Now Psalm 22 is a pretty famous chapter, and of course it's David and his trials and tribulations
and his struggles, but it's also a prophetic passage talking a lot about Jesus Christ and
how Jesus Christ is going to be crucified, his hands and feet will be pierced, and there
are so many different things in this chapter. I'm not preaching through the chapter this
morning. The main part I want to talk about is just the first verse there where he says,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from
the words of my Lord? Turn, if you would, to the book of Matthew. Go to Matthew 26.
I'm sorry, Matthew 27. Go to Matthew's first book in the New Testament, Matthew 27, because
Jesus actually quotes this exact statement in Matthew 27, where he's being crucified
and he goes back to this. Somebody help me find it. I'm sorry, I have the wrong verse
written in my notes. Somebody help me find the part where he quotes this Psalm 22, and
Matthew 27. Sorry? 27, 46. It says in Matthew 27, 46, and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried
with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is to say, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Now, I've had some people point this out to me and say, well,
see, Jesus is not God. And they'll say, if Jesus is not God, then explain this. But you
see, just because we can't explain something or understand something fully as human beings
doesn't mean that it does not exist, just because we don't understand it. And what I'm
going to preach about this morning is the fact that Jesus Christ was 100% God, but yet
he was also man. He was also a human being. He also had humanity. Go to Hebrews 1.8, if
you would. Flip over to Hebrews 1.8. We'll come back to Matthew in a little while. Hebrews
chapter 1, verse 8. There's no question, of course, that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.
So many verses we could go to. 1 Timothy 3.16 comes to mind. God was manifest in the flesh.
It says, justified in the Spirit, preached unto the Gentiles, seen of angels, believed
on in the world, received up into glory. It says in Hebrews chapter 1.8, but unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the
scepter of Thy kingdom. Now, people will say, well, explain that where Jesus said, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Well, explain this. Unto the Son he saith, God speaking,
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Explain where God said in Genesis 1, Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness. I mean, when Thomas fell down at the feet of Jesus
Christ, after seeing the holes in his hands, after he rose from the dead, after seeing
the hole in his tithe, he fell down before him and said, My Lord and my God. And Jesus
said to him, Blessed art thou, Thomas, because thou hast believed. You see, Jesus Christ
is God in the flesh. Go to Hebrews 3. We're just looking at a few verses here. Hebrews
chapter 3, it says in verse chapter 1, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful
to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man, talked
about Christ Jesus, was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who
hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is builded by some
man, but he that built all things is who? God. He said, Moses is unto Christ as the
house is to the one who built the house, because he that built all things is God. Jesus Christ
said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. And that wouldn't be good
grammar, except for the fact that he was God, and when Moses was at the burning bush, Moses
asked what God's name was, and he said, My name is I am that I am. Tell them that I am
hath sent you unto them. And so Jesus Christ said, Verily, I say unto you, before Abraham
was, I am. He said, If you believe not that I am he, you'll die in your sins. Over and
over again, we see John 1, 1, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and
the word was God. Explain that, how the word could be with God, and it was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, the word, and without it
was not anything made that was made. Verse 14, And the word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. Explain this, Hebrews 7-3. If you're still in Hebrews, there's a
few pages to the right. This is talking about Jesus Christ. It says, verse 3, Without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made
like unto the Son of God, abided a priest continually. Yes, did he have an earthly mother?
Yes, physically he had an earthly mother, Mary. But guess what? Jesus Christ existed
long before Mary existed. Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God, and he was God.
I mean, we can go on and on and on, all the scriptures that preach and teach the deity
of Christ, that explain that Jesus Christ is the creator, that explain that he was God
in the flesh. He said, I and my Father are one. 1 John 5 says, For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
He said in Isaiah 9-6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Prince
of Peace, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. His disciple asked him, Show us the
Father, and it sufficeth us. He said, Philip, have I been so long with thee, and yet hast
thou not known me? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father, and how sayest thou unto
me? Show us the Father. Very clear then that Jesus Christ is God. No question about that.
