In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being born again and having a genuine experience of salvation. He quotes from the Bible, stating that without holiness and obedience to Jesus, no one will see the Lord. The sermon then shifts to the closing hours of Jesus' life, where he gathers with his disciples for the last supper. The preacher describes the physical sufferings of Jesus, highlighting how his body was marred and his clothes were taken from him. The sermon concludes by mentioning the betrayal of Jesus by one of his disciples and the existence of Satan and demon spirits.

And that's just what I'm going to be speaking on this morning, the death of Jesus. We're going to look into some of the physical agony and the sufferings of Christ. Most people don't realize how much suffering Jesus went through. They don't realize just exactly what He endured for every one of us. You see, as you look in the New Testament, we have the Gospel accounts of Jesus, how He went to the cross, He went to Golgotha, He was scourged. But you cannot find a complete picture of the sufferings of Jesus in the New Testament alone. You must go to the New Testament and the Old Testament and compare Scriptures back and forth. And we have this photo album in the Word of God. We see some pictures in the New Testament, but there are a lot of pictures in the Old Testament also of what Jesus went through for you and me. Will you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 53? Isaiah chapter 53. Now, before I read Isaiah chapter 53, verses 4 and 5, I'm going to read Isaiah chapter 50, verse 6, and Isaiah 52, verse 14. We're going to see some Scriptures of how Jesus suffered, how He went through such intense agony when He came to die for you and me. The Bible says that Jesus Christ laid aside His reputation. He was the Son of God. The book of Revelation says that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit planned that Jesus would one day take the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of men and become a sin offering for humanity because God knew that man was going to fall in the garden and that someone without sin would have to die for humanity. And so Jesus Christ, who made all things, because the Bible says without Him not anything was made, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. So Jesus made everything. And we find that according to Philippians chapter 2, 5 through 8, that Jesus, that we see Jehovah God incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth. Philippians chapter 2, Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and He took upon Himself the form of a servant. And He was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And we see this picture in Isaiah chapter 6 of these angels worshiping the triune God. And one day Jesus said, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4, When that time had come, in God's time clock, you could almost see Jesus standing before all the angels of heaven. He takes away His robes of glory. He puts them down upon a throne in the heavenlies. And Jesus descends into this world through the power of the Spirit, down from the ivory palaces, down from the seraphic praise, down from the praise of the cherubim, and down into this world. And by the power of God's Spirit, He entered into the womb of the Virgin Mary. And took upon Himself humanity. And became a man for every one of us. That He might go to the cross. He was born for that one purpose. That He might be a sin offering. That He might give of His life a ransom for many, for you and me, every one of us. And so we see in Isaiah chapter 15 verse 6, Isaiah the prophet speaks. Now we have what is called prophetical utterance. Prophetical utterance is something that is amazing. That is when these prophets, these preachers, are preaching hundreds of years before the actual death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the Spirit of Christ is speaking through them. Here we have prophetical utterance. Jesus is speaking before He ever became a man. And in verse 6, Jesus says through the prophet, I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. He says, I gave my back to those that smote me. He says, I gave my cheeks. They ripped my beard from my face. They plucked the hair out of my face. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Then in Isaiah 52 verse 14, Isaiah is speaking about Jesus. He was marred. And how He was afflicted. And Isaiah talks about His countenance, about His face, and about His bodily form. And there in Isaiah chapter 52 verse 14, it says, As many were astonished at Thee. They were amazed. They were spellbound. As many were astonished at Thee. His visage, His face, was so marred more than any man. They could not even tell that He was a man. They could even, by looking at His face, they could not tell that He was a human being because they so brutally misused Him in His form, that is, body, more than the sons of men. They said He was a mess. They said that His appearance was horrible. And then we have in Isaiah 53 verses 4 and 5. Isaiah 53, 4 and 5. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Now look in verse 7. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. Jesus was slaughtered. He is brought just like a lamb to the slaughterhouse. As a sheep before a shearer's dump, so He opened not His mouth. Five times we find the word our is used in verses 4 and 5. Jesus bore our sorrows. He bore our griefs. He bore our iniquities, our transgressions. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And this is what is called the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. That means that Jesus died for you and me. That Jesus Christ, He gave of Himself. We deserved hell. We deserved that chastisement. We deserved those scourgings. We deserved that brutality. We deserved all of this evil speaking. But Jesus died for me. And when we look in the Word of God, we see that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ died for all of the sins of humanity. All of the sins that were ever committed. But we know that a man must come to Him and obtain eternal salvation by calling upon the name of the Lord. So all of the sins and all of the iniquities of humanity from the time of Adam, I believe, onward, were born upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's hard for us to understand. But we see that He died for the world. He was our substitute. That means taking the place of another. Some of you have had substitute teachers. They will come in and they will substitute for your real teacher, for your teacher that's always there. Jesus was our substitute. He took our place. He took our hell. He took our scourging. As we're going to look at this physical sufferings of Jesus Christ. Now I go to John 3.16. It says, For God so loved the world. Now take that word, so. There was not a word in all of the human vocabulary that could more express the immeasurable love of God than the word, so. It has no boundaries. God said, for He so loved the world that He gave heaven's best. He gave Jesus His only begotten Son. And as we look in the Word of God, we see that Jesus and the Father, the Holy Spirit, they have been communing with one another through eternity. From everlasting to everlasting according to Proverbs chapter 8. Jesus has been with the Father and the Spirit of God from everlasting to everlasting. They have had this divine communion. And at this one time, the Father parted with the Son. Especially we know when His sins were laid upon His body when He went to the cross. He said, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Now let's look at the closing hours of the life of Jesus. You see a small band of men walking down the streets of Jerusalem. Jesus commanded them. He told them to go. And that they were going to have a supper together. And you could almost see them walking down the street. They don't know exactly what's taking place. Even their minds were darkened and alienated from the true workings of God. And so there they are. They're walking down that road. And they go to a home. A house. Nothing unusual about this home. And they walk up the stairs. And there Jesus is waiting for them. Because He desired to have this supper with them. And it was His last supper that He was going to have with them. Now for three years, Jesus had preached the Gospel. For three and a half years approximately. He rose the dead. He healed the lepers. He was moving forth in divine power. He was the God-Man. And God in the flesh. He was humanly divine and divinely human. He was God tabernacling in a human body. Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And He did all these miracles. He wrote all these great things. And men were amazed and spellbound by His words and by the miracles. Because the Father was confirming His ministry with great signs and wonders from Heaven. And so they go to this common looking house. And they're in this upper room. And you can see sorrow depicted upon the face of Jesus as He looks around. And this is where the physical sufferings begin to intensify. You can see them intensifying in the Gospels. And He looks around upon those disciples. And He says, One of you shall betray Me this night. And they all begin to question Jesus. Will it be Me? Peter said. John said. Side 2 Human spirits and Satan. There is only one devil, Satan. There are many demon spirits. There are myriads of unclean spirits. But there is only one Satan. I see from the Word of God that Satan in all of his fullness entered into Judas Iscariot. He's a picture of the Antichrist that shall come forth in the last days. That Satan entered the body of Judas. Now there's something interesting. This night you must realize that God gave Satan and all of His angels permission to afflict His only begotten Son. You remember when Jesus spoke to Pilate. Pilate said, Don't you know that I have the power to release you? And Jesus said, You have no power, but this power is given to you of My Father which is in Heaven. God gave Satan and all of His angels power to afflict Jesus. And Satan was God's puppet to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament. To afflict His only begotten Son. And to move through hardened sinners. But Judas, you can almost hear him walking down those steps that night because Jesus said, Go do what you've got to do, Judas. Because Satan entered into him and Satan departed from that fellowship of believers there. And Judas walked down those steps and you can almost see the darkness. I want to tell you something. Judas walked down the pathway to the very gate of hell that night. For three years he'd walked with Jesus. For three years he'd seen the miracles. For three years he'd heard