1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,040 Well now we’re continuing our series entitled the Full Ellextent of Christ’s Love and 2 00:00:05,040 –> 00:00:10,900 as you know, our aim is both to see and to feel the love of Christ through a 3 00:00:10,900 –> 00:00:16,459 sustained meditation on the cross. And I just want to point this out, obviously 4 00:00:16,459 –> 00:00:22,600 Easter has passed but our series on the cross continues. That’s very significant 5 00:00:22,600 –> 00:00:26,320 and it tells you a whole lot. It would be very easy, and it’s in the mind of many 6 00:00:26,440 –> 00:00:30,840 people to see Easter rather like passing go every time you go around the 7 00:00:30,840 –> 00:00:34,639 Monopoly board, you know. Every year we sort of come past Easter and we do the 8 00:00:34,639 –> 00:00:39,400 death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And somehow pass by it. No, we 9 00:00:39,400 –> 00:00:43,139 don’t come to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ once a year to pass it 10 00:00:43,139 –> 00:00:53,020 by. Christ is our life. And his life comes to us through his death and through his 11 00:00:53,400 –> 00:00:59,700 resurrection. And so we live here. And in this series in particular, we are 12 00:00:59,700 –> 00:01:05,260 seeking to explore the love of Christ through the seven words that he spoke 13 00:01:05,260 –> 00:01:09,559 from the cross. We thought about the first one, Father forgive them they do 14 00:01:09,559 –> 00:01:14,779 not know what they are doing. The second one when he said to the thief today you 15 00:01:14,779 –> 00:01:20,980 will be with me in paradise. Now in the order in which they come the third one, 16 00:01:20,980 –> 00:01:25,180 the third word that Christ spoke from the cross is the word that he spoke to 17 00:01:25,180 –> 00:01:31,300 his mother, He said to John behold your mother and to Mary mother behold your 18 00:01:31,300 –> 00:01:37,699 son next weekend its Mother’s Day. So we’re going to hold that for that 19 00:01:37,699 –> 00:01:43,639 weekend that matches so beautifully and appropriately and for that reason in our 20 00:01:43,639 –> 00:01:47,339 communion service today it is very appropriate that we come to the fourth 21 00:01:47,519 –> 00:01:53,160 word of our Lord Jesus Christ spoken from the cross and it is recorded in 22 00:01:53,160 –> 00:01:59,099 Matthew’s gospel chapter 27 and verse 46 I’d like to invite you to turn there in 23 00:01:59,099 –> 00:02:04,739 the Bible it is quoted from Psalm 22 which was read for us earlier the Lord 24 00:02:04,739 –> 00:02:10,940 takes up these astonishing words on his own lips in his agony on the cross he 25 00:02:10,960 –> 00:02:23,119 cries out my God my God why have you forsaken me now let me try to describe 26 00:02:23,119 –> 00:02:31,779 the scene for you mark tells us that it was the third hour that Jesus was 27 00:02:31,779 –> 00:02:36,880 crucified the third hour would have been 9 o’clock in the morning they measured 28 00:02:36,899 –> 00:02:44,279 the day from the 6 o’clock hour they nailed Jesus to the cross 9 o’clock in 29 00:02:44,279 –> 00:02:48,360 the morning they lifted the cross up and there at 9 o’clock in the morning 30 00:02:48,360 –> 00:02:52,820 as we saw a few weeks ago as he’s lifted up he says father forgive them 31 00:02:52,820 –> 00:02:59,080 they do not know what they are doing the morning wore on jeering from the 32 00:02:59,080 –> 00:03:05,679 crowds insults from two robbers who were either side of him and then 10 o’clock 33 00:03:05,820 –> 00:03:14,500 11 o’clock 1130 morning slips by and sometime during the three hours before 34 00:03:14,500 –> 00:03:20,460 noon one of these thieves begins to fear God and he says to Jesus now remember me 35 00:03:20,460 –> 00:03:25,360 when you come into your kingdom and Jesus says as we saw today you will be 36 00:03:25,360 –> 00:03:33,419 with me in Paradise then at noon after Christ had already been hanging on the 37 00:03:33,539 –> 00:03:39,139 cross for three hours enduring this agony and insult from the hands and 38 00:03:39,139 –> 00:03:46,759 from the mouths of men something new happened and Jesus Christ entered into 39 00:03:46,759 –> 00:03:52,600 the very heart of his passion look at verse 45 from the 6th hour now that’s 40 00:03:52,600 –> 00:03:59,000 midday it’s noon until the ninth hour that’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon 41 00:03:59,000 –> 00:04:07,259 darkness came over all the land and focus was not an eclipse no eclipse 42 00:04:07,259 –> 00:04:14,839 lost for three hours God turned off the light and it’s been 43 00:04:14,839 –> 00:04:19,880 well said that when Jesus Christ was born there was light at midnight and 44 00:04:19,880 –> 00:04:27,579 when Christ was crucified there was darkness at noon three hours into his 45 00:04:27,579 –> 00:04:31,940 awful suffering on the cross the light goes out right in the middle