“Mercy and truth are met together:
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (Psalms 85:10)
“Now he that betrayed him gave them
a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.”
(Matthew 26:48, 49)
“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and
ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blesses
are all they that put their trust in him.” (Psalms 2:12)
One of the most beautiful statements in all
of the Bible is the one I read a while ago, “righteousness and peace
have kissed each other.” A dozen more sermons on the same Scripture are
boiling up inside me.
One of the most beautiful romances in the
world is the romance between righteousness and truth. They had been
separated for four thousand year; when they got back together, they had
to kiss. What a reunion!
A kiss is very interesting thing. You will
agree with that! I have always loved to kiss under proper conditions and
proper people. A kiss of affection between members of the family
certainly is a good thing and I would advise every family to teach boys
and girls the expressiveness of kissing their mothers and fathers. Why,
When I was a boy I never went out to play without kissing my mother
good-by. I never came home from the ball diamond without kissing Mother
again.
In the Bible a kiss is certainly an
interesting study. In Exodus, chapter 4, verse 27, when Moses and Aaron
met each other in the wilderness, they came to the mount of the Lord and
there they kissed each other.
First Samuel, chapter 10, verse 1, says
when Samuel came to anoint Saul as the first king of the people of God,
that he anointed Saul with oil, then he kissed him.
When David and Jonathan, the sweetest
friends in the Bible, humanly speaking, had been united after separation
for a lengthy period, the Bible says that David and Jonathan kissed each
other.
Joseph had been away from his brothers in
Egypt for many, many long years. When his brothers came to him he,
unknown by them, provided provisions for their lives, then came that
glorious day when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. The Bible
says that Joseph kissed his father and his brothers.
Esau and Jacob had come to the place of
reconciliation. Esau had forgiven the trickster Jacob for having cheated
him out of his birthright and out of the blessing of his father Isaac.
When Jacob and Esau were united again, the Bible says there they kissed.
When Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus´ feet,
the Bible says that she kissed Him on the feet.
When Paul left the city of Ephesus in Acts,
Chapter 20, the Bible says the people clave unto Paul, they loved him so
dearly. He had been their pastor for three years, three blessed,
glorious, wonderful years but he longed to go back to Jerusalem, so he
resigned his pastorate there. The Bible says they clave to him. They
threw themselves on his neck and kissed him good-by.
When the prodigal son returned from the far
country, “having spent all,” his father said, ‘Put a ring on his finger,
a robe on his body; let's kill the fatted calf, and put shoes on his
feet,´ and then it said that he “kissed him.”
In writing to the church at Corinth, the
Apostle Paul said, “Greet ye one another with an holy kiss.” In writing
church at Rome, the apostle admonished that they greet “one another with
an holy kiss.” Again in writing to the church at Thessalonica the
apostle admonished these people to greet one another in the services
with an holy kiss.
Now bear in mind what that means. In those
days when you came in and sat down by somebody in church you kissed him.
Now wait a minute. Don't do it --yet! There was also another difference
in those days. In the early church the men and boys sat on one side, the
ladies and girls on the other. Like we shake hand, they kissed each
other. The men would kiss the men; the ladies would kiss the ladies. it
was a sign of affection, a sign of fellowship, a sign of tenderness, a
sign of love when you greeted one another with an holy kiss.
In I Peter, chapter 5, verse 14, Peter
speaks about greeting “one another with a kiss of charity.”
Now the message this morning is on “The
Kisses of Calvary.” We have enumerated at least ten places in the Bible
or more where kissing was acceptable. But on the cross of Calvary there
were three kisses that I call to your attention for our message today:
the kiss of reconciliation, the kiss of hypocrisy, the kiss of
salvation.
As we approach the subject of kissing, we
think of romance between a husband and wife, or the love between a
mother and a son or daughter, or the love between a father and his son
or daughter, or the love between brothers and sisters. My only sister
and I always kiss hello and good-by. When we say good-by there is
weeping and tender words of expression of love, but we always kiss. One
of the saddest things about the age and area in which we live is the
seeming belief that kissing and affection is a sign of emotional
instability and weakness. It is not a sign of that, but our not wanting
to kiss or otherwise to show affection is a sign of deadness and
hardness and the fact that we are ashamed to express our feelings one to
the other. Certainly there ought to be in the heart of every Christian a
feeling of closeness, affection and tenderness. And this, “Well, we
don't kiss much since we got married” --I wouldn't say that in public if
I were you. “We feel it but we don't show it.” No, if you felt it, you
would show it.
