Okay. Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 716. The tune is
Blockley, 304. Dear dying friend, we look on
thee and own our foul offences here. We built thy cross on Calvary
and nailed and pierced thy body there. Hymn 716. When we look on thee, and power
afound, our hearts trespire. Revealed thy cross on Calvary,
And there admit thy God in heaven. The clock, our hands have stilled. It sprang no more, each guilty
crowd. to let the conscience wear of
guilt and never, lost in life, be found. Soon will we sing thy lovely
name, For grace to serve thee and freely give. And tell thy God, and tell of
shame, That fondly mountain gives us rest. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 23. The Gospel according to Luke,
chapter 23. We'll commence reading at verse
12. And the same day Pilate and Herod
were made friends together, for before they were enmity between
themselves. And Pilate, when he had called
together the chief priests and the rulers of the people, said
unto them, ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth
the people. And behold, I, having examined
him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those
things whereof ye accuse him. No, nor yet Herod, for I sent
you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I
will therefore chastise him and release him, for of necessity
he must release one unto them at the feast. And they cried
out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto
us Barabbas, who for a certain sedition made in the city and
for murder was cast into prison. Pilate therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them. And they cried, saying,
Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third
time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of
death in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go.' And they were instant with loud voices requiring
that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of
the chief priest prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired. but he delivered Jesus to their
will. And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon,
a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid
the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed
him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed
and lamented him. But Jesus, turning unto them,
said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming
in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the
wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck. Then
shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to
the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in
a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 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. And the people stood beholding,
and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, he saved
others, let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of
God. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering vinegar, saying if they'll be
the king of the Jews save thyself and a superscription also was
written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew this
is the king of the Jews and one of the malefactors which were
hanged railed on him saying if they'll be Christ save thyself
and us but 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, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said
unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour,
and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, Into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous
man. And all the people that came
together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts, and returned, and all his acquaintances, and
the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding
these things. We'll leave the reading there. Let us pray. Gracious, merciful,
and eternal God, we do pray for grace to bow before thy great
majesty. We come to thee in that wonderful
name of Jesus Christ. We plead his precious blood and
righteousness that it might be ours, that he might be made unto
us Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. We pray that
that wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God our Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit
may rest and abide upon us as we gather round the Word of God
and as we gather round the table of the Lord. We pray for thy
presence, for thy forgiving love, for thy everlasting mercy to
be known and felt in our hearts. We pray for the power of the
Holy Ghost that the Word may reach into our hearts and may
feed our souls. We pray that it may be a time
of sealing, whereby ye are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. Oh, that we might know here this
afternoon the sealing time, the word of the Lord indelibly imprinted
on our hearts, in our very souls. Oh, most gracious Lord, written
not with pen and ink, but by the finger of the living God,
upon the fleshy tables of the heart. Oh, do grant that living
witness of thy spirit within our hearts. Grant us those, Lord,
evidences of divine life and light within the soul, that hungering
and thirsting after righteousness, that we may have a truly spiritual
appetite, that we may be led by the spirit of God, For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. And that the Holy Spirit may take of the things of Jesus
and reveal them unto us. Oh, to know him in the power
of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his sufferings, that we may
be enabled to follow him in that way that he has ordained that
we should follow him. those that love him. If ye love
me, keep my commandments. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may truly love thee, serve thee, follow thee in our
day and in our generation. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may be favoured with the divine love, feelingly, of
our eternal Father, drawing us unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that we may have communion with him here this afternoon. Hear
his voice, see his countenance. Lord, we can echo with the words
of the spouse that my beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest
among 10,000. And those solemn things that
we've read together of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
his awful sufferings for our sins. We pray that thou wouldst
make those things a living reality unto us, that we may believe,
and believe him we may rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, to see sin put away, the holy law fulfilled, everlasting
righteousness brought in, death swallowed up in victory, and
the dear Saviour bodily ascended into heaven and advocate with
the Father all the wonders, the glories of redeeming love and
the fullness of that salvation that is in Him. Oh, we pray that
Thou would lead us then into Thy truth and fill our hearts
with gratitude for the Gospel, for the person, for the work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved. This is my friend. O ye daughters
of Jerusalem. We pray for those that are cast
down, that they may be lifted up. Those that are in bondage,
they may be brought into liberty. Those that are far off, may be
made nigh. Gracious God, we pray that it
may be so, here this afternoon, that they may be delivered. We
pray that where there is death, there may be life. Gracious God,
only thou are able to do these things. We pray for the prodigals
that have wandered away, no longer desire thy way and thy truth.
