Would you turn with me to Matthew
chapter 27? Matthew chapter 27. And let me
say at the outset of this message that what I'm going to be saying
and talking about, I really do not understand, but I believe. Verse 35, and they crucified him and parted
his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken by the prophet. 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 were
there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and
another on the left. And they that passed by reviled
him. wagging their heads and saying,
thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days,
save thyself. If thou be the son of God, come
down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priests
mocking him with the scribes and elders said he saved others.
Himself he cannot say, 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 you'll have him, for he said,
I am the son of God. The thieves also, which were
crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." Now, this had all been going
on for about three hours. He was crucified at nine o'clock
in the morning. Now from the sixth hour, noon, there was darkness
over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour,
Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthanai,
That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, can you see why I made that
introductory statement? I do not know how to enter in
to what the Lord was saying. and there's a reason it was cried
from the darkness, and that's to let us know that we're in
the dark about this. We can believe, but there are
things going on that we'll never be able to grasp. The sixth hour
is noon. The sun was at its zenith, and
Christ had already been nailed to that cross for three hours. bearing the physical and the
emotional and the spiritual pain that he was bearing. He had a
nervous system just like you and I do and I can't even imagine
the physical pain of being nailed to the cross. His back had been
lacerated with the cat of nine tails, his hands and feet nailed
to the cross, the crown of thorns pressed upon his head. He'd been
beaten by the soldiers. I can't describe the physical
pain. The emotional pain, we were just
reading, people were mocking him and making fun of him, enjoying
this sight. If you be the Christ, come down.
He saved others himself. He cannot save. It was a sporting
event to them, a sporting event. It was like going to a ball game
and being entertained. What would that be like? They wanted to be spectators
at his death. And all of a sudden, while this
has been going on for three hours, All of a sudden, thick darkness. This wasn't a solar eclipse.
This was a miracle. God put the sun out. The scripture says the sun was
darkened and only God could darken the sun. And during this time,
we don't read where anybody was saying anything. Can you imagine
how terrifying that must have been? These people who were mocking
Christ, what are they thinking now? As there's no light, utter
darkness. No one was saying anything now,
and this went on for three hours. Now, darkness is a symbol of
judgment. cast him into outer darkness
where there should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And unseen
things were happening at this time between him and his father. God's judgment against sin. And in this darkness, the silence
was broken three hours later when he cried out, Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani, that is, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? And this is the middle saying
of the seven sayings of the Savior from the cross and how we ought
to meditate upon these and think upon these often. What were his
first words? Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And
let me assure you this, everybody he prayed for was forgiven. I love the example of the Roman
centurion. Certainly this man was the son
of God. He's somebody Christ prayed for
and they were forgiven. And then the second saying, he
said to the thief, after the thief said, Lord, I know you're
not going to stay dead. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning king. He understood who he was. He
knew he was the Lord. He knew he was God. Nobody else
did, but he did. And he said, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. And he spake with kingly authority
as the king. Verily I say unto you, Today
thou shalt be with me in paradise. He gave that man more assurance
than he gave any other human being. And then the third saying
or cry of the Savior from the cross was when he looked at his
mother, Mary, and said, woman, behold thy son. And he looked
at John and he said, behold thy mother. Now, what is the significance
of this? Christ, the man, with a real
mother. God doesn't have a mother. Mary, mother of God, the Catholic
Church says, have mercy on us poor sinners. God doesn't have
a mother. God's the eternal, independent, sovereign one. He
doesn't have a mother. But Jesus Christ, the Lord, had
a mother. And this lets us know of his
real humanity. This was the man, Christ Jesus. And then the middle saying, what
I just read, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And
we're going to get back to that in a moment. The fifth statement,
I thirst. And this speaks of his sufferings,
how he thirsted. He wasn't just talking about
physical thirst, although no doubt he was very thirsty. But
when he was forsaken by God, how he thirsted for his presence. And then his sixth statement,
it is finished. Certainly, his physical sufferings
were coming to a close but that's not what he was talking about.
