Christ Died For Our Sins

gospel of God's glory. This is
the eternal song of the redeemed, and this is our gospel. Christ died. Christ died for
our sins. Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
caring not that my Lord was crucified, knowing not that for me he died
on Calvary. Then at last my sin I learned,
and I trembled at the law I spurned, and my heart imploring turned
to Calvary, where Christ died for my sins according to the
Scriptures." I wish I had the power, I wish that I had the
eloquence, I wish I had the dedication I wish that I had the ability
to take men and women to Calvary. Not to the church, not to the
ceremony, not to the ordinances, not to the rituals, not to the
law, but to take men and women to Calvary, where Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures. My friends, great
is Mount Sinai, rolled in clouds, covered with smoke, flashing
lightning, the glory of God all about. That's where God wrote
his law. Thou shalt have no other God
before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not
covet It was on that mountain, that great old Mount Sinai, that
God gave his holy law, written with the very finger of God.
Great is that mountain. And great is Mount Horeb. You
remember when Moses was out tending the sheep. He'd been out there
in that desert country for about forty years, taking care of the
sheep for someone else. Eighty years old. And one day
he walked up the slope of old Mount Horeb. And he saw an amazing
sight. He saw a bush on fire. But the
bush was not consumed. And then he heard a voice speak
out of that bush which said to him, Moses, put off your shoes. You're on holy ground. And Moses
took off his shoes and approached that bush, that burning bush
that never was consumed. And the voice said, Moses, go
down to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And Moses
said, Well, whom shall I say hath sent me? And the voice out
of that burning bush said, You tell them I am hath sent thee. Great is Mount Horeb, where Moses
heard God speak, where Moses stood before the bush that never
was consumed. And from Mount Pisgah's lofty
heights the song says, I view my home and take my flight. What was Mount Pisgah? That's
where Moses saw the promised land. God took him on top of
that great Mount Pisgah, and he said, Moses, look out there.
There's the land that I have given to Abraham's seed forever. Look at it, Moses. Look, there's
where the tribe of Judah, and there's where the tribe of Dan,
and there's where the tribe of Ephraim, and there's where another
tribe shall be. Moses, look at it. Isn't it beautiful?
Now, you can't go down in that land. You see, Moses You represent
the law, and the law cannot take people over Jordan into rest. Joshua will lead my people into
the land, but Moses, you look at it, and then you're going
to die, and God took him on home. Oh, what a mountain! Mount Diska,
where Moses viewed the promised land. And great is Mount Carmel. There's where one man of God,
one prophet who believed God, One man who was willing to stand
up and be counted faced over 350 false prophets. And after
they'd spent hours calling on their God, who had no ears and
could not hear, who had no eyes and could not see, who had no
power and could not act, after they'd spent all these hours
calling on their God, God's man stood, Elijah, and prayed a 63-word
prayer. And he said, O Lord God, Let
these people know that you're God. Let these people know that
I'm your servant. Let these people know that I
speak for you. Let them know you're God." And
the scripture says, when he finished that prayer, the fire of God
fell, and consumed the sacrifice, and consumed the altar, and consumed
the rocks, and consumed the water, and licked up the dust. God's
power fell. What a mountain! And then Mount
Morav. You read about the greatness
of that mountain. That's where Abraham took Isaac
after a three-day journey. God had said, Abraham, take your
boy, your son Isaac, whom you love, and you sacrifice him to
me on Mount Moriah. You sacrifice him as an offering
to me. And Abraham went up the side
of that mountain and laid that boy on the altar and raised the
knife to slay his son in obedience to God's command. And the Lord
spoke again, and said, Abraham, touch not your boy, I know now
that you love me. And caught in a thicket right
behind him was a ram. He took that ram and laid it
on that altar in the stead of his son." What a mountain! We
can go all the way through the Word of God, and we can see these
mountains where God manifested his wisdom and his power and
his glory, morale, Horeb, Pisgah, Carmel, morale, all of these
mountains. Calvary, O the love that drew
salvation's plan, O the grace that brought it down to man,
O the mighty God that God did span at Calvary. Would God that we had the power,
would God that we had the dedication, would God that we had the ability
to take you to Calvary, to Calvary. There's where God with power