We pray that thou wouldst be gracious and that thou wouldst
quicken souls, make them cry, give me Christ or else I die.
Just as it was with that prodigal, that he was caused to be in want,
and we pray that it may be so with the prodigals that have
wandered from us, that they may return with a living desire for
a living Christ. Hear us, Lord. We do humbly beseech
thee, and we pray for those who are laid aside in weakness and
affliction, that thou would be gracious unto them. Help and
undertake, heal and restore. We do humbly beseech of thee.
And that we pray, most gracious Lord, for dear Ina in her old
age, that thou wouldst graciously help her and undertake for her. Remember, Lord, we do beseech
of thee that the little ones and the children, bless them
indeed. We lovingly commend them to thee and to the word of thy
grace, which is able to build them up, a generation to follow
on, to know the Lord, The fulfilling of that ancient promise, instead
of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. Oh, that thou wouldst be gracious
and that thou wouldst have mercy and that bless thy people and
save thine inheritance and give thy blessing unto the dear young
friends. Graciously bring them to the
feet of Jesus. Bring them to know thee and serve
thee and follow thee in their day and generation, and bring
them to come and tell to sinners round what a dear Saviour they
have found, and point to thy redeeming blood, and say, behold
the way to God. Bring them to see thy holy ordinances,
O Lord, as being something so desirable, that they may be baptised
in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
out of gratitude unto thee for thy wonderful mercy, and that
they may have that desire to sit at the table of the Lord
and to worship thee there among thy people, no more a stranger
or a guest, but like a child at home. Oh, we pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou in thy precious mercy would remember Parents,
give grace, wisdom, and help in all matters. And remember,
Lord, we pray the families as they gather in their homes and
richly bless them there. And remember, oh Lord, this village. Fulfill that precious promise,
other sheep have I, which are not of this foal, them I must
bring. Bless the word of the Lord distributed. Hear us, Lord. and send a day of real prosperity,
and give us, O Lord, a spirit of real travail. Bring our sons
from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth. Gather
them into Zion. We do humbly beseech thee. And
of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her.
Gracious God, O that we may see such a day, the womb of the morning. Hear us, Lord. We do humbly pray
thee. We pray that most gracious God,
for all of us in the evening time of life's journey, that
we may be prepared for that change that must come. We pray for all
in the path of bereavement, trouble and trial and perplexity, that
thou would be gracious unto them, that thou would bless them. O
Lord God, we do humbly beseech of thee, bless our deacons, give
wisdom, give grace, give help in all their responsibilities. We do humbly pray thee, help
us each to pray for one another, to serve one another, to bear
one another's burdens and thereby fulfilling the law of Christ.