Whether we understand it or not, maybe we just lack understanding. You say, Well, do
you understand it, Pastor Anderson? Well, here's how you understand the Bible. Hebrews
11 says this, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of
God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. So if you're
saved this morning, if you believe the Bible, I think you'll understand the sermon as I
preach it. If you're not saved, you probably won't understand it or we'll make any sense
to you, because faith is what allows us to understand the Bible. The first step in understanding
the Bible is to believe the Bible. That's why unbelievers don't understand the Bible
whatsoever. Through faith we understand. But because we believe in the deity of Christ,
the fact that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and that He's the only God, and that He was
God in human form, sometimes we lose sight of the fact that Jesus Christ was also a human
being. Now, this is a great mystery. This is difficult to understand, but yet it is
the truth. Go to Luke 2. We're going to spend a little time in the four Gospels here illustrating
this to you. Go to Luke chapter 2, the third book in the New Testament, Luke chapter 2.
Yes, Jesus Christ existed before the world began. Yes, He was God incarnate. But the
amazing thing about Jesus Christ is that He really did take upon Himself the form of man.
And He even took upon Himself some of the limitations of being a human being. It says
in Luke 2, 46, this is when Jesus was 12 years old. And it came to pass that after
three days they found Him in the temple. Now, let me just give you the story quickly of
what's going on here. This is where Jesus' parents take Him to the temple in Jerusalem.
They lived in Nazareth, but they took a little road trip down to Jerusalem, and they were
in the temple, and they lost Jesus. They thought He was with one of the other relatives. So
they weren't really watching Him very well. A day goes by, and they realize, hey, have
you seen Jesus lately? And He's just gone. So they're all upset, and they spend the next
three days looking for Him. They can't find Him. So three days go by, and notice it only
took them one day to lose Jesus. It took them three days to find Him. It's kind of like
in our lives, it's a lot easier to quit reading the Bible and quit praying than it is to start
up. So basically they lose Jesus. Three days later they find Him. Excuse me, I have a cough.
They're probably pretty embarrassed. I mean, wouldn't you be embarrassed if you lost your
kid for three days, and then you finally found Him? So it came to pass that after three days
they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and
asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and
answers. And when they saw Him, they were amazed. And His mother said unto Him, Son,
why hast Thou dealt with us? Behold, Thy Father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. Now, was
Joseph really Jesus' father? No. So Jesus is about to correct her on that point. He
says, verse 49, How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's
business? He wasn't talking about being a carpenter. He was talking about preaching
and teaching the Word of God. And they understood not the saying which He spake unto them. And
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. But His mother
kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus, watch this, increased in wisdom. You see that?
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Go back just a
few pages to Mark 13. So when Jesus was 12 years old, He did not know everything. Even
though He was God in the flesh, and this is kind of hard to understand, but it is biblical.
He took on Himself the form of man, and He took upon Himself the limitations of being
man. I mean, when He was born as a baby, He was still a baby. He was totally without sin.
He never did wrong, but He was still a baby. He still had to learn how to walk. He still
had to learn how to talk. He still had to grow up and so forth. And that's what we see
in His age 12 there, where He's growing wisdom. He's learning things. He's asking questions.
Mark 13, 32. This is Jesus Christ preaching. But at that day and that hour, knoweth no
man. Know not the angels which are in heaven, watch this, neither the Son, but the Father.
Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is. So He said that He did
not know the day or the hour of His second coming. He said no one knows except the Father.
Now that doesn't mean that no one will ever know. Jesus Christ, of course, knows now that
He's sitting at the right hand of the Father. Jesus said later that when we see these things
come to pass, we'll know that it's near even at the door. When we see the sun and moon
darken, we'll know that it's come. When we see the abomination of desolation, we know
it's coming. But the bottom line is, Jesus Christ in this chapter did not know everything.
Even though He was God in the flesh, He took upon Himself the limitations of being human
because He was 100% God, but He was also 100% man, 100% human. We see this throughout the
Bible. Look at Matthew 26. Go back just a few pages. Matthew chapter 26. It says, while
you're turning there, I'll read you another scripture. It says in 1 Timothy 2, 5, for
there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ
was man, even though He was God, even though He was sinless. Listen to this, and this is
going to tie in with where I just had you turn in Matthew 26. In Hebrews 5, it says,
So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto
Him, Thou art my Son, that today have I begotten Thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, listen to this about Jesus, who in the days
of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears
unto Him that was able to save Him from death and was heard and that He feared, though He
were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. And being made perfect,
He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him, called of God
and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. He also said, of course, a famous verse in
Hebrews 4, 15, it says, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without
sin. And I think one of the things that we lose sight of when we read the four Gospels
and we read about Jesus Christ is we think, well, of course it is easy for Him because
He is God in the flesh, of course He is going to do everything perfectly, but wait a minute,
He took upon Himself human form and the Bible teaches that He had to suffer, it was just
as hard for Him to do what was right as it is for us to do what was right, but the difference
is that He always did what was right. He said, I do always those things which please my Father.
