Turn, if you will, with me to Luke chapter 22.
Well, it's great to be able to
sing about it. It's great to be able to think
about it, but it's even better to be able to preach about it.
I know you don't get the opportunity to do that, but I do
this morning and I'm glad for that opportunity.
But Luke chapter 22, we'll get there in just a couple minutes.
But I want to give you a little bit of a backdrop here as we as
we move into the message this morning.
To the east of the city of Jerusalem, there's a little
mountain. It's called the Mount of Olives.
And I had the privilege of, of being there in 2023.
But it's about 300 feet above the city of Jerusalem.
And as you stand there on the Mount of Olives, you can see the
entire landscape in front of you.
And the entire city of Jerusalem is there used to be the temple
that stood there. Now it's the Dome of the Rock.
But just a, just a, a scene that that's very hard to get out of
your mind. In fact, you can't forget about
it. But on the western slope of the
Mount of Olives is a garden. And I've been in that garden as
well. In that garden, there's some,
some beautiful shrubs, primarily olive trees.
And, and they say that the olive trees date back at least 900
years. Some think that there are some
of the olive trees that still date back to the time of Christ.
That's how old these olive trees are.
But they're massive. They're massive trunks are just,
they're knotted and they're gnarled and they kind of, they
stand there like Sentinels watching over the garden where
Jesus prayed. Tradition all the way back to
the 2nd century says that this is the place where Jesus prayed.
It's called Gethsemane, the garden of Gethsemane.
That word Gethsemane literally means oil press because it was
in that garden that they had a giant press to press the olive
oil from the olives. And right there next to it,
there's a, there's a building where you can, you can walk in
and see exactly how the olive press works.
And it just crushes those olives.
It squeezes them until that that oil runs out.
But Jesus would often come to that place, the Garden of
Gethsemane, to pray, and he would kneel there and speak to
his father. But this was the night like no
other night. Jesus had been up in Mount Zion,
the upper room where he celebrated what's known as the
Last Supper with his disciples. And he talked about his coming
crucifixion and prior to that, his betrayal and Judas had
already gone out. Judas, the Bible says that that
that Jesus had said there at at the supper that the one who dips
the SOP with me is the one who's going to betray me.
And every one of them in their mind said, is it I?
Is it I, is it I? And some of them even asked that
question out loud. But Judas was actually the one
who decided that he was going to do it.
And for 30 pieces of silver he went and negotiated with the
high priest to kiss Jesus on the cheek and betray him to the ones
who wanted to kill him. But the Lord Jesus, needing
prayer, left Mount Zion, and he came down, and he crossed the
Brook Kidron and came to the Garden of Gethsemane.
And Jesus kneeled there at the Rock of Agony.
And Jesus prayed 3 times. He prayed.
Lord, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me.
I don't want to drink this cup. This wasn't a literal cup.
He was using a metaphor. He was using a figure of speech,
a symbol meaning to experience something fully.
It was the cup of agony that Jesus drank, and dark Gethseman,
and he drank it there alone. And the Bible.
Says he was in such agony that he sweat, as it were, great
drops of blood. And science tells us that it is
possible to sweat blood. Only under extreme
circumstances, which obviously the Bible makes it very clear
that Jesus was. But there in Gethsemane, he
knows that soon God the Father must.
Turn his back on His only begotten Son.
Jesus will drink that cup alone, alone in Gethsemane.
And so began the events that would lead to his death, his
burial, and his resurrection. And I want to share with you 4
things that make the story of Easter what it is. 4 things that
lead to a conquest unrivalled in the history of mankind.
The unrivalled conquest. That's the title of my message
this morning. And that's what I want to talk
to you about, to preach to you about for just a a few minutes
this morning. But let's have a word of prayer
and ask God's blessing on the message, and then we'll look at
those four things. Father, again, we thank you so
much for your goodness to us. Thank you for the opportunity we
have to be here to celebrate the resurrection.
God, there is no point in celebrating A resurrection if we
don't come to you for salvation because of it.
