Jesus became sin for us

2 Corinthians 5: 17 – 21

Introduction: How many of you

As a child

Ever faced

the consequences

Of disobedience?

Man

I sure did!

In fact

When I was a kid

Those consequences

Were physical

in nature.

I got spanked

When I disobeyed.

And that was

never pleasant

At least

not at the time.

But then…

On one occasion…

I suffered the consequences

Of my siblings

disobedience.

see

Back when I was a child

You could dial

your own number

And make the phone ring.

And

On one occasion

We were at my grandpa’s

Visiting.

And…

My parents.…

And my grandparents…

Were sitting on the front porch.

While me

My brother and sister

Were sitting

In the front room.

And

My siblings

kept making

The phone ring.

But on the final time

After my parents

Had warned us.…

I got Spanked

For my siblings disobedience.

How unpleasant that was.

But let me say

I wasn’t completely innocent.

Because the fact is

I was more or less

Complicit

In their disobedience.

But

Allow me

To read you a Scripture

In 2 Corinthians

Turn there please

To chapter 5

And let’s read

Beginning in verse 17

The apostle Paul wrote

In 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 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.”

Now

Think about that.

Jesus suffered

The consequences

Of our sin.

And with that in mind

Let’s pray together

(Pray)

III. The benefit

Declaration

Now then

Sometime

Between Wednesday

And Friday

Some 2000 years ago

The Lord Jesus Christ

Died

On Calvary’s cross.

He died

A horrific death.

The Scripture

Paints a vivid picture

Of our Lord’s death.

For example

The prophet Isaiah wrote

About our Savior

That

In Isaiah 53:3–7 “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 he hath borne 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 are healed. 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. 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.”

then

Matthew 27:45-56,

Mark 15:33-41,

Luke 23:44-49,

and John 19:28-30

describe

His final hours

Living on this earth

As well as the crucifixion.

and ours Saviors last words!

And

We are going to be talking

About those things

This evening.

But somewhere

Between Wednesday

And Friday…

Our Savior

Was crucified

And He died.

And

As we think about our text…

Our key verse

For this evening

Alludes to that.

In fact

Let’s read verse 21.

Again…

Paul wrote

2 Corinthians 5:21 “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.”

Now

Think about that.

He

That is God…

Made Him

That is Jesus…

To be sin for us.

And sin

Carries a heavy penalty.

The penalty of death!

Oh but

Jesus

Was made sin for us…

So that we

Might be made

The righteousness of God

In Him

So

This evening

As

we prepare

To take the Lord’s supper…

I want to talk about

The fact

That the Lord Jesus Christ

Became sin for us.

And consider the Benefit…

That…

That is.

But

Before we talk about

The benefit

That we have

In Jesus’ death…

In Jesus’ willingness

To be sin for us.

Before we talk about the benefit

That we have

In these things…

We

Need to be reminded

Of the reason

The Lord Jesus Christ

Had to become sin

For all of us.

And the reason is this.

All have sinned

And come short

Of the glory of God.

As

Wednesday night Christians

As Christians

Who are faithful

To the House of God.

We know that verse

in Romans 3:23

But we know that

Every man

Woman

And young person

Is a sinner.

By the way

You don’t have to be an ax murderer

To be a sinner.…

Do you?!

You don’t have to be a bank robber

To be a sinner.

You don’t have to be a drug dealer

To be a sinner.

or an extortioner

Or an adulterer.

Because

The truth is

Our very thoughts

Can be sinful.

A so-called…

Little white lie

Is a sin.

An unkind word

Is a sin.

Refusal

To obey the Great Commission

Is a sin.

Avoiding

Giving of your tithes and offerings

Is a sin.

And I could go on and on.

But the fact is

All have sinned

And come short

Of the glory of God.

And

As Wednesday night Christians

We also know

What Paul said

In Romans 6:23

He said

(Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The word death there

fundamentally means

separation.

It

refers primarily

to spiritual death.

For the separation

of the soul

from God.

It represents

a present state

of spiritual lostness.

That is

separation

from God's life.

See…

The wages of sin

Is death…

Separation

From God Almighty.

So because

Every man

Woman

And young person

Is

a sinner

Then every man

Woman

And young person

Is under the condemnation

Of their sin.

No matter what it is…

Relegating them

To an eternity

Apart from God!

And again

As Wednesday night Christians

We know that.

We hear it preached

On a regular basis.