to annihilate his enemies, with power to destroy those who rebelled
against him, permitted them to nail him to a cross." Calvary. Their God, who delights to show
mercy, poured out his wrath on his only begotten son, Calvary. Their God, who clothed the lily
of the field in unexcelled beauty, left his son to hang between
heaven and earth, naked, in shame and reproach and ridicule. Calvary! There God, who hears
the raven call, answered not the cry of his beloved son. Calvary! There God, who formed
the cool springs and the rippling streams, and causes it to rain
on the just and the unjust, heard his son cry, and came not to
his side. Calvary. There God, who never
leaves us alone, but who says, Lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the earth. There God left Christ to walk
the winepress of his wrath all alone. Calvary. Calvary. His holy fingers formed the bough
where grew the thorns that pierced his brow. The nails that pierced
his hands were mined in secret places he designed. He made the
forest which there sprung the tree on which his own body hung. He died upon a cross of wood,
and yet he made the hill on which it stood. The sun which hid from
him its face by his own hand was hung in space. The sky which
darkened o'er his head by him above this earth was spread,
the spear that shed his own blood was tempered in the fires of
God. The grave in which his form was
laid was hewn in rocks his own hand had made." You think of
it. At Calvary, Christ died. Christ died for my sins. At Calvary, Christ died for my
sins according to the scriptures. And my friend, our business is
not to entertain sinners on their road to hell. Our business is
not to try to attract people to ourselves. Our business is
not to try to attract followers after our doctrine, our denomination,
or our way of life. Our business is to preach this
gospel. And we preach it not as a reward
for the righteous, We preach it not as a comfort for the consecrated. We preach it not as a divine
favor for those who are already faithful. We preach it as good
news to the guilty. Christ died for sins. You go throughout this Bible
and you'll find Christ died for the ungodly. God commended his
love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. It's sinners for whom he suffered.
It's sin that needs mercy. It's guilt that needs grace.
It's those who err who need forgiveness. It's the guilty who need pardon.
Christ died for our sins. Paul said, this is the gospel
that I preached unto you and which you received and by which
you're saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you. Christ
died for our sins according to the scripture. Now listen to
me. There are four things I want you to see. First of all, Christ's
death on that cross on Calvary's mountain for sinners, according
to the Scriptures, goes back beyond Calvary. It goes back
to the eternal counsels of God. Now don't leave me. We're not
going to talk about deep doctrine. We're going to talk about things
that are soul, things that are revealed of God, things that
you, even in your head, can understand. Listen to the scriptures. Now
listen, 1 Peter 1, 18-20. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a
lamb without blemish and without spot. Now watch this next line.
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world.
His death was no accident, it was no incident, it was a divine
transaction, who verily was foreordained, foreappointed, predetermined
to be our Savior before the foundation of the world. Listen to the scripture,
Hebrews 13.20, his blood is the blood of an everlasting covenant.
Not an afterthought, an everlasting covenant. Not a hurry-up plan,
but an everlasting covenant. Acts 2.23, listen to this. Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and the foreknowledge
of God, you with wicked hands have crucified and slain. My friends, you would never have
seen a Savior if there had not been an eternal covenant of grace. given by the Father before the
fall. You would never have seen a Savior
if in the purpose and plan of God from all eternity, Christ
was not designated to be our representative. For like the
angels that fell, Adam would have been reserved in everlasting
chains of darkness under the day of judgment. Now when the
angels fell, God cast them into everlasting chains of darkness.
That's what it says in the book of When Adam fell, God came immediately
and promised to him a Savior, because that Savior had already
been provided. That Savior had already been
promised, yea, even before the fall. The covenant of grace gave
birth to the cross. It's not the sin of Adam that
gave birth to the cross, it's the covenant of grace that gave
birth to the cross. The cross was born not in the
Garden of Eden, But it was born in the mind and purpose and plan
of God before he made the garden of Eden. Christ died in the purpose
of God before Adam died in the garden of sin. Now these four things about the
death of Christ you need to know. And you need to remember them.
