The Cross - Charles Lawson

amen you don't like that kind of music you're plugged into the wrong thing amen all right turn to john chapter 19 with me this morning please the gospel of the gospel of john john chapter 19 verse 17. john 19 17 and he burying his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the hebrew golgotha where they crucified him and two other with him on either side one and jesus in the midst and pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was jesus of nazareth king of the jews bless this word father may it go forth for the purpose that you intended i simply want to be the messenger in thy name i pray amen you can be seated you get into holy scripture and all the bible's holy all scriptures are given by inspiration it's god breathed but there are certain passages in the bible that are absolute that you need to understand they're here you need to read them you need to what it's talking about and this one is when you're talking about the crucifixion of christ and the cross then don't miss that if you miss that you've missed the whole bible you can read the bible in historical narrative certainly you can you can read the bible in the sense of tracing the lineage of a certain people and all that that's all fine but my dear friend this bible is written to reveal christ search the scriptures are in them you think you have eternal life and they are they that testify of me if you can read the bible and miss christ you've missed it all it's not here folks has just another book the bible is god's word yes therefore he's speaking to us through this holy book and i'll talk to you this morning about the subject of the cross this has been on my heart now for about three or four days preach the cross of christ the apostle paul said to the church at corinth to know nothing among you but christ and him crucified to the to the saul of tarsus when he left out of the damascus gate as he would had head north to damascus with letters from the high priest so that he might find any of that way that he might drag them back to jerusalem where they could be stoned to death because he was a zealot the bible says plainly that when he left out god met him on the way he had to walk by golgotha to get to where he was going because i firmly believe that outside the northern gate of jerusalem is what's called gordon's calvary and that gordon's calvary has a two it's got a tomb and it's got a huge cistern underneath the ground there's a garden there and it meets all the requirements of where the lord jesus was crucified you can go there to this day and you'll find an arab bus station and then there's a hill behind it like this and that hill on top of that hill two thousand years ago were three crosses and the lord jesus was on one of them three crosses three men dying that day one of them was the lord jesus christ who gave himself a ransom for many so the cross is where my dear friend this morning that the sinner is reconciled to god romans 5 verse 10 4 says for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to god by the death of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life the lord jesus christ is one of these people that you just simply cannot stick in a corner somewhere and say well i don't i don't have an opinion about him yes you do he's the kind of person that you either are for you're against the bible teaches plainly that if you don't know him you reject him then you're an enemy of god think about being an enemy but at the cross god reconciled you to himself no longer enemies this is why when they sing the songs like they did in here this morning something inside your soul begins to move because you've got life in there you're born of the spirit of god it is at the cross where the sinner is the sinner is justified romans chapter 5 and verse 9 says much more them being justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him justification is a legal term that says that you may be guilty and are guilty of all the crimes if you've sinned one you've sinned them all but as far as god's concern your slave has been wiped clean you've been justified the sinner's redeemed at the cross in ephesians chapter number 1 and verse 7 the bible said in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace think of redemption as god reaching out and taking you and pulling you out of the hell you were in think about redemption as the work of the holy spirit of god moving on the face of this earth among men and finding you somewhere and where he finds you he calls you back to himself by his outstretched arm and a type of it is egypt when the lord reached in and he pulled the children of israel out and he took them out from all the gods of egypt he judged every last one of them and none of them could stop him from pulling his people out and my dear friend nothing can stop god from redeeming your soul today if you're willing to let him take hold of your heart amen he'll redeem you so the bible says at the cross the atonement was made romans chapter 5 and verse 11 and not only so but we also joy in god through our lord jesus christ by whom we have now received the atonement what does the atonement mean to atone for something means that you are making amends for what you've done the atonement is has that to do it it means that what christ did for you that he made amends for all of your sins and brought you to god and the two of you you and god can have peace together so the atonement is where he paid for you there is the cross from man's perspective in matthew chapter number 27 and verse number 16 and they had a notable prisoner who called who was called barabbas therefore when they were gathered together pilate said unto them whom will ye that i release unto you bar abbas or jesus which is called christ in plain words the lord jesus christ was to some of them a common criminal and so therefore he brought barabbas out we're talking about a secular authority he thought for certain that this sedition this man guilty of sedition this murderous devil that surely the people would not take bar abbas over christ but they did they did they took barabbas his name is instructive bar means son of abbas means he's he's bar the son of of abba the son of his father and so therefore bar abbas means that barabbas is the son of his father i wonder if his father's in john 8 44 where it says you are of your father the devil could it be that bar abbas had never known anything in his life but pure hell since he'd been on this earth but i'll tell you this right now it was at the cross at calvary that