but the Lord has gathered us
and he has prepared his word and his message for us. I'm so
thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be the
preacher. I'm so thankful that he came as a preacher. I'm so
thankful that he's the one who not only speaks these amazing
words that we're looking at from the cross of Calvary, And he's
the one that has promised, as we read in Psalm 22, to apply
them to the hearts of his people. So we have a remarkable God and
a remarkable Saviour. We cannot exalt God too highly. We cannot magnify the name and
the glory of God far too highly. And I think it might have been
Spurgeon who said that if we reduce or limit our preaching
to nothing but the cross of Calvary, it will be an expansion of our
ministry. We preach Christ crucified. Paul went to that church in Corinth,
and he wrote to them in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 2, he said, I came here
with the intention of knowing nothing among you but Jesus Christ
and him crucified. That was the determination of
the apostles, to preach the Lord Jesus Christ, and particularly
to preach him as he was crucified. Why? did the Lord Jesus Christ
go to the cross of Calvary? Who was it on that cross that
day 2,000 years ago? Who was it that was pleased to
crush him? It was his father. What did he achieve? Did he just
go through all of what we have read and all of what is written
to create a possibility, to create an opportunity, or did he actually
do something? Last week we looked at his cry
from the cross, it is finished. I want us to begin today by looking
at his prayer at the beginning of his time on the cross. If
you turn with me to Luke 23 verse 34, you need to go to all the
Gospels to get a full picture of the cries of the Lord Jesus
Christ from the cross. In Luke 23 verse 34, Having been crucified, in verse
33 he says, and when they'd come to the place which was called
Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactor and the
thieves, one on the right hand and the other on the left, then,
then, then, Jesus then said, Jesus, Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do. One of the things that we've been
looking at as we've gone through John's gospel and come to the
cross of Calvary is that in all of his seven sayings on the cross,
he's declaring something of who he is and something of why he
is there. when he says father forgive them
he's standing and well he is not standing he's there nailed
to a cross but in the sense he's standing between God and man
there he is suspended between heaven and earth and he says
father forgive our mediator. He is the one that
prays to God on behalf of his people. If you go down in Luke
chapter 23 to verse 42, we looked at this a couple of weeks ago,
the thief on the cross said, Lord, remember me. It's one of the shortest and
one of the sweetest prayers in all of the scriptures, isn't
it? All the best prayers are short prayers. Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. You're here on a cross, like
I'm here on a cross. And you are our Lord, and you
have a kingdom, and this is not the end of your life. It's one
of the greatest acts of faith in all of the scriptures, isn't
it? How did that man come to declare that? just like everyone
who declares the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the
result of the Spirit's work in his life. He was born again on
the cross of Calvary having heard the sermons that were preached
in rebuke of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here we have firstly the words
of a mediator. Then we have the words of our
King. And then in John chapter 19 that we looked at a couple
of weeks ago, He saw, in verse 26, he saw his mother. How much
it must have added to his pain for his mother to see him as
he was. She was standing there with two
other Marys and the disciple John, whom he loved, John 19,
26. And he said, woman, behold thy
son. And he said to the disciple,
behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple
took her home. Here we have the words of our
shepherd and our provider. He loves his people with an everlasting
love, and he cares for all of their needs, even their earthly
needs. He cares for you. Cast all your
care upon him. He cares for you. And then the last four cries
from the cross of Calvary come, I believe, after the three hours
of darkness. God, turned off the lights for
three hours. God turned off the sun for three
hours. Luke says that there was a darkness
over all of the earth. And the Lord Jesus cried, my God, my God, why hast you
forsaken me? Why hast thou forsaken me? I'm
hoping, Lord willing, to look more at that next week. But this
cry of why and the answer, you are holy, is the cry from the
cross that separates the darkness from the light. And if light
from God is going to shine into your heart, and that light from
God is going to illuminate the Lord Jesus Christ, that you might
rejoice, you might believe, you might find him your all in all,
then this is what you need to do. The other gospels say that
he bowed his head like a great king, and he gave up the ghost. No one took his life from them. So here we have the Father's
accepted beloved. So think about the character
of God that's revealed in the Lord Jesus on the cross. He is
our mediator. He is our king who has a kingdom. He is our shepherd and provider. He is our substitute. He stands in our place, the place
of all of his people, bearing the infinite wrath of God. keeper. He is our victorious
Savior. He is the Father's accepted Beloved. And how are you accepted? In the Beloved. Ephesians 1. How are we forgiven? By the blood. How does our King
reign? He reigns as a sovereign ruling
mediator. And he reigns and rules in such
a way that he must apply everything that he's done to all of the
hearts of all of his people. He can't lose one of them. We're
going to sing number 27. Covenant love, behold my soul,
the love of God, behold the grace most free. You are. Yeah. I've just been captivated by
how amazing these cries from the cross at Calvary are, how
wonderfully they declare the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how they are the place that