those words proceed from his mouth and speak like no other man spake before. He was probably there at the city of Nain when this widow was weeping over her child. He was there in that coffin as the bearers were there to take him and bear him away. And Jesus said, Stop this procession. And as the Son of God walked over there and spoke some words, that young man rose from the dead. And they all feared. I know, I believe in Scripture that Judas was there when there were men with leprosy, when their arms were rotted off by leprosy. Their face, their nose, their hands. And Jesus would lay hands on them and speak the words. And their arms would be restored whole. I want to tell you something. They must have marveled. That's why His fame spread abroad. That's why all men sought Him. That's why when Jesus continued to do these great miracles, that He had to go into mountains and into the sea because myriads of people came to see His miracles and His wonders. But Judas saw all those things. Judas listened to Him. Judas talked with Him. Judas asked Him questions. He ate with Jesus again and again. He was in the Garden of Gethsemane often with Jesus. Judas saw all of these things. And Judas preached the Gospel. And Judas even had power because Jesus sent the disciples out by two. And they had power to heal the sick. And they even had power to raise the dead. But I want to tell you something. Judas was the son of perdition. He did not know Jesus. And that just goes to show you today how people can deceive one another, how the terrorists can be among the weak. As we talked last week about professing Christians in hell. You can be so close to Jesus that you can use the Christian clichés. You can talk the talk. You can know the Scriptures. You can go to church. You can warm the pews. But I want to tell you something. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And Judas did not have the holiness of God. Judas was there holding the bag. He liked the money. And he had a mental reception of Jesus in his mind. He believed that Jesus was Messiah. But he was not born again. And to us, that staggers our mind to think that a man like Judas could walk with Him for so long and yet never be born again. But the thing that really boggles my mind is to see that all the disciples, they did not have one inclination that He was not saved. We don't find any Scriptures in the Bible that the disciples even thought or suspected Judas of being an unbeliever. Matthew, her church history teaches us that Matthew and Judas went together a number of times to preach the Gospel. You could almost see Matthew as he's heralding the Gospel. The Messiah is here. Jesus has come. All ye that hear our words, repent and believe the Gospel. He is here among us. The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, as John the Baptist said. Here He is. He's among us. And then you could almost hear Judas as he stands in the streets. The Messiah is here. The Christ of God. As even John says, One has come who will take away the sin of the world. He is among us. We are His followers. We're seeing His signs and His wonders. And you even know that God is born witness with His ministry with mighty signs and wonders. And here, O Israel, repent and believe. And I could almost hear Matthew saying that Judas, he's quite a preacher. I want to tell you something. Today, this world is infested with people with deceiving spirits. Teachers, false teachers, cultists that know not Jesus Christ. And Judas actually kissed Jesus, but he went to hell. And I wonder who's today? Who is among us today? Were you so close to Christ, yet you not have the reality of God in your life? Oh, make Him reality in your life today. And then he went out, and he went to the Sanhedrin. And he said, I'll make a bargain with you. For 30 pieces of silver, he said, I'll show you where Jesus is. Now listen. They could not take Him during the day because many believed that He was the Christ. And many believed that He was a great prophet. And so these religious leaders who envied Jesus and hated Jesus, they were afraid to take Him during the day lest they should be stoned because the people truly were moved by the ministry of the God-man. And so they had to have a secret plan. Somehow they had to get in and take Him. And you know something? They took Him through Judas. Here's an illustration. You know, the unbelievers, the skeptics, the infidels, and the atheists, and the cultists, they cannot hurt the body of Christ, can they? But when you've got someone with a little leaven and corruption in the body, that's when God's church can be hurt. When you've got someone in the inner circle that begins to gossip and slander and malign the work of Jesus Christ. And these men went to Judas, or Judas went to them. And Judas said, I'll show you where He's at. The Bible says that the disciples of Jesus and Christ often went to the Garden of Gethsemane. It's where they resorted so many times to get alone from the press. So many people wanted to talk with Him and see Jesus and hear Him. And we read from the Word of God that the Garden of Gethsemane was a resting place for the disciples. And Judas said, I know where He's going to be tonight. He said, give me a band of men. I'll take you there. And Jesus and His eleven disciples, they leave the upper room. They go out of the gate. And they go to Gethsemane. And