Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Gospel tent meeting with Peter Ramsay and Joseph Baker.

[0:01] That’s what a gospel meeting is all about. The Lord Jesus is passing this way.

You don’t see him physically, but when the Word of God is open and we’re speaking of the Lord Jesus, it’s like he was passing by.

It’s an opportunity for someone, or one, plural, to have their life changed, to be saved.

So consider this another opportunity for you to become acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ.

You could take Christ home with you tonight.

[0:39] That’d be something going into your house up the steps, through your door, hopefully your AC is working, and just say, I’m taking Christ home with me, into the house for the the first time, she is mine, she’s my savior.

We’re gonna read in the gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 18, Luke 18.

[1:03] And while you’re looking up Luke 18, there’s a verse in Psalm 34 that I was appreciating this morning.

Here’s what it says, Psalm 34, verse 18.

The Lord is near to them that are of a broken heart broken heart, and he saves those of a contrite, a contrite spirit. Or that just means someone who is crushed in spirit. I’m going to read about a man, the knight who was crushed in his spirit. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed, So if you have your Bible, Luke 18, and just let me say that we are glad you’re here with us.

It’s a hot evening and in a little over an hour, you’ll be happy to have some refreshments and some water.

You’ll be heading out into the parking lot and Lord willing, you’ll be heading home.

And there are two ways you can go home.

[2:12] I’m not talking about streetwise. There are two ways to go home.

Let me see, I printed it off. It looks like this. You can go home right with God.

[2:31] Or you can go home wrong with God, just to make it really simple.

We’re gonna read about two people. One went home right with God and one went home wrong with God.

And they both prayed.

So, I wonder which way you would like to go home. Would you like to continue to go home wrong with God?

I think there’s probably someone saying, no, never.

I want to go home right with God. I want to step into my house right with God.

Well, that’s the great possibility, the potential of a gospel meeting like this.

You wouldn’t be the first one who came to a gospel meeting like this, and they went home.

They came wrong with God and they were all right with God.

You say, really, just like that? You mean you don’t have to sign anything and you don’t have to memorize a whole list of things?

Absolutely not.

[3:37] Everything that you need to go home right with God was done 2000 years ago by the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you would receive him tonight as your savior, You could go home right with God.

So that’s what I want you to think about it. Will I go home right with God or wrong with God?

So the Lord Jesus is talking about two men who pray, they went to church, temple in their days, and they both prayed, pray.

A lot of people think that if they say their prayers, I feel that. It’s sort of a conscience soothing exercise. I used to have a friend back in Nova Scotia and he struggled a lot with alcohol and drugs and he’s a nice guy and he would, do it hard and then he would every night pray. He would pray. I think he sort of was soothing his conscience. That’s not the kind of prayer that gets through to heaven. And maybe you Say, well, I have prayed, Peter, and my prayers have been answered.

[5:01] So does that mean I’m right with God? No, it doesn’t. Just because God in His kindness, you know what the Bible tells us about God?

Romans 2 verse 4 says, the goodness of God leads people to repentance. God may answer your prayer, with the desire to lead you to face the reality of your sin and repentance and save you.

But just because he answered your prayer, gave you the job, the dream job that you wanted, doesn’t mean that you are a Christian.

Now there’s more to Christianity than an answered prayer.

Well, you say, how do I approach God? How do I approach God?

You say, well, God is holy and maybe I should, if I’m gonna pray, I should just talk about the good things in my life. You ever think that?

I can’t tell God some bad things, even though you know there’s some bad things.

So if I’m gonna say my prayers, I’m gonna say some good things about myself just to make the point with God that I am basically good.

It’s like you go for an interview for a job and inevitably.

[6:22] They will ask you, So what would you consider to be your strengths?

Oh, you can lift them off like that.

You know what your strengths are.

Okay, so what about your weaknesses? And so you try to put a nice spin on those.

You say, oh, my weaknesses.

Well, I tend to work too much. And I probably try too hard to keep everyone in the loop.

Yeah, a real weakness. And once I start something, I’m almost obsessed about finishing it.

I almost obsess over it.

And some people tell me that I try to cover all the bases and then to.

[7:08] You know that you were just telling yourself those weren’t your weaknesses.

