The cross of Christ

… In our time together at Kiel Kiel, we've been looking at the words of the Lord Jesus which he spoke to his disciples prior to him going to the cross. And tonight with the Lord's help I'd like to speak about four men and the effect the cross of Christ had upon them. The four men are as follows. First of all, the thief on the cross. Secondly, Judas Iscariot. Thirdly, Pilate. And number four is Thomas. So we begin with in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 26. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 26, beginning to read at verse 14. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priest and said unto him, what will you give me? And I will deliver him unto you. And they coveted with him for thirty pieces of silver. From that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Verse 20. Now when evening was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and began every one of them to say, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The son of man goeth that is written of him. Woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, it is I. And he said unto him, so has said. In verse 47, while he yet spake, lo Judas, one of the twelve, came and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, and the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he. Hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. Then into the next chapter, Matthew 27, verse 1. And when the morning was come, the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had found him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Verse 22. Pilate said unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? And they say unto him, Let him be crucified. The governor said, Why? What evil hath he done? And they cried out the more saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Now verse 38. Matthew 26, 38. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and the elders saying, He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him, cast the same in his feet. Now if you could go to Luke's gospel, 23rd chapter of Luke's gospel. 23rd of Luke, verse 39. One of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answered and rebuked him, saying, Doth not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And now if you could go into John's gospel. Verse 1, John chapter 19, verse 1. Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple robe. And they said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said unto them, Behold, the man. Verse 10, Then said Pilate unto them, Speakest thou not unto me? Then said Pilate unto him, that is the Lord, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou canst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Finally in chapter 20, verse 24, John 20, verse 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve who were to deliver us, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in the hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hand, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believe me. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, and hast believed, blessed are they which have not seen, but yet have believed. These four men, dear friends, tonight are of great interest to me. I'm going to speak about the thief to start off with. Because in the story of the thief on the cross, we have a man who is transferred from death to life. And that's important at the beginning of this gospel. We know what it is to be transferred from death to life. I'm going to talk about the thief. And then we're going to have a warning as we talk about Judas and Pilate. And then we want to say a few words, if we can, about Thomas. And as you look at these three, four men, I will tell you tonight that every person in this room is alike one of these four men. You may not like to think of it, but you've got to associate yourself and link yourself with one of these four men. Is there someone here tonight who's going to admit that they are like the thief? The thief admitted that he deserved punishment, but he got the blessing. Judas was a fraud. On the outward, he looked as though he was a believer, but Judas is lost. Pilate too was the type of person who thought that he could not make a decision about Christ. He thought he could sit on the fence. I tell you tonight, if you're sitting on the fence, never decided for Christ, you're like Pilate. But then perhaps many of us here are like Thomas. We don't really have the commitment to believe. And may we, as a result of being here, be like Thomas. Admit my Lord and my God. You know where we begin? We begin with this man or these two thieves. There's a wonderful verse which I forgot to read in John chapter 19. John chapter 19 verse 18 speaks about the Lord Jesus and it says, where they crucified him and two others with him on either side one and Jesus in the middle. You know, John loved to exalt the Lord Jesus. And even when we are talking about his death upon Calvary's cross, John tells us this little verse that the Lord Jesus was in the middle. He is the one that was the center of those three crosses. And throughout the life of John, he loved to mark the Lord Jesus out as the one who is the center. In the very next chapter, the Lord Jesus comes to the midst of the disciples. And in Revelation, John says, I saw a throne and in the midst of the throne, he loved to point out the Lord Jesus as the one that is supreme. As we read in Matthew, we read that these manufacturers were thieves. And you know who was the first thief in the Bible? You may be thinking