Sermon From the Cross

Very nice presentation with a lot of meaning in it. Last week, last week we talked about the spring-early days from the context of pre-world, pre-earth that man lived on. We tracked it through the Old Testament and the New Testament. And today I want to follow along the line of what you heard in the song today and talk about Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the Passover and the focus of the Passover.

It is because of His life, because of His choice to divest Himself of being God, to be a human, that we have the opportunity of eternal life that we do. And as we keep the Passover and as we look forward to the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread, it behooves us to look at it with the eagerness and the desire that He did.

He had a lot more at stake with that Passover than you and I do as we look forward to a week from this coming Thursday night and keeping the Passover. We'll recommit to God and we'll, I hope, between now and then be examining ourselves and asking God to help us to really appreciate what Jesus Christ did, because what He did for us, there are just no words that can even describe it. Let's turn over to Philippians 2, verse 5. I want to start today with helping us, or maybe looking at Paul's words here in very familiar verses, to see what Jesus Christ did do and to focus us in on that.

All too often, I mean, we've all lived our entire lives and we know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, we know that He came to earth, we know we gave up being God, we know that He died for us, and sometimes we can take that for granted. But it was a monumental, again, an understatement, choice that He made for you and me, and it underscores what He felt for us. Let's look at Philippians 2, verse 5. As we go and move into the spring holy days, you know what God would want for us among the many things that we've talked about.

This would be one of them that through the course of our lives we would allow the mind of Christ to be developed in us. Verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God. Sometimes we look at that verse and the words can be confusing, but if we go back to the Greek we can see maybe more clearly what that meant than if the people who translated the New Testament from Greek, they had their own ideas of what things were and sometimes they used words that don't really reflect what the Greek did.

So let's look at a couple of words there in verse 6. When we look at the word being in the second verse there, that comes from the Greek word, hupartio, it means literally ready to come forth. Ready to come forth. Now, they didn't really understand what that meant, I guess, so they used the word being, but if we look at verse 5 and 6 and go through that first phrase there in verse 6, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being ready or ready to come forth in the form of God, and we know that God created us in His image.

We read that in Genesis 1, 26 and 27. And Jesus Christ was ready to come forth as man in the image of God. He didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God. And if we look at the word robbery, that's translated there, it comes from the Greek word, harpagmos, h-a-r-p-a-g-m-o-s, it literally means a thing to be seized. So I guess when the translators looked at a thing to be seized, that would be robbery.

But again, if we look at that verse and translate it with the meaning of the Greek words that are there, we would say who, ready to come forth in the form of God, didn't consider it a thing to be seized to be equal with God. Jesus Christ was God before He was man. And you know, being God meant, again, no words, eternity. And He didn't count it, this verse says, a thing to be seized.

Like, I'm going to hold on to this for any purpose. He didn't count a thing to be seized. He was ready to give that up so that you and I would have an opportunity for eternal life, so that our sins could be forgiven because we've all earned death. And it's only by His sacrifice and what He has done that we even have hope for a future.

But He had something so in mind for man. He loved man so much that He didn't even count it a thing to be seized. Like, no, I can't give that up. Instead, He said, I will give it up. I choose to give it up so that this creation that wasn't formed yet, before the foundation of the world, that tells us in Revelation 13, 8, it was determined that He would be the Lamb slain and that He would be our Savior.

And so Paul tells us that's the mind that God wants to create in us, that we would have that same type of love, that same type of humility, that same type of sacrificial attitude that Jesus Christ did. We don't have it all at once. It's something that develops over the course of our lifetime. So when God calls us and we truly repent, and we are baptized down, we receive His Holy Spirit, He begins that process in us.

So let's read verse 5 and 6 again and go on through that and see what Jesus Christ did. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, ready to come forth in the form of God, didn't consider the thing to be seized, to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that if the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is the only way to salvation. Acts 4, 12 says there's only one name by which salvation comes and that's through Jesus Christ, the Lord. And in just ten days, or, well, thirteen days, I guess, we'll be observing the Passover.

We'll be observing the night to be much observed. We'll be going through the days of Unleavened Bread and all of those pictures as they picture the steps of God's plan for mankind, the first step being taken by Jesus Christ. And, you know, throughout his life, throughout his life, he preached, he displayed love to everyone. Everyone that was brought to him, he healed. He did everything right. He set a perfect example for you and me and for all of mankind and all of humanity. We all know he didn't deserve what he, what the end of his life was like, but he was willing to go through it.

He was willing to go through it. And, you know, if it was you and me, as he came to that last Passover that he was on earth, as he looked in straw with the next 24 hours we're going to bring to him, he might have said, can we put this off for a year or two? Because he knew exactly what he was going to go through.