And if they're preachers listening to me, you need to preach them.
Because they're true. First of all, his death, the
death of Christ, was the initial death. Initial means first. His
death was the first death. Before Abel died, somebody said
Abel died, his death was the first death. No, it wasn't. His
death was the first in revelation or manifestation But before Abel
died, before the foundation of the world, the scripture says
Christ was the Lamb slain. Before Adam fell in the garden,
Christ was the Lamb slain. Before God created man, Christ
was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. So his
death was the initial death. And then secondly, his death
was the official death. Now you can remember these easily
because they almost rhyme. His death was the official death. That is, he was verily foreordained
to be the Lamb slain, the sacrifice offered. You see that? Scripture
says it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Who put him to death? Men with wicked hands. But they
did what God determined before to be done. His death was an
official death. And then his death was a judicial
death. That is, he died that just for
the unjust. He died that he might bring us
to God. He died that God might be just
and justify the ungodly. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. His death was a just death, because
he was numbered with a transgressive, a judicial death. He died under
the judgment of God for sin. And then fourthly, his death
was a sacrificial death. by whom we have received the
atonement." That's what Scripture says. He made his soul an offering
for sin. So those things need to be remembered
about his death. That's the very heart of the
gospel. That's the very essence of the gospel. That's the very
foundation of the gospel. And you cannot say, these things
are too deep, or they're too difficult, or they're too hard.
You spend your time paying people to come to church and having
Sunday school contests, and pie-throwing contests, and ridiculous things
like that, and trying to see how many people you can get.
But a true prophet of God, a true servant of God, is going to try
to preach to people the way of life that they might prepare
for eternity. And Christ's death is the initial
death. Lamb slain before this world
was created. His death is the official death. He is the divinely appointed
sacrifice. He has the hand of God on him.
God calls him mine elect, my servant. And then his death was
a judicial death. He died just for the unjust. His death was a sacrificial death.
He made his soul an offering for sin, and by one sacrifice
he perfected forever them that are sanctified. All the blood
on Jewish altars through all the years couldn't put away sin.
Those sacrifices were types. Christ's death was the sacrifice
by which sin was erased. Now, secondly, a careful look
at his incarnation will show us that his death was for sinners. His coming into the world was
for sinners. His becoming flesh was for sinners.
Listen to the word of God again, 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful
It's worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into this
world. To set an example? That's not
what it says. To try to reform the world? That's
not what it says. He came into the world to save
sinners, of whom I'm cheating. He said himself in Luke 19.10,
the Son of Man, he has come to seek and to save the lost. That's
why he came. The angel who announced his birth
said to Joseph, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Our Lord was born with the shadow
of the cross upon him. He was born with the shadow of
the cross. The cross, as I said, was no incident in his life.
It was no accident along the way. It was a divine transaction. Now, electricity existed before
man found it. It was there already. But one
day it was discovered, and it was put on the market, and it's
all about us. Gold was in the ground before
man ever mined it. It was there. But one day it
was revealed. America was right here before
Columbus ever left the shores of Portugal. It was already here. He found it. But it was already
here. And even so, Christ died the
appointed death, the divinely appointed death, for the divinely
appointed people at the divinely appointed hour. He was already
there. He said that many times through
his ministry. Mine hour is not yet come. One
of the disciples said, well, don't go to Jerusalem if they're
going to hang you to a nail you to a cross. He said, for this
cause came after this hour. While he walked this earth, the
greatest trophies of his grace were sinners. Our Lord said,
I'm not come to call the righteous. I've come to call sinners to
repentance. The well don't need a doctor.