of the day 46 00:04:31,940 –> 00:04:40,320 and the sudden darkness tells us that something entirely new was happening you 47 00:04:40,320 –> 00:04:45,220 see up to this point it’s all been about the the physical pain the scourging the 48 00:04:45,220 –> 00:04:50,540 nailing and then the insults and all of that it’s all been suffering at the 49 00:04:50,540 –> 00:04:55,359 hands of men but now God shuts out the light and something entirely new begins 50 00:04:55,359 –> 00:05:02,660 and Jesus Christ enters into the heart of his passion the heart of his atoning 51 00:05:02,660 –> 00:05:12,679 work as our sin bearer now the darkness that lasted for three hours in the 52 00:05:12,679 –> 00:05:17,640 middle of the day tells us that what took place at the very heart of the 53 00:05:17,640 –> 00:05:22,880 passion here what took place at this time is ultimately beyond our 54 00:05:22,920 –> 00:05:29,399 understanding but there are some things that we do know for sure because God has 55 00:05:29,399 –> 00:05:35,739 told them to us and made them very clear and I want you to see three things that 56 00:05:35,739 –> 00:05:41,799 we know for sure we’re happening during these three hours in which Jesus reaches 57 00:05:41,799 –> 00:05:49,100 the very Center the very heart of his passion and of his suffering the first 58 00:05:49,100 –> 00:05:56,980 thing we know is this that Jesus Christ bore our sins on the cross and thinking 59 00:05:56,980 –> 00:06:01,559 of 1 Peter chapter 2 in verse 24 just giving you where this is plainly stated 60 00:06:01,559 –> 00:06:09,359 in the Bible he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree and what was what 61 00:06:09,359 –> 00:06:15,420 was happening during these three hours of darkness 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 62 00:06:15,480 –> 00:06:22,320 verse 21 God made him Who had no sin to be sin for us 63 00:06:22,320 –> 00:06:27,799 or as Isaiah puts it in the Old Testament the Lord has laid on him the 64 00:06:27,799 –> 00:06:33,119 iniquity of us all in these hours of darkness on the cross here is something 65 00:06:33,119 –> 00:06:39,559 new that is happening Christ bares our sins on the cross 66 00:06:39,559 –> 00:06:46,040 second thing we know for sure because God has told us Christ bearing our sins 67 00:06:46,040 –> 00:06:54,500 therefore bore the punishment for our sins on the Cross. Isaiah puts it this 68 00:06:54,500 –> 00:07:02,040 way the punishment that brought us peace notice that word was on Him Paul says in 69 00:07:02,040 –> 00:07:08,540 Romans chapter 3 and verse 25 that God presented Him as the propitiation that 70 00:07:08,579 –> 00:07:13,779 is one on whom wrath is poured out so that it may be diverted away from us the 71 00:07:13,779 –> 00:07:18,579 propitiation for our sins. John says the same thing in 1 John chapter 2 in verse 72 00:07:18,579 –> 00:07:26,500 2. So as Christ bears the guilt of our sins on the cross so he endures the 73 00:07:26,500 –> 00:07:33,779 punishment for our sins on the cross. If I substitute a synonym for that phrase 74 00:07:34,739 –> 00:07:40,839 What that means friends is he endured hell on the cross because that is the 75 00:07:40,839 –> 00:07:47,839 punishment for sin. All that hell is he experienced right there during these 76 00:07:47,839 –> 00:07:53,380 three hours of darkness in which he bore our sin and which he endured our 77 00:07:53,380 –> 00:07:59,500 punishment. Third thing we know for sure because God has told us Christ was 78 00:07:59,940 –> 00:08:07,739 completely and utterly alone in this suffering. We know from the story that 79 00:08:07,739 –> 00:08:14,260 the disciples had forsaken him, but now he enters into a far deeper level of his 80 00:08:14,260 –> 00:08:25,660 own isolation and aloneness. He is forsaken by God. As Luther said, 81 00:08:25,660 –> 00:08:36,400 God-forsaken by God, who can understand this? Earth has rejected him. 82 00:08:36,400 –> 00:08:44,020 Heaven has given him up. And now at the very heart of his passion, he cries out, 83 00:08:44,340 –> 00:08:54,880 My God, my God — why have you forsaken me? Now, this abandoning of the Lord Jesus 84 00:08:54,880 –> 00:09:00,780 Christ as he bears our sins and as he endures our punishment means two things. 