It was all prophesied in the Bible. The Old Testament speaks clearly about what it was going to, what the Savior was going to go through, and he fulfilled every single one of those prophecies. But in Luke 22, in Luke 22, no one really was going to go through. And understanding the purpose that he was on earth, and looking past the pain, and looking past the agony that he was going to go through, he was able to say this on that last day before that final Passover, that he would keep with his disciples and then be arrested and then crucified.

In verse 15 of Luke 22, it says, Christ said to them, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And that little word fervent is added there in italics because it was a fervent desire. He really was looking forward. He really wanted that Passover.

He wanted that to happen. Now, he didn't want necessarily the suffering and whatever. He was human like you and I are. But he knew the plan of God. He knew what was past that time. He knew what that day meant. And he knew the plan of God was going to progress forward. And ultimately, mankind would be reconciled with God. The kingdom of God would come to earth, and the kingdom would be established forever and ever and ever.

And as he said with fervent desire, I've desired to eat this Passover with you. I hope this year maybe you'll adopt that as a thing. With fervent desire, we look to the Passover. With fervent desire, we will keep the days of unloved bread. With fervent desire, we will seek God and ask Him to help us understand the meaning of these days better, to be more loyal to Him, more committed to Him as we gather together and recommit to Him.

We'll understand more deeply the days of unloved bread and why we need to put sin out of our lives and how God is purifying us and cleansing us and getting us ready and helping the same mind that was in Jesus Christ to be developed in us. If we, as Paul says, let, that big little word, let, if we just let God do that, He wants to do it, we just need to get out of His way and let Him do it. And so Jesus Christ, who taught and who gave and who loved and set such an example there on that last day of His physical life, He was arrested, He was beaten, He was scourged, He was crucified, He died in ignominious death, a humiliating death as a criminal, and He didn't deserve that.

But He was willing to do all that for you and me because He wanted what God and He had in mind for us. And He preached and He taught us lessons and, you know, right up until the minute that He died, He kept teaching and He kept telling us what was important. You know, if you and I were crucified and unless you've ever had a nail driven into your hand or ankle, you can't possibly know the pain that Christ experienced. I can't imagine it. But unless we did, we can't imagine what He went through.

And if we did go through that pain, there would be all sorts of thoughts in our minds, I'm sure. But, you know, as Christ suffered, He had some thoughts in our minds and some parting thoughts that He wanted to leave for those that are gathered around and to see that or to witness it and for those of us who have the Bible and who have it recorded for us. Today, I want to go through the last things that Jesus Christ said. There were several, I don't know, many years ago, I guess. I was walking through a bookstore and I will look and see what the titles are on books and things like that.

And every once in a while, if one catches my attention, I pick it up. And there was a book called The Seven Last Statements of Christ. And I picked it up. I didn't buy it and I didn't read it. But I always remember the title because I hadn't really focused on, well, what did Christ say when He was on to cross or the stake or whatever you want to call it?

And I'll use those terms interchangeably today. So, no one get offended if I say cross and no one get offended if I say stake. We know that He died. We know that He was crucified. And that's what the focus is. What did He say? Because, you know what, every word that Christ said, there had meaning to it. And as He was dying and as He was looking at the last hours of His life, there were things that He wanted us to know from what He was doing. So, let's look at those here today. And let's pick it up first in Luke 23. We're in Luke 22, but one chapter over.

One chapter over in Luke 23. And we will pick it up in verse 32. Preceding this verse is everything that He went through on that day. And in verse 32, we find that He's there to be crucified with two criminals. Verse 32 of Luke 23, There were also two others, criminals led with Him to be put to death. And one day they come to the place called Calvary. There they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And then Jesus said, the first of the statements that He said, as He was there, as He was suffering.

And as you heard in the song in the video that we just heard, He said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they do. Now for someone who has just gone through what He went through, and you've heard me talk about this before. For Him to be able to look down on those people who had nailed Him to that stake. For those people who had mocked Him and spit on Him. For those people who had scourged Him. For Him to say, Father, forgive them, they don't know what they do. There's absolutely nothing that has ever happened to us that we can't forgive.

If He was willing to forgive those people, then how could we ever not forgive someone else? And I know forgiveness can be hard at times. I know there's things that happen to us and unjust things that can happen to us. And they can play with our minds and we can become bitter. But God warns us against bitterness.

And Jesus Christ, human like we are, and maybe if it was one of us, we'd be there and we would look down at those people and we would be saying anything but forgive them. Father, give them what they deserve. Come down from heaven and slap them. But Jesus Christ said, forgive them. Forgive them. We talk about forgiveness at the time of the Passover and as we lead up to that time, among the many other things we examine, is there anything between us and someone else that we wouldn't forgive?

