Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Luke. Luke chapter 23. Luke 23. I'd like to read three verses
of scripture and actually my The message this evening will
be out of the last one, verse 34, verses 32 through 34 of Luke
23. And there were also two other
malefactors led with him to be put to death. And when they were
come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified
him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other
on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment
and cast lots. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we call upon you
this evening, Lord, we ask, have mercy. Lord, bless the word to
our understanding. Bless it to our time of worship. Rejoice our hearts. Lord, keep
us, we pray. Be with those that have been
mentioned, those, Lord, that are going through trials. We
pray that you'd have mercy upon us here. Thank you. for keeping
us in this place these many years. For Christ's sake. Amen. The time of the Lord's crucifixion
has come. And it was to this time, the
scripture says in Isaiah 50 verse 7, that He set His face as a
flint. He knew This was the time which
he submitted himself to wicked hands and the reason that he
did it was because he'd come to do the work of Him that had
sent him. Now he stood before Pilate and
he willingly bowed to the Father's will to redeem a people everlastingly
loved. And here He is, the Lamb of God,
and He's going to lay down His life that His sheep might go
free. Now, there were seven statements
made from the cross, and His silence He heard the accusations
and he didn't say anything. But his silence now is broken
as he is here to bear the guilt of his church in his own body. Now, he has made sin. He's not dying as one who is
not bearing sin. He has made this sin His own. This is His sin. For the Father to justly pour
out His wrath, sin must be there. The wages of sin is death. He knew no sin, but was made
sin. Now that's a great mystery. And
we dare not assume that we understand the depth of it, but we believe
it. When he died, he died justly. You might ask this, was his death
deserved? Yes. If it wasn't, then God was
unjust. He knew no sin. But when he was made sin, he
bore in himself All the guilt of all the elect that would ever
be born in this world, as I've said before, those who have yet
to be born of His elect, He bore their guilt. He bore their debt. Now, seven sayings, and tonight
I just want us to look at the first one, the first saying.
I'd like for us to consider and may the spirit of God bless these
words to our hearts. And as we consider his words,
I'm going to ask five questions out of the first, really the
first part of verse 34. I've taken my points right out
of this text. This is the best way for me. It's the best way to preach.
Take your points right out of the text. Now let's see what
the scripture says. Verse 34, this is what I'll be
preaching on. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do. Now here's my first question. Who is praying? Well, the scripture says, then
said Jesus. Now I want you to notice the
exactness of the Spirit of God's wording in this passage of Scripture. Then said Jesus, call his name
Jesus. The name Jesus. Savior, He shall
save. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. Here's the all-merciful Savior,
the intercessor, the friend of sinners, the covenant God who
is to redeem, the Lord Jesus Christ, His very name, speaks
and sets forth of the mercy of Almighty God to show that mercy
and compassion to whomsoever He will. He is the one who was
made flesh. Now here's God, who's speaking? The Spirit says, then said Jesus,
the one who is the eternal surety. The one, according to Proverbs
8.23, who was set up anointed from everlasting. Here's the one conceived by the
Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, who grew up. The man, Christ,
Jesus, grew up in submission, not only to his Heavenly Father,
but to his earthly parents. I think about that scripture.
I would, man alive, just our kids never, never did they ever
get to forget the scripture, Ephesians 6, 1. Children, obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Children, obey. And here is the one, Jesus. The One made flesh, God in human
flesh, truly God, truly man, that He might live as man. He walked by faith. He walked in absolute obedience
before the Father, earning the righteousness that is imputed
to all that believeth. that believe and believe and
believe. The righteousness that robes
the people of God, the sheep, the believers, is His righteousness
earned as a man, a man that obeyed God. Then said Jesus, the one
who would actually suffer and die the death as the absolute
substitute, made sin of his people. Who was praying? Scripture says,
then said Jesus. Here's my second question, my
second point. To whom was he praying? Well,
the scripture says, then said Jesus, Father, now here is the
redeeming God made flesh, the man, the savior, the God-man
mediator, praying to the Father, the electing God, the God of
the everlasting covenant of grace, who chose all that would ever
be saved before the foundation of the world. Here's the redeeming
God, man, made flesh, praying unto His Father. Called Him Father. Covenant God. Covenant mercy. I love this Luke 11. Just listen,
or you can turn back to Luke 11, verses 1 and 2 of the Scripture. says that the disciples were
listening to the Lord pray. Luke 11, 1 and 2, and it came
to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased,