85 00:09:00,780 –> 00:09:07,340 First, it means that all the comforts of the Father’s love were beyond the 86 00:09:08,239 –> 00:09:16,340 reaches. All the comforts of the Father’s love were beyond the Savior’s reach. I 87 00:09:16,340 –> 00:09:20,119 did not say that the Father ceased to love him. The Father could never cease to 88 00:09:20,119 –> 00:09:26,239 love him. Jesus said, the reason that my Father loves me is that I lay down my 89 00:09:26,239 –> 00:09:32,659 life. So if the Father loves him because he lays down his life the Father cannot 90 00:09:32,659 –> 00:09:36,979 cease to love him as he lays down his life. No, the Father did not stop loving 91 00:09:37,059 –> 00:09:42,859 the Son during these three hours of darkness. But Christ is separated from 92 00:09:42,859 –> 00:09:50,460 this love. He is outside of it. It is beyond his reach, the love that he has 93 00:09:50,460 –> 00:09:55,900 enjoyed with the Father, in the union between the Father and the Son, for all 94 00:09:56,059 –> 00:10:02,539 eternity. And it’s beyond him! It’s beyond him. 95 00:10:05,460 –> 00:10:09,859 Not only were the comforts of the Father’s love beyond the Saviour’s 96 00:10:09,900 –> 00:10:17,419 reach, but the terrors of the Father’s judgement were poured out on the 97 00:10:17,419 –> 00:10:22,700 Saviour. And here we come to the very heart of what he did at the cross. 98 00:10:23,539 –> 00:10:29,820 To be our Sin Bearer, to bear your sins, meant that he received in himself 99 00:10:29,820 –> 00:10:33,780 the Hell that our sins bring. 100 00:10:33,780 –> 00:10:38,260 Klaus Gilder, who writes with such perception about this says, 101 00:10:38,619 –> 00:10:45,739 God was directly sending the torments of hell against the Christ. 102 00:10:46,619 –> 00:10:52,059 Sending the torments of hell against the Christ. 103 00:10:53,260 –> 00:11:00,140 So here folks, we are entering into the very deepest mystery of what happened in this darkness. 104 00:11:00,539 –> 00:11:04,940 How in all the world could the father who loves the son 105 00:11:04,940 –> 00:11:11,780 plunge the son who he loves into these torments? 106 00:11:12,640 –> 00:11:16,940 Speaking just last Sunday with a grandmother in the congregation 107 00:11:16,940 –> 00:11:21,099 who asked me to pray for her grandson, 108 00:11:21,099 –> 00:11:29,520 little boy who is undergoing some extensive medical treatment for a very severe condition. 109 00:11:29,520 –> 00:11:36,260 And she described the procedure. It was not at all easy. 110 00:11:36,260 –> 00:11:41,260 And she described the great pain that is involved in going through this 111 00:11:41,299 –> 00:11:44,200 for this little boy and 112 00:11:44,200 –> 00:11:49,799 this grandmother says, you know, my son has to hold him down while this is happening to him, 113 00:11:49,799 –> 00:11:53,200 while the doctors are doing what they have to do. 114 00:11:53,200 –> 00:11:56,739 And she says, my son says to me, 115 00:11:56,739 –> 00:12:02,739 when I have to hold him down and he screams I can’t even look. 116 00:12:02,739 –> 00:12:09,320 And she said to me, I think that is what it was like for the father at the cross. 117 00:12:10,039 –> 00:12:17,479 The father who at the same time is plunging the son into this and yet loves the son. 118 00:12:19,700 –> 00:12:22,719 Turns his face away. 119 00:12:22,719 –> 00:12:26,580 He cannot bear to look. 120 00:12:29,440 –> 00:12:35,539 So try to take in what is happening here because it goes to the very center of your faith. 121 00:12:36,440 –> 00:12:44,119 Christ becomes your sin-bearer and for this reason on the cross in the darkness 122 00:12:44,119 –> 00:12:49,340 he is plunged into all the torments of hell. 123 00:12:49,340 –> 00:12:54,799 And the father who loves the son turns his face away. 124 00:12:54,799 –> 00:13:00,359 And all the comforts of the father’s love are now beyond the Savior’s reach. 125 00:13:00,359 –> 00:13:03,739 Not because the father does not love him but it’s beyond him. 126 00:13:06,219 –> 00:13:11,700 And out of the depths of all this agony Jesus cries out. 127 00:13:11,700 –> 00:13:17,640 My God, My God why have you forsaken me? 128 00:13:20,659 –> 00:13:27,460 Now friends I want to suggest to you today that these words of Jesus at the 129 00:13:27,460 –> 00:13:33,840 very center of our faith opened four windows into what was happening in these 130 00:13:33,840 –> 00:13:41,440 hours of darkness. And my prayer for today is that as you look through these 131 00:13:41,440 –> 00:13:52,359 windows you will be changed by what you see. Let me describe them to you in this 132 00:13:52,400 –> 00:13:58,679 way as simply as I can. Window number one. 133 00:13:59,099 –> 00:14:11,219 See what sin is and learn to hate it. See what sin is. That’s my prayer for us 134 00:14:11,219 –> 00:14:16,200 today that you will see what sin is through this window, through the cross, 135 00:14:16,260 –> 00:14:21,880 and that you will learn to hate it. 136 00:14:23,000 –> 00:14:30,039 Changing, letting go of sin, becoming more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Not easy for 137 00:14:30,039 –> 00:14:34,340 us as Christians. And here’s why because there is something within sin that 138 00:14:34,340 –> 00:14:38,840 attracts us. What tempted you before will tempt you again. Repentance is hard 139 00:14:38,840 –> 00:14:44,280 because part of us enjoys our sin. So that sometimes even when we confess our 140 00:14:44,400 –> 00:14:48,580 sin, there’s a little bit of us that would like to go back to it again. So how 141 00:14:48,580 –> 00:14:54,299 can you get to the place where you learn