You’re just saying they’re weaknesses, but you know that they’re going to be perceived as strength.

So how do you approach God? We’re going to read that here in Luke’s Gospel chapter 18.

There’s a contrast in prayers. There’s a self-righteous church-going man who trusted in himself. A man, the other man knew that he was just a sinner.

[7:37] And Jesus said, one of these two men went home justified, or right with God. Here it is.

That was the long preamble, wasn’t it? Luke 18, verse 9. And he, that is Jesus, spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that, they were righteous.

And they despised others.

So they looked down on others. We’re good, they’re bad.

So he tells this story. Two men went up into the temple to pray. The one, a Pharisee.

That’s a very religious person. And the other, a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.

God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or you can almost see him pointing in his prayer, can’t you?

Or even as this publican.

[8:49] I fast twice in the week. He deprives himself of food twice a week to find favor with God.

I give a tenth of all that I possess.

The other man, verse 13, and the publican, standing afar, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his blessing, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

And Jesus tells the end of that story.

Verse 14, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified for right with God, rather than the other.

For everyone that exalted themselves shall be abased, and he that humbled himself shall be exalted.

So the religious man went home wrong with God.

[10:01] But the man who faced the sin went home right with God. That’s what Jesus said.

Justify. That means right with God.

How will you go home this evening? Wrong? Or you say, is it possible that I could go home?

I would love to just put my head. I don’t know whether you have a foam pillow or a tethered pillow.

So I hope it’s an air conditioned pillow.

And wouldn’t it be nice to say, thank God, I’m justified. Romans 5, verse 1 says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God.

Lord Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you like to rest your head on your pillow tonight saying, finally, there’s no hostility. There’s no barrier between me and God, justified by faith.

I have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. So let’s just talk about these two men.

The first man.

I have a problem when I speak in this section of verses because it’s tempting to almost mock the religious man.

[11:21] And in my room today, I thought, Peter, be careful how you present this.

That religious man is on the way to hell and he’s blinded by religion.

Oh, no, stop him.

You know, I have a few points about this religious man. The approach in the wrong spirit.

He came with pride.

There was nothing humble about his approach, was there? Jesus said he came into the temple and he stood, stood.

Oh, there was no slouching his shoulders back. He approached in prayer with pride.

He was conscious of God, but it seemed like he was actually oozing with self-righteousness.

He arrives in that temple plaza and he makes his appearance.

I’ve seen that on more than one occasion.

It’s like someone from town is coming, they’re going to church as if they’re coming to a prestigious country club.

[12:38] They make their, they walk up the center aisle and they take their seat and they go through all the forms.

This man approached in the wrong spirit. If you want to approach God tonight, you cannot do it with p-r-i-d-e, pride.

This man approached in the wrong spirit. He stood in contrast to the other who had his head down, he couldn’t lift his eyes up.

This man’s good confidently. I’m okay This is a message for down-and-outers Not for me. Oh, You don’t understand Have you ever seen like the charitable gifts that I put on this that entry in my my tax forms at the end of the year?

Oh, I can’t give gift.

[13:27] You know that God consistently hates pride People say, well, I know what’s called an abomination in the Bible.

It’s called an abomination, people say, and they’ll select a sin.

It’s called an abomination.

You know what’s most frequently referred to as an abomination in the Bible?

Maybe not the sin that I’m thinking of or you’re thinking of.

What’s most consistently called an abomination and most frequently called an abomination, is the stigma of pride in the human heart, where we think we’re just a little bit better than someone else.

And God says that is an abomination.

So no one can approach God and go home right with God if they come with pride in their heart.

That’s why a lot of people don’t like coming to these services.

They say, those aren’t, I’d like to go to a feel-good service.

You just now, Amanda, you’re like cringing in my seat.

I feel like I’m about this high by the time you guys are finished up there in the pulpit.

[14:41] No, no, we’re just trying to communicate what the Bible says.

We had to face that we were just sinners too.

And there was no, we were no more qualified for heaven than you.

We needed a Savior as much as you need a Savior.

There was no more chance of me being right with God than you being right with God.

Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of God is as much needed in my life, as it’s needed in yours.

So please don’t think we’re pointing fingers at you. We’re just telling you what the truth is from the Bible.

