly. It serves him right. It serves
him right to get that kind of information. This Bible, look
at that verse again, it says in Romans 15, 4, what things
soever were written afore were written for our learning that
we might learn the character of our God. The Lord reveals
himself in his word that we might learn the condition of sinners.
Here's where we're going to learn it. Here's where we're going
to learn what God says about himself and what God says about
us, right here in this book. He said, a preacher, how would
you recommend? I'd recommend, first of all, that you quit reading
it as a duty and begin reading it as a concern and desire. And there's so many helps. You
can get you a concordance. And I'm not just talking about
this little one in the back of the Bible, it's so limited. I'm
talking about getting a concordance that will help you find portions
of Scripture. And use cross-references, there's
cross-references right down the middle, most of you have a Bible
with a center reference that gives you the cross-reference. And then get you a good translation
like the Amplify, or New International, one of these good approved translations
and read it along with the work. Get serious about the work. And
then you've got so many helps, you've got John Gill's commentary,
Matthew Poole's commentary, Matthew Henry's commentary, you've got
these commentaries that I've written on the epistles, you've
got Charles Spurgeon's Treasure of David for the Psalms. But
I know you're busy men and women, I know you have so much to do,
but let's put first things first. Let's let some other things go
and get serious about the study of God's Word. And we're having
a vacation Bible school this week. And most places with which
I'm familiar, they call it vacation Bible school, but it's just fun
week. That's all this handwork and games and play and fun and
all this sort of thing. That's how far we've gotten away
from what we profess to be doing, Bible school. Ours, I believe,
is going to be a Bible school, where we're going to open the
Word and these young people are going to get into the Word of
God. These things are written for our learning, that we might
know something of the redemptive work of Christ. That we might
know something of the glory and grace of the gospel. Let's get
into the work. Let's get serious about the study
of God's word. And don't, don't, don't adopt
this and say, well, the Bible's deep and I just can't understand
it. You can't understand it unless you read it. And unless you ask
the author to give you some understanding and some insight into the word.
Have you ever come to that place where you're studying a scripture
and you just bow your head before God and ask, Lord give me some
understanding of this portion of thy word. Let me see Christ
here. These things were written for
our learning. But look secondly. They were
written for our learning that we through patience, they were
written for our patience too. Now let me say this to you, if
we could just learn to wait upon the Lord. Now let me give you
this advice. You don't learn spiritual truth,
you don't grow in spiritual grace, you don't make progress in spiritual
maturity mechanically, rapidly, like you do in other areas. For
example, if I were a young man, twenty, 19 or 20 and decided
to study to be an electrician. It's a prescribed course. Now
I can learn it as fast as I want to. As fast as I'm willing to
work. And if I want to give 10 hours
a day to it, I'm going to learn electricity quicker, more quickly.
I can learn it in a short time. I can graduate. I can get a license. I can get an approval as a qualified
electrician. But you don't learn this that
way. Same thing to do with any other secular job or vocation. You learn the word as God is
pleased to reveal it to you. And you learn spiritual truth
as you experience it. Real and true, you don't believe
anything until you experience it. That's right. We've got to learn to wait upon
the Lord. You don't force-feed spiritual
truth. You grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as God is pleased to give you
that strength and that growth and that wisdom. You just don't
do it overnight. And you don't pressure God. You wait upon the Lord. Take
Moses, for example. Moses lived 120 years. Men don't
live that long now, but he lived 120 years. And the first two-thirds
of his life till he was 80 years of age, we would consider wasted. That's exactly right. He spent
40 years in Egypt, pampered, educated, rich, living in luxury,
the lap of plenty, and he decided when he was about 40 years of
age that he would leave Israel out of Egypt. And he took matters
into his own hands, he went out there and sought to deliver Israel,
and he embarrassed himself. And he embarrassed everybody
else. And God took him out of Egypt, broke, alone, and put
him on the backside of a desert for another 40 years. 40 years. And there he stayed. Till he
back, forgot how to talk. But I tell you, he learned what
he needed to learn in order for God to use him over a short period
of time. One third of his life. Take Paul, for example, the Apostle
Paul. Paul spent probably 40 years
in false religion. And then God was pleased to reveal
Christ to him, and if I understand correctly, the Apostle Paul's
ministry, missionary work and ministry only lasted 11, 12 or
13 years. That's all. But God used I tell
you, this thing of rushing forward and moving in the flesh and doing
what I'm determined to do or what I claim God led me to do
in the flesh, I'd rather spend one year under the power of God's
Spirit doing what God wants me to do than forty years doing
what I feel like I ought to do. I'd rather speak five words in
the power of God's Spirit than preach ten thousand sermons in
the flesh trying to instruct somebody. We learn as God enables
us. This scripture is given for our
learning and for our patience. Wait on the Lord, David said.
