THE CROSS MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

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John 19:16-37

THE CROSS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
Title: The Cross Makes the Difference
Text: John 19:16-37
Date: March 20, 2016
Intro: This is a very special time of the year for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ. To me, it is far more special than Christmas.
As we approach the time when we will celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, it is a time for believers to think about the things that really matter in life.
The things that make life worth living and the things that have shaped us into what we are this morning.
For me, it is a time to remember the cross. It is a time to remember that 2,000 years ago, God loved me so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross so that I might be saved.
It is a time for me to remember that, while my upbringing, my education, and my experiences have contributed to who I am, it was the cross of Calvary that made the difference in my life. If you are saved, you will have to make the same statement today!
This morning I want to take you back to that day when Heaven died for earth.
I want to take you back to Calvary and show you why the old rugged cross made the difference. If you are saved, I hope you will remember what Jesus did for you that day and I pray that you will fall in love with Him all over again.
If you are lost, I want you to learn today that the cross of Calvary can make all the difference in your life now and in your eternity later. As we travel back to that time long ago, and look at a message that is as fresh as today.
Allow me to make a few observations from this text that tell how and why The Cross Makes The Difference.

I. THE TRIP TO THE CROSS-VS. 16-18

A. V. 16 The Plan Of That Trip

Pilate delivered his prisoner to the cross, but God was fulfilling an ages old plan by delivering up His Son, 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8.
1 Peter 1:18–20 KJV 1900
18 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,
Calvary wasn’t an accident, it was a divine assignment. Designed to purchase salvation for sinners.

B. V. 17 The Place Of That Trip

The place of a skull.” A place associated with death in the minds of the people of Jerusalem. Yet, it was a place prepared by the Father Himself (Ill. The foreknowledge and planning of the Father!) A place designed to host the death of the Lamb of God.

C. V. 17, 18 The Pain Of That Trip –

Verse 17 tells us that He carried His cross to Calvary. The other Gospel writers mention that a man by the name of Simon of Cyrene carried the cross for Him. There is no contradiction! He left Pilate’s judgment hall carrying the cross. Simon was recruited along the way to help. John’s words bring to mind the symbolism of the cross. Jesus was bearing upon Him the sins of the world! That cross was more than wood. It represented the heartbreak, the pain, the slavery and the debt of sin. That’s what Jesus was carrying that day!
When they arrived at Calvary, verse 18 reminds us that Jesus was crucified. They nailed our Lord to the cross with spikes through His hands and His feet. (Ill. The agony of that experience! Isa. 53:4-5; Isa. 52:14.)
Isaiah 53:4–5 KJV 1900
4 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.
Isaiah 52:14
14- As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

D. V. 18 The Power Of That Trip –

Verse 18 records that Jesus was “in the midst” of two thieves that day. Friend, when Jesus gets in the midst, things begin to happen! Luke 23:42-43 tells us that one of those thieves came to faith in Jesus that day and was saved. The other died lost, because he rejected Jesus. The truth of this verse is that Jesus cannot be avoided. Just like those thieves, every person in this room will make a decision concerning Jesus Christ! He cannot be evaded or avoided. You will decide!
The trip to the cross

II. THE TESTIMONY AT THE CROSS-VS. 19-24

(Ill. Two events occurred at Calvary that day that gave loud testimony to what was taking place.)

A. V. 19-22 The Testimony Of The Writing –

Ill. Pilate’s sign. Written in Hebrew, the language of religion; Greek, the language of philosophy and culture (Greek was also the language of the common man!); and Latin, the language of law and government; the sign told all who might have passed by that Jesus was The King of the Jews.
The cross of Christ became a giant Gospel tract for all who were passing by.
The importance of this is that Jesus is pictured as a universal Savior. That does not mean that He will automatically save everybody, but that He will save anyone who will come to Him by faith regardless of their social standing or background.
He is the Savior of “whosoever will.”, John 3:16; Rev. 22:17.
John 3:16
16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Revelation 22:17
17- And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

B. V. 23-24 The Testimony Of The Wager –

Ill. The seamless garment. The soldiers gambled for it just as the Scriptures has predicted, Psalm 22:18.
Psalms 22:18
18- They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
The picture in this garment is special.
· First, the seamless garment was to be worn by the High Priest of Israel as part of his ceremonial dress, Exodus 39. This was to remind him that he was going into the presence of God without blemish and without flaw. This was picture of the Lord Jesus and what He was about to do as our Great High Priest, Heb. 9:24-28; Heb. 10:12.
Hebrews 9:24-28
24- For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25- Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26- For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27- And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28- So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 10:12
12- But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
· Second, just the night before, Israel’s High Priest had rent his own garments in the presence of Jesus. This was forbidden by the Law, Lev. 21:10, and was a picture of the end of the High Priestly system in Israel. Also, when Jesus died, we are told that the veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom, Matt. 27:51. This is also a picture of the end of the Old Testament system. When Christ died, He was the only one Whose garments were not torn! This is God’s way of picturing for us that the old system had forever passed away and that we now have a new High Priest. He alone is qualified for the job! Thank God, He is even in Heaven this morning carrying out that job for you and me, Heb. 7:25.
Hebrews 7:25
25- Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
The trip to the cross
The testimony at the cross

III. THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS-VS. 25-30

(Ill. Lest we are left to think that Calvary was a place of death and suffering only, we are given three statements made by the Lord while He hung on the cross. These statements teach us the truth that Calvary was a place of triumph also.)

