Turn with me to Matthew 26. Matthew 26. Our Lord is on trial right here. before a man named Caiaphas. And at the end of verse 63, Caiaphas said, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Are you the equal member of the Trinity? God Almighty manifest in the flesh. And the Lord answered him and said, yes, I am. Verse 64, Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said, nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall you see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes saying, he hath spoken blasphemy. Now that's a lie. Our Lord had not spoken blasphemy. He was exactly who he said he was. But Caiaphas in his false religion ignorance, and that's what all of false religion is, it's ignorance. And this man Caiaphas, in his false religion ignorance, verse 65, he rent his clothes, saying, he hath spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, he is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? I've been reading through this chapter for weeks now. We're going through the book of Matthew. We have been in chapter 26 for quite a while. We're studying a particular set of verses, but I'm always reading ahead, reading through, getting the whole context of the situation. Every time that I read these verses right here that I just read to you, these last two verses, I'm amazed by the condescension of our Lord. For weeks now, I have been, I read these and I'm just amazed by the condescension of our Lord. I'm amazed by how much he humbled himself. I'm amazed by the fact that he stood there silently and allowed them to spit in his face. Just get that scene in your mind. He just stood there. And he allowed them to buffet him. That word buffet, that means to repeatedly beat with the fist. Just to repeatedly. Repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly beat with the fist. And then one man's fist would just be wore out and the next one would come in. And then when they were finished, it says in verse 67 others smote him with the. That word palms translates rods that they were holding in their hands. They didn't slap him with the palms of their hands. They were holding in the palms of their hands rods. And you can just see him. just repeatedly, repeatedly, screaming in his ear. I'm sure they didn't politely ask him. They were trying to bust his eardrums, screaming, Prophets turned to us. Who spoke the poem? Who was that? Don't we realize that he could have, in that moment, prayed to his father, And he would have immediately sent more than 12 legions of angels. 72,000 angels. Our Lord humbled himself and allowed himself to endure that. He allowed those men to do that to him. Why? That the scripture might be fulfilled. that the scripture might be fulfilled. Turn with me to Isaiah 50. The heading at the top of my page says, Christ's Patient Suffering. This is speaking of Christ. This is the prophecy of that very moment that we just read. And verse five says, the Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. That capital L, lowercase O-R-D, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the fullness of the Godhead, the fullness of the God, the fullness of the three persons of God in a body. The Lord Jesus Christ opened his own ear. He willingly opened his ear to the words of the Father. He opened his ear to the desire of the Father, the work that his Father laid on him to do. He said, I heard it and I was not rebellious to it. Verse six, he said, I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, And I know that I shall not be ashamed. Doesn't that break your heart? It's heartbreaking to me. Our Lord humbled himself because it was his father's will for him to humble himself. It was the work his father laid on him of fulfilling all scripture, whatever was prophesied. and fulfilling the punishment that His people deserved. That's what He was doing in that moment as He stood there silently in that moment. He was fulfilling the punishment that you and I deserved. He was fulfilling the punishment that all of His chosen elect people deserved. Every soul the Father selected and gave to Him to endure this for them. He was taking what was owed to you and me. You think about that. That was supposed to be you and me. And outside of Christ, in the judgment, that will be you and me. The gospel of salvation. People talk about the gospel. People talk about salvation and being saved. What is it? The gospel of salvation has everything to do with Christ being made to be the substitute of his people. That's the gospel. Every type, every picture. Moses, you tell the people they'd better have a lamb. A lamb for a house. They better have a substitute. If we want to know where salvation really is, it is in Christ being made to be the substitute for His people. Go with me back to Matthew 26. in their lies on our Lord. Verse 66, they answered and said, he is guilty of death. Now, he was not guilty in himself, but here's the thing about it. I was guilty in myself. About 30 minutes ago, I said, you remember that word guilt for about 30 minutes. I was guilty in myself and he was made to be me. This right here is the amazing mystery of the gospel. He took, literally, actually, he took my sin and my sorrow and he made them his very own. He bore that burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole. Total redemption. You want to hear the definition of the word total? That means the whole of the matter. absolute, complete, all of it, not one dot or tittle left out. My sin, not in part, but the whole, was nailed to the cross. I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. Christ was made to be the substitute of his people, not just on their behalf, but in their place. He didn't just die for the sin of his people, he died with the sin of his people. Here is the amazing thing about substitution. Even though in the eyes of man, our Lord was completely innocent. because he took the place of his people. And all through this, you know, he's standing before Caiaphas and they're lying on him, but