So we’re not belittling anyone’s sincerity the fact that you respect God, God only has one thing against you.

[15:33] One thing, it’s one thing.

It’s not how tall you are or how short you are. It’s not your cerebral capacity.

[15:49] That’s not what God has, that’s not his measuring stick, the intellectual capacity of an individual.

I don’t know whether we’re handsome or beautiful or I come from one side of my family who have long noses and God isn’t looking at any the length of anyone’s nose.

The only thing that God has against anyone in this tent service tonight is sin, sin.

If you could come to Christ and have all those sins removed, there would be no barrier between you and God.

It’s your sin.

It is sin that keeps us from God. So he approached in the wrong spirit and came with pride.

He applied the wrong standard.

[16:41] He said, I’m not what these other people are. Oh my dear, I don’t have to wait till the other night.

I’m a good person. I go to bed before midnight, but I get up to go to the washroom the other morning, it’s four o’clock in the morning, and they were still partying.

The music was blaring away.

Oh, that’s not the standard, though. We measure ourselves by community standards, and by community standards, I’m pretty sure some of you qualified for a Good Neighbor of the Year award.

But that’s not God’s standard. This man was measuring himself by the standard of the neighbors.

[17:28] I wonder what standard you’re picking up tonight. You say, do I need to be saved?

Do I really need this salvation that you’re talking about?

I know that I’ve had an evil thought and I’ve had an outburst of rage.

The car, the light turned green and I was in a rush and I just kicked my fist and I pounded the steering wheel And I know that was road rage, but other than that, I’m pretty good.

[17:55] Wrong standard. God has a holy standard, and the only one who ever lived up to that standard, Jesus Christ.

And if you’re not as good as Jesus Christ, and no one is, then we’ve all fallen short of his perfect standard.

That’s why we all need a Savior. He applied the wrong standard.

It’s like he’s up there praying, because I’m in a class all by myself.

I’m not as other men are.

There’s always someone we can find worse.

[18:30] I think maybe I’ve told it since I came down here, but I was talking to a man in prison who killed 31 people, on behalf of the mafia.

And he was talking about another prisoner who killed six. And he said, oh, the guy who killed 31?

He’s like, oh, he’s disgusting.

He was killing people indiscriminately, no reason.

I was killing people for the mafia for a reason. So even, even there, listen, they’re comparing themselves. My sin isn’t as bad, but that’s not the standard.

This man applied the wrong standard. My dad used to paint the bottom part of our elm tree in the backyard, and then he’d get some clamshells the beach and he would paint them. It wasn’t real white paint, it was something called white wash.

I was looking it up this morning, it’s calcimine, we always called it white wash, but it’s some cheap, stuff that looks like, and he’d paint the bottom of the trunk of the tree, and then he’d put this, tacky looking thing around the base of the tree, the flat, all painted this white, white wash.

Then you do the side of the burn.

[19:45] Whitewash, and they looked pretty nice until the white snow fell in Canada.

And then you saw how grossly yellow the whitewash was.

And your deeds may look very nice and impress other people, but when you put your deeds alongside the beautiful, sinless life of the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh, we all must hang our heads in shame.

We fall short of God’s glory.

He applauded the wrong Savior. It’s like I’m, whoa, look at all that I do after his obligatory and ritualistic references to God.

The rest of all the clapping, he’s applauding, patting himself on the back.

My church, my faith, my prayers, my charity.

I give a 10th of everything, but I’m the one.

[20:46] Friend, if you’re ever going to be, there’ll be no one up in heaven singing, I did it my way.

Frank Sinatra may have sung it, Elvis did even a better job if I did it my way, but, there’ll be no one in heaven singing, I did it my way. Anyone in heaven will say, I came by the way of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m here because of him.

He’ll be applauding him for all eternity.

The blessed savior.

What does Christ mean to you tonight?

You know, is it resonating in your heart? Can you say, he rescued me, he saved me.

He applauded the wrong savior. He was applauding himself. So he approached in the wrong spirit, pride.

He applied the wrong standard, his neighbors.

And he appreciated and applauded the wrong savior.

And he appreciated the wrong sacrifice.

[21:38] I give a 10th of everything.

