Let the Shepherd Lead

Originally Proclaimed: 04/19/19

Intro:

• A number of years ago, after the passing of one of the members of the church I served in Enoree, a deacon came to my office to talk.
• He came because he was concerned about the 90+ year old husband of that deceased member.
  • That husband had come to church faithfully with his wife for years, but had never joined the church, or made his profession of faith.
  • There in the office we made an appointment to go visit that 90 + year old member and talk with him after his wife’s passing.
• I will never forget that day. We went for the visit. Still on the table were a number of pecans that the older member was busy cracking and shelling.
  • We went into the living room and sat down to talk.
  • I gently asked the question why that gentleman had never made a profession of faith or joined the church he and his wife so faithfully attended for years.
  • He told us very kindly that it had just never been something he thought he needed to do.

Hook:

• For the rest of our conversation, I made the case that professing faith in Jesus was of utmost importance.
• Like that 90+ year old man, professing faith in Jesus may not seem like something that you need to do, but I want to make that same case with you that I made with that older gentleman.

Message Points:

• As we consider the verses relating to us Jesus’ crucifixion, let me assure you that our faith in Jesus does matter.
• It is never too late to profess faith as long as we live because #1 the consequences are too great.
  • Romans 6:23 tells us that the wage or payment for sin is death.
    • Explain the Gospel in 5 crucial steps.
    • That means that for anyone who has sinned we deserve to be pay for that sin with death.
    • But not just any death, the kind of eternal death reserved for those enemies of God in Hell.
    • Hell is described as a place of fiery torment, eternal darkness, and separation from God.
  • The events of verses 33-37 are already three hours into the horrific ordeal of crucifixion. By this time the pain in Jesus’ body would have felt like flames.
    • Some think that those crucified die from asphyxiation. When one finally could not lift their body enough to gasp in air they died. Imagine the pain that must have ignited every time a muscle contracted as Jesus struggled to raise His body enough to breathe.
    • Others think that death in crucifixion comes from hypovolemic shock or the loss of so much fluid, that the heart cannot pump enough blood to the rest of the body. With searing pain, one by one Jesus’ organs would have ceased functioning until finally He died.
    • In either case, even with just three hours on the cross, the pain in Jesus’ body would have felt like burning flames. But this was only half of the torture Jesus had to endure.
    • No wonder when they heard him cry out from the cross did they try to give him the cool relief of something to drink (15:36). But with the fiery pain in his body, no drop of cool vinegar would soothe him.
  • Verse 33 tells us that darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
    • Noon is the halfway point in Jesus’ crucifixion. Now adding to the fiery pain is darkness for the final three hours.
    • Darkness is the symbol of God’s judgement against sin.
    • IN the Exodus, the plague before the death of the firstborn was darkness, displaying God’s judgement of the Egyptians. But that is not the only Scripture about darkness displaying God’s judgement.
      • Deuteronomy 28:29 (ESV) says “and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.”
      • Talking of Judgement Day Amos 8:9 (ESV) “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”
      • Zephaniah 1:14–15 (ESV) “14The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. 15A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,”
      • And speaking of the judgement against the demonic angels who rebelled against the Lord, Jude 6 (ESV) says “6And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—”
    • Darkness describes the judgement of God, and upon the cross, God’s judgment of the sin of the world, placed upon Jesus at the crucifixion occurred.
  • This explains Jesus quote of 15:34. He was not calling for Elijah as some thought, but quoting Psalm 22.
    • That OT passage describes the greatest agony of the cross as being separated from the grace of God.
    • There the psalmist asks why has God forsaken, stood so far from saving Him, not heard his cries.
    • The eternal Son of God always in perfect fellowship with the Heavenly Father now for three hellish hours no longer experience God’s grace or his loving presence.
    • The presence of God Jesus felt upon the cross was that of the just judge of the universe pouring out his perfect and full wrath upon sin.
