Freedom In The Gospel: Part 4 | Paul Washer - Mississippi Prison

if you are a Believer if you truly are a Christian that all those crimes all those sins all the shame of it all the guilt of it is now placed on him [Music] again it's a great privilege to be with all of you this morning and we're going to be going through different parts of the word from the New Testament to the Old Testament and back again to look at what it actually means when we say Christ died for Sinners and again I want I want to explain clearly that although Christianity has an ethic it

has a morality it has commands and precepts and words of wisdom the Christian life is not about all of that primarily the Christian life is about this Jesus Christ shed his blood for Sinners if I died right now I would go to heaven I've spent 40 years traveling around the world jungles Wars poverty difficulties if I died right now I would go to heaven not for any of of those reasons if I died right now I would go to heaven for one reason Jesus Christ shed his blood for this Wretched Man that is it but

what does it mean when we say that he shed his blood what does it truly mean when I became a Christian was a young man I would often think about I believed I knew that I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and I believed I had the confidence that that I knew him and he knew me and if I died I would go to Glory I had a relationship with him but I would often ask older Christians and even when I went to a seminary I would ask there's something I don't understand how

is it that his death provides for the forgiveness of my sins because when I would hear preachers preach it would be they would talk about you know the beatings from the Romans and the Jews the mockery they would talk about the what we call the via doosa the the painful walk to the Cross carrying the cross they would they would talk about the nails in his hands and the spear in his side and the crown of thorns on his head and how he was mocked even while he was on the tree and that then he

died and I would say yes but how does that remove my sin and even became so kind of upset I remember one day thinking did he remove my sin just because the Romans beat him up I mean how does it work and um as I began to grow in the Christian faith and as I began to read scripture something became quite clear the true meaning of the Cross what actually happened on that tree and I want to tell you if I do have any if I do have any devotion if I do have any perseverance

if I do have any dedication it is because of this one thing who Jesus is and what he actually did for me on that tree and so I want us to go to Matthew chapter 26 he's in the Garden of Gethsemane we'll start in verse 38 then he that is Jesus said to them his disciples my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death now here's what I want you to understand Jesus always told the truth he did not exaggerate his condition you and I very commonly will exaggerate how do you feel this morning

I feel like I'm going to die well no you don't you're you're exaggerating but when Christ said I am deeply grieved to the point of death it was true it was true and he says remain here and keep watch with me and he went a little Beyond them and fell on his face and prayed saying my father if it is possible let this cup pass from me yet not as I will but as you will this is not disobedience this is not a lack of faith this is him being fully and completely confronted now it

has been made known to him exactly what it will cost for him to redeem a people as you know Jesus was born Jesus was God In the Flesh but the Bible says in Philippians he never ceased being God but he laid aside the Privileges and the right of deity and he walked on this Earth as a man submitted to his father we know from The Book of Luke that he grew in wisdom and knowledge he submitted himself even to that and now now in the Garden of Gethsemane the full realization of what it will take

to redeem us is presented before him and it shakes him to the Core and then he goes in verse 42 and he went away again a second time and he prayed my father if this cannot pass away unless I drink it your will be done and then verse 44 and he left them again and he went away and prayed a third time saying the same thing once more now I'll hear preachers preach on this and they're they're saying they say this Jesus is at the point of death the sorrow what he's being confronted with he

looks ahead and he sees the lashes coming down on his back he sees the crown of thorns being placed on his head he sees the mockery that's going to go on he sees the cross he sees the nails they're nailing into his hand the spear that's going to go into his side and he says father please if there's any other way find it give it to me that's not true that's just simply not true now his his sadness and what he was confronted with includes that but that is not what shook him to the core

or brought him to the point of death let me just share with you something about church history after after Jesus died and rose again from the dead you know about the disciples the apostles all the apostles except for John died excruciating deaths and according to church history they considered it an honor then for the next several centuries up until today but in the Roman Empire they would crucify Christians and not only crucify them but cover them with Brea or pitch tar and set them on fire and they said it was like Street lamps in Rome