And so, God, I pray that if there is anybody in here this
morning that does not know for sure that Jesus Christ is their
savior, does not know that their sins are forgiven and that
they're on their way to heaven, that they'll get that settled
today. God, may you help me as I
preach, you help us as we listen this morning as well, and may
you speak to our hearts. Thank you again for all that you
do for us in Jesus name, Amen. First thing, as I've already
sort of alluded to is the cup and Luke chapter 22 and verse
#39 the Bible says this. And he came out and went as he
was won't to the Mount of Olives, And his disciples also
followed him. And when he was at the place, he
said unto them, Pray that you enter not into temptation.
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and
kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing,
remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but
thine be done. And there appeared an Angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him, and being in an agony, he
prayed more earnestly. And his sweat was, as it were,
great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples,
he found them sleeping for sorrow.
And he said unto them, Why sleepy, rise and pray, lest you
enter into temptation. And while he yet spake, behold a
multitude. And he that was called Judas,
one of the 12 went before him and drew near unto Jesus to kiss
him. First of all, I want you to see
the contents of the cup. What was in that cup that Jesus
drank in the Garden of Gethsemane that was so loathsome
and so terrifying that Jesus shrank in horror from that cup?
Was it the physical death by crucifixion that he knew was
coming that that caused him such dread?
Of course, it might cause anybody dread the, the, the
method of crucifixion to the method of death by crucifixion
that the Romans had invented was, was such a horrible death.
And it was, it was a death and no one wanted to experience.
And so I'm sure. Jesus knowing that his that his
physical body was going to be subjected to some of the most
heinous things that a man could come up with as a way to torture
somebody's body. I'm sure Jesus knew that that
was coming and it would be painful and hurtful and
shameful, a death by crucifixion.
But others have died that way. Other martyrs have gone to their
death. It wasn't the death that Jesus
dreaded so much. Well, was it some extraordinary
attack of Satan? Is that what was in that cup?
No. Jesus had already met Satan in
the wilderness. He had already conquered Satan.
Satan hounded him all the way to the cross.
But Jesus had No Fear of Satan. He had no dread of Satan.
What was it that was breaking the heart of Jesus Christ?
Was it the betrayal of Judas? Was it the was it the the
failure of his disciples? Was it obviously he was
disappointed. But there's a difference in
disappointment and dread. Jesus dreaded this cup that he
was going to have to drink and he said, Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass. From me, Well, I want you to
know that first of all, the pollution of sin was in that
cup. The Bible teaches us that in
order for Jesus Christ to redeem us, our sin has to be placed on
him. Second Corinthians chapter 5 and
verse 21. The Bible says, For he hath made
him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.
See, the sin of the ages was in that cup.
My sin and your sin was in that cup.
Suppose we were to go through the congregation this morning
and and put your sin in it, and your sin and your sin and your
sin and your sin and your sin. Put everybody's sin in this cup.
Not every vile thought, every wicked deed, every hateful,
hurtful thing that you can possibly imagine, all of the sin
of this congregation. And then let's step outside of
this church building and put in all the sin of the entire, the
entire city. Put that in that cup.
And then let's put the sin of the entire state of Virginia in
that cup. And then we put the entire sin,
the sin of the entire nation and, and, and, and even the
entire world, and we take all of the sins that have ever been
committed, and not just in this generation or in the last or in
the generation to come, but for generations going back thousands
and thousands of years. All of that sin, all in that
cup. Put it in there and then take
all the sins of the past and all the sins of the present and all
the sins of the future and distill it down and put it in
that cup. Put all the vile filth that you
can possibly. Think of and say Jesus, drink
it. Drink the bitter dregs, become
sin. Not just bear sin, but become
sin. He was made sin for us, the
Bible says, because He carried that sin to the cross.
You may not understand what sin is, but I can tell you that
Jesus Christ knew. What sin is?
And Jesus knew when he drank that cup, he would be numbered
with the transgressors. The Bible makes it very clear in
Isaiah 53 that he was going to be numbered with the
transgressors. Jesus Christ who had never done
anything wrong, Jesus Christ the sinless one, Jesus Christ the
spotless Lamb, was going to be numbered with the transgressors.
And not was he just going to bear the sin of the world.
He was going to become that sin. And so we see first of all, the
pollution of sin was in that cup, but also #2 the punishment
of sin. Was in that cup Jesus knew that
the punishment not of some sin, but of all the sin, not of some
people, but of all the people, would be upon him.
One man would bear it all, and when he.