So we understand that.

But the Truth is

The Lord Jesus Christ

The Son of God

Became sin for us.

He faced

Separation from God

For us.

So that

We might be made

The righteousness of God

In Him.

He took on the burden

That was rightfully ours

And imparted to us

The greatest benefit

We could ever have.

Discussion

And

Here is how that looks.

God transferred

All of our sins

To the Lord Jesus.

And in the process

God transferred

All of His righteousness

The righteousness of Christ

To us.

see

Christ,

who was sinless,

was treated as though

He was guilty

on the cross,

And he took the penalty

That we deserved.

So that we might

Stand righteous

Before God.

So that we can be…

Viewed…

As though

We are totally right

With the Lord God.

see

we are not righteous

in

And of ourselves.

But

in Christ’s death

On the cross…

His

righteousness

is credited

to our account.

So that

God doesn’t see

Our sins.

All God sees

Is the righteousness

Of our Savior

Living in us!

And

In the process

Because Jesus

Became sin for us

Dying

To pay the penalty of our sins…

And because God

Transferred Jesus’ righteousness

To us…

Then…

We have reconciliation.

We

Read that in our text

A few moments ago.

Let’s read it again

Paul said

Beginning in verse 17

(2 Corinthians 5:17–19 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

Now think about that.

God reconciled us

To Himself

By Jesus Christ.

That is

By the death

Of the Lord Jesus Christ

And through the transference

Of the righteousness

Of the Lord Jesus Christ

By these things.

God has been able

To reconcile us

To Himself.

But

Let’s talk about

The word reconciliation here

For just a moment.

Reconciliation

Is the process

Where God removes the barrier

of sin

From the sinner...

Restoring

A

Broken relationship

Between Himself

And humanity

Through the substitutionary Sacrifice

Of our Savior.

it is a divine initiative …

where God

does not count people's trespasses

against them,

But

effectively

he swaps human sin

for Christ’s righteousness.

And in the process

The barrier of sin

Is removed.

God is then able

To restore friendship

And fellowship

To those

Who previously

Were alienated

From Him.

So think about that.

Because Jesus

Became sin for us…

We Have the blessing

Of the righteousness of Christ…

And reconciliation…

With God!

see..

On

The one hand

We are considered righteous

In God’s sight…

Because of our Savior’s sacrifice

On the cross of Calvary.

We don’t stand before God

As a sinner who is rotten.

We stand before God

As a saint

Who is righteous.

What a benefit!

Then

Additionally…

Because of Christ’s sacrifice

In becoming sin for us…

We not only have

The righteousness of Christ.

But like I said…

We have reconciliation

With God.

We

Are no longer enemies

We are no longer

Alienated

From Him

We now have a relationship

With Him.

And listen…

It is not just

Any relationship

It

Is the relationship

That a Father has

With a son.

How special that is.

I’m reminded

Of the words

Of the apostle John

In

The book of 1 John

John said

In 1 John 3:1–3 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

John was saying

God loved us so much

That He bestowed upon us

Not only

The righteousness of Christ

And

Not only

Reconciliation

To God the Father

But God bestowed upon us

The relationship

With a Heavenly Father.

And would we…

As God’s children.

My

What marvelous benefits

We have!

Because the Lord Jesus Christ…

Became sin for us…

Were so blessed

As believers…

In what our Savior has done.

What benefits

These are.

And

By the way

There aren’t benefits to those

Who are deserving.

None of us

Is deserving

Of these benefits

No

We deserve

The wages of our sin.

But

What love

God bestows upon us

Literally

From the palm of His hand.

God bestows upon us

A love

That a Father has

For His children.

What

A relationship that is.

God is our Father

We are His sons

And His daughters.

What a special relationship

That is.

Now

By the way

There are lots of kinds

Of Relationships

In this world.

For example

There are

Business relationships.

There are casual

Relationships.

There are best friend

Relationships.

Which can be very special.

But

The relationship

Between a parent

And a child

Is very special.

And to illustrate

Just how special they are…

My mother

Was my parent.

And

The relationship

That we had

Was so special…

That I called her

Every single day.

Only missing

A handful of days

In more than a decade.

But

I have a best friend

In North Carolina

That I don’t call

Nearly that much.

And the point is…

The relationship

Between a parent

And a child

Is so special.

And

Because Jesus

Became sin for us

Dying on the cross

To pay for our sins

Then…

We have been made

The righteousness of God

In Him.