to hate your sins so much that you will 142 00:14:54,299 –> 00:15:00,859 not keep going back to it again and again and again and again? And again how 143 00:15:00,859 –> 00:15:09,880 can you get to the place where you will really change? That’s the question and 144 00:15:10,320 –> 00:15:16,280 understand this, the law will never get you there! the law can tell you what sin 145 00:15:16,280 –> 00:15:18,359 is but the law will never make you hate it! 146 00:15:18,359 –> 00:15:23,219 in fact frankly the law can sometimes even provoke you to sin and make you 147 00:15:23,219 –> 00:15:27,380 worse! Have you noticed this? You go to a restaurant ,I hope I’m not the 148 00:15:27,380 –> 00:15:31,039 only person who’s like this, but the waiter comes and he says, now don’t 149 00:15:31,039 –> 00:15:35,020 touch the plate because it’s hot! What’s the first thing you want to do? 150 00:15:35,020 –> 00:15:39,320 Why? What is it about you and me that would make us be like that. 151 00:15:40,219 –> 00:15:44,460 Everyone who has children knows about this! You give a child a rule and he or she see it 152 00:15:44,460 –> 00:15:50,500 as an invitation! Paul says in Romans chapter 7 and verse 9, When the 153 00:15:50,500 –> 00:15:57,260 commandment came sin sprang to life! See? Sin was laying dormant 154 00:15:57,260 –> 00:16:00,760 but as soon as God said don’t do this, oh sin said that’s exactly what i’m going 155 00:16:00,760 –> 00:16:08,979 to do. Sprang to life! Morality can tell you what sin is but it cannot teach you 156 00:16:09,299 –> 00:16:15,880 hate it! That’s why people who are committed to moralism are always stuck 157 00:16:15,880 –> 00:16:20,460 in saying how can I find a greater will pushing one way than a will that’s 158 00:16:20,460 –> 00:16:28,440 pushing the other way? You’re just conflicted all the time! You’re stuck! 159 00:16:28,700 –> 00:16:33,419 Now the great practical question of the Christian life is this! How can I learn 160 00:16:33,479 –> 00:16:41,419 to really loathe sin, especially the sin that I fall into so that I really leave 161 00:16:41,419 –> 00:16:50,119 it and turn from it? Listen to these words from Richard Sibbes. 162 00:16:50,119 –> 00:16:58,719 If you would indeed see the most ugly colours of sin, see it in Christ upon the cross. 163 00:16:58,820 –> 00:17:05,400 See how bitter of a thing it was forcing Him to send forth 164 00:17:05,400 –> 00:17:13,760 strong cries to the Father, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 165 00:17:13,760 –> 00:17:19,719 You think about that indulgent greed in your life, you think about that cherished pride, 166 00:17:19,719 –> 00:17:24,319 that settled envy, that secret lust, that subtle lie, that grumbling, 167 00:17:24,400 –> 00:17:33,300 that fault-finding, that deception, you look at what it cost, you look at what that did. 168 00:17:33,300 –> 00:17:41,160 You see the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, and the agony that He goes through for this! 169 00:17:41,160 –> 00:17:49,540 Learn to hate that sin at the cross. 170 00:17:49,699 –> 00:17:56,520 I want to say to you today, as you look at how Jesus Christ was forsaken on account of 171 00:17:56,520 –> 00:18:05,099 your sin, what sin can you not forsake on account of Him? 172 00:18:05,099 –> 00:18:09,000 This is why we need to live at the cross, folks. 173 00:18:09,000 –> 00:18:16,520 Because it is only here that we will really learn to hate the sin that so entices us. 174 00:18:16,520 –> 00:18:23,859 See what sin is and learn to hate it at the cross. 175 00:18:23,859 –> 00:18:26,280 Here’s the second window. 176 00:18:26,280 –> 00:18:33,459 I want us today to see what hell is and to learn to flee it. 177 00:18:33,459 –> 00:18:40,979 See what sin is and learn to hate it and see what hell is and learn to flee it. 178 00:18:41,939 –> 00:18:44,260 Folks, here is what we are learning today. 179 00:18:44,260 –> 00:18:52,739 When Jesus Christ bore our sins, he entered into the judgement that was due for our sins. 180 00:18:52,739 –> 00:18:58,619 Christ endured all that hell is on the cross. 181 00:18:58,619 –> 00:19:06,579 Now, poets and artists have speculated over the centuries about hell. 182 00:19:06,579 –> 00:19:10,619 There is so much about hell that we do not know and that’s why there is so much speculation 183 00:19:11,260 –> 00:19:15,000 about it, you know, Dante’s Inferno and so forth, and so on. 184 00:19:15,000 –> 00:19:24,459 But I want to say to you today that the clearest revelation about hell is given to us at the 185 00:19:24,459 –> 00:19:27,500 cross. 186 00:19:27,500 –> 00:19:35,040 Hell has six dimensions, and Christ experienced all of them on the cross. 187 00:19:35,040 –> 00:19:38,140 Let me remind you of them briefly. 188 00:19:38,140 –> 00:19:43,000 Number one, He is in conscious suffering. 189 00:19:43,000 –> 00:19:47,760 Number two, He is in the blackest darkness. 