Will you wait on the Lord? Will you wait on God? You can
push a door open, it's not too hard. If you're talented enough,
wealthy enough, strong enough, determined enough, you'll get
a door open. But it won't be God's door. God will open His
door in His own house. Patience. Patience. Wait on the Lord. This thing
of growth and understanding and wisdom, it just does not come. Our weapons are not calm. And
then thirdly, he said it's given for our comfort. Our comfort.
I need to get into where I'm going more quickly here. It's
given for our comfort. The children's bread is the Word
of God. The source of comfort is the Word of God. This is it. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Back
years ago, this was impressed upon me in a very effective way
by a preacher from Covington, Kentucky. Back years ago, when
I was assistant pastor, or pastored pastor, shortly after I became
pastor of college, we had a man come up here and preach for us.
His name was Estep, and he was from Covington, Kentucky, Calvary
Baptist Church in Covington. I don't remember very much that
he preached, but I do remember this. He was giving this illustration
from Hebrews 13, reading verse 5 and 6. Now listen to it. Hebrews
13, 5. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, greed. Be content, be content with such
things as you have, what you have, what you are, where you
are. Be content. For He has said it. Who said
it? God said it. What did He say?
I'll never leave you. I'll never leave. I'll never
forsake you. Verse 6. So that we may boldly
say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. Why can I say the Lord is my
helper? Because he said it first. Why can I say, and how can I
say, I'll not fear what man shall do unto me? Because he said it
first. He said, I'm with you, I'll never
leave you, I'll never forsake you, and you can say what you
want to. David said, I'll believe, therefore I spoke. So the word
of God is given for our comfort, and then next it says in Romans
15, verse 4, the word of God is given that we might have hope. What things soever were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have a good hope in Christ
Jesus, a good hope. Now, I want to bring some words
tonight. If you'll turn to Luke chapter
23, some words from Scripture, some words from our Lord. In
fact, the title of this message is Seven Words from Calvary.
In Luke chapter 23, verse 33, these are the words of our Lord
from the cross. That's what I'm talking about
tonight. Through these words that we might have learning,
patience, comfort and a good hope. In Luke 23, 33, And when
they would come to the place which is called Calvary, there
they crucified him and the male factors, one on the right hand
and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they
parted his raiment and cast lots. Now, the Holy Spirit has taken
special care that each of the words which our Lord spoke from
that cruel tree should be recorded. Now, as you know, there are seven
of them. Our Lord may have spoken other
words, I do not know, but I do know that these seven statements
from the cross are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
and they're recorded for our learning. They're recorded for
our patience and comfort, and they're recorded for our hope.
First of all, our Lord, the Scripture says, and I won't have you turn
to all of these, but the first thing he said from the cross,
according to the apostles, is, as he looked down on the crowd,
the people who had nailed him to the cross, and he lifted his
eyes to heaven, and he said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And
then the second statement, I believe in this order, there was a thief
crucified on his right and one on his left. And they both began
to rail upon him and mock him and say all manner of things
against him. Finally, one of them quit mocking. And he looked at the other thief
and he said, ìDonít you fear God, seeing that youíre in the
same condemnation? And we indeed justly, we receive
a due reward for our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss.