Because you know when Jesus Christ looked down at those people, the people gathered there heard those words. When we read those words and we put ourselves in His place, we see the choice that He made to forgive. He was telling us, we need to make that choice too. We don't have to turn to Matthew 6, 14, and 15 or Matthew 6 in the model prayer that's there because you know that prayer. In that prayer it says, forgive us our trespasses, right? We pray to God the Father and ask Him that as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And then in verse 14 of that same chapter it says, but if you don't forgive others your trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. What He does for us, He expects us to do for others. Jesus Christ did just that. What He did when He did that was show His tremendous love for mankind. Love as in agape, A-G-A-P-E. He chose to do that.

It wasn't the thing that would naturally come to His mind to say, forgive them, He chose to do that because He loved mankind. He loved you and me and He loved those people. They didn't know what they were doing. And He showed His great love. Greater love, it says in John 14, has no man than this that a man would lay down his life for others.

Greater agape has no man than this. He chose to do that. He was God. He gave up being God. He chose to do this for you and me. Not because we're anything special, but because God had something in mind. We have to make choices to love as well. We have to make choices to forgive. And to Jesus Christ, when He said, forgive them, what's another thing He was doing?

You know, in John 17, when we read the prayer, when we read the prayer that Jesus was praying before He was arrested, three or four times, you remember what He said in there? He said, Father, my will is that they would be one as you and I are one. They one with each other and they one with us. I want the body together.

I want the people to be united. I want them to be one body. I don't want any walls going up between them. I don't want any barriers between them. One family, just as Jesus Christ and God the Father are one. That's what He wanted.

And you know what? The people that crucified Him that day, the people that put Him on that stake, the people that scourged Him, oh, they were erecting some pretty tall walls there. But Jesus Christ didn't let them stand. He chose not to be bitter. He chose not to let those walls stand. He said, I choose to forgive them. All the walls down, all the walls and all the barriers between people gone.

And as we approach the Passover, and we examine ourselves in every single light that we've talked about, from the way that we act, from our attitudes, from the sins that we have that God shows us, but also in our relationships with each other, if there's something to be forgiven, forgive. Don't let Satan put walls up. God doesn't want walls up between people. His body is one and that's what His will is and that's what His Spirit will lead us to.

You know, the chief priest or pilot that day when he talked to Christ, he could find nothing wrong in Christ. And it says in Mark 14, somewhere in that area, it says he knew that for envy, they had delivered Christ over to Him. Envy, jealousy, bitterness, you name it, can put walls up between people. We can't have walls between people if God, or we have to work on that. And God would say, forgive. Don't let anything come between you and a brother.

One body. One as God and Jesus Christ are one. That's how we show love to Him when we do what He says. Jesus Christ said, if you love Me, if you agape Me, keep My commandments. If you agape Me, be one with one another. And Jesus Christ, as He knew, was on that cross, gave a loud message to us of what we need to do and make sure our relationships within the body are the way that He would want them to be.

Going on in Luke 23, we drop down a few verses. We find the next statement that Jesus Christ made when He was on that cross. This one has to do with the two criminals that were on either side of Him. In verse 39 of Luke 23, it says, We find the other man. He answered the man who just made this comment and rebuked him, saying, He rebuked the other guy. What kind of attitude are you displaying here? We're sitting here. We're hanging here because we've done things. We deserve this.

But this man, from what he heard, from what he saw, from maybe the fruits that he had looked at, as maybe he had seen Christ out and about in the community. Maybe he saw Him preaching. Maybe he saw Him healing everyone. Maybe he saw Him demonstrating the love that He did because he was concerned about all mankind. He didn't do anything to offend anyone or to turn anyone away.

Maybe he saw those fruits and thought, this man doesn't belong here with us. How can you show such disrespect to Him? And as Christ was there on that stake or on that cross, He was faced with two different types of people. One that would have the insolent, mocking manner to Him, and that would say, really? Kind of like what Peter said. People would say, really? People have been talking about the return of Jesus Christ forever. Has He returned yet? When is He ever going to return? And on the other hand, He had a man who had a heart, who looked at things realistically and who had some mercy on this man, Jesus Christ, who was there, who He could tell by listening. Maybe observing by the fruits. This man didn't deserve to be there.

Jesus Christ listened to both of them. And the man said in verse 42, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. And Christ responded to Him, assuredly I say to You today, You will be with Me in Paradise. Now, parenthetically there, we know that in the Greek there were no commas. And so that comma that's in there in verse 43 has been inserted by English translators who had their own beliefs. Christ said, assuredly I say to You today, You will be with Me in Paradise. As Jesus Christ looked at that man, as He looked at the one man on the left and the one man on the right, He could see there was a heart in that man. And while He didn't know, well, I should say He didn't know, while He didn't recount everything that He had done and even say, well, you know what, you did such and such and that's why you're sitting here with Me today. He saw a heart and as Christ looked past today and He knew that within hours that man was going to die just like he was going to die. And He looked past today and He said, You will be with Me in Paradise. Because He saw a heart in the man that was merciful, that was tender, that was malleable, that was teachable, that could see the difference between right and wrong. And Christ knew that in the Second Resurrection when that man was raised up, He would respond. And He said, You will be with Me in Paradise. You know, it's incumbent on all of us to make sure that our heart is tender and that we have the right heart, that we don't harden our heart as it says so many times in Hebrews. Don't harden your heart. Keep your heart soft. Keep it teachable. Don't set your mind against God. Don't set your mind against His truth. Don't set your mind against one another. Choose a gape to love one another. Choose to follow Him.