Be with us, Lord, as we turn to thy holy word and open thy
word to our heart and to our understanding. Grant that we
may delve into that deep that couches beneath in thy word,
and that the truth may set us free. Come and touch one's lips
with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus
Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1025. The tune is Horsley 853. In evil
long I took delight unawed by shame or fear, till
a new object struck my sight and stopped my wild career. I
saw one hanging on a tree in agonies and blood who fixed his
languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood, him ten hundred
and twenty-five. to give us a look, a shame or fear. Till early morn came the bright
sky, And stopped by Mount Carmel. I saw one hanging on a tree In
amber leaves and blossoms. Firm is his hand with the eyes
of me, As with this cross I stood. Sure never till my late death's
breath Will I forget that Lord? It seemed to charge me With this
death that was mine My conscience out and on the
hill, and on me in despair. I saw my sins with blood that's
red, and water never dead. Come to me, make me accept Thy
free will, O Lord, give. His blood is all I'm ransomed
with, and I have nowhere to go. greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, Luke's Gospel, chapter 23, and we'll read verse
34. Luke's Gospel, chapter 23, verse
34. The first part of the verse. Then said Jesus, Father, Forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his
raiment and did cast lots. It's really this first part of
the verse that has rested on my spirit to bring before you.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do. Precious, sacred, eternal union
there is between the father and the son. I and my father are
one. And he addresses his heavenly
father here in the very midst, in the very heart of his sufferings
and his sorrows. And there was no condemnation
of those that crucified him. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. What an illustration of the mind
of Christ, of the spirit of Christ. And the apostle says, if any
man have the spirit of Christ. And of course we can measure
the spirit of Christ by the word of God. And this is really so
beautifully speaks of the spirit of Christ. Taken by wicked and
evil men, abused and ill-treated and then nailed to a cross of
wood. in terrible agony and pain. And then said Jesus, after his
crucifixion, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do. In the 17th chapter of John,
in that beautiful prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, he speaks
there his eternal father, and of that sacred union that is
between his father and himself. Right in the beginning of the
prayer, he says, Father, the hour has come. You see, this
sacred, intimate union between the father and the son. Father,
the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. He says in John 14, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. There's only one way unto the
Father. in and through the precious person
and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then in that John 17, and he
says in verse 21, that they all may be one. Speaking here of
Christ and his church, and of course of himself and his father. He likens that union, that wonderful
sacred union, spiritual union, between the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. But he said there's that same
union between the church and Christ, that they all may be
one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast,
thou gavest me, and the glory which thou sent me, and the glory
which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be
one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me, and that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. That wonderful oneness, union,
communion between the Christ and his church. the bridegroom
and the bride. That oneness. What a sacred thing
it is to dwell upon. You think of those precious words
in chapter 16 and it says there in John 16 how that the Father
himself loveth you. The Father himself loveth you.
What a precious thing is the love of God in Christ. The love of God in Christ. He
says in John 14, and when he's speaking to Philip, Philip said,
Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith
unto him, have I been so long time with you, yet hast thou
not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me. He doeth the works. Believe me,
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Or else believe
me, for thee very works say. May the Lord, by his blessed
spirit, lead us a little into this sacred spirit of adoption. Think of those words in Romans
8, for God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying, Abba, Father, into our hearts. What a precious thing
then, to feel this union, this communion with Our Lord Jesus
Christ. And may we feel this union and
communion in the words that we have for our text. Then said
Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiments
and cast lots. Father, forgive them. Again,
These are in the very heart of his sufferings. He's thinking
of those that were dealing with him so harshly, and yet he asks
for forgiveness. You know, it's a precious grace,
forgiveness. One hymn writer says, doesn't
he, forgiveness is a joyful sound. It's only found in one place.
In and through the precious blood and righteousness of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, that we could know more of
this spirit of forgiveness. You know, I've sometimes heard,
I've heard people that profess godliness and they say, I will
never forgive them for that. You know, that should never come
out of the mouth of a Christian. If ye forgive not them that trespass
against you, neither shall your heavenly Father. forgive you.
