There are not many sermons that
we actually remember, but those we do remember, usually
it's because they were a great blessing to us. Several years
ago, from this pulpit, Brother Butler preached a message that
was a special blessing to me, and I've never forgotten it. I know the outline well. His
sermon had three points. The first point was, who is Jesus
Christ? And under that point he taught
that Jesus Christ is very God of very God. That God in God's
nature cannot save sinners. Now think about that a moment. God in God's nature. Because
God is the law. And God is holy, and God is just,
and God is righteous. So God, in God's nature, cannot
dismiss sin. He cannot save sinners. He cannot
put away transgression. Man, in man's nature, cannot
save sinners. I cannot save myself. I cannot
deliver you. I cannot deliver those who are
precious to me and dear to me. I am helpless. in putting away
sin. Man in man's nature cannot save
sinners. But God in man's nature, now
that's different. God in God's nature cannot put
away sin. And man in man's nature cannot
redeem the lost. But God in man's nature, God
incarnate, God in human flesh, can provide all that is required,
all that is required by the law and the justice of God, and God
in man's nature can produce all that is demanded of the sinner,
and all that is required of the Father. God in man's nature. And that's who He is. Jesus of
Nazareth. Jesus, son of Mary, is Jesus
Christ, Son of God. The second point of that message
that I remember so well, it was such a blessing to me, was what
did Jesus Christ do? We know he came into this world.
We know he was God in human flesh. Well, what did he do? Well, Hebrews
chapter 9, I believe it's verse 24, gives us as clear and plain
an answer to that question as can be found in the Word of God.
The last line says, in Hebrews 9 verse 26 it is, Now once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. That's it. He came down here
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And Paul said in
1 Timothy, This is a faithful saying. It is a true saying. It's worthy of universal acceptance
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am chief. That's what he did. He put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. He was numbered with the transgressors. He was our representative. He
met the demands of the law. He took all that the wrath of
God could put forward. in his soul and in his body on
the tree to put away sin. That's what he did. He put away
sin. The third point of that message
was this. Why did he do it? Why was it
necessary that Jesus Christ come down here and die on a cross?
And I'll give you three answers to that question. Why did he
do it? Now, the first one is found in Romans 3.26. And all
three of these statements start with the word that. Jesus Christ
died in order that. Jesus Christ suffered in order
that. Jesus Christ became a man in
order that. Now watch this, Romans 3 verse
26. That he might be just, and the
justifier of him. which believeth in Jesus. That's
why he did it, that God the Father might be just and justify. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God
Almighty. What did he do? He became a man. He took on himself the likeness
of our flesh. He died on the cross. Why? Why? As an example, why did he
die on the cross? As a martyr? Why did he die on
the cross? Because he couldn't do anything
about it? Why did he die on the cross? Because he failed to reform
the world? No, sir. He died that God might
be just and justify you and me. That God might be just, righteous,
and holy, and still pardon the sinner. Turn to 2 Corinthians
5, 21. Here's another answer to that
question. There are three answers that I think comprehend the whole
thing. Why did he die? That God the
Father might be just and justify the ungodly. 2 Corinthians 5.21
says, God hath made him, Christ, to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He died that the Father might
be just and justifier, and he died that the recipients of his
mercy might be holy. You're not holy. There's no way
in this world that you can claim any righteousness or any holiness
of your own making. You're holy in Christ. You're
holy because Christ, as your representative, imputed unto
you a perfect righteousness. That's why you're holy. in order
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's why he
did it. That's why he came down here. That's why he met the law.