one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray,
as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, when ye
pray, say, our Father. which art in heaven. When you
pray, you speak to the covenant God, the electing God of all
grace. Here was the Son of the living
God, robed in human flesh, the only begotten of the Father. I still, every time I say that,
I know that that's what the scripture says of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only begotten of the Father. I can understand, I can perceive
a son or a child, son or a daughter, begotten of their parents. I can perceive that. A child
is begotten, is produced. Here is the eternal God that is the only begotten. He
who never was not. He always is. The I am. The God Almighty who is. Who do I say sent me? You tell
them I am. Sent me. Who is this? This is the only begotten of
the Father. Now that's another point that
I can't understand. But I believe it. And by the
grace of God, maybe one day the Lord might be pleased, in eternity,
to explain, to reveal that. We'll know, I assume, I don't
know. The only begotten of the Father,
God, man. And as man, here he is praying
in faith. to the Heavenly Father as we're
commanded to do. He is in absolute subjection
to the One who upholds Him in the hour of His need. Praying. And whatever He's about to pray,
we're going to look at it in just a minute. Whatever He's
about to pray, the Father hears. And does. Because he never prayed
outside of the will of his Father. Never. I do always only those
things that please Him. So whatever he's about to ask,
I know pleases the Father. Now he's praying to the electing
God. And the redeeming God is praying
to the electing God. God in human flesh praying. I love, we've looked at this,
Revelation 8. This is when we pray. This comes
back to my mind often as I attempt to pray. Revelation 8. And as
you're praying, I pray the Lord bring this passage back to you,
back to your mind. It's a comfort to me. I pray
it will be to you. Revelation 8 verse 1, when he
had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about
the space of half an hour. I saw the seven angels which
stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another
angel came, stood at the altar, having a golden censer. This
is none other than the Lord Jesus. Having a golden censer, and there
was given unto him much incense. that he should offer it with
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before
the throne in the smoke of the incense. And that incense is
his merit. His merit. The merit of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The incense. When that priest
would go in in the wilderness and put that, you know, the incense
upon the altar and that smoke would go, it's setting forth
the savor of the incense of his holiness, his righteousness before
God. And it says that this angel,
as he had stood before the altar, had a golden censer, giving unto
him much incense. He should offer it with the prayers
of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne,
and the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of
the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
Now you think about that. Here's the way that our prayers,
and we don't know what to pray for. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities. Do you really know what to say?
Do you? Do you have the right spirit
to say it? I don't even have the remembrance
to keep my mind on one track long enough. to say that I truly
felt. It's just the most pitiful, pitiful
attempt at what someone would call praying. Now that's just,
I'm just being honest with you. I try to pray for you. I try
to pray. I'm trying to ask the Lord's
blessing. Just have to just apologize. I'm so thankful for a scripture
like this. The Spirit helpeth thy infirmities.
He takes the prayers of the saints and they're taken by the Lord
Jesus Christ who always is heard. Now hearest me always, he said.
And he offers it in his merit. And can you imagine this little
feeble, fickle prayer of mine? And it's presented in His merit. And the Father accepts my attempt
and accepts it on His merit. To whom is He praying? He's praying
to the covenant God, the electing God. And here He is now. He's
on the cross. And he's praying the redeeming
God. He's laying down his life for
the sheep. This is why he came. This is
it. And here's the one in whom the
Father is well pleased. I'm well pleased with him. You
hear him. I do, the Father says. Father, here's my third question. What was the subject of his prayer?
Who was praying Jesus? To whom was he praying, the Father?
What was the subject? Here's the subject. Forgiveness
for the sheep for whom he was dying. Forgiveness for them. That's what he's praying for.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them. Now, how do I know who
he was praying for? This is wonderful because you
can back this up with scripture. And if you can back it up with
scripture, then that just ends it. It ends all debate. For whom
did Christ pray? John 17, 9. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. for they are thine." I'm praying
only for the ones that you gave me. Now, those are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And knowing that the Lord said
that, that ends it. When He says, Father, forgive
them. I tell you, the them are the
same them that he prayed for in his high
priestly prayer. I pray for them which thou hast
given me. Now, forgive them. I'm going to look at two words
here. Father, forgive. Now let me ask you this question.