It's people that are sick. And it's people who are sinners
who need a Savior. Follow him down into that country
called the Gadarene. There were a lot of respectable
people there, I'm sure. There were Pharisees and Sadducees
and lawyers and scribes and all manner of righteous, decent individuals. But do you know the person to
whom our Lord approached, the person whom he saved, the person
to whom he revealed himself, was a wild man who came charging
down upon him out of the tomb. A man with the scars of chains
upon his arms and legs. They tried to chain him, but
he'd break the chains. A man naked, a man possessed
of demons, came charging out of the tombs down to Christ,
and our Lord left that place, but he left that man clothed
and in his right mind, a trophy of his grace. When our Lord visited
the town of Samaria, he saved somebody there. He left a trophy
of his grace there. You know who it was? You know
who it was? It was a woman who met him out
there at the well. The woman who was, as Scripture
says, a great sinner. Mary Magdalene in Simon's house,
the harlot, at Calvary. He left a trophy of his grace
when he left Calvary. He took him with him. Who was
it? It wasn't Herod or Pilate or
the Pharisees. It was a thief who was hanging
on the cross next to him. His life reveals, his incarnation
reveals why he came. He came to save sinners. The
first step you'll ever take toward God and toward heaven and toward
life is when you reveal, when it's revealed to you and when
you face the fact and when it becomes evident to you and when
it forces its way in upon you that you are a sinner. And then every invitation our
Lord ever gave was directed to sinners. Listen to them. Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you
rest. Listen to him. If any man thirst,
let him come to me. Out of his innermost being shall
flow rivers of living water. Listen to him. Though your sins
be as scarlet, I'll make them as white as the snow. Mercy is
for the guilty. Is anybody out there guilty?
Grace is for sinners. Forgiveness is for those who
have no righteousness of their own. And then last of all, a
careful look at the cross itself will reveal to you that it was
for sinners that our Lord came, it was for sinners that our Lord
died, it was for sinners that our Lord arose, and it is for
sinners that he intercedes. Isaiah 53 verse 4 says, But he
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by stripes we are healed. He had no sin.
He was tempted, the Scripture said, yea, in all points as we
are. yet without sin. Which of you, he said, convinces
me of sin? Pilate said, I find no fault
in him. My soul, if he could have found
some fault, he would have. I find no fault in him. The Heavenly
Father said, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. The scripture
says that he was without sin, without blemish, without spot. But he took our sin That's what
it says. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. God will punish sin. God must
punish sin. And God did punish sin. He punished
it in the person and in the body and in the soul of his only begotten
Son on Calvary's cross. Why the cross? Romans chapter
3 verse 25 will give you the answer. God set forth his son
to be a propitiation for our sins, that God might be just
and justify the ungodly. That's why Calvary. A look at
his heavenly ministry will reveal that it was for sinners he died,
and it is for sinners right now that he intercedes. Listen to
the word of God. John, writing to the church,
says in 1 John 2.1, My little children, these things I write
unto you, that you sin not. But if any man sin, we have an
advocate, we have a mediator, we have a lawyer, we have one
who pleads our case. We have an advocate with the
Father who is Jesus Christ the righteous. And Paul wrote in
Hebrews 7, he is able to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by him, seeing he ever liveth. to make intercession
for them. Now, my friend, this is what
I've said. Christ died. Christ died for
our sins. Christ died for our sins according
to the scripture. Now, if you want to, you go ahead
building your tower of Babel, your tower of self-righteousness
to heaven, but I guarantee you it'll fall short and it will
dash you to pieces. It will destroy you in the end.
You go right ahead, climbing up your ladder of works. You
began by being a church member, and then you were catechized,
and then you were confirmed, and then you were consecrated,
and then you were rededicated, and then you were made a teacher,
and then you climbed another ladder, and you kept getting
better and better every day, but that ladder won't reach.
I'll tell you the only foundation that we can plead, the only refuge
in which we can hide, the only hope upon which we can build,
the only plea for mercy that will avail, is Christ died for
my sins according to the Scriptures. If you'd like to have this message
on cassette tape, it's available for a very small charge. If you'll
write to me, the address will be given to you by the announcer
until next Lord's I bid you a very pleasant good day.

Christ Died For Our Sins

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Christ Died For Our Sins

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