‘A VISIT TO CALVARY’
John 19 16-18
Today, I want you and I to take a visit to Calvary. If you are a child of God you have already been there, for it was there you met Jesus in salvation. If you are here today and you are lost, you need to come to Calvary today for it’s the only place you will find forgiveness of sin.
But the Cross is also a learning place. If you go to Harvard, you will learn about law, if you go to Georgia Tech, you will learn about engineering, if you go to Tulane, you will learn about medicine. But if you go to Calvary, you learn about the greatness of God’s love and greatness of man’s sin.
I heard about a man of science who was riding a ferryboat. He was talking to an uneducated man on the ferry. He asked him did he know Geology? He said, no, he didn’t. The man replied, well, ¼ of your life is gone. He then asked him, if he knew Biology? Again, he said no. The man said, well, ½ of your life is gone. He further asked him if he knew Zoology? The man answered him, no, he didn’t. The man came back and said, well ¾ of your life is gone. About that time, a wave hit the ferryboat, knocking the man into the water. The uneducated man shouted at him, do you know how to swim? He hollered back, no. He said, then, all your life is gone.
If you have never been to Calvary and met Jesus as your savior, your life is slipping away and unless you come to Jesus, you will lose your life in hell.
I-NOTICE THE REASONS FOR THE CROSS:
Matthew 16:21-From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Why did He use the word “must”?
A-BECAUSE OF MAN’S SIN:
Romans 3:23-For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
For all have sinned-And consequently are equally helpless and guilty.
In preparation for a meeting in a large city, famed evangelist Billy Sunday wrote a letter to the mayor in which he asked for the name of individuals he knew who had a spiritual problem and needed help and prayer. How surprised the evangelist was when he received from the mayor a city directory.
A minister said that once he had a small white Highland terrier which he kept spotlessly clean by frequent washing, brushing, and powdering. One night a winter storm dropped a fresh blanket of snow on the countryside, and the next morning the whole world seemed to glisten under the splendor of the morning sun. As the clergyman stood gazing out his window, he saw a drab-looking dog walk across the snow. He wondered whose it was -- then suddenly realized it was his own well-groomed terrier! It was as clean as always, but against that dazzling background it appeared dirty.
In much the same way, our corrupt nature is clearly revealed when our lives are measured by the absolute standard of Divine holiness. The Bible says that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We make a favorable impression when compared with other men, but none of us can stand up against the pure whiteness of the character of Christ.
J. Vernon McGee tells the story of the Negro boy down in my Southland years ago, wanted to join a church. So the deacons were examining him. They asked, "How did you get saved?" His answer was, "God did His part, and I did my part." They thought there was something wrong with his doctrine, so they questioned further, "What was God’s part, and what was your part?" His explanation was a good one. He said, "God’s part was the saving, and my part was the sinning. I done run from Him as fast as my sinful heart and rebellious legs could take me. He done took out after me till He run me down." My friend, that is the way I got saved also.
B-BECAUSE OF MAN’S SEPERATION:
Isaiah 59:2 - But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
The problem isn’t with God’s power, His knowledge, or His interest. The problem is with our iniquities. Sin has separated you from your God.
God is Holy and cannot look upon sin but at the cross, Jesus was bringing mankind and God together.
A story is told of a father and one of his sons having an argument. In the end, the boy left home and went into another city. Later on, he was contacted and told him to come home, for his mother was dying. When he got home, he was ushered into her bedroom where his father was at her bedside. His mother took his hand and the hand of his father and placed them across her body and said, will you make peace with each other over my dying body. Of course, they forgave one another and did make peace with each other.
That what Jesus did on the cross, he took the hand of a loving God and the hand of sinful mankind and joined them together over his cross. And if we accept His salvation, we have peace with God.
C-BECAUSE OF MAN’S SALVATION:
Romans 5:9-Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
At the great cost of the Savior’s blood, shed for us at Calvary, we have been counted righteous by God.
It is the closing scene in the motion picture, Ben Hur. The sky is disappearing behind the ominous looking cloud formations. The movie camera takes a long shot of three crosses rising out of a distant hill. Then the camera moves in close, closer, to the figure stretched out on the center cross. Lightning reveals a man squirming in silent agony to the rhythm of the flashes. It is raining hard. With each flash of light, the pool of rainwater at the foot of the cross grows larger. Suddenly a single drop of blood drips into the pool and scatters. Then another drop falls. And then another. The pool is now tinted light red. The rain comes harder and the pool overflows into another pool immediately below it. The second pool reddens and enlarges, overflowing into still another pool which, in turn, overflows into a small stream. The blood-stained stream flows into a larger stream which meets a river which flows into an ocean.
Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, an early missionary to India, recalls that while preaching to a group who had come to bathe in the "sacred stream" of the Ganges, a man joined them who had crawled many agonizing miles on his knees and elbows to reach that spot. The poor exhausted soul made his prayer to Gunga, and then slipped into the water but emerged with the same conviction of sin as before. The fear of death still tugged at his heart. Then he heard Chamberlain tell the wonderful story of grace and how Christ died on the cross to rescue needy sinners. With new hope the man staggered to his feet, clasped his hands together, and cried, "Oh, that’s what I need! Forgiveness and peace!" The missionary soon led him to Jesus.
II-NOTICE THE REALITY OF THE CROSS:
A-THE SUFFERING OF THE CROSS WAS REAL:
John 19:16- Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
We see so much make-believe in our world today that we have lost the our sense of reality. But I want you to know that the Cross of Jesus was real. There was no stunt man, no fake blood, no rubber nails, no paper cross, it was real.
When they beat him in the face, it was real. When they spit upon Him, it was real. When they whipped Him, it was real. When they nailed the nails in hands and feet it was real.
The March 21, 1986, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association gave a clinical analysis of Jesus’ death on the cross. Replete with diagrams and technical language, it painted a chilling picture of human cruelty. The report mentions seven-inch spikes; the work of insects and birds on the victims’s eyes, ears and nose; continued blood loss and infection at the scourge wounds; and painful mutilation of the "sensorimotor median nerve."
The doctors wrote that the cause of death by crucifixion had many factors and varied with each case. The two most prominent causes likely were hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia. Other factors could have included dehydration, stress-induced arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure with the accumulation of pericardial and pleural efusion. The article’s language is professional, but the message is clear. Crucifixion had a catastrophic effect on breathing, the heart, and the body in general. It was a horrible death.
John spares the gore, only mentioning the fact of Jesus’ crucifixion.Probably because the true ordeal of the cross was more spiritual than physical.Jesus was made . . . sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and the wrath of God we deserved was poured out upon Him: incomprehensible suffering!
B-THE SHAME OF THE CROSS WAS REAL:
Matthew 27:35-And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
He had his robe stripped off and before a hostile crowd, He bore this shame before them.
C-THE SEPERATION OF THE CROSS WAS REAL:
Matthew 27:46- And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
He had been forsaken by religious leaders, by His family, by His disciples, by His friends, and now by His Father.
An artist can paint the physical hands and feet of our Lord, but he cannot paint the healing power of those hands and the godly walk of those feet. He can paint the outward suffering, but not the inward cause; the cursed tree, but not the curse of the law; the bearing of the cross, but not the bearing of the sins of His people; the cup of vinegar, but not the cup of wrath--the derision of His enemies and the forsaking of the Father.
He wasn’t forsaken because of His sins, for he was sinless. But he was forsaken because He was taking the guilt of our sins upon Himself.
III-NOTICE THE RESULTS OF THE CROSS:
A-BY THE CROSS-HE PURCHASED OUR PARDON:
Ephesians 1:7- In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Redemption always implies a price being paid for the freedom that is purchased; here the price is His blood. Jesus does not redeem us by His sinless life or His moral example, but only by His death in our place -by His blood
A new product called "Disposable Guilt Bags" appeared in the marketplace. It consisted of a set of ten ordinary brown bags on which were printed the following instructions: "Place the bag securely over your mouth, take a deep breath and blow all your guilt out, then dispose of the bag immediately." The wonder of this is that the Associated Press reported that 2500 kits had been quickly sold at $2.50 per kit. Would that we could dispose of our guilt so easily. There is nothing on this earth powerful enough in itself to dispose of our guilt. We cannot fix ourselves, which is what many of us are trying to do. That which makes it possible to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be healed, that which makes it possible for us to receive our life back again, fresh and clean and new, is the power of God’s Grace in the Cross of Jesus Christ.
B-BY THE CROSS- HE PURCHASED OUR PEACE:
Romans 5:1- Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Before, while under a sense of the guilt of sin, we had nothing but terror and dismay in our own consciences; now, having our sin forgiven, we have peace in our hearts, feeling that all our guilt is taken away. Peace is generally the first-fruits of our justification.
I remember hearing of a young man who went to a minister of Christ in great distress about his spiritual state. He said to the minister, "Sir, can you tell me what I must do to find peace?" The minister replied, "Young man, you are too late." "Oh!" said the young man, "you don’t mean to say I am too late to be saved?" "Oh, no," was the reply, "but you are too late to do anything. Jesus did every thing that needed to be done twenty centuries ago."
Conclusion-There was a law in Tokyo around the year 1900 that no foreigner could take up residence there unless he had a "substitute." There were natives who hired themselves out for this purpose. If the foreigner broke any law, the substitute suffered the penalty for it, even if the penalty was death.
Jesus, in the Jordan, upon the cross, in the grave, is our substitute. He took our place. He paid the penalty on our behalf.
