Faith Free Will Baptist Church

Posts Tagged ‘sacrifice’

*THE GUILT, THE GRACE, THE GLORY*

(Luke 23:32-46)

According to the scripture read, this is the day of the crucifixion of Christ.  A lot has taken place in a short time.  Just 33 ½ yrs before, God Immanuel was born of a virgin in a stable.  3 ½ years before this day Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry.  During that time He healed the blind, the cripple walked, the deaf were made to hear, the dead was raised, the hungry was fed, storms were made calm, the sinful were forgiven, but now He is being crucified, put to death between two thieves.

(I Pet 3:18  Read)

*Three hanging that day between heaven and earth:

One dying in sin

One dying because of sin

One dying for sin

*Much has taken place during the early morning hours before Jesus was led to Golgotha Hill.

*He had been questioned, beaten, spit upon, His beard plucked from His face, dressed in a royal robe and mocked.

*Now hanging upon the cross, He is stripped before all, His robe gambled for as people mocked Him.  (vs 35-37  Read)

*According to scripture both thieves also mocked Him.  (Mark 15:32) “and they that were crucified with Him reviled Him”

*Yet thru all this Jesus cried out to God for all those people (vs 34  Read).

1) Before He said “I thirst” he said “forgive them”

2) Before He said “My God, my God why has thou forsaken me” he said “forgive them”

3) Before He said “Father into Thy hands I commend My spirit” he said “forgive them”

*Because of this cry of love, of compassion, of mercy, a thief’s heart is broken and his eyes opened.

(Three things to notice about this thief):

(1)    His Guilt.

*He was out of Christ that morning  (vs 39-41  Read)

*This same man earlier that morning was mocking and ridiculing Jesus the same as the others, but now sees himself guilty and condemned justly.

*Sin brings guilt to:

1) To the married man or woman in adultery there is the guilt of betraying their spouse.

2) To the drunkard there is the guilt of hurting family.

*To those who have not believed upon the Son of God, there is the guilt, the condemnation of unbelief  (John 3:18  Read)

*The scripture declares all guilty before God (Rom 3:10  Rom 3:23   Rom 6:23  Read all)

(2) His Grace

*He was in Christ at noon.

*This man in the previous verse recognized his own guilt and unworthiness to live.

*But in Jesus Christ he saw hope, peace, forgiveness and life.

*Though he once mocked Jesus to save him from the cross: he now asked Jesus to save him by the cross (again read I Pet 3:18).

(3) His Glory

*He was with Christ at evening  (vs 43  Read)

*This thief condemned by man and without God who faces eternity in hell and anguish separated from the Lord, will now be with Him beholding the glory of Jesus for all eternity.

(John 14:1  Read)

*We don’t know much about this man, we do know he probably had a mother and father somewhere that loved him very much but maybe he was told he could never come home again because  he was a thief.

*But now he has found him a new home.  He has gone from quilt to glory by Jesus Christ.

*AT WITS END*

(PS 107:27,28 )

What have you given to the Lord?

1)      Your Life

2)      Your  family

3)      Your worries and cares

4)      Your failures

Whatever we are troubled with again and again is evidence that we need to commit those things to the Lord.

(vs 27) “at wits end”

The meaning carries an understanding that there is a situation we are trying to deal with but are unsuccessful.  It means:

1)      Nothing I can do

2)      I cannot work it out

3)      It is bigger than me but not bigger than God (Ps 108:12)

We need to be reminded of what the Apostle Paul said in (Rom 8:28 )

1)      There is no greatness without trouble  (Act 14)

2)      There is no growing without trouble (Act 12)

3)      There is no developing the Christ-like life in us without troubles (Act 28 )

(1)    The Lord we know

(vs 1)

Notice two things:

1)      God is good

The worst thing that could happen to us is listening to the devil and thinking God is not

as good toward us as He is toward others.

(John 8:44)

(Rom 2:4)

2)      God is merciful

In (Ps 136) All the verses contain “His mercy endureth forever.

(Ps 23:6)

(2)    The life we live

Notice four groups of people:

1)      People needing direction

(107:3-8 )

2)      People in need

(107:9-12)

3)      People who are healed

(107:17-21)

4)      People in trouble

(107:23-27)

These people are not brought low by sin but trouble in life.