you remember the story. Peter, James, and John, about a stone's cast off from the rest of the disciples. They fell into temptation. But they were there. And they could not pray with Jesus. But we see another glimpse of the intensifying of sorrow and affliction and torment and agony and oppression. Because we see Jesus praying the same prayer three times. And Jesus was under such soul travail. He was under such agony and such affliction. We do not know, maybe all the demons of hell were all about Him, blasting Him. The tide of hell was beating against His breast that night. As Jesus was praying with such intensity that the blood broke out into the sweat. And we find in Hebrews that He cried and He wept before the Father and that He cried before the Father and He was heard that night. But Jesus was in such physical anguish that great sweat came from His body. You know, sometimes we don't think about that. We just say, well, He was praying a little prayer. I want to tell you something. He was groaning in what's called travailing prayer, an agonizing prayer. And the doctors will tell you that He had to be under intense agony, mental agony, soul agony, to have this take place. And then a band of soldiers came through the olive trees with their lanterns and staves and torches. And Judas, you remember the story, betrayed Jesus with a kiss. You know, there's something amazing that happened then. The Bible says that when Judas came, we're going to put all the gospel accounts together, that when these people came, Jesus spoke to that band of soldiers and all those men from Jerusalem. And He said, Whom seek ye? He said, Who are you looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said, I am He. And do you remember the Word of God says that when Jesus said, I am He, that they all fell backwards to the ground? There was such an omnipotent blast from the testimony of Jesus. I am He. I really believe He was saying, I am that I am. I am the eternal one. I am Christ. I am the sent one. I really believe that that was taking place when He says, I am He. And there's such a manifestation of God's power attending those words that they all fell backwards. Now, humanly speaking, I would think I'd want to get out of there by then if such a manifestation of power broke all those soldiers down. But they got up. And they had power from Satan. And so they took Jesus. They took Him to the Sanhedrin. The disciples fled before Annas and Caiaphas. And they began to question Him. Are you the Christ? They said. One man would come up to Him and say, we saw Him heal on the Sabbath day. We saw His disciples. They were plucking corn in the fields. We saw other ones. They would come up and... But the Bible says that none of their testimonies would agree. They were the sons of Belial. They all lied. One man said he would destroy the temple. And that in three days he was raised again. They didn't know that he was speaking of his own body. And they went on and they got on and on. And finally they got tired of all that questioning. And the high priest stood up and he said, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. And Jesus said, the next time that you see me, you are going to see me at the right hand of power coming in the clouds of glory. And when Jesus said that, the high priest ran his clothes and he said, we don't need any more witnesses. We don't need to hear anything more. He has blasphemed God. And I want to tell you something. They began to do such wicked works against Jesus that night. Those so-called religious men. Jesus was taken to a cross because they claimed that he blasphemed God. That was his charge. That he said that he was indeed the Son of the Blessed. That he was indeed the Son of God. And that night they began to deride him. And they began to scoff at him. They began to spit upon him. And they took a rag, the Bible says, and they put it around his eyes. And they twirled Jesus around in circles. And then they said that some smote him on the face with their hands and with their palms. And then they cried out, Come on, Jesus! If you're a prophet, who smote thee? Who hit thee? And again and again and again the Bible says that they smote him on the face. They smote him on the face. They smote him on the face. And they took reeds and they took sticks and they smote him. And then they twirled around again and they spit in his face. The Bible says that he gave his face to the spiders, his back to the spiders, his cheeks to them that plucked off his hair. He hid not his face from shame and spitting. And his face begins to bruise. And then I don't know exactly when it happened, but one of those men, those men came up to him and they began to rip out his beard from his face. I gave my cheeks, he says, to those that plucked off the hairs. And I want to know, I want to tell you something. I had a mustache for a long time. And I remember when Jonathan and Matthew used to get a hold of that mustache. I want to tell you something. I want to get that little hand off my mustache as fast as possible. But on a serious thought, can you imagine someone literally ripping the beard out of your face by the roots? Jesus said, His face. He gave His face to them that plucked off their hair. And then about a daylight, they took Jesus to Pilate. After these hours of brutality and these hours of blasphemy, this hour of misuse, this