And he looked at Christ and he said, Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. And that's when our Lord spoke
again. He raised his head and looked to that thing, and he
said, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Our Lord said
that. Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. And this was over a period of
hours. And the third statement, according to the Scripture, and
I believe in this order, our Lord looked down and standing
near the cross, somewhere in the area or vicinity, he spotted
Mary. And over here at John, and he
said to Mary, he said, Woman, behold thy son, and Son, behold
thy mother. She was the widow. Most people
believe Mary was a widow. And he was instructing John to
care for this woman whom God used to bring him into the works,
who had been his mother here on the earth, and told her to
go home and live with John. And then the central theme or
statement, Our Lord cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Time passed, and then he was
heard to say, I thirst, that the scriptures might be fulfilled.
He said, I thirst, I thirst. And then our Lord Jesus Christ,
toward the end of the time spent on the cross, the end of his
agonies and sufferings, he cried victoriously. And there's no
way that I can say these things like our Lord said them. I wish,
I don't want to be dramatic, but I wish that I could put something
of the feeling in it that is there, that I might impress it
upon your heart and my heart. He cried, it's finished. It is
finished. And then when he, as he died,
he said the last statement, he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. Now, there have been mountains
of words written and thousands of sermons preached on these
seven sayings of the Savior on the cross. Arthur Pink has a
very good book entitled, Seven Sayings of the Savior on the
Cross. And there's nothing that I can add to what's been written
or what's been preached. But I can show you some things
that I believe God has taught me and revealed to me in these
words of Christ from the cross. And if there's any words that
ought to make an impression on us, if there are any words in
the Word that ought to attract our attention and our study,
it ought to be these words, which our Lord spoke from Calvary's
cross. And my only fear, as I try to
speak on these words, is the tendency to reduce them to doctrine
and reduce them to theology. These are tremendous things.
These words are the very words of our great God when he engaged
the forces of hell and endured the indescribable wrath of God
on that tree. Someone wrote these words about
that time. Christ hung on the tree, said,
the enormous load of human guilt was on my Savior laid. With sins
as with a garment, he for sinners was arrayed. And in those pains
of death, he wept, he prayed for me. Loved and embraced my
guilty soul while he was nailed to that cursed tree. Oh, amazing
love. Amazing love beyond the reach
of human tongue. Love which shall be all my life the subject of my
soul. For ever since my faith, I saw
that strength. by a flowing womb's supply, redeeming
love has been my thing and shall be till I die." Let's look at
these statements and see what we can see and what we can hear
in these seven statements. I believe, and this is where
I'll, the point from which I'll approach it, these seven words
from Calvary reveal to us the glorious person and work and
office of our Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, he said, Father
forgive them, they know not what they do. I see here Christ the
mediator. Now he turned with me to Hebrews
chapter 5. My friends, it's not preached
enough, and I don't think we understand it as we ought, but
there's got to be a mediator between God and sinners. We've
got to have a mediator. There must be a Mediator. And
Mary is not that Mediator. Saint Jude is not that Mediator. Saint Christopher is not that
Mediator. There's just one. And that's
the Mediator whom God hath chosen. Look at Hebrews chapter 5, verse
1. And this is talking about the
priests of the Old Testament who were types of that Mediator.
For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men
in things pertaining to God, in things pertaining to God.
