Aren't you glad that He's our shepherd and our God this morning? And you know, I thought about that if the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want. You know, that means He's got this. He's in control. He's in charge. I'm glad I have a shepherd today. Aren't you? What a blessing that is. Well, I trust you'll find in your Bibles Colossians chapter number 2. Colossians chapter number 2. We've talked about the sweetest word in the Bible. That's grace. We've talked about the costliest word in the Bible. That's redemption. Today I want to talk to you about the most agonizing word in the Bible. The most agonizing word in the Bible. Look if you would please in Colossians chapter number 2 and verse number 14. Notice here the Bible said, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. That's the sentence of our sins. If God was to handwrite our sins, our crimes against Him, the wickedness of our lives, it was against us. Blotting it out. That means that there was a day in my life, if you're saved, there was a day in your life that God, so to speak, like some whiteout, He blotted it out. But listen, I'll tell you, He didn't use whiteout. He used the blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus. Notice the Bible said it was contrary, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way. Now watch this. Nailing it. to His cross. I want you to underline two words in your Bible, His cross. Do you realize the most agonizing? I thought about the different words of the Bible. My mind went to this word, the most agonizing word in the Bible, the cross. On this Palm Sunday, our Lord made His entrance into Jerusalem and presented Himself as King. They rejected Him. Now we know on that day there were those who said, Hosanna in the highest. Palm branches, they waved them in front of Him. But as a nation, they said, No, we'll not have this man rule over Him. And they crucified Him. Friend, aren't you glad for the cross? While it was a terrible thing, all but yet out of it, it's a triumphant thing. Let's pray together as we think about this agonizing Word in the Bible. Father, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the truth of Your Word. I thank You for the beauty of Your Son, the Lord Jesus. Lord, I thank You for the agony that He's willing to go through for my sins and the sins of the entire world. Lord, as we think about the upset that we're going through in our lives, nothing comes close. It all pales in comparison. to that moment He endured on the cross for us. Lord, remind us that nobody suffered like Jesus suffered. Nobody has went through what He went through for us. Lord, help us to be thankful. Help us, Lord, for these next moments to take our minds off of everything going around us and to place our minds on the One who is seated above us at the right hand of the Father, the place of honor and exaltation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, help us for the next few moments to remember His cross. And Lord, we'll thank You for it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Well, the most agonizing word in the Bible I begin to think about is we near this place called Calvary. Like Moses of old who there met with God at the burning bush and he heard the Word of God come to him. Slip your shoes from off your feet, Moses, for the ground you're standing on is holy ground. Friend, whenever you and I come to Calvary, whenever we are at the foot of the cross, whenever we begin to contemplate the cross, we're on holy ground. We, like Moses, as it were, should slip the shoes spiritually off of our feet because we're on holy ground. I want to talk to you a moment as we think about this subject of the cross, the most agonizing word in the Bible. I want to talk to you first of all that the cross was an instrument of purpose. Do you realize that the cross of Jesus wasn't an accident? It wasn't that the Lord came to earth and He was a good man, a great man, did wonderful things, but He got crucified. No. Can I tell you that long before the Lord Jesus ever walked up Calvary's mountain, it had been determined beforehand that He would die upon a cross for the sins of the entire world. Can I remind you that the book of the Revelation reminds us that He's the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. You see, the Calvary, the cross, was not an afterthought with God. It was a forethought. My friend Dr. Raymond Barber, many years ago, he said that the cross was prearranged by God's wisdom. It was pre-scheduled by God's mercy. It was preordained by God's grace. You see, I just want to remind you that when God first laid the foundations of the earth and before He ever scooped out the oceans and heaped up the mountains, before He ever put a star in its place, before He ever put a planet in its orbit, may I remind us that God had in His heart a place. that as He created the earth, I believe He lovingly formed a skull-shaped hill that you and I know in the Hebrew as Golgotha. In Greek and into English, a place called Calvary. It was there that the plan of the ages would be consummated. It would be there where the greatest battle of all time would be fought. It would be there where sin would be settled, where Satan would be defeated, where salvation would be provided for all of mankind. You see, it's the cross. It's an instrument of purpose. It was in the mind and the heart of God before man ever sinned, before man ever needed a Redeemer, before man ever needed a Savior. Friend, can I tell you, God had already determined that when that time came that His Son would come and He would go to an old rugged cross and there He would bleed and die for your sins and my sins so that we could have this matter, this thing called eternal life. You see, when I come to the Bible, I