IT'S TIME TO TURN TO THE WORD OF GOD TODAY. AND I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ENJOYING THESE SONGS AND THROUGH THESE SONGS I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE HEARD THE MESSAGE OF CALVARY. AND HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT OLD RUGGED CROSS. TODAY AS WE TURN TO THE WORD OF GOD, WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE CROSS. WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK THAT REALLY DID CHANGE THE WORLD. IF YOU TAKE THE STORY OF JESUS FROM THE DAY OF PALM SUNDAY, AND FOLLOW HIM THROUGH THE EVENTS OF THAT WEEK LEADING UP TO, HIS JOURNEY TO THE TOP OF GOLGOTHA'S HILL. AND THEM PUTTING HIM IN THE TOMB. THEN THAT WEEK, ALL OF THOSE EVENTS, HAVE SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR LIVES, AND DID BECAUSE OF THOSE EVENTS, CHANGE MANKIND'S FUTURE. I'VE SAID MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT THIS SERVICE TODAY, THAT WE CANNOT BEGIN TO IMAGINE ALL THE THINGS THAT TOOK PLACE AS A RESULT OF HIS GOING TO CALVARY. AND NEITHER CAN WE IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, IF HE HADN'T GONE TO CALVARY. AND YET, HERE WE ARE TODAY IN 2010 AND MANY PEOPLE WANT TO DO AWAY WITH THE STORY OF CALVARY. THINKING THAT IT HAS NO RELEVANCE TO TODAY'S WORLD. BUT I'VE COME BY TO TELL YOU ONE MORE TIME, YOU'VE HEARD US SAY IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, WE WILL NEVER COME TO A PLACE IN OUR LIVES, WHERE THE CROSS DOES NOT HAVE A PLACE OR AN EFFECT UPON MANKIND'S LIVES. FROM NOW UNTIL JESUS COMES THE STORY OF THE CROSS MUST BE TOLD. THE STORY OF CALVARY NEEDS TO BE SPREAD FAR AND WIDE AND SPOKEN WITH A LOUD VOICE. TO TELL THE WORLD THAT IT'S STILL MAKING A DIFFERENCE, EVEN TODAY. I WANT TO TURN TO A VERSE OF SCRIPTURE THAT PAUL SHARES WITH US, IN FIRST CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER 1, VERSE 18. THIS ONE VERSE OF SCRIPTURE SORT OF SUMS UP, THE WAY THINGS ARE TODAY WITH THE STORY OF CALVARY. I'M GOING TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE EVENTS OF EASTER. BUT I WANT TO USE THIS VERSE TO HELP YOU TO REALIZE THAT THIS STORY IS STILL IMPORTANT AND MUST BE TOLD. BUT TO MANY TODAY, IT SEEMS SILLY, IT'S SEEMS RIDICULOUS, IT SEEMS FOOLISH TO TELL IT. IN FIRST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1, VERSE 18 IT SAYS, "FOR THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS, IS TO THEM THAT PERISH, FOOLISHNESS. BUT UNTO US WHICH ARE SAVED, IT IS THE POWER OF GOD." THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT IS TODAY. IF YOU'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED SALVATION, THEN ALL THAT I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU, WILL PROBABLY SOUND PRETTY FOOLISH. BUT IF YOU'VE EXPERIENCED SALVATION THEN YOU KNOW THAT ALL THAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY TO YOU, HAS GREAT VALUE, HAS GREAT MEANING AND IS VERY POWERFUL. BECAUSE YOU'VE EXPERIENCED THE POWER OF THE CROSS. TO THOSE THAT HAVE NEVER BOWED AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS, THEY DON'T KNOW, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND, WHAT THE CROSS CAN DO. IT'S HARD TO BE ANGRY WITH THEM. IT'S HARD TO BE UPSET WITH THEM. BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO EXPERIENCE TO DRAW FROM. BUT IF THEY WOULD JUST BOW