The salvation of all of my elect is accomplished and then his
last statement, Father, into thy hands I commend or I place
my Spirit. Now, at this time, two things
I want us to think about. Could you say, Father, into thy
hands I place my spirit? You'd say, Father, have mercy
on me, receive my soul, do something for me, let me be found in Christ. But he is speaking as equal with
the Father. Father, into thy hands I place
my spirit. And he was speaking as Christ
the believer. He had complete trust of his
father, even when he was forsaken. Now, can any other human being
say that? How quickly we've fallen into
unbelief. But even when he was forsaken,
he said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Now, this middle statement, is
the ground of all the other statements. Let me repeat that. This middle statement is the
ground of all the other statements. There's one singular reason why
he could say, father, forgive them because he was forsaken. There's one reason. why he could
say to that thief today, thou shalt be with me in paradise
because he was forsaken. There's one reason he became
a man having a mother so he could be forsaken. There's one reason why he said,
I thirst. because he was forsaken, all
alone, abandoned, and how he thirsted for God. You know, when
a soul is damned, they hate God while they're being forsaken,
and that's what damnation is. It's being forsaken by God, and
they hate God the whole time, not him. He loved his Heavenly
Father, and what pain it was for him. When he said it is finished. Why could he say that? Because
he was forsaken. And when he said, Father, into
thy hands, I commend my spirit. It's because he was forsaken. Now, notice. When he cried from
the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He did
not address him as father at this time, did he? He couldn't call him father. A forsaken soul would not be
allowed to address God as father. Now, once again, I'm gonna try
to say some things that I believe with all my heart. but don't understand. Forsaken. This is not a type. This is not a shadow. This is
reality. Abandoned. Forsaken. This is what happens
to damned souls. And the damnation that he experienced
was much greater than any damn soul experienced in the sense
that hell is eternal because there's never satisfaction. It's
never enough. It's never enough. He bore the
full damnation of God. No one else has ever experienced
that. This man, this God, experienced
the fullness of damnation. Real and unspeakably horrific. Real wrath against real sin. Felt reality of the wrath of
a holy God against sin. He is drinking the contents of
the cup. Do you remember in Gethsemane's
garden when he said, Oh, if it possible, let this cup pass from
me. What was in that cup? The sins
of his people. And even in Gethsemane, when
he was given a glimpse of that cup, he started sweating great
drops of blood. And now he is drinking during
this three hour period, and before then, he is drinking the contents
of that cup, being made sin and being forsaken by God. He who knew no sin was made to
know sin intimately. Do I understand that? No. Do I believe it with all my heart? He really bear our sins in his
own body when he drank the contents of that cup and he was abandoned. He was forsaken. That doesn't mean God stopped
loving him. He said in John chapter 10 verse 17, therefore does my
father love me because I lay down my life. Never did the father love him
more. This was the ultimate act of obedience forsaken by God. Now, here's what I understand
the least. And I'm almost afraid to say
this, but the scripture says regarding him in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Through eternity, he was with
God. And at this time, that witness
was broken and he was all by himself. No one has ever been
forsaken like this. He was left to himself forsaken
and this tells us what your sin and my sin really looks like
to God. Ye who think of sin, but likely,
nor I can't remember the words of suppose the evil great here
may view its nature rightly. Here it's guilt may estimate.
Here's what my sin and your sin looks like to God. When he sees
it on his only begotten and well beloved son, he forsakes him. He had absolutely no sense of
his father's favor, nothing but the awful frown of his father
against sin. And he cried this from the darkness.
Oh, thick darkness. Nobody could see anything. Everybody
was scared to death. And then they heard this cry,
my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? As I've already
said, This is what God thinks of our
sin. And I want to say this carefully,
God forsaking God, who can understand that? As a matter of fact, Martin
Luther said, God forsaking God, what man can understand it? You
can't understand it. But do you know, and I say this, I hope
with all reverence and fear and trembling, God forsaking God
is the most God-like thing God ever did. God forsaking God is the most
God-like thing God ever did. Now, this lets me know what I
deserve. Only here, only here, Do I really
see what I deserve? Do you know you've never been
convicted of sin until you've heard the gospel? You've never
seen the character of God until you've heard the gospel. Here
we see what we really deserve. I understand exactly what Peter
meant when the Lord made himself known to him there in Luke chapter
5 when he saw the fish brought in. And he saw for the first
time, I believe, who the Lord Jesus Christ really was. And
you know what his response was? Depart from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. You in your
holiness, you in your majesty, you in your glory, you don't
want to have anything to do with somebody like me. Depart from
me, Lord. I am a sinful man. Now this was
said that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Remember how David
said in Psalm 22, one, that great Psalm of the cross, my God, my
God, why has thou forsaken me? And when David said it, he felt
it. He felt like he'd been cut off.
He felt like he'd been left to himself and he cries out, why
have you forsaken me? But was he forsaken? The Lord
was always with him, whether he felt it or not. But here is
the one who is truly forsaken. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Now, he wasn't asking this because
he didn't know. He said in verse three of the
same chapter, but thou art holy. And that's why he was forsaken.
Now, during this time, He didn't have the sense that, well, the
father knows these sins really aren't mine. He didn't have any sense like
that. There would be no shame if that were the case. He did not have the sense of
the blessed presence of God, the Holy Spirit, as he always
had. You know, there are martyrs who
have been suffered just as much physical torment, crying out
the praise of God and having His presence and could look joyfully
into what was happening to them. But he didn't have the presence
of God. He didn't have the presence of God, the Holy Spirit. He didn't
have his people gathered around saying, Oh, we're so thankful
for your doing this. We love you and we know you're
doing it for us. He had nothing like that. They're
all scattered. He couldn't even save himself.
