So today is the church anniversary, 160 years I think I heard, but it's also Good Friday. So what does the preacher do? Does he preach about the church or does he preach about the cross? Well, the church would not exist apart from Christ's death on the cross. And on the cross he gave himself for the church that Paul calls his bride. And you cannot love Christ if you do not love his church, his people, the bride. So therefore I'm going to focus on the Saviour's death. And to do that I want this afternoon to turn to Titus chapter 2 and verse 13. and fourteen, so Titus 2, verse 13 and 14, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of that great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. So to explore this text, I want to ask three questions. Who died? How did he die? And why did he die? Who died on that cross on what we call Good Friday? Well, the text tells us. The apostle says that it was the great God, the great God, who died on a cross. The God is immortal, is uncreated, and yet, as a man, the human body with a human nature, he was nailed to our cross. Right into the Corinthians, Paul says that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. God in Christ. Christ is God. And he says the word is not mean that everyone will be saved, but that sinners will be saved from all the races of the world, from all the eras of history, and there will be a vast number in heaven for whom the Saviour died, for whom God died on that cross. Charles Wesley and him with your son felt something of the amazement of God dying for our sins. Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Tis missed to yaw the immortal dies. That's brilliant poetry, but it's brilliant theology also. God, the mighty God, Jesus Christ is the mighty God. who dies on a cross for us. We often call Thomas Doubting Thomas, but Doubting Thomas made one of the greatest statements in all the Bible. When he saw Christ alive from the dead, he said, my Lord and my God. Jesus didn't say, no, no, you mustn't say that. No, no, he accepted the worship of Thomas, my Lord and my God. And look again at the text, who died? It was the mighty God, the great God. And our Saviour, Jesus Christ. So God died on the cross, but our Saviour, Jesus, died on the cross. So the great God became a baby at Bethlehem, lived a sinless life on earth, and then died on a cross. The word Jesus tells us why he came to earth, why He was now to a cross. Jesus means Saviour. Remember the angel came to Joseph and said to him that Mary will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus. for He shall save His people from His sins. So He's called Jesus so that we might understand that He is our Saviour. He came to earth. He died on our cross to save us from our sins. So on earth, was Jesus God or was He man? Both. He was absolutely God He was absolutely man. The God-man. Human, divine, and human. Can you understand that? No, nor can I. But that's what Scripture says. God and man. And this is taught in many passages of the Scriptures. John 1, 14. The Word, that's Jesus Christ, became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten, of the Father. The Word came from heaven, eternally God, yet He took a human nature. We referred in the scene, in the servant king and in my prayer, to Philippians 2. He was in the form of God, absolutely God. He became in the form of a man, absolutely man. The immortal God became a servant, became of no reputation that he might die. Paul says in Colossians that in him, that's Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So when Philip says to Jesus, just hours before Christ died, Philip says, show us the Father. Jesus says, have I been so long with you? that you do not understand. He that sees me sees the Father. Look at me and you see God. So Jesus was God and man. God so that he could reconcile us to a holy God. Man that he might die a physical death for men and women. Humans who have sinned against God. He must be God. and he must be man to make atonement for us on the cross. Who died? Look again at our text, in verse 13, the great God and our Saviour Jesus, but there's one more word there, Christ. He says our Saviour Jesus Christ. It's the Greek equivalent of Messiah, the Hebrew Messiah. Messiah and Christ mean anointed. He was anointed by God's Holy Spirit at his baptism. It looks back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, prophets and priests and kings would be anointed with oil. And Jesus is the prophet who speaks from God. He is the priest who is also the sacrifice offered to God. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and He is anointed by the Spirit for His ministry to live a sinless life, to die upon the cross and to come again from the dead. There's an amazing verse in Hebrews, I was thinking about it just this week, where it talks about it's through the eternal spirit that he offered himself to God. Think about it. He must, although he is God, but as a man he must through the eternal spirit offer himself as a sacrifice to God. So that's the question then, who died? The answer is clearly in the text, the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. That's who died. And it adds value to his death to think that such a great and glorious person should die for sinners. And to reject his sacrifice for sin, to refuse to repent, to ignore him, is to offend such a glorious person, God, the Son, And therefore that is serious. Let's ask another question then. How did he die? How did he die? Well the answer is there in verse 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity. Let's pick up that bit. Who gave himself for us. And let's just circle round the word for the moment, gave. He gave himself. It means he willingly came to be born in a state to live with poor Jewish people, Mary and Joseph. Willingly worked alongside his adoptive father Joseph in the carpenter's workshop for some 30 years or more, willingly came to die upon a cross for sins. Now the Bible teaches us in Acts 2 and Isaiah 53 and other places that God's plan for eternity was that Christ should die for those whom God had chosen. But Jesus is not a puppet on a string. God pulls the strings and Jesus must do what God says and he has no choice. No, no. Christ willingly fulfils God's purpose, God's plan. He willingly leaves all the glory of heaven. He willingly leaves the presence of his Father to live in a simple world and to be laughed at and mocked and jeered and finally nailed. to a cross. The great God accepted willingly all the limitations and weaknesses of our human nature so that he must sleep. He's tired. He must sleep. He's hungry. He's exhausted sometimes and sleeps in a boat in a storm. He feels grief and sorrow, loneliness on the cross when he cries, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In all the immersions that fill our lives he weeps at a funeral for Lazarus. He rejoices at a wedding in Canaan where the first miracle took place. He must be born, he must grow like any child. He must develop physically, mentally, socially. He accepts all of what it means to be human and all of the limitations and all of the weaknesses of being human. And he does that willingly, that he might save us from our sins. His whole life was one of suffering. Isaiah says he was the man of sorrows acquainted with grief. All through his life he's the man of sorrows. But that suffering and pain and grief reaches its climax in his death on the cross. Willing, he becomes the man of sorrows acquainted with grief. So how did he die? A willing death. He gave himself. Now let's turn the spotlight on that word himself in our text. Who gave himself. Now imagine I've got Paul here. I often read the Bible like this. I say okay Paul, why did you put in that word himself? Why not simply say that he died for Yes, I understand gave, that means he gave himself willingly. But why put in this word himself? He gave himself for us. I think Paul would answer, well this is why I put it in. Because I want you to understand that he gave himself willingly, yes. But he gave himself, not an animal. In the Old Testament, animals were taken and they were killed instead of the sinner. The animal was a substitute, but he gave himself, not an animal, he came himself and died and felt all the pain himself upon a cross for us. I guess he could have sent an angel. He could have sent a representative. But he says himself, he came himself on glory to earth. He gave himself to physical pain and suffering upon a cross. For you, for me, who believe, he gave himself. Now we may make choices and we don't always know what that choice may lead to. But Jesus made a deliberate choice to give himself knowing fully, because he is God, he knows everything, he knew fully what he was giving himself to before he came from heaven. He knew that he would be treated with cruelty and he would be rejected by his own race. He was aware that there would be a conflict with Satan on that cross, that Satan would be fighting with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane and then as He died upon the cross all the forces of evil and hell were against Him and He knew that before He came. He gave Himself knowing that He would bear the load of our sin, all of the filth, all of the depravity of our sin, So hideous and horrendous, he knew that he would take that upon himself. And he knew, he gave himself, knowing that there would be separation from his father. He'd been with his father, uncreated, from all eternity, loved by his father, and he knew that there would come a moment on that cross when God could not bear to look at him, bearing our sin. And he knew that God would pour out his wrath upon him for sinners. And yet, knowing all that, he gave himself. If we knew what some of our choices would lead to, if somehow we could see the future, we maybe have made different choices, taken a different course of action. But he, knowing all of this, still willingly gave himself to die. And there's a bit more in our text. As we think about how he died, we read, who gave himself for us. For us. I'll develop this a little in a moment. But for us means in our place, as our substitute, taking our