they would turn them over to the wild beasts and they would be Torn to Pieces women and children who identified with Christ but here's what you need to see many of those Saints many of those Christians who died Martyrs they went to the Cross they were beaten and they were crucified IED and they were set on fire but church history tells us that they went to those crosses with joy and singing hymns counting it a joy to suffer for Christ so are you going to tell me that the captain of their salvation their King is

in a garden cowering and saying father let this pass from me I can't take it and yet his followers went to the Cross Jord y do you really think that what Christ is dealing with here is just some nails and a wooden cross and a spear and mockery well it is all those things and he physically suffered more than anyone has ever suffered but that's not the problem he says let this cup pass from me what's in the cup what is in the cup I want you to go with me just for a moment to

Jeremiah 25 15 and 16 and there are other passages that confirm this but we only have time for this one Jeremiah 25 15 and 16 for thus says the Lord the god of Israel says to me take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them go to verse 27 you shall say to them thus says the Lord of hosts the god of Israel drink

be drunk vomit fall and Rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you and it will be if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink then you will say to them thus says the Lord of hosts you shall surely drink what was in the cup the wrath of almighty God the the fierce holy hatred of God against evil the fierce holy hatred of a just and loving God not only against evil but your evil my evil and not just against our evil against us have you ever heard

God hates the sin and loves the sinner that's only true in part and if someone tells you that and that's all they tell you what they're telling you is you don't need to listen go to Psalms for a moment Psalms chapter 5 Psalms 5:4 for you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness no evil dwells with you the boastful shall not stand before your eyes you hate all who do iniquity in some translations you hate all who do wrong God doesn't throw sin in hell he throws sin in hell and if someone comes

to you and says oh God loves hates the sin and loves the sinner that that is true let me show you how it works with one hand of mercy God calls The Sinner come come come come to me with the other hand of mercy God holds back his Fierce wrath Against The Sinner he holds it back and he looks at The Sinner and he says come come come but sooner or later in judgment God withdraws the invitation and drops his hand and there is nothing left for you but wrath God's holy hatred against evil and

you say but God is love God can't hate let me ask you a question you love babies if you really love babies you have to hate abortion you don't hate abortion you don't love babies because abortion kills babies let me ask you another question just think about it for a moment what if you walked up to me and said brother Paul what do you think about Colonial slavery at the beginning of this country what what do you think about Colonial slavery and I go well you know it doesn't upset me what would you think about

me what would you think about me would you think I was loving if I didn't hate slavery would I be able to say to you I don't think slavery was a problem but I love black people people does that work for you it doesn't does it if I love black people what do I hate slavery if you truly love what is righteous and beautiful and pure and lovely then you must come against the opposite that which destroys and kills and is evil and twisted and perverted does God hate sin in the same way that I

cannot describe to you God's love for righteousness I can't even begin to sound the depths of God's hatred for evil and although God does love the men that he has made and he beckons them right now come come please come and he holds back his wrath one day he'll retract both and there'll be nothing left for you but to be swallowed up in the wrath of God and jailhouse religion is not going to save you repentance and SE sincere faith in Jesus Christ is going to save you do you realize that the majority of professing

Christians not in prison in church are not converted do you realize that when they say you know America is what 25% 40% Christian if that was true we wouldn't have killed 70 million babies and just so you know the great majority of them black do you see it so many people yeah I'm Christian yeah I'm Christian we're going to deal with that today but what you need to see is this the horror of the Cross is that on the cross the Son of God suffered the wrath of God that was du us and if you

notice in that Jeremiah passage the the nations are saying I won't drink drink it and God says yes you will yes you will yes you will now I want us to go back and I want us to look at several several very very important things here so we're we're back in Matthew Jesus is in the garden and he said says let this cup pass from me now before we get to looking at the wrath of God that fell upon the sun we need to go back to the beginning we need to realize all the stages

understand them first of all Romans 8 says something kind of unusual and it's very important that we understand it correctly that the son the Eternal Son of God came in the likeness of sinful flesh now what does that mean Christ was not sinful and nor was his body given to moral corruption what it means is when he entered into the world he didn't take the body that Adam had in perfection in Perfection before the fall Adam would not die he would not get sick he would not suffer but it was sin that brought that into