So those people back in the day, in Jesus’ day, even a little bit of cumin, the spice, just a little, little speck of it, they would take a couple of grains out and say, there’s a tenth of even that little bit of spice. Say, oh, I give this to the Lord.

Oh, those aren’t the sacrifices. There’s no sacrifice that a human could ever make that could ever measure up to the sacrifice that Christ made in the cross.

There’s only one sacrifice, we think.

The sacrifices that humans make. You may go without money.

You may give some hard-earned income to help the poor.

But those are not the sacrifices that deal with your problem of sin.

Only the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He appreciated the lone sacrifice.

The Bible says, Titus 3, it’s not by works of righteousness, which we have done, never.

It’s according to His mercy, He saved us.

So let’s talk about the other man. So, I think needless to say, that man that I just talked about, went home wrong with God.

[22:58] Wrong with God. The publican, he comes, he stands afar off. He’s not like, he’s like a traitor to the Jews.

He’s working for the Roman Empire, and they hated the Roman Empire, collecting taxes.

You’re a Jew, you’re one of us, and you’re working for them, the enemy, and you’re taking our hard-earned cash, and you’re taking more of it than you deserve, and everybody hated them.

This man knew he was a sinner. It says he stood afar off. So how did he come? Unworthy.

I’m not worthy, timidity. He couldn’t lift his eyes heavenward.

All I can think about is my guilt, my sin, my shame.

I have nothing to be proud of.

[23:49] Sinner, do you ever tell the Lord that some of you are trying to figure out how to be saved, and like to be saved? Have you ever gotten alone in your bedroom and said, I am just a sinner? Period.

God responds, that’s what I was enjoying about that verse. He hears those who are brokenhearted in the trust in spirit, those are weighted down by the reality of their sin.

He couldn’t lift his eyes to heaven, and then it says he smote upon his breast.

I’m not sure what that means.

I think it’s a thing with intensity, but some say it could mean that he’s saying the problem is in here, in here, in here.

A lot of people say the problem is out there. If we could only get a president who could solve all the problems out there, we’d be, no, the problem is in here.

Out there is just a reflection of what’s in here.

[24:48] And he was smiting his chest. Not around, not my neighbors, I am the sinner.

Then he says, God be merciful to me, the sinner.

Like he’s saying, if ever there was one deserve to be in hell. It’s me!

Did you ever get there with God? If ever there was someone who deserved to be punished for their sin, it’s me, I’m the offender.

I fear that someone with us tonight, then that’s exactly what you’re thinking. I am the sinner.

[25:24] This man cried out, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He needed mercy.

I don’t know what he understood about the biblical term propitiation, But this man knew if he was ever going to be right with God.

[25:41] His sins needed to be resolved.

Someone had to be satisfied. There had to be a sacrifice that he had no ability to bring himself.

So whatever he understood, he knew that he had nothing to offer and that mercy would only be granted on the grounds of a sacrifice that pleased God.

My friend, tonight, as you listen to Joseph, there’s only one sacrifice, not yours, that could ever please God, satisfy God’s holy requirement.

It’s the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. You’re hearing from Joe the other night about, it is finished!

It wasn’t a cry of defeat, it was a cry of triumph. It is finished!

God raised him from the dead.

God is satisfied with the sacrifice of his Son, the payment for sin, and it’s only upon that ground or that basis which anyone’s sins can be forgiven.

So we point you to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you could come the way this publican came, Jesus said, this man went home justified.

[26:54] Right with God. If you come as a sinner to Jesus, you’ll leave with your sins forgiven and you go home right with God.

[27:13] Ask you to turn a far ways to Luke chapter 18 again. The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 18.

I was sweating for different reasons, because we’re going to read the same verses, not because I can add anything to what you’ve heard, but maybe just emphasize one more thing before the meeting is concluded.

[27:38] Luke 18 and verse number 9, just to refresh your mind again on what the Scripture says about this story. First of all, I want you to notice who Jesus is talking to. Verse 9, it says, spoke this parable, a certain which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous and despised others.

Throughout the gospel of Luke, there are these religious people that trusted themselves, that they’re good and righteous, as you’ve already heard described.

And actually my brother Peter read yesterday in Luke 15, that they murmured that this man eats with sinners.