That's why he died on the cross. That you might be righteous in
your representative, in your substitute. That you might be
righteous in Christ. That's why. Now here's the third
reason. In Ephesians. In Ephesians, chapter
2, verse 7, it says here, Verse six said God loved us, or verse
four said God is rich in mercy, and He loved us, and even when
we were dead in sin, He quickened us with Christ. Verse six says
He raised us up together and made us sit together with Christ
in the heavenly. Why? That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace. in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. That's why He came down here,
three reasons. That's why He died on the cross,
three reasons. That's why He suffered all that
He suffered, that God might be just and justify you and me,
that you and I might have the righteousness required of us,
expected of us, demanded of us, that we might be holy, that we
might inherit eternal glory, and that through the ages to
come, the name of our Lord might eternally be praised for his
riches and his kindness and his grace toward us. Now I want to
add this morning a fourth point to that message. Who is Jesus
Christ? What did he do? Why did he do
it? And the fourth point, what did
he say? What did he say? Now the Holy
Spirit has recorded. I know we can't go through all
the sayings of Christ while he was here on the earth. Was it
John who said in the last few verses of his writings that if
all the words of Christ had been preserved, the world itself wouldn't
contain the books? But the Holy Spirit recorded
seven sayings of Christ from the cross. Seven sayings of our
Lord from Mount Calvary. And if the Holy Spirit will give
us some life, I think in these seven sayings we can see the
office of Christ, the work of Christ, the saving benefits of
Christ. I think included in these seven
sayings will be the whole of His work and His offices and
His person and His salvation, His redemption. Now, the first
one is found in Luke 23, verse 34. Then said Jesus, these are seven
sayings from the cross. Then said Jesus, when they nailed
him to the cross and lifted him up to die, the first words from
the cross were these, Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. Now here we have Christ the Mediator,
Christ the Intercessor, Christ the Great High Priest praying
for his people, interceding for his people, the Mediator between
men and God. Here is Christ actually praying
for his people. There is one God and one Mediator
between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus, is one
mediator. It is not Mary. It is not the
earthly priest. It is Christ the Lord. He's the
only one who can sue the Father for you. He's the only one who
can take your cause and plead it to the Father. He's the only
one who can intercede for you. He prayed for sinners on that
cross, and he prays for sinners now. One old writer said, but
he's in a higher place now, and he's in a glorified state now,
but his occupation is still the same. He continues before the
Father to present the effectual pleas for guilty sinners. And that plea from Calvary was,
Father, forgive them. And that plea from the right
hand of God now is, Father, Forgive them. Turn to Hebrews chapter
10. There is no approach to God except through Christ. There's
no approach to God by a sinful man except through Christ the
High Priest. I called on one of our brethren
to lead in prayer just a moment ago. I know and he knows and
you know, if you know anything about salvation, about God at
all. That the only way that his prayer,
or my prayer, or your prayer, or any other prayer, or our sacrifices
of praise, are ever going to reach the Fathers through Christ,
that's the only way. He's got to make them acceptable.
He's got to make them holy. He's got to bring them as the
priest brought the sacrifice in the Old Testament for the
people. That's the reason we pray in Christ's name. That's
the reason we pray through Christ our Lord. That's the reason we
pray for the glory of the Son of God, because He is that high
priest. Now look, if you will, at verse
19 of Hebrews 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest, our Father, to call on God. How? By the blood of Jesus. That's
the way we enter into the holiest. Not the blood of a lamb, not
the blood of a goat, not the blood of a turtle dove, but with
the blood of Christ. by a new and living way which
he, Christ, hath consecrated, are now made for us through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having an high priest." We
have one. He doesn't live in Rome. He doesn't
live in Ashland. He lives at the right hand of
the Father. We have a high priest. We don't
deny the priesthood. We magnify the priesthood, but
it's the priesthood of our perfect High Priest, whose sacrifice
is effectual. And having an High Priest, let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. His intercession is gracious. Did the murderers at Calvary
deserve His pleas. Father, forgive them." There
they stood at the foot of His cross, mocking, laughing, jeering,
ridiculing. Did they deserve His pleas? Father,
forgive them! Forgive them! Did they deserve
it? No, they didn't. Neither do you,
and neither do I. We don't deserve His prayers,
His intercession. but his intercession is gracious.