recognize it's a library of 66 books. It's not just a catalog. It's not just 66 individual books. No, it's a unit. It's a whole. These 66 books make up one book. And can I tell you that the new is in the old concealed. The old is in the new revealed. They go together. You can't understand the one without the other. pages of the Old Testament in type and shadow and prophecy, you can trace a scarlet thread of redemption that will culminate in a cross. When I study my Bible, I find there some 333 prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ that are recorded in the 39 books that make up our Old Testament that cover every aspect of the Lord's life. They cover His birth. They talk about the place of His birth. They talk about the coming of the wise men. They talk about the manner of His birth, that He would be born of a virgin, that He would be sinless. It talks about His sinless life, that He would be a man. of sorrows acquainted with grief. The Bible talks about His death, His resurrection, all of it. And friend, if you were to go to the Old Testament prophecy of Psalm 22, we won't turn there today, there the psalmist as he's writing the words begins to talk about the cross and he said, they pierced my hands and my feet. It was there that David, as he penned those words, no doubt, went, huh, I wonder what that is. I wonder what that's all about. I wonder if there was in his heart an inkling of something of the Messiah that had been promised to Israel and to the world, and he was wondering what it was all about. Friend, you and I don't have to wonder. We can look back and we know what it was about. Isaiah, 700 years before Christ was ever born, wrote about the meaning of His death. Here's what he said when he talked about His death. He said He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Can I tell you, there's a greater healing than the healing of the body. Friend, that's the healing of the soul. There at Calvary, the Lord Jesus brought about the method and the means by which you and I could be healed spiritually, we could know the forgiveness of sins, that we could be made into a right relationship with God. Friend, I'm just here to tell you that the cross was an instrument of purpose that God allowed men to devise a means of execution, a means of death that would one day be the means by which His Son would purchase the redemption for all mankind as we preached last week. Do we have a message for the world today? Yes, we do. You say, preacher, what is it? It's the message of the cross. It's the old, old story that never gets old. Isn't that true? You see, as I think about this agonizing Word of the Bible, it's an instrument of purpose, that it's not arbitrary, it's not incidental, it's not accidental. Friend, it's essential that you and I cannot be right with God if there wasn't a place, an instrument of agony, known as the cross. It's His cross. You see, it wasn't my cross and it's not your cross. It's His cross. You see, not only was it an instrument of purpose, it was an instrument of pain. Everything about the cross spoke of agony and pain and suffering. The Bible said as they talked about the cross that there they crucified Him. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John all recorded the events of Calvary. Roman execution. was the most horrible mode of execution ever known to man. As a matter of fact, the Persians invented it. The Romans perfected it. It wasn't made so a man would die quickly and die easily. No. They so devised that instrument of death, that place of execution, that instrument by which that they would bring about the death of the enemies of Rome And those that they wanted to make an example out of, they devised it where they would die a slow, agonizing death. As a matter of fact, it was so horrible that no Roman citizen could be crucified. It was reserved for the basest of criminals. It would be the same as the gallows or the electric chair or the gas chamber in our day. For in there was no more shameful of a death than that a man would be crucified. But yet, I'm so glad the writer of Hebrews said that he despised the shame Aren't you glad that our Lord was willing to despise the shame and the suffering of the cross? That He would there go in my place, in your place, and instead of it being my cross and your cross, it's His cross. Someone wrote about the cross. They described what it was like for a man to be crucified. Could I remind us again? The writer wrote, the cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man, he's already been beaten. is quickly thrown backwards. There's no mercy. There's no delicacy. There's no tenderness. No, it's rough men callous with death throw that man to the ground with his shoulders backwards, and there they're against the wood, and the legionnaire feels for a depression in the front of the wrist, and he drives a heavy square wrought iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. He moves to the other side and repeats the action. He's careful not to pull the arms too tightly. He allows some flex and movement. The cross is then lifted into place. And may I remind us that they don't delicately lift the cross, no. It's lifted up and dropped into a pre-dug hole. It hits the ground and when it does, the arms flex and every bone is pulled out of joint. It's a moment of agony. Can you imagine that you've already been beaten with a cat of nine tails to the point of exhaustion? You're there, nailed to a cross. You're lifted up and dropped in as it stood upright. And it's dropped into that hole. All of your bones are now out of joint. And in that moment, they take the left foot and they press it backwards against the right foot. And again, they take another nail and they drive it. through the arch of each foot leaving the