He was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. Now none of us is that perfect,
none of us is ever going to be that perfect. The Bible says if we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but Jesus Christ, just because He was
God, just because He was perfect, He still went through all the pain and suffering and
sorrow and emotions that we go through as human beings on this earth when He was here.
Look at how well this is illustrated in Matthew 26 where I had you turn. Matthew 26 verse
36, this is Jesus Christ the day before He is going to be crucified. He goes into the
garden of Gethsemane and it says in verse 36, Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place
called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And
he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, that was kind of his inner circle,
Peter, James, and John, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then say at the end of them,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Tarry ye here and watch me. He said, Look,
I'm so sorrowful I feel like I'm going to die. And he says, I'm very heavy. We would
use the word probably like depressed or down today, but he was very heavy. And it says
in verse 39, He went a little further and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cop pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but
as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples and finds them asleep. And saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Verse 42, He went away again the
second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cop may not pass away from me, except
I drink it, thy will be done. Look at Mark 14, flip over just a few pages to the right
of your Bible. Mark chapter 14. Mark 14, it says in verse 32, And they came to a place
which was named Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, Sit ye here while I shall pray.
And he taketh with them Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and
to be very heavy. Verse 34, And he saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrow upon the
dead. Tarry ye here and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground,
and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father,
all things are possible unto thee. Take away this cop from me. Nevertheless, not what I
will, but what thou wilt. Look at Luke 22, just go a few pages to the right of your Bible.
Luke 22. He's saying, I don't want to do it. He's saying, take this cop away from me. I
don't want to go to the cross. I don't want to die on the cross. I don't want that pain,
and that shame, and the mockery, and the beating, and the spitting. I don't want my soul to
descend into hell for three days and three nights. I don't want to go through all that.
There's anxiety here, and he's upset about it, and he's sweating, and he's falling on
the ground just praying unto the Father. It's just a human being. Although he's God in the
flesh, he still had the same feelings that we would have in that same situation. Look
at Luke 22, verse 41, it says, And he was withdrawn from them by the stones cast, and
you heard the expression some of the stones throw from here, and kneeled down and prayed,
saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thine. Look at verse 43, And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening
him. You see, he had someone that God sent from heaven, basically motivating him, strengthening
him, encouraging him during his difficult time in his life. It says in verse 44, And
being in what? An agony. I mean, look at the strong words, amazed, sorrowful, heavy, sorrowful
unto death, agony. He said, being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was
as it were great drops of blood falling down the ground. I mean, just sweat pouring off
of his body. I mean, think about what he's about to go through, and he understands. He
knows what he's going to go through, and he's dreading it. It says in Hebrews chapter
12, you can turn there if you like, Hebrews chapter 12 talks about pretty much the same
thing. It says in chapter 12 verse 2, it says, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame. So he didn't like the shame. He despised. Despised means hated. He hated being mocked.
He hated the shame of being crucified. He hated the pain and suffering he was going
to have to go through. It says he despised the shame, but he endured it for the joy that
was set before him, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider
him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary than fainting
your minds. Ye have not yet resisted of the blood striding against sin. He said you've
never been through anything as bad as Jesus went through, and remember how he stayed with
it. Remember how he stayed focused. Remember how even when the sweat poured off his body,
he was in agony and sorrow. He endured the cross. He was obedient unto death, the Bible
says, even the death of the cross. And notice what he said when he was in that garden of
Gethsemane. He said, if it were possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not
as I will but as thou will. Stop and think about that statement for a minute. Go to Galatians
chapter 2. Think about that statement for a minute. If it were possible, he's basically
saying, if it would be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will
but thine be done. Look at Galatians chapter 2 verse 21. It says in Galatians 2 21, I do
not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Now, according to that verse there, if we could get to heaven just by being a good person,
just by following the law, just by keeping the Ten Commandments, keeping God's laws,
being a good person, it says basically that Christ is dead in vain. Now look, Jesus Christ
begged to not have to go through what he went through. He begged and said, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. But you see, it would not have been possible for you to be
saved if he hadn't gone through it. He said, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost. Jesus Christ gave his life a ransom for many to be justified in
time. He gave himself a ransom for you. He died on the cross for our sins and if there
were any other way that you could get to heaven, you wouldn't have to do that. And when he
prayed unto the Father, and he said in John 11 that the Father always heard him, the Father
always answered his prayers. And yet he said, if it's possible, if it be possible, if there's
another way, let this cup pass from me. But guess what, it wasn't possible. Because the
only way to be saved is through Jesus Christ and through his sacrifice on the cross. And
imagine what Jesus went through. I mean, he was beaten and he felt it just like you would
feel it. When he was beaten with a whip, the Bible says that he received those strikes.
