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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/norman-crawford/the-substitute-accepted-for-me/
I want to read three more verses. They're found in Galatians chapter 2. They're very familiar to people who usually come to meetings like this. They are some of the most beautiful words in all the Bible.
Galatians chapter 2. I'm reading verse 19, first of all. For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live under God. Now this verse 20. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. That is by faith in the Son of God. I hope you'll hear these words tonight. The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Verse 21. I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Let me read that last clause with you again like this. Then Christ died for nothing. I don't know a bigger contrast than this anywhere in the Bible.
Verse 20 says that the Son of God loved me and he gave himself for me. Verse 21 says if salvation can come by your efforts, by law keeping, by doing the best you can, by working your way to heaven, then Christ died for nothing.
There are seven very great facts in the three verses we've read. First of all, there's a sentence of death pronounced by a holy God. But the Son of God is crucified and his love is appreciated and the substitute is accepted in the sinner's place.
And then faith rests in that Savior. But the last two things are so tragic. Grace is rejected and the work of Christ is despised as if it were nothing. Verse 19 isn't what we usually read or preach from when we read and preach from verse 20.
But I think verse 19 is very necessary to understanding verse 20. Actually, what Paul says in verse 19 is I feel the law died. Let me explain that to you. He saw himself guilty. He saw himself condemned.
He actually knew that he deserved the judgment of a holy God. The sentence rightly, justly was passed on him. Paul says, I'm a sinner. I'm condemned. The law condemned me. This is a strange thing. He says, I feel the law died.
What does the next verse say? Nevertheless, I live. What can that possibly mean? It means that the guilty sinner, Saul of Tarsus, died in the person of his substitute. Paul didn't die. Not I, he said, but Christ.
He died in the person of his substitute. The sentence was carried out. I have a very helpful way, to me anyway, to understand this. A number of years ago, we were preaching in Ohio, in the town of Fremont.
At that time, a terrible murder was committed in Fremont. A young man by the name of Samuel Tannehill went into a coffee shop one night. He didn't have a penny in his pocket. He thought he was in desperate need of money.
And he went into that coffee shop that night and found the girl working alone in that shop, and demanded that she give him the money out of the cash register. The girl said, Samuel, I never thought you'd do anything like this.
Suddenly it dawned on him. This is a girl I went to school with. This girl knows me. And he had a gun in his hand. Tragically, it was loaded. And rather than be caught, rather than have the girl be able to testify who he was and what he had done, Samuel shot the girl dead.
Now, I'm not in any way telling you that that was not a horrendous crime. A dear young girl had parents that loved her dearly. She had two brothers who loved her. He took her life. He did it in a most cruel, wicked way.
Samuel Tannehill was arrested. He was awaiting sentencing. The trial had been almost completed when one day in the prison cell, Mr. McBain and I met Samuel Tannehill. We had a Bible with us. And when we opened the Bible to read to Samuel out of the Bible, he didn't tell us that day, but he told us in one of the other days we were there, the first time he had ever seen inside the covers of a Bible was when we opened that Bible in his prison cell that day.
Well, I'm going to make the story very short. Samuel Tannehill trusted the Savior. We visited him many, many times. One day, through those beautiful words, Psalm 316, Samuel believed that he was the whosoever, and he trusted the Lord Jesus.
Oh, you see, people in trouble like that, they get religion. Well, wait until you hear the rest of the story, and you'll know that Samuel just didn't get religion. Because when Samuel got saved, he asked to see his attorney, his defense attorney.
And he said to the attorney, I'm a believer in the Lord Jesus. My sins have all been forgiven before God. But he said, I committed a terrible act, and I am guilty, and I want to cancel my defense. The lawyer, of course, did his best to argue with him.
He said, you have a very good chance of getting a much lighter sentence. If you confess that you did this, and that you are guilty of murder, you will be executed. And Samuel said, I want to tell the truth.
That's all. When the judge heard of what Samuel wanted to do, he said, that's his right. Samuel appeared in court again. The judge asked him, are you pleading guilty to first-degree murder? And Samuel said, I am.
I haven't got any good end to this story. In Columbus State Penitentiary, one day Samuel was taken from his cell down the corridor to the death chamber, and poison was put into his bloodstream. And Samuel Tannehill died.
You know, in those last days when he was there at Columbus, we had tried to see him, and they wouldn't let us see him. The state had complete control, and he was their prisoner, and they wouldn't allow us to visit him.
We had visited him many times before he went to Columbus, but not afterward. But you know, when Samuel died, you know what they said? Come and get the body. Why did they do that? Because Samuel had died.
Now, this is the reason I'm telling you this story. When Samuel died, the law had been satisfied. He paid the penalty. Samuel died. I believe without a doubt in my heart that I'm going to meet dear Samuel in heaven with the Lord Jesus.
We had great times with him after he got saved. It was thrilling to hear of his appreciation of the Savior. He never would allow us to pray standing up or even sitting down. He always said, let's get down on our knees.
And time and again in that prison cell, we got down on our knees and thanked God for the Lord Jesus who died in Samuel's place. But you see what the illustration is? He was condemned. The sentence was passed.