Keep your heart tender. Let's go back to 1 Samuel 16. As you turn to 1 Samuel 16, you know that Jesus Christ, He spoke about man's heart. And He said in Matthew 15, you know, what comes out of a man's mouth indicates what's in his heart. And so as He had these two criminals on each side, He had the one kind of mocking, disputing, and challenging Him. He knew it was in His heart and the other man who had a softer heart. Same thing occurred back here with King Saul, the very first king of Israel. Samuel learned a lesson about Saul, who God gave so many chances to.

But Saul, every time God told him to do something, King Saul, he just kind of did it halfway or 95% of the way. But he never followed God with all of his heart. When God said, utterly destroy all the Amalekites, He destroyed most of them, but He kept a few alive. When God said, you wait until the priest comes to make that sacrifice, well, He waited until at the time He thought Samuel should be there. When He didn't show up, He went and did it Himself.

Where was His heart? It's 1 Samuel 16, verse 7.

Christ looked at that man's heart, and He said, you will be with Me in Paradise.

You know what else He was saying when He said, when He made that statement, you will be with Me in Paradise.

Not one of us here could make that comment. Not one of us could say to anyone, you will be with Me in Paradise. Only one man who ever lived has the right to say, you will be with Me in Paradise. And that is Jesus Christ.

Salvation comes by Him and no other. John 5, 22 tells us, all judgment is given to the Son because He lived human life. He had the same temptations, the same trials, tribulations, aches, pains that we have. He knows what we go through. He was willing to go through it all for you and Me. And God has given Him all judgment.

When Jesus Christ looked at that man and He said, you will be with Me in Paradise, He and He alone could make that judgment.

Today, judgment is on the house of God. It will be Jesus Christ who looks at us because He's been through the same thing. He knows our foibles. He knows our weaknesses. He knows what life is like. He also knows the Holy Spirit He's given us and the strength, if we use it, that we can overcome anything that comes our way. If we rely on Him and not-self. So, that second statement, He showed who He was and the mercy that He would have on people and that He had the right to determine that He would be in the Second Resurrection in Paradise.

Let's go back to John, John 19. John 19. Now, the seven last statements that you don't find every single one of them in every single gospel. You go through the gospels and you see what Jesus Christ said. And the gospels are written that way. What Matthew was interested in conveying was different, a little bit different than Luke. All the facts fit together. But we find these statements throughout the four gospels. And in John 19, verse 26, we find the next statement we'll talk about. And I can't vouch for you that these are exactly in the order that Jesus Christ said them, but the order that we'll talk about them today. Let's begin in verse 25 of John 19.

Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, Woman, behold your son. And He said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her to his own home. Now, as Jesus Christ was suffering, as He was there, and you know, you or I might have been consumed about ourselves. My hands hurt. My legs hurt. I've got all these things wrong with me. And the disciples have fled, except for John. They're not there. They're not sharing in this with me. They all fled. He showed His concern even in that hour for the welfare of His mother. And I think that's notable. You know, the fifth commandment says, Honor your father and mother. And it says, if you want life on the earth, honor your father and mother. Parents, we should be teaching our children that respect. As Jesus Christ, our Savior had a healthy, healthy, correct, right respect for His mother and His physical father as He lived. Don't ever underestimate that. And don't ever shortchange your children or handicap them in life by not teaching them respect and not teaching them to honor their father and mother. Jesus Christ made that clear, and Jesus Christ showed that right at the very end. He also said in that statement, Woman, speaking to His mother, Behold your son. Look at Me, was what He was saying. Look at Me, Mom. Why would He want His mom to look at her? Of course she was looking at Him. She was heartbroken. She was devastated by what had happened. She had seen the good that He had done all His life.

She knew it was happening. He gave her clues, just like He gave the disciples. This is what is going to happen to me in the end. The disciples didn't understand until after the fact. But Mary, as she heard these things about Christ, it says she kept them in her heart. And so when this was happening, she watched and she saw. She was still heartbroken, just like any of us would be to see our child have to go through this.

But He told her, Mom, look at Me. Look at your son. What was He thinking about, perhaps, when He said that? Let's go back to John 3. John 3.

