All right, if you'll turn with me to Mark 15. I just want to read two verses there later. And we're going with the same Let me say we're completing last Sunday's message, I think. And that was after Just a lot of thought put in. I was not satisfied with what I told John as to the title. I felt like it was missing something. So I asked Larry if he would change that Friday morning. And he changed it to Jesus, the living, dying Savior. And I think that is more to what I'm trying to say than the previous title. So, though I took last week Luke 23, 46 as the text, that'll still be there for this one. Would you bow with me as we approach the throne of grace? Our Father, we're very thankful that a way has been made for we to approach nigh thee, not in our righteousness, not in our works, but solely upon the merit of the Lord Jesus. Or after we've been in the way for a short period, we come to find the truth of, in me dwelleth no good thing. And every one of us puts up with the old man. He would dominate He would direct our lives, control our thinking, and try to establish the path upon which we're to go. So we're always dependent upon thee, and thy mercy and goodness that flows so freely through the blessed Lamb of God. So hear us this morning, our Father, in his name. And prepare hearts to continue to receive from thee. And then we turn again to look at our Lord Jesus. for the most part, taken so lightly in this day. But Lord, we plead with You to rekindle our love, our desire to walk pleasing, our desire to glorify him in word and deed. And Lord, this old body is so much a hindrance as we begin to age. It aches. But in that, we ask ye to enable all of us to bow to that, knowing our God always does that which is right and best for us. And then those that did not make it today, always here, but providence of a family member in critical condition. My Lord, grant peace and comfort and enable them to get above the situation, looking solely, solely to our Lord Jesus, who not only is our savior and our great high priest, but he's also the great position. Have mercy, Lord, if it is pleasing. and help the young man in the hospital, his family, and those that are a part of our family here. Now be glorified today. Give help. in rightly declaring and setting forth that which could be of benefit to these, as you unite us as one body and one people, looking back at the work of our Lord Jesus to enrich our hearts today. Give help in hearing, give help in speaking, and for that you do for us, we'll be careful to stop and give you the thanks. These things we ask in Christ's name, amen. Every year, at least four times, I get to the four accounts of all the disciples in the gospels, each describing something of the death of our Lord Jesus. It is not an easy read for me anymore, it's difficult to feel the sufferings, and the agony, and the pain, and being forsaken by all, and hanging there on that old wooden beam, not for anything that he ever did, but in that he willingly and freely, all because of love, went through this for all his children. Closed out last week in John 13 one, when Jesus knew Though he was God, equal with God in every aspect, he emptied himself and was nothing more than a weak, hapless little infant that Mary gave birth to. And they laid him in that cattle trough there. That was his little cradle. When he, 30 years of age, and starts out the last three years of his life, up until 30, he has increased in wisdom. All of you know that wisdom is just the application of knowledge. Not too many wise people in the world anymore. We got a lot of people that know a lot in their heads, but they're dumb when it comes to wisdom. So he increased in wisdom, even from 30 years of age on up until his last few months here, continued to increase. And all through life, like you, his tomorrows were hidden. He didn't know what they would bring. He always had to get in the day just like you to know anything about it. And then there in John 13, when Jesus knew, he's looking ahead and he knows now the cost. Just in a few days, he'll be on Calvary. I tried to tell you last week about the crucifixion and how they had made it so shameful and so painful that they could keep a man alive for a long time. Now, The angel came to, as the scripture said, his supposedly father, Joseph. And he told him, don't fear to take unto thee Mary, thy espoused wife, for though she is with child, Here's what you call that young boy, Jesus. And Joseph, the reason that you call him Jesus is because he shall save his people from their sins. Now, Joseph and Mary, knowing the Old Testament scripture to a degree, certainly knew that sin could not be forgiven except by the shedding of blood. Now, what do you think that did to Joseph? When the angel told him that this young child, Jesus, was in the world to save his people from their sin. So the death of our Savior It did not begin a few days before Calvary. He lived as a dying man. And then in Luke two, she brought forth her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in swaddling clothes. That literally is she wrapped him in strips, strips of cloth. Now you're in Mark 15. In Mark 15 verse 45 and six, this is Joseph of Arimathea. And when he knew that he is of the death of Christ, of the centurion, he gave the body, or Pilate did, gave the body to Joseph Now verse 46, and he bought fine linen and took him down and wrapped him in the linen. Again, cloth, fine linen, strips of cloth that he purchased. And he laid him in a sepulcher, which was hewn out of a rock. and rolled a stone onto the door of the sepulcher. So at birth, Jesus was wrapped in strips as a mark of his life and death. So from the manger to