He's taken from among men and ordained for us in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin. Now verse 4, there must be a
mediator. Secondly, that mediator must
be God's choice, and no man takes this honor unto himself. It's
not a man who volunteers or a man whom we select. but he that's
called of God. Our mediator must be he that's
called of God, as was Abraham. Verse 5, So also Christ glorified
not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto
him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. He made him
our great high priest. The Lord Jesus Christ intercedes
for us. He prays for us. Turn to 1 Timothy
chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. Now listen to this scripture. 1 Timothy chapter 2. For there
is one God and one mediator between the holy, righteous, yes God,
and me, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. Our Lord Jesus
Christ said to Peter, Satan hath desired thee that he might sift
thee as But I pray for you, I pray for you, I pray for you, that
your faith fail not. Turn to Romans chapter 8, and
this is exactly what the Mediator does for us. In Romans chapter
8 verse 34, Paul said this, who is he that condemns? It is Christ
that died Yea, rather, yea, rather, not only died, but rather is
risen again who is even. Not only died and rose again,
but he's even at the right hand of God, and on top of that, he
intercedes for us, who also intercede. Christ prays for us. And when
we hear him speaking from the cross, Father, forgive them. And I'm telling you this, the
ones for whom he prays, they're forgiven. Our Lord never prays
contrary to the will of the Father, and our Lord's prayers are always
heard, and whatever our Lord requests, it's done. I pray for
you. I pray for you. Oh, at the second
statement, the thief said to him, Lord, remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom. And the Lord Jesus said, today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. I see here Christ the King. Christ
the King. Here is the sovereign King. Here
is the ruler of the kingdom of God, saving whom he will. He turned to that thief. He didn't
have to take a vote of the elders or the deacons. He didn't have
to take a vote of the people. He needed no person's approval.
He turned to that thief and he said, I'm opening the door of
heaven for you. This is the King. Someone said,
here's the King opening the door that no man can shut. Here's
the King speaking who has all power over all flesh. Here's
the King speaking who opens the door that no man can shut and
opens the door that no man can open. Jesus Christ is a sovereign
Savior. He saves whom he will. Turn to
John chapter 5. He is a sovereign Savior. He
said, today, this day, shalt thou be with me in paradise.
In John chapter 5, verse 20, the Father loveth the Son, and
showeth him all things that himself doeth. And he shall show him
greater works than these that ye may marvel. For as the Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will. When he prayed in John 17, he
said, Thou hast given me authority. over all flesh, that I should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me." And we
read in our text this morning from 1 Peter chapter 3 that he's
seated at the right hand of God, and it says here, he's gone into
heaven, is on the right hand of God, angels, authorities,
and powers being made subject to him. One hymn writer wrote
this, he said, I'll go to Jesus, though my sins hath like a mountain
I know his courts, I'll enter in, whatever may oppose. I'll
to the gracious King approach, whose scepter mercy gives. Perhaps
he will receive my touch, and then the sinner lives. I can
but perish, if I go, I am resolved to try. For if I stay away, I
know I must forever die. Salvation is of the Lord. The
King saves whom he will. Don't you feel sorry for Christ
now? Don't you waste your sympathy
and pity on Christ? He's the King. He's the victorious
King. We need to be pitiful and sympathetic
toward one another. On His way to the cross, they
were weeping and lamenting, and He said, don't weep for me. Weep
for yourselves and for your children. Our King always has the situation
well in hand, and He saves whom He wills. Salvation is by the
free will of God. Salvation is by the free will
of God. He saves whom He wills. Now, third, the third statement.
Our Lord looked down from the cross. I see in the first statement
Christ, the Mediator, the Intercessor. He's praying for us. Secondly,
Christ, the absolute sovereign King. He shall not fail nor be
discouraged. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in His hands. He said, I know my sheep, I give
them eternal life. Other sheep I have, them also
I must bring. But thirdly, I see Christ the
representative, identified with us in all things. Standing down
there near the cross was a woman, Mary. And even, our Lord, even
in the agonies of death, now you think about the situation
here, even in the agonies of death, he'd been up all night,
prayed in the garden, He'd been taken that early morning to the
soldiers' hall and mistreated and mocked and whipped, scourged,
the crown of thorns pressed into his brow, his beard plucked out,
his body so weak, his soul burdened with our guilt
and shame, he'd stood before Pilate and been judged And then
they took that cruel cross and put it on his back and he bore
it out to Calvary. And then they drove nails into
his hands and his feet and raised him up between heaven and earth
under that burning sun. And his mouth was cracked open,
his lips were parched, his tongue was cleaving to the roof of his
mouth, going through such agony as no man has ever suffered,
soul agony, physical agony, enduring the agonies of death, dying under
the penalty of our sins, enduring the wrath of God, fulfilling
the responsibilities of an everlasting covenant, and in all of that
agony and all of that responsibility and weight and guilt and wrath
and torment He looks down at a little woman and cares about
her welfare, and cares about her welfare. He cares about whether
she's going to have a place to sleep, and something to eat,
and clothes to wear, and somebody to protect and care for her.