So they didn’t receive Christ with joy or gladness, but they rumbled at who he was associated with.

And so often many of the stories in the Bible are actually geared by Jesus to address these people.

Like the story of the prodigal son really is likely the story of the prodigal older brother.

We kind of throw him out when we preach the gospel, but I would suggest to you he’s the main character in the story.

Jesus is, because right when they heard that, they were gripped, they were gripped.

Are we that older brother? And Jesus is telling them, Well, God, God in heaven, he runs actually for a sinner.

[28:51] You see the older brother, he doesn’t even come in to eat. He doesn’t even come in to enjoy the feast.

And the Lord Jesus, one day he healed a blind man, John chapter nine.

And he used that blind man as like a visual picture. And he said, people who know they’re blind, they receive sight from God.

But see people who think they can already see, see who he’s targeting?

[29:13] He’s targeting people who think they’re right. people who think they can see.

So he speaks this verbal unto us, trusting themselves that they were righteous, despised others.

Two men went up into the temple to pray.

One a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.

God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican standing far off would not lift up so much as his eyes went to heaven, but smote upon his breath saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house, justified right with God rather than the other.

For everyone that exalts himself shall be abased and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

[30:13] When it comes to being right with God, I want you to just think of it like this.

I’ll just add one little word to that. Right in the sight of God. In the sight of God.

We’re not talking about whether after this meeting, when you walk out, we have some kind of, of ESPN, right with God, wrong with God.

No, we have no idea.

There are people who could take part of communion and be wrong with God.

There are people who have been baptized to be wrong with God.

So we’re talking about how a person stands in the sight of God, the God who sees your heart, the God who sees you as you are.

See, there’s a man I was thinking about in this story, we visited a man who’s president and he’s leading a Bible study. I think it was yesterday on this story.

So hopefully this meeting is as good as his because his is probably gonna be pretty good.

But I was thinking about a story in Isaiah six of a prophet, a preacher, if you will, a holy man.

And he got a vision of the sight, his sight of God.

What do you think about God? Do you think about God? like he’s maybe like a grandfather?

[31:36] Really nice, loving, he’s gracious, he’s kind. Is that the trifecta of God?

That’s his character?

Maybe your idea of God is he’s angry and cruel and indifferent.

[31:52] See, this man got a sight of who God actually is. This preacher, Isaiah chapter six.

He saw God high and lifted up, far different than humanity, far different than any of us, and glorious, where even those angelic beings have to cover their eyes and cover their feet, and cry out in the presence of God, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts.

This man is preaching.

He saw that. He said, I am unclean. I am unfit.

He said, what this man said, this poor sinner in the meeting that Jesus is describing.

I’m a sinner.

And so see, it’s not so much about how you appear before your friends, as you’ve already heard tonight, the standard isn’t others, nor how you appear according to the standard of any church, whether you meet their marks or wear their clothes or pray the way they tell you to pray.

No, how do you think you are, how are you in the sight of God?

And you say, I know I am right in the sight of God.

[33:07] Can you say that? Or would you have to say, I hope I’m right.

I had an experience one day, some years ago. There’s a verse in the Bible that means a lot to me. No, no.

This man went home right with God. Can you say, I know, 100% sure, I am right in the sight of God?

I can say that. I don’t feel right in His sight.

I sin every day.

If you were to observe me, you would say, I’m not sure if that guy’s right with God.

But God has done something by a declaration of His own will based on something that Jesus did on the cross.

And I am declared in His sight right.

[33:52] And I just want to ask and answer the question because my brother’s already spent a lot of time on this story.

A question that Joe asked in one of the earliest books of the Bible.

How can a man write with God?

We’re gonna look at the second man. I want you to notice first of all, that he understood he was wrong in God’s sight.

As you’ve heard, me the sinner, me the sinner.

As he understood the God who has seen everything about him, the God who knows his heart, the God who knows what he’s thought and where he’s gone and what he’s done, all he could conclude is, I am a sinner, I’m just a sinner.

And again, I would just ask you, have you ever come there? Have you ever understood that in the sight of God, I am a sinner?

Do you understand how dangerous that is, that God’s wrath abides over you?