People across the country have often asked
me, “how about the North and the South?” The South has a reputation of
being wild and woolly, and they don't feel much. The North has the
reputation of feeling it deeply and not saying much about it. All over
the nation they say, “You have pastored in Texas and in Indiana--what do
you think about it? Do you think the Southerner says it and doesn't feel
it, and the Northerner feels it and doesn't say it?´ No, no, I don't
think so. I have noticed Northerners when they sit on a tack, and I have
noticed Southerners when they sit on a tack. A Northerner jumps as high
when he is stimulated properly as the Southerner! Don't hide behind your
geographical location for you coldness of heart and deadness of soul and
the fact that you don't express love. Actually, people who love express
it. People who feel it say so. People who are stimulated properly also
respond properly.
Now let us notice the three kisses of
Calvary. Two of them are beautiful, one of them tragic.
The Kiss of Reconciliation
I will read for you again the verse that I
read a little while ago, Psalm 85:10
“Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Now when did righteousness and peace kiss
each other? When did this wonderful reunion take place? When did
righteousness see peace and peace see righteousness? When did they
embrace, and kiss? It said that truth came up from the ground and
righteousness looked down from Heaven and there righteousness and peace
met each other and in a tender moment of embrace they kissed.
Righteousness and mercy or truth have kissed each other. now peace and
righteousness walked together for many millenniums. In Heaven, peace and
righteousness walk together. Oh, what a blessed walk it was for perfect
peace between God and His creatures and perfect righteousness to walk
together. There was no sin in Heaven.
Let me say this: the degree that you have
of sin is also the degree you have of unrest and lack of peace. If you
live righteous, you have more peace, and the more righteous you get, the
more peace you will have.
And so in eternity peace and righteousness
walk together. In Heaven with the angels they were such close friends.
Peace was never without righteousness, and righteousness was never
without peace. God made man. He put him in the Garden of Eden, and once
again in the Garden of Eden peace walked hand in hand with
righteousness. Righteousness was there. Peace was there. Adam and Eve
were without sin. There was no sin originally in the Garden of Eden, and
because there was no sin, there was peace. And so hand in hand, oh, the
sweet fellowship that peace and righteousness enjoy. They loved each
other, they walked together and it was always a wonderful relationship.
But the day came when our lovers were
forced to part. The day came when peace and righteousness got a divorce.
The day came when peace and righteousness no longer could go with each
other. Why was that? Sin came in the Garden of Eden. When sin comes,
peace must leave. When righteousness is sinned against, then peace can
stay no longer. The reason you don't have peace in your home, you don't
have righteousness in your home. Listen, you are not going to build a
home with liquor in the ice box and sexy magazines in the magazine rack
and the Beetles on your record player and fussing and cursing and lying
and cheating and immorality. You are not going to build a home like that
and have peace.
People all the time come to me and say,
“Brother Hyles, our home has no peace. WE can't get along. Our children
are at each other. My wife and I can't get along. What is the trouble?”
And in every case it is one word--SIN. When you get the righteousness
problem settled, peace will go with righteousness. But when
righteousness leaves, peace cannot stay any longer.
And so in the Garden of Eden the Serpent,
Satan, came and said to Adam and Eve, ‘If you will eat this fruit, ye
shall live and be as God. Oh, I know God has said ye shall surely die,
but if you eat this fruit, your eyes shall be opened then. You don't
know what you have had until you have had a fling with sin. You don't
know what joy you can have until you do what I say.´
The Devil always says that. The Devil
always comes to young people and says, “You don't know what you are
missing until you take a fling in sin.” I'll tell you what you are
missing when you are not in sin. You are only missing brokeness and
heartfelt weakness and sadness and misery and unhappiness and unrest.
Always when you go into sin, you leave peace. And so in the Garden of
Eden, Adam and Eve reach out and took the forbidden fruit. As is always
the case, the woman did it first! Eve took the forbidden fruit, then she
took it home to Adam. Now if Eve had been home baking biscuits, she
wouldn't have seen the Devil in the first place. If Eve had been home
sweeping the floor where she ought to have been--. Adam was home washing
dishes!
Did you hear about the henpecked husband?
He went to the doctor and said, “Doctor, I'm henpecked.”
“Well, what is the matter?”
And the husband said, “I have to cook all
the time at home.”
The doctor said, “Well, why did you come to
me?”
He answered, “I had the most horrible
dream.”