He was beaten 39 times, he received strikes. That means that each time the whip hit his
back, it broke the skin and left a bloody strike. The Bible says by his stripes we are
healed because it's the blood that saves, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that
cleanses us from all sin. And each time that lash hit his back, it exposed the blood and
the blood is what saves. And Jesus died on the cross. He was beaten, he was spat upon,
he was mocked, he was nailed to the cross, he hung on the cross. And then, when he's
on the cross, there's a great darkness that passed over the face of the all earth. And
he looked up and said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now it's hard to understand,
of course. But some kind of a separation took place there, where God the Father in his holiness
in heaven could not even look upon Jesus Christ. Because the Bible says in the back of chapter
1, thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity. And so, because
Jesus Christ was perfect and sinless throughout his whole life, he had perfect fellowship
with the Father all the time. Because when we commit sin, that breaks our fellowship
with God and we don't have the same relationship with God. But Jesus Christ, because he lived
a perfect and sinless life, he was always in perfect harmony with the Father as he lived
his life for 33 and a half years. But, when he was on the cross, the Bible says that he
and himself bear our sins in his own body on the tree. The Bible says for he had made
him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous of God. So when Jesus
Christ hung on the cross, every sin that we've ever done, it was as if Jesus had done it.
And instead of being just the sinless, perfect Lamb of God that he'd been his whole life,
now he had taken our sins, even though he was without sin, he took our sins upon him
and now basically God, no longer the Father, didn't have the same fellowship with him and
basically there was a forsaking that took place. And there was a punishment that took
place where Jesus Christ was actually punished by God for our sins. He took that punishment
for us and he absorbed that. And basically when he died on the cross, go to Acts chapter
2. Now a lot of people don't believe this anymore, but I don't really care. I run into
tons of people and your average Baptist today will balk at this or scoff at this. Usually
once you show them in the Bible, they agree with you. If they're going to be honest, if
there really is someone who believes the Bible, then once you show it to them, they ought
to believe it. But some people are just ignorant of this because preachers don't preach this
and a lot of false doctrine on this. But I don't see how you can get around it. The Bible
is so clear. It says in Acts 2.31, couldn't be any clearer. It's crystal clear, my friend.
Acts 2.31 says this, he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ that his
soul was not left. Where? In hell. That's what it said. The resurrection of Christ was
the fact that his soul was not left in hell, but rather rose again. People will say today
Jesus didn't go to hell. And I say this, well if Jesus didn't go to hell, then he wasn't
dead. Because Jesus Christ who was on this earth said of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he
said I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of
the dead but of the living. He said Abraham rejoiced to see my day and was glad. You see
when Jesus walked on this earth, Abraham was not dead. You know why? Because he was in
heaven. He was alive. He was not dead. He was alive. That's why Jesus could say that
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living. Jesus said I'm the resurrection and the life. He
that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. I'm never going to die. You're never going to die if you believe.
The body will die but the body's not us. It's the soul. It's the spirit that will go up
to heaven and still continue to live. We as believers will never die. That's what eternal
life means. But you see people who say well Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross, boom,
he went straight to heaven. Well hold on a second. And was he really dead, fiddly speaking?