spitting, and all of these evil things that were taking place. And we don't know what they did to Him, how long they assailed Him, how long they maligned Him, how long they misused Him, how long they bruised Him. We do not know. And they took Him to Pilate and He could find no fault in them. And then you remember, Pilate sent Him to Herod because He was of his jurisdiction. He was a Galilean. And then He was released to the soldiers. Now you know in your mind's eye, just imagine with me, think with me, of how these soldiers, how wicked so many of them are. If some of you have been in the service, you know the cursing, the swearing, the drug abuse, the alcohol abuse, and the wicked things that take place. Jesus was delivered to the soldiers, into their hands. And they did with Him what they willed, the bride and the holy host. They battered Him, they put a robe upon Him, they took a wreath in their hands, they battered His face, they smote Him, they spit upon Him. And listen, as we look at the Word of God, we know that we don't have any records of what they did of Jesus when the soldiers took Him. Just a few records. But I believe that God wouldn't write some of the things that took place in His life that night. How much they did to Jesus. Only God, the Father, knows. And those wicked soldiers, to Jesus that night. And then they took the robe, you remember that? And they took that to read. And they put a crown of thorns upon His head. And they said, Hail, hail King of the Jews! And they were riding along, and then finally He was brought before Pilate again the second time. And you know, this is how men will despise Jesus. That's why even revival meetings like this, we get revived and excited by God. But I want to tell you something, revivals of them will continue, beloved in Christ. You continue the things of Jesus. It's one thing to praise God in the church and then deny Him before men. Because we find Jesus was riding in Jerusalem upon a colt. Men praised Him. They put their cloaks down on the ground. They took palm leaves and they said, Hosanna in the highest! Our King is coming! Jesus is coming! And three or four days later, they crucified Him. Three or four days later, they said, We won't have this man rule over us! We don't want Him! We don't want Him! When Pilate brought Barabbas, he thought maybe he would escape from releasing Jesus to punishment. And yet these men were so moved by the religious rulers. They were so moved by Satan. That they cried out in a chant, Mary and the disciples, there they listened to these words. They're probably crying out, No! No! Take Barabbas! And yet they chanted. And these religious rulers, they were moving through the crowds. And they were lifting up their voice, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Even the people maybe that Jesus healed. Maybe even one that Jesus rose from the dead. And they were crying because Satan's power was manifested that day. And the minds of the men were blinded. And so then Pilate had him scourged. Now Paul talks about 40 stripes save one. What Jesus went through, it was an indefinite amount of stripes. And they had a club about this long. And from that club, long leather strands that proceeded out of the end of that club. And in those long leather strands were pieces of stone, and pieces of metal, sharpened. And they were intended to wrap around the body of the victim, and literally flay the body. And so the strong Roman soldier would take them, and they would have like a little T-square maybe in the ground, and take some leather strands, and make that individual grab hold of that T-square, and then they would maybe tie those strands around their hands. And then the strong Roman soldier would stand back with this club, and then that club would come down upon the back. And first of all, there would be a swelling, and then there would be a bruise, and then there would be a laceration from just the heavy club itself. But when that Roman soldier brought that thing down, all of those leather strands just wrapped around the body. And he would do it in a jerking motion, that at the moment those strands reached their destiny, he would jerk it back just as fast as he could with all of his strength, and all of his power. And they say, church history teaches us, that many times they never could go to the cross because their insides literally fell to the earth. It would disembowel a man. And I want to tell you something. Jesus, His back, His body, was nothing but hamburg. Because the Bible says, He was slaughtered. As a lamb led to the slaughter. Jesus was slaughtered for you and for me. Every drop of blood that was shed was shed for you and for me. And again and again and again they did it. And then they took a rude two hundred pound piece of wood after that scourging. And when His back was lacerated in open meat, they took a two hundred pound piece of wood and smashed it upon His back. You think of two hundred pounds. At one time, I don't know, I was lifting weights. Two hundred pounds of wood. And they put it upon the back of Jesus. And in my mind's eye, I've seen this so many times. Because this message has changed my own life. Again and again and again. You can almost see Jesus after that night of being beaten and battered and bruised and misused and fatigued and tired. And you can almost see Him as they put that cross upon His