Did the Father was going to have to turn his back on his only
begotten Son? The Bible says in Habakkuk that
God is is so pure that he cannot even look on sin.
And so when Jesus Christ, his only Son, became sin for us, God
the Father had to turn his back to the point where Jesus said,
My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
And all you can imagine the the pain that Jesus must have felt
not only have taken the entire sin of the entire world upon
himself, but having his own Father turn his back on him on
the cross. The sins of the entire world
were distilled and eternities were compressed, and Jesus,
being infinite, suffered A finite period of time and
eternity. Of hell on that cross.
The price that Jesus paid, only the damned in hell can begin to
know, but they'll never know because they're only paying for
their sin. Jesus paid for the sin of the
entire world as he hung on that cross.
He paid all the sins of all the people for all time.
No wonder Jesus said here in this passage in verse #42
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
So we've seen the contents of the cup, but I want you to see
this number 2, the consumption. Of the cup, Jesus said, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.
Does it make you think the less of him that he shrank back from
the contents of that cup? It makes me think more of him.
And I'll tell you why. This was not some charade.
This was real. He didn't have to die.
He had a choice. John chapter 10 and verse 18.
No man taketh it. My life he's talking about from
me, but I lay it down of myself. But in his divine love he said,
nevertheless, not my will, but dying be done.
Jesus was the only man whoever chose to die.
The wages of sin was death. There was no sin in him, there
would have been no death in him. Yet is because Jesus suffered
blood and died on that cross that you and I can be redeemed.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 says for all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God because I'm a Sinner.
Jesus Christ had to die. If I had never sinned, he never
would have had to die on the cross.
There would have been no need for his death.
But Jesus took my sin. He took your sin and he carried
it to the cross. God will never overlook sin.
He cannot. God is holy and by His Holiness
he has sworn that sin will be punished.
All sin will be punished. The sins that you think, well,
that's just a small thing in the grand scheme of things.
That's, that's a little sin. That's a, that's a little white
lie. At least it's not one of the big
ones. At least I'm not sitting in jail
somewhere. At least I haven't committed
murder. At least I haven't done this.
At least I haven't done that all.
Sin must be punished by God. No sin goes unpunished.
If God were to let 1/2 of 1 sin go unpunished, God would no
longer be holy. His justice demands that there
be a punishment for that sin. And Jesus Christ drank.
That cup for. Us and so in this unrivaled
conquest, we see the cup, but I also want you to see this number
2, the crown turn over to Matthew chapter 27 Matthew
chapter 27. See Jesus was crowned with
thorns and it was not accidental that that was the case.
It was it was certainly a wicked act of of hatred and rebellion.
But Jesus being crowned with thorns on his way to the cross
has a very wonderful message. They took that crown of thorns
and they pressed it upon his precious head and then they took
clubs and they beat him about his head.
But this was part of the magnificent plan of God.
I want you to see, first of all, the sacred mystery of the crown.
See, the crown of thorns symbolizes the curse that's upon
humanity. One of the curses in the Garden
of Eden all the way back in Genesis chapter 3 was that the
ground was going to bear thorns and thistles and that they would
begin to grow on the earth. Had Adam not sin, thorns would
never have grown on this earth. But Jesus wore that crown of
thorns because he bore the curse for.
US. Look at all the heartache, the
pain, the suffering, the toil, the anguish, and you can write
over it one word, Sin. Sin.
The thorn is the emblem of sin, the symbol of that sin.
When Jesus died on the cross, he was crowned with thorns.
He wore that crown because he bore the curse for us.
So we see the sacred mystery of the crown, but I also want you
to see the solemn misery of the crown.
That crown speaks of suffering. It speaks of pain.
That crown was placed upon his head and and jammed onto his
temples, which is one of the most sensitive parts of the
human body. It was placed there, these,
these great spikes put there. And then on top of that with the
club, they began to beat and batter him about the head.
They struck him with reeds, they struck him with rods, they spit
on him, they they punched him. And those who paint and depict
the Lord Jesus Christ and the cross are kind.
We would not want to see a picture portrayed of Jesus
Christ hanging literally the way that he hung on the cross.
His face was so brutalized that you could not tell the
difference between. Man and animal.
