I want you to turn in your Bibles
to the book of Lamentations. This book of Lamentations follows
the book of Jeremiah, and I'm going to read a verse from Lamentations
in a moment, so you find it, Lamentations chapter 1, verse
12. Our text is found in Matthew
27, 36. Matthew said, and sitting down they watched him there. What do you see when you sit
down before this awful scene on Golgotha's hill? What do you
actually see? What is it to you? That's what Jeremiah wrote in
the Lamentations. He says, Is it nothing to you,
all you that pass by? Is it nothing to you? Behold,
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is
done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day
of his fierce anger. Is it nothing to you? When you sit down before Calvary's
mountain, what do you see? Sitting down, they watched Him.
Who is this man, Jesus Christ? Why did He suffer and die on
that cross? Why did the Heavenly Father turn
His back on Jesus Christ? What does His death mean to the
Father? Where does it fit into the purpose
of God the Father. What does his death mean to me?
Is it nothing to you? I declare unto you that no man,
no woman, no young person can really dismiss this scene. Now Pilate called for a basin
of water. They brought it to him, and he
washed his hands call for a towel and drive them, and turn to the
people and said, I'm washing my hands of any responsibility
for this man's death. See you to it. I will have nothing
to do with this just person. I will have nothing to do with
his death. See you to it. Do you suppose that this actually
can be done? that a person can have nothing
to do with the death of Jesus Christ? Is it nothing to you? Do you suppose that a person
can actually come to Calvary and look at that scene, the Son
of God hanging on the cross, and go away with no opinion,
and not influenced, and not affected, and with no responsibility for
his death? Our Lord said he couldn't. Turn
to Matthew 12. In the twelfth chapter of Matthew,
verse 30, the Savior says, He that is not with me is against
me. Matthew 12, 30. He that is not
with me is against me. He that is not with me in faith,
he that is not with me in confidence, he that is not with me in trust,
he that is not with me in redeeming love is against me. And he that
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Turn to Hebrews 4. In
the fourth chapter of Hebrews, verse 13, Paul says that Jesus
Christ is one with whom we have to do. He says in Hebrews 4, verse 13,
"...neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. All things are naked and open
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." There's a sense
in which the Christ, there's a sense in which the crucified
Redeemer is on the hands of every person here tonight. Every person. The songwriter
said, I've been to Calvary. I can say that I've seen the
Lord. I've been to Calvary. Through
the witness of his word, I've been to Calvary. And oh, what
a thrill of love divine just to think that this Savior is
mine. I want to tell you what I see
at Calvary, sitting down with you, watching him there, let
me give you several things that I see. I'm deeply affected by
Calvary's cross. I'm deeply affected by what took
place on Golgotha's hill. I've been to Calvary, and I saw
some things, and I came away completely changed, deeply affected,
never more to be the same. First of all, at Calvary, I see
in the death of Jesus Christ the Father's hand. Now, Peter
declared at Pentecost, this is no accident. Turn to Acts chapter
2. The Apostle Peter, speaking about
the death of Jesus Christ to the people who helped crucify
him, declared, this is no accident. This death of Jesus of Nazareth
is no accident. It was planned and purposed and
decreed by the Father from the beginning. In Acts chapter 2,
verse 22, he declares, Ye men of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles
and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you,
as you yourselves also know, him being delivered into your
hands to be crucified and slain, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge, or foreordination of God. You have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. This is
no accident. This man whom you crucified,
this man whom you nailed to the cross, is a man approved and
appointed of God. and he was delivered into your
hands by the determinate counsel and full ordination of God."
And in the fourth chapter of Acts, speaking again, the Apostle
declared in verse 27, "...of a truth against thy holy child
Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gendiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together."
in anger, in fierce wrath, to do whatsoever God's hand and
God's counsel determined before to be done. Isaiah wrote, It
pleased the Lord to bruise him, it pleased the Father to put
him to shame. And our Master prayed and guessed
him in his garden, If it be thy will, let this cup pass from
me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done." His death
was the will of the Father. Turn to Matthew 26, And then
when they went into Gethsemane's garden, and the Lord Jesus was
betrayed by Judas, the soldiers came to arrest him. Peter drew
his sword, and would have fought the soldiers, and the master
rebuked him. Now listen carefully to this.
The Master rebuked him, and in Matthew 26, 52, he said to him,
Put up your sword into his place, for all they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now
pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? Peter, I don't need your defense.