back as He staggers and reels back and forth. And He moves back and forth. And finally, the weight of that cross causes Him to fall to the earth. And you can almost see His face being smashed into the pavement. And the blood and the spit and the dirt are all mingled together. Because His beard is ripped from His face, His face is battered. There's saliva in the blood. I want to tell you something. Some people say, Oh, don't give us this slaughterhouse religion. The Bible says He was slaughtered. Isaiah said His men were stony stabbed. His face was so marred more than any man. And His form more than the sons of men. Who hath believed our report? Whom has the arm of the Lord revealed? He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground, yet with no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely it bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And with His stripes we were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet He openeth not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before shears is done. So He openeth not His mouth. Oh, my friends, I want to tell you something. Jesus was so exhausted. He was so physically worn that they compelled one man, Simon, to come and bear His cross. And hand in hand they walked down the Calvary road to Golgotha, the place of the skull. And even Simon there as he was walking with Jesus, his blood fell upon that man. And a trail of blood went from that place to Golgotha. A trail of blood. I tell you, there's a trail of blood from Genesis to Revelation. But there was a trail of blood that led up to Calvary's hill to Golgotha, the place of the skull. And then that Roman soldier with a leather pouch upon his side. Now I don't know just exactly how they did it. Either they put the entire cross in the ground or they took this one section of the cross and hoisted it up into the air. Hoisted Jesus up into the air. But they took and found a hollow spot in the hands of Jesus and they put the nails in His hands. And you could almost hear in your mind's ear the nails going through the hands of Jesus. It did nothing but heal and bless. But I want to tell you something. It was a repulsive thought. They gathered the ankles of Jesus together and they took a large spike and drove it through His feet. And do you think that He stood there? Do you think that He just sat there? Jesus' body was nothing but muscle spasms and quivering jerks. You could almost see Him jerking. Have you ever had something go through your hand? I want to tell you something. It was a sorrowful sight. I so wondered when Mary looked at Him on the cross. Her heart was pierced with a sword. Listen to the words of Jesus in Psalm 22. He's looking down upon His mutilated body. He's speaking. He looks down and He says, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me while Thou art so far from helping Me and from the words of My roaring? All the sins of the world, all our sins were laid upon Him. But listen to this. All they that see Me laugh at Me. They were laughing and jeering at Jesus as He's on that cross. They were laughing and they shoot out the lip and they shake their head like this saying He trusted in the Lord that He would deliver Him. Let Him deliver Him now seeing they trusted in God. And they all walked around that cross as He was hanging between heaven and earth. But thou, as Jesus continues to speak to the Father... Do you know that these are the actual prayers of Jesus on the cross in Psalm 22? This is actually what Jesus said when He was on the cross. But thou art He that took Me out of the womb. Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother's breast. Be not far from Me, for trouble is near. Verse 12, Many bulls have compassioned Me. Speaking of these men, strong bulls of Basham have beset Me around. They gaped upon Me with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. Now listen. Jesus said, I am poured out like water. All of My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It's melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength is dried up like postured. My tongue cleaveth to My jaws. Have you ever seen an animal that's dead? And that cow's tongue or that animal's tongue will cleave to its jaws because there's no water there in its mouth or saliva. Jesus said, My tongue sticks to My jaws. All the perspiration draining from the body of Jesus. Thou hast brought Me to the dust of death, for dogs have come past Me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me. They have pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones. He says, I can count all My bones. They look and they stare upon Me. They part My garments among them. Jesus said, I can see My bones protruding out of My skin. That's what He said. He said, Now the prophet said that not one bone in the body of Jesus was broken. But I don't know if it was the gravity, the pull of gravity upon that cross, or when they hoisted Him up. But the Bible says, Jesus said, I can count My bones as they protrude out. He says, They're staring at Me. They're in awe. He says, As many were astonished at these, Isaiah said. And doctors will tell you that it's much more painful to have a bone out of joint than to have a broken bone. And He said, All of My bones are gone out of joint. And then when Jesus is such a mutilated mess, such a mess of flesh and battered body, He