The sentence was carried out. Samuel died, and the law of the state of Ohio was satisfied because the penalty had been paid. That's exactly what Paul is saying here in Galatians 2. He said, I was condemned.
The sentence was passed on me. I was guilty. Just like Samuel confessed, I'm guilty. Paul said, I'm guilty. I died because of the law condemning me. Yet he didn't die. Why not? Because the Lord Jesus died in his place.
That's really the gospel. That's the greatest news from high heaven that has ever been heard by mortal ears. This is a faithful saying, and it's worthy of everyone receiving it. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
And the man who wrote that said, I died. Nevertheless, I live. Christ died for me. He died in my... This book of Galatians tells of the death of Christ in a unique way. I have to explain this, and I'll do the best I can.
In Galatians chapter 3 and verse 10, we are told, cursed is everyone that continues not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do that. Let me tell you what that means. It means if you broke one of God's commandments, it means if you failed in one point, you're under God's judgment.
That's what the word cursed means. It means given up to judgment. It means devoted to judgment, given up to the judgment of God. So have you broken any of God's commandments? Well, listen to the Lord Jesus.
When he was asked what the commandments were, listen to him. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength. Have you done that? No. Have I done that?
And your neighbor as yourself? Have you done that? I came home one day after having been away a long time, and the fire engines were in front of my house. And I thought the very worst. And I confess this is a shameful thing.
I was relieved. It was my neighbor's house. I didn't love my neighbor as myself. I wasn't even aware. I wasn't even aware when I had that sense of relief that there was sin in it. I wasn't loving my neighbor as myself.
You haven't kept the law. You know, way back in the Old Testament, God says, if any man transgress against any of the commandments of the Lord, he is guilty. He is guilty. He shall bear his iniquity. That's what Paul is saying.
The law condemned me. I, through the law, was under the sentence of death. I deserve to die. But the Lord Jesus, and this is one of the greatest statements of the Bible, he became a curse for us. That's verse 13 of Galatians 3.
What does this curse mean? It means to be devoted to judgment. It means to be given up to the judgment of a holy God. It means to be given up to hell and the lake of fire forever. That's what it means.
And the Lord Jesus was a curse. He was given up to judgment, and he's holy, and he never sinned. Yes, friend, he was given up to judgment. That's an amazing fact. In fact, the curse that the Lord Jesus bore is seen in three ways.
The thorns on his brow. That was the first mark of God's judgment against sin. Thorns. When men read thorns into a crown and put it on the brow of the Savior, I don't think those Roman soldiers knew the meaning of the thorns, but we do.
And the very thorns on his brow tells that Christ was bearing the curse of sin. The very tree on which men hung the Savior. Did you know what it says? Way back in Deuteronomy 21, it says, Cursed is everyone that is hanged on a tree.
The Lord Jesus was hanged on a cross. He was accursed. There's another way. There's another way that he bore the curse. The curse of a broken law in the darkness, when no human eye could look on, not even angels could see.
God punished his son. He poured out upon the Lord Jesus his judgment, his wrath for sin. He loved me. I don't know any fact that thrills my heart like that. He loved me. And there was nothing in me to love.
I was totally unworthy of anything but his judgment. And friend, this is what we testify to. See, we preach propitiation. That is propitiation. That's a big word, but propitiation means that God has found full satisfaction in the giving of his own son to Calvary.
What is a testimony? A testimony is when I tell you that he was my substitute and he died for me. He loved me. How personal that is. He, God's holy son, the creator. I don't know if we all realize this tonight, but this world, this world in which we live, the creator of this world, the creator of the universe, the Lord of all transcendent died on a Roman cross in this world.
Isaac Watts wrote those beautiful words. We often touch our hearts when I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died. My riches gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride.
Was it for crimes that I have done? He groaned upon the tree, amazing pity, grace unknown and love beyond degree. And I love this verse. Well might the son in darkness hide and shut his glories in when Christ, the mighty maker died for man, his creature sin.
Listen to what Paul said. He loved me. Do you believe that? I have to tell us there's someone in the meeting tonight that know this story well. There's a lady who lives now in Florida. When I first met Dorothy Shear, she lived in Fremont, Ohio.
We were preaching there and the meetings were very difficult. There came a time when those meetings completely turned around and many, many people came. But these were the days when hardly anyone was there.
In fact, there are some dear Christians here tonight who came down at least every week, once a week at least, all that distance, 120 miles, so they could be present at our little meetings down in Fremont, Ohio.
In front of the little building that I had built to preach in, a little girl called Sharon Cook was killed one day. She was on her tricycle. How it all happened, I can't tell you. She was hit by a truck.
Dear Sharon was killed. The police knew who I was. I'd been there a long time and they said, we don't want this job and I'm sure you don't want it, the police officer said, but would you please go to the home and tell the family?
I went to the home. Not a very easy task, I can tell you. I told Mrs. Cook and her sister who was there that Sharon had been killed. I went to the funeral and I was so stirred by what I heard at that funeral that I immediately returned back to see Dorothy Shear, who lived just a block away.