190 00:19:47,760 –> 00:19:54,739 Number three, He is surrounded by demonic powers, unleashed. 191 00:19:54,739 –> 00:19:58,760 Number four, He is bearing sin. 192 00:19:58,760 –> 00:20:02,780 Number five, He is under judgment. 193 00:20:02,819 –> 00:20:11,660 And number six, and here’s the heart of His cry, He is separated from the love of God. 194 00:20:11,660 –> 00:20:18,099 That is hell. 195 00:20:18,099 –> 00:20:23,260 Hell is, friends, conscious suffering and blackest darkness surrounded by demonic powers 196 00:20:23,260 –> 00:20:27,020 bearing the guilt of your own sin under the judgment of God. 197 00:20:27,020 –> 00:20:32,459 And I tell you, the hell of hell, will be to know that there is a God of love and You 198 00:20:32,459 –> 00:20:37,540 could have known this love, but now it is beyond your reach. 199 00:20:37,540 –> 00:20:42,859 And you’re outside of it, forever. 200 00:20:42,859 –> 00:20:50,219 I preach this today because I do not want one of you to know what this is like, ever. 201 00:20:50,219 –> 00:20:54,680 And I tell you that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that you should never know what this 202 00:20:54,819 –> 00:20:56,060 is like, ever. 203 00:20:56,060 –> 00:21:01,699 In fact, no one can fully understand what he endured in these three hours of darkness 204 00:21:01,699 –> 00:21:06,140 unless that person had been in hell. 205 00:21:06,140 –> 00:21:14,540 It’s beyond what anyone of us here today can begin to imagine. 206 00:21:14,540 –> 00:21:19,479 You know, a lot of people are talking about hell today. 207 00:21:19,959 –> 00:21:24,199 A lot of the discussion about whether or not it is real. 208 00:21:25,939 –> 00:21:28,660 Let me give you this simple answer. 209 00:21:28,660 –> 00:21:32,819 Hell is as real as the cross. 210 00:21:32,819 –> 00:21:37,420 Hell is as real as the cross. 211 00:21:37,420 –> 00:21:41,180 Jesus Christ entered all the dimensions of hell. 212 00:21:41,180 –> 00:21:44,280 All six dimensions of hell on the cross. 213 00:21:44,280 –> 00:21:47,479 This happened, folks. 214 00:21:47,479 –> 00:21:49,459 He received in himself. 215 00:21:49,479 –> 00:21:53,199 As what was due to us. 216 00:21:53,420 –> 00:21:56,079 So when people say, well, maybe there’s no hell, 217 00:21:56,079 –> 00:21:57,439 I want to ask this question. 218 00:21:57,439 –> 00:22:00,540 What do you think this was all about, then? 219 00:22:01,560 –> 00:22:04,540 What do you think this darkness, this forsakenness 220 00:22:04,540 –> 00:22:05,359 was all about? 221 00:22:05,359 –> 00:22:08,180 What do you think this laying of sin on him is all about, 222 00:22:08,180 –> 00:22:10,079 that the Bible speaks about? 223 00:22:10,079 –> 00:22:12,619 It happened, and the reason that it happened 224 00:22:12,619 –> 00:22:13,619 is simply this. 225 00:22:13,619 –> 00:22:15,880 There is wrath, there is forsakenness, 226 00:22:15,880 –> 00:22:18,439 there is darkness and there is hell. 227 00:22:18,439 –> 00:22:21,219 All of it was poured out on our Lord Jesus Christ 228 00:22:21,219 –> 00:22:23,900 and he absorbed it in himself on the cross 229 00:22:23,900 –> 00:22:26,300 in order to save you and me from it. 230 00:22:28,979 –> 00:22:31,000 Listen again to Richard Sibbes. 231 00:22:33,079 –> 00:22:36,599 Whatsoever was done to Christ 232 00:22:38,180 –> 00:22:42,800 shall be done to all that are outside of him. 233 00:22:44,420 –> 00:22:46,599 That’s as plain of statement as you can get 234 00:22:46,599 –> 00:22:48,400 and faithful to the Scriptures. 235 00:22:49,000 –> 00:22:53,260 Whatsoever was done to Christ 236 00:22:54,859 –> 00:22:59,859 shall be done to all who are outside of him. 237 00:23:00,119 –> 00:23:04,699 Friends, that is why you must come to him 238 00:23:05,880 –> 00:23:08,680 and why you must be in him 239 00:23:10,020 –> 00:23:13,640 because you cannot be saved without him. 240 00:23:13,839 –> 00:23:16,319 That’s what the cross is about. 241 00:23:23,640 –> 00:23:27,020 So I say to you not only see what sin is 242 00:23:27,020 –> 00:23:28,560 and learn to hate it, 243 00:23:30,459 –> 00:23:32,180 but see what hell is. 244 00:23:34,160 –> 00:23:35,359 And learn to flee it. 245 00:23:38,199 –> 00:23:40,260 Here’s the third thing, third window. 246 00:23:41,780 –> 00:23:43,199 See what love is. 247 00:23:43,859 –> 00:23:45,219 And learn to enjoy it. 248 00:23:46,160 –> 00:23:47,500 See what love is. 249 00:23:49,000 –> 00:23:50,319 And learn to enjoy it. 250 00:23:51,439 –> 00:23:53,760 So by that sounds like an extraordinary jump. 251 00:23:53,760 –> 00:23:54,599 Yes, it does 252 00:23:54,599 –> 00:23:56,959 but here’s the miracle and the amazing thing. 253 00:23:56,959 –> 00:24:00,280 Love and justice meeting at the cross. 254 00:24:00,280 –> 00:24:01,219 It’s staggering. 