Remember, with their hands they they snatched the beard from his
face. They plucked it right out of his
face. Can you imagine the pain that he
must have felt? And they whipped him 39 times
with a cat of nine tails, a, a, a leather whip that was that was
that was laced with, with glass and rocks and sharp objects to
do the most damage possible. And they say.
That 40 lashes is enough to kill a man and they whipped him 39
times. They brought him within an inch
of death and that would have been bad enough, but then they
they ripped his beard. Out and then they placed a crown
of thorns on his head and with their fists they battered that
face. They they loosened his teeth.
The blood runs down his nostrils.
It's mingled with the filthy spit from their mouths.
Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 14 says his visage, his his
countenance was so. Marred more than any man, and
his form more than the sons of men.
Oh, the picture that you have in your mind of the paintings that
you see of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross make it look like
he suffered. And he makes it look like he is
in, in, in, in a little bit of pain, and it makes it look like
he's in a little bit of discomfort.
But I can promise you, nothing you could imagine can prepare
you for what Jesus Christ actually went through on the
cross. And on top of all of that, he
was stripped completely naked and hung there in shame.
Some years ago in New York City, there was a mother who was
hanging her clothes on the line and she was outside and and one
of her neighbors came running over and she said, your house is
on fire. Your house is on fire.
And she knew that she had a little baby sleeping in a crib
inside the house. And so she dropped all those
clothes and she ran in the house and she took a blanket and she
wrapped it around her baby. And by that point the the fire
was so intense that it was burning her as she was running.
But she wrapped that baby in the blanket and and made her way
outside and she laid that. Baby down in the grass and by
that time the firemen had had showed up and they unwrapped
that baby and not a single hair and that baby's head was singed.
Nothing was wrong with that baby but the fire.
Had been so intense. And the heat was so strong that
that mother was badly burned. And she went through different
surgeries and things, but it left her very scarred.
Her hands were very scarred and gnarled from that, from that
fire. Her face bore the marks of of
someone who had run through the flames.
Her little daughter grew up to be a beautiful girl, and she was
18 years old. Her high school class was having
an outing and being the beautiful girl that she was, it
was it was Senior day and they were on the Hudson River on a
boat and she was the center of attention.
And at a certain moment this girl's mother passed by.
The the parents were invited to that day because it was senior
day and all the parents were hanging out with their children.
And at one point this mother walked by where her daughter was
standing with her friends and one of them without even
thinking. How cruel.
Her remark would be said, Who is that hideous woman and that
girl, without even thinking herself said, I don't.
Know her? And the mother?
Heard it. And later on that day, when
everything was finished, the mother said, darling, I want you
to come here. I need to tell you something.
You've often asked me about the burns on my face and on my
hands. And I've I've never told you
what happened because I didn't want to put that burden on you.
But I think it's time for me to tell you that these burns that
you see on these gnarled hands and the burns that you see on
this hideous face I got because I ran into a building when you
were just a baby and I rescued you out of your crib and you've
grown into a beautiful, beautiful young lady.
I bare the scars and I bare the marks of what it took to rescue
you. I know that girl's heart was
broken. She burst into tears and she
grabbed her mother by the hands and she started to kiss those
hands. And she took her hands and she
rubbed her face and tears were just dripping from her eyes.
She couldn't believe that she had betrayed the mother who had
done that for her. Friend, I'd rather be that
daughter ashamed of her mother, than to be ashamed of Jesus
Christ, who wore that crown for me.
Oh, how could we ever, oh, shall I fear to own his cause, or
blush? To speak his name, the sacred
mystery he bore the curse. The solemn misery he suffered
our hell. But I want you to see this.
And back in Matthew chapter 27, the shameful mockery of that
crown. Verse #29 the Bible says.
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it
upon his head. And a Reed.
In his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and
mocked him, saying Hail King of the Jews.
They were mocking him because of their rebellion.
Can you imagine that? Here is the Lord of glory, Here
is the King of kings and Lord of Lords.
And they spit in his face. Not only was he just the king,
he was the king of kings. And they platted a crown of
thorns on his head. And they, they gave him a Reed
in his hand to to mock him as if it was a scepter.
And they gave him robes to wear. And they bowed down facetiously
and mockingly. And they said, Hail King of the
Jews. Sin is refusing to bow your knee
to the rightful King. May I tell you what the root of
all sin is? Not what you do wrong that you
ought not to do, not that you fail to do things that you
should do. But sin is refusing to bow your
knee to your rightful. King.