No. And so it's really an assault on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Jesus
said it very clearly in Revelation 1. He said I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold,
I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. Jesus said in Matthew
12.40, as Jonas, go to Jonah chapter 2, he said in Matthew 12.40, this is the end of
the Old Testament, as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so shall
the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now the heart,
we're not talking about the surface of the earth. We're talking about the heart of the
earth. Does anybody here speak French? No one? I don't either. But anyway, I do know
one word in French. Actually I know a lot of words in French, but I know one that I
want to talk about. Core. I was reading a book, I was reading Ivanhoe, you know the
classic book about knights and everything. And it was talking about Richard the Lionhearted
from Robin Hood and all that. And he was called, what was it called? Richard, core
de léon. So it was like lion heart, core de léon. And then there's a city that I always
drive through in Idaho called core de léon. Have you ever been there? Heard of it? Core,
core means heart in French. And think about it, Jesus said he's going to be in the heart
of the earth. Don't we have an English word like that, like the core of the earth? The
heart is on the inside. It's the inner center. If we're talking about eating artichoke hearts,
we're not ripping off the leaves and dipping them in mayonnaise. We're eating the heart,
the inside. And Jesus said that he would be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth just as Jonah was three days and three nights where? In the whale's belly.
Now did Jonah go to the heart of the earth? No. Jonah was in the whale's belly. But Jesus
said that was symbolic of me being in the heart of the earth for three days and three
nights. It said in Ephesians chapter 4 that he descended into the lower parts of the earth.
It says that his resurrection he was not left in hell. Every offering in the Old Testament,
my friend, was a burnt offering. Every time. There was no sacrifice, no animal sacrifice
throughout the entire Old Testament. Of all the thousands of sacrifices, they were all
a burnt offering. The Passover was to be roasted with fire. And that's symbolic of
the fact that because the punishment for our sins is death, which includes hell, Jesus
paid that punishment. Look at Jonah chapter 2. Now I'm going to go deep here just for
one second, but I hope I don't lose you. Pay close attention to what I'm saying. In Acts
231, it said, He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ. That's a reference
to Psalm 16 where David said, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer
thy holy one to see corruption. And Peter explains there, you know, David's body did
see corruption. He said his sepulcher is with us unto this day. David's body is still in
the tomb. David was not talking about himself. David never went to hell. David's body did
get corrupted in the grave. It says he was speaking of the resurrection of Christ. Kind
of like in Isaiah 53. Remember the Ethiopian eunuch is driving down the road to Gaza and
Philip asks him, he says, Understandest thou what thou readest to the eunuch? And the eunuch
said, How can I except some man should guide me? And he was reading Isaiah 53 about Jesus.
And he asked Philip, Tell me, is the prophet speaking about himself or is he talking about
some other man? And the answer was what? He was talking about Jesus Christ. He wasn't
talking about Philip. Isaiah did not have his beard plucked from his face. Isaiah was
not wounded for our transgressions and died on the cross for our sins. David did not die
on the cross. David did not have his hands and feet pierced. He was speaking prophetically
about Jesus Christ. Same thing in Jonah. Jesus said, just like Jonah was three nights
in the whale's belly, the son of man is going to be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth. Look at Jonah chapter 2 verse 1. This is after Jonah has just been swallowed.
Well, look at the end of verse 17 of chapter 1. It says, And Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights. Right? Chapter 2 verse 1. Then Jonah prayed unto
the Lord his God out of the fish's belly and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction
unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my
voice. Now, did Jonah really go to hell? No, but who did? The Lord Jesus Christ. His soul
went to hell for three days and three nights. That's prophesying about Jesus Christ right
there. Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. Now, look at verse
3. For thou hast cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas. Now what are we talking
about? Jonah or Jesus? Jonah. Because he was in the sea. It says, In the midst of the sea,
the floods compassed me about, and thy billows and thy waves cast over me. This is Jonah
talking. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy
temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul. The depth closed me round about.
The weeds, talking about like seaweed, right? The weeds were wrapped about my head. So this
is Jonah talking about his literal experiences in the whale's belly, you know, being mixed
in with everything else the whale was eating, all the seaweeds wrapped around his head and
everything like that. But as he explained to us, he's also prophetically looking forward
to Jesus Christ. He says in verse 6, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. Does
that apply to Jonah? No, he didn't go down to the bottoms, huh? Look at this. The earth
with her bars was about me forever. Around me, about me. Okay? Forever. So was the earth
about Jonah forever? No. But see, the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is an eternal being,
somehow suffered an eternal damnation in three days and three nights, he went to the bottoms
of the mountains. He had the earth about him. He was in the belly of hell. It says, yet
hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. Same exact wording used about
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His life was brought back. Now, when Jonah was praying
this in the whale's belly, had his life been brought up from corruption? No, he was still
alive, and he was still in the whale's belly while he was praying this. This is verse 6
and verse 2 are prophetic of Jesus Christ. He says in verse 7, my soul fainted within
me. I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee in thine holy temple. They that
observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice
of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord, and the Lord
spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Of course, the story continues.