(Job 14:1)

Are you at wits end, are you ready to say “Lord, I can’t handle this, I need help”.

*IT IS FINISHED*

(John 19:30)

Finished means: To bring or come to and end.

*The message of the cross and the death of the Lord Jesus are engrained in the 66 books of the Bible, like a sculptor carving an unmovable granite stone.

*Prior to the statement we read, the Lord Jesus had spoken several times while on the cross

1) He spoke to God on behalf of others

“forgive them; for they know not what they do”

2) He spoke to the dying thief on the cross

“Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise”

3) He spoke to His mother Mary and his disciple John

“Woman, behold thy son” and “behold thy mother”

4) He spoke out in a cry to God

“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?”

5) He spoke after three house of extreme suffering

“I thirst”

*When He spoke “It is finished” it is one of the couple of times scripture reveals the Lord saying it is finished.

(Gen 2) “Thus the heavens and earth were finished”   when creation was complete

(Rev 16) “voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying It is done”  when a certain judgment was complete.

*This morning I will point out four things that were finished that day on Calvary:

(1) The OT system was finished

*The Old Testament is filled with types, symbols, sacrifices, priesthood was finished

1) Calvary marked the finish of types and symbols

*Adam, Melchizedek, Isaac, Moses, David, Joshua were all types of Christ in some ways.

*Jacob’s ladder, the blood on the doorpost, the Tabernacle, it furnishings, the manna, the brazen serpent, cities of refuge all represent symbols of Jesus Christ.

2) Calvary marked the finish of the sacrifices and offerings

*Burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings were finished.

*Sacrifice of bulls for High Priest, goat offerings for rulers, lamb offering for the common man finished.  Jesus providing the one time sacrifice for all.

3) Calvary marked the finish of the Levitical Priesthood

*The High Priest of the OT Jews was a type of Christ our High Priest forever.

(I Tim 2:5,6   &   Heb 7:23-25)

(2) The conquest of Satan is finished

*Speaking of Satan Jesus said (John 14:30) “for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me”

*The Lord Jesus has been doing battle with the Devil all of His earthly natural life.

*Satan had put into Herod’s heart to kill all male children two years old and under in an attempt to kill Jesus and defeat God’s plan.

*When Jesus was 30 years old, His ministry beginning, Satan sought to defeat Him with three temptations in the wilderness.

*Now at the cross, Satan probably thought he had finally defeated this man called Jesus, The Son of God: But on the 3^rd day out walked “the Lord our Salvation, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the  Prince of Peace, the  Mighty Counselor,  the Rose of Sharon, the Living Water, the Living Bread of Heaven, the Resurrection and the Life: arose with the keys of death and Hell.

*Listen:

1) I can think of reasons why I should fail at business.

2) I can think of reason why I should fail as a salesman.

3) I can think of reasons  why I should fail as a politician.

But as a Christian I cannot think of any reason to fail because (I John4:4) “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world”.  Yet Satan continues to fight.

*In June 1967 war broke out between Israel and the Arabs.  The first reports told how Israeli planes and tanks had been destroyed.   The reports stated that Egypt had penetrated Israel and would be Tel Aviv by nightfall.  Egypt boasted of victory, however when the war ended it was revealed that is was Israel who had actually won the victory.  Even though Arabs continued to fight.

*Even so the Devil is still bragging of victory, but he is defeated for we can see his defeat at Calvary in the person of Jesus Christ.  (Col2:15) “on the cross Jesus spoiled principalities and powers.

(3) Calvary marked the finish of Christ’s personal suffering

*There is a picture that was painted showing Jesus as a boy standing in the doorway of his father’s carpenter shop, His arms are stretched out, the rays of the sun reflected His shadow on the wall, and it was a perfect shadow of the cross.

*His whole life was lived in the shadow of the cross, from the wedding in Cana to the time He laid aside

His robes of Holiness and was made sin for us.

(Three types of suffering : )

1) He suffered at the hands of men

*Beaten, hair plucked from beard, spit upon, crown of thorns placed on His head. He suffered great agony from men.

2)  He suffered at the hands of Satan

(Gen 3:15  Read)

*His life and ministry was filled with Satan’s attempts to hinder Him.

3) He suffered at the hands of God

*Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?  It was not the Jews, it was not sinners, though in a sense we all were because He bare our sins on the cross.  But it was God who sent His Son in our place:

(Isa 53:10)  “yet it pleased God to bruise Him”

(Rom 8:32) “He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.”