the world when Christ came into the world he did not take a body a a preall body of Adam he took a body that although pure could suffer all the maladies of the Fall he could feel hunger he could feel thirst he could feel pain he could suffer and so there is one sense in which from the moment of his birth he began to suffer can you imagine this is the Eternal Son of God even at the moment after his birth that they practiced circumcision with him as a child and there was blood and he

cried in pain and then in the Bible he's referred to as the Man of Sorrows when the Jewish leaders were looking at him they said you're not yet 50 years old he was only 30 years old why did they say you're not yet 50 years old many believe it's because living such a life of Sorrow weighed upon him the Bible says that David was a man of war that means his entire life was characterized by War the Bible says that Jesus was a Man of Sorrows his entire life was marked by sorrow now I want

you to imag imagine something you know you've heard the story in the Old Testament about lot right well when we get to when we get to the Epistles we find out it says that righteous lot because of Sodom it the sin of Sodom just it it like grounded him down it pulverized him it it it it just literally he was undone by the wickedness around him and that's lot and lot was a sinner like us and yet the wickedness of Sodom almost killed him now imagine this Jesus Christ the son of God he's not like

me and you absolutely pure for someone to tell a white lie would be like someone stabbing a child in front of him we're talking about the one who is Holy Holy Holy and now he's walking in a world filled with men like us have you ever done something I'm sure you have I hope you have you've done something that now when you think back on it it literally almost breaks you how could I have done that have you ever seen something that someone else did or or maybe governments did or Wars and things and you

go oh that's repulsive well imagine being holy holy holy and walking on this world as he walked through looking at the corrupt religious leaders from the moment he was a child all the way through to adulthood looking at the corrupt Roman government looking at the slavy looking at the immorality looking at everything around him betrayal and lying and disloyalty and everything that he saw perversion he was a man of sorrow from the beginning from the beginning but then we come to the Garden he looks at that cup and he says father if there's any other

way now what was in the cup first of all it meant that this person who was holy holy holy had never sinned one time never gave way to one temptation he has to take sin upon himself sin upon himself let's go to 2 Corinthians for a moment 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 he that is God made him that is Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him first of all he made him who knew no sin the word here when we

take it it's in Greek but when we take the Hebrew idea because Paul is a Jew he's drawing off the Old Testament he never had any source of an intimate relationship with sin he and sin were so far apart from one another as the East is from the West he had no taste of it he knew nothing about it and then there in the Garden of Gethsemane all the sin of his people is going to be placed on him now I want you to think about something whether you are here because you're guilty or you're

innocent I just want you to think about something imagine if all the sins and all the crimes of everyone seated here were suddenly taken off of all of them and placed on you and you're standing before a judge and you're standing before the community and you're standing before everybody in the court room and it's on TV and you are now carrying the sin the crimes and the blame and the shame for everything that's been done by every man in this room it would kill you now think about this Christ to take that cup meant that

in one moment all the sin every sin of all his people people from Adam to the last man who believes is now placed upon him before a holy God before a holy God I want I don't want you to do this often but I want you to do this now think back on your sins and your crimes and then think if you are a Believer if you truly are a Christian that all those crimes all those sins all the shame of it all the guilt of it is now placed on him and it's very strong

language here he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf but what does that mean let me tell you what it doesn't mean and again I I didn't come here to get you all riled up emotionally I came here to teach you truth what doesn't it mean it does not mean that when Christ was on the cross he became corrupted because even on the cross he was the lamb without spot or blemish what it means is all that sin and all that guilt was imputed to him he Bears it as the

sacrifice and the father's relationship with him changes now he's the guilty party not just bearing your sin or mine but the sins of the world now you're beginning to understand why he cries out later my God my God why have you forsaken me and the answer is is God is too holy to look upon evil and he turns away from his own son as he should turn away from you you say well brother don't you shouldn't you say us and you you and me I just want to say you why because I don't want you