knees flexed, the victim would now be crucified. sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrist excruciating fiery pain, shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. The nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight of the nails that's through his feet and again the nerves on that bone begins to tear through that foot, and as the pressure is there, pain begins to shoot through his legs and up his body and out the head. The searing agony, the arms fatigue, the cramps sweep through the muscles, nodding them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath into his lungs. Carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and the bloodstream and the cramps partially subside spasmodically. He is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as the tissues is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins, a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level. The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues. The tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues. And finally, the crucified victim can allow his body to die. Yet the will to live causes the crucified victim not to die in minutes or in hours, but sometimes two to three days. Our Lord only suffered for six hours, just long enough to do what was necessary to save us. But friend, those physical sufferings are nothing compared to the spiritual sufferings of the Lord Jesus. The Bible said in Isaiah 53 and verse 6 that the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Can I remind you? He that knew no sin became sin. Can I tell you? That was the horror of the cross. I believe that's why He said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. I believe that Paul caught it when he said that he blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. Thank God that's where my sins are today. Hey friend, they've been nailed to His cross. Let me ask you, where are your sins today? The great artist Rembrandt painted a masterpiece known around the world as the three crosses. If you were to look at Rembrandt's painting of the three crosses, your attention is drawn first to a center cross on which the Lord Jesus died. then you're going to notice that there are two thieves on either side of the Lord Jesus. One cross is leaning toward the Lord. That's the thief that received Him, the penitent thief. Then there was another cross leaning away from the Lord that showed the one who was impenitent, the impenitent thief, the one who railed on Him and cursed Him and mocked Him. One received Him, the other one rejected Him. Boy, doesn't that look like humanity? Then you're drawn to the crowd gathered at the foot of the cross. You'd be impressed by the various facial expressions and actions of the people involved in the awful crime of crucifying the Son of God. Finally, your eyes will drift to the edge of the painting and catch the sight of another figure almost hidden in the shadows. Art critics who have spent time studying art and Rembrandt's three crosses have said that this is a representation of Rembrandt himself. He recognized it wasn't just some soldiers, but it was his sins that helped nail Jesus to the cross. You see, can I just tell you, in a real true sense, every one of us was there. And in a very true sense, it was my sin and your sin that nailed Him to the tree. He paid a debt that he didn't owe because we owed a debt that we couldn't pay. But friend, there was another step. There was the pain of suffering. There was a pain of sin. But the Bible teaches me there was a pain of separation. You see, darkness was all over the earth from noon to 3 p.m. It was during that time that God supernaturally hid the Son of God from view. It was during those three hours that out of the darkness He would cry, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? At that moment, God the Father, who is of pure eyes than to behold evil, as it were, from a human viewpoint, turned His back on His own Son and poured out on Him the wrath that my sin and your sin deserve. Those three hours of separation from the Father, during that time He suffered an eternal hell for every one of us. Can you imagine it? The Father, the Son, the Spirit who had been together from all eternity past, The joy of the Trinity. Isaiah would cry, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. Holy is the Father. Holy is the Son. Holy is the Spirit. Perfect harmony within the Godhead. And then in that brief three hours, that moment, there was a rift. And God allowed Jesus to suffer what you and I deserve. It was during that time that He would cry from the cross again, It is finished, paid in full. It was an instrument of purpose. It was an instrument of pain. Friend, it's one of the most agonizing words in all of the Bible. The cross, but not just the cross. His cross. All others have been crucified. As a matter of fact, historians tell us that when Titus came in in 70 A.D. and laid waste to the city of Jerusalem, the Romans were bent on ridding the world of what they would see as the Jewish problem. They said that the Roman legionaries crucified Jews along the passageway of the road in and out of Jerusalem, that thoroughfare. They crucified so many Jews that there wasn't any wood left to crucify another. It's upwards of 100,000 Jews they claimed that was crucified that lined that road as a testament to their defiance of Rome. Friend, can I tell you? That was their cross. Nobody knows one of those Jewish men's names. But I can tell you one Jewish man's name, and his name is Jesus, because there's all the difference in the world between their cross and His cross that should have been my cross and your cross. But I've got good news for you. You see, when I look into this verse that I read to you this morning