Jonah goes to Nineveh, preaches, and so forth. You know, you can read the book of Jonah.
But the bottom line is, the Bible couldn't be any clearer. It's crystal clear. Unless
you just want to be one of these people who just changes what the Bible says, but you
don't like it, you know, and call it going back to the Greek or whatever, it says right
there that he went to hell. He said, you know, his soul was not left in hell. Bottom line,
end of story. All these other scriptures support that. The burn offering supports that.
And so Jesus Christ, back to Jesus Christ here, go to John 11, John chapter 11. Jesus
Christ was dreaded on that day before he went to the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Sweat pouring off his body. He dreaded all of the intense suffering he was going to have
in the book. Literal, physical torture that he was subjected to. The beatings, the being
spat upon, all the horrible things. And the Bible brings up over and over again that one
of the things he dreaded was the mockery, the shame, the contradiction of sinners against
himself. Being mocked and made fun of. And nobody likes to be made fun of or a laughing
stock, do they? You know, nobody likes to be a mockery and made a fool of. And Jesus
Christ, especially because he was so much greater than we are, you know, for him to
be brought down to that level were just these puny nothings, these wicked, dirty little
men that are just mouthing off to him. And you know, it's hard for him to take. But he
endured it. He endured the mockery. He endured the shame. He endured the criticism. And then
he went through all the physical pain, the physical torture. He hung on the cross. Then
the spiritual aspect where actually he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Actually there where he took upon himself the guilt and the sins and the shame of the
whole world and yet he punished for our sins and endured that. When he'd always had perfect
fellowship with the Father, going back all the way to the beginning of the world and
beyond the beginning just to the past infinity, never had he experienced that, where he was
actually separated from the Father in that way. And basically for three days and three
nights he paid our sins and then three days later he rose again. He conquered. It was
over. He completed the mission. And people will always say that, they'll say, well, if
Jesus went to hell, then why did he say it is finished on the cross? And this is what
they'll say, he'd already done everything for us to be saved. Let me think about it.
Had he risen from the dead? Because that's the most important part of the Gospel. The
most important part of the Gospel is the resurrection. The resurrection is the Gospel. That is the
good news. And so he hadn't done everything. When he said it is finished, he was referring
back to where he said I've finished the work which thou gaveth me to do. He said he'd finished
the works that God had given him on that earth that the Father had given him. But no, he
still had to die and he hadn't died yet when he said it is finished. He said it is finished,
then he gave up the ghost, then he was in hell for three days and three nights, then
he rose again and the resurrection is critical to our salvation, that we're saved by his
life, by his resurrection. And so Jesus Christ credited because he had that human aspect
of the pain and the sorrow. It wasn't like he's just a machine. Sometimes we just look
at it and just think, oh yeah, of course he lived a perfect life. He was God. No, because
every day he woke up and went through the same struggles that you go through and yet
he was without sin. Yet he showed us how to do it right, how to be a righteous person,
how to be godly, how to be good. And we look at it and see what he did for us to be saved
and then people will trust something else to get them to heaven. When Jesus said if
there's any way possible, let this cup pass from me, I knocked on the door a couple of
weeks ago, I think Brother Garrett was with me, I knocked on the door of a Jehovah's Witness
and he told me, he said, you don't have to be a Jehovah's Witness to go to heaven. He
said just anybody who's a good person is going to be resurrected. Anybody who's a good person
is going to be saved. You don't have to be a Jehovah's Witness. They basically believe
that we're saved. They believe pretty much 90 some percent of people are saved, the Jehovah's
Witnesses do. Even though the Bible says the broad is the way that leads to destruction
and many there be which go in their eyes because straight is the gate and narrow is the way
that leads them to life. He said if you're just a good person, you'll be saved, you'll
be fine, you'll have eternal life if you're just a good person. That is such a blasphemy
of Jesus Christ and what he went through. Basically what you're saying is what Jesus
did doesn't matter. You don't have to believe in that. He said he gave his son that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He didn't say that everybody
is just going to have everlasting life. Basically he said I don't need Jesus. I can just do
it in my own life. I can just live a good life. Your good life is nothing compared to
the life that Jesus lived. I don't care how good you think you are today. If I put your
life next to the life of Jesus Christ, your life is a filthy rag. That's what the Bible
says. All righteousness is are filthy rags to him. I mean when we think of Jesus, the
perfect man who did everything right, who suffered and sorrowed and died and begged
to not have to do it in his human aspect but yet he did it anyway because he loves
you and then you're going to say well God is not very loving because he said to kill
homosexuals. Hey God is the most loving God that there is. In fact he's the only God there
is. And you say oh God is not very loving because he doesn't let me commit adultery.