to take comfort in numbers God should turn away from each and every one of of you as well as me and forsake us throughout all eternity but in order to avoid that his son took our place he was made sin now if you go to Isaiah quickly Isaiah 53 it says in verse 6 all of us like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned to his own way but the Lord has caused the iniquity of all of us to to fall upon him the weight of all the sin of the world in one

moment there in Gethsemane it falls upon him he says Lord let this cup pass from me but if it cannot pass from me then thy will be done he accepted he accepted what he had to do and at that moment when he said yes looking at the full force of everything he would have to suffer he said yes for you all the sin of the world fell upon him and then what else what else happened to him well go with me for a moment to Galatians chapter 3 Galatians Chapter 3: 13 or verse 10 for

as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law to perform them what does it mean to be under a curse I have studied this a great deal and here I just have to tell you human language fails what does it mean to to be a cursed well first of all we need to understand that every one of us because of our sin we were in that state of being cursed

and if we had died in in that state it's an irrevocable Eternal separation from the goodness of God let me put it this way I used this illustration the first day but I'm going to use it again what does it mean to be under a curse it means that you are considered so evil and such an abomination before a holy God and a holy Heaven that the last thing you will hear listen to me the last thing you will hear when you take your first step into hell is you will hear behind you all of

creation applauding and worshiping God because he has rid the Earth of you that's what it means go be with your father the devil that's what it means to be under a curse irrevocable casting out but now look at verse 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us one time I was I was teaching at this University and after I got done this reporter came up to me and he was Furious oh he was so mad and he's just yelling he goes why are you saying these things about

our sin and that we're cursed and why are you doing all this and I said because I want you to love God and he says what does this have to do with us loving God I said she loved much because she was forgiven much and she knew how much she was forgiven because someone told her who she was why why have I spent my entire life preaching on one thing the cross because I know I was a vomitous sinner I know I was under the curse I looked in the mirror and I saw it and

I know that I had no hope and I know that the only way I could be saved is if he took my filthy wretched perverted sin off of me and that he took the curse on my behalf that's why I love him because he did this as I shared with you and I I'm so ashamed but that morning about 4: or 5 in the morning when I woke up in that room with that little light on and it realized I slept the entire night in my vomit and I go to the mirror and I look

at myself that's me that's me who would die for that who would carry that to make me clean mock do what you want but I can't get over the fact I can't even get over the fact that he would look at someone like me let alone carry my filth and die I mean where else is someone like me or you supposed to go who can clean us who it's only him he became a curse so he has made sin that means all my sin is placed upon him and then the curse of God that was

on me is placed upon him what does it mean go to Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy in the renewal of the Covenant in Moab the people are divided and have to one stands on one side mount gazim and they pronounce all the blessings on the obedient man then the others are on Mount deal and they cry out all the curses that will fall upon the disobedient man and all those curses they were born on us they were on us when Christ became a cursed before God what does it mean look in Deuteronomy 27 cursed is the man

verse 15 cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image an Abomination to the Lord he was cursed as an idolator on that tree Christ was cursed as an idolator verse 16 cursed is he who dishonors his father and mother he was cursed as someone who Dishonored his father and mother verse 17 cursed is he who moves the neighbor's boundary Mark he was cursed as a man who would steal his neighbor's property Verse 18 he was cursed as someone who would mislead a blind man on the road verse 19 he was he

was cursed as someone who would distort Justice do an alien and an orphan and a widow verse 20 through 21 through 22 through 23 he's cursed as a moral pervert 24 he is cursed as one who strikes his neighbor in secret 2 5 he is cursed as one who accepts a a bribe to strike down an innocent person verse 26 he is cursed as one who does not obey the law of God when he was on that tree carrying our sin he was treated and cursed as the viest of vest of viest of Sinners even

though all the while remaining pure innocent undefiled and yet bearing your filth imagine if it was just for all of us in this room what are 300 people think back on your life of sin think back on things that you have fought and done that you would even hide from your fellow inmates and then all of it is placed on on him exposed and raw as he hangs there before God the judge of all the Earth he was cursed he was bearing sin and he suffered the wrath of almighty God there's something that unusual happens