And

We have become

Reconciled

To God

Because of the Lord Jesus Christ

And His death

For our sins…

We are no longer enemies

We are friends.

And

We have a special relationship

With our God

We are His children

and He is our Father….

And as our Father

He cares for us.

He provides for us.

He listens to our prayers.

Determination

But

Let me add

One more thing

One more benefit

That we have

In the Lord Jesus’ death.

We have a heavenly reality

see

Our sins are forgiven

They have

Been transferred

To Jesus Christ.

So

We stand before God

As righteous people.

And as such…

We will one day

Be taken up into heaven.

Which

Reminds me

Of Enoch.

Enoch

Was a man

who pleased God.

So God took him.

He

Translated him.

And took him into heaven.

And one day

Either by death

or

By rapture…

God will likewise

Dispatch Jesus

To take us as well…

Up into heaven.

My

What great benefits we have

In the Lord Jesus’ death.

In

His becoming sin

For us.

We have

The righteousness of Christ

Which is amazing

We have

Reconciliation with God

We have

A new relationship

As children of God

And

We have

A heavenly reality

We’re going to heaven

One day

And I don’t know About you…

But I wish that day

Were today!

By the way

Speaking of heaven

Let me read you

A poem

That I found

As I was preparing

This evening

I don’t know the author

But

The

Poem says…

I am home in Heaven,

dear ones;

Oh, so happy

and so bright!

There is perfect joy

and beauty

In this everlasting light.

All

pain and grief is over,

Every restless tossing passed;

I am now at peace forever,

Safely home in Heaven

at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly

Trod the valley of the shade?

Oh! But Jesus’ love illumined

Every dark

and fearful glade.

But see...

What benefits we have

As believers.

In Jesus’…

Becoming sin for us.

We have

The righteousness of Christ

Reconciliation with God

A relationship

With the Father

and a reality

That is heavenly

II. The Burden

Declaration

But

While we have

Such wonderful benefits.…

Yet…

Our Savior

Was so burdened

To provide those benefits

For all of us.

In fact

Look back in our text

And

Let’s read again

Verse 21

The Bible says

About God the Father

In relation

To God the Son

(2 Corinthians 5:21 “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.”

Now then

We know

That the wages of sin

is death.

The Bible says

in Rom 6:23

But the fact is

The Lord Jesus Christ

Knew no sin

He never sinned

Not ever.

Oh

But God the Father

Made Him

Sin for us.

But how did God do that?

Well

As I’ve already said

When God transferred

The righteousness

Of

His dear Son

The Lord Jesus Christ

To all of us.

Well in the process

God transferred

The sins

Of all of us

to His dear Son

and...

Jesus

In that Transaction

Was treated

Was looked upon as

A sinner.

And listen please

The soul that sinneth

It shall die.

So that

When

Jesus became sin

He was then subject

To the awful consequences

Of our sin.

He was subject

To the immense burden

Of sin.

And the point is…

To enable us

To enjoy

The immense benefit

That we have in Christ…

Christ had to endure

An immense burden.

And that’s what I want to talk about

For the rest of our time tonight.

Because see

Some

2000 years ago

Our Savior

Endured the burden

Of the cross.

And that burden

Was threefold

Discussion

And

First of all

Let us consider

The physical burdens

That the Lord Jesus endured

To provide us

With such wonderful benefits.

And number 1

Jesus endured

Scourging

In fact

Roman soldiers

beat Jesus

with a flagrum,

Which was a whip designed

to tear skin

and muscle.

This whip was embedded

With metal

or bone.

To provide maximum suffering

And…

The

Bible tells us

in Mark 15

That the crowds

Cried out

Regards to Jesus

(Mark 15:13–15 “And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.”

But see

They scourged Jesus

They

Took that Whip

Complete with stone

Or metal

On the ends…

And they whipped Jesus

Striking Him

Again and again.

And according to history

the

lashes

were aimed

at the back,

the buttocks,

and legs,

though sometimes

striking the face

and chest.

and

These blows

ripped open skin,

They exposed muscles

and sometimes

skeletal structures,

leading to Extreme bleeding!

Scourging likewise

Often  

caused

rib fractures,

collapse of the lungs

and lacerations

of the liver

and spleen.

So the truth is

Jesus would have experienced..

immediate

hypovolemic shock.

That is

shock

from blood loss

Jesus experienced

profound dehydration,

muscle tremors,

and intense trembling.