christ died for barabbas he died for me he died for you he bible said he tasted death for every man even bar rabbits that was made free that day that the cross from man's perspective he was a blasphemer in john chapter 10 and verse 36 it said say you of him whom the father hath sanctified and sent into the world thou blasphemest because i said i am the son of god he's a blasphemer the high priest said and he ripped his garments who is this man that dares call himself the son of god on the third day when he arose from the dead i'd like for the high priest to be standing there had an empty tomb a man with those men in white when he came out of that place amen and when he ascended back to the father 40 days later it would have been nice if the high priest had watched him as he went up into heaven he is the son of god no doubt about it and when he comes from heaven the bible said the heavens will roll back like a scroll and he will sit up on that white horse and he'll come as king of kings and lord of lords the they'll come when everything of adam's race will bow their knee to him and confess that he is christ to the glory of god the father to some he's a stumbling stone in luke chapter 23 verse 14 it says said unto them ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverted the people and behold i have examined him before you and have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him who said that pontius pilate said that who said that a roman governor said that who said that a secular warrior said that and he said i've examined him and i don't find any fault in him i find him and i find no fault in him my dear friend i've examined him too i've been examining him for a long time and i haven't found any fault in him he never failed me he loves me he puts up with me and he deals with my with my times of rebellion but he's always there hallelujah to god so the pilate he was a stumbling stone but to some he was their hope he was their hope the bible says in luke chapter 23 and verse number 42 and he said unto jesus this is one of the thieves on the cross lord remember me when thou cometh into thy kingdom oh there's two simple words remember me no long see he didn't have systematic theology he didn't know anything about the bride of christ he didn't know anything about a bride all the other second coming and eschatology and all they know anything about that he just knew that the man hanging next to him was greater than him and he started to put his trust in him and said lord remember me let me tell you something folks salvation is not an intellectual thing salvation has nothing to do whether you are a phd or have an iq of 70. salvation is from the heart from the heart believeth unto righteousness they're men laying right now and women on the streets with the needles in their arm there are those locked up in the prisons in maximum security there are those running from the law at this moment there are those walking the streets trying to find their next victim everywhere you look everywhere man is you're going to find these problems and there's just one that can save you and all you've got to say to him lord remember me remember me remember me simple simple folks simple remember me so from the cross from satan's perspective think about it in genesis 3 14 the lord god said to the serpent because thou hast done this they are cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life there's something going on in the garden of eden that's above man there's something going on in the garden of eden that's stronger than our understanding there's a hatred that satan has for christ that is hun that you can't there's no way that you can comprehend what's going on in the book of luke chapter number four and verse nine the bible said he brought him to jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him if thou be the son of god cast thyself down from hence taking him my dear friend and putting him to the fifth degree putting him through it and i'll tell you what happened the lord jesus christ quoted the bible back to satan and have you ever noticed how that when you quote the scriptures to satan even though he's quoted the scriptures to you if you quote the scriptures to satan and you believe what you're quoting he's gone he's gone greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world amen and then there's the cross from god's perspective and bob he's the surrendered one in psalm chapter number four in verse seven then said i lo i come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will o god the writer of hebrews quotes that scripture then he said then said i lo i come in the volume of the book it is written of me what book do you think he's quoting here what book matters above every book what's the most important book on the face of this earth what's the book that makes a difference whether you're going to heaven or hell what's the book that can make you free in this world set you free every sense of the word there's only one book it is god's eternal word and he said to do thy will o god he's the surrendered one gethsemane was the last place of surrender for christ not my will but thine be done and therefore he went to the cross the bible said almighty god no doubt looked down upon his son on that cross no doubt no doubt in my mind whatsoever for that was the most important place on this earth his son came to the very point that the father wanted him to come to into the depths of he what he wanted him to go into to feel and understand all he wanted him to feel and understand he had to experientially go to literally the hell for us and so the bible says in isaiah chapter number 53 he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities god will see the travail of his soul all we see is the body suffering we see the nail prince we see him when he's nailed on the cross we see the crown of thorns on his head we see his feet pierced but my dear friend the suffering of the soul was much greater than the suffering of the body here is the pure son of god pure never sin no sin about him and yet on the cross at calvary the bible said god made him to be sin for us who knew no sin he could see it coming and when he prayed the bible says in the book of hebrews chapter number five he feared and the bible said he prayed and god heard him and delivered him from death and when he delivered him from death he wasn't delivering him from the cross he was delivering him from the consequences and the power and the condemnation of death he delivered him from it just like jonah when he was