Secondly, his intercession is effectual. The Father always
hears him. Many of those people at Calvary
later on were converted at Pentecost. Over 3,000 of them were brought
to the knowledge of Christ. His prayers are effectual and
his intercession is continual. He ever lived to make intercession
for us. While there is a sinner on earth,
there will be our High Priest praying for him. Father, forgive
him. Now look at the second statement
in Luke 23, verse 43. In Luke 23, 43. In verse 42,
the thief prayed, Lord, you're not going to stay dead. Lord,
we're getting what we deserve. You've done nothing amiss. Lord,
you have a kingdom. Remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom." And Jesus said, this is from the cross
now, "'Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise.'" Here we have Christ the King. Now every preacher
and follower alike, who has been misguided and misled in looking
on Jesus Christ as a poor, helpless reformer and a poor, helpless
creature, I want you to listen carefully to me right now. Jesus
Christ is the King. He's the King. He's the King
of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He always
has been. He was on the cross, He is now,
He always will be the King. All things are made by Him, and
through Him, and for Him. And even during His earthly journey
of humiliation, and during His earthly journey of certain limitations,
and during His earthly journey of sacrifice and agony, He was
still the King. A star marked his birthplace
and angels announced his coming. He stilled the raging sea and
he cursed the barren tree. He directed the fish of the sea
to the nets of the disciples. He pulled a coin from a fish's
mouth with which to pay his tax. He increased the bread and fed
thousands and picked up twelve baskets full. He raised the dead. He emptied the tombs. He healed
the lame. He caused the blind to see. Does
that sound like a helpless Reformer? Does that sound like a pitiful
failure? Does that sound like someone
upon whom you should waste your tears as the women of Jerusalem
who followed him to the cross and he turning rebuked them and
said, don't weep for me? He forgave sin, and here, hanging
on a cross to every eye, a helpless failure, stripped naked in humiliation
and shame, bleeding and dying, the King speaks. And he forgives
a lifetime of guilt and a lifetime of sin, and literally takes the
key of salvation and opens heaven for a dying thief. Does that
sound like a failure? He's the King of creation, He's
the King of providence, and He's the King of salvation. You turn
to Revelation chapter 1, verse 18, and every time you think
about the Lord Jesus Christ, you think about this verse. In
Revelation 1, 18, He said, as He appeared to John on the Isle
of Patmos, I am He that liveth and was dead. I died on the cross,
but behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
hell and death. I've got the key. You don't have
it, Christ said. Your pastor doesn't have it.
Mama doesn't have it. Daddy doesn't have it. And your
friend, the evangelist, doesn't have it. Christ said, I got the
keys of hell. He who holds the key controls
the situation. He who controls the key controls
the situation. He has the government. The government's
on his shoulders. He's got the key. And when you
look squarely at this incident, when you come to the cross and
you see Christ hanging on that cross, and he turns to a thief,
to a convicted murderer, and he says to him, Today shalt thou
be with me in paradise." You're listening to the words of the
King. He has the power to forgive sins. He has the power to raise
the dead. He has the power to open heaven's
doors. He has the power to open hell
and free the captive and take him to glory. Salvations of the
Lord. Now, you can run around talking
about what men must do for God. But my message is what God must
do for men. My message is not at all what
men do for God. There's not much you can do for
God. You can't add to His glory. You can't add to His wisdom.
You can't add to His riches. You can't add to His praise.
But He can add a whole lot to you, because He's got the keys. He has the keys. All right, turn
to John 19. Here's another saying, the third
saying from the cross, John 19, verse 25. Now there stood by
the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary,
the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus therefore saw
his mother And the disciple standing by whom he loved, that was John,
he said to his mother, Woman, behold thy son. And then saith he to the disciple,
behold thy mother. And from that hour John took
Mary into his home, into his own home, and took care of her.