So think about that.

In order for you and I…

To

Receive

The immense benefits

Of the righteousness

Of Christ

Of reconciliation

With God

Of a relationship

With the Father

And of a reality

In heaven.

In order

For us

To receive those benefits.

Our Savior

Was burdened physically

As He was Scourged.

Whipped so profusely

That His flesh

Was torn open…

Exposing His Muscle…

And even perhaps…

His skeletal structure.

Likewise

In addition to the scourging.

Jesus endured

Physical abuse.

Where first of all

He was beaten in the face.

The Bible says

About the crowds

In relation to Jesus

That

In Matthew 26:67–68 “Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?”

How

Brutal

That must’ve been.

How very burdensome.

The Bible says

Likewise

In John 18:22 “And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?”

It says

In John 19:1–3 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.”

By the way

The crown of thorns

Mentioned here

Historically

and botanically,

That was Placed

on Jesus's brow

What likely

from

A thorn bush

common

around Jerusalem,

featuring thorns

1 to 2 inches Long.

Likewise…

There were probably

Between 30 to 50 thorns

That were mashed down

Into His brow.

So…

This

With have Caused

Intense pain

And profuse bleeding

To occur

From the punctured skin.

Our Savior’s face…

Must have been

A bloodied mess!

Oh

What physical burden

Our Savior endured

To provide us

With

the Immense benefits we have.

But then

Jesus was likewise compelled

To carry His cross

We are told

In John 19:17 “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:”

Now think about that.

 Despite His weakened state,

After being beaten

To know to the point of death…

After being compelled…

To wear a crown of thorns…

Not to mention

Having his Hair

Torn from His face…

In fact

Isaiah wrote

Of the Messiah

That He would say

In Isaiah 50:6 “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.”

But see

After

All of that physical abuse…

He was then

forced to carry

the wooden crossbeam

to Golgotha.

And it is estimated

That

That wooden cross beam

Weighed

Between

75

to 125 pounds.

Think about that…

After being physically brutalized

He was made to carry a cross

That weighed

More than half as much

as He did.

But then

There was the crucifixion.

When Jesus arrived

At Golgotha.

The Scripture

Along with history

tells us

That

Nails

7-9 inches long

were

driven

through the wrists,

Of the spotless Lamb of God.

damaging major nerves.

Those nails were likewise driven

through His feet.

and His full weight

hung

from these nails,

causing

shoulder/elbow

dislocation…

and immense difficulty

breathing.

By the way

We know that

Nails were driven

Through Jesus’ hands

Because

Of what we are told

In John 20:25–27 “The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.”

Oh what immense pain

Jesus suffered.

What An Immense burden

He carried

To provide us

With such immense blessings…

as

Those  Iron spikes

were driven

through his wrists

and the median nerve)...

And through

Jesus’ feet,

causing agonizing,

and continuous pain.

Deliberation

But

As I have already

Made mention of...

the Crucifixion

resulted

in a slow death

by suffocation,

Because hanging there

required Him

to

lift His body weight

against the nail-pierced wounds

In order to breathe.

By the way

Suffocating slowly

Is Horrible.

Now

A couple of years ago

A

Piece of food

Got lodged in my throat

Cutting off my airway.

so I was struggling

To breathe.

So my wife Tina then

Tried the Heimlich maneuver

Which didn’t seem to work.

So I thought

I would choke to death.

But

God in His graciousness

Somehow allowed

The food to go down my throat

Enabling me to breathe

Once again.

But in that brief moment…

It was terrible.

Oh but

the Savior…

Endured

That awful time

Of hanging on the cross

Struggling to breathe

Suffering immense pain

For several hours.

Oh what heavy burdens

Christ carried

Physical burdens

So that we might be the recipients

Of such immense benefits.

And

We didn’t even mention

The fact

That Jesus’ side

Was pierced

We are told

In John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”

I’m just trying to get you to see

That

In order

For you and I

To receive

The immense benefits

Of the righteousness of Christ

Reconciliation

With God the Father

A new relationship

With the heavenly Father

And a heavenly reality.

Our Savior

Endured

Immense!

And let me stress again…

Immense!!

Physical burden.

But

At the same time too

In order for us

To receive

The benefits I’ve mentioned.

Our Savior likewise endured

Immense

Emotional burden.

For

Example…

The Lord Jesus Christ

Was the King of kings

The Bible says.