behind those bars and the seaweed running through his hair the bible said on the third day that whale opened its mouth and out came jonah can imagine what he looked back like when he hit the ground he came out and he went to nineveh and he my friend had been three days in the whale of that belly no doubt the digestive juices running all over him and and seaweed hanging off of his face and he walked into that place looking like some kind of a zombie and here's what jonah had to say to nineveh repent i'm sure they repented when they saw that you don't want to face the living god amen from god's perspective he was a sacrifice so what was the cross what was the cross when the apostle paul said i came preaching nothing among you but christ and him crucified what did he mean by that he was preaching the cross but what did the cross represent what is the cross at calgary when god saved the apostle paul he made him the theologian of the cross as i've told you a thousand times it was paul who laid down what the cross meant it was paul who laid down our relationship with god through the cross it was paul who laid all of that down and spelled it out to people so we could understand it and thank god thank god thank god that he did so but my friend what was the cross in the old testament there was a tabernacle that tabernacle was a place where god met men the apostle says that in he he came and he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory is the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth that word dwelt literally means tabernacled when god almighty came into a body of flesh he tabernacled he put on the robe of flesh he put it on and he lived in our midst for 33 and a half years he's always wanted to live with us but there's no way he can live with you till he prepares you to live with him so what was the cross it was the tabernacle it was the place where god dwelt among men what was the cross it was the brazen altar that you find outside the tabernacle what is the brazen altar the brazen altar is a pitch of cry a picture of christ on the cross it is where the sacrifice was offered if there's no sacrifice there's no entering into the tabernacle there must be first a blood covenant a blood atonement there must be a sacrifice there at the brazen altar brass in the bible is a representation of judgment so therefore the judgment was made outside at the brazen altar there's something else out there and it's called the labor what was the labor for it was washing in typology the labor washed but in typology it was literally talking about the blood of the lord jesus christ who hath washed us from our sins in his own blood water can never wash away sin but it's been washed away so once the man has offered the sacrifice cross at calvary once he has been cleansed cross at calvary then he can enter into the holy place when he walks into the holy place there's a candlestick seven golden candlesticks across from it is a table of showbread next to it is it is an ultra of gold it's a golden altar of incense when you walk in there you see the seven golden candlesticks which is the light of god shining over on the bread that is the work of the holy ghost of god he shines to the gives you the light of the bread the bread lord my friend dear friend is the lord jesus christ dying on the cross that's the bread of god and the holy ghost is my friend the one that points you to that bread if you have not been led by the lord by the holy spirit to the lord jesus christ you've met a spirit but it's not the holy ghost there's just one name under heaven whereby we must be saved and that's the name of the lord jesus christ then there's the table of showbread that is to sustain your life and this sustenance of your life is him i live by christ for to me to live is christ and to die is gain christian if you've ever truly been born again and you've turned your back on god or you've just drifted away and you've gotten cold i'm going to tell you right now you're miserable you're one of the most miserable people in the world and i'm going to tell you why because you know what the waters of bethlehem are like you know what that well my friend of jacob is like you know what the river of jordan is like and you know that water that bubbles up and springs from gihon goes into the pool of siloam you know what it is to take a good cool soothing drink of water and you haven't had one in a long time have you praise be to god you still can then there's the golden altar you're approaching god now you're coming into his presence that golden altar is not for sacrifice that was made at the brazen halter outside the gold and alder altar is that gold now golden altar altar is there to offer up prayer incense a sweet smelling savor in the nostrils of god i know of no greater prayer that you i or anyone else could offer up than the blood of the lord jesus christ in the cross at calvary that's where you're saved folks you're not saved you're not saved in his life you're not saved at his birth you're not saved with the people around him you're saved by him the one who died it is that death that is the blood of covenant and the blood atonement that's when the new testament started at the death of the lord jesus on the cross so you go behind that altar of incense and you go through a veil you had to the priest had to go around it or crawl under it and i suppose he went around that veil to get into the holy of holies today thanks be into god you don't go around it you don't go under it that veil has been ripped from the top to the bottom and now you can go directly into the presence of almighty god isn't that a good thing let me tell you something if you mess around people long enough they'll they'll they'll they'll take everything you got away from you spiritually you'll get around one well i don't believe this you're going to another way god forsook me or another one i don't believe that this this now you start listening all that garbage and it'll confuse you and suck the very life out of your soul get your bible open start reading it get on your knees start talking to god and you'll get your joy back and the joy of the lord your strength so the veil was split in top from top to bottom and in his in they went the bible says we have a new and living way that is to say his flesh what he did for us and so the cross is the door that leads us into the presence of god the cross is the door that leads you into the presence of god there is no other way but by the cross of christ so when you get in there you've got a table of showbread