These other things are the result of that.
Sin is rebellion. Sin is a clenched fist in the
face of God. And you might say, well, I'm a
religious person and I may I remind you that it was the
religious crowd that crucified Jesus.
It was the religious crowd that ripped his beard out.
It was the religious crowd that drove those nails into his hands
and into his feet. It was the religious crowd that
hung him up there on the cross. They were the ones that were
behind the crucifixion. That's the mockery of that
crown. Men today, as then, refused to
bow the knee to Jesus Christ. And today either you will bow
the knee or crown him with thorns.
One more time, friend, when Jesus wore this crown, He was
the sovereign majesty. He was not some helpless victim.
And you have a choice today. You can bow your knee and honor
Jesus Christ, or you can say, take that crown from off his
head and put it on mine. And I will bear my own curse and
I'll pay for my own sin, and I will suffer and burn in hell
because I refuse to bow the knee to the One who loved me so much.
Jesus offers to you Amazing Grace.
He offers to you wonderful love, and you can be saved.
In this unrivaled conquest, we see the cup, we see the crown,
but I want you to see #3 the cross.
And I don't mean to be redundant this morning, but so much hinges
on all these aspects of the few days leading up to the
resurrection. If you will turn over to first
Peter, chapter 3. First Peter chapter 3.
Suppose someone were to come up to you, and with their fists
they punch you right in the nose.
And suppose that in some act of compassion you said, I forgive
you. And they said, oh, no need to do
that. You don't need to forgive me.
I've already forgiven myself. And somebody else that was
standing there watching the whole thing said neither one of
you guys need to forgive each other.
I've already forgiven both of you.
See, you were the one that got punched in the nose, and only
the punchee can forgive the puncher.
It's the way it works. You see, sin is that clenched
fish in the face of God and only God can forgive sin.
God is a holy God and and sin is an affront, A reproach, A
rebellion against that holy God and sin must be dealt with.
We've said that over and over again, but first Peter chapter 3
and verse 18, the Bible says this.
For Christ also also has once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in
the flesh. But quickened.
In the Spirit I want you to see this first of all, the vicarious
suffering of the cross, the vicarious suffering of the
cross. That word vicarious means in the
place of another or substitutionary.
That is Jesus who is just, who never sinned, the virgin born
sinless, spotless Lamb of God, the just died for the unjust
beyond Joss, that's me, that's you, that's we're the ones he
became our substitute. In fact, if you turn a couple
pages back, the first Peter chapter 1 and verse #18 the
Bible says for as much as you know that you were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold received from
your vain conversations, received by tradition from your
Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot.
That's how we're redeemed through the blood of Jesus
Christ. And there's so, so much here.
But Jesus was the Passover lamb, the lamb that was sacrificed
once to pay for the sins of the people.
Have you ever wondered why so much of the gospels are given
over to the last week of Jesus life, all the things that he
did. In fact, one of the last verses
in the book of John says that if all the books that could be
written about Jesus Christ were written, that not even the world
itself could contain the books that should be written.
That's how much Jesus did in in his lifetime.
All the world could not contain the books that are written.
And yet out of the four gospels so much time is given to the
last week of Jesus life. Why is that?
Because this is the climax of it all, and it's there in that last
week that Jesus is being examined as the spotless Lamb,
Pilot said. I.
Find no fault in him. Never man spake like this man
before. And then came the day when the
spotless Lamb was slain. The purpose of the cross is
substitution. And I wish I had time to tell
you more, but tongue cannot tell, throat cannot sing, hand
cannot paint. The tragedy that was called
Calvary and the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He suffered emotionally and He suffered physically in my.
Place and in your place. You know why the Romans used
crucifixion? Crucifixion was meant to be
cruel. It was meant to be unusual.
It was meant to. It was meant to inspire terror
in the people who saw it, so that when they saw a crucifixion
and they said what did this man do?
I promise you I will not do that because I don't want to end up
in that place myself. That's what crucifixion was
designed to do. That's the vicarious suffering
of the cross. Jesus Christ was my substitute.
He hung in my place. Not only the vicarious suffering
of the cross, but the vital satisfaction of the cross.