255 00:24:03,540 –> 00:24:06,739 One way to measure the love of God for you 256 00:24:07,939 –> 00:24:10,660 is by the price that the Father and the Son 257 00:24:10,660 –> 00:24:12,579 were willing to pay to redeem you. 258 00:24:14,300 –> 00:24:17,300 And here again, we are staring into an unfathomable 259 00:24:17,300 –> 00:24:19,319 and yet a glorious mystery. 260 00:24:20,500 –> 00:24:23,859 Can you begin to fathom in your mind, 261 00:24:23,859 –> 00:24:26,900 can you think just around the edges of this 262 00:24:26,900 –> 00:24:31,900 what it meant to the Father to give up to this 263 00:24:32,479 –> 00:24:34,920 his own dearly loved son? 264 00:24:36,280 –> 00:24:39,380 And at the same time as we saw just last week 265 00:24:39,380 –> 00:24:41,359 as the union of wills 266 00:24:41,359 –> 00:24:42,880 between the Father and the Son 267 00:24:42,880 –> 00:24:46,160 has been is and always will be complete and total. 268 00:24:46,160 –> 00:24:48,640 What it meant for the Holy Son of God 269 00:24:48,640 –> 00:24:53,400 to give himself up to be your sin bearer 270 00:24:54,760 –> 00:24:57,780 and as a consequence to be shut out 271 00:24:58,800 –> 00:25:01,160 of the knowledge of the eternal love 272 00:25:01,160 –> 00:25:03,459 of the Father right there in the darkness. 273 00:25:05,839 –> 00:25:07,780 Friends, sometimes I here Christians 274 00:25:07,780 –> 00:25:09,719 around the church say this, 275 00:25:09,819 –> 00:25:11,760 I know that Jesus died for me on the cross 276 00:25:11,760 –> 00:25:13,719 but I don’t really feel that God loves me. 277 00:25:13,719 –> 00:25:15,819 I want to say slow down. 278 00:25:16,959 –> 00:25:17,800 Slow down. 279 00:25:20,579 –> 00:25:21,579 Before 280 00:25:22,560 –> 00:25:24,760 he created the universe 281 00:25:26,079 –> 00:25:29,439 God the Father had you on his horizon 282 00:25:29,439 –> 00:25:31,479 and planned for you in love. 283 00:25:33,400 –> 00:25:35,140 And before you were ever born, 284 00:25:35,140 –> 00:25:37,839 God the Son took your flesh 285 00:25:38,780 –> 00:25:41,000 and He lived a perfect life for you. 286 00:25:42,400 –> 00:25:44,640 And then He went to this awful cross for you 287 00:25:44,640 –> 00:25:47,239 and, friend, your sins, 288 00:25:47,239 –> 00:25:49,500 your sins were laid on Him. 289 00:25:51,040 –> 00:25:54,479 And He enter into your hell, your hell. 290 00:25:55,760 –> 00:25:57,479 And He shut out from the knowledge 291 00:25:57,479 –> 00:26:00,140 of the father’s love for you in that darkness 292 00:26:00,140 –> 00:26:02,199 and He cries out, my God, my God, 293 00:26:02,199 –> 00:26:03,640 why have you forsaken me? 294 00:26:03,640 –> 00:26:05,040 And He does this for you 295 00:26:05,160 –> 00:26:08,319 And you think that God doesn’t love you? 296 00:26:11,280 –> 00:26:13,199 I want you to see this love. 297 00:26:13,199 –> 00:26:14,680 You’ll never see it more clearly 298 00:26:14,680 –> 00:26:16,439 than right here at the cross. 299 00:26:17,920 –> 00:26:19,280 And learn to enjoy it. 300 00:26:19,280 –> 00:26:20,839 You say, how can I enjoy this? 301 00:26:20,839 –> 00:26:23,800 This is an excruciating suffering. 302 00:26:23,800 –> 00:26:25,540 Ah, here is how you enjoy this. 303 00:26:25,540 –> 00:26:28,079 Jesus Christ is not on the cross today. 304 00:26:29,939 –> 00:26:30,780 He’s risen. 305 00:26:32,219 –> 00:26:34,439 He is exalted. 306 00:26:34,439 –> 00:26:36,040 He’s at the right hand of the Father. 307 00:26:36,040 –> 00:26:37,699 He’s triumphed over all of this 308 00:26:37,699 –> 00:26:39,459 and his victory is complete. 309 00:26:39,459 –> 00:26:43,180 God’s righteous judgment for your sin fell on Jesus. 310 00:26:43,180 –> 00:26:44,380 He absorbed it. 311 00:26:44,380 –> 00:26:46,560 He drained it, He exhausted it, 312 00:26:46,560 –> 00:26:47,839 and He came through it. 313 00:26:47,839 –> 00:26:50,260 And here’s where you rejoice in God’s love. 314 00:26:50,260 –> 00:26:53,219 Christian, you’re in Christ today. 315 00:26:53,219 –> 00:26:56,780 I say to you, hell burned itself out 316 00:26:56,780 –> 00:26:58,579 on Jesus at the cross 317 00:26:58,579 –> 00:27:01,040 as far as you are concerned. 318 00:27:01,859 –> 00:27:02,979 See that love? 319 00:27:04,699 –> 00:27:05,780 Rejoice in it. 320 00:27:07,819 –> 00:27:09,459 And at the end of these three hours of darkness 321 00:27:09,459 –> 00:27:12,219 as we’ll see later in our series, 322 00:27:12,219 –> 00:27:13,819 he cries out in a loud voice. 323 00:27:13,819 –> 00:27:16,260 Not in defeat, but in absolute triumph. 324 00:27:16,260 –> 00:27:19,560 It is finished. 325 00:27:21,560 –> 00:27:23,260 And he gave himself into death 326 00:27:23,260 –> 00:27:27,160 so that there is now no condemnation 327 00:27:27,160 –> 00:27:29,060 for those who are in Christ Jesus. 328 00:27:31,619 –> 00:27:33,060 See this love? 329 00:27:34,839 –> 00:27:36,800 And as you’re in Christ, rejoice in it. 330 00:27:39,400 –> 00:27:40,739 Here’s the very last thing. 