Here we have Christ the man. And no scripture gives us a clearer
picture of the genuine humanity, humanity of our Lord, like this
scripture. Even in the agonies of death,
even in the agonies of soul suffering, now you think of it, even when
the weight of hell was upon Him, and the attack of men was upon
Him, and even the wrath of the Father was upon Him, Even in
that solemn, sacred hour, when the redemption of his people,
when he was going forth to do battle for all generations of
believers, when he was engaging in conflict with the forces of
hell itself, even in that hour, the Lord Jesus honors the fifth
commandment. Honor thy father and thy mother. Evidently Joseph was dead. All
writers believe that Joseph at this time was dead. Joseph was
an elderly man when he married Mary. She was just a 16 year
old girl. Joseph was dead and the Lord
Jesus Christ provided for his mother according to the flesh.
Here is a dying man providing for the one he leaves behind. Now you stop and think about
that for a few minutes. in the midst of so great a task
as redeeming the world from sin, in the midst of so great a conflict
that he cried out, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto
death, under the pressure and the weight and the care and the
difficulty of a superhuman task. he remembered his family. The
tender affections of home life were still honored by the Lord
Jesus Christ even under the greatest trial. Now I've known men and
women to get involved in religion and neglect human relationships. And they get a lot of pious pride
out of the fact that they're too involved in their church
work, and too involved in their Bible readings, and too involved
in their studies and religious activities, to be bothered with
human relationships, to be bothered with family. This is not of God. It's not of God. They say that
they're involved in higher principles and they don't have time for
interest in fleshly attachments. That's not of God. A real relationship with Christ
will make a father a better father and a wife a better mother. Not
a door knocker for Jesus, but a better mother. It'll make a
husband a better husband and a wife a better wife, or it's
not of God. You can see that right here.
When our Lord, when the Son of God, when the King of Glory,
was involved in redeeming His people from their sins, when
He was engaged in a battle with the forces of evil, when heaven,
earth, and hell were brought to bear against Him, when He
stood alone, when all had forsaken, He turned to His Mother. And
He said, Mother, or Woman, You go home with John and stay with
him. And John, you take care of her.
And you provide for her. Now you give that a little thought. Here's the fourth saying. Turn
to Mark 15. Mark the 15th chapter. Mark chapter
15. And I'll never be engaged in
anything as important as he was engaged in. In Mark 15 verse 34, And at the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani, which is being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Here is Christ the sin offering. Here's our Lord in the darkest
part of the whole way. Here's our Lord walking the winepress
of God's wrath for hours and the work almost finished, and
he reaches the climax of his misery, the climax of his suffering. Here the scapegoat is turned
out into the wilderness alone. No human being has ever been
as alone. deserted by hell and earth and
now by heaven. This is the terrible cry from
the lowest pit of eternal misery. My God, my God, thou hast forsaken
me. I do not think the records of
time or eternity record a sentence more pitiful, and I think this
is the cry of a lost soul. I think it's the cry of a lost
soul. I think it's the essence of hell
itself. Here is the wormwood. Here is
the gall. Here is the bitterness. Here
is the total desertion. My God! Why hast thou forsaken
me? I think it's the essence of hell.
I think it's what men shall cry as they're cast out of the presence
of God eternally. My God, thou hast forsaken me. Here is the cry of substitution. Christ bore my sin and hence
my hell. He was separated from God at
this very moment for me and for you. All the griefs he felt were ours. Ours were the sins he bore. pains
not his own, his spotless soul with bitter anguish tore. I beheld him as condemned of
heaven, an outcast from his God, while for my sins he groaned
and he bled beneath the Father's rod. He met the law and gave
me a righteousness. He went to the cross and gave
me a pardon. And he went to hell. He went
to hell. Now somebody's going to hear
the broadcast or somebody sitting here and say the preacher said
Jesus Christ went to hell. Well, you argue about that all
you want to, but he went to hell. And I don't mean the lake of
fire, I mean this is hell, this is separated from God. I don't want to sit around and
argue about hell and then go there and find out what it's
like. He went to hell. This is hell. My God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Now, the fifth saying in John
19, verse 28. John 19, verse 28. Now, as to
this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished
that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. I thirst. Hear Christ the sufferer. Somebody said, My God, why hast
thou forsaken me, points to the anguish and suffering of his
soul. And these two words, I thirst,
points to the suffering and the agony of his body. When I hear
the Lord Jesus Christ say, I thirst, I think of the cry of the rich
man from hell in Christ's own story, Father Abraham, send Lazarus
that he may dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I'm tormented. I thirst. Oh, the distance between the
Lord of glory on his throne and the crucified man parched with
thirst. Festered wounds. Can't you imagine
what these wounds look like on his back and his face and his
forehead after a full night He'd been scourged, beaten with a
cat of nine tails, and those open wounds had not been bound
up, had not been soothed with ointment. They were festered.