Very famous verse. Probably the world over is John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

John 3.14, just two verses earlier.

He says this, He says, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

That was an interesting thing for Christ to say. I'm going to be lifted up, just like that serpent in the wilderness. Remember that from way back then? He was telling the Jews who remembered well what He was talking about.

But He told them, Remember that serpent, I'm going to be lifted up just like they are. Let's go back to Numbers 21. Let's see what Jesus Christ was referring to. This is a notable time in Israel's history when, again, they were complaining to God. They had seen Him deliver them from Egypt. They had seen Him open the Red Sea. They had seen Him deliver water from the rock. As we talked about last week, they saw Him feed them all those years with manna. And here in Numbers 21, we find that their heart wasn't right.

They weren't believing. They weren't trusting in God. We find Israel in a complaining state. In Numbers 21, verse 5, The people spoke against God, and they spoke against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water in our souls this worthless bread. We are sick of it all, they said. Why are we here?

God rightly so responds to this, just as you and I would be. Righteous indignation of the Eternal sent fiery serpents among the people. And they hit, they bit the people. And many of the people of Israel died. Well, then they recognized, wow, this hurts. Talking against God, complaining the way we did, hurts. Therefore, the people came to Moses and said, we've sinned. We get it. We shouldn't have done that. For we have spoken against the Eternal and against you. Pray to God that He take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. And God said to Moses, make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole.

And it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. So Moses did that. Now, God didn't need to have that pole and a serpent on it to heal the people.

There was something He was showing them or teaching them. When they look at it, this thing in the middle of the wilderness, when they look at it, they'll be healed. But if they refuse to look at it, if they refuse to acknowledge and believe what I have said, they won't be healed. And so those who wouldn't look at it, who thought, well, this is silly, they weren't healed.

But when people looked at it, they were healed. And Jesus Christ said, just as this serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man will be lifted up. The Son of Man will be lifted up. He'll be hanging there on a cross, on a stake, for everyone to see that comes to see. You know, there comes a time in our life, and everyone's life that will end up, that will have eternal life, that they have to look on Jesus Christ and they have to accept His sacrifice.

They have to admit that they've sinned. They have to truly repent and understand where they've been and how they are part of the reason Jesus Christ was there. And they will have to look at Him. And they will have to look at that sacrifice and they will have to accept it. Because if we don't accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice, and if we don't believe in Him, because remember it's believing in Him, and believing Him that leads to eternal life.

And remember what that word believe means when we read it in the New Testament. It's not believe, as you and I would say, I believe in everyday language. It's the Greek word, distil, P-I-S-T-E-U-O. It means down to the core, life-changing, attitude-changing, behavior-changing belief that when we see it, we know it, it rivets us, and we know that there is no choice but to follow Him. And if people won't look at Jesus Christ and believe, they won't be spiritually healed.

And if we're not healed, then there's only one other alternative. Now, maybe, just maybe, what Jesus was telling Mary, because we know in Acts 4, 12, it says, there is no other name by which salvation comes by Jesus Christ. We must accept Him. We must do the things the way He said. We must repent the way Bible defines repentance. We must be baptized. We must have that outward form of commitment to Him. Let Him bury our sins and then be led by His Holy Spirit when hands are laid on us. And that guides us. If we won't do that, we won't be in the kingdom. The Bible is clear.

So He said to Mary, look at Me, Mary. Or He didn't say Mary. He said, look at Me, Mom, right? Look at Me, Mom. Look at Me, Mother. Behold Me. Even You, Mary, need to accept the sacrifice of Your Son. Even You need to accept what He has done and believe in Him and look at Him who has been lifted up to pay for the sins of all the world. We must, we must see Him, we must recognize Him, we must acknowledge Him, we must yield to Him, we must have that humble attitude and realize He did it all for us. And we must follow Him. And that Jesus Christ was on that cross.

He said, Mary, look at Me. Behold Your Son.

Let's go back to Matthew 27 for the next thing He said.

Matthew 27.

And verse 45.

That is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? You can feel the anguish in Christ's voice as He said, God, where are You? Father, where are You? Why have You forsaken Me? And we know that God didn't forsake Him. God knew exactly what was going on. This was all for our day before the world ever was, it tells us. This plan was in place. He knew what was going on there. But Jesus Christ was in the state. God, where are You? Why have You forgotten about Me? Why have You forsaken Me?

You know what's happening or what Jesus Christ was going through as He was nailed to that cross? He was bearing the weight of all of our sins. He was paying the penalty for everything you and I have done and every other human being that's ever lived. The only perfect person who ever lived was paying the price. He was paying the death penalty. God made man. God who gave up being God to be made man. He was paying that penalty so that you and I might have a future beyond the 70 years, 70, 80, 90 years that God gives us to live.