These sins aren't really mine. He owned them as his own sins
that he personally was guilty of. Now, how does God do this? How does God take my sins off
of me? and place them upon Christ to
where they actually become His sins. And how does He take the
righteousness of His Son and place it upon me where it actually
becomes my personal righteousness? How does God do that? I don't
know, but He did it. That's it. He did it. With God, nothing shall be impossible. Now, it would be unjust for God
to punish him if they were not his. Amen? It would be unjust for God to
punish him if these sins were not his sins. Now, this is really the only
thing that gives me any hope. This is the only thing that gives
me any peace. This is the only thing I can rest in. Not have
my life's been changed or how I'm growing in grace and all
the things that religious people say. The only thing that gives
me any hope that a holy God can accept me is that my sin actually
became his sin. And God forsook him because that's
exactly what he deserved. In the opening chapter of the
New Testament, we have these words. Thou shalt call His name
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And this
is how He did it. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary. and suffered and died alone. He did what no man could do. He made satisfaction for sin. Hebrews 1.3, when he had by himself,
you know what that means? That means you didn't have any
part in this. That means he did this with no help, with no aid
when he had by himself purged, made purification for put away,
blotted out, canceled our sins. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. Why did he sit down? Because
it was finished. Now this is the eternal purpose
of God being fulfilled. Him being forsaken. Now that's what the Lamb slain
is all about. The Lamb slain is the Lamb forsaken. The Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you've
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. You see,
this doesn't take away our guilt, but this was God's eternal purpose
for a truth against thy child, Jesus, who thou has delivered
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. Now, how God is glorified
in God forsaking God. You know, there's nothing that
glorifies God more than this. Every attribute of God is made
plain and clear in God forsaking God. First, I see His holiness. When
sin is found even on his son, he forsakes him. I see his justice. God is gonna punish sin. No sin
will go unpunished. I don't care even if it's on
his own son. I see God's eternal purpose. taking place. He's the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. I see God's power
in him actually putting away sin, in him forsaking himself,
in Christ dying. What power, what glory, every
attribute of God. What about his mercy? What about
his grace that he would give his son to be forsaken this way? Every attribute of God is on
full display in God forsaking God. If I ever see this, I won't even
be interested in anything else. This is the gospel. When I see God forsaking God,
I see Christ's love for his bride. He willingly, because he wanted
to, He willingly took on all her debts. Husbands, love your
wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Everything he did, he did willingly. He willingly was forsaken by
his father. First, because it was God's purpose,
I realize that, but also out of love to every one of his children. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? And because he was forsaken, none of his people will ever
be forsaken. He says, I'll never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. You know, I have no doubt that
there are people that think of sins they've committed and think,
well, he forsaken me because of that. Not if he was forsaken
for you. What if I sin greatly? You'll
never be forsaken. What if I commit the same sin
every day? You'll never be forsaken. You'll never be forsaken. You
know, I'm scared saying something like that because listen, we
ought not sin ever again. Isn't that so? These things write
I unto you that you sin not. That's the Holy Spirit speaking. When you do. I think it's interesting
in that passage of scripture. He said in the previous three
verses, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, and to confess your sins isn't simply to admit
them. It's to take sides with God against yourself and agree
with what God says about your sin. If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. If we say we've not sinned, we make him a liar. For he says
we have. Now these things write unto you
that you sin not. Isn't that interesting? These
things write unto you that all you do is sin. You always have
a sinful nature. And if you confess your sin and
agree with God, and if you say you haven't sinned, you make
him a liar. Now I'm writing these things
to you that you sin not. Do you know that the strength
of sin is the law? And if you hear that you're nothing
but sin, If you agree with God concerning your sin, and that
all you do is sin, you know what's gonna make you wanna do? Sin
not. Sin not. Now, sin's never okay. When you sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Because he was forsaken, I will never be forsaken. There was a missionary in a,
don't know who he was speaking to, but the people had a very
limited language. And he was trying to see if he
was coming across to him. And he asked a lady in that whatever
it was, he said, can you tell me what I just said to you? She
said, he died or me die. He died. Me no die. That's the gospel. He died or me die. He died. I see how that Christ died is
salvation. Here's what I want to know. How
can I know that he died for me? How can I know that? Turn with me to Romans chapter
five. Verse 6, For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Now I can remember from this
pulpit hearing Scott Richardson preach, and I never will forget
this statement, he said, you can't take any promise of the
scripture to yourself unless you fit the character of the
one the promise was made to. Maybe some of you remember that. Who did he die for? Two descriptions. People without strength. Without spiritual strength. Void
of strength. You tell them about free will
or something like that, they know that's ridiculous. There's
no truth to it. I have no spiritual strength. And the second description is
ungodly. If the shoe fits, wear it. If you're without strength, and
if you're ungodly, Christ died for you. He was forsaken for you and you
will never be forsaken. Now, as I said at the beginning,
you know, when Paul said, I heard unspeakable things, which are
not lawful for a man to utter. And when David said such knowledge
is too high for me, it's wonderful, I can't attain to it. I feel
that about this and I'm sure you do too. But I do believe
this. Christ really was forsaken by
his father. And because of that, I'll never
be forsaken. Let's pray. Lord, we.