What's the basis of him forgiving? Now he's asking something. He's
petitioning for His people. Father, forgive. What is the foundation? There's got to be a reason. God's
just. Look at Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. What is the foundation for what
He's asking? Now we don't, you know that sin
is not swept under the carpet. It's not just, you know, vacuumed
up Stuff like that. It's not just, you know, I'm
a just God, just and holy is my name. What is the basis? He's asking for his people, forgive
them. That's who he's asking for. What's
the foundation? Isaiah 53 verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord, capital
L, capital O, capital R, it pleased Jehovah to bruise him. He put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Now, let me tell you why he's
dying. He's dying because he's made
sin. He's dying with the guilt of his people. The soul that
sins is going to die. The wages of sin is death. Is
justice being administered in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely. He is now standing
as their absolute substitute. He's standing as them. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He put him to grief. When thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great. He shall divide
the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bare the sin of many and made
intercession for the transgressors." Father, forgive. On what basis? I'm satisfying
their debt before you. Father, forgive them. I'm paying
the debt. I'm making good on what they
owe. What they owe now is mine. Mine, mine iniquities. Psalm
40, more than the hairs of my head, he said, mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me. Forgive them justly. because I bear their guilt. Father,
forgive them. The Lord Jesus according to the
revelation of the Holy Spirit is praying for His sheep and
only for the ones that God has been pleased to show mercy and
compassion. He's shedding His blood for somebody
in particular. Not one drop of His blood was
shed in vain. He finished the work. Now He prays unto the only one
who can and will forgive sin. Why? Because He's satisfied. He shall see the travail of His
soul and be satisfied. He's satisfied. The debt paid,
the law is honored. When the Lord died, He was there upon that cross,
surrounded, being abused. Soldiers placing nails in His
hands and feet, blood flowed from His body, and here is the
great High Priest making intercession for His people. And as He is upon that cross
asking, His heart being moved with pity for all of the objects
of God's mercy. Even those who at that time obviously
were in the crowd, vessels of His mercy, who were yet to be
called out of darkness. Those that didn't know the Lord
in mercy and grace as of yet. And He never opened His mouth
in His own defense, but He opened His mouth in intercession for
His beloved. So therefore, my fourth question
is this. Why did He pray this prayer? Who prayed? Jesus. To whom did
He pray? The Father. What was the subject
of his prayer? Forgiveness for a chosen race.
And why did he pray that? Well, the scripture says, for
or because they know not what they do. Now, knowing for surety,
the ones for whom he was praying, hear the suffering servant of
Jehovah, even while he was actually, but ignorantly, being nailed
to the cross by those who were vessels of his mercy, but didn't
realize it, didn't know him. They were in anger just like
every one of us before the Lord called us out of darkness. We
were doing the same thing, had the same attitude toward him,
but out of holy love and concern for the salvation of his people.
He pours out this compassionate prayer of intercession for those
that were staining their very hands with His precious blood,
now pleading their cause while they ignorantly crucified the
Lord of glory. Ignorant of His love for them,
He said, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing. They didn't realize that for
those that were His, His sheep, they didn't know that Almighty
God had everlastingly loved them. They didn't know that. They didn't
know that they had been elect before the foundation of the
world. They didn't know that they were adopted sons and daughters. They didn't know that. They were
ignorant of His atoning work, ignorant of His death on their
behalf. Here they were nailing Him to
the cross. ignorant of what they were actually
doing. And while they were nailing him
to the cross, he's praying for them. Now, here's an amazing
thought to me. He went to the cross to lay down
his life. Now, for them to have any hope,
any hope of salvation, he must die. Without the shedding of
blood, there's no remission. He must die. And while they are actually accomplishing
the eternal will of Almighty God to put away and pay the debt
of God's sheep, while they're doing what must be done for them
to have any hope, the Lord asked the Father to forgive them for
it. He must die. They must nail Him to the cross. They must do it. It's the Father's
will according to the determinate counsel of Almighty God. It must
happen. Father, forgive them for doing
this. They don't know what they're doing. Father, forgive them. Forgive them. If they, 1 Corinthians
Paul 2.8 says, if they would have known Him to be the Lord
of glory, they would not have crucified Him if they'd have
known it. And the Lord in infinite mercy withholds His hand of revelation
to them and leaves them to themselves to do exactly what they want
to do by wicked hands. That's what Peter told them.
You with wicked hands. wicked hands. You crucified the
Lord of glory. You did that. You did it. And then ask him, ask the father
to forgive him for it. There he was. I think, Lord,
what wisdom? What, you know, what, but, but
even with him being crucified ignorantly by many of his own,
Psalm 76.10 says, surely the wrath of man shall praise thee,
and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. But in closing, even in their
ignorance, the Lord God put away the guilt of his people by him
being crucified at the hands of wicked men. wagged their heads,
mocked him, made fun of him, ridiculed him as he there hung
on that cross in anguish, forsaken of God, forsaken of men, forsaken
of God. And asking the Lord as the great
high priest, praying for their forgiveness. And then from the
words of intercession, He said, you know, Father, you always
hear me. I want you to notice, in closing, how quickly we behold
the Father's answer. I want you to just look at Luke
23, 32 again. There were also two other malefactors
led with him to be put to death when they would come to the place
which It's called Calvary. There they crucified Him and
the malefactors. One on the right hand, the other
on the left. Now, you know there were two.