every needy sinner goes back to again and again and again
to find comfort and rest for my soul. The Lord Jesus Christ loved his
people and gave himself for them. He's not a victim, he is the
victor. He set his face like a flint
to go to the cross of Calvary. It was his purpose from before
the foundation of the world. And the cross of Calvary is the
place where we see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ shine
most brilliantly. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is where we see the attributes of God Isn't it wonderful, I find it
wonderful to think that in what declares the glory of God the
most is where our salvation is. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ
and him crucified. It's in this remarkable transaction
of this remarkable saviour on the cross of Calvary. In all
of his declarations he is declaring who he is. But I just love to
think of his first cry. And let's turn there to Luke
chapter 23. We read it earlier, but we can
read it again in Luke 23 verse 33. It says, And when they were
come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified
him and the malefactors, the thieves and the murderers and
the robbers, one on the right hand, the other on the left. They crucified him and listened
to the first word of the next verse. Then said Jesus, Father,
forgive them for they know not what they do. Don't you love the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ stands as a Mediator and His first words
on the cross of Calvary are, Father forgive them and forgive
those who don't know what they do. It is, they are, the glorious
words of the one that stands between his people and his father. He's a mediator, one who stands
between the two parties to bring reconciliation. Who needs a mediator? Everyone who has a broken relationship. This world is full of broken
relationships, aren't there? We see them arising all the time. Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump need a
mediator. Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin need
a mediator. Wherever we see conflict around
the world, we need a mediator. And here is the glorious mediator
between us and God. He who is God the Son. can touch a holy God and be in
communion with a holy God and not be consumed by the holiness
of God. And he can touch man, bone of
our bones and flesh of our flesh. He can touch man and not be defiled
by touching man. Job prayed, he said, he wants
there to be a daysman between us that he might lay his hands
on both. And the Lord Jesus Christ had
those hands nailed out on the cross. He speaks to God. Father, forgive them. Father,
forgive them. He is fulfilling prophecy. Isaiah chapter 53, verse 12 said,
at the end of it, he poured out his soul unto death, He was numbered
with the transgressors and He bare the sin of many and made
intercession for the transgressors. He's fulfilling that role exactly
as He does even now in heaven the Lord Jesus Christ is interceding
for us. He's now bearing, according to
the Word of God, he's bearing in his own body the sins of all
he prayed for, and he asks the You might recall all through
the Lord Jesus Christ, he used to just come to people and say,
your sins are forgiven. You can read about that lady,
that notorious lady in Luke chapter seven. And he says, your sins
are forgiven, you go in peace, you go home in peace. You know
probably well the story in Mark chapter 2 of those people that
brought that man paralyzed on that mat, and they let him down. They couldn't get into the house
for all the religious people crowding around the Lord Jesus
Christ, and so they let him down through the roof. And the Lord
Jesus saw their faith, Mark chapter 2 verse 5, and he said to the
one sick of palsy, the one paralyzed, the first thing he says to him,
Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. And the Pharisees there, they
were reasoning in their hearts, and the Lord Jesus Christ sees
the hearts of all men all the time with perfect clarity. They
reasoned in their heart, this is blasphemy. This is blasphemy. Who can forgive sins but God
only? Little did they know that they
were in the very presence of God the Son. And the forgiveness
of sins is a divine prerogative. God has the right to forgive
sins. And all the forgiveness of sins
is going to be because of what the Lord Jesus Christ was doing
on the cross of Calvary. He says to us, in Ephesians 4.32,
you be kind one to another. You be tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Ephesians 4.32. Why does God
forgive? Why could God say to that man,
Your sins are forgiven because of what was happening on the
cross. All forgiveness is only because there's a lamb slain
to bear those sins. Justice is satisfied. Holiness
must punish those sins. God must be God and be glorified. The Son of Man has power on earth
to forgive sins. how wonderful our Saviour is. He says, forgive them, forgive
them. Father, forgive them. is now lifted up from the earth. And these words express the only
way there is forgiveness. These words mark the place where
there forgiveness is. These words mark the one alone
who can forgive sins. If your sins are going to be
forgiven, they must be forgiven on the basis of the Lord Jesus
Christ dying on the cross at Calvary. It's not you being sorry
for your sins, and you ought to be, It's Christ praying for
you and bearing those sins. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1, and
we want to see why these sins are forgiven. 1 Peter 1 verse 24. Some verses
of Scripture, all verses of Scripture are extraordinarily important,
but some verses of Scripture declare in very simple terms
the reality of what went on on the cross of Calvary. It says, who in his own self
bear our sins, where, what's the next word? in his own body on the tree. Where were those sins that are
forgiven? In his own body on the tree. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says God hath made him sin for us. Oh Lord, I want to be one of
the us. I want to be one of them that he prayed for. God made