I remember that afternoon so well. I stood outside the Shear home and I said to Dorothy Shear, I believe that if I were the only sinner in all the world, the Lord Jesus loved me and he came from heaven to die for me.
She said, I have never heard anything so selfish in all my life. She slammed the door. That was about two o 'clock in the afternoon, about midnight. Dorothy Shear could not sleep. And finally, going into the kitchen and turning on the light, she got out her Bible.
She turned to that verse and the thing that she told me that day was so selfish that she'd never believe it. Through the words of John 3 16, she read, for God so loved the world, I'm in the world, that he gave his only begotten son and dear Dorothy had dawned on her.
He gave his only son for me. Dorothy Shear believing in him has everlasting life. You could have it tonight. You could know it. Paul said, the son of God loved me. He gave himself. Now that's more than just dying.
Please understand this. I'm trying to be very careful what I say. It's more than just giving his life. It's more than shedding his blood. That was a tremendous thing that he would shed his blood. Listen, friend, it's more.
He gave himself. Who is he? He's infinite. He's the eternal one. He's the creator. He gave himself. He gave himself. That's all he had. Paul says he gave himself for me. Do you believe that tonight? Oh, you say it's for everybody.
No, friend, that's not salvation. All my life, I believed Christ died for everybody, but I was not saved. And I did not get saved until I could take it just for me. He loved me. I'm so unworthy. And he gave himself.
Diane Gepsky is a name some of the people here know. She lives in Alpena, Michigan. We were preaching there some years ago. Diane and her husband came to the meetings. We went to the home one day, and Diane was obviously, obviously very troubled and very anxious to be saved.
And, you know, sometimes we preachers think we know how to talk to a soul, and oftentimes God has to show us we don't know very much at all. Because I was trying to show Diane, verse 20, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
And to make this story very short, Diane got saved right there at the dining room table in her own home. She got saved. And I said, what did you understand, Diane, from that verse? She wasn't even listening when I was talking about verse 20.
She wasn't even listening. Do you know why? She was reading in the Bible, verse 21. And she had a little different translation of the Bible. In fact, a little more accurate even than in this case than the English Bible we usually use.
And she read in verse 21, if salvation comes by law works, then Christ died for nothing. And it dawned on her, that's what I've been doing all my life. I've been trying to bring my goodness. I've been trying to keep the Word of God.
I've been trying to keep the law. I've been trying to please God. And I'm only a sinner. And if salvation comes by what I've been trying to do, then Christ died for nothing. And it dawned on her, Christ didn't die for nothing.
He died for me. Oh, friend, that's the great truth of the gospel. Could you not trust him tonight? Could you not just believe what he has done, that it's true, that it's finished, that it's perfect, that you need nothing more?
Some of you here tonight remind me of the Mississippi River in winter. Now, Mississippi doesn't always freeze across every winter. The current moves fast enough, so unless the weather is very cold, I don't know what it did this winter.
Maybe it did freeze. It was cold enough. But years ago, we were preaching in a place called La Crosse, Wisconsin. We were staying in a home right on the bank of the Mississippi, and the Mississippi froze right across that year.
In fact, it froze so solidly across that people were traveling all over it with sleighs, even horses. So it was very, very solidly frozen. When I saw that, I was talking to Mr. Sam Hamilton, who lived there at that time, and he said, do you know the story about the man who was trying to cross the river on the ice?
I maybe had heard it at some time or other, but he explained it to me very simply. He said he had to reach the other side, the Iowa side, and he didn't trust the ice very much. Oftentimes, there are thin spots in the ice.
Oftentimes, the ice breaks up unexpectedly with the current of the river. And this man, after he had gotten a certain distance out from the bank on the Wisconsin side, he heard a great crack. Oh, he thought the ice is going to break and I'm going through.
And he fell down flat on the ice. He spread himself out as flat as he could to spread the weight out. And then what could he do? He looked back and he had come almost as far from the east bank of the river as he was from the west bank.
So he was about the middle. And he started to inch forward, lying on the ice like that. Now, the rest of the story is a little bit ridiculous, especially for that poor man, because he heard bells. And he looked up and down the middle of the river came a team of draft horses and a sleigh loaded with logs.
And here he was lying on the ice, afraid that it was going to break and let him through. You know, that's the way it is with Christ, friend. Oh, listen, if you trust him, if you trust him, he'll save you and he'll save you now.
He loved me. Wonder of wonders. I'm going to thank him for it forever. Have you ever thanked him? He loved me. He gave himself for me. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we give thanks for thy word. We know that salvation is offered.
And oh, at what a price, what a cost, what a tremendous cost. But our God, we know there are some here tonight and they will not have them. They have their own way, as we've been hearing tonight. Lord, how these messages fit together so perfectly tonight, because we've been reading about those who take their own way.
And for those who take their own way, Christ has died for nothing. But oh, God, we pray that there might be some poor sinner tonight who will take God's way and come just as they are without a plea and trust the Savior for themselves.
Humbly we ask it. Part us with thy blessing. Bless thy word, we humbly pray. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.