you've got seven golden candlesticks altar of incense you've got a you've got a curtain you go behind that then you have a mercy seat a mercy seat that's sprinkled with blood you have a cherubim on this side a cherubim on that side and a high priest standing on the dirt and there god says i will meet with you between the cherubim have you ever been between the cherubim have you ever in your soul in your spirit said lord the bible said god is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth the bible said he that cometh to god must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him that diligently with all your heart if you'll come to him he'll receive you and you can have fellowship with the lord amen amen there he stood the priest was sacrificing blood blood of the bulls and goats that had been taken outside sacrificed blood blood blood but my dear friend the only blood that'll ever count is the blood of the son of god that was offered by himself he's the high priest he offered his own blood and he offered it on the mercy seat in heaven and because of that we have access to the father the cross is the door to heaven folks the cross is the it's where god meets man and then finally the cross is the anchor of your soul the bible said in hebrews chapter number 6 and verse 19 which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which entereth into that within the veil the anchor of your soul once you have really truly been born of the spirit of god i don't care what religion you try i don't care what crowd you run with if you have the seal of god you born of the spirit i want to tell you something right now you'll never be satisfied till you come back to the cross till you come back to christ and are you out here trying it today are you running around with a crowd are you out here with the intellectual crowd says the bible's just an old book of wives tales are you out here with a crowd that says it doesn't matter what your religion is we're all going to the same place are you with that crowd are you with the crowd that are simply hate god i mean they hate god they let you know they hate him have you seen these women especially women in the streets in the last two or three days have you seen them out there by the tens of thousands so what are they doing preacher they're marching to kill babies they want to kill babies they want to kill babies one of them had a sign and it said sex is beautiful sex is beautiful think about it for a moment now sex is beautiful they're opening up now they're beginning to tell you what's been going on for 40 years we want to be able to go out and do what we please we want to live an ungodly life and doing anybody telling us otherwise and so in roe versus wade 1974 somewhere in there they opened the doors for them and now they've been killing 60 plus million children he'll even save them care who you are he'll save you there's a man in prison right now killed his wife and his two little girls took their bodies and put them in this big oil container of some kind you know what i'm talking about he's locked i think he's locked up for life god will save him god will save him he died for him too he paid what needed to be paid if you're in this house today and you've been running wild and you know you've been running a while so long that you can't wait to get out of here believe me i've seen that many times he'll save you too he'll save you too well preachers don't have time you don't have to come down here this is a man-made thing for somebody to tell you that this is the altar there's no other altar is religion we have an altar that they know not of that serve the temple our altar is anywhere as elizabeth barrett browning said we put our foot amen it becomes holy ground holy grail holy ground there we can meet with god we've got an altar he's an anchor of the soul bless his name bless his holy righteous name and you two ladies sang this morning god bless both of you amen jesse god bless you because you blessed me father in thy name i prayed bless your holy word lord there may be somebody in the house this morning that all they know to say is lord remember me that's all they have to say is lord remember me remember me what a thing what a wasted life but it didn't end until he said lord remember me that thief on the cross went to a place that heads of bible colleges high and mighty in their church in denomination will never see in thy holy name i pray my heads are bowed this morning i definitely have a distinct feeling to do this is anybody here raise your hand and say preach on you pray for me because you know god spoke to me in this message but i'm not so sure i know the lord i believe in god and i believe in jesus but i don't know if i know him god bless you right there there's a hand anybody else raise your hand anybody else raise your hand god bless you right here there's another hand that's what this is about folks this is this is about it's about you god bless you there's another hand right there that's three hands that have gone up in this house this morning they believe in god i'm sure i'm sure they don't believe in god they believe christ they believe in christ but they don't know for sure or truly if they're born of the spirit of god because they haven't really called on him and accepted him into your soul say how do you do that preacher the way you do it just be honest with god and cry out to him and he won't turn you away that's why no formula is laid down in that bible about being saved it tells you what the gospel is but it all points to christ anybody else say pray for me preacher pray for me god bless you over here anybody else father i thank you for every hand that went up in this house lord i'm nothing but the messenger you know that i take no credit for anything i can't do anything what i can do is give out your word and i've done that now father and i have peace in my soul i'm at rest now i'm at rest but heavenly father now it's your work it's the work of the holy ghost lord i pray for these people to raise their hand god i pray that the holy ghost will get take hold of them they'll come they'll come they'll come to you today they'll come to you not to a man they're not coming to me but they'll come to you and they'll cry out to thee in jesus name and for jesus sake i ask you bless the name of the blessed son of the living god bless his holy righteous name amen let's stand up brother

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Id: S-eWDjSYLeA

Length: 29min 8sec (1748 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021