at the cross after three hours the first three hours there appears to be light daylight because it is still morning and we see all the mockery and the mockery and the mockery and people yelling and making fun of him Satan behind all their voices challenging him tempting him to come down from the cross to prove himself just like in the desert in the wilderness temptation but then after 3 hours it says it is dark I personally believe that it was like the darkness that fell upon Egypt I personally believe it was a Darkness where it

was just pitch black darkness why for 3 hours although he has been suffering the wrath of God in different degrees since Gethsemane now for three hours and I want you to think about this he is shut up in a room of pitch black darkness he can't look out and even find his mother there's no one to console him no one he is shut up in a room as Billow wave tidal wave of the wrath of almighty God pours over him and over him and over him and over him shut up to the fierce Fury of

the wrath of God all of Hell at once everything that is required every bit of Justice every bit of Wrath that should be poured out on you throughout all eternity is poured out on the sun and he suffers there alone I personally believe as well as many ancient theologians that what he suffered what he suffered in those three hours even in heaven even after an eternity of eternities in heaven we will still not understand it it was so profound so horrific that only the mind of God can comprehend what he suffered on that tree you

see Brothers those of you who are Christians don't you see this is why you want to walk in obedience not so that you can be good folk not so that you can be moral and upstanding that's not the real reason we want to walk in obedience we want to walk in obedience cuz he did this he did this he did this the Bible talks about the wrath of God God it dries up Seas it melts mountains it buries the entire world in a flood and now all of it is directed to one place and one

person if you go now to Isaiah 53 now before I I I just stay there in Isaiah 53 but I'm going to read from Psalm 69 just listen save me oh God for the waters have threatened my life I have sunk in deep mire and there is no foothold I have come into deep Waters and a flood overflows me I am weary with my crying my throat is parched my eyes fail while I wait for my God I believe that this in itself is also a description of Christ shut up in a room as wave

after wave of the wrath of God engulfs him now if you look at Isaiah 53:4 surely our griefs he himself bore war and our sorrows he carried yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken Smitten by God smitten of God and Afflicted look over in in verse 10 but the Lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief what does it mean that God took pleasure in crushing his own son no that's not what it means the idea here is that God's purpose and I want to make it personal I want to I want you to

think of you as an individual that by the Son of God being crushed by the fierce holy hatred of God it fulfilled God's purpose to save you and that brought God pleasure the thought that he would redeem you through this horrific yet necessary Act of redemption verse 5 but he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquity and the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and this pleased God to save us this pleased God to save us now in Matthew 27 as Jesus is hanging on the cross let's go there

verse 45 now from the sixth hour Darkness fell upon all the land until the 9th hour and about the 9th hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice El Lama sabany that is my God my God why have you forsaken me remember when I talked about the great white Throne judgment and it said with regard to the old Heaven and the old Earth and everything that is a part of it there was no longer any place found for them it's one of the most frightening statements in all the Bible now here's what I want you

to understand have you ever heard preachers say this heaven is heaven because God is there and hell is hell because God's not there well that's not true I guess it looks good on a poster but it's not biblical heaven is heaven because God is there in the fullness of his Beauty his kindness his Joy his power hell is hell because God is there in the fullness of his Wrath remember what I said all sin will be punished all sin will be punished and all Sinners will be punished the sin and The Sinner can be punished

on calvary or the sin and The Sinner can be punished throughout eternity in Hell many people's view of the you know of The Exodus is based on cesil vill's Ten Commandments you know with charl h and Moses and all that most people's view of hell well it's founded on things like Dante's Inferno and Hollywood movies Satan isn't the king of Hell Satan's a prisoner in hell hell is so horrific that in a sense we have little description of it in scripture but we know enough to know it is real and if we understand the rest