Well, I can have all the angels of heaven down here warring against
these forces of evil, if it were my Father's will. Put up your
sword." Verse 54. But if we do that,
how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled? that thus it must
be. I must die. It must be. This is the Father's will. He
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was crucified
and buried and rose again according to the Scriptures. What Scriptures?
According to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? No, sir. According
to the Old Testament prophecies. For to Him giveth all the prophets
witness. God spared not his own son. Turn to Romans 8. Listen to the
reading of these verses. Sometimes I fear that we read
over verses and don't really pay careful attention to them.
Verse 32 says in Romans 8, "...he that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all." God the Father delivered him
up. God delivered him by his foreknowledge, his foreordination,
by his determinate counsel into the hands of wicked men. So when
I sit down, at Calvary's mountain and look at the one on the cross
in the middle, I see the Father's hand. I see the Father's hand. Secondly, and I want us to go
through the book of John on this second point, as I sit there
and watch Him on the cross, I see the Father's hand. But secondly,
I see the Savior's will Now, the Lord Jesus came to this earth
to die on the cross. That's why he came. The scripture
says he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And several times in the book of John, he refers to this hour
of sacrifice, this hour of death, this hour of surrender and submission
to the wrath and judgment of the Father. In John chapter 2,
verse 4, Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with
thee? Mine hour is not yet come." Now
look at John 7, verse 30. He talks about it again. My hour. Now remember those two words.
Mine hour is not yet come. John 7, verse 30. Then they sought to take him,
these enemies, Pharisees, religious leaders who hated him, they sought
to take him, but no man laid hands on him because his hour
was not yet come. Now look at John 8, verse 20. Move on over into the next chapter,
John 8, verse 20. These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as he taught in the temple, and no man laid hands
on him, for his hour was not yet come." Now turn to John 12. In the twelfth chapter of John,
verse 23, listen to this, "...and Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified."
Verse 27, now is my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour."
Now one other, John 17, 1. Now here he is in the garden
just before they came to arrest him, praying with his disciples,
departed to be alone And verse 1 of John 17, the Lord Jesus
lifted up his eyes to heaven. This is when he sweat great drops
of blood, and he said, Father, the hour has come. This is it. Glorify thy son,
that thy son may glorify thee." Our Lord was not a reluctant
sacrifice. He was a willing sacrifice. Talking
to these people in John 10, verse 14, He said, I am the good shepherd,
I know my sheep, I am known of mine, as the Father knoweth me,
even so know I the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this foe, them
also I must bring. They shall hear my voice, and
they shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me." No man. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. No man taketh my life from me. In Isaiah 53, under this point,
I have to read these verses. The Savior was a willing sacrifice,
a willing substitute. In Isaiah chapter 53, He was
oppressed, falsely accused, Isaiah 53, 7. He was afflicted, beaten,
spat upon, mocked, and yet He opened not His mouth. He's brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is
dumbed, so he opened not his mouth." No rebellion, no resistance. He's a willing Savior. So as
I sit there, I don't see a failure, I see a willing substitute. I
don't see someone being dragged to Calvary's mountain and forcefully
put upon that tree while two or three people hold his hand,
driving nails in reluctant hands. I see him willingly going to
that cross because he came to this earth for that particular
hour. And then I see another thing
as I sit there at Golgotha's Hill. I see the Old Testament
sacrifices all fulfilled. Back yonder just a little while
after Adam and Eve came out of the garden, sinners cast out,
fallen in disgrace and shame and depravity, I see their son
Abel select a lamb carefully among the flock. He picked out
a lamb without spot, he picked out one without blemish, and
he brought it that lamb and put the blood on an altar as a sacrifice
for his sins. And when I sit there at Calvary,
my mind goes back to Abel's sacrifice, and I say it's fulfilled right
here. I see Abraham, his heart jumping with praise and rejoicing
as he unties Isaac and lifts Isaac off that altar and puts
him over here and takes the ram and puts the ram in Isaac's place
and kills the lamb and sheds the lamb's blood in place of
his son. As I look at Calvary, my mind
goes back to that time, and I see Christ is my substitute. God
literally lifted me off the altar of sin and put Christ there in
my place. I see the Old Testament priest
on the Day of Atonement slip under the veil of the Holy of
Holies with the blood in the basin, and go there to the mercy
seat, covering the loss, and put that blood on the mercy seat,
lift his eyes to God, and pray, let this blood be a blood of
cleansing and a blood of atonement for the sins of Israel. And I
see Christ fulfilling that. The Israelites down there in
Egypt took a lamb, slew that lamb, put its blood on the door,
went in the house and waited while God passed through in anger
and wrath and slew the firstborn. But when God saw the blood, He
passed by. And I see, as I sit at Calvary
Hill, the blood that will appease and satisfy and reconcile an
angry God. as he passes through this world
in judgment. Christ is our Lamb slain. Christ is our Passover. Christ
is our peace. Christ is our mercy seat. Christ
is our High Priest. Christ's blood maketh atonement
for our souls. That's what I see. The fourth
thing I see is this. I see the eternal covenant fulfilled. Now, my friends, I know that
we're not Bible scholars, but we ought to be Bible students.