was bruised for iniquity. While all that was taking place, while that blood was draining from His body, what did they do? They gambled for His very clothes. They parted My garments among them in nakedness and shame before those people, red and blue with bruises and blood. They part My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture. Can you see the face of Jesus today? Can you see His face swollen? Can you see the battered brow and the bruises? Can you see these things? Listen to this. The world, its pleasures, now no longer please, no more content afford. Far from My heart be joys like these. Now I have seen the Lord. As by the light of opening day, the stars are all concealed, so earthly pleasures fade away when Jesus is revealed. I wrote this down. Behold, look at thy Savior hanging upon the cursed tree. Canst thou not tell that it is Jesus of Nazareth? No, you cannot tell by His face because His visage is so marred, more than any man. Look at thy Savior. Canst thou not tell by His body that it is Jesus of Nazareth? No, because His body has lost its form and we cannot even tell that He is a man. And they scourged Him too long with their long leather whips, and they plowed His back again and again. Canst thou not tell by His clothes that this is Jesus of Nazareth? No, because they stole all that He had, the very robe that dangled from His body, and the soldiers parted His garments among them and cast lots for His vesture. As the earth drank up His blood that day, there was only one way, my friends, that you could tell that was Jesus. Not by His face. Not by His clothing. There was only one way, by His words. He said, Father, forgive them because they don't know what they were doing. And so today we conclude that it was not the nails that kept Jesus to the cross. It wasn't all the strong Roman soldiers. It wasn't all the Pharisees and all the religious men and all the people that were there at the foot of His cross. It wasn't that that held Jesus to the cross. I want to tell you something. It was the love of Jesus that held Him to the cross. He could have called twelve legions of angels. He could have called the world out of existence. But He says, I have come to die and give My life a ransom for many. I have come to give My life. But my friends, I want to tell you something. When Jesus said, Father, forgive them, He didn't speak like I was speaking. He choked and was coughing upon the very blood they shed for you and me. And His lips and face deformed from the brutality. And there were jerks in His breath and gasp for air because when they hung on the cross, they had a little pedestal, a little thing that they put under the feet. And when they hung on that cross, the gravity pulling down would collapse the chest cavity. And at Golgotha, you would hear men going, ooooh. When that chest cavity is collapsed, those horrid sounds echoed through the airwaves. And then what they would do to extend the life, they would take the tip of their toes and they'd push up on that little piece of wood so they could get air and fill their lungs one last time. And then the gravity pulling down again. It was a living hell. That's why no one wanted to go to the cross. And sometime for days, the very fowls of the air, the vultures would light upon a man's back and pluck the flesh and eyes from his face. And it stenched with the blood of many thieves and robbers. And that's why the Bible says He went to even to the cross. The worst death that any man could die. Jesus went there. And the Bible says that we love Him because He first loved us. You know something? This is really a revival message and a salvation message. Because if you could deny Jesus and be cold hearted and indifferent and lukewarm and play fast and loose with Jesus when He did so much for you. I'll say one thing. First of all, you need to be born again. You need to have a genuine experience in salvation. I'm not being sarcastic at all. I'm just trying to share something, reality to you. Because the Bible says if any man being Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. And as Paul said, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. A practical life of holiness and obedience to Jesus. He said, without which, no man will see Christ. Would you bow your heads with me? Every head bowed. Every eye closed. No one looking around. I just want you to think about that picture. And I praise God that He didn't stay on that cross. They took Him from that cross and He rose again on the third day. He rose from the dead. And this morning, I don't know of a better time for you to make Jesus Christ Lord of your life. How many of you say this morning, Brother John, God has spoken to my heart? God's two-edged sword is in my heart. I have some real needs today. I'm a Christian. And my heart has been thawed out today. And because He loves me, I must love Him. Would you pray for me? Let me see your hands. Christians, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes, God bless you, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Probably over half the people here. How many of you say this morning, I don't even know if I'm saved. I need Jesus Christ. I don't have the assurance of salvation. The Bible says that you can know that you have eternal life. And how many of you say this morning, I don't even know that I'm saved, but I would like to know. Would