Hold your place there for a second and look at Matthew 27.44. A lot of times I just make mention
of this. I want you to look at this. Matthew
27.44. They're making fun. Verse 42
of Matthew 27. He saved others. Himself He cannot
save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him now come down from the cross and we'll believe Him. He trusted in God. Let Him deliver
Him now if He'll have Him. For He said, I am the Son of
God. Now look at verse 44. The thieves. You notice that
word is plural? The thieves also which were crucified
with him cast the same in his teeth. What do we know? We know that both of them were
doing it. The thieves, both of them. And here is the Lord of
glory and He says in Luke 23, in verse 34, then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them. Whoever the them are, or God's
elect, I know they are. Now that's a proven fact. We know that. But I want you
just to look down at verse 42. Now he said that in verse 34. Now just a moment, a moment later,
verse 42. Verse 39, one of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save
thyself and us. But the other, now one of the
thieves that was just railing on him, the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. Now you talk about a miracle
of God's grace. I read these words and I thought,
how did he know that? Now the Lord just saved this
man. This man's got a new heart. This
is a new heart speaking here. This man hath done nothing amiss. You know what he just said? You're God. This man has done
nothing. This man has never committed
a sin. Never. Spirit of God moved on
that man, taught him something. This is the one who does only
always those things that please the Father. And he said unto
Jesus, one praying, Lord, remember me. when thou comest into thy
kingdom." The Lord had just prayed, Father, forgive them. And in a moment, one of his elect
says, Lord, would you remember me? Lord, would you have mercy
on me? Oh, how evident it is that faith
and forgiveness are united. When God Almighty imparts faith,
He's forgiven. And that sinner is converted.
And he cries out, Lord have mercy on me, remember me. He must believe, he that believeth
on the Son hath life. He that believeth not, he must
believe. I've heard some say, if you're
one of God's elect, it doesn't matter if you believe or not.
Well, let me say this. He that ordained the end, ordained
the means to the end. And if the means to the end is
faith, God will give you faith. You must believe. Do you have
to believe to be saved? Absolutely. Absolutely. Anyone that tells you, you don't
have to believe to be saved. He that believeth. He that believeth. He that believeth
not, condemned. He that believeth shall be saved.
Lord, remember me. That's verse 42. Look at verse
47. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous
man. When he saw what was done, The
word glorified. He glorified God. He praised,
extolled, magnified, and celebrated God to be truly God. He glorified God saying, certainly,
this was a righteous man. How many were there at the cross
and watched him die, and railed on him while he was dying, while
the Lord was praying for him. How many? I don't know, but look
at Acts 2. Look at Acts 2, 36. This happened just about six
weeks after the crucifixion. Acts chapter 2, verse 36. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ. You see this word for, F-O-R. Do you know what it means? Because
of. It doesn't mean in order to be. It means because of. Then Peter
said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ because of the remission of sins, because
God has been pleased to save you from your sins. You shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. But I said I had five questions,
I've only asked four. Here's my last question. Can
I have any hope that he prayed for me? Now you want to know
something? That's where it comes right down
to the nitty-gritty, doesn't it? I know he was praying for
his people. I know that. He said that. I
know that he was interceding for God's elect. I know that.
But is there any hope that he might have been praying for me?
This really is the last verse. 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. One of the most beautiful and
straight forward passages of scripture to give the evidence. There is going to be some evidence
of those that God has called out of darkness. And here it
is right here. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4 Knowing, brethren,
beloved, your election of God. Now you know, that's, we've read
this so many times, but isn't it beautiful just to hear that
again? Knowing, brethren, beloved, beloved of God, beloved of each
other, your election of God. For, or because, because our
gospel The gospel of God's grace. The gospel of God's electing,
redeeming, regenerating, keeping, persevering grace. The gospel. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only. If it came in word only, then
you take it or leave it. But also in power. the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance. You know what that means? I know
this is the truth. This is the truth. Much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. Preachers of the Gospel, you
became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the
Word in much affliction. What would it take What would
it take to get you to not believe the gospel? Ain't nothing that
can make you not believe it. Why? You're kept by the power
of God. You became followers of us having received the word
in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost that you were
ensampled, you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia,
Achaia, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord. Not
only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place Your
faith to God is spread abroad so that we need not to speak
anything. For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you turned
to God from idols, the idol even of yourself, to serve the living
and true God. When God Almighty calls a sinner
out of darkness, Here's what happens. The gospel comes to
them, not in word only, but in power and assurance. Father, then said Jesus, the
redeeming God, the man Christ Jesus, then said Jesus, Father, You who are the covenant God
of election, forgive them. I'm paying their debt according
to your will, according to your work, forgive them. They know
not what they do. And the Lord was pleased to answer.
And to this day is still doing so. I pray that the Lord bless
these words to our heart and keep us according to his good
pleasure for Christ's sake. Amen.