AND EARNESTLY ASK GOD TO FORGIVE THEM OF THEIR SINS, IF THEY WOULD LET THE POWER OF THE CROSS WORK IN THEIR LIVES, THEY TOO COULD UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS. YOU SEE TODAY, JESUS WENT TO CALVARY FOR NO OTHER REASON, THEN YOU AND I. I KNOW THAT'S HARD FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT HAPPENED SO LONG AGO. BUT I BELIEVE TODAY THAT SOMEWHERE IN THAT PROCESS OF HIS GOING TO THE TOP OF GOLGOTHA'S HILL, JESUS THOUGHT ABOUT YOU AND HE THOUGHT ABOUT ME. I THINK IT STARTED AS HE LEFT THAT ROOM WHERE HE SHARED THE LAST MEAL WITH HIS DISCIPLES. HE WENT INTO THE GARDEN TO PRAY. NOW JESUS UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS BEFORE HIM. HE KNEW WHAT WAS ABOUT TO UNFOLD. HE KNEW THE HARSHNESS OF THE EVENTS THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH. HE WENT INTO THE GARDEN TO PRAY. THERE, AS WE GET A LITTLE GLIMPSE OF WHAT TOOK PLACE, WE HEAR JESUS PRAY THESE WORDS, "FATHER, LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME." NOW, WHAT I BELIEVE THAT TO MEAN IS, IS THAT THE LORD UNDERSTANDING ALL THAT WAS ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE, THE HUMAN PART OF HIM SAID, "I CAN'T ENDURE THIS. I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN GO THROUGH IT. THIS IS GOING TO BE HARDER THAN I HAVE THE ABILITY TO ENDURE AND TO GO THROUGH SUCCESSFULLY." I THINK THAT, THAT HUMAN WEAKNESS IN HIM CRIED OUT, "GOD IF THERE'S ANY OTHER WAY, LET IT BE." BUT IN THAT SAME MOMENT, IN THAT SAME BREATH, THOUGH THERE MAY HAVE BEEN A VERY SMALL, ALMOST UNNOTICEABLE PAUSE, I BELIEVE IT WAS JUST LONG ENOUGH FOR HIM TO REMEMBER, THAT IF HE DIDN'T GO THROUGH THESE THINGS THAT WE REMEMBER TODAY, AS THEY EVENTS OF EASTER, THAT MANKIND WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT A SAVIOR, FOREVER. GOD UNDERSTOOD MAN'S WEAKNESSES. HE UNDERSTOOD HOW PRONE MANKIND WAS TO SELF-DESTRUCTION. THROUGH OUR SINFULNESS, THROUGH OUR WEAKNESS. WE BRING INTO OUR LIVES SO MANY THINGS THAT DAMAGE US, HURT US, DESTROY US. AND IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR A MAN THAT WAS WILLING TO BECOME THE SAVIOR FOR ALL MANKIND, THERE WOULD LITERALLY HAVE BEEN NO HOPE FOR US. IF YOU LOOK AT THE TIME TABLE OF JESUS' COMING. WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE RELIGIOUS WORLD WAS COLD. HE OFTEN REFERRED TO THAT RELIGIOUS CROWD AS BEING FULL OF DEAD MAN'S BONES. THERE WAS NO VITALITY TO THE SCRIPTURE. THERE WAS NO VITALITY AND ENTHUSIASM IN THE LIVES OF THOSE THAT SEEMED TO SERVE THE LORD. THEY LOOKED AT THE CHURCH AS JUST A DEAD INSTITUTION. THAT THEY DID MORE OUT OF A SENSE OF DUTY AND OBLIGATION THEN THEY DID OUT OF PASSION OR AN EMOTION THAT CAUSED THEM TO WANT TO DO WHAT THEY WERE DOING. IT SEEMS LIKE THAT IF MANKIND HAD CONTINUED ALONG THAT WAY, IN OUR DAY, TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER, THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS THE CHURCH. IT WOULD BE ONLY SOMETHING THAT WE READ ABOUT IN THE HISTORY BOOKS. BUT JESUS, SEEING THOSE THINGS, KNEW THE FULLNESS OF TIME HAD COME, SO HE LEFT THE SAFETY OF HEAVEN'S THRONE ROOM AND HE CAME TO A WORLD THAT WOULD NOT RECEIVE HIM AND ACCEPT HIM. IN FACT, THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT HE WAS REJECTED BY HIS OWN. YET, HE WAS STILL DETERMINED TO COME THAT HE COULD BE THE REDEEMER