him to be sin for us. He knew no sin, he did no sin. He could not sin. It was impossible
for the Lord Jesus Christ to sin. God hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God's forgiveness of sins is
on the basis of what happened on the cross of Calvary. Forgive
them. Father, forgive them. What an
encouragement for prayer. What an encouragement for us
to pray for other people. God's children will be asking
children. Thank God we have a mediator
who prays for our forgiveness. Thank God we have a mediator
who prays for our forgiveness. ignorance. Our sins of ignorance. Was this prayer answered? You just read the Acts of the
Apostles. Out of that crowd, that enormous multitude that
cried, crucify him, crucify him, crucify me, on the day of Pentecost,
3,000 souls were forgiven. In Acts chapter 4, another 5,000
souls were forgiven. I pray that we don't think that
the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary
is any small thing at all. It's a momentous victory, it's
a magnificent victory, it's a visible victory. But I love what Peter
says to those people who were forgiven. We're talking about
the forgiveness because they knew not what they do, they're
ignorant. He says, when he'd healed that
man at the gate, beautiful. And he goes in Acts chapter three
and speaks to those people. And he says to them about the
miracle that's been performed that is so evident and so clear
and caused the disciples to get into all sorts of strife with
the religious leaders. But I love what he says in Acts
chapter three, verse 17. He says, you did this through
ignorance. You and your rulers were ignorant. All of our sins are sins of ignorance. A whole lot of our sins are sins
of commission, but a whole lot of our sins are sins of ignorance. We are not aware in our sinning
of the glory and the character and the nature of God. Thank God there is forgiveness
for the sins of ignorance. What were these people ignorant
of, the ones he prayed for? Turn with me to Matthew chapter
27. I'm sorry for taking you all over the scriptures, but
we need to see the picture so clearly. They were ignorant of
what they were saying, even though they were declaring extraordinary
things and they were preaching a wonderful sermon about the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. A sermon that the thief on the
cross no doubt heard. Listen to what they said. Verse
24 of Matthew 27. When Pilate saw that he could
prevail in nothing, but rather that a tumult was made, he took
water and he washed his hands before the multitude, saying,
I am innocent of the blood of this just person. I am innocent
of the blood of this man who is righteous. And he said, you
see to it. Then answered all the people
and said, this is an extraordinary statement in ignorance, his blood
be on us and on our children. They said it in mockery of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Every child of God. longs for
and wishes for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to be on him
and on his children, washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness. For want of time, we'll skip
over some of it. In Matthew 27, verse 29, they
said, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. No greater
king ever walked on this face. Verse 35 of Matthew 27. And they
crucified him and parted his garments, casting lot that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. And they
parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they
cast lots. And sitting down, they watched
him there, and set up over his head his accusation written,
this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then there were two thieves
crucified with him, one on the right hand and the other on the
left. And listen to what these people did in their ignorance.
They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads. You can
just see those religious people mocking the Lord Jesus Christ
and saying, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in
three days, save thyself. There on the cross of Calvary,
he was purifying those precious stones to build a spiritual temple. He was talking about the temple
of his body. Taking those stones out of the
pit by redeeming love and grace and building an eternal home. Love kept him on the tree. Likewise, also verse 41, also
the chief priest mocking him and the scribes and elders said,
listen to this. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. No truer words have ever been
declared by anyone. Don't you love how the promise
of God is fulfilled? The wrath of man shall praise
him. and the remainder he shall restrain. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. If he be the king of Israel,
let him come down now from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver
him now, if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of
God. Think of all of that, all of
that mockery, all of that blood, all of that pain, and the very
first words that come out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ
as he hung on Calvary's tree is, Father, forgive them. Well,
I think that's amazing. I'm so thankful that there is
a forgiving God and a forgiving Savior. I'm so thankful. that in his blood there is forgiveness. After so much, his first words
are words of forgiveness. Who needs forgiveness? Only those who know themselves
to be sinners. They're the only ones that need
forgiveness. If you think that you have some righteousness of
your own and some merit of your own doing, then you don't need
forgiveness from God. You need a reward. You need for
him to pat you on the back and say how wonderful you are. Who
needs forgiveness? Those who have met God. and met
him in the glory of his holiness. Who needs, who needs a mediator? Those who know the distance between
the holiness of God and what they really are. Those who have
been exposed by God to what they really are. Saul of Tarsus was
looking for a reward from God for all the wonderful things
he's done as a Pharisee. Kept the law perfectly, been
diligent for all those years, knew the Old Testament Bible
off by heart, witnessing, preaching, all of those remarkable things.