you pray for me? Let me see your hands. Put your hand up. Beyond all the noises, the crying, just listen to Jesus. Just listen to the Spirit of God. Don't let anything distract you. Just say, right now, I want Jesus. I want to give my life to Jesus. Right now, I can sense the tugging of God. I believe that what you've said, and I want it to become a reality in my life. Let me see your hand. Put your hand up so I can see it. Many souls were saved this week. How about you, my friend? Do you know something? I would hate to go to hell under the shadow of a pulpit. And I would hate to be to hell with this message in my mind forever and forever. Because the Bible says it's a place where the worm dieth not. An eternal consciousness of your missing out. Let me see that hand. I want Jesus right now. I want Christ right now. Let me see that hand. If He's done so much for you, my friend, and you're unsaved, and you can't even reveal that desire by an up-slipped hand, my friends, I'll pray for you that God would soften your hearts. Because if you go out of this auditorium without Christ, it may be the last time that you'll ever be able to receive Him. Because the more times you deny Jesus, the harder the heart gets. The more times you allow pride and station to come between you and Jesus, the harder the heart gets. And as God says, my spirit will not always strive with man. There's a day when God will stop tugging at your heart. There's a day when God will say, you've heard enough. I'm going to someone else. There are men that have said, I can't be saved because God will give me no conviction. I have no desire. I have no will. I don't want Christ. Because at an early age, they turned their back on the gospel call. When God was working in their heart, they said no to Jesus. Right now, all of you that raised your hands, I'm going to ask you to do something. I'm going to ask you to slip down on that place of prayer for two reasons. First of all, for your own sake. Secondly, for those who would like to come and go with you who are unsaved. Would you do that right now? Just get along with Jesus and just rehearse in his mind about the love that he has displayed to you. And others, you may want to get saved. Just go on right down with them. Maybe you've got doubts of salvation. Yes, so many people have been obeying God. Half of this church evacuated. How about you? How about you? Just keep on going. Yes, God bless you. Someone will take a Bible and they'll show you what you need to do. Other others, just slip out of that seat. You've got doubts in your heart. Just go. I don't know of a better time in all of your life than to do it right now. Other others, just slip right out. Slip right out. Just take a little more time to get alone with Christ. It may be your last time. And I say this not to be angry. I say this, my friend, because I love you and I mean it. I mean it with all my heart. I'd never be in this type of ministry if I didn't love God's people and love lost souls. Anyone else, you want to get alone with God. There are people downstairs that love Jesus. There are people that have gone downstairs and they've come to Christ throughout this entire week. How about you? Young or old, don't say no to the tug of God's Spirit. We're just going to wait a moment. God wants you downstairs. No one's going to force you to do anything. But someone will open a Bible and pray with you. We're going to take just one more moment. If you want to go, just stand up and walk out. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for these people and for their willingness to come to your house. And yet, Father, I believe in my heart there's someone here that's saying no to the Spirit. Some more convenient season, some other day, I'll call on you. There may never be another day. I pray, Lord God, that you would just take away all peace, all false peace. And that anyone that's here without Christ today, that they wouldn't even leave this auditorium until they get saved. Or that they'd come back tonight to be born again, but they wouldn't procrastinate, Lord. And if they do leave this auditorium, I pray, God, that you'd keep them alive. Because Satan is a murderer, as Jesus said. He's a murderer from the beginning. And if he knows his soul is on the threshold of eternal life, like he attempted to kill me, he could attempt to kill someone here that's wavering. God, I pray that your grace would be upon them, that their hearts would not be hardened, but that you'd be merciful to them, Lord, and that they would come to know Jesus immediately. In His name we pray. Amen. Would you take your hymnals and turn with me to 423. And then would you please stand with me. 423. 423. Tonight we're going to have a baptismal service. If you need to be baptized, you're saved this week. You need to obey the Lord in baptism. Obey God in baptism. Maybe there are people that still want to go down to that place of prayer. You just go. Don't worry. Don't worry about what anybody's saying. You just go. Maybe someone wants to go with you. As when we surveyed the wondrous cross, let's sing it. And if you'd like to go and get saved, you either come forward or go downstairs. God will help you to do it. If you'd like to be baptized, a member of the church today, whatever it may be, whatever God's speaking to your heart about, maybe you want to make a public stand.