OF MEN WHO WOULD NOT LOVE HIM, WOULD NOT CARE FOR HIM AND CERTAINLY AT TIMES, WOULD NOT CARE ABOUT ANYTHING HE WOULD DO TO HELP THEM. YET, IN THE GARDEN AS HE PRAYED, HE SAID, "NEVERTHELESS FATHER, THY WILL BE DONE." SEE, SOMEWHERE IN THERE, I BELIEVE WE MUST HAVE PASSED BEFORE HIM. IT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT HE SAW US DESCENDING INTO AN ETERNAL HELL, BECAUSE WE HAD NO SAVIOR THAT COULD REDEEM US. HE HAD TO HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE WEIGHT OF OUR SIN WOULD HAVE TOTALLY DESTROYED US AND CAUSED OUR SOULS TO BE LOST FOREVER. AND CAUSED OUR SOULS TO BE LOST FOREVER. SO HE QUICKLY SAID, "LORD, I'LL DO IT, I'LL GO, THOUGH I KNOW IT WILL BE HARD," I KNOW THIS ISN'T IN THE PRAYER, BUT IT JUST HAD TO HAVE BEEN THAT THIS IS WHAT HE WAS CONSENTING TO. HE WAS SAYING, "I KNOW THAT IT'LL BE HARD. IT'LL BE THE HARDEST THING THAT A MAN HAS EVER HAD TO DO. BUT GOD I'LL DO IT, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE SOME PEOPLE IN 2010 THAT ARE STILL GOING TO NEED A REDEEMER. AND IF I DON'T GO, THEY'LL BE LOST." YOU SEE TODAY, BECAUSE OF EASTER, OUR LIVES ARE CHANGED. THEY TOOK HIM FROM THE GARDEN, THEY TOOK HIM TO PILATE'S JUDGMENT HALL. AND I DON'T HAVE TIME TODAY TO TALK ABOUT ALL THE EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE, BUT I WANT TO HIT SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS. THEY TOOK HIM OUT TO A SCOURGING POST. PILATE, BELIEVING THAT IT WOULD APPEASE THE BLOODTHIRST OF THE PEOPLE, THEY TOOK HIM TO THE SCOURGING POST. WELL, PILATE DIDN'T KNOW IT, BUT HE WAS FALLING RIGHTINTO THE PLAN OF GOD. FOR ISAIAH TALKED ABOUT THE STRIPES THAT WOULD BE PUT UPON THE BACK OF JESUS. 39 TIMES THEY LASHED OUT AT JESUS WITH THAT SCORPION. A SCORPION WAS A SHORT WHIP LIKE INSTRUMENT. NORMALLY THERE WERE LIKE 12 STRAPS OF LEATHER WITH PIECES OF BONE, METAL AND GLASS TIED INTO THE END. THE PURPOSE OF THAT SCORPION WAS TO INFLICT PAIN AND SUFFERING. AND THEY WERE VERY GOOD AT WHAT THEY DID WITH THE SCORPION. IT TORE FLESH. IN FACT, WE UNDERSTAND THAT 39 TIMES, IF EACH ONE OF THOSE STRAPS HIT HIM, THEN THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN SOME 468 STRIPES. THE WRITER SAID, "THAT HIS BACK WAS LIKE A PLOWED FIELD." THEY TELL US THAT EVEN SOME OF THE ORGANS OF HIS BODY CAME THROUGH THE WOUNDS INFLICTED. I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING GRAPHIC TODAY, BUT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS WENT THROUGH. AND HE WENT THROUGH IT BECAUSE, THROUGH HIS BEATING AND THROUGH THE STRIPES UPON HIS BACK, WE WERE GUARANTEED A PHYSICIAN WHO COULD HEAL US. IT'S BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED. OH, I'M GETTING EXCITED TODAY AS I TALK ABOUT WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR US. YOU SEE, HE'S DONE MORE FOR US THAN ANY OTHER MAN HAS EVER DONE. HE HAS PROVIDED EVERYTHING THAT WE WOULD EVER NEED, THROUGH HIS GOING TO CALVARY. HE TOOK THE STRIPES UPON HIS BACK THAT WE COULD BE HEALED OF ALL OF OUR DISEASES. THANK GOD HE DID. BUT THAT WASN'T WHERE IT ENDED. THEY BEAT HIM. IN FACT, IT'S SAID THAT WHEN THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK BEFORE THE PEOPLE, THEY WEREN'T EVEN SURE THAT THEY HAD BROUGHT THE RIGHT MAN BACK BECAUSE HE WAS SO SWOLLEN, SO BRUISED FROM THE BEATING THAT HE TOOK. EVEN THE DISCIPLES