331 00:27:42,199 –> 00:27:44,239 See what sin is and learn to hate it. 332 00:27:45,500 –> 00:27:48,939 See what hell is, and learn to flee it. 333 00:27:49,920 –> 00:27:52,819 See what love is and learn to enjoy it. 334 00:27:54,760 –> 00:27:58,239 And see what faith is, and learn to use it. 335 00:27:59,099 –> 00:28:03,579 In the darkness, your Savior says, 336 00:28:03,579 –> 00:28:08,579 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 337 00:28:11,260 –> 00:28:12,579 Now you think about this. 338 00:28:13,380 –> 00:28:16,780 The Father’s love is at this moment beyond his reach. 339 00:28:16,780 –> 00:28:18,579 He’s been shut out from it. 340 00:28:19,500 –> 00:28:21,239 And yet he says, 341 00:28:21,880 –> 00:28:26,459 My God, my God. 342 00:28:27,119 –> 00:28:29,420 Robert Marion McShane says, 343 00:28:29,420 –> 00:28:32,619 These words show the greatest faith 344 00:28:32,619 –> 00:28:34,719 that ever was in the world. 345 00:28:34,719 –> 00:28:36,300 I think that’s a good description. 346 00:28:37,319 –> 00:28:39,140 These words show the greatest faith 347 00:28:39,140 –> 00:28:41,760 that ever was in this world. 348 00:28:42,920 –> 00:28:45,599 Because, he says, faith means believing the Word of God, 349 00:28:45,599 –> 00:28:48,339 not because we see it to be true, or feel it to be true, 350 00:28:48,339 –> 00:28:51,040 but because God has said it. 351 00:28:52,300 –> 00:28:55,599 Friends, this is of huge importance for our faith today. 352 00:28:55,739 –> 00:28:58,699 God has said to us, I will never leave you, 353 00:28:58,699 –> 00:29:00,719 and I will never forsake you. 354 00:29:00,719 –> 00:29:02,060 That’s His promise. 355 00:29:03,339 –> 00:29:06,199 But as most Christians know and have experienced, 356 00:29:06,199 –> 00:29:08,880 and if you haven’t, I think you will at some time, 357 00:29:08,880 –> 00:29:12,079 you will find that there are dark times in your life 358 00:29:12,079 –> 00:29:15,479 where you simply cannot feel the love 359 00:29:15,479 –> 00:29:17,680 and the presence of God. 360 00:29:17,680 –> 00:29:20,300 And at these times, you need to know 361 00:29:20,300 –> 00:29:23,439 that your Jesus has been there. 362 00:29:26,020 –> 00:29:28,780 Spurgeon, who is always getting into the messages 363 00:29:28,780 –> 00:29:32,319 on this series and is just slipping in at the end here. 364 00:29:32,319 –> 00:29:35,420 He says, I would like to put this personally 365 00:29:35,420 –> 00:29:39,140 to any tried child of God here today. 366 00:29:40,540 –> 00:29:43,020 Are you going to let your God go 367 00:29:43,020 –> 00:29:45,439 because you have lost His smile? 368 00:29:46,979 –> 00:29:51,979 Then I ask you, did you base your faith upon His smile? 369 00:29:52,439 –> 00:29:56,939 For if you did, you mistook the true ground of faith. 370 00:29:56,939 –> 00:30:00,719 The ground of a believer’s confidence 371 00:30:00,719 –> 00:30:05,079 is not God’s smile, but God’s promise. 372 00:30:05,079 –> 00:30:07,239 That’s very helpful. 373 00:30:07,239 –> 00:30:09,699 The ground of faith is not your feeling 374 00:30:09,699 –> 00:30:12,380 of the love of God, it is the pledge of His love 375 00:30:12,380 –> 00:30:15,079 which is made to you, signed, sealed, and delivered 376 00:30:15,079 –> 00:30:16,599 at the cross of Jesus Christ. 377 00:30:16,599 –> 00:30:18,900 You may go through a day where the feeling 378 00:30:18,900 –> 00:30:21,459 of the love of God seems beyond your grasp, 379 00:30:21,459 –> 00:30:23,819 or there is great darkness that for one reason 380 00:30:23,819 –> 00:30:25,500 or another is surrounding you? 381 00:30:25,500 –> 00:30:27,719 Do not let go of your faith in God 382 00:30:27,719 –> 00:30:29,619 because you lose sight of His smile. 383 00:30:29,619 –> 00:30:31,979 Faith is not grounded upon God’s smile, 384 00:30:31,979 –> 00:30:34,839 faith is grounded upon God’s promise. 385 00:30:36,579 –> 00:30:38,660 It’s interesting, now I found this very helpful 386 00:30:38,660 –> 00:30:42,699 and I say it just at the end of the message here 387 00:30:42,699 –> 00:30:44,939 because I think it might be helpful to some. 388 00:30:47,099 –> 00:30:51,060 Spurgeon had a very special sensitivity 389 00:30:51,939 –> 00:30:54,900 towards people who suffered from depression 390 00:30:56,359 –> 00:30:59,420 and one reason for this was that he experienced it 391 00:30:59,420 –> 00:31:01,479 in his own life. 392 00:31:01,479 –> 00:31:03,780 He had some ill health that perhaps 393 00:31:03,780 –> 00:31:06,420 exacerbated the condition. 394 00:31:06,420 –> 00:31:09,560 He would speak quite often about the black dog 395 00:31:09,560 –> 00:31:11,359 that too often accompanied him. 396 00:31:11,359 –> 00:31:12,819 Isn’t that a good image? 