When the doctor asked what his dream was,
he said, “I dreamed I was on a boat with twelve gorgeous girls.”
“Oh,” the doctor said, “what is so bad
about that?”
He said, “Cooking for twelve people!”
Adam was home cooking some hot rolls and
washing the breakfast dishes. Eve was out in the garden when she should
have been home taking care of the household, and Satan tempted her. She
took the fruit, she brought it back to Adam, Adam ate the fruit, and for
the first time man had sinned against God. When man sinned,
righteousness and peace could no longer walk together.
Now any time righteousness and peace must
go, peace is the one that ought to go. It is better to have no peace and
be right, than have peace and be wrong. I am sick at my soul of
politicians talking about appeasing Russia and appeasing communism and
people co-existent. Brother, you can't be in the same room with a
rattlesnake and have peace or co-existence. What happens? We have gotten
to the place where we would rather have peace than righteousness. We are
not willing to fight for truth any more. We are raising a soft,
mealy-mouthed, shallow generation. WE would rather be red than dead. God
give us some people who would rather be right and have war, than be
wrong and have peace.
Oh, the greatest thing in this world is
righteousness. And so when sin came in the Garden of Eden, peace and
righteousness no longer could go with each other, and so peace left. For
four thousand years peace and righteousness were separated. Why? Sin had
come. Righteousness could not accept peace. Peace wanted to come back
but righteousness would not allow it. Peace could not come back unless
righteousness had been satisfied. Righteousness could not be satisfied
unless payment for sin was made. So righteousness says sin must be paid
for. Righteousness says sin must be condemned. Righteousness said no man
can come to God unless the sin question has been settled.
So peace says, “Can I come back?”
Righteousness said, “No, I want you back. I love you dearly. We walked
together in Heaven. We walked together in Eden. I want you back, but I
cannot receive you back, peace, until I have been satisfied.”
What happened? God Himself came to the
world in the form of a man. His name was Jesus Christ. For thirty-three
long, lonely, homeless years Jesus lived a life of perfection and
righteousness on the earth. Then at the end of those thirty-three years
Jesus Christ went to Calvary. On the cross of Calvary the righteous One,
Righteousness, was crucified. Righteousness took sin upon Himself and
Jesus died and He said, “It is finished.” What he was saying was:
Righteousness has been satisfied, righteousness had been met, now peace
can come home and , brother, you talk about a happy reunion!
Peace looked at righteousness and said,
“Can I come back now?” Righteousness answered, “Yes, you can. I have
been satisfied now. The payment has been made. Jesus had died for the
sins of the world.” The sins of all the world were laid upon Him.
Righteousness said, “Peace, won't you come back?” Peace said, “Would I!”
Peace looked up from earth and came out of the earth (that is the
resurrection of Christ) and righteousness looked down from heaven (that
is the holiness and justness of God the Father) and peace and
righteousness ran and threw arms around the cross of Calvary and at
Calvary they hugged and they kissed.
Now after four thousand years those lover
had been reunited. That, dear friends, is the kiss of Calvary. God's
justice has been satisfied. God's holiness has been met. In Jesus
Christ and in Him alone can peace and righteousness walk together.
Do you want peace? Peace in your heart? Are
you tired of tranquilizers? Of Psychiatrists? Of misery? Are you tired
of worry? Of fretting? Then come to Calvary. At Calvary righteousness
and peace kissed each other, and were reunited.
Ah, these reunions! I recall when my first
furlough came when I was away in service. My mother and I had been
close. Just the two of us lived together. Daddy was gone, my sister was
married, and I was the only thing Mother had. Boy, when I'm all you've
got, you haven't got much! I was all she had and I went off to service.
The first furlough came. I rode the streetcar. Maybe you don't know what
a streetcar is now. I got off the streetcar, on my first furlough, at
Bryant and San Jacinto Streets in Dallas, Texas. We lived about a block
and two houses from the streetcar line; I looked down and there was my
little mother up on her tiptoes looking to see if I had gotten off the
streetcar.
When she saw those paratroopers walking
down the steps of the streetcar, she took off running. She ran as fast
as she could. I had run ten miles a day in the paratroopers, and I was
as slim and trim as I am fat and sassy now, and I ran as fast as I
could. I had done ninety push-ups with a field pack on my back and I was
as hard as rocks; yet my little old mother met me more than half way.
Ah, she was glad to see me!