That there’s no, no- I don’t think you should have a sinner in none of us.

But we understood that he was wrong in God’s sight.

[34:49] But then, of course we learned, that he who understood he was wrong in God’s sight, according to the Lord Jesus, goes home right in God’s sight.

So I just want to ask a question, to the Bible, to God. How can a man, how can a person who’s wrong in God’s sight, go home right in God’s sight?

How can that happen? After all, God is a holy God. God is a God who not should, not it’s a good idea.

God is a God who must judge sin.

He has to. For God to let even the slightest sin enter into heaven would be to compromise who he is. Some people say, well, like the prisoners you were hearing about tonight, I could see how God wouldn’t want any of them in heaven. They’re filthy with sin. But sure, like lying or cheating, God should be able to just live with that. Let me ask you a question.

You ever go out to eat at a nice restaurant?

[35:57] And imagine on your plate, what do you like? Do you like a steak? Is that okay?

Steak, and you got all the fixings. And imagine if scurrying across your plate was one cockroach.

Not a hundred.

Not an infestation. Just one.

Bottoms up. Bone apathy. How many would it take for you to be like, no thanks?

How many would it take for you to say, I’m not coming back here until there’s an investigation, until there’s a fumigation?

Right, how many?

A hundred? Or is one too much for you? One doesn’t make a difference.

I’ll tell you that. For some people, one piece of hair is enough.

Nevermind a cockroach. Listen, sin is more disgusting in the sight of God, than a cockroach is to us.

Sin is a deep offense. A lie is never gonna get into heaven.

How can God look at a sinful person like that? through this man admits himself to be.

I’m just a sinner and we know he is. The cheater, likely a thief.

How could he ever be declared right?

[37:10] How can a holy God just do that? Does he have a magic wand?

And you say a prayer, man said a prayer, right, wrong. How does it happen?

Do you have any idea?

Very important question. The answer to the question is the center of the gospel.

See, this man, Keith Ray, he understood he was wrong in God’s sight.

He goes home right in God’s sight because he depends on what was enough in God’s sight.

[37:49] It took me a long time to think that up. Not that brilliant. So can I repeat it?

He is wrong in God’s sight.

[37:59] He goes home, one meeting, right in God’s sight, because he depends on what was enough in God’s sight. Not necessarily what was enough in his sight, or enough in the sight of the other man with the church. That was enough in God’s sight. And that’s that word, Lord be merciful or Lord be propitious. You heard my brother say, propitious to me the sinner. That word propitious means this, God, I’m a sinner. I’m a sinner and I could never satisfy your justice for the soul that sins must die. I could never give any reason why, no matter how much I wash my hands, I can’t get rid of these sins. I could never give any reason why I should be in your holy, pure, clean presence.

But is there any reason you have? Is there any reason you can provide that would satisfy your own justice? And that’s the message of the Gospel. That’s the marvelous message of the Gospel. See, like, the mystery in the Gospel is not how God allows filthy, sinful to be in hell. That is no mystery to God. That’s what should happen. The mystery is, how God provided a way for filthy people to be in heaven. That’s the wonder! How did that And that’s why it’s central to the gospel.

[39:27] Outside the city of Jerusalem. That’s why Paul said, I came not with excellency of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. That’s what it says in the Bible.

The preaching of the cross. The cross. There’s a preacher who spent many years here in the United States named Billy Graham.

He went on a little park and the place was filled, He said there wasn’t much response, and he couldn’t understand because he had been a lot of places.

And he wondered at that. And I’m not sure who it was, whether it was one of his advisors or his own wife who told.

[40:08] Him, Billy, you didn’t preach the cross.

You didn’t preach the cross. And that man said this later on.

It’s a marvelous thing to say. I’m not sure how true it is for every preacher, but I have never preached many times.

He says, I have never come to the point in my message where I preached the cross and did not feel help from God.

God wants the cross to be lifted up, not us, not them, not church, but a stake outside the city of Jerusalem, where an innocent man who came from heaven, went to deal with the problem of this man’s sins, and my sins, and your sins. That’s the story of the gospel.

That’s what I say at 53 and verse number 6. All of us were like this man.

We were like sheep that went astray.

Each of us turned our own way.