You talk about the minute particular attention of our Lord to matters
involving his people. But he said, Woman, behold your
son, and son, behold your mother. My friends, our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the flesh on this earth, fulfilled all righteousness. He came down
here as our representative, made of a woman, made under the law. The Word of God says this in
1 Timothy 5.8, "...if any man provide not for his own, he is
worse than an infidel." He's denied the faith. Our Lord, as
the elder son, do you know what he was? He was Mary's first son.
Though Joseph didn't sire him, yet he was Mary's first son.
It's his responsibility to take care of his mother, and he did
it. He did. And that's how particular our
Lord is to every law, to every rule, to every responsibility,
to everything for which we are accountable. We're sinners. We've
failed in all our duties. Our duties to God, our duties
to ourselves, our duties to our families, our duties to our children,
our duties to one another. We've messed it up all the way
through. But he didn't. He didn't. Our Lord Jesus Christ
started this earthly journey, and eight days old, he was circumcised,
according to the law of Moses. And he was subject to his parents
all the way through, and under everything he attended the synagogue. There's nothing they could give
him in the synagogue, but he was there as his custom was every
Sabbath day. He was born, he was numbered
with us, he was made of a woman, he was under all the responsibilities
under which you and I are born in this world, and he literally
actually fulfilled every requirement of God. He was a perfect man,
an absolutely perfect man. Turn to Romans chapter 5, and
that's what this is all about right here. Romans chapter 5. That's what this is all about
right here. Romans 5, verse 19. In Romans 5, 19. As by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. That's Adam, our identification
with Adam. We were made sinners. Do you
know that Adam was the only man who became a sinner because he
sinned? You sin because you're a sinner.
That's the reason you do wrong, because you're a sinner to start
with. But Adam sinned and then he became a sinner. And everybody
born of him has that sinful nature. And the next line says, so likewise
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Now listen
to this. This righteousness that God requires
is a perfect righteousness. It can't fall short in one jot
or tittle, in one area. And that's exactly what our Lord
did. He was tested in all points, and that's what I believe he's
showing right here. In the midst of all of this, he's showing
his identification. Woman, thy son. Son, thy mother. He never called
her mother. He called her John's mother.
He called her woman in reference to him. All right, the fourth saying,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me? preach this I do, explain
it I cannot. Believe this I do, understand
it I cannot. Martin Luther one time said he
was studying this, this verse, where our Lord cried and the
darkness covered the earth, the sun didn't shine. And he cried
out, My God, why hast thou forsaken Somebody says, what is hell?
Everybody talks about the fire of hell, the literal fire of
hell. Maybe so, I don't know. But I'll tell you this, the essence
of hell is not just burning a bunch of flesh. Number one, hell is
separation from God. Now that's hell. That's hell. Separation from God. from good,
from truth, from light, from life, from all things, which
God is. Secondly, hell is truth realized too late. That's gonna
be hell. Our Lord said to the rich man
in hell through Abraham, said, son, remember, remember. Hell's gonna be memory, memory,
memory, memory. Hell also is unfulfilled lust. The Bible says, he that's filthy,
let him be filthy still. He that's unrighteous, let him
be unrighteous still. The drunk in hell is going to
have the same craving and appetite he had on earth without any satisfaction. The man of hatred, envy, greed,
is going to have the same covetous, greedy spirit with no gratification. Everything in hell is going to
be natural, but with no satisfaction. Hell is going to be eternal.
eternal memory, eternal separation from God, and eternal passions
and desires and cravings that are never satisfied. Now, you
can add fire to that if you want to. But to me, the greatest fear
of hell is separation from God. And that's what our Lord Jesus
Christ endured here. You see, he's our substitute.