We're lazy people. We're accustomed to having our
news read for us and then interpreted by a commentator. We don't do
much studying, we don't do much reading, but we ought to. Our
God is a covenant God. Do you know what I mean by that?
Do you know what I'm saying? God has always dealt with man
through a covenant. Now, that's so. God made a covenant
with Noah. You read your Bible. The Scripture
says, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and there was
a covenant made with Noah. God said, Noah, build an ark.
Man's days shall be a hundred and twenty years. My spirit will
not always strive with man, but Noah, you and your wife. and your three sons and their
wives are going to be saved by that ark." That was a promise,
that was a covenant. Noah built an ark, and Noah moved
with fear and prepared an ark, being warned of God, and delivered
his family. That was an agreement, that was
a contract, that was a covenant, and that covenant was not changed. God's covenants are never changed. God dealt with Abraham through
a covenant turned to Genesis 12. We need to look into this. This is so, and there's no way
around it. God's never changed when he deals
in his covenant mercies. There are always covenant mercies
in Genesis 12, verse 1. God said, Abraham, get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house unto a land I will show thee. and I will make of thee
a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great,
and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless
thee, I'll curse him that cursed thee, and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed." That's a covenant. God kept that covenant. The Jewish people are the descendants
of Abraham. God did. God gave him seed, numbering
the sands of the seashore and the stars of the sky. And that
nation had the hand of God upon it throughout all of Old Testament
days. God gave them the law, God gave
them the tabernacle, God gave them the ceremonies, God gave
them the priests, God gave them the prophets. He blessed other
nations through them, but that's not the primary promise in this
covenant. God sent the Messiah through
Abraham. God sent the Christ through Abraham,
right through the line of Judah, right through the family of Jesse,
right through the house of David, right from Abraham. The Lord
Jesus Christ came, and through him all nations have been blessed. But also in this covenant, God
said to Abraham and to his people, I'll bless them that bless thee,
and I'll curse them that curse thee. I can't help but be thankful,
and I'm chasing a rabbit here now, sidetracked just a little
bit, but I can't help but be thankful. In 1948, when the United
States government was the first government to recognize Israel,
and I cannot help but be thankful in 1974 when the United States
government, and I hope they're not talked out of, and I hope
they don't turn chicken, but when they back Israel, you better
back Israel. That's what God says there. He's
never changed His covenant. He didn't change that one with
Noah, and He didn't change this one with Abraham. And you can
have whatever opinion you want to about the Jews, but I'll tell
you this. God raised them up, and God sent
His Son through them, and God's not through with them yet. And
God's not through with Germany, and God's not through with Russia,
and God's not through with Egypt, and God's not through with the
Arabs, and God's not through with people that curse the Jews.
I believe that. That's what it says right here.
You can think God changes His covenant. God just moves slow.
A thousand years is a day, and a day a thousand years. And when
the cup's full, you'll drink it. It's just not full yet. There it is right there in God's
Word. And then God made a covenant with David. He made one with
Moses, and He made one with David. And He said, David, your throne
shall be forever. of the throne and the kingdom
of David, there will be no end, and there won't be. When that
little girl Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, she was giving
birth to the King of Israel because she was of the house and lineage
of David, right down the line. Jesus Christ was the rightful
heir of David's throne. not only by God's sovereign purpose
and eternal covenant and eternal decree, but actually he was the
rightful heir to David's throne. And then God made an everlasting
covenant. Now if you'll turn to Hebrews
13, now these other covenants, the one God made with Noah, the
one God made with Abraham, the one God made with Moses, the
one God made with David, these are covenants made with men.
They began in time. They were made when that particular
man was brought by God on the scene. But there is an everlasting
covenant both ways, an eternal covenant which God made with
Christ. Hebrews, first of all, chapter
7. Let's go to chapter 7 first. In Hebrews chapter 7, it says
in verse 22, we're talking about The Lord Jesus Christ and his
priesthood, being an everlasting priesthood, a priest after the
order of Melchizedek, without beginning or ending, without
father or mother, an everlasting priesthood. And it says in verse
22, "...by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament."