But the Lord on that cross, God, laid on the Lord Jesus the sin of us all, of us all.

And the great thing about the message is that whatever happened on that cross, I don’t understand everything that happened.

[41:20] I know that they nailed him there. I know that they nailed him after mocking him, mocking everything he claimed to be.

Bible tells me that on that cross there were three hours where there was darkness.

The Bible tells me that on that cross that God, as we read there, God laid on Jesus the sin of us all.

The Bible says His soul was made an offering for sin.

[41:47] I’m not sure everything that happened on the cross, but I know this. It was enough.

It was enough. It wasn’t enough in the sight of God. That’s the important thing.

As the offended party said, that’ll do, right?

You wrong someone, has the one who’s been offended say, okay, that’s all I require.

Sin is an offense to God. And God said to the cross, to the man who suffered there, all I require. the storm of God’s wrath bungled on that cross.

[42:30] It was like, if you think of it as capital punishment, it was like those who should die by a firing squad or something like that.

It was like heaven had a firing squad, really. I know it’s not a pretty picture, but heaven had a firing squad against every sinner for the soul that sins should die.

And my dear friend, listen, if you’re in your sins, the guns of heaven are aimed at you.

Make no mistake tonight.

This is no happy-go-lucky message. The Bible says in John 3, 36, the wrath of God.

The wrath of God abides in the person.

And the guns of heaven are aimed at a sinner. What happened on the cross is all heaven’s guns turned, and fired on a man on a center cross who had no sin.

Who had no sin, so there was not one bullet left in the chamber.

God said that to him.

[43:27] According to the Bible, Paul says it’s not a big secret. It doesn’t take a theological degree.

Paul says, here’s the message of the gospel. Christ died for our sins.

If there’s anyone who has sins, here’s the great news. That’s why Christ died.

For those sins. For you.

We were just helpless if Christ died for the ungodly. The reason we know today that it was enough in God’s sight is as you’ve already heard.

After that man bore the full weight of sin, he cried out, it’s finished.

He died. He dismissed his spirit back to God, bowed his head in all the dignity of his person.

Tucked his body down, and they put him in a tomb, a cave. On the third day, God raised that man from the dead.

The reason we preach the Resurrection is not just, well, there’s a living Savior.

No, like, do you understand the implication?

I know it’s a hot, humid day. Have you followed the implication of that?

God has said that there are people who are wrong in His sight.

God treated Jesus on the cross as being wrong in His sight, and judged Him.

[44:53] And then God raised him back from the dead, saying, I’m satisfied with you.

And Jesus today is at the right hand of God in heaven.

You see, it’s no church that satisfies God. No prayer.

[45:10] No verse.

Christ says the Bible, He is the satisfaction for God. And so you see, when a person trusts and depends, like this man, God be propitious, God find satisfaction for me, the sinner, you provide it.

God says, well, that’s why I sent my son.

Then they’re wrong in his sight, but there’s something that was enough in his sight.

And when they depend on, they can leave a meeting like this, right in the sight of God.

It’s an amazing thing today that when God looks at me and all my sins and all my weaknesses, I am no perfect person, but God sees the perfect person of his own son.

God says about me, I am well accepted in the beloved one.

God says to me, I am highly favored in Christ. You know what happened when I trusted Christ?

I didn’t know that would happen.

All I knew was I was going to hell, and yet there’s one who took my sins. I trust him.

Do you know what happened when I did that? God actually placed a sinner like me in His perfect Son!

[46:31] And holiness looks at me and says, I need nothing else. I need nothing else.

That’s amazing. You could leave with that, you know. You could leave if tonight, from your heart, if you were to depend on the Lord Jesus Christ, you would leave right beside of God.

It says that verse in John 3, 36.

He that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on them.

[46:58] But for those who believe there’s no wrath in John 3, 36. Why?

Why is there no wrath there?

Because the wrath fell on another and they’re relying on him.

And so we would appeal to you tonight, all of you who have come, thanks for coming once again.

But we would appeal to you tonight if you have not to trust the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t leave like that first man.

Don’t leave saying, well, that’s good for other people. And I’m happy with my own resume.

No, scrap your resume and trust Christ.

Filed under: Gospel Series, baker-joseph, ramsay-peter