A. V. 25-27 The Triumph Of Compassion –

In the midst of His dying hour, with His enemies reveling in His death, and with a little band of faithful followers at His feet, Jesus took the time to make provision for His mother. There are many truths here, but the one that I want to point out is that even in death, He did not forget others! He was dying to save men and He remembered His mother that day. He made sure that Mary would be taken care of for the rest of her life.
His actions are symbolic of the fact that through His death, those who receive Him enter into a new relationship with God. One in which they too are taken care of forever, John 10:28.
He may not have mentioned our names, but we were in His heart and on His mind that day!

B. V. 28-29 The Triumph Of Connection

The next statement from the Lord was “I thirst!
Ill. His agony and the conditions He had endured that day! It is ironic that the One Who created the streams, the creeks and the river, the One Who filled oceans with water, was thirsty that day!
Surely His body was thirsty that day, but there is far more in view here! If you take all the conditions of Calvary into account. If you consider the darkness, the pain, the isolation, the separation from the Father and the physical thirst, Luke 16:24, you get a clear picture of Hell. When Jesus was on the cross, He was enduring Hell on earth. He was suffering our Hell so that we might enjoy His Heaven!
Don’t misunderstand me, there is a literal burning Hell where the lost will experience pain, torment, thirst, isolation and separation from God forever. That is true! It is also true that Jesus endured all the torments of Hell while He hung on the cross for you and me. He endured Hell for countless billions of humans in His six hours on the cross that day!
He took your hell for you, so that you wouldn’t have to! All you have to do is come to Him and be saved!

C. V. 30 The Triumph Of Completion

The final word recorded by John is It is finished.”
The is a translation of the Greek word “tetelestai”. It is in the perfect tense which means something that took place in the past which has present abiding results. It means something like this, “It stands finished and always will be finished!
In other words, Jesus is saying it is Done!”
This was a common word in that society. It was used by slave who had completed and assignment given to him by his master. He would report back, “It is finished!” It was used of an artist who had completed work on a painting. He would step back and say, “It is finished!” It was used by a merchant who had sold merchandise on credit when the bill had been paid in full. He would write in his ledger book, “Tetelestai! It is finished!”
When Jesus used this word from the cross, He was saying, “Father, I have finished the assignment I was given! I have applied the last strokes to the picture of salvation, it is finished. I have paid the penalty for sin. It is finished!”
Thank God, our salvation rests upon the finished work of Jesus on the cross! It is finished! It is done! To be saved, I have to do nothing but lean on what He has already done for me! There is nothing left for me to do!
(Ill. young man, after a revival service, came up to the visiting evangelist and they were getting ready to put up everything for the night. The young man had left after the invitation, under conviction, he had returned at the conclusion of the service and went up to the evangelist and he said, "Sir, what can I do to be saved?" And the evangelist hardly even lifted up his eyes from the work he was doing, he said, "I'm sorry, Son, you're too late." And the boy said, "Surely, surely, that can't be. Surely I'm not too late. You're still here. Won't you tell me what must I do to be saved?" And the evangelist stopped what he was doing, looked at him, and he said, "I'm sorry, Son, you're too late. Jesus did everything necessary for you to be saved 2,000 years ago. All you have to do is just receive His finished work for your salvation.")
(Ill. That is a major part of the good news of the Gospel! It is finished! Are you trusting in the forever finished work of Jesus and nothing else? It’s too late for you to do anything else!)

Conclusion:

Notice what verse 30b says about the death of Christ. It says that He “bowed His head and gave up the ghost.” Now, when people die they rarely bow their heads. In fact, it is far more common for people to raise their heads to try and get just one more breath. Not Jesus! When He knew that God the Father had been satisfied and that the price of salvation had forever been paid, He willingly allowed His spirit to leave His body, John 10:18.
John 10:18
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.
He died only when He knew that He had opened a perfect way for you and me to be saved!
As we bring these thoughts to a close today, I want to ask you two questions:

Has the cross made a difference in your life?

Is the Cross making a difference in your life?

What are evidences in your life that the Death of Jesus Christ on that old cross is continuing a work of sanctification in you?
Your language? Your church attendance? Your giving? Your witnessing? Do you carry gospel tracts? Do you read your Bible everyday? Do you pray everyday? Dad…does your family know that you are a Godly man…or do they know that you are a hypocrite?
What you and I do in moderation our children/grandchildren will do in excess!!!
Do you let every kind of sniffle keep you from church yet would still go to work, a ballgame, out to dinner, etc.?
When was the last time you personally invited someone to church? Who is saved because of your influence? Who is serving God today because of your encouragement?

Have you cast all your hope of heaven upon what Jesus did that day? Are you trusting His death for you as the payment for your sins? Or, are you still trying to do it yourself? Friend, you can’t, and you will never be able to provide salvation! It has already been finished! All you have to do is believe!

Does the truth that Jesus did all of this for you move your heart? Are you keenly aware that you need to be saved today? Would like to be free from your sins? Would like to be sure that you will miss Hell and go to Heaven when you leave this world? If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes”. Then you need to move from where you are and come down to where I am. We will take the Bible and show you how to get to God. The old rugged cross can make all the difference for you, but only if you will receive the finished work of Jesus as your own. Will you do that right now?
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