of God correctly that's all we need to know you say Do you believe in a literal fire in hell I believe it's worse than that because Angels Walk Through Fire doesn't bother them but in Hell fallen angels will suffer brother Paul if you were to say what is Hell well first of all believe everything the Bible says about it take it as as literal as possible but here's something that I want you to think about in Romans 1 and that's where America is right now Romans 1 there's a thing called reprobation it is a turning

over so when you read Romans 1 what do you see you see God begins to point out moral perversion between women and women moral perversion between men and men and then it goes on to describe society as as full of sin and rebellion and violence and hatred people sometimes preach that passage wrongly they say when you see those things God is going to judge the nation that's not what it's saying it says when you see those things particularly moral perversion when you see those things when you see a society given over to that and promoting

it it's not that God has is going to judge the nation it's he already has it's over Nebuchadnezzar as evil as he was he was still restrained musolini Stalin as evil as they were they were still restrained when we see societies that is nothing but grotesque darkness and perversion and violence here on Earth they're still restrained but in Hell there is no restraint you are completely and totally turned over to your own evil in Peru we had places where people would fumar pasta uh smoke crack I think you call it in English and they were

called wos they were called holes and literally sometimes they were holes in the earth and you would go in there and and the people weren't even they didn't even seem human anymore and they would be suffering like you could not believe eaten with worm wors and dirty and and and just horrific almost turning into monsters but if you tried to take the pipe away they'd rip your arm off you've seen it in Hell men are so given over to their evil that they cannot even stand even the smallest ray of light I believe that they're

given over to such evil and hatred for God and hatred for for one another that if God himself were to come down to the gates of hell and throw it wide open and say all of you could come out you only have to bow the knee to me everyone in hell would run to the door as fast as they could and they would slam the door in the face of God and they would say we'd rather rot in hell people say wh why is Hell forever because no one in hell repents because sin against God

is an infinite crime against an infinitely worthy person and it deserves an infinite judgment but not only that you're supposing that men will repent you've seen men you have and women given over to such evil on this Earth that even if you tried to help them they would kill you that's why it's just n in of teeth and yet you're so vile you're just turned over some of you talk about some of the prison system in other places and how nightmarish it is that's nothing that's a kindergarten and there are no friends in hell there

is no Union friendship kindness loyalty no all those things come from God and you decided you didn't want them you see that my God my God why have you forsaken me let's go to Psalms 22 on the cross Jesus said my God my God why have you forsaken me he was quoting from Psalms 22 verse one my God my God why have you forsaken me far from my Deliverance are the words of my groaning that's his question and his complaint he says 'oh my God I Cry by day but you do not answer but night

and night but I have no rest why why do you leave me here under your wrath with no view of your face no kindness no communion and then he gives the answer You Are Holy oh you who are enthroned of upon the Praises of Israel you have forsaken me because you are holy and then he comes back and he says but our fathers Abraham Moses Noah so many David our fathers trusted they trusted in you and you delivered them they cried out and were delivered and knew they trusted and they were never disappointed these men

were sinners And yet when they cried out to you you answered them but I cry out to you your own son I cry out to you in this darkness and I have nothing but wrath and you hide your face from me why verse six he gives the answer but I am a worm and not a man a reproach of men and despised but by all the people he who knew no sin became sin on your behalf he became sin he became the curse God took away his favorable presence from him and God poured out his

wrath upon him but then on that tree when he had paid the very last scent he cried out it is finished now I mentioned this yesterday but I want to explain it a little more clearly let's say that you committed a terrible crime and you're senten to life and then two weeks later some Authority pardons you you say well that'd be wonderful well if you look at studies of people who have been pardoned um didn't go well some commit suicide why their conscience why their crime hasn't been paid for yeah they got off but their

conscience they haven't paid for what they did they're pardoned but their sin their crime has not been put away Justice hasn't been satisfied that's not the way it is with the Christian you're not just pardoned it's been paid for so let me give you an illustration imagine that you owe someone a lot of money and this person is violent this person will kill you this person will make your life a a just horrible and you know you owe him and you know you can't pay let's let's call him Justice and he's walking around in the