It's a very solemn thought, isn't it? And the Lord Jesus, right through
his teachings, emphasizes this forgiveness. It's an act of love. And this forgiveness that is
in Christ Jesus, it's an act of divine love. It's a sovereign
act of God. Not because we deserve it, We
need it, but we don't deserve it. But he gives, it's a free gift
of God in his son, Jesus Christ. That God so loved the world,
he gave his only begotten son. Why? To forgive his people of
their sins. You think of the meaning of the word justification. Without sin. That's what it is
to be justified, it's to be without sin. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more, as David says in Psalm 130. He speaks
there, doesn't he? But there is forgiveness with
thee. What a blessed truth, but there is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared. It seemed rather sweet to me,
it was in the early hours of yesterday morning I chose the
hymn we just sung. And I saw one hanging on a tree,
that glorious Redeemer, that precious Redeemer, His forgiving
love, His kindness. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus, His kindness, His love, His compassion. And it's full of grace. It says in John 1, doesn't it,
full of grace and truth. Those precious graces, the grace
of forgiveness, the grace of love, the grace of kindness,
the grace of compassion, they're all found in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to draw from that
fullness that is in Christ. If you do feel that spirit of
enmity and anger rising up in your heart, that unforgiving
spirit, Just remember Christ. Just remember his spirit, his
kindness, his love, his unfailing grace, and what these people
did to him and how they ill-used him and scorned him. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. I would feel that many of those
that were around the cross and watching Christ crucified, many
of them were wrought upon by the Spirit, became believers
in the early church. Just look here at the, where
we closed our reading, and when Jesus had, verse 46, when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He commended his holy human soul
into the hands of his eternal father, and thereby, he voluntarily
entered into death itself. Again, there's that loving, sacred
union between the father and the son. Father, into thy hands,
I commend my spirit. Now when the centurion saw What
was done, he glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous
man. And then all the people that
came together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts and returned. They smote their breasts. This
is the man that went about doing good. But this is the man that
healed many of their diseases. This is the man that made the
lame to walk and the deaf to hear and the blind to see. This
is the man that forgave the sins of his people. And now they saw him. And they
would have known that it was through envy that the priests,
the leaders of the Jews, had taken him and crucified him. But we must of course look at
the overruling providence of God that God was in all these
things. Father forgive them for they
know not what they do. They didn't know that they, when
they did it, that they were crucifying the Lord of life and glory. They didn't know what they were
doing. knew what he was doing. God knew what he was doing. It says in the apostles teaching
in the Acts of the Apostles that according to the determinate
counsel of God. It was all purpose by God. It
was ordained by God. The people didn't know what they
were doing. But God knew what he was doing. Christ became the
sin-bearer of his people. He laid upon him the iniquity
of us all. You see, Peter, when he speaks in that
first sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, he says in verse 22,
you men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus was Nazareth, a
man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know. And this is the point, him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified him. It makes you think of that word
of Christ. He knew what he would do. And
just before he was to suffer, He said, for this end was I born,
for this cause came I into the world, whom God hath raised up,
having loosed the pains of death. I love these words because it
was not possible that he should be holden of it. Friends, he
did no sin. Christ was not a lawbreaker.
Christ was holy and pure and righteous, therefore, Death had
no claim. But when he became the substitute
of his people, and our sins and our iniquities were laid upon
him, then he became subject to suffering and death on the behalf,
to take away our sin on the behalf of his people. See, having loosed
the pains of death, he died, to rise again. He died to destroy
death and to destroy him that had the power of death, that
is the devil. He died to redeem, he died to deliver his people. You see, my beloved friends,
the apostle in that first sermon, he speaks so beautifully on the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, he lays a great emphasis on the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Says in verse 31 of Acts 2, he
seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his
soul was not left in hell, that means in death, neither his flesh
did see corruption. Then Jesus, this Jesus has God
raised up whereof we all are witnesses, therefore being by
the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which
ye now see and hear. And the wonderful gospel that
was to be preached by the apostles to go into all the world preaching
the gospel unto every creature. And he says in chapter three,
Peter and John when they were up at the temple. It lays to
the Jews the charge of crucifying Christ. And verse 13, the God
of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers,
hath glorified his son Jesus, whom ye delivered up and denied
him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let
him go. But ye denied the Holy One, and
the just, and preferred a murderer to be granted unto and killed
the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead. Wherefore,
we are witnesses, and his name, through faith in his name, hath
made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith
which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the
presence of you all, all the wonderful power of our risen
Saviour. It is power to save. It is power
to deliver. It is power to grant liberty,
light and life in the heart of the believer. It's all in Christ. If the Son shall make you free,
then shall you be free indeed. And so we have in verse 19 of
chapter 3 in the Acts, Repent ye therefore and be converted. that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was
preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the time of
the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all his holy prophets. You see, this was all by the
determinate counsel of the eternal God. This is why Christ was sent
here upon earth. And this, as you might say, comes
to the pinnacle of his mission here below, was to be crucified
on the behalf, in the room, in the place, in the stead of his
people, and to forgive all their sins. Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do. But, you know, friends, we don't
want to lose sight of that, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And this is
the mind of Christ. I don't know, of course, all
of your personal circumstances, and I don't know the things that
you may yet be walking through at this time. But I do know this,
that the spirit of Christ is a loving spirit, It's a kind
spirit. It's a compassionate spirit.