She took me home. “Son, this furniture--I
put it back where it was when you left. Son, I've got your favorite meal
cooked.” In those days it was veal cutlets, green beans, sauerkraut,
thickened gravy and biscuits. Ah, you can't beat that. Glory to
God--that's eatin´. There it was on the table. We sat in our little
kitchen, little apartment, and ate the food.
When it came time to go to bed, there was
sweetness, tenderness, caresses, kissing. Why? Because her boy had come
home.
Oh, you talk about joy! For four thousand
years peace and righteousness had walked apart; for four thousand years
righteousness could not receive peace back because righteousness had not
been satisfied. Then when one day on the cross Jesus said, “It is
finished,” once again righteousness said, “Hallelujah! Peace can come
back!” Peace came to righteousness and on the cross they kissed. Once
again thank God, man can have peace because Christ has become his
righteousness. Now they are together, they have kissed. Now man can come
himself and do some kissing at Calvary.
The Kiss of Hypocrisy
We have noticed the first kiss of Calvary;
let us look at the second. Not only was there a kiss of reconciliation
when righteousness kissed peace, but the second kiss of Calvary was the
kiss of hypocrisy. Judas Iscariot was watching, like the serpent he was,
out there in the Garden of Gethsemane, with soldiers behind him. Jesus
was praying in the garden, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as though wilt,” and saying the
great prayer recorded in John, chapter 17. Jesus is overlooking the city
of Jerusalem, He is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas lurks outside the
garden. Judas says, ‘I´ll show you the one by kissing him. When I kiss
Him, come and get Him.´ Judas Iscariot went out and while our Lord was
in Gethsemane, Judas did the most dastardly act ever done by human hands
or lips--he place the loving tenderness of a kiss on the brow of the
Saviour and in doing so, the motley crowd of soldiers came and led Jesus
away to be crucified.
Judas was kissing Jesus but there is one
mistake Judas made. He should have kissed Jesus. It was right to kiss
Christ. Psalm 2:12 says, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry.” I'll discuss
that in a minute. We are commanded to kiss Jesus Christ. That means kiss
the feet of the Son; come and throw yourself at His feet and kiss Him.
Man has been commanded to kiss the Son, BUT man cannot kiss the Son
until righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Judas made the
mistake of kissing the Son without the meaning of Calvary. he kissed the
Son short of Calvary. If that day when Jesus was on the cross, lonely,
forsaken, betrayed, suffering, crucified, deserted by man and God the
Father--if Judas had come up then and meant it and thrown himself at the
feet of the crucified One and kissed the kiss of affection and faith and
trust, he could have been saved. But Judas mad the mistake of kissing
Jesus without reference to trust in Calvary.
Now that is the kiss of hypocrisy. Maybe
you have made an effort to kiss Jesus. Maybe you have gotten religion.
Maybe you have joined the church. But if you have kissed anything--I
don't care what it is--and are trusting anything short of Calvary, then
you are a kisser of hypocrisy. There is nothing short of Calvary that
can save you. The mistake that Judas made was kissing Jesus short of
Calvary.
That is the reason that joining a church
can't save you. That is a kiss short of Calvary.
That is the reason living a good life and
being a good friend and a good husband and a good neighbor can't save
you. That is a kiss short of Calvary.
When you are sprinkled as a baby and they
say that conveys some kind of mysterious salvation to you--that won't
take you one step toward heaven. That is a kiss short of Calvary.
Being confirmed as a twelve-year-old and
learning the catechism of the church when you have never received Christ
in believing faith won't take you to Heaven. That is a kiss short of
Calvary.
Going into the baptistry and being baptized
won't save you. That is a kiss short of Calvary.
When you go into a little room and confess
your sins to a man, which is a waste of your time and his and your
money, that is why it doesn't do any good. You are kissing short of
Calvary.
Coming and taking the holy communion and
trusting that little wafer and that juice to save your soul won't do it.
It is a kiss short of Calvary.
Joining the church in a Baptist revival
won't take you to Heaven. It is a kiss short of Calvary.
All the good deeds and the good works and
all that you do religiously won't take you to Heaven. It is a kiss short
of Calvary.
Judas, the mistake you made was to kiss the
Saviour short of Calvary. And Judas lies in Hell this morning, Judas
burns in Hell, Judas suffers the pangs of Hell this morning. Why? He
kissed the Saviour short of Calvary. Judas is in Hell because he didn't
kiss Jesus at Calvary. Judas was a church member, yet he is in hell
because he trusted something short of Calvary. Judas was a preacher, yet
he is in hell because he trusted something short of Calvary. Judas was
an apostle, but he is in Hell because he trusted something short of
Calvary. Judas followed Jesus, but he is in hell because he trusted
something short of Calvary.