That word is covenant. He's the surety of an everlasting
covenant. He's the surety. Now turn to
Hebrews chapter 13, verse 20. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. The Father said to the Son, I
give to my Son a people countless beyond the stars, innumerable
multitude out of every nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue unto
heaven, I give unto my Son a people. I give unto my Son a people,
and all that the Father giveth to the Son will come to him.
And the Father's will is that all that he giveth to the Son,
the Son will lose nothing. God gave him a people. And the
son said, My father, I will be their surety, their guarantor. I'll sign the note, and in time
I'll go down to the earth and I'll take their nature, I'll
take their sinful flesh, I'll take their guilt, I'll take their
shame, I'll take their sin, and I'll go to the cross and I'll
be their substitute, their sacrifice, I'll be their redeemer. I'll
bear all the wrath and I'll fulfill the law for these people. that you give me. I'm the good
shepherd. I lay down my life for my sheep." And the Holy Spirit
said, I will in time call them to repentance. I will, saith
the Spirit of the living God, make them willing to come to
Christ. I'll grant them a conviction
of sin. I'll grant them a repentance
toward God. I'll grant them faith in Jesus
Christ. I'll work a holy calling in their
lives. I'll bring them to faith and
to love Christ. I'll make them willing in the
day of my power." And, my friends, that covenant is as certain and
as sure as the throne of God. Now, you may not like And you
may kick against the pricks, and you may quarrel and complain
about it, and you may holler about man's rights, but nobody's
hollering about the rights of the people in Noah's day. God
made a covenant with Noah. I don't see any people out carrying
signs saying God wasn't fair to the people of Noah's day.
I don't see many people getting upset over Sodom and Gomorrah.
I don't see anybody saying God wasn't fair, God wasn't just,
and yet God went down there and brought Lot out, sent the angels
down there after Lot and brought him out with his two daughters,
left the rest of them in there. I don't hear anybody complaining
about that. I don't hear anybody complaining
about the angels that kept not their first estate. They fell,
and the scripture says plainly in the book of Jude that those
angels are reserved in everlasting chains in darkness unto the day
of God's wrath. And Christ took not on himself
the nature of angels, did he? Anybody campaigning for the rights
of the angels who fell? And yet you can talk about God
making a covenant with his Son and giving him a people to be
redeemed by him and called by his Spirit, and you get all kind
of static. You know why? Because you're
personally involved. You are an insider. You are here. You weren't one of the fallen
angels. You are here. You weren't one of the people
in the flood. You are here. So really and truly,
you're just selfish. That's the problem. You're worried
about your own hide. You're not worried about God
not being fair. You're not worried about mankind
in general. You're not worried about humanity.
You're looking out for old number one, aren't you? Well, do you
want to be saved? Well, no. Well, don't get mad
at God for not giving you something you don't want. I don't think it's unfair for
God not to give you something you don't want. Do you want to
be convicted? Do you want to be converted?
Do you want to know Christ? Do you want to walk with the
King? Do you want to be one of his children? Well, no! Well,
don't fuss about it then if God doesn't give it to you. You don't
want it, and there's no reason to complain if you don't want
it. You know anybody out there that's beating on the church
door trying to get in? I don't think it's right for God to elect
a people. Do you know anybody that's knocking
down the door trying to get to God? Well, no, they're all trying
to get away from Him. Well, why should God give them something
they don't want? They don't want salvation. There's none that
seek after God. The only people seeking God are
the ones He sought. It's clear as a bell. There's
a covenant. And when I sit there and see
Christ die, I see the charity paying the debt. for the covenant people. I see
him fulfilling his promise. The Father gave him a people,
and Christ came down here and died for him like he said he
would. The surety of that covenant. And then I see, turn to Matthew
21. Now, I want you to look at this.
This is something that occurred to me. Brother Yeager and I were
riding along the other night coming back from Fairmont, West
Virginia listening to Brother Barnard preach. And he made a
point or two that suggested something to me, and I want you to look
at Matthew 27, verse 21. The governor answered and said
to them, Whither of the two will you that I release unto you?
And they said, Barabbas. Now, here is Jesus Christ, perfect
man, perfect Nobody could find fault with him, even the governor.
And boy, if he could have found something, he would have found
it, because he was between Caesar and Christ. He was between the
people and pleasing his wife. And if he could have found something,
some fault in that man, he would have found it. But he said, I
find no fault in him, and nobody else could. And here was Barabbas,
a convicted murderer, a thief, a man condemned to die. And when
the choice is given to the people, whom do I release unto you? They said, Release Barabbas.