He doesn't let me do this and I want to do this and I want to look at porno. Hey you're
filthy. You're wicked. God's righteous. God loves you. God did everything for you. Recognize
that and love him for who he is. You know oftentimes even we as Christians can look
and say I don't think God's being fair to me. You know what? You have not gone through
anything in your life, even close to what Jesus did for you. He doesn't owe you anything.
Even if you lived a messed up life this whole life and everything went against you, at least
you're going to heaven. You have a home in heaven. How can we complain about God or complain
about Jesus after everything he did for us? And then we're too tired to go to church or
to serve God or to win souls or to read our Bible. I'm just a little too tired. Hey don't
you think Jesus was tired after he was up all night sweating? You know stress makes
you tired. You know I've noticed that whenever I'm under a lot of pressure and I have a lot
of stress and I'm dreading something it sucks the energy out of your body. Have you noticed
that? I mean we're talking about Jesus when he carried the cross. They had to have somebody
help him carry the cross up the hill. I mean they had to call somebody because he was beaten
so bad and he was in such anguish and pain that literally a man, Simon of Cyrene, had
to be called to come and help carry the cross up the hill. And we look at that and see what
he did for us and Jesus just said if you love me keep my commandments. And so look, keeping
God's commandments is going to start with love in your heart for Jesus. Love in your
heart for God. And if you're going to love Jesus you've got to know Jesus. And you've
got to know some things about Jesus and the more you know him the more you're going to
love him. And part of what you know about him is that he's God. And part of what you
know about him is that he was a human being that suffered and lived through every aspect
of life that you lived through. Was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin.
And the atheist today looks up and says well God doesn't exist because he's so mean. He's
not mean. He did everything for you just because you live in this alternate reality where people
can just do bad things and there's no punishment and no justice and if it feels good do it.
Just because you live in a warped alternate reality that came from TV and radio and schooling
and you've got all that in your mind, that doesn't change a fact. We live in a universe
that is governed by right and wrong, just, unjust, righteous, unrighteous and God cannot
step out of that nature. He's too holy. He's too right. And so that's why he said there's
no way I'm going to allow a sinful man into heaven. It cannot happen. That sin must be
punished and that's why Jesus Christ took the punishment because God's love wanted man
to be there even though God's justice couldn't have allowed a sinful, wicked person to just
be off the hook. That's how loving God is. The Jehovah's Witness that you'll be out knocking
doors and going oh a loving God wouldn't send anybody to hell. Well you know what? God is
love and yet he does send people to hell. Because he gave you every chance. He gives
you the word of God. He gives you the truth. If you choose to reject it then you're going
to be punished for your sinful life. And don't kid yourself. You think you're such a good
person. Look, we all have sinned. And without Jesus Christ, we're doomed. But thanks be
to God, over 20 some years ago I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior and
I'm going to heaven because of him and him alone. And if there was some other way, he
never even would have died on that cross. If there was some other way, the Father would
have instantly said, okay, you know what? Let's just call this whole thing off. You're
right. But he said no, there is no other way and Jesus said well if this is the only way
I'm going to do it. If it has to be done and there's no other way, I will go through
with it. It wasn't easy for him. It was hard. It was difficult for him. But he did it.