Calvary, Jesus, as the son of man, lived the entirety of his life in submission to his God, and his father and did exactly everything that pleased him and that which would accomplish your salvation. Having received his humanity through Mary." It's not far, just turn over a page or two, Luke 1. Luke 1, 35. Mary asked, in verse 34, how shall this thing be? Verse 35, and the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God. So he got his humanity from his mother. He could not from his father, because of the sin that was being transmitted from father to children that the father received from Adam when he ate the fruit. When he was conceived, he did not cease to be God. And now at 33 years of age, he's both man and God. Each maintaining its separate identity. They never joined together to become one identity. He's fully man and he's fully God. Now he's going to suffer as man, which means that he will bow his yoke to the powers of the Roman government at the request, more than request, at the demands of the children of Israel, those great leaders in their long road. So now, at 33 years of age, coming up on the very, very last few nights, and then there hanging on the cross, going over everything that he must do so that all his children will be saved. He thought it, not robbery, to be equal with God. What I am and who I am as man is taking nothing from God. And so Jesus brought humanity into the Godhood. God's children will never be in the Godhead. That belongs only to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. But when the Son of Man accomplished His purpose for coming, then as flesh, He went back to His Father. Now all of his children can go there. Now in Hebrews chapter two and verse 16, he took not on him the nature of angels. He loved the angels, which had not fallen, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. He loved his children more that he loved the angels that had not sinned. So now as his life begins to come to a close and he gives Satan and he gives religious leaders an hour, took more than an hour, but that's how he framed it, worded it, this is your hour and the power of darkness. And in that, he said, now is my soul troubled. John 12, 27, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. I can't do that. You'll have to handle when he prayed, let this cup pass from me in light of, for this cause came I into or unto this purpose. And he also said that the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. Now all of you, if you can hear me at this point, if the Lord Jesus tarries, You are going to face a physical death. You will not be able to escape that. And to you, God has given his truth. You hold a Bible, he gave that to you. and how you live, not according to this old world, but how you conduct your life, though living in the flesh will have great weight when you lie down there on that bed, never to get up. How will it be? If you're not with me yet, and you haven't yet come to an appreciation of Jesus Christ in the gardens, knowing all things, and he submitted himself, He, as the Lamb of God, was sinless, perfect, no blemish. But in those last hours, He took in His body, He became sin for every single individual that will be with Him in glory, every one of them. So it is said, when Jesus knew that he was to part from the soul world, having loved his own which were in the world, he did not in that hour draw back his neck from the yoke, but he willingly submitted, knowing And there's a good possibility that they will ease our pain to the best ability they can if our last moments are in a hospital. Not our Lord. He was living in the world that he created among fallen men And in that group of fallen men, he had brought many into his immediate family and manifested to them his very heart. We'll look at Paul in a minute and what he thought about dying, not the physical death. And he was so in unison with the Son of God that he said, every child of God, you should know what Jesus did for you. And I will tell you this as I begin to close out life here. If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed. Because that's what he will be one second after death. Christ living in a world he created, Christ living among men and women in whom they had a new creation formed within. knowing that they would all forsake Him. Yet He went on to the cross. And not only would those that He had expressed His heart to forsake Him in this dying hour, but his father would hang him out there in outer darkness. Surely you've read the scripture of hell being that place of outer darkness. Jesus' father hung him in your place in that outer darkness for those long three painful hours. Not only did his father leave him, but it was his father that called for the sword to be brought against his son. Zechariah 13, awake, O sword, against my shepherd. The man that is my fellow smite the shepherd. God had to give them the power to do that. And God had to leave them alone long enough that their hatred for Jesus had come to the point that nothing short of the most cruel, shameful death possible that they could commit him to. I said, there's nothing wrong with that man. You take him and you deal with him. Well, we don't have power to take a man's life. Why you want me to take it? Because he claimed to be the son of God. And that answer, struck such a chord in Pilate's heart that he began looking for a way in which he could release Jesus from the cruel fate that awaited him. But he could not because that day he stood in the place of God Almighty that had already passed sentence upon His only begotten Son, guilty. He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Isaiah 53, 4, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God. God did it. Oh, you might've had a hand in it, you men by wicked hands, but God did it. You're gonna answer for carrying out your cruel crime against the living Son of God. But God, ultimately, is the one that passed judgment upon him. Now turn with me to John. John 18. Your soul is very important, for I'm talking about the one that you call Savior. I don't know how old he was, two, three, four, I don't know. But he came to the place knowing My flesh cannot dictate how I live. That's exactly what God will do to all His children. Now John 18 verse 1. When Jesus had spoken, He went forth with His disciples over the brooks where it was a garden into the which he entered and his disciples. When Jesus had spoken from 14 through 16 to his disciples, in chapter 17 had spoken to his father, he went forth over the brook Cedron. The word Cedron means opaque. That is, you can't see through it. It is dark with suspended matter. You remember in 2 Samuel 15, when David leaves the castle and the people following him, all weeping. And the reason David is weeping and the people weeping with him, and David is going barefoot, head covered. Men don't cover their head. They're weeping. He went over the brook Chidron, same brook that Jesus went over after he had finished speaking with his father. Chidron means dark. I've told you before that it was dark because they took the remains of all the sacrificial and they would toss those remains into that brook. Then the idols that were crushed when a good king would come in office, they'd take that and they'd cast it into that brook, Chitron. David has got a rebellious son. Absalom has gotten together a great band of men, formed a conspiracy to overthrow. All David can do, because he had sinned, is just go leave it. Some of them brought the treasure out of the temple. He said, carry it back. If God one day will be pleased to have mercy upon me, then I'll be back here. But David passed over that dark, dark body of water just like our Lord Jesus. David passed over it because of sin. Jesus passed over it because of sin. The psalmist speaks of all my sins, excuse me, and mine iniquities. Well, you remember in John 24, Jesus opened to the scripture that of the prophets and the Psalms and explained, expounding to them in all things from the Old Testament concerning himself. And so when the Psalmist, David, would say, all my sins are mine iniquities, Jesus is saying the same thing. Not because he ever sinned, but because he willingly took your sin, if you are a child. Now passing over that dark, dark brook, with the sins of all his people beginning to settle in on that Holy soul. He passed over a brook that you couldn't see in it because of its darkness, carrying away all the filth out of Jerusalem. There's a river in Georgia that empties into the Okefenokee Swamp there in Waycross. It's a black river. It's black because of waters passing over roots of oak trees in it. Nearby it, rain bleaching out, washing into the river. And it's a black river because of the tannic acid that it picked up. That's Cedron. Now there is another black river, one in Missouri and one in Ohio, I do not know. What all is the cause there, but I do know the one, if I could, Satilla, I think that's the way they pronounce it in Waycross, Satilla, black waters. And Jesus looked down, those dark waters flowing over his soul. If you got a heart to, this afternoon or surely throughout next week, go back and read Psalm 22. I am a worm, lowish little creature, crawling off times beneath the soil, mocked He trusted the Lord. Leave him alone and let's see if the Lord will come help him. He said, I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. They would lift that old cross and as it fell into that hole, jarred all his bones. All of them are out of joint. They all staring at me. My heart's like wax melted within me. All because of the blackness of our sin, my strength is dried up, my tongue cleaveth into the roof of my mouth or my jaws. And then when those Romans would put one, fix one on the cross, they'd come by and they would give them vinegar, sour wine and water mixed together. But Jesus refused that. He had to pay for every sin in every child of God that was then and would be in the future, every small sin. If you die with one sin, you're not going to heaven. You can only die without any sin because Jesus would not take the little medicine that would ease pain in the least degree, in a degree, I would say. I can't take it. Some of God's elect wouldn't be in glory. And so from the sixth hour into the ninth hour darkness, and finally he cries out, my God, my God. He's got one other loud cry to make. But remember what he said, my tongue cleaveth from my jaws. At best, it'll be a soft spoken word. But they came back and they offered him this vinegar again on a reed that stretched up to his mouth. And his tongue was wetted, his lips. And one last final cry, lies all your hope. It is finished. My salvation was completed that day on Calvary. You say, well, preacher, you weren't born. Right. You weren't either, but He died for you. Again, I'll stress the point. If you are a child or ever become a child, your salvation was finished with that great utterance. Now, I want to begin to close out with the practical of all this. To me, I hope. Dear Lord, I hope to you. And I want to use some of the language of the great apostle, Saul of Tarsus. He'd sat at the feet of the great teacher there in Israel. He had advanced to the top of his class, the Jews religion. One day, this young man that one day would be something. He might be the next great teacher in Israel. One day he met a resurrected Jesus and