of Achan, who stole and hid in his tent. But the first thief in the Bible was Adam, because God had said, clearly thou shalt not take up the fruit of that tree. And Adam disobeyed God, and he took that which wasn't his. And Adam sinned. And every one of us here tonight have got to admit that we are all sinners before a holy and a righteous God. We've all taken that step that we shouldn't have done. We've all disobeyed. And each one of us can be classified as thieves. We've stolen what we shouldn't have had. We've gone places where we shouldn't have gone. We've had thoughts that we shouldn't have had. And each one of us can be classified as thieves. Well, these two thieves, you know, they were put upon the cross. Matthew again tells us that they both railed on the Lord Jesus. They both spoke against the Lord Jesus. At one time, both of them were railing at the Lord Jesus. I'll read a few, again, one of the two of those words that they said. Thou that destroyest the temple, build it again in three days. They knew all about the words of the Lord Jesus, and yet still they spoke against him. In the next verse, they said he saved others. Still, they spoke against him. In the next verse, they said he trusted in God. They saw his dependence upon his Father, and yet still they spoke against him. And they said in this verse here, if thou be the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross. Looking at it as we might think, what a miracle it would have been, we might have said, if at that very occasion the Lord Jesus, having been nailed to the cross, got down from the cross. I tell you tonight, it wouldn't have been a miracle. It would be a total travesty if the Lord had come down from the cross, as these men had said. Because if he had came down from the cross, we would have been eternally lost. It was a miracle, dear friends, that the Lord Jesus was prepared to die upon this cross. And these thieves, they both, it said in verse 44, they cast the same in his teeth. What was it, we've often thought, that made one of the thieves repent? You know, as he was there for those three hours on that cross, in a wonderful position to witness the Lord Jesus. And I don't believe that he had ever seen a man under so much hatred, yet displaying so much love. Think of the words that the Lord Jesus said, those first words, and he said from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The Apostle Paul says this in the first Corinthians, he said, for if the princes of this world knew, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And as this thief was upon that cross, he heard the words of the Lord Jesus saying, Father, forgive them. And he must have thought to himself, that is the last thing I would do. And the last thing that any of us would do here, if we were being crucified, would be to forgive those that crucified us. But the wonderful thing is that the Lord Jesus could utter those words, Father, forgive them. And this thief, he turned and he said to the other one, he says, do you not fear God? This is my first question I would ask you tonight. Is there not any here that really feared God? We're brought up today in a world which says there isn't such a thing as a God. We're brought up in a world which says we weren't created. We were evolved over millions of years. They get rid of Genesis 1 and they get rid of Genesis 6. They say there's no judgment. Dear friends, there is a God and each one of us has to stand before that God. We have to face the fact, sooner or later, that every person in this room and every person in this world is going to have to meet the Son of God. We either meet him as a judge or as our Savior. He says, do you not fear God? We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. The second point is, if you realise that everyone in this room, had the Lord Jesus not have come into this world and died for us, God could righteously and justly send us all to hell, because everyone is a sinner. We've all disobeyed the commandments of God. The way to sin is death. You know, when we realise that fact, that we are sinners before a holy and a righteous God. And a holy and a righteous God can undo anything to a sinner, either save him or condemn him. The wonderful thing is that tonight we're here because God has provided a way whereby men and women can be saved. And we've got a wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus. And this man, he says, we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man, oh, that wonderful, traced through the Luke's gospel, this man. In chapter 7, they could say of him, if this man was a prophet, in chapter 15, they said, this man receive us sinners. What a wonderful thing it is that this man receive us sinners. And here the thief could look and he said, this man has done nothing amiss. He could have said, this man has done nothing worthy of death. That would have been true. He could have said, this man has been a good lad. That would have been true. But he said, this man has done nothing amiss. You know what a wonderful thought it is, we often think about it in the morning meeting, that when the Lord Jesus was here for the first time ever, God could look down from heaven and see a man in whom every step that he did, every thought, every movement was according to the mind of God. When he was here on the banks of the Jordan, heaven is open. The voice from heaven says, this is my beloved son. Absolute perfection in everything that he did at the end of his life or the moment of transfiguration. Heavens are open to get him. This is my beloved son. After