Sermon # 91 Luke
Sermons
Title: “How
I Am Straitened!”
Text: Luke 12:50
Subject: Our Savior’s Voluntary Obedience
Date: Sunday Evening –
Tape # X-40a
Introduction:
Tonight, I want us to look
at Luke 12:50.
Luke
·
“But
I have a baptism to be baptized with.”—Our Savior here compares
that which he was to endure, the pain, the agony, the shame, the ignominy of
the death he must die as a baptism with which he was appointed
of God to be baptized with—Immersed in!—Covered with!—Overwhelmed by!—Be
plunged into!—Rise out of! Then, he says…
“The sufferings of Christ were so many and large, that
he was as it were covered with them, and he continued under them for a time,
and under the power of death and the grave, when being raised from thence, he
dies no more, death hath no more dominion over him. This baptism he
"had", there was a necessity of his being baptized with it, on his
Father’s account; it was his will, his decree, and the command he enjoined him
as Mediator; it was the portion he allotted him, and the cup he gave unto him:
and on his own part, he obliged himself unto it, in the counsel and covenant of
peace; for this purpose he came into this world, and had substituted himself in
the room and stead of his people; and it was necessary on their part, for their
sins could not be atoned for without sufferings, nor without the sufferings of
Christ; moreover, the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament concerning
them, made them necessary.”
– (John Gill)
·
“How
am I straitened till it be accomplished!”— These words express both
the trouble and distress of our Savior’s heart and mind, at the apprehension of
his sufferings and death as our Substitute. He was in distress like a man with
a mighty enemy approaching him, like a woman, whose time of travail has come.
Though she dreads it, yet she longs to have it finished. These words signify, our
Redeemer’s restless desire to accomplish his death at
This eager desire he displayed in many ways.—In his
ready compliance with his Father’s proposal in eternity.—In his frequent
appearances in human form in the Old Testament.—In sending one messenger after
another, to announce his coming.—In his willingness ever to be about his
Father’s business.—In rebuking Peter, when he would have dissuaded him from all
thoughts of suffering.—In setting his face like a flint to go up Jerusalem, in
order to suffer and die there.—In his earnest wish to eat the last passover
with his disciples.—In the joy that possessed him, when Judas was gone out, in
order to betray him.—In going out to Gethsemane.—In his prayer there.—In
willingly surrendering himself up into the hands of his enemies.—And in
cheerfully laying down his life. This willingness to suffer and die at
Well might the Lord God say
to his prophet and to us…
Isaiah 42:1-4
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my
soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to
be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the
smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have
set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Exodus
21:1-6 "Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set
before them. (2) If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the
seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
(3) If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were
married, then his wife shall go out with him. (4) If his master have given him a wife,
and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her
master's, and he shall go out by himself.
(5) And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: (6) Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post;
and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him
for ever."
That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God did for us in the covenant of grace.
Christ became Jehovah’s voluntary Servant, that he
might redeem and save his people by his free obedience to God as our
Substitute. This is what Isaiah describes in our text.
Isaiah
50:5-7 "The Lord GOD hath opened
mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. (6) 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. (7) For the Lord GOD will
help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like
a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."
In these verses we have a description of our Lord’s
sacrificial obedience unto death, even the death of the cross as our voluntary
Surety and Substitute.
The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most
wonderful, astounding, magnificent event in the history of the universe.
Nothing that is, has been, or shall hereafter be can
be compared to it. Yet, as he was suffering the wrath of God, bearing the sins
of his people, dying as the voluntary Substitute for guilty, hell-deserving,
hell-bent sinners such as we are, we hear the Son of God expressing the most
woeful, unexplainable lamentation imaginable.
Lamentations
When I hear those words falling from the lips of the
Son of God, as he hangs upon the cursed tree, I simply cannot avoid asking a
question. Of whom does the bleeding
Lamb of God speak these words? To whom is the death of Christ
meaningless and insignificant?
1.
Nothing in all the universe
is more wonderful and magnificent in the eyes of God than the death of his dear
Son. The Savior himself declares,
“Therefore doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life!”
2.
The angels of heaven ever look into the mystery
and wonder of redemption by the blood of Christ with astonishment.
Illustration:
The Cherubim Facing the Mercy-Seat
3.
God’s servants, faithful
gospel preachers are so overwhelmed with the wonders of redemption and the
glory of the Redeemer that they never cease to study, glory in, and preach the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 6:1-6 "In the year that king Uzziah
died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his
train filled the temple. (2) Above it
stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and
with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (4) And the posts of the door moved at
the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (5) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am
undone; because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have
seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (6) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal
in his hand, which he had taken with
the tongs from off the altar:"
Galatians
1
Corinthians 2:2 "For I determined not to know
any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
4.
Redeemed sinners on the
earth
cherish nothing, delight in nothing, marvel at
nothing, like we do the death of our Lord Jesus Christ for us.
Galatians
1 John
1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God,
but that he loved us, and sent his Son to
be the propitiation for our sins."
5.
The ransomed in glory appear to think of nothing
and speak of nothing except the dying love of the Lamb in the midst of the
throne.
Revelation
5:9-12 "And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation; (10) And
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (11) And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands; (12) Saying with a loud
voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."
6.
Hell itself looks upon the
death of Christ as a wonderful, unexplainable, mysterious thing. I
am certain that this is one thing that Satan himself did not understand - That
Christ would triumph over him and crush his head by his death upon the cross!
Else he would never have put it into the heart of Judas to betray the Master.
7.
Yet, there are some to whom
our darling Savior speaks, as it were with astonishment, to whom his death is
meaningless, insignificant, nothing!