then he's going to go to Pilate. Pilate's going to say, I can't find any fault in this man. This man is innocent. Even though in the eyes of man, he was innocent. Because he took the place of his people in the eyes of God almighty, he was made to be guilty. And I say this fearfully, this is holy ground right here. Like the Lord said to Moses, and Moses represents the law, you take your shoes off, you're standing on holy ground. Don't you lift yourself up that far, not the sole of your shoe, you come down. This is holy ground. In their lies concerning our Lord, they spoke the prophecy of what Christ was made to be in order to save his people from their sin. Call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. How? He was made to be guilty. Verse 66, what thank you. They answered and said, he is guilty of death. The spotless, holy, innocent one, in order to save his people from their sins, he was made to be their guilt. And if he was made to be guilty, do you know what all of his people were made to be? Innocent. Innocent. Every soul that the Father placed in Him was made to be innocent. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5. Second Corinthians 5 verse 21, it says, for he hath made him to be sin for us. God the Father made Christ to be sin for us. Who knew no sin? Jesus Christ himself was spotless, which is so critical because if he was made to be us, And we were made to be Him. That's what we had to be to enter into glory. He was spotless. But He was made to be sin, the sin of His people. And through that transaction, it says, his people were made to be the very righteousness of God in him. He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He was made to be our very sin, that we might be made to be his very righteousness. So what does that mean then? What did that transaction accomplish? What does substitution with Christ mean for us? This is what it means, verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Don't you wish the past would go away? Don't you wish the present would go away? Well, in Christ it has. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. That's what Christ accomplished by his substitution for his people. That's what Christ accomplished in being made to be guilty in the stead of his people. He wiped our slate clean. He made himself to be filthy in order to wipe our slate clean. He put every old sinful thing away forever. He made everything to be spotlessly brand new. Verse 18 says, and all things are up God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. He has given to us the ministry of preaching what Christ accomplished for us in his substitution. That's our ministry. Verse 19, to wit or to know that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto him, not acknowledging. the reality of their trespasses unto them, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Why? Because he imputed their trespasses to Christ. He saw every single one of them. He said, that's the fact of the matter. They're on Jesus Christ. And he has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Verse 20, now then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead. He stood in our stead, and we're in his stead. Be ye reconciled to God, 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. First Peter 2 says, he bore our sin in his own body on the tree. And when he did that, he became guilty. He cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It's because he was made to be guilty. The Lord our God said he would by no means clear the guilty. And he didn't. He couldn't. Turn with me over to Psalm 22. This is where our Lord said that. This is the prophecy of our Lord saying that. Psalm 22. These are all the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse one says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season, and I'm not silent. Why? Why? Because he was made to be guilty. And in verse 3 he said, but thou art holy. I know why. It's because you're holy and you cannot clear the guilty. Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. But I am a worm. and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people." He said, I am a worm. That's the feeling of guilt. That's what guilt causes a man to say. When my guilt, the feeling of my guilt was transferred to him. And I'll just tell you something. I feel guilt over my sin. I'm not going to confess my sin to you, that's to God only, but I'll confess to you that I feel guilt over my sin. Do you ever feel guilt over your sin? Are you ever driving down the road and then something comes to your mind and you think, oh, I wish I hadn't thought of that again. One of these days real soon, I'm going to get to experience the fact that He took my guilt from me. He took my sin from me and He bore my guilt from me. But right now I still have sin to commit and guilt to bear because of it. He took all of my guilt from me. But when that happened, when my guilt, the feeling of my guilt, it was transferred to him, that's what it caused him to say before God. He doesn't exaggerate. He doesn't speak words for no reason to his father. He said, I'm a worm. Do you ever feel like that? Thou worm Jacob. That is, that's amazing. That is so holy. Again, that's such a, this is such a holy transaction. Oh, that he would do this. Turn over to Psalm 40. Again, this is the Lord speaking. Verse 7, then said, I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it's written of me. Hebrews 10 tells us, it's quoting that, saying that our Lord said that. It tells us this is the Lord speaking. But look at verse 11. It says, withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me for innumerable evils. They could never be numbered, there's so many. Innumerable evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me." Why would he say that? It's because he was sinking down into sin's despairs. He said, my inequities have taken hold on me. He didn't commit them, but he possessed them. He owned them. He held them. He felt them. He carried the