First Peter chapter 3 verse 18 says for Christ also have once
suffered for sins. When Jesus said it is finished,
he meant that the debt had been paid.
Absolutely. In Rome, when a man would be put
in prison, when a man was declared guilty for a crime,
they would put that man in prison.
But then they would, they would write out a certificate of debt
and it would be placed above the door of that man's cell.
However long he was sentenced to be there, whatever his sentence
was, it was, it was his debt that he owed.
And not until that debt was paid was he set free.
But then they would write across that certificate paid in full,
and they would give it to him. And you know the word that they
would write. On that certificate to Telestye,
it's the same word that Jesus spoke on the cross when he said
it is finished, it is finished. It's paid in.
Full. That man won't have to go back
to prison again. He'll never come into double
jeopardy if they arrest him for that crime.
He can say this is and they say this is what you've done.
He can show them that certificate of debt that says
paid in full, it is finished and this is what it says in first
Peter. Christ also hath once suffered
for sin. There will never be a need for
another sacrifice. I want you to see this, the
victorious salvation of the cross.
Sin separates us from the holy God.
What does the cross do on that cross Jesus took?
Holy God with one hand and sinful man with the other hand,
and by the blood of the cross He reconciled God to man.
Jesus Christ is the only one that could possibly have done
it. He made peace by the blood of
His cross with His cross that He might bring us to God.
Which brings me then to the last point, and if you will turn over
to Romans chapter 3, in this unrivaled conquest, we see the
cup, we see the crown, we see the cross, but then we also see
the conquest. A teacher gave this assignment
to her students. They were to write an essay on
the greatest living man. And one student wrote an essay
on Jesus Christ. And the teacher said, that's
wonderful, it's a wonderful essay, but you misunderstood.
I said the greatest living man. And that student rightly
answered that teacher. He is alive.
Others die and they stay dead.
But Jesus died and he came up out of the grave.
That's the conquest. I was reading about Harry
Houdini. He was, he was an escape artist.
He actually died in 1936, but I've read about him.
This man was a genius. He could get out of anything
they put him into. And they said that he had the
flexibility of an eel. He had the eyes of a cat.
They tried all kinds of ways to keep Harry Houdini locked up.
And sometimes they would put him in a coffin and bury the coffin
and he would get out of it. Sometimes they had put him, they
would rivet him in boilers and he would escape.
Sometimes they, they, they'd sewed him up in a canvas bag and
throw him in the river and he would come out.
Just an amazing ability that this man had.
And one time they put him in federal prison in Washington.
It was maximum security. And in less than 1/2 an hour he
walked out. And not only that, but he had
put a bunch of the prisoners that were in the cell with him
in another cell. No idea how he did that, but his
biographer said he could escape from anything except your
memory. And yet there was a day when
Harry Houdini died and he couldn't escape death.
Harry Houdini is still in the grave.
Harry Houdini. Is still in that coffin under
the ground. No trickery there.
No skill there, no flexibility there.
Harry Houdini died. Befriend.
I want to tell you that there was another one who died.
His name was Jesus Christ, and he made the greatest escape that
ever was. Jesus came out of that grave and
he arose. And I want you to see this.
First of all, our sin decrees death because of sin.
You must die. Oh sure, we're all going to die
physically, but we die the spiritual death as well.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 3, and you're there if you
turned in your Bible verse #23 for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 4
says the soul that sinneth it shall die.
James chapter one verse 15. Then when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished, bringeth
forth death. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12.
Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned, none of us can escape the decree of death,
because. Of our sin.
Oh, we all deserve to die physically, but we all deserve
to die spiritually as well. And the Bible makes it very
plain that hell is not a figment of your imagination.
Hell is not just something that you're going through on this
earth because life is hard. Hell is not something that
you're going to go there and spend a week or a month or a
year or ten years or 50 years or 1000 years and get out.
Hell, the Bible says, is a real place that burns with fire and
brimstone. And though the worm dieth not,
and they gnash on you with their teeth, and it will be forever.
There are no exit signs. There are no fire escapes in
hell. If you find yourself in that
horrible place, you will be there for all of eternity with
no way to escape. God's justice demands that there
be a payment for our sin. And that payment is death.
But the conquest that Jesus Christ won was over sin, and it
was over death, and it was over hell, and it was over the grave.