Lamentations
Who are these people to whom the death of Christ is nothing? Who is it that thinks little of the sin-atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ? Our Lord is here addressing himself to everyone who passes by him, passes by his sacrifice, passes by his death as the sinners’ Substitute.
·
O unbelieving, Christless soul, it is you!
·
O cold, calculating, heartless, preacher, you who pass by the crucified
Christ and take to your lips meaningless, insignificant things, it is you! Church
Incorporation-Abortion-Politics!
·
Christ crucified is mundane, meaningless and insignificant only to
unregenerate, unbelieving souls.
It is my heart’s prayer that before you leave here
tonight, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ will be the most important thing in
all the world to you. I pray that you and I may become
totally consumed with the crucified Christ, that our hearts, our lives, every
fiber of our souls may be constantly dominated by the death of Christ as our
sin-atoning Savior. To that end, I ask your attention, as I endeavor to show
you what the Word of God reveals about free,
voluntary, willing obedience to the will of God.—“How am I straitened!”
Proposition: Our
Lord Jesus Christ declares plainly that his death at Calvary was the free,
voluntary act of his own obedience to his Father’s will, by which he won his
Father’s love as a man, as our Mediator and Surety (John 10:17-18).
John 10:17-18 "Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (18) No man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
Divisions: Let me show you three things
from these words which fell from him of whom it is written, “grace is poured
into thy lips.”
1.
The Commandment of the Father
2.
The Obedience of the Son
3.
The Love of the Father to the Son
I. THE COMMANDMENT OF THE FATHER
The Lord Jesus Christ speaks of himself here not as
the eternal Son of God, but as the Good Shepherd, the Mediator, the Surety of his people. He says, “This commandment have I received of my Father.” With those words
he declares that his death as our Substitute was arranged by God before the
world began (Ps. 40:7; Heb. 10:7-10).
Psalms 40:7 "Then said I, Lo, I come: in
the volume of the book it is written
of me,"
Hebrews 10:7-10 "Then said I, Lo, I come (in
the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (8) Above when he said, Sacrifice and
offering and burnt offerings and offering
for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; (9) Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. (10) By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
The death of Christ was not accomplished by the
arrangement of men, or by the arrangement of hell, but
by the arrangement of the Triune God (Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:18-20).
Acts
1 Peter
1:18-20 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot: (20) Who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in
these last times for you,"
The death of Christ at
A. The Arrangement of An Eternal Covenant.
B. The Arrangement of Sovereign
C. The Arrangement of Infinite
Love!
John
Romans 5:6-8 "For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet
peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. (8) But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
II. THE
OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST
John 10:17-18 "I lay down my life, that I
might take it again. (18) No man
taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my
Father."
The Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life
voluntarily, as an act of free obedience to his Father. No man forced him to
die. God the Father did not compel him to die, or take his life from him. Oh,
No! Our Savior died voluntarily, by his own will.
Illustration:
Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 22)
Our Redeemer’s death was accomplished by his own
will. “He poured out his soul unto
death!”
It is true, as we have seen, “it pleased the Father to bruise him.” The Father cried, “Awake, O sword, against One
that is my fellow. Smite the Shepherd!” But Christ took the cup of wrath in
his own hands. The Son of God fell willingly upon the sword of justice. Our
Savior died by his own will!
Illustration:
“Whom seek
ye?” (John 18)
A. Christ laid down his life
for the satisfaction of justice.
B. Christ laid down his life as
the Substitute for chosen sinners.
C. Christ laid down his life
for the glory of God.
D. Christ laid down his life
because of his love for us.
E. Christ laid down his life
that he might take it again.
Romans 14:9 "For to this end Christ both died, and
rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."
Philippians
2:5-11 "Let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father."
III. THE
FATHER’S LOVE FOR HIS SON
Look at the his words
again. Our Savior says, “Therefore doth
my Father love me, because I lay down my life.” I know of nothing in heaven
or earth so sweet to meditate upon and so impossible to preach about as the
Father’s love for his darling, dying Son. Hear it again. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life.”
A. The Father loved him for the
loveliness of his Godhead.
B. The Father loved him for the
beauty of his holy humanity.
C. The Father loved him because
he laid down his life for us!
D. The Father loved him as the
glorious, saving, effectual Mediator of his people.
God himself never saw anything in all
the world so lovely, so infinitely worthy of his love, admiration, and
honor, as the death of his dear Son upon the cursed tree for his people. “Herein
is love!” Because of this great act of love, because of this great act
of Christ’s free obedience to the Father as our Surety, the Father has given
his Son everything!
Isaiah
53:4-12 "Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. (5) 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 are healed.
(6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own
way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (8) He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall
declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the
land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (9) And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done
no violence, neither was any deceit
in his mouth. (10) Yet it pleased the
LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to
grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD
shall prosper in his hand. (11) He
shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
(12) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto
death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors."
John
John 17:2 "As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him."
Application: Let us learn from these words of our Lord and
Savior that…
1.
Though God’s child may suffer greatly in this world, often carrying a
heavy cross and having the Father’s face hidden from him, yet he is the darling
object of his Father’s love.
Never did the Father more fully love his Son than
when he was heaping upon him the fury of his wrath!
2.
God honors those who honor his Son.
The only way a sinner can
honor the Son of God is to trust him.
3.
The only way of access to God is Christ.
4.
Our only worthiness of the Father’s love and approval is Christ.
John
17:22-26 "And the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (23) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
as thou hast loved me. (24) Father, I
will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they
may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world. (25) O
righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent me.
(26) And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them."
5.
God loves us!
·
God the Father gave his Son to die for us!
·
God the Son laid down his life for us.
·
God the Spirit now sprinkles us with the blood of Christ and declares
us - “Redeemed!”
1
Corinthians 6:19-20
"Ye are not your own? (20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
AMEN!