he found forgiveness. Later on, he was carried to the third heaven. Coming back to earth, he became such a devoted follower knowing that the man Jesus bore all his sins, paid all his debt in full as he did mine or yours. So the cross to him was not some doctrine that he had learned in order to be ordained as a minister. It was more than a doctrine, it was reality. First Corinthians 2.2, I have determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's the same apostle that penned two thirds of the New Testament with every major doctrine concerning God there is. But he said, there's one thing that directs my life now. That old cross. died on. In the last place, I ask you to turn Romans eight and I'll finish out. I despise with every fiber of my being, men who gets up and said, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. All that's necessary is that you repeat this little prayer. I believe if that's all they know about God, and about salvation and about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe they're going to split hell wide open. You can't know God and you can't know about the cross without wanting others to know to a degree what you know. You didn't get there because you read this in your Bible. You got there because he who died on Calvary met you and brought you to the point in your life where he lay a cross on your shoulders. If you're a Christian, you're a dying Christian. I know in the flesh, all of us are dying. But if you're a Christian, you are a dying being to everything around you. You gotta look after your wife. You gotta look after your husband. You gotta take care of your children. You got to work and provide for them. But there's one thing above all. That's the cross on which my savior died. And so in the believer's heart, well, Romans 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot, cannot please God. You and I live in a body that is as prone to sin as water is to run downhill. Everything about me as a man would end up in complete corruption and wickedness. if not for the sustaining grace and mercy of God. One thing about that, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Flesh has never in the least degree aided anything, anything, not one thing to your growth and development as a child of God. Matter of fact, it's hindered you. Every step you would take, it's had its chains around you to draw you back. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation or creature that is within this old body of flesh, just like Saul of Tarsus there dwelt Paul, the great apostle. God want the moment you repented of your sins, the moment you pleaded with God for grace and mercy and found forgiveness, that's when that new man was created within. And your old man shouldn't be directing your lives. Now, if I say some of you, I will say that not knowing. So if you do not fit in this statement, don't throw a rock at me. I'm not picking on anyone in particular, but I'm just asking you saying to you, are there some here not attached closely enough to the cross of the Lord Jesus? Don't ever become satisfied because you know the doctrine and you've heard me say everything that I've told you today. You've heard it before. Don't ever become satisfied because you can quote scripture, doctrine. Jesus Christ came into this world living for 33 years and every day that he lived, he was a dying savior. There was a cross attached to that infant. at Mary birth into the world. And he lived the entirety of his life to the will of his God, the entirety of it. Not only to the will of his God, but to the glory of his God. And that's why I'm one attached to that old cross as much as Saul of Tarsus was, he could cry out, I die daily. You're digging too deep a foundation in this old world. You got strong chains on some things you ought to let go. Paul was so related to the dying Lamb of God. But see, he had already passed through death and raised before Paul ever met him. But Jesus Christ took him back to Calvary. And that's where it's gonna take you. He could say the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul, how do you know he loved you? Well, everybody knows God loved. No, Paul, how do you know? I met him, I found forgiveness, I found in a new birth sonship to the eternal God that sent his only begotten son into the world to die for me. That's how I know he loved me. But I'm gonna hear this, doesn't God love all men equally? Evidently not. For if you are on the narrow path, please don't any of you say, well, that's because those that are not on the narrow path never accepted his son. Then you have just attributed to them the ability to get to God. You're saying they had power to come. I say they didn't. I say we were all dead men living in the flesh. Either that or your God loving all equally doesn't have the power to bring every soul into eternity that he loved. You can't have this both ways. He that's in Christ is there because God loved him. And when this thing is over, when the ransomed church of God is saved to sin no more, somewhere after you went to Calvary and you found forgiveness, Somewhere just a little later on in life, God began teaching you about a cross. As I told you last week, a cross had but one purpose, and that was that the victim attached to it would meet his end. Somewhere down the road, You might get your feet on, you might be a young Christian, you might be striving to serve the Lord. That we all do after we found forgiveness. And that weight and burden on our back was lifted. And God's gonna attach a cross to your life. For Paul said, they that are in the flesh they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. And from that the cross delivers.