the cross, heavens are open and he's received up out of the sight of the disciples. What a wonderful life the Lord Jesus had. Heaven declares it. Mark chapter 1, we get the voice of the Father. In the end of Mark 1, we get the voice from hell. We get the man who was a demon possessed. He said, the demon could speak and says, thou holy one of God. And even in the passages that we've read, we get the witness of man. The witness of Pilate three times in 23. He says, I find no fault in this man. Nor did Herod find no fault in this man, because there was no fault in the Lord Jesus. He was the perfect son of God. And you know, dear friends, when we admit that we're sinners, when we acknowledge the perfection of the Lord Jesus, and when we put the two together, we turn to him. And that's what the thief did. He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. There is a day coming when the Lord Jesus, having left this world by the way of the cross, is going to come again in glory and every eye shall see him. And when he comes, those who have put their faith and trust in him will be with him. And the answer of the Lord Jesus, how precious this is. He said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. This thief, he went from the cross as a criminal to paradise as a saved person in a matter of a few seconds. You know, he wasn't baptized. He wasn't confirmed. He wasn't given any orders. He wasn't given the last rites. Simply by taking the Lord Jesus at his word, he was saved. And tonight you can be saved for all eternity by putting your faith and trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus. It's so simple, but it's so marvelous. And at what cost? Our salvation. Read through these verses in relation to the Lord Jesus going to the cross. You know, when we come to our next character, we mentioned him in our reading, Judas Iscariot. One of the twelve. He goes to the chief priest and he says, what will you give me? And I'll betray the Son of God. And they said, well, 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment, he sought opportunity to betray the Lord Jesus. You know what I find amazing about Judas? Here he was with the twelve disciples, with eleven disciples. No doubt they moved around as a band together with the Lord Jesus. He saw the miracles that the Lord Jesus did. He heard the stories that he told. Yet he wasn't real. And the disciples never realized. They never turned round and said, Judas, we always thought you were not a true Christian. We always thought you were the one that would let us down. Not a bit of it. When the Lord Jesus said, we read those verses, one of you shall betray me. The disciples asked among themselves, saying, is it I? And you know, it's very easy, particularly if you're like me, brought up in a Christian home, to pass off as a Christian. And we know we may pass off as a Christian in the eyes of men, but we'll never pass off as a Christian in the eyes of God unless we are born again, unless we know the Lord Jesus as our own personal Savior. Judas was a fraud. He was not real. And I ask a simple question tonight. Is everyone in this hall real? Are you truly a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ? Judas, you know, he was one of the two in the Bible that we read he kissed the Lord. Mary, the woman who came with the ointment, she kissed him. And here we find that Judas as well, in order to give a sign, he kisses the Lord Jesus. The betrayal, betrayed by a kiss. How sad it is, you know, that in spite of all that Judas knew, in spite of all the opportunities that he had, he rejected the Lord Jesus. You know, the worst thing about it is, is that for near on 2,000 years, Judas has been in a lost eternity. There are three people in the Bible that often make me concerned about them. They had so much opportunity, they let it slip. One is Lot's wife. Luke's gospel tells us, one little verse, one of the shorter verses in the New Testament, it says, remember Lot's wife. You know, Lot's wife had a tremendous privilege, tremendous opportunities. She was married to Lot, who we read was righteous Lot. And you know, it was one occasion when the angels came to Sodom that it was Lot's wife who entertained angels. But she perished at Sodom and Gomorrah. Balaam, that prophet who prophesied in the name of the Lord, perished with the enemies. Judas Iscariot, he kissed the Son of God and he's in a lost eternity. He was not real. He's everyone real here tonight. And then we come to Pilate. Pilate, the governor. Pilate, the one who had great authority, or so he thought. Pilate looked at the Lord Jesus and in Luke's gospel, we've already said, he could declare, I find no fault in this man. There was absolutely nothing in the Lord Jesus that Pilate could find at fault. And yet, Pilate delivered him unto the Jews to be crucified. You know, we read that verse when Pilate, he saw that he couldn't prevail and he took water and he washed his hands. And Pilate, in other words, said, look, I'm not really going to come down on either side. I'm not quite prepared to side with the Lord Jesus and release him. And I'm not quite prepared to side with the Jews. In other words, he sat on the fence. Very dangerous place, you know, to sit on the fence. Is there someone here tonight who is not prepared to say against the Lord Jesus, but not prepared to accept him? I tell you, you're like Pilate. And Pilate rejected Christ. Because the Jews realized that Pilate was wavering. And they came up with their trump card. They said, look here, Pilate, if you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. And