and I notice that the Bible talks about His cross, it talks about a handwriting of ordinance. You remember there was a placard above the cross? This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. You see, actually they could have put a different placard up there that would have named your sins and my sins. That's the handwriting of ordinances in verse 14 that was against us. It was contrary to us, but aren't you glad that He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. It was an instrument of purpose. It was an instrument of pain. But thank God, it's an instrument of power. Can you imagine that today? It's an instrument of power. Friend, listen. I love the fact that while one thief may have rejected the Lord, the other thief received Him and said, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And you remember what Jesus said to him today? Shalt Thou be with me in power? Paradise. Friend, can I tell you what looked like a place of weakness and a place of execution and a place of shame. What looked like all of that was a place of victory and power and triumph as a man's life was changed on a cross. His eternity was changed. And friend, a man who was on his way to hell went to heaven. Isn't that an amazing thing? And friend, ever since then, men, women, boys and girls have kneeled at the foot of the cross and their destiny's been changed and their sins have been forgiven. Friend, there's cleansing at the cross. Aren't you glad today that there's power there to make every sinner clean? Aren't you glad that there is a blood that washes white as snow? There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath its flow, lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away." I'm so glad for a night in 1984 when I went forward and all my sins were washed away. Can we just stop and thank God for a moment? Isaiah put it this way. He said, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Do you know there's testimonies of people whose life has been changed because of that agonizing Word? Word, so to speak, His cross. you realize there's power in the cross. There's power in the cross for you to repair broken lives, restore broken homes, replace broken hopes and dreams. Friend, can I tell you there's power. As a matter of fact, Paul put it this way in I Corinthians chapter 1. I just want to read it to you. He said, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. I'm reminded of the words of Ted Turner who is an atheist. He said he didn't need somebody dying on a cross and blood dripping and weird things like that. He didn't need anybody to die for his sins. I'm thankful somebody died for my sins. But unto us which are saved, it's the power of God. You know what? It's okay if they don't see the value of the cross. Dear child of God, you and I see the value. It's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes. But not only is it an instrument of purpose, not only is it an instrument of pain, not only is it an instrument of power, it's an instrument of promise. You see, Jesus promised that He would die, but He promised it wouldn't end there. I'm going to come back to the greatest word in the Bible next Sunday. I can't wait. I just don't want to wait to get there because the one who died on the cross, friend, He didn't stay dead. Thank God He promised to rise again. And aren't you glad that because He lives, we can live also this morning? He ascended back to the Father and He said, Him that cometh to me, listen, here's the promise, Him that cometh to me, I'll in no wise cast out. God said, if you'll just come, I won't turn you away. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter how rich you are, how poor you are. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how not so smart you are. It doesn't matter what your social standing is. It doesn't matter what culture. It doesn't matter any category anybody puts themselves in. He said, Him that cometh to me. It's just an open invitation. Him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. John Newton, I mentioned this man a couple weeks ago when we talked about the sweetest word in the Bible. He's the writer of amazing grace. He was a slave trader, got saved when he was washed off the ship by a wave. He cried out to God and there the power of the cross took place in his life. He got swept back onto the deck. He went off the deck a wicked vile man came back onto the deck a saved, cleansed man. Life changed. Isn't that amazing? Here's what he wrote, An evil long I took delight, Unawed by shame or fear, Till a new object struck my sight And stopped my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree in agonies and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Sure never till my latest breath can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins as blood had spilled and helped to nail Him there. Alas, I knew not what I did. But now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul be hid? It is the Lord I have slain. A second look he gave, which said, I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom paid. I die that thou mayest live. Thus while his death my sin displays in all its blackish hues, such is the mystery of grace it seals my pardon too. with pleasing grief and mournful joy, my spirit now if filled, that I should such a life destroy, yet live by Him I killed." Isn't that amazing? Isn't that powerful? Friend, it's an instrument of purpose. God in eternity past looked down the corridors of time and saw a cross. It was there that His Son would pay for the sins of the entire world. It would be an instrument of pain. He knew what His Son would go through and what He would experience. He understood the physical sufferings. He understood the agonizing fact of being made sin and the grief