It's a forgiving spirit. And those that have much of the
spirit of Christ, they have that kindness, compassion, forgiving
spirit. Or that we could practice it
more, and that we might be more like Christ, to follow him, to
serve him, to do what he did. You know, we profess to follow
Christ. You know, on this particular
point that is often made about that believer is not under the
law, he's under Christ, he's under grace. And that is very,
very true. It doesn't mean to say the law
has been abrogated or set aside in any way. The law still remains,
but the believer in Christ is in Christ. and Christ has delivered
them from the curse of the law, from the condemnation of the
law, being made a curse for them. But the point I want to make
is this, is that if Christ come to fulfill the law for us, and
if Christ is our example, which he is, we won't willingly break
the law, because we're following Christ, because we love Christ,
and therefore you have no desire to do those things that are offensive
to him. The believer's not under the
law, they're under Christ. They're delivered from the curse
and from the condemning sentence of the law. The apostle says
in Romans 7, I love the law of the Lord after the inward man.
The new man of grace doesn't hate the law. He's not under
the law, he's thankful. Anybody that is under the law
is under the curse. But Christ has delivered us.
He's given us liberty. And he says, use not your liberty
as a spirit of envy, et cetera. No, use it to love others, just
as Christ did. Use it to be kind and compassionate
towards other people, not judgmental and harsh. That's opposite to
the spirit of Christ. Judge not and ye shall not be
judged. But as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
ye in him. Freely have received, freely
give. As ye have received Christ Jesus
the Lord. Just as you freely received everything. You didn't deserve anything.
None of us do. None of us have. It's all of
the free grace of God. It's all of his wonderful mercy.
And may that spirit be in our hearts. And when we look at Calvary,
at the place where the lamb was slain, let us remember the spirit
and the mind of Christ. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what He knew. And by grace, his people
know. They know why he was crucified.
They know we sung together in our first hymn and second hymn.
They know that it was their sins that crucified the Savior. And when you really have a sense
and realization of that, it will really break your heart. When
you see the holy and the just, the sovereign of the sky, stooped
down to wretchedness and dust, that guilty worms might rise.
When you see the Savior in your wretched room, place and stead,
and He freely did it for you, that will break your heart. And
you know, friends, you know more of the conviction
of sin at Calvary than ever you know it under the law. It's far
deeper, it's far deeper. far more bitter when you see
that Holy One of Israel suffering in your room, in your place,
and in your stead. And when you're brought to realize
it was your sins that crucified Him. It was your sins that brought
on that agony and that sorrow. When you're brought to realize
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. When you're brought to realise
that and to know that and to have that view by faith of that
scene of matchless grace, what is this scene of matchless grace?
Is Jesus in the sinner's place? Heaven's brightest glory, sunken
shame. When you're brought to see that
and to feel that and this forgiving love of Christ It will melt your
heart. It will melt your heart. Then
said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. We have the benefit of hindsight.
We know what was being done. And we know what was accomplished. In John 19, on the cross of Calvary,
Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished. He knew. He knew in his own body and soul
that he'd suffered and bled and died what his people should have
suffered. Under the curse of God forever,
he'd suffered it for them. He was made sin. He that knew no sin, was made
sin for us. He that knew no sin was made
sin for us. On such love my heart still ponders. Love so rich, so full, so free. Oh, the freeness and the fullness
of the love of Christ, even in the midst of all his sufferings.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them. for they know not what
they do. May the Lord add his blessing
to these few remarks that we have made.