397 00:31:12,819 –> 00:31:14,439 Those of you who know what this is like 398 00:31:14,439 –> 00:31:16,920 oh, the black dog’s back here again today 399 00:31:17,880 –> 00:31:19,619 and he says this. 400 00:31:20,819 –> 00:31:25,640 Some strong minded people are very apt to be hard 401 00:31:25,640 –> 00:31:27,959 upon nervous folks and to say they shouldn’t 402 00:31:27,959 –> 00:31:29,420 get into that state 403 00:31:30,619 –> 00:31:33,719 and we are liable to speak harshly to people 404 00:31:33,719 –> 00:31:36,239 who are very depressed in spirit and say to them 405 00:31:36,239 –> 00:31:39,239 really you ought to arouse yourself out of such a state 406 00:31:39,239 –> 00:31:42,060 and Spurgeon says I hope that none of you 407 00:31:42,060 –> 00:31:45,319 will ever have an experience of this depression 408 00:31:45,319 –> 00:31:47,839 or spirit as I have had. 409 00:31:47,839 –> 00:31:48,680 Yet 410 00:31:49,880 –> 00:31:51,780 I have learned from it 411 00:31:53,079 –> 00:31:54,880 to be very tender 412 00:31:56,079 –> 00:31:59,040 with all fellow sufferers. 413 00:32:00,160 –> 00:32:02,219 Now isn’t that interesting? 414 00:32:02,219 –> 00:32:06,520 He says I’ve been in this darkness 415 00:32:06,520 –> 00:32:11,199 and from the experience of being in this darkness 416 00:32:11,199 –> 00:32:15,180 I have learned to be very tender 417 00:32:15,199 –> 00:32:17,900 towards other people who might be 418 00:32:17,900 –> 00:32:20,479 pushed aside or treated harshly. 419 00:32:20,479 –> 00:32:23,339 I’ve learned to be very tender towards them 420 00:32:23,339 –> 00:32:26,420 because I’ve been in this darkness myself. 421 00:32:26,420 –> 00:32:27,260 Now 422 00:32:28,699 –> 00:32:32,739 if being in that darkness brought such tenderness 423 00:32:32,739 –> 00:32:34,540 to Charles Haddon Spurgeon 424 00:32:36,439 –> 00:32:38,500 what will you say 425 00:32:38,500 –> 00:32:42,119 about what the darkness has brought to Christ? 426 00:32:43,040 –> 00:32:46,680 You have a Savior 427 00:32:48,040 –> 00:32:51,979 to whom you can come in the darkest moment 428 00:32:51,979 –> 00:32:53,199 of your life 429 00:32:54,160 –> 00:32:57,280 when you feel that God is nowhere near you 430 00:32:57,280 –> 00:32:59,280 when you can’t feel a thing 431 00:33:01,020 –> 00:33:02,160 because he’s been there. 432 00:33:04,880 –> 00:33:08,359 And the Savior who has been in indescribable darkness 433 00:33:08,359 –> 00:33:09,900 that you will never know, 434 00:33:09,900 –> 00:33:10,859 can never know 435 00:33:12,160 –> 00:33:13,300 as a Christian believer 436 00:33:15,459 –> 00:33:18,900 that Savior has a tenderness towards you 437 00:33:19,959 –> 00:33:22,400 that no one else in all of the world 438 00:33:23,739 –> 00:33:24,599 could ever have. 439 00:33:26,300 –> 00:33:27,500 This is your Jesus. 440 00:33:29,660 –> 00:33:30,819 So folks, 441 00:33:31,839 –> 00:33:33,319 see what sin is 442 00:33:34,160 –> 00:33:35,219 and learn to hate it. 443 00:33:36,380 –> 00:33:39,040 See what hell is and learn to flee it. 444 00:33:40,020 –> 00:33:42,839 See what love is and learn to enjoy it. 445 00:33:44,160 –> 00:33:45,560 And see what faith is. 446 00:33:46,439 –> 00:33:48,560 Doesn’t rest on your feeling of God’s smile, 447 00:33:48,560 –> 00:33:50,619 it rests on his promise that is grounded 448 00:33:50,619 –> 00:33:51,459 in the cross. 449 00:33:53,579 –> 00:33:54,599 And learn to use it. 450 00:33:56,699 –> 00:33:58,640 On the cross Christ said, 451 00:33:58,680 –> 00:34:02,800 my God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? 452 00:34:04,719 –> 00:34:05,920 So that today 453 00:34:06,780 –> 00:34:09,780 with wonder and with worship, 454 00:34:09,780 –> 00:34:11,479 You may be able to come and say, 455 00:34:11,479 –> 00:34:15,959 My God, my God, why have You accepted me? 456 00:34:17,199 –> 00:34:19,280 Why have You accepted me? 457 00:34:19,280 –> 00:34:21,600 With all my sin, with all my failure? 458 00:34:21,600 –> 00:34:23,780 And the answer is this, 459 00:34:23,780 –> 00:34:26,419 You were accepted because He was forsaken. 460 00:34:28,000 –> 00:34:30,120 You were righteous because He bore your sin. 461 00:34:31,800 –> 00:34:34,459 And one day you will enter into His heaven 462 00:34:35,000 –> 00:34:38,159 because He endured your hell. 463 00:34:39,399 –> 00:34:44,399 Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift. 464 00:34:46,659 –> 00:34:49,699 Oh, Father, please help us to take in the weight 465 00:34:49,699 –> 00:34:54,699 and the glory and the wonder of your redeeming Love 466 00:34:54,959 –> 00:34:59,959 reconciling us in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 467 00:35:00,540 –> 00:35:04,939 as Lord Jesus Christ, 468 00:35:04,939 –> 00:35:08,080 and as we gather our worship amazed 469 00:35:08,080 –> 00:35:09,840 that you would accept us 470 00:35:09,840 –> 00:35:11,520 and that He would have gone 471 00:35:11,520 –> 00:35:14,780 through this utter forsakenness, 472 00:35:15,919 –> 0:35:18,800 we ask that you will indeed help us to hate sin, 473 00:35:19,760 –> 00:35:20,840 to flee hell, 474 00:35:21,760 –> 00:35:23,760 to enjoy love, 475 00:35:23,760 –> 00:35:25,600 to exercise faith. 476 00:35:26,800 –> 00:35:29,919 Through Jesus Christ our Savior and our Lord