streets and he's looking for you he's looking for you and if he finds you and you have to live your whole life how dodging him always looking behind your back wondering is he coming is he coming is he going to get me is he going to get me you can't go to certain places at certain times because you're afraid he'll be there if you see him you have to immediately hide and run that is the sinner in his relationship with the justice of God and if Justice catches him it's over he's going to have to

pay the very last scent doesn't matter how long it's going to take or how much he has to suffer but now imagine you're that person and you're hiding away and you're always trembling and you're always your conscience you can never rest you can never sleep but then one day someone intervenes and they go to Justice and they say what does he owe you well I'd be happy if I could just get the no what does he owe you 100% what does he owe you he owes me this and the man goes paid in full paid

and full now you treat this man from now on you treat him as though he paid you in full so now you're walking out on the street you going going anywhere you want you see Justice coming at you and guess what he's smiling hey buddy how are you doing hey friend want to go to have coffee why he's satisfied he's paid in full don't you see that's what Christ did that's why we don't hide from God all of you who are outside of Christ if you even hear the word god you ought to hide under

the bed of yourself but if you're in Christ the justice of God is fully and completely satisfied and the justice of God Smiles at you and the justice of God is your friend all because Christ did what he did and he died the wages of sin is death Christ died for Sinners but one of the things that after I became a Christian was somewhat revolting to me he died on a cross but he's not on a cross he's not on a cross they took him down they buried him but on the third day on the

third third day he arose by the power of the Father by the power of the spirit and by his own authority and power he arose now I need you to put on your thinking caps let's go to Romans chapter 4 and look at verse 25 this is a very difficult deex text the structure in Greek is very difficult but it is clear he who was delivered over because of our transgressions he was delivered over to sin delivered over to the curse delivered over to the wrath of God delivered over to death because of our transgressions

and was raised because of our justification what does that mean remember when I told you last night about the Divine dilemma that the great problem throughout all of history is how can God be merciful to The Sinner without violating his Justice right well when Christ died on that tree he Vindicated God he showed how God could Pardon The Sinner without violating his Justice because all the Justice that was due The Sinner was poured out on God's son so on that cross when Jesus died he Vindicated God but on the third day when God raised his

son from the dead he Vindicated his son by raising his son from the dead he is saying this to you the believer the fact that I raised my son from the dead is evidence to you child that what he did on that tree is sufficient and all your crimes are paid for past present and future because if he hadn't accomplished that I would not have raised him from the dead but he did accomplish it and I raised him from the dead and you can take that as my guarantee that I'm satisfied with you now do

you see why theology is important and you don't just need preachers up here hooping and hollering and get you all excited and running around you see why truth is important understanding what the text says understanding what the text says now let's go to the last part because I can't leave this out let's go to Psalms there's so many places we need to go go to Psalms 24 again verse three who may Ascend to the Holy Hill of the Lord and who may stand who may Ascend into the hill of the Lord and who may stand

in his holy Place who can go to heaven what man can go to heaven he who has Clean Hands and a pure heart any of you qualify no he was not lifted up his soul to falsehood he was not sworn deceitfully any of you qualify no there's no one no man no man remember John book of Revelation this is kind of like that he looked and there was no one worthy to open the book and he wept and then what here he comes my hero my king my elder brother so look around at all of

us all of the human race who can ascend and none of us there's no hope and then up from the grave he arose 40 days later he the man Christ Jesus you see he's God but he had to do what he did as a man man had fallen man had disobeyed Adam blew it we all blew it in Adam there was no man God became a man and did what no one could do and having put away sin once and for all he ascends up into heaven the man Christ Jesus yes fully God but he's

doing this for us as our brother flesh of our flesh bone of our bone and he comes to the Gates of Heaven the locked doors of Heaven as it says about Jericho Jericho was tightly shut up and no one came out and no one came in Christ comes to the great doors of Heaven as a man our brother and in verse seven he lifts his voice and he shouts to the gates and he says lift up your heads oh Gates and be lifted up old ancient doors that the king of glory may come in and