  • On the cross Jesus felt the fiery torment, the darkness of God’s wrath, and the separation from God’s grace; all so that we who would profess faith in Him would not have to eternally face that torment, judgment, and separation.
  • You see, there are tremendous consequences for your decision at this point.
    • Either Christ’s suffering on the cross can substitute for the debt you owe or you can pay the debt you owe to God.
    • While this is a decision of great consequence it is not a hard decision.
      • It is like my little daughter who around the age of six when asked how she would pay for something she wanted or hoped to do would simply respond, “I’m going to keep my dollars and let my Daddy pay with his dollars.”
      • Not paying is not an option, but friends the Good news on this Friday is that Jesus is willing to pay the debt for you!
• At Jesus’ death we also see three responses to those confronted by the reality of death.
  • The calloused person when confronted with death can become tender.
    • The centurion, a hardened Roman soldier who had likely become callous to suffering and death should have cared less than anyone that another Jewish rebel was crucified.
    • However, when he looked at Jesus’ suffering and the supernatural tearing of the Temple’s curtain in two from top to bottom and said in verse 15:39, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”
    • His calloused heart was made tender to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God.
  • The devoted person when confronted with death can become determined.
    • The women who had devotedly supported him and his material needs from the beginning watched from a distance and took note of where his body was laid.
    • They took note of where he was laid in verse 15:47 because they had made plans to continue to care for the body of Jesus as a testament to their faith in Him.
    • No matter what the risk to themselves or the challenges to care for Jesus, these women’s devoted hearts were strengthen so that they could pursue Christ with determined resolve.
  • The timid person when confronted with death can become bold.
    • Finally there was Joseph of Arimathea that we read of in verses 15:42-46. He had been a part of the Sanhedrin that convicted Jesus, and though he may have tried to convince them otherwise he timidly went along with the decision.
    • But faced with death, no longer caring what they thought, he went and asked for the body of Jesus, perhaps believing that a resurrection would happen, but knowing for certain that the Roman custom was to let the corpse hang and rot or be tossed into the burning trash heap.
    • Joseph chose to wash and wrap the body carefully in expensive linen and put it into a tomb hewn into the rock with a large stone to protect it.
    • This was rare and only for the extremely wealthy or significant. More importantly it fulfilled Isaiah 53:9-10 which Joseph may have considered
      • Isaiah 53:9–10 (ESV) And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
      • These verses say the Messiah will die with the wicked, but will be buried with the rich. Further it promises that when Jesus made an offering for guilt, the Lord shall prolong his days or resurrect Him.
• So it is never too late to profess faith because “eternity is too long to be wrong”. (Credit to Martha Brady via Lynn Alexander).
  • That is a phrase from the mother of one of our members who was a missionary for years and then an evangelist here at home.
  • And that phrase is so true. Death has a way of bringing us face to face with the reality that all of us must face.
  • We will die and what matters are the decisions we make in this life, right now.
  • The Good News this Friday is that even if you have waited all of your life as a calloused, devoted, or timid person Christ in just an instant can change you.
  • These three witnesses at the cross are evidence that it is never too late to profess faith and experience the change Christ can make in your life.

Conclusion:

• So, I wonder what holds you back from professing faith in Jesus Christ.
• On that day visiting my 90+ friend, I am not sure what held him back.
  • We had a great conversation, but he did not make any sort of decision that afternoon.
  • My deacon friend and I went away a little disappointed.
  • But it was not too late for that 90+ year old friend.
• That next Sunday as I concluded my message and stood at the front for the invitation, I saw that man making his way down the aisle.
  • He grabbed my hand and said preacher, I am ready to profess my faith.
  • I don’t want anything to hold me back from meeting Jesus.
• So at 90+ years old he stood in front of his church and professed faith in Jesus and was baptized a few weeks later.
• When I preached his funeral, I could say with certainty that his life was changed and it made an eternal difference.