Yet

He was humiliated

With a Crown of thorns.

How terrible!

And

Not only that

But Jesus was humiliated

By being crucified

Without clothing

In fact

The apostle John wrote

In John 19:23–24 “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.”

This

Was the fulfillment

Of a prophecy made

In the Psalms.…

With regard to Jesus…

In Psalm 22:18 “They part my garments among them, And cast lots upon my vesture.”

see

Those Roman soldiers

Took

The Lord Jesus’

Outer garments

And basically gambled

For them

How humiliating…

From an emotional standpoint.

See

Decent people

Have

No desire

To be stripped down

Out of their clothing.

It would be humiliating

If that happened

to any of us.

That’s true.

But imagine

The

Son of God

Being stripped down

Out of His clothing.

Oh

How humiliating

That must’ve been.

What an emotional burden

That had to have been

For our Savior.

But then

To top it all off

Jesus suffered

Mockery and shame

as  Roman soldiers

and Jewish

religious leaders

mocked Jesus,

calling Him

"King of the Jews"

while

slapping him,

spitting on Him,

and Beating Him

with a reed.

In fact

Just imagine

That you are

a king

And

Someone spit upon you.

Oh

How humiliating

That must have been.

And even before

Any of that took place …

The Savior

was subjected

to false accusations

during

I'm unjust trials,

And He was blindfolded,

and taunted

to "prophesy"

who was striking Him.

But see…

All of this was designed

To dehumanize

The Lord Jesus Christ.

But

All of this was prophesied

In the book of Isaiah

When he wrote

(Isaiah 53:1–5 “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of a dry ground: He hath 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 he hath borne 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 are healed.”

Oh listen please

The Lord Jesus Christ

Endured

Such

Immense burden

In order to provide us

With such immense benefits

The benefits

Of the righteousness of Christ

Reconciliation with God

A relationship

With the Heavenly Father

And a heavenly reality

Jesus

Suffered Physical burdens

That surely weakened Him.

Jesus suffered

Emotional burdens

That surely

hurt Him.

Determination

But ultimately

The Lord Jesus Christ

Suffered

Such immense

Spiritual burden

Being forsaken

By His own Father.

In fact

Turn

If you would please

To the gospel of Matthew

Matthew 27

And read with me

Versus 45 – 49

The Bible says

In Matthew 27:45–49 “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 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? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.”

Now

Do you see that word

Forsaken…

In verse 46?

That word

Means literally

To leave one behind.

It carries the idea

Of desertion.

So…

As

Jesus was enduring

Such physical pain

And such emotional burden.

God the Father

Deserted Him.

He suffered

Awful Spiritual pain.

Jesus suffered separation

From God!

All

Because

Of our sins.

All because

Of our little white lies.

Our occasional lust.

Our laziness.

Our loose lips.

Our lapses…

In spiritual judgment.

Oh Listen

In order for us

To receive

Those wonderful benefits.

The Lord Jesus Christ

Had to suffer

Immense burden.

a burden

That was physical in nature

A burden

That was emotional

In nature

And a burden

There was ultimately spiritual

In nature.

Where He was deprived

For the first time

In eternity

of Fellow shipping

With His Heavenly Father.

Oh

What immense pain

Jesus had to endure

In order to provide…

What is mentioned

Back in our text

In 2 Corinthians.

Let’s

Read it again

Beginning in verse 17

The apostle Paul wrote

In 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 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.”

Oh what burdens

Jesus endured

To provide for us

These wonderful benefits

III. The blessing

Declaration

But

That brings us

To a blessing

This evening.

We have the blessing

Of Being able to dedicate our all

To the cause of Christ.

or

at the very least

to

Examine ourselves…

This evening

In fact

In closing

Turn if you would

To the book of 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 11

And let’s read

Beginning in verse 23

The Bible says

In 1 Corinthians 11:23–31 “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”

Now then

Let me ask you

To bow your heads

And close your eyes

And examine yourself.

Is there

Anything between you

And the Lord Jesus?

If

There is…

Judge yourself.

That is

If need be…

Judge that what you’re doing

Is wrong…

And repent of it.

And God will be merciful.

Would you do that

In the Quietness of this hour?

I’m

Going to ask our pianist

To play quietly

And while she does

You pray quietly

Examining yourself

Before the Lord.

And if you find

Any sin there

You get it right

with God

Conclusion: Let’s close in prayer