then all of a sudden in verse verse 8 we understand that all of Heaven runs to the wall and looks over and they say basically this who is the king of glory they say who is this man what is this we're hearing the voice of a man commanding the very doors of Heaven to be open who is this what man has ascended to hear what man dares lay his hand to the latch of these doors who are you and he says I am the Lord strong and mighty the Lord Mighty and battle lift up your

heads old Gates and be lifted up old ancient doors that the king of glory may come in and in the first time in all of history the doors of Heaven open to a man the man Christ Jesus and he enters into heaven not by Grace not by the virtue of another no he enters into Heaven by his own virtue by his own power by his own rights in all of Heaven Falls before him and he ascends the Throne of almighty God by his own virtue and his own power and he sits down at the right

hand of God and he says it is finished and the father says son it is finished indeed now here's something that may encourage you in your present condition Jesus was crucified with two thieves Thief is not a good word to use for these men you know you hear in Catholic theology the good thief there was nothing good about him He Was a Highwayman he wasn't a thief a thief is sneaky smart clever kind of like a fox these men most likely served with Barabas they were high women there's a special Greek word used for them

they were the kind of men that would come upon a caravan of families kill all the men strip them naked steal everything they have rape all the women and the children sell the children as slaves and walk away happy these were the worst of the worst of the worst and Jesus said I don't you to think about this there are guys in here who know more who have more knowledge about what is truly important than professors at Harvard that Thief everyone no one understands why Christ is dying no one the the rabbis the theologians not

even the disciples no one and in One Moment In the sovereignty of God God opens up the heart of that Thief that Wicked vile person opens up his heart opens up his mind and at that moment he knew more about God and more about Redemptive history and more about the person who was dying beside him as any other person on the planet and he said remember me he knew that Christ was going to continue he knew that Christ was going to come into a kingdom and he said remember me and Jesus said what today you'll

be with me in Paradise so I want you to think about this remember those doors opening at the voice of our King and all of Heaven Angels archangels principalities Powers mights dominions Abraham David all the great Saints of the Old Testament are looking there he is there he is the greatest moment in Redemptive history he's here he's one and then Spurgeon says this and then their eyes turn and they say who is it who's this man standing beside him that's been given the greatest honor to accompany our King through the Gates of Heaven is it

Abraham no is it David no is it one of great Martyrs who is it it's that wretched Thief who's no longer wretched many theologians have said he accompanied Jesus as a sign to the worst of all Sinners of their future honor if they will only believe is that not an encouragement there was a story I don't have all the names and everything but I'll I'll tell you the story a great Puritan preacher is telling it about a co- fellow Elder Pastor who had come under Great Depression and begin to doubt his salvation he would see

the weakness in his own life he said he had a dream and he was at the Gates of Heaven and fearful he was off to the side I can't enter and he said all of a sudden trumpets are blowing and he sees this this mass of Glorious people it was the Patriarchs of the Old Testament and they're marching in through the Gates of Heaven and he says to himself I can't go with them and then after them comes all the prophets King David the horns are blowing even louder there's even more glory and he looks

and he goes I can't go with them and then he sees the the apostles coming in and the horns is even louder and the glory is even greater the apostles and the martyrs and he goes I can't go with them but then there's silence and and trumpets blow exceedingly great and there is a magnificent glory and here comes Rahab Manasses and all the great Sinners of the Old Testament who had repented and believed and he said I can go in with them I can go in with them oh my dear friend if you're a brother

in Christ look to Christ look to Christ live for him because of what he did live for him if you're outside of Christ no longer remain outside trust in him you say I've been baptized and I say I don't care I don't care hell will be filled with baptized people if I walked up to you right now and said explain to me your hope for heaven tell me what Jesus did share with me your conversion share with me the fruit of your conversion how are you living now what really happened to you that's what's important

not just that you got wet or some religious Authority who doesn't know enough tells you you're saved because you repeated some prayer no you are saved and that's what we're going to deal with in the next session because you have repented of your sin and believed in Christ and you are learning to cherish and love and rely upon Christ let's [Applause] pray oh Father please bless these men bless them with the greatest of all blessing which is knowledge of the gospel and of your son in Jesus name amen amen