And so our sin decrees death. But I want you to see this
number 2. The Savior delivers life because
He lives. You can live.
Had Jesus Christ never come up out of the grave, He would have
been no different than anybody else who claimed to be the
greatest thing that ever walked on earth.
And oh, there's all kinds of religions.
As Brother Brian mentioned when we were singing the songs,
there's a lot of people who have claimed to be the one who was
going to come and deliver everybody out of their bondage.
He was going to be the one that if you just follow my plan, you
can. You can have whatever I'm
promising you. You can have your own planet,
you can have all your virgins, you can have all of these
things. Just follow me.
And one by one, every one of those men have died and been
buried in the grave. And you know, the amazing thing
is you can go see where they're buried today.
Every one of them has a place where you can go.
And some of them have very ornate coffins in there.
They're decorated with jewels and, and you can see them and
see their coffins because they're in some sarcophagus.
That's that's clear so that you can go visit the place where
this man is. But I'll tell you what they
don't even know where Jesus grave is at exactly because he's
not there. You can't find him because he
rose from the dead. He's the only one that's ever
done that. And because he lives, you can
live as well. The Bible says in Romans chapter
6. And verse 23.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Because he lives, you can live, Romans.
Chapter 5 and verse #8 the Bible says but God commendeth his love
toward us he gave his love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for. US.
First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse #20 But now is Christ
risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that
slept. For since by man came death, by
man came also the resurrection of the dead, For as in Adam all
die. Even so, in.
Christ shall all be made. Alive.
Jesus drank that cup of sin for you.
Jesus wore that crown of thorns for you.
Jesus bore that cross of wood for you.
That should have been me that was paraded through those
streets carrying that cross that day.
That should have been me that was whipped.
That should have been me that that had my beard ripped out and
been spit upon. That should have been me that
had those nails driven through my hands and my feet.
That should have been me. That was hung up there in shame
until death finally came. It should have been me.
That was put in the grave. Jesus Christ did it for me, and
because he lives, you can live. I want you to see this.
Lastly, the situation demands a decision.
The situation demands a decision.
Next chapter 16 and verse #31 and they said believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Oh, see, we are sinners. And we are on our way to hell.
How do you how do you escape that punishment?
How do you? Escape that death. 2nd
Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2.
For he saith, I've heard thee in a time accepted, and then a day
of salvation have I secord thee, Behold, now is the accepted
time. Behold, now is the day of.
Salvation. You have a choice.
You can bow your knee to the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords, or you can suffer the penalty that comes from someone.
It comes to someone who's rebellion and sin goes
unforgiven. You see, Jesus Christ did
everything that needs to be done.
There's nothing else you need to do.
I'm not, I'm not trying to tell you that you need to get into a
Baptist Church and you need to do this and you need to give and
you need to be a good person and you need to try to do this
thing, and you need to try to do that thing.
And hopefully maybe someday you'll get a chance to go to
heaven. Though the Bible makes it very
clear that those who go to heaven are not the ones who
deserve it the most, the ones who go to hell are not the ones
who deserve that the most, the ones who go to heaven.
Are the ones who recognize that the payment that Jesus Christ
made on the cross was for your sin and my sin.
And there is no other. Way given among men whereby we
must be saved. What an amazing thing that is.
I wrote this poem that I want to read to you this morning.
They laid him in a borrowed tomb as silence sealed the darkest
gloom. The sky grew dark.
The earth did shake. All hope seemed lost for
sinner's sake. The cross stood bare, The blood
was shed. The King of life was counted
dead. All hell rejoiced and demons
cried. The Son of God is crucified.
But oh, they did not understand. This was not loss, but Heaven's
plan. For in that grave, so cold, so
deep, the Lion of Judah was only asleep.
And on day three, at break of dawn, the stone was rolled to
show he was gone. Death was defeated.
The grave lost its claim. All hell was silenced at the
sound of his name. He rose with power, He rose with
might. He rose to turn our darkness to
light. No chain can hold, no grave can
keep the one who comforts those that weep.
So hear me now, this Easter cry. You don't have to live just to
die. Because he.
Lives. Your soul can rise from death to
life, from earth to skies. The cross is empty.
The tomb is still bare and Jesus is calling.
Will you meet him there? Friend, you must understand that
Jesus did all of that for me. He did all of that for you.