Pilate thought, I would rather be a friend of Caesar than to let the Lord Jesus go. And what is hindering you tonight from being on the Lord's side? What is hindering you from coming out boldly for the Lord Jesus? Pilate would have thought, well, if I'm a friend of Caesar's, I'll get on in this world. If I'm a friend of Caesar's, things will go well for me down here. What a sad story it is for Pilate as he passes off the scene. Passes off the scene, and I would say without any hesitation, that Pilate at this moment is in a lost eternity. Some may argue, well, perhaps Pilate after the Lord was crucified, he had opportunities to trust the Savior. My answer to that is don't risk it. Don't think if you reject the Lord Jesus tonight, you'll ever get another opportunity. And I don't believe that Pilate ever thought an opportunity again. Because you see, if you reject Christ, there's no one else. Hebrews 1 says, God has spoken, and he's spoken by his Son. Speaking reverently, there's no other person to come. The Son has come. God has given his very best. And if you reject the Lord Jesus, there's nothing left but judgment. Pilate rejected the Lord Jesus. And we could go on, we could talk about those words in which Pilate, it speaks of Pilate. He says he took Jesus and he scourged him. You know, he had the opportunity to let the Lord Jesus go, but he allowed the devil to come, come in. And as a result, he's seen scourging the Lord Jesus. One of the things that Pilate said, he said to the Lord Jesus, John chapter 19, verse 10, speakest thou unto me? Knowest not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? I tell you now, at this very moment, the words of the Lord Jesus says exactly the same. Pilate, he had no power at all. Pilate may have thought he had great power, but he didn't have any at all. You know, Pilate could do only what the Lord of God allowed him to do to his beloved son. We looked in John's gospel and we had mentioned those hours. You know, in Luke's gospel, we read there, his hour, in John's gospel, it says his hour was not yet come. But in Luke 23, it says, this is your hour and the power of darkness. And they took Jesus. First time that wicked men laid hands on the Lord Jesus was when it was their hour. And they took him and they crucified him. But even in the crucifixion, you know, there were certain things that the Jewish nation and the leaders had to do. You think of Judas Iscariot. I was talking to a Muslim and we were talking with another Christian and we said, you know, when Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus, why did he betray him for 30 pieces of silver? Because it says so in the Old Testament. Well, why didn't they say 31 pieces of silver? And we'll prove once and for all that this person is not the Messiah. They couldn't. The word of God says 30 pieces of silver and 30 pieces of silver was what they had to give to Judas. Again, further on after the crucifixion, you remember that the soldiers came around to break the legs of the criminals. No doubt for many years they had done this. It was what they did to hasten the death of those who were crucified. And it says they came to the one malefactor and they break his leg. And they went to the other malefactor and they broke his leg. When they came to the Lord Jesus, why did they break his leg? I'll tell you why they didn't. Because the Old Testament says, not a bone of him shall be broken. And if they had broken his leg, they could have proved once and for all that this man wasn't the Messiah. But they couldn't do anything. It wasn't allowed by God. And instead of breaking his leg, a soldier pierced his side and there came forth blood and water. What a wonderful thing it is throughout the crucifixion. It is not a holocaust of evil which man did, but it's what God allowed them to do to his beloved son. You know what men did to the Lord Jesus will bring forth judgment. What men did to him when he was down here and when he went to the cross, men still stand guilty of the death of the Son of God. And if you and I are associated with this world, we are under the condemned condemnation and we're under the judgment of God for the crucifixion of his beloved son. But if any of us are going to be blessed tonight, it is not what men did to the Lord Jesus, it's what God did to him. When in those three hours of darkness, God put the judgment that was mine and that was yours upon the Son of God. And oh dear friends, if we simply put our faith and trust in him, if we trust his word upon Calvary's cross, we will be saved. We'll be saved for all eternity. It's so simple, it's so easy, and yet what a cost to the Son of God to put our trust in him. Just a couple of moments to talk about Thomas. You know, Thomas was one of the twelve, but we know that Thomas was a believer. The Lord Jesus says none of them is lost, save Judas. And in these verses that we get, we have a dispensational picture, no doubt. Thomas would speak of the remnant of Israel in unbelief, and yet the day is coming when they will own, this is our king. When they will look upon the Son of God, when they will look upon him whom they have pierced, and they will repent. Just for tonight, I would like to take these verses and apply them to each one in this room tonight. Living in the days when the Lord Jesus is absent, you know there from verse 24 to verse 26, there was six, seven, or eight days, eight we speak for a new beginning. You know, while we wait for the Lord Jesus to come, we're living in an age where it's not by sight, it's by faith. And what