sin, taking the wrath of God that we should have experienced. Peter puts it like this, Christ suffered once for sin, for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. So the first question, who died? The text tells us the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. How did he die? The text tells us, who gave himself for us. But there's a third question. Why did he die? In a sense, I've been answering that all through the sermon so far. But let's open this up. Why did he die? And what is the answer that Paul gives to us? That who gave himself for us, that, in all of that, this is the purpose. This answers the question Why did he die? That he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. So, let's again pick up each part of the text, see what it means, how it answers the question, why did he die? The first part, is that he might redeem us from all iniquity. Iniquity there, the New King James has lawless deeds. The Greek has the idea of transgression. We have broken God's law and we have deliberately broken God's law. and that law is summed up in the Ten Commandments. Now someone may say, but I'm good and I'm decent and I come to a chapel, here I am on this Good Friday and I've not done anything terribly bad, I've not gone out of murder. Well Jesus says if you are angry with someone without a good cause that is a kind of murder. Or someone says I've not committed adultery. But Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said to look with impure eyes at someone is a form of adultery. Oh dear, we must then all hang our heads in shame, mustn't we? And the first commandment is you love God alone and worship God alone, have we all? Honestly, have we loved God with all our heart, soul, mind and body? That's how Jesus sums up the Ten Commandments. We're all guilty. Every one of us is guilty. We are all guilty of iniquity, of sin, of lawless deeds. Paul says in Romans that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. And he says that the wage of the sin is death. We deserve punishment. A holy God must react against our sins. If you were to walk into a room which was smelly, maybe there's a rotting animal body or something there. It's not been washed and cleaned for a long time. The doors and windows have not been opened. There's such an awful stench, you would react against that. You want to run and be sick, you say, I can't stay in this place, it's so awful, throw open the doors and the windows. Oh, that is but a feeble illustration of how the Holy God must react against the filth and the poverty of our sin, and He must punish our sin. That's the bad news. But the good news is he died that he might redeem us from all iniquity. Redeem us! Now that word takes us into the market. In the world of Paul, slaves were bought and sold, money was exchanged. Redeemed. We've been redeemed. We are slaves of our iniquity and our sins, says Jesus. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. He says a servant of sin. We are slaves to Satan. The Apostle says in 2 Timothy is it that sinners are led captive by him to do his will, Satan's will. There's no free will. We sin and cannot help but sin, and we love to sin because we are sinners if we are not Christians. Satan, though we do not maybe recognise him before we are Christians, he is moving and manipulating in our minds. Although we are guilty of sin, we cannot blame it on Satan. So Christ has come to set us free from our sin, like chains set off My heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed Thee." That's how Wesley puts it. So we've been set free from sin and set free from Satan. We are believers, we've been set free by Christ dying on the cross. Peter says in 1 Peter, again 1 Peter 1, that knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish or spot." Of course, Peter's referring back to all the lambs that were killed instead of sinners. And He's saying, look, there is the great Lamb who dies once for all to set us free from our sins. It's not silver and gold. It's not our efforts. It's not what we do. It's not our religious ritual. It is Christ and Christ alone shedding His blood that sets us free from sin. This is why He came. Are you trusting in something you can do? Trusting in who you are, your family, your chapel going? Or are you trusting Christ and Christ alone to redeem you from your sins? Look again at our text. He says that he might redeem us from all iniquity. I like that. Paul could have simply said that he might redeem us from iniquity. No, no, says Paul. I must put in this word, all. All iniquity. Why? Because it means there is not one sin that Christ cannot forgive. And there is not one sinner who comes in true penitence who Christ will not receive. All iniquity. So, Paul who'd killed Christians, guilty of murder, could be forgiven. The woman of Luke 7, who was a sinner, probably a prostitute, she could be forgiven. Zacchaeus, the little man who had been cheating people out of their money, overcharging them taxes, he could be forgiven. The rich woman Lydia in the town of Philippi, she could be forgiven. Good