Whitehall Baptist Church
April 3rd | Good Friday Service

      • 1 John 5:13KJV1900

      • Acts 1:8KJV1900

      • Luke 23:33KJV1900

  • At Calvary

      • Hebrews 9:22KJV1900

  • Nothing But The Blood
  • Jesus Paid It All

  • TEXT: GALATIANS 2:20 | CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

    EXPLANATION: The act of crucifixion is an excruciating torture.
    During the time of Christ, the roman guards perfected this form of torture.
    The figured out the pays to ensure the greatest amount of pain and suffering on those one being crucified.
    In Rome, wood was a difficult commodity to come by, so it is likely that they would have reused the crosses.
    In most cases, the cross was assembled forming an upper case “T” rather than the lower case “t” we are most familiar with.
    The upright beam would be left in place while the cross beam would be taken down for the criminal to be nailed to.
    The spikes of the cross were also reused from one crucifixion to the next, being removed from the body after the person had died.
    The criminal being crucified would be held down on the ground and nailed to the cross beam of the cross with one long spike into each hand.
    After the cross beam was lifted onto the upright beam, the legs of the person were raised slightly and then the feet either crossed and nailed or fastened on either side.
    The height of the cross was often not high in the air, but rather just a little higher than the height of most people.
    This ensured when people walked past they could look into the eyes of the one being crucified.
    They could hear them struggling for breath as they lifted their body with those spikes.
    They could see the blood running from their hands and their feet.
    In most instances the person being crucified would suffer for long periods of time before death, sometimes up to multiple days.
    This is why at Jesus’ crucifixion they broke the legs of the criminals on either side of Jesus to ensure they had died before the Sabbath day.
    We know according to God’s Word that Jesus hung on the cross and suffered for 6 hours, from 9am to 3pm
    But they didn’t have to break Jesus’s legs.
    You see before Jesus went to the cross He had already suffered immense torture.
    Jesus had been whipped with a cat of nine tails
    This whip had a leather handle and then 9 leather straps the extended out.
    At the end of those nine braids were pieces of metal, shards of glass, and balls of lead to add weight.
    The Roman guards wielding the whips made a living inflicting this torture, the were professional at ensure utmost pain.
    The body of the convicted one was stretched out, sometimes over a boulder, but there hands were always tied and their feet bound and the body was pulled tight.
    And then the Roman soldiers would swing their whip and it would land onto the back of the criminal and dig in.
    And then with a powerful pull the soldier would yank back the whip, tearing flesh from the body of the person
    Now the Jews had a law that a person couldn’t be beaten or whipped more than 39 times.
    However, Jesus was not being beaten by the Jews… He was being beaten by the Romans, and they had no such law.
    Often people wouldn’t survive the flogging to make it to the crucifixion as they would die right there.
    We don’t know how many times those whips ripped across the body of Jesus but the Psalmist gave us a glimpse of the scene
    Psalm 22:17 KJV 1900
    I may tell all my bones: They look and stare upon me.
    You see they didn’t have to break the legs of Jesus on the cross, because He had already given up the ghost due to the extreme suffering He had endured
    John 19:30 KJV 1900
    When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
    APPLICATION: And He did it all for you.
    Romans 5:8 KJV 1900
    But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
    He shed His blood for you, He gave His life for you!
    So that you could have a way to heaven!
    Friend, you do not have to add your works to the suffering of Christ for salvation.
    When Jesus cried out “it is finished” He meant it!
    He finished the work of salvation so that you and I don’t have to work for salvation
    Titus 3:5 KJV 1900
    Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
    Friend, if you are here tonight, at this Good Friday service, why not make it the greatest Friday of your life if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior.
    Don’t play the game anymore… Jesus paid it all… you just have to receive the payment He made!
    EXPLANATION: Now tonight, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, I want to give you one more challenge.
    Paul says, Galatians 2:20
    Galatians 2:20 KJV 1900
    I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
    You see, when a person was crucified, they were no longer in control
    It was no longer their will… they were held to that cross.
    When a person was crucified, it meant some sacrifice
    It wasn’t easy… it was hard, it was uncomfortable, it a struggle, and meant suffering
    And when a person was crucified there was only one direction they could look… ahead.
    There was no looking back
    Their entire focus was what was before them.
    And Paul here says, Galatians 2:20
    Galatians 2:20 KJV 1900
    I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
    Paul was saying, “my life is no longer my own… I belong to Jesus!”
    1 Corinthians 6:19–20 KJV 1900
    What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
    1 Corinthians 7:23 KJV 1900
    Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
    He was saying, “I’m willing to sacrifice for Christ.”
    Romans 12:1 KJV 1900
    I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
    And he was saying he was focused on what was ahead… no turning back
    Philippians 3:13 KJV 1900
    Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
    Philippians 1:21 KJV 1900
    For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
    It was the theme of his life… It’s Jesus or nothing!
    APPLICATION: Friend tonight, as we take the Lord’s Table, and you think of the sacrifice that Jesus made for you… I wonder if you can say with Paul
    Galatians 2:20 KJV 1900
    I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
    So often our life is consumed with living for all kinds of things… but we forget there is one life we are called to…
    We are called to live the crucified life!
    Matthew 16:24 KJV 1900
    Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
    If you know Christ as your Savior:
    Your life doesn’t belong to you.
    It may require suffering at times
    But we have so much to look forward to, because one day if we are faithful, we will hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant!”
    Tonight, reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus, and then choose to live for Him in light of what He has done for you!
    CONCLUSION
    The purpose of the Lord’s table is not for Salvation… Salvation is by putting your trust in Christ.
    But it does have a purpose
    It is for:
    Representation
    It doesn’t literally become the body and the blood of Jesus, it is a representation of His body and His blood.
    Remembrance
    When Jesus gave the bread and the cup and told His disciples:
    1 Corinthians 11:24–25 KJV 1900
    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.
    Reminder
    The reminder that Jesus is coming back
    1 Corinthians 11:26 KJV 1900
    For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
    Tonight, before we take the Lord’s table, will you stop and examine your heart to determine if you truly know Christ as your Savior.
    If you don’t I would encourage you to do one of two things:
    If you haven’t accepted Christ, do not take of the Lord’s table.
    Or accept Christ right now where you sit.
    If you do know Christ as your Savior, take this opportunity to make sure your heart is truly right and clean before the Lord.
    And purpose to live for Him in light of the sacrifice He paid for you!

      • Galatians 2:20KJV1900

      • Psalm 22:17KJV1900

      • John 19:30KJV1900

      • Romans 5:8KJV1900

      • Titus 3:5KJV1900

      • Galatians 2:20KJV1900

      • Galatians 2:20KJV1900

      • 1 Corinthians 6:19–20KJV1900

      • 1 Corinthians 7:23KJV1900

      • Romans 12:1KJV1900

      • Philippians 3:13KJV1900

      • Philippians 1:21KJV1900

      • Galatians 2:20KJV1900

      • Matthew 16:24KJV1900

      • 1 Corinthians 11:24–25KJV1900

      • 1 Corinthians 11:26KJV1900

  • In Christ Alone
Whitehall Baptist Church
whitehallbcmt@gmail.com
406.285.1003
http://wbcmt.org
5 members