about Thomas? In verse 24, the first thing we see is that he wasn't at the meeting. He wasn't with the disciples. You know, I tell you, you'll miss a lot if you miss going to the meeting. The Lord Jesus is rejected. In the book of Samuel, we read there a picture of the Lord Jesus as the one that is rejected in David. You know, when the Lord, when David was rejected, at one moment he went to the cave of Adullam, and there came to him those that were discontent and discouraged, and they made him the leader. What a wonderful thing it is that in this scene where the Lord Jesus is rejected, that we can make him our leader. And it was David who said on one occasion, he said, I long for a drink from the well which is at Bethlehem. And three went through, and they got what the Lord Jesus, they got what David wanted, something to refresh David. You know, even in this scene where the Lord Jesus is rejected, there is the possibility that we can give him something that will refresh his heart. If we gather together on the morning meetings, how often when we come out of the meeting, we say to one another, well, that was a good time. I enjoyed the meeting. What did we give to the Lord? Was there that which refreshed him? You remember when the Lord Jesus was here, when he came to Bethany, it says there they made him a supper. What a wonderful thing it is in this day and age to do that which will be pleasing to the Lord. You know, it was mentioned last night, and the Lord Jesus said, this do in remembrance of me. One thing I will say, had the Lord Jesus said, do this, I would think we would have every authority to command every person to remember the Lord in his death. The Lord says, this do. To me, it speaks to the heart, and it speaks to the conscience. This do, to remember him. So as it were, give him something back. As it were, to give him the praise of our hearts for what he has done. And in this scene where he is rejected, what a great opportunity we have to give the Lord Jesus his proper place, to give him the worship and the praise of our hearts. But not only do we have this opportunity to give to the Lord, you know, we have a wonderful opportunity as well to look after the saints. And that wonderful verse in Matthew 25, when the Lord Jesus is speaking to his disciples, he says, you gave me a drink, you gave me clothes, you gave me raiment. And the disciples said, when did we give you clothes and raiment? And he said, in that you did it unto the least of these, you did it unto me. What a privilege it is in this day of his rejection to serve the saints. You know, we mentioned last night Onesiphorus in 2 Timothy, and it speaks of him, and he says, the Apostle Paul said, he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my trade. We may think, why did Paul, that great preacher, need refreshing? You know, often we think, why, what can we do? I'm only young, the brethren are so great, the brethren are so knowledgeable, how can I possibly do anything that would refresh them? Well, here we get an example, the opportunity to help the saints, to encourage them on. And thirdly and finally, what a wonderful opportunity we have in this day in which we live, to preach the gospel to the saints. It was mentioned in prayer, that verse from Luke 14, when they went out to the highways and hedges, and the scriptures is, go out to the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house will be filled. You know, dear friends, heaven is going to be filled. There isn't going to be any seats empty in heaven. Heaven is going to be filled. Proverb tells us, hell is never full. Come to the end of my gospel, I ask you the question, which person most identifies with you? Is there anybody here who says, sad to say, but I'm like Judas. But if there's a Judas here tonight, you can be saved. You can trust the Lord Jesus. He is still willing and able to save. He has done all the work. You simply need to trust him. If you're like Pilate, if you're sitting on the fence, the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah says, how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. If Baal, follow him. You know, I think we're sought tonight to tell you that the Lord, he is God. Follow him. And then the thief. Well, many of us could be identified with the thief. What a wonderful thing it is to be identified with a man who admits that he's a sinner. And you know, if we admit that we're sinners, and if we turn to the Lord Jesus and see him as the Holy One of God, the one who died upon the cross in order that we may be blessed, we will be saved. And not only saved for this life, but saved for all eternity. But I hope there's one there like Thomas. You know, very often as young people, we feel a bit like Thomas. We're not really sure. We're not really persuaded. You know, it was after eight days that Thomas was absolutely certain who the Lord Jesus was. You know, there's a day coming when the Lord Jesus will come into this world, and every eye shall see him. They also that pierced him shall wail because of him. And universally he will be declared as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But in this scene of his rejection, we have a wonderful opportunity to be here for him and to serve him. I trust that everyone in this room tonight not only knows the Lord Jesus as their Savior, but is prepared to serve him while we wait for him to come. Perhaps we could sing the hymn 202. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Lord of glory died, my riches gained, I encount but loss, and poor content on all my pride. Hymn 202. …