But for the first time in His life, for the first time in His life, Jesus Christ felt what it was like, I think, to bear sin. To bear sin. He had always walked perfectly with God before. The Holy Spirit had been there. He had felt the joy. He had felt the love. He had felt the closeness and the relationship with God the Father.

But now, as He's hanging on that cross and the weight of all the sins are on Him, God, where are you? Why have you forgotten about Me?

You know, there's times in all of our lives that we might say that same thing. God, why have you forgotten about Me? Why am I going through all this? Why do I feel so distant from You? Why do I not feel the joy anymore? Why do I not feel like doing the things that build a relationship with You? Why do I feel just downtrodden? Why do I feel distant? Why do I feel not like doing anything? Well, it's times like that that we might stop and examine ourselves. It's times like that that we're in danger, actually, because we could say, God's not here. God's not with Me anymore. God has forsaken Me. God has left Me. Why am I doing any of this? There's all sorts of things that our minds can go through.

God hadn't left Jesus Christ. He knew exactly where He was. He knew exactly what was going on every minute with Him. God knows exactly what's going on in your life and my life every minute.

He has a vested interest, and He loves each and every one of the people sitting here and all over the world who follow Him and who have...well, all the people and all those who have committed to Him today. He knows exactly what's going on.

When we feel forsaken, when we feel apart from God, we should never run away from Him. That's never the answer. We should run toward Him. We should pray more. We should study more. We should fast more. We should be on our knees pleading with God.

Give me back the joy. Restore in me the joy of your salvation, as David prayed in Psalm 51. Jesus Christ was feeling something you and I have felt, perhaps.

Why have you forsaken me? But He knew...I'm sure He knew God never leaves or God never forsakes. It's something you and I have to remember.

When we feel like God has given up on us, it's never the case. We've given up on God. We've kept...we've stopped trying. We've stopped doing the things that we should do.

We've stopped and then we blame it on God and it's not Him at all.

Over in Hebrews 13.

You know sin...I didn't mention it, but Isaiah 59 says sin separates us from God.

When we sin and we're in a state of sin and we're in a bad attitude and we were doing things, we feel separate and apart from God.

Jesus Christ felt the weight of sin on His shoulders. He felt that. Hebrews 4.15 tells us He can sympathize with everything we go through because He's experienced it all.

In Hebrews 13 verse 5, no matter what you go through, no matter what trial, no matter what tribulation, no matter what gets thrown your way, because there will be things that get thrown our way to take us off course and to take our focus off of what God has called us to.

He promises us in Hebrews 13. He also said it in Deuteronomy 31 because, remember, there is a unity in the Bible. What you read in the Old Testament is there in the New Testament as well.

Hebrews 13 verse 5, He says, Count on it. Take it to the bank. God didn't forsake Jesus Christ. He just felt and wondered, where are you? Like we might.

But we should remember God never leaves us or forsakes us. Never. And it's us we need to look at. It's us we need to examine. It's us we need to ask God to search so that we don't feel that way any longer.

Back in John, John 19.

John 19 verse 28.

John 19 verse 26 and 27.

John 19 verse 28. It says, In verse 28 it says, The Roman soldiers heard that. It says in verse 29, A vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled the sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

They heard I thirst, and they thought what you and I would think. The man is physically thirsty. How could he not be physically thirsty? He's gone through an enormous amount, more than any of us could even imagine going through in the last less than 24 hours.

All the pain, all the agony, all the stress, the beating, the crucifixion, the mocking, the physical, the mental abuse that he went through. And indeed, Christ, I'm sure, was thirsty.

But you know he fulfilled, as it says in verse 28, every single prophecy that was written about him in the Old Testament, every single one. Just as this was foreordained before the world began, it was all there. Even the last one, put your finger there in John 19. Let's go back to Psalm 69. Psalm 69, verse 21, every detail, every detail, everything written in the Old Testament was there exactly the way it was planned out. Psalm 69, verse 21, they also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. You can go back through all the Old Testament prophecies. You can see, you can read through Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Psalm 69, all of those. And you can see, every single thing that was said, what happened to Christ, happened exactly the way it was prophesied it would.

And when this was done, and he said, I thirst, he said it, that that prophecy might be fulfilled as well, but there's a meaning behind I thirst.

We would think physical thirst, and rightly so, and that's what the people there thought that day.

But when Jesus Christ talked about thirst, and when he talked about water, and when he talked about things, he also had a spiritual aspect to what he was talking about.

Last week, you remember, we talked about water from the rock, and what that meant, and how that symbolized perfectly what Jesus Christ talked about in John 4, when he talked to the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman.

And he asked for a drink of her, and she gave it to him, and he told her, woman, if you knew, you'd ask me for living water, and I would never thirst again.

And in John 7, verse 37, that we talked about when he said, on that last day it says, a great day of the feast, speaking of the Fall Festival, when he said, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and then he will have rivers of living water.