His mouth was parched. He hadn't had a drop to drink.
His lips were split open and cracked. His fever was probably
a hundred, three, four, or five, and he cried, I thirst! I thirst. Our Lord is truly identified
with us in our fallen humanity. Sin brought thirst. Sin brought
hunger. Sin brought misery. His sufferings
on that cross were real and terrible. He knows our frailties. He knows
our woes, for He Himself has been engaged in them. Somebody
said the arrow of pain that pierced your heart. was already dipped
in the blood of Christ. There's nothing that you can
endure, there's nothing that you can bear, there's nothing
that you can experience that He didn't experience on this
cross. Christ the sufferer, our thirst. John 19, 30. And here is the
sixth saying, quickly, in John 19, 30. When Jesus, therefore,
had received the vinegar, He said, finished. Here's Christ the Savior. What's he talking about, preacher?
It's finished. Well, he may have had reference
to his agony. Oh, what agony. He may have had reference to
his earthly journey, thirty-three and a half years, approximately.
He may have had reference to the Jewish ceremonies, for they
were finished. He may have had reference to
his humiliation made for a while, a little lower than the angels.
But I believe that when our Lord cried, it's finished. When that
cry split the clouds, when that cry pierced the ears of those
about the cross, when that cry even echoed and was heard in
hell, throughout all the universe. It's finished! It's finished. I believe he was
referring to every phase of the redemption of his people. He's
the author and finisher of our phase. He said, As my father
gave me commandment, so I do. He said, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O God. He said, For this cause I came
out of this hour. He said, I must work the works
of him that sent me. The angel said, Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And
he said, The Son of Man is come to seek and to save the lost.
And when our Lord cried from that cross, it is finished, my
dear friends, it was finished. The eternal covenant of mercy,
the eternal gift of God's love, the eternal redemption of all
believers, the eternal glory of all his own, finished. Nothing
needs to be added from the water, Nothing needs be added from my
feet and hands. Nothing need be added by any
church or denomination. Christ finished it. He finished it. Luke 23, 46.
This is the last scene. And here you have Christ the
victor. Christ the victor. In Luke 23, 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. It's all over. Starts out with
Christ the Mediator. Forgive them. Christ the sin
offering. Christ the King. Christ the victor. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. Here's reconciliation. He who
stood in our stead He who stood in our place has finished his
work, and now he goes back to the throne of eternal glory,
taking us with him. Here is the word of acceptance
for himself and for us. We are accepted in the Beloved. Here is the word of victory.
The mighty conqueror, the mighty captain of salvation, has gone
forth to war, and he has won the victory, and he returned
with us forth. he hath conquered. Satan is destroyed,
and sin is defeated. His kingdom is safe and secure,
and the covenant of grace is fulfilled. Father, it's all over. It's finished. I'm coming home,
and I'm bringing my children with me. Into thy hands I commend
my spirit. I want us to sing in closing,
there is a fountain, number 222, filled with blood, drawn from
Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose
all their guilty stain. 222. I want you to stand together
and we'll sing the first, third, and fourth stanza, first, third,
and fourth stanza of this great hymn. 222. We'll stand while
we sing. The God they give is strength,
The God they give is strength, The God they give is strength. And sin is my fiend, and blood
is all the guilty's fate. Dear dying lamb, my precious
blood shall ever He's anxious in the womb. He's anxious in the womb. He's anxious in the womb.