Look at John chapter 11. Famous verse. Verse 35. Two words. Jesus wept. That's who Jesus
is. A human being on this earth. Weeping, sorrowing. It says if you go up just a few
verses, it says in verse 33 when Jesus therefore saw her weeping. Basically he saw his friend
because if you go up to verse 5, it says now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
These were some of his closest friends. Mary and Martha and Lazarus were a family that
he was very close with. He really loved them. And it says in verse 33 when Jesus therefore
saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit
and was troubled. It bothered him. He went through pain and suffering just like we do.
He wept. He cried. And the Bible says he cried with strong crying and tears. He was a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And he said that yet we hid as it were our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. He said he was rejected. He was hated
by a sinful, filthy, ungodly world that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me tell you
something. He's going to come back one day in wrath and anger to judge those who rejected
the truth and that have rejected his sacrifice. He tried all throughout the Old Testament.
He kept sending prophets. He kept trying to teach them. He kept trying to help them. Then
at last he sent his son, died for all of our sins and was made the propitiation for our
sins. But eventually there comes a point where if you reject that gift, you reject
the truth, you're going to be damned if you're not saved. Most of the people in here, almost
everybody in here is saved. But I'm sure there's probably somebody in here or a few people
in here that are not saved that are trusting in their own works to get them to heaven.
Or they just think, well I don't believe in that guy. He's not a loving God. He's the
only God that there is. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. And if you don't believe in
Jesus Christ, you don't believe in God. People say I believe in God, but I don't believe
in Jesus. No, you believe in a false God. Because there's only one God and it's Jesus.
And Jesus became man. And you say, well that's a contradiction. You're just proving that
you're not saved. Because you have to believe to understand. And if you don't understand
that, if you can't comprehend that, then just at least believe it. I'm not saying you understand
how that all works. But if you say, well that doesn't make any sense, you know, that Jesus
is God. That can't make sense. And you're just saying, why don't you just wear a sign
that says, I'm not saved. I'm spiritually blinded. Because we just saw it over and over.
We saw his humanity, didn't we? He said, I don't even know that they had a second coming.
He grew in wisdom. He suffered, he sorrowed, he begged the Father. He said, not my will,
but as thou wilt. There was a difference in will there. You see that? Jesus' will said,
I don't want to do this. It's pain. It's suffering. It's torture. It's horrible. I
don't want to go through this. But yet the Father's will was that he go through it. Because
God loved the world and sent his Son. And basically the Father's will was to do it.
The human aspect of Jesus said, I don't want to do it. And yet he did it anyway. And so
it's very biblical that Jesus is God. No question. That Jesus is the only God in the
flesh. But it's also very biblical that Jesus was human. That doesn't mean he sinned.
He never sinned. He was without fault. But he went through the pain and suffering and
weaknesses that we go through. He fell down. He sorrowed. He hungered. He thirsted. He
went through all these things. Love him. The moral of the sermon is just to love him.
Love him. I mean, I hope that after this morning's sermon you know him a little better. Maybe
than you knew him before. And hopefully this will motivate you to read Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John and get to know the man. Get to know the person. The man Christ Jesus. And hopefully
the more you get to know him and hopefully this morning's sermon will help you to know
him a little better, then you'll love him. And when you love him then you'll want to
obey him. And when it seems like it's too hard to obey him and it seems like he's asking
too much of you, just remember what he obeyed and what he went through to save you. And
hopefully your love will want to return that to him even though we never could even begin
to repay him. But just try to love him. That's all he asks is to try to serve and try to
love him. If you're not saved, there's only one thing you have to do to be saved. Just
believe. That's all. You don't have to live a good life. You don't have to join a church.
You don't have to stop sinning. Those are all things that we're incapable of doing except
joining a church. That's pretty much the only thing I listen that's even possible for
us as simply humans. But the bottom line is you just have to believe. That's all. Just
believe it. But those that are already saved, which is the majority, that's who I'm mainly
talking to, the message is to love them. So for those that are not saved, you've got to
believe. Whether you love them or not, just believe. Just be saved. But if you're saved
today, get to know him, love him, and understand the person. Let's bow our heads and have a
word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word today, dear God, and we thank
you so much for the powerful message. What a story. What a life as we read Jesus Christ's
life in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. My favorite part of the Bible, the four Gospels,
is help us as we read it to understand that the man that was God in the flesh, help us
to comprehend that, dear God, and help us to show our love to you by doing right and
by serving you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.