Oh, we thirst, and Jesus Christ thirsted. He was bearing the sins of all humanity.

He prayed in John 17, for the glory that he had with God before the world was, and he looked forward to that time, and he looked forward to the time that all this plan pointed to, and that is the kingdom of God, and then all the time beyond the time of this physical earth.

He thirsted. He thirsted like we thirst. And when we thirst for the spiritual things of life, there's only one way we can ever be satisfied, and only one way we can ever be filled.

People will thirst and thirst and thirst, and they will try this, and they'll try to fill themselves up in every other number of ways, but there's only one way to be totally full and totally satisfied.

And that is with God's truth. Being with Him, letting His Holy Spirit lead us and guide us and direct us and correct us and get us ready and mold us into the people that He wants us to become.

Back at the beginning of His ministry in Matthew 5, Jesus Christ, the Sermon on the Mount, that He gave one of the first things He said, and that is He addressed hunger and thirst. And in Matthew 5, He said, Do we hunger? Do we thirst for righteousness? Do we say, I thirst? I'm just not satisfied.

Oh, we know where to go to be satisfied. We know where to go to be filled. God tells us, Jesus Christ said, I thirst. If He thirsted, we should be thirsting too.

And always be seeking that water, that living water that comes from Him.

Okay, let's go to Luke 6.

Speaking of thirsting and speaking of what God wants us to become, one verse I just want to remind us of, in verse 40.

A disciple, and I would hope everyone here today, would see themselves as the disciple of Jesus Christ, someone who wants to be like Him.

We're here today because God has called us. He's opened our minds to see the truth of the Bible. We can see the future. We can see beyond this physical world.

It says in verse 40, A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained, perfectly trained, we're in that training right now, who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher, will be like Jesus Christ.

We should be thirsting to be like that, allowing His Spirit to guide us so that that mind of Jesus Christ that Paul talked about will be in us.

Now let's go to John 19.

John 19, verse 30. He just talked about I first. The sixth thing he says, we find there in verse 30, so when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, it's finished. And bowing His head, He gave off His Spirit.

It's finished. It's done. Everything that was written, everything that was prophesied, everything God expected Me to do, I have done.

I have run the race. Paul would say, I have completed the race. Jesus Christ said, it's done. Everything I came to earth to do is done.

Every prophecy fulfilled. They know who God the Father is. I have destroyed when I die the works of the devil.

I have started My church. I have started My body. I have preached the kingdom of God. I have started My body. I have preached the kingdom of God.

. . . You know Jesus, so I have springs back on Him.

You know Jesus, so I've been so much more Yosh summarize Why have I spent so much?

You know Jesus, so much whites. So, Jesus, such in His life. So many holy-minded people. Such in His life. For God, so many people have been Toolmen, a fac garde Southeast Censusverseterminations. How many thousands of people did He heal? We don't know how many people. But it says, Everything He did. He preached magnificent things. The people were astounded at what He preached. Not many of them followed. The people were astounded until many of them followed. The people were astounded later, but the great temptation when He went head to head, if you will, with Satan. And by great temptation, God's Holy Spirit defeated Him at that time. If He did Him at that time, He hadn't finished. He hadn't finished. At that time, He hadn't finished. At that time, at that time, at that time, at that time, at that time, at that time, it would have all been done for nothing. At that time, at that time, at that time, at that time, it would have all been for nothing. At that time, at that time, at that time, at that time, He wouldn't be our Satan. At that time, we wouldn't have a hope. We wouldn't have. We wouldn't have. We wouldn't laugh. When He said it's them, we wouldn't have! We wouldn't have!

He did so much more than you and I z GENI.

If we don't finish the race, it's all for naught. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24, 13, He who endures to the end will be saved. Not who He who went fifty percent of the way, or seventy-five percent, or ninety-five percent of the way. He who endures to the end, He who ninety-five percent of the way. He who in percent finish, He who in percent is, He He who in person finished, he who in person erased. And he finished it. Every single detail that he and God the Father had planned out before. Single detail. How could the world be before? Single detail. And his life was completed exactly the way it was supposed to be. Detail. And his life was completed exactly, exactly, life was completed exactly, exactly. Exactly what? God knows exactly, exactly what! God knows exactly the plan for you and me. He exactly is, he knows exactly the plan for you and me. He knows exactly exactly what's missing. He knows exactly what's been written. He knows exactly what he knows ...exactly never told me... ...exactly... ...he wants to know and he will bring us to Zachary. He wants that race, he wants to never forsake us. He wants that race, he wants to... ...he wants to never leave us. He will always be there, he wants to... ...he will always be there, he wants to... We have to finish. He wants to change. We have to finish. He wants to try. We can't let a relationship problem. We can't let a health problem. We can't let a financial problem. We can't let a physical health problem. We can't let any of these things that say a physical health problem. We can't let 89 our way ever divert us from what God has called us to. Our way ever. What does it say? Jesus Christ! He is the author, He will have Him. What does it say? Jesus Christ! She is just what He has begun. He is Christ. What He has done is complete. He is Christ if we let Him and if we don't get to Him along the way. If we don't think God has forsaken us, oh, I don't know about this, oh, I don't know about this. If we don't think God has forsaken us, this person said, thank God has forsaken us. He said this, that person said that. Don't know if I want to be along with that. We can't let any of those things, no matter what it is, keep us from finishing. We must finish. But it is just like Jesus Christ finished. Otherwise, it's all for naught. Otherwise, it's all for naught. Christ, it's all for naught. Don't start.