of separation from the Father that you and I might never be separated from the Father. Isn't that amazing? It was a place of power. You see, what to the world was a place of weakness and death in that day is to us a place of power and life. And then it's a place of promise. It's a promise that whosoever would come to Him, He wouldn't turn them away, that He'd save them. Their sins would be forgiven. their life would be changed, their destiny in heaven secure. Isn't that a wonderful truth today? You see, I'm thankful for that agonizing word, cross. But not just any cross, His cross. And it promises life. to those who received the One who died on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ. One of my favorite illustrations, I've given it many times. A man was giving a testimony in an open air salvation meeting. They were out and big crowds had gathered and as he was up there giving testimony, there was a man in the crowd and he was a heckler. And he said, why don't you just sit down? He said, you're just dreaming. About that time he felt a tug on his coat and he looked down and there was a little girl and she said, She said, that's my daddy up there. My daddy used to be a drunkard and he used to beat my mama and me. Our lives were miserable. He said, but you look over there. Do you see that woman over there with that big smile on her face and that pretty dress? My daddy bought that for her. And he don't beat us anymore. And our home is happy. And he said, mister, she said, mister, one more thing. If my daddy's just dreaming, please don't wake him up. I'm glad it's not a dream, aren't you? Say, preacher, I'm not a drunkard and I've never beat anybody. Friend, we're all sinners just the same. And we need Him. And as I come your way this morning, can I just make a plea? It's the plea that the Lord has made. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool. Though they be red like crimson, they should be as white as snow. Aren't you glad that God can take our black sin and turn it white with the crimson flow of His blood that was there in agonizing death shed for us at the cross? Friend, if you're not saved today, if you don't know where you'd go, if you don't have the assurance you'd go to heaven, Could I tell you there's power and there's promise in the cross for you? What was a place of agony can be a place of hope and redemption and happiness and joy for you. Because of what He suffered, you and I can be saved. In this moment, maybe you say, Pastor, I don't know if I died I'd go to heaven. You can go to heaven. If you'll understand that your religion can't save you, and your good works can't save you, and doing the best you can can't save you, but that Jesus can save you and He's the only way. It's Christ and Christ alone through His agonizing death on the cross, His resurrection. If you'll understood that it was there that your sins were paid for in full and you'll receive Him, you can be saved today. As a matter of fact, you can bow right where you are in your living room, your kitchen table, wherever you're listening, maybe in your bedroom. And you can pray a simple prayer from your heart to God like this. And you maybe want to follow along with me. And in this moment you can be saved. Pray this prayer, voicing the faith of your heart. It's not the prayer that saves you. It's not repeating words. It's believing on Christ. And your words are just voicing your faith and faith asking for His salvation. You can follow me in this prayer. Dear Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. And if I die, I won't go to heaven. But I believe You died in agony on the cross for me, paid for my sins, was buried and rose again. I right now ask You to save me, forgive me of my sins, take me to heaven. Thank you. You say, preacher, is it that simple? The Bible said, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Friend, it may seem simple to you and I. It may seem easy. Can I remind you that He did the hard part? He suffered in agony on a cross for you and me so that we by simple faith could have eternal life in Him. And the Bible said if you come to Him, He won't turn you away. If you called on the Lord knowing you're a sinner and you believed on the Savior for He saved you just like He did me over 35 years ago, I'm so thankful today for the cross. Let's bow our heads in prayer. His heads are bowed and eyes are closed. You say, Preacher, I can remember a day or a time or preacher I know and I may not know the exact moment, the exact day, you might not be able to write the date down, but you know in your heart there was a time in your life you were a sinner and you called on the Lord and you say preacher I know I'm saved today. Why don't you just take a moment and thank Him for that agonizing word called the cross? Why don't you tell Him you love Him this morning? Maybe you've broken the Lord's heart as a Christian. Maybe you're away from Him. Maybe you've not been living for Him. You know you're saved. You know you go to heaven, but you're not living for Him like you should. You've drifted from God. Things in your life ought not be there. And you need to come home today. Maybe you need to kneel afresh and not be saved again, but say, God, thank you for saving me and letting me live for you like I should. And I want you to forgive me, Lord, for the way I've lived. See if we confess our sins. He's faithful and just. Forgive us our sins. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To restore our fellowship and the joy of our salvation, why don't you come back to Him today? Why don't you start living for Him like you know you ought to? Why don't you let this time that God's gotten your attention through all of this be the time that you're saying, Lord, it's a turning point. I'm coming back.