people, bad people, big sinners, quotation marks, little sinners, chapel-going sinners. We can all be forgiven if we come in true penitence to the Lord Jesus Christ. And look in our text, He might redeem us from all iniquity. It embraces everyone who repents of sin. Can you put yourself in there? Redeem us? He's redeemed me! He's redeemed me! He's forgiven me! He's received me! Are you included in the text? So he says that he might redeem us from all iniquity. But look, there's more. And purify unto himself a peculiar people. Come back to the peculiar people bit in a minute. but purify. So the word iniquity takes us to the law court, we are guilty, we deserve punishment. The word redeem takes us to the market square, we're set free from bondage. But this word purify takes us, if you like, to the showers, into the bath. We are filthy with our sins. In God's sight we are filthy, although we may have a good life. So we need to be washed completely. The Apostle Paul says, no, no, not Paul, the prophet Isaiah. Getting my prophets and apostles mixed up. Isaiah says that all our righteousnesses are like filthy bags. Few have thought about that. But holy God looks at us as good as we may be, and he says, your good deeds, the things you boast of and are proud of, they're filthy rags. Take them out of my sight. They are smelling and they are offensive to me. But God provides, gives us Christ, who gives us a robe of his righteousness, who takes away the filthy clothes and gives us a new set of clothes, the robe of Christ's righteousness, all of his good life, all of his atoning death. So God treats Christ as the sinner, he treats the believer as righteous. Now, what about this bit about peculiar people? Well, I can tell you that some Christians I've met are very peculiar. It's an old-fashioned word that means special. And if I might quote the new King James, it translates it as his own special people. That's what it means. The old word peculiar means that. His own special people. We belong to God forever. One of our hymns puts it like this. So dear So very dear to God, more dear I cannot be. The love wherewith he loves his son, such is his love to me. We're accepted in the beloved, says Paul in Ephesians. And he loves us forever with a very special, intense, unchanging, eternal love. That's what it means, his own Special people. Isn't that wonderful? Shouldn't we be saying amen in our hearts? And one more thing. Why did he die? It's here in our text. That he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Oh Paul, why bring in good works? Haven't you been teaching Paul that it's not by our good works but by Christ that we are saved? Haven't you been teaching that it's not our doing but his dying that makes us Christians? Yes, yes, said what Paul would say. But without good works, you won't reach heaven. The good works are not to buy you a ticket to heaven, but are the evidence that you are Christians. If you are washed from sin, purified, if you've been set free from sin, if God has declared you not guilty, then you must and will be zealous for good works. It's the evidence of conversion. And it's a theme running through Titus. That we must be zealous for good works, of good works. So are you. You say, I'm a Christian. Well then I say, let me see that in your life then. Has your life changed? Has your thinking changed? Are the things you read changed? Are the things you watch on television changed? Are your friends, the people you like to be with changed? Do you love to be with God's people in his house on every opportunity? Do you like to be at the prayer meeting? Do you like to read the Word of God almost every day, every day if possible? Do you like to pray, although it's difficult? Do you want to tell other people about Jesus, Jesus, all sufficient? Is your treasure in Christ? If not, then you're not a Christian, I say. So who died? The text tells us. the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. How did he die? The text tells us, who gave himself for us. Why did he die? The text tells us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Why did he die? Who died? How did he die? And why did he die? It's all here in this text. Let's come to prayer then before we sing. God, we thank you then for this letter that Paul wrote to young Titus, the pastor in Crete. We thank you that it so simply, clearly tells us who died and how and why. And, O God, we pray that each of us here this afternoon might look into our hearts, into our thoughts, and ask ourselves individually, am I trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the pardon of my sins? If we cannot honestly say yes, then, O God, that you would speak to us and graciously reveal yourself to us. And if, O God, we are those who claim to be Christians, Yet our lives have become very careless and shoddy. Oh Lord, we might be woken up to come back to you in true penitence and to reconsecrate ourselves to you. Oh God, write your word upon our hearts and may we never lose the sheer wonder and amazement that the mighty God should die for sinners such as us. Amen.