Not so you could try to work your way to heaven.
Not so you could try to earn your place.
Not so you could try to escape hell and hope that you've done
enough in this life. Now Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8
says For by grace are you saved through faith?
And that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast.
Doesn't have anything to do with how good I've been.
It doesn't have anything to do with how bad I've been.
Has everything to do with what Jesus Christ did for me.
And if you die and go to hell, you die and go to hell with your
sins paid for. Jesus Christ already did
everything that was necessary for you to spend an eternity in
heaven with Him. Now He's waiting on your
decision. Will you accept Him or will you
reject Him? Oh, and sometimes it's not that
you say, I don't want anything to do with that.
I don't. I don't believe all that stuff.
I don't believe those stories. They're just made-up stories
anyway. Most of the time when somebody
rejects Christ, that's not what they're saying.
Most of the time when somebody rejects Christ, they say.
That's that's, that's interesting.
I need to do that, but I'll do it later.
I'll do it later. There's time.
There's time, friend. You are not guaranteed tomorrow.
You're not guaranteed another minute of life.
When you take your last breath, you're going to find yourself in
heaven. Are you going to find yourself
in hell? The wonderful thing about that?
Is that this decision is yours. Nobody gets to make that
decision for you. Nobody gets to determine where
you spend eternity but you. Will you accept him or will you
do nothing and reject him? That's the decision that's put
before you this morning. What decision are you going to
make? What will you do with Jesus?
Oh, it was an unrivalled conquest.
He took the cup, all of your sin and all of my sin and all the
sins of the entire world, and he drank it.
And then he wore the crown. Oh, when they shoved that on his
head, it wasn't just a torture device.
It was a symbol of all the rebellion, all the sin being
placed upon the head of Jesus Christ.
And then he went to the cross. He did that for you and He did
it for me. The cross was so heavy as he
made his way down the Via Dolorosa to the place of Calvary
where he was going to ultimately take his last breath, he
stumbled underneath. The weight of it because he was
so weak. The Bible says that as He hung
on the cross, he said it is finished.
The work that He came to do was done.
The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And oh, thank God for the conquest, because it had not
been for Jesus Christ coming up out of that grave.
There would be no opportunity for salvation.
If you know Christ is your Savior this morning, you know
the peace that comes that passes all understanding.
If you don't, then maybe you're sitting there this morning
saying I need to do something about that and I want to give
you the opportunity to do that this morning.
So if you would please stand at your seats with your heads bowed
and your eyes closed, I'm going to have a word of prayer and
then I'm going to give you an opportunity that if you would
like to come. Have somebody take a Bible and
show you how you can know for sure that you're on your way to
heaven. You can get that settled today.
Boy, what a wonderful thing it would be to reach out to Jesus
Christ on Easter Sunday, on Resurrection Day, the day that
we celebrate what Jesus Christ did for us and we try to
celebrate it all year, but on the very special day to come and
know Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior.
Listen, it doesn't have anything to do with baptism now.
Baptism is only to let everybody know that you have been saved.
It doesn't have anything to do with coming to church.
Ah, you know, the thief on the cross that was crucified next to
Jesus never went to church a day in his life.
He never put 1 dime in the offering plate.
As far as we know, he was a criminal.
He was a thief. He was being crucified not
because he had been lied about, but because he was convicted of
his crimes. He didn't have time to come down
off that cross and get baptized. No, no, it doesn't have anything
to do with what you can do or what I can do.
It has everything to do with what we do with Christ.
It's not about a religion. It's about a relationship.
Do you have that relationship with Him?
Do you know Him and more importantly, does He know you?
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Thy name, in the thy name?
Cast out devils in the Thy name done many wonderful.
Works and he's going to say to them, depart from me.
I never knew you some of the saddest words in all of the
Bible. Do you know Christ?
Does he know you? If not, I beg you, get that
taken care of this morning. Father, we thank you so much for
sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross and thank you so much
that he died for me. Thank you so much that we have
the privilege of knowing for sure that we can spend eternity
in heaven with you, knowing for sure that our sins are forgiven,
that you our Savior. I pray that there would not be
one person that walks out without knowing that for sure
themselves this morning. Thank you again for all that you
do for us. In Jesus name, Amen.