*But His suffering is finished, He is the King of Glory.

(4) Calvary marked that God’s plan of redemption was finished

(Rom 5:6-9   Read)

*A minister had finished his sermon when a young man approached him and asked “What must I do to be saved?” The preacher replied “You may be too late.  Young man you want to do something to be saved but you are 2,000 years too late. There is nothing left for you do except to believe in Christ as your Savior.”

Today: “It is finished”

*THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE*
(John 12:1-8)

According to (Matt 26) Jesus had come to the house of Simon the leper, but I believe he had been healed before this time.  John tells us that the person doing the serving was Martha and Lazarus who had been raised from the dead was present.  When the meal is completed, Mary took a very expensive ointment and anointed Jesus as preparation of His death.
*The ointment is in reality a very costly perfume, equal to a year’s wages.
*Mary’s sacrifice proved that she thought there was nothing too good for her Lord.

(Three thoughts on sacrifice:)
(1) What is sacrifice? Dictionary defines it in various ways:
1) The act of offering the life of a person or animal in the place of another.
2)  Selling or giving up something for far less that it’s value.
3) In baseball a person sacrificing himself in order to advance a runner.
*A sacrifice means different things to different people.
*I read a story of a father who thru great sacrifice gave his daughter a very generous weekly allowance on the condition that she keep good records of how she spent it.  At the end of the month he inspected her expenditures and noticed that about 25% of her money spent was list as OTLK.  He asked his daughter about this.  “Well, its this way, sometimes I forgot to write it down immediately and when I did go to record it, I could not remember the exact amount so I wrote OTLK.”  The father asked “But what does OTLK means”.  She replied “Only The Lord Knows”.
*This is also true when it comes to sacrifice.  We think we have sacrificed but the Lord knows.
(Psl 4:5) “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord.”
To live righteously means we must sacrifice some of the activities of this world.

(2) What constitutes a sacrifice?
*In order for a sacrifice to be classified as such, it requires three things:
1) It must be freely given.  If you are forced to do something it is not freely given.
(Psl54:6)  “I will freely sacrifice unto thee, I will praise thy name, O Lord, for it is good.”
*A sacrifice from an unwilling heart will not be accepted.
2) A sacrifice must be completely given.
*We have too many “Let’s make a deal” Christians.  God is not looking for your ability but for your availability.  We cannot try to meet God halfway.  He doesn’t work that way.  (Rom 12:1   Read)
(Mark 12)  “widow who gave all she had”
3) A sacrifice must be given at cost
*It may not be much of a sacrifice to give $100.00 but what if asked to give $1000.00.  (II Sam 24)  King David has a tremendous desire to make a sacrifice to the Lord to save Israel from God’s judgement.  He sees a great estate of a man named Araunal and seeks to buy it.  After hearing what David wanted it for the man tries to give it to him plus the animals but David refuses and answers (vs 24  Read).

(3) Does Jesus’ sacrifice meet these requirements?
*Let us look and see if the sacrifice that Jesus made at Calvary qualifies.
1) Was His sacrifice freely given?  (John 10:15  Read)
*Could Jesus have come down from the cross?  Listen to His words in (Matt 26:52,53  Read)
*His love for us caused Him to freely lay down His life.
2) Was His sacrifice completely given?  (Rom 5:6-8  Read)
*Even though we did not love Jesus, even though God knew that we would reject Him, He laid down His life.
(Heb 10:5) “A body thou has prepared for me”
3) Was His sacrifice given at cost?
(Matt 20:28)  “Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many.”
(I Tim 2:6)  “Who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.”
*We understand ransom, when a person is kidnapped and a person demands money to release them.  Satan holds men in bondage, Jesus paid the price to set us free.
4) Christ’s sacrifice is that it required the shedding of blood.  (I Pet 1:18-20  Read)
*It cost Jesus the gold of His blood to bring about our salvation.
(Heb 9:22)  “and without shedding of blood is no remission”

Beloved:  Whether you realize it or not, you have broken God’s law (Rom 3:23) “for all have sinned” and punishment is demanded.  But the law allows for an innocent substitute.

(Jesus Christ stepped out of eternity and died for you.  The Ultimate Sacrifice.