I don't believe the Lord Jesus came to put us in a savable state. I believe he came to save I believe
he came to bear our sins, to bear God's wrath, to bear God's
judgment. I believe he came to put away
our transgressions and pay our debt, and our Lord Jesus Christ
as our substitute endured for us on the cross in the time he
was there all that sinners were required to endure under the
infinite wrath of God eternally in hell. That's what I believe.
You say, but how could one man? How could one man, in such a
short period of time compared to eternity, bear the sins and
the judgment and the wrath of God for so many? Because of who
he is. That's the kick. Who he is. If
Christ had redeemed 10,000 worlds, he wouldn't have to shed any
more blood. He wouldn't have to suffer any more agony. He
wouldn't have to pay any more price. Just if he's going to
redeem one, he'd have to do the same thing. It's who he is. It's
Christ that died. But Jesus Christ is God. I'm
not backing up on that. He's God. He's their God of their
God. And yet somehow in the flesh, hanging on that cross as a lamb,
suffering in our stead, literally every one of the elect, every
believer was in Christ when he hung on that tree. And every
sin of every believer of every generation was laid on him. Our
sins were laid on him. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. And as he bore those sins, literally,
because Christ said, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Somehow
the Father, and I can't even explain this because I can't
understand it, deserted the Son, turned his back on him. His divine
presence somehow was not there. And John, I don't know how to
explain that. And Luther was reading that. And his wife brought
lunch to him, and he just pushed it aside. He was so engrossed
in that, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And finally he stood
up and just closed his Bible, slammed it down on his desk,
and he said, God, forsaking God? No man can understand that. And
I'm not trying to understand it, I'm trying to preach it.
And that's all I know to do, is just tell you what the...
I know that justice was totally, finally, completely fulfilled
in Christ. I know that he paid every bit
of... He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. And that's what our
Lord cried from the cross. And I see in that full satisfaction. There are two words, if you learn
them, you'll learn the gospel. One is substitution. Christ literally
was our substitute, actually. The second word is satisfaction.
He satisfied God's truth, justice, righteousness, and law, and honored
it. And the Father is well pleased
in that he raised him from the dead, and called him to his right
hand, and sat him down, and said, Sit thou at my right hand, till
I make thine enemies thy puster. The gospel is not what you do
for Christ, it's what he did for you. Christ, our representative, every
detail. You say, what's going to be our
incentive to live godly or righteously? You need an incentive after this
for you? You need some little rewards,
given to some little trinkets to play with? The love of Christ
constrains me. And the very fact He gives me
a new nature enables me in the presence of His Spirit. God changes
you want to, you desire. But this is Christ, our representative,
in a full satisfaction, a full, complete satisfaction of every
particle of the law. And Christ in his death, a full
satisfaction of the justice of God. Do you see that? Alright, here's the next statement. He said, and I heard of it, our
Lord said, I thirst. I thirst. What do you see there,
Preacher? Christ the man. I'm going to tell you something
here, now you listen. Some people have trouble with the deity of
Christ. I don't. I don't have any trouble with
that. I don't think many of you do. There may be some here, but
I know our chandler religionists have trouble with the deity of
Christ. They say, well, he's the son of God, or he's a special
ambassador, or he is God. He is God. Jesus Christ is God. I'm going to preach that until
somebody believes it. He's God. And He created the world, every
voice of God, every appearance of God, and the Old Testament's
Christ. It's Christ. He is God. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word is with God and was God, and the Father
said to them, Thy son, to his son, thy throne, O God, is forever. Jesus Christ is God. He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. All right, some people have trouble
with his humanity. But Jesus Christ, and I can't
explain this, but I know that Jesus Christ, in every sense
of the word, was an M-A-N man. Those two natures, God and man,
were in one body. But he was every bit a man. And
you know something? He never performed a miracle,
not one, to relieve his needs, wants, or distresses. Never did. He never did. Now you think it
over. He healed others. He eased the
burden of others. He lifted the load of others
with miracles, but never for himself. When he came, he said
he was going from Judea to Galilee, and he came to a well, and Jesus
being weary with the journey, well, why didn't he give himself
a little miracle there? and get rid of his weariness.