HAD A HARD TIME TO RECOGNIZE HIM. THEY PUT A CROWN OF THORNS UPON HIS HEAD. I KNOW I'VE TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE, BUT I GOT TO TELL YOU AGAIN. EACH ONE OF THOSE THORNS AS IT PIERCED THE FLESH, IT PIERCED THE BONE AND RELEASED A TOXIN INTO THE BLOOD. IT WAS A VERY PAINFUL THING FOR HIM TO CARRY THOSE THORNS UPON HIS BROW. BUT THEY DID IT TO MOCK HIM, TO RIDICULE HIM. AND THEN TO SHORTEN UP SOME OF THE STORY, THEY PUT THAT OLD RUGGED CROSS ON HIS SHOULDERS FOR HIM TO CARRY TO THE TOP OF GOLGOTHA'S HILL. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT THEY RESERVED FOR THE WORST OF CRIMINALS. IRONICALLY, PILATE SAID, "I FIND NO FAULT IN THIS MAN." HEROD SAID, "I TOO CAN FIND NO FAULT IN THIS MAN." THEY MAY HAVE WANTED TO FIND A FAULT, BUT WHEN THEY EXAMINED HIS LIFE, HE WAS GUILTY OF NO CRIME. THERE WAS NOTHING TO WARRANT HIM GOING THROUGH ALL OF THESE THINGS. BUT THE CROWD THAT DAY, THIRSTY FOR BLOOD, CRIED OUT, "CRUCIFY HIM." OH, THEY DIDN'T KNOW, BUT THEY WERE WORKING WITH THE PLAN OF GOD. YOU SEE, THE PLAN OF GOD WAS THAT HE GO TO THE TOP OF THAT HILL, THAT DIE ON THAT OLD RUGGED CROSS. BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY WAY MANKIND COULD BE SAVED. THAT'S HIS REASON TODAY. IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THE WEEK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, THAT'S THE WEEK. BECAUSE AS HE WENT TO THE CROSS OF CALVARY HE BEGAN TO CHANGE MANKIND'S LIVES. I WISHED I HAD ABOUT ANOTHER HOUR THAT I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS. BUT WE SEE HIM DOING IT RIGHT THERE WHILE HE STILL HUNG ON THE CROSS. ONE THIEF MOCKED HIM AND RIDICULED HIM. BUT THE OTHER THIEF CRIED OUT A SIMPLE LITTLE PRAYER. A PRAYER THAT I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO CRY OUT TODAY, IF YOU'VE NEVER CRIED IT OUT. HE SIMPLY SAID AS HE TURNED TO THE LORD, HANGING ON THAT CROSS, "REMEMBER ME." I DON'T KNOW OF ANY MORE POWERFUL PRAYER THAT WAS EVER PRAYED THEN THAT PRAYER. FOR YOU SEE, DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES, MANKIND HAS ESSENTIALLY BEEN PRAYING THAT PRAYER. LORD, REMEMBER ME. AND WHEN WE CRY OUT REMEMBER ME, GOD DOES. AND WHEN GOD DOES, HE COMES, HE COMES INTO OUR LIVES. HE WASHES THE SINFUL STAINS OF OUR LIVES AWAY. HE RELEASES US FROM THE BONDAGE'S OF SIN. HE SETS THE CAPTIVE AT LIBERTY. HE BINDS UP THE BROKEN HEARTED. HE HEALS THOSE THAT NEED HEALING. OH, HOW MANY THINGS HE DOES FOR US WHEN WE CRY OUT, REMEMBER ME. I'M OUT OF TIME TO SHARE THE EVENTS OF THAT GARDEN AS HE WAS PUT IN THE TOMB AND YET, THREE DAYS LATER, WHEN THEY CAME TO PUT THE SPICES ON THE BODY, THEY FOUND THE TOMB OPEN. AND THEY FOUND THAT HE WAS NO LONGER THERE, THAT HE HAD ARISEN FROM THE DEAD AND HE WAS ALIVE. AND BECAUSE HE LIVES TODAY, HOPE IS ALIVE. WE HAVE HOPE TODAY. AND TODAY, HOPE IS A VERY POWERFUL THING. I'M GLAD THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US HOPE. AS I CLOSE IN A WORD OF PRAYER TODAY, I WANT YOU TO EXPERIENCE, HOPE. I WANT YOU TO EXPERIENCE IT AS YOU PRAY THAT SHORT LITTLE PRAYER, "REMEMBER ME." LORD, I ASK YOU RIGHT NOW, THAT YOU WOULD REACH OUT TO EVERYONE THAT'S IN NEED OF A SAVIOR. HELP THEM TO COME TO KNOW YOU AS THEIR REDEEMER. FORGIVE THEM OF THEIR SINS, I PRAY, CHANGE THEIR LIVES BY THE POWER OF THE CROSS. IN JESUS' NAME I ASK IT, AMEN.