Christ, it's all for naught.

The right? Christ, it's all for naught. Christ it's all for naught. And that finishes, right? Christ, it's all for naught. Jesus Christ. Christ, it's all for naught. Christ, it's all for naught, all of us. Christ, it's all for naught. Bible pants are ALL for naught. And in Luke 23, as he said those words, he was about to breathe his last. Luke 23, is his first verse. It was about the sixth hour, and there was dark night. It was about the sixth hour, the sixth hour. Then the sixth hour, and the sixth hour. Second hour, the sixth hour, and the sixth hour, the sixth hour, and the sixth hour, significant event, the sixth hour, significant event, the sixth hour. Now, the sixth hour, access to God was for all of mankind as a result of Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Not just the high priest who would go into the holy, holy of holies once a year, but for all of mankind.

Having said Jesus Christ, who had each, having said eternal life, having said Jesus Christ, having said Jesus Christ, having said co-eternal, having said God co-eternal, having said who willingly, having said involuntarily, having said barely gave up that, didn't count it a thing to be seen to hold on to that, having said barely gave up that, didn'tRedditor to the same depots, didn't count it a thing to give it up that you, didn't count it a thing to have the potential, the thing to have the potential, the potential opportunity that the potential, the potential, the potential he created for man. Here he was as a man, for Breathing his lap for man, for man, for man, for man, for man. Are you with me? For man, for man, for man. And for three days and three nights for man. For man, he would lay for man, in the tomb. For man, in the tomb. For man, for man. No consciousness. For man, for man. No thought. And just like, he cleaves the apple. And just like, he's just like. Three, he clasps, he asks, he's twat. Oh, he cleaves the ass, he asks, he's twat. He asks, he's nine-twat. Ten tells us, he's nine-twat. He's nine-twat. He's ten-twat. Happens to man. But he had absolute and complete trust in God. He had given up and complete trust in God. He turned into complete trust in God. He turned into complete trust in God. They had this plan, and he absolutely built into God. They had this plan, and he envied with every... ...bead, and he invented his bead, and he envied...

...the thing we, and he envied the thing we, and he envies as Christ had. We have the faith. We must believe. We must trust God that even if we were called upon to lose our life... ...it's a tough thing to think about, isn't it? Even if we were to lose our life, that God would raise us up again. That this physical life we're in is just the first part of what we're in. God has plans of what we're in. That you and me, and for all mankind who will choose to follow him... ...who will make that decision as they go through life, and as God gives them the opportunity, the decision as they go through life.

And he said, Father, to you I commend my spirit. The exact words that it says in Ecclesiastes 3, 19-21... ...Ecclesiastes 21, Ecclesiastes 8, and Ecclesiastes 7. Same words that Ecclesiastes... ...he say when someone's seven. Same words that Ecclesiastes dies. ...Ecclesiastes dies. ...Ecclesiastes... ...he commends to the Ecclesiastes...

Their body to the ground but the God spirit to God, because, you know what? God never forgets. Their body to the ground but the God spirit to God because you know what? God anyone.

... Mr.Christ Whereas, almost every man, woman, and child that has ever lived. And the resurrection and child that has ever lived and the first resurrection and child that has ever sinned.

We'll have a part of resurrection, as Christ calls it, in Revelation. Second resurrection, calls it in Revelation. Revelation. Revelation. Revelation. Revelation. But he was with Revelation. We're going to give it all up. Revelation. But he was with Revelation. Because he trusted Gethin. God. Revelation. Because he trusted Gethin. Was he trusted Gethin? You have to be with us. If we let Gethin, was he trusted Gethin? This, if we let Gethin, was he trusted Gethin mind be in us? That was in Christ Jesus. We would come to the point as Paul was willing to give up his life. So as we look toward the day, the Passover, we look to the days of Unleavened Bread and all that those mean, I hope we'll think about Christ's message, all of his messages as we look through the pages of the Bible, as we remember his words. We'll examine ourselves. We'll be there to take the Passover in a worthy manner, as he says in 1 Corinthians 11.