He's relieved my weariness many times. Sat down on a well to
rest, sent his disciples to town, and a woman came walking up,
and he who made the oceans and the streams, he who commands
the rain, looked at that woman and said, would you give me a
drink? Could have created a river out there if he wanted to, but
no, he was a man. He was a man. Now you check up,
when he was weeping and weary and thirsty and hungry, the devil
came to him. Been fasting, the Lord of Glory
as a man, been fasting 40 days. And Satan came to him and said,
make those stones into bricks. Now you and I have been fasting
that long, we'd had the tendency to do it if we'd had the power.
Not Christ, he was a man. He was a man. And he would not
perform one miracle to relieve his distress. He couldn't and
be our substitute. He limited himself in that very
regard. I'm telling you the truth. Christ is a man. And hanging
on that cross, I'll tell you what he'd gone through, the fever,
raging, infections and fever in his body after all those beatings
and mangling and scourging and whipping. Oh, for just a drop
of water. And who do you hear? Send Lazarus
that he may dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I'm
tormented in this flame." Our Lord was enduring that for you
and me. That's what he was bearing, that flame, that infection, that
torment, that fever. And he cried, I thirst! I thirst. And I'll tell you what men think
of God. God allowed himself to be in the hands of men one time.
And we nailed him to a cross. Man has never before or since
ever had God under his power. And if any preacher tells you
that you can do something with Jesus, you tell him we already
did it. We already did it. We nailed him to a cross. Now
the question is what he's going to do with me. Now you just tell
him that. You say, what are you going to
do with Jesus? We already did it. God allowed himself to be
in our hands one time. One time. And we spit in his
face and nailed him to a cross. And he allowed that because he
was a man. And I'll tell you this. I was listening to that song
Bresman, we've met to worship and glory. The Lord will gird
himself and serve us. Uh-uh. He's the Lord. We're going to bow before his
throne there. We're going to serve him night
and day. We're going to worship him. He's served us already. We're going to worship that.
Oh, and last of all, next he said, it's finished. You know
what his first words were recording the scripture? What's the first
word when Jesus Christ became a man? What's the first word
you spoke? Recorded, I mean, recorded. Mary
and Joseph were looking for him, found him among the doctors in
the temple. And they said, we've been worried about you. He said,
what's the first thing? He said, I must be about my father's
business. Our Lord came down here. He didn't
come on a venture. He didn't come down here with
no planned purpose to see if he could get somebody to do something.
He came down here on a mission. He came down here as a covenant
surety with a work to be done, with a mission to be accomplished,
with a debt to pay. And when he hung on that cross,
the last thing he said, it's finished. Turn to John 17. It's finished. It's finished. It's finished. In John 17, as
he prayed here before he went to the cross, he said in John
17, verse 4, John 17, verse 4, I have glorified thee on this
earth. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. I finished. the great high priest,
the great surety, fulfilled the ceremonial law, satisfied God's
justice, and redeemed his church. And then he said, when he died,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And the scripture
says, he sat down at the right hand of God. And I see in there,
Christ, the accepted one. It is finished, Christ, the complete
redeemer. Into thy hands I commend my spirit,
Christ Jesus, the accepted one.