“Preacher, my church believes....” I
wouldn't give you a dime for what your church or mine believes! The only
thing that matters is that you can only kiss the Son at Calvary. The
only place you can kiss the Son is at Calvary. Anything short of Calvary
is a kiss of hypocrisy and you will end up in Hell thinking you were
going to Heaven.
The Kiss of Salvation
Now I call your attention very quickly to
the third kiss. The first kiss was when righteousness and peace
kissed--the kiss of reconciliation. Number two was when Judas placed the
kiss of hypocrisy on the Saviour. Number three--the kiss of salvation.
In Psalm 2:
“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye
perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are
all they that put their trust in Him.”
Three kisses on Calvary: The kiss of
righteousness and peace, the kiss of betrayal and hypocrisy, but oh,
thank God, there is the third kiss--the kiss of salvation.
Jesus is dying. He speaks about it in the
Psalms. His apostles have forsaken Him and fled. his followers are
scattered. His Father looked on Him and saw Him in sin and turned His
back on the Son. Jesus hangs on Calvary and the psalmist said when
righteousness and peace had kissed, then any poor sinner may kiss the
Son, any poor sinner may come to Calvary and kiss His feet.
What does that mean? It means the kiss of
trust, the kiss of faith, the kiss of committal.
And he goes on to say, “Kiss the Son, lest
he be angry.” When you have not put your faith in Christ, it angers God.
When you reject Jesus as your Saviour, it angers God. And yet when a
person says not to Calvary, the Bible says God is angry and His wrath is
kindled. Then he says, ‘Blessed are those that put their trust in Him.´
Blessed are those who have kissed the Son.
Now today, you are in one of these two
groups. Either you have kissed Him short of Calvary, or you have kissed
Him at Calvary. Whether you kissed Him short of Calvary or at Calvary
determines where you spend eternity. If you have kissed Jesus short of
Calvary, if you have joined the church but have not been born again, you
are lost. If you have been baptized short of Calvary, you are lost. If
you have taken communion or sacraments or the Eucharist short of
Calvary, you are lost.
And if you have come, ever, in your life to
Jesus Christ and seen Him crucified at Calvary and heard Him say, “My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” “It is finished,” and then
righteousness looked from Heaven and peace looked from earth and they
ran to each other and embraced and kissed; righteousness said, “I´m
satisfied--now we can come back together”--if you have ever seen that,
my precious friends, and come to Jesus Christ in believing in faith and
said, “Dear Lord, I trust You. I kiss the Son, I believe in the Son,”
then God said He will take you to Heaven when you die.
Are you kissing short of Calvary this
morning? Are you kissing short of Calvary? Let me illustrate:
I am going to confess something that breaks
my heart. I am going to confess something that will classify me as a
awful, awful wretched sinner. Before I was married, I stole a kiss from
Mrs. Hyles! Isn't that awful! One time, maybe twice, but that didn't
mean I was married. I'll say this: I was older than most of you kissing
kids are and that didn't mean I was married. I mean that when the
preacher said, “Wilt thou...” and I willed it and I said, “I will,” and
he said, “I now pronounce you as husband and wife,” brother, that kiss
meant something. Why? We had satisfied the laws of the land.
Now you can kiss the Son, but unless you
have come and committed your life to Jesus Christ, as I gave my life to
Beverly Slaughter and she became Beverly Hyles, all the religion and
kissing you have done is not worth a dime. It is faith in Jesus Christ.
I thank God for that day when I looked up at Him and said, “O God, I in
faith receive Christ,” and I kissed the Son and I have been blessed in
these years, for the Bible says, ‘Blessed are those that put their trust
in Him.´
Have you trusted Him? If you died this
morning, would you go to Heaven? Do you know you have put your faith in
Him? Have you kissed the Son? Are you trusting Christ in Calvary? Have
you trusted something short of Calvary? If you have, come to the cross
this morning, see Him die, see peace and righteousness embracing and
kissing. Kiss the Son and you become a child of God. Shall we pray.
PRAYER: Our Father, bless the message.
Bless the truth of it. O God, today may we see that in Jesus Christ on
the cross God's righteousness has been satisfied, His justice has been
vindicated and now we can kiss the Son. Bless those who are kissing
short of Calvary and may they come to Calvary and kiss the Son because
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