He meets the Lord Jesus Christ. on the road to Damascus, and
immediately he needs a mediator. He needs this mediator. He needs
a mediator who is on a cross. Who needs a mediator? Those who
are aware of what is due them and the extraordinary justice
and righteousness of God. Turn with me to Numbers chapter
16 if you have time. I know we're going around a lot
of scriptures, but I just love this story. This is a great picture
of what a mediator is. This is the people of Israel
after the rebellion of Korah and Dathan and Abiram. And God
opened up the earth and swallowed 250 of the princes of Israel,
including the priests of Israel. and opened the earth and swallowed
them all whole with all of their children and all of their livestock
and all that they had. And the people turned on Moses
and complained about it. And they murmured against Moses
and Aaron. Verse 41, you have killed the
people of the Lord. Numbers 16, 41. And it came to
pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against
Aaron, they looked towards the tabernacle of the congregation,
and behold, a cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. And Moses and Aaron came before
the tabernacle of the congregation, and the Lord spoke unto Moses,
saying, Get you up from this congregation that I may consume
them in a moment. The number of times that Moses
acts as a mediator is wonderful. He stands between the people
and God. And Moses, and listen to how
Moses responds. Verse 45, number 16. And they fell on their faces,
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the holiness of
God. And listen to what Moses says
to Aaron. Aaron is a picture of the high
priest. He's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses said
to Aaron, you take a censer and put fire therein from off the
altar. That's the picture of the Lord
Jesus. That altar is the Lord Jesus Christ. The sacrifice on
the altar is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you take that censure, and
you put fire therein off the altar, and you put on incense,
the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. And you go quickly unto the congregation,
and you make atonement for them, blood sacrifice. For there is
wrath gone out from the Lord, and the plague has begun. And
Aaron took as Moses commanded, and he ran. There's an urgency
about this. He ran into the midst of the
congregation, and behold, the plague was begun among the people,
and he put on the incense and made atonement from the people.
Listen to what a mediator does, verse 48. This is a wonderful,
wonderful picture. And he stood between the living and the dead. the dead and the living, and
the plague was stayed. That's what a mediator does.
That's a glorious picture of what our Lord Jesus Christ did.
Now they that died in the plague were 14,700 beside them that
died in the matter of Korah. What does a mediator do? stands between the dead and the
living, stands between the justice of God Almighty. And this mediator
says, Father, forgive them. Pour out all of your holy wrath
upon me. and save them from dying save
them who needs a mediator? all those that have met God in
His holiness and met themselves. What a Saviour! Just think about
it. After all that He had been through
and after all that He'd suffered on that night, His very first
words are words of forgiveness. In the midst of His pain, in
the midst of His abandonment, in the midst of all of what was
going on, in all that mockery, He says, Father, forgive them.
I love the fact that we have a saviour. He does all the saving. He does all the sin bearing.
He does all the redeeming. He paid all the price. He's a
great shepherd of his sheep. He says, I lay down my life for
my sheep. Are you ignorant? I've been ignorant
for most of my life. And I spend a whole lot of my
life in ignorance. And I'm ashamed of the fact that
I spend so much of my life treating God as if he's not as absolutely
sovereign, as absolutely holy, and as absolutely just and righteous
as he is. I'm thankful there's a God who
prays, Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. In Romans 8, the Lord Jesus Christ
is declared to be in heaven right now, praying for all of his people. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, rather than is risen again, is even at the
right hand of God, who also Maketh, and those ETH words, endings
on words, are wonderful. Because it means that he keeps
on doing it, and he keeps on doing it. Because I remain a
sinner, and I remain ignorant, and I'm thankful there's such
a saviour. may he be doing that for each
and every one of you right now let's Pray the Lord will be merciful
to us. Bless your word, Heavenly Father,
cause us to look to your dear and precious Son, crucified on
the cross of Calvary. Yet praying, Father, forgive
them. Be merciful to us. Forgive us
our sins, for Christ's sake, our Father.