Pilate said, Well, what shall I do with Jesus, which is called
the Christ? They said, Let him be crucified. Give us Barabbas, crucify Jesus. Give us darkness, not light. Give us evil, not good. Give us lies, not truth. Give us idols, not the living
God. Give us sin. I see as I sit there
and watch what they did with Jesus Christ, what we did, and
let Barabbas go free, I see man's utter, absolute, complete depravity. How wicked, wicked, wicked is
the human race. Turn with me to John 3. Listen
to this. In John chapter 3, let men talk
all they will of what's right and what's wrong, what's sin
and what's not sin. Let them talk all they will of
their rules and laws, and let them try to define sin. But the
Savior tells us what's wrong with the human race right here
in John 3 verse 18. He says, verse 19, is the condemnation. This is
our problem. This is our trouble, that light
is coming to this world, and men said, give us Barabbas, give
us darkness, give us evil, give us corruption. Men love darkness
rather than light. That's our problem. That's the
condemnation. And as I sit there at Calvin,
I look at the Son of God hanging on the cross, the Son of God
who did no sin, neither was there guile found in His mouth. And
I see these people shooting out their lips and laughing and ridiculing
and mocking and crying things at Him. I see man utter depravity. This is condemnation. Men love
darkness. And then I see in the next place
the wages of sin. Christ had no sin. Christ took
our sin, and because he took our sin, he had to die, because
the Scripture says the wages of sin is death. The soul that's
in it, it shall surely die. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death. Christ had to die because he
had my sin. He was numbered with the transgressors,
therefore he had to die. And then last of all, As I sit
at Calvary's Mountain and look at Christ, I see my ransom paid. I see it all paid. Jesus paid
it all. All to him I owe. Sin left a
crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow. When I was watching this television
program last week about the only American soldier to be executed
in World War II for desertion or for cowardice under fire. It was a very impressive thing,
and I admit that I had different feelings. But there's one thing
that occurred to me as I watched this thing unfold. It took this
boy. He was already guilty. He was tried. he was sentenced. And then they took him out into
the courtyard and they strapped him to a post and they put a
hood over his head. And then the officer in charge
read the charge. He read it. Private so-and-so
found guilty of desertion under fire has been sentenced to be
executed by order of General Dwight David Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief
of the American forces. And then the firing squad shouldered
their rifles and fired, and he was killed. He was dead. And I thought, as I sat there
and watched it, now that he's The law has no claim on him anymore. The sentence has been carried
out. He was guilty. He was sentenced. The law imprisoned
him. The law held him. He could not
go free until he paid what the law required. The law required
his life, and he gave it. Now then, when they took him
down from that post and put him on the stretcher and led him
away, The law had no further claim on him. He's free now,
but he's dead. He's dead. When the law exacted its penalty,
it killed him. It took his life from him. It
destroyed him. But the law has no further claim
on him. Now, when Jesus Christ died on that cross, when he cried,
It is finished, hanging there in my place, I was guilty, he
took my place. The law sentenced me, he took
my place. The Lord demanded my death, he
took my place. The Lord demanded my execution,
he took my place. I sit there and I watch him,
and finally he cries, It's finished! And his head drops. Now then,
I'm free. The scripture says, Who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemned
it? That boy, when he died before
that firing squad, after he died, they could just tear those things
up because it had no further claim on him. They couldn't bring
another charge. They couldn't say he retreated
twice. They couldn't say he retreated
three times. He'd already died for retreating.
He had no charge, no claim. He's free, but he's dead. But
see, when Christ took my place and paid my debt, I'm free because
he died. and I've still got life. The
law has no claim on me. Nobody in heaven, nobody on earth,
nobody in hell can bring up any other charges against me because
my Christ, my Lord, my Redeemer has died. The law satisfies Justice
is satisfied. Now I'm free. Who is he that
condemns it? That's the freedom of Christ.
That's ceasing from your own labors and entering into his
rest. That's the peace that Christ gives. That's the reconciliation
to the Father. That's the total and complete
redemption and freedom by the death of another. That's the
gospel. Our Father, take the word tonight
and bless it to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father
don't let us be in such a big hurry to drink from the cisterns
of the world that we don't have the time to sit down and watch
him, the fountain of life. Don't let us be in too big a
hurry to siphon from the cisterns of pleasure and fame and possessions
and evil and forget to sit down and watch him and come away deeply
influenced and affected. What shall it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his soul? Let thy blood be propitiation,
O God, for us sinners On the mercy seat in Christ's name,
Amen.