weight of them, all of the burden and weight that came with them. He carried that. all the way to the grave. Thank God, all the way to the grave. You know, these sins that we bear and we carry, you think, I wish they'd go away. I just wish they'd go away. They have. They're all taken away, away. And we're going to know that experience real soon. I'm telling you real soon. You know, we feel so sorry for, well, I do feel sorry for men and women who leave this world outside of Christ. But when a believer dies, someone whose hope is in the Lord, that is the moment that sin is taken away. All the guilt, it's all gone. It's just all gone because he carried it all to the grave. That's what he did with our sin. Turn over to Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8 verse 26, The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose, and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority under Candacy, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for it to worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot, he read Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And like a lamb done before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation, for his life is taken from the earth? And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him the Lord Jesus Christ. how he came to this earth. I wish that would happen to me sometime. I wish I'd come up on somebody reading the scripture, but for the grace of God, you won't, because everybody who is in public with the Bible open thinks they're the authority on the Bible. You know, the pride of man is so great. But I'd love to come up on somebody and say, do you understand what you're reading? And they say, how can I, except some man would guide me. Where are you reading? Isaiah 53. Well, this is what it's saying. It's saying the holy spotless God of heaven and earth came down here and took the sin away from all of the people that the father chose to save. They were all laid on him and he stood there holding every wicked thing you've done in your total depravity. And the father looked at him and he looked at the father in an absolute anger and hatred. God the Father killed him. He buffeted him and smote him. And he died. And his body, bearing all of your sin, inside his body, his body was laid in that grave. And when he arose, the sin did not come with him. He left it there. forever. And now you are free from sin. That's what this is saying. You're going to be given a portion with the grape. You're free from it all. All the guilt, they could put you in prison for life for what you've done, but you're exonerated, set free, free forever. By the sacrifice of himself, by the shedding of his own blood, he set his people free forever. Philippians chapter 2 says, because he did that, I ask our brother to read that for our scripture reading, because he did that, because he humbled himself all the way down to the guilt and the shame and the sin of his people, all the way down to the grave of his people. God the Father has highly exalted Him and we do too. We lift Him up, highly exalted Him to the throne of glory and given Him a name that's above every name and everything bows to Him and everything confesses He is Lord, He is Lord. because He arose from the death that I was supposed to die for me. He's risen from the dead and He is Lord. And now in the righteousness that He left His people in, He took their sin and He left His righteousness. And in His own righteousness, in Christ's righteousness, we can now, with this covering of righteousness, we can approach the throne of God Almighty. We can walk right up to the throne of God Almighty anytime we need to. That's what Christ accomplished for us in being our substitute. Whatever He could do, we can do. What can He do? He can walk right up to the throne of God Almighty if He wants to. In Him, so can we. Go over to Hebrews 4. I'll close with this. Hebrews 4 verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Do you know that if we were still in the guilt of our sin and we approached that throne, we'd be killed on sight? And I do want to tell all of us this, I want everybody to hear this. There are people right now all over this world who are still in the guilt of their sin. And that is exactly what is going to happen to any soul who approaches the throne of God outside of the blood and righteousness of Christ. But in Christ, In Christ, the sin is gone, the guilt is gone, we're free to come. Don't approach the throne outside of pleading the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Not my works, not my righteousness, not my anything. Christ alone. Christ alone. Lord, put us in Christ. Put us in the substitution of Jesus Christ. May it be said that he stood in our place and bore the guilt of our sin and the punishment and the condemnation of our sin for us. If he did, I'll tell you how you'll know. And I'm going to leave us with this. Okay. Some, he did some, he didn't. If he did, this is how you'll know, he will give you a deep desire for Christ to be your substitute. You'll say with Jacob, I cannot let you go unless you're my substitute. He will give you a continual need to cry out to him, begging him to be one of the ones who he bore the guilt for. Those that he didn't do it for, they will not worry about this. They will assume they're fine. And in their mind, they're good to go. Let's go meet God. But if he did this for you, you will cry and plead and beg, Lord, please do not let me stand before the throne of judgment outside of you. Let me stand before the throne of grace and mercy to help me in my time of need. Please let me be in you. If all of your hope is in his substitution for you, that's your evidence he was your substitute. It is. I pray the Lord will put that need in every soul here. I need him to be my substitute. I need to find life through him bearing my death. I need to find innocence through Him bearing my guilt. Lord, please be my substitute. May that be the cry of every soul here. Amen.