I was witnessing at MSU last year and a young lady came up to me and said if I thought they were going to be held more responsible on Judgment Day because they heard and rejected the Gospel, wouldn’t she have been better off if I wasn’t there witnessing to her. For some reason, God keeps bringing this to my mind and all I keep thinking about is: there is no air-conditioning in Hell and there are no plush suites in Hell. Hell is Hell. So is it fair that unrepentant sinners go there when they die? Is it fair?
First of all, it’s not about us, it’s about Jesus. Jesus Christ left His home in glory; He left Heaven and came down to earth where He was born of the virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. The Creator of the universe (Ephesians 3:9) was not born into a wealthy family. The One whom everything was made through, was born in a lowly stable, where the animals were.
Colossians 1:12-17, 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Money does not impress Him. You cannot buy salvation and the great Judge of Heaven and earth cannot be bribed.
Jesus lived a sinless life and willingly gave Himself over to the Roman soldiers. No man took it from Him (John 10:18). He could have called 12 legions of angels to come and rescue Him, but He didn’t. He willingly laid down His life for guilty sinners like you and me. Why would He do that?
Even before Adam and Eve were created, Jesus knew that they would sin. Yet God made them anyway. Jesus knew that He would have to suffer and die for guilty sinners like us, yet we were created anyway. God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Jesus, the perfect One, who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf. 2 Corinthians 5:21 states For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus suffered immensely for guilty sinners. He bore the wrath of God, the anger of God over our sins, while He hung on that cross. He shed His innocent blood for guilty sinners like us.
1 John 4:9-10 says, In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means the wrath was satisfied.
The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission sin, or in other words there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). So tonight, I want to talk to you about the suffering of Jesus Christ. I doubt that I can truly help you see the terrible suffering that Christ endured for sinners like you and me, but I will try.
Matthew 27:26 states Then released he Barabbas to them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Scourged; it’s just one little word in this Bible verse. But what does scourged mean? The Roman soldiers took a whip with pieces of glass, rock or metal in the ends of the straps and viciously beat Jesus across His bare back 39 painful times. Lash after forceful lash. Ripping open Jesus’ flesh. He suffered tremendously from violent blow after violent blow.
Then the soldiers put a scarlet robe upon Him and they platted a crown of thorns on his head and put a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! (Matthew 27:28-29.)
Then they spit on Jesus and they took the reed out of his hand and hit Him on the head. They drove those horrible thorns into His head. Jesus was bleeding from His back and from His brow. Then they made Him carry the cross out of the city to Golgotha.
Then they crucified Him. They didn’t use little 16 penny nails back in those days. This is an exact replica of a first century nail found in Jerusalem. Look at this nail. Really look at it. Imagine the Roman soldiers stretching Jesus out on the cross and pounding nails like this into His hands and feet. Can you picture the awful pain and agony that must have been for Him? Then they would have dropped the cross in a hole in the ground.
Then the soldiers gambled over his clothes. Yes, Jesus hung on the cross naked. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been? The soldiers and the bystanders mocked Jesus as He hung on that cruel, cruel cross. I have read that this was a horrible form of torture. In fact, the word excruciating comes from the Latin word that means out of the cross. Jesus suffered excruciating pain while He hung on the cross. I have read that you couldn’t breathe normally while hanging on a cross. Your lungs filled up with water and blood. So a person would have to lift themselves up in order to take a breath. Jesus did that through the excruciating pain, breath after painful breath for 6 long hours. Rubbing his shredded up and down on the old rugged cross each time he breathed.
Jesus cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? He also said it is finished and into your hands I commend my spirit. Jesus died a horrible, agonizing death. But I dare say that the physical pain wasn’t even the worst part. As painful, as unimaginable and horrific as it was, it wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that He endured God’s wrath over sin, over the sin of guilty sinners like you and me, the whole six hours Jesus hung on that cross. Can you even slightly grasp tonight how much God hates sin? He hates sin so much that it took all the suffering of Jesus Christ to wipe out the sins of repentant sinners.
Jesus died on that cross, He was buried in a tomb for three days and then He rose victoriously from the grave. Up from the grave He arose! Jesus defeated sin; He defeated death and He defeated Satan. Please try to imagine in your mind the description of the suffering of Christ that you’ve heard tonight. Please try to imagine putting your own loved one through that. Can you picture the person you love the most in the world enduring all of the things Jesus went through? Can you imagine you; you being the one who willingly put them through that. Can you imagine doing that in order for you to forgive others who have wronged you? Can you imagine doing that in order to cleanse vile sinners? Can you picture this?
Again, I ask you, how much do you think God hates sin? The Bible says that God cannot tolerate sin. Sin will be punished in one of two ways. 1. Either Jesus paid your sin debt in full, when He endured the beating and suffering and the shedding of His precious blood when He hung and died on the cross. 2. You will foolishly pay the sin debt that you owe by burning in Hell forever and ever. Jesus described Hell as a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He said that it is a place where the worm dies not. It is a place where the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever and where they have no rest day or night.
Hell is no picnic and it is no party place. There are no people whooping and hollering for joy in Hell. There are no plush suites in Hell. Hell is Hell and it is not where you want to go. But the only way to avoid that awful place is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. You must recognize that you are a sinner and that you owe an unpayable sin debt to God. You can never pay it on your own. You can’t earn salvation and you cannot bribe God. But if you admit that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved, you can be saved if you cry out to Jesus. He is the only way of salvation. Cry out for Him to save you. Stop trusting in your own goodness, in your own self righteousness to save you. None of us are righteous.
But you must stop trusting in yourself and start trusting in Jesus Christ. You must surrender your life to Him. (Romans 10:9-10). (Romans 10:13). Oh tonight, be saved. Stop being one of the mockers and scoffers who drove the nails into our precious Lord’s hands and feet. Stop spitting in the Lord’s face. Stop hitting Him in the head with the reed. Stop scourging our Lord. STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! Turn from your sins and live. Turn away from your sins and turn to Jesus. Be saved tonight. Willingly bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do this tonight.
Don’t foolishly wait until Judgment Day to do this. The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). But if you wait until Judgment Day, it will be too late. Every single person out here tonight will bow their knee and confess with their tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh, you will do this, but right after that you will be cast into the lake of fire if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior. Don’t wait. Don’t put this off.
I gladly and willingly bow my knee and confess with my tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Won’t you join me? Won’t you be saved tonight? Come to Jesus. Be born again. Do this tonight. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. Be saved tonight. Repent and believe the Gospel. Turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ. He is the only Savior. Surrender your life tonight to the suffering Christ.
(This message was proclaimed on July 18, 2014 on the square in Springfield, MO)