When we come to Mount Calvary, we see man at his worst. He who created the world had
come into the world, but the world knew him not and wanted
him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. The Lord of Glory was among us,
and we beheld nothing in him, no beauty that we should desire
him. Man's eyes, blinded by sin, see
nothing desirable in the Son of God. That was true when he
first walked on this earth That was true throughout the days
of his sojourn on this earth, and that is true today. No man
sees anything desirable in the Christ of God. No man. Men look upon their idolatrous,
foolish notions of who and what Christ is and desire many things
concerning their ideas of a helpless Jesus. But there is nothing in
the Christ of God that any man desires by nature. When our Lord
Jesus came into this world, there was no room for him in the inn,
and at last there's no room for him in man's world. When he was
a baby, Men sought to slaughter him. And now we come to Calvary
and we see him delivered to the will of wicked men and slaughtered
by men. Again and again, people around
him sought to kill him. For three years, again and again,
they sought to kill him. But his hour was not yet come.
But now his hour has come. And these bloodthirsty, religious,
zealous, hating, God-hating, moral men now execute the Son
of God. But no ordinary death would do.
The Jews, by law, if he should be a blasphemer, If he should
be found guilty of the things they accused him of, by law,
by their own law, he was to be stoned. But rather than him being
stoned, they plotted and schemed and found a way to put him to
death in the most shameful, torturous, horrid way imaginable. He was crucified by the Roman
soldiers Crucified by the demand and decree of Pilate. Crucified
because the Jews cried, Crucify Him. Crucify Him. Let His blood be on us and on
our children. Crucify Him! We will not have
Him. And thus they display for us
man's heart enmity against God Almighty. The Lord Jesus is led
with two malefactors out to Mount Calvary. And there he's crucified between
these two thieves. And these folks watching. Look. This one who's been silent
before Pilate, and silent before Herod, his lips are moving. Is he crying for pity? No. Is he cursing his tormentors? No. Is he calling now for ten
legions of angels to come and deliver him as he said he could?
No. He's praying. Praying for his enemies. praying for their forgiveness. Luke 23, verse 34. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. What tempted us. What infinite mercy. What amazing
grace! What immeasurable love! Then
said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. As you know, our Savior spoke
seven times from the cross. This is the first of his seven
statements from the cross. His first word from the cross
is a word of prayer. Prayer for forgiveness. Prayer for the forgiveness of
wicked sinners. The forgiveness of men and women
who were engaged in executing him in the most horrific manner
possible. How instructive. How significant. What an example he sets before
us. If the Lord Jesus prays for his tormentors, surely we ought
to pray for our enemies. The fact is, none who are out
of hell are beyond the reach of omnipotent grace. No man who is out of hell is
beyond the reach of divine mercy. I say that to you Because I know
sometimes you carry a heavy burden for someone and you can't really
pray for folks unless God gives you a burden to pray for. And
you carry a heavy burden for a long time and you pray. You
pray. After a while you may tend to
think, well, what's the use? Pray on. Pray on. God may yet be merciful. And we see here that the effectual,
fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much. Our Savior cried,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And his
prayer is answered. There is one hanging by his side
who is forgiven. Multitudes whose hands dripped
with his blood on the day of Pentecost were forgiven. I have been forgiven. You, my
brother, my sister, have been forgiven because the Lord Jesus
prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And when we can do nothing else,
we can, like our Savior, Here the Son of God hangs upon
the tree. The day of preaching is over.
The day of performing miracles is over. The day of feeding the
hungry is over. The day of doing good to the
bodies of men is over. The day of instructing his friends
is over. Now he hangs upon the cursed
tree and prays. You may think, what can I do?
What can I do? I urge you, children of God,
do what you can for the glory of God. But this I can declare
with certainty. You can pray. And the greatest
work that is done by man is done on his knees before God Almighty. You can pray. Pray for God to
work. Pray for God to speak through
his word. Pray for God's servants. Pray
for God's church. Pray for the success of the gospel
around the world. Pray for the increase of his
kingdom. Pray for one another. Pray for your pastor. Mr. Spurgeon was asked on occasion
to what he attributed the apparent success of his ministry in that
day so widely he was used of God and without hesitation he
said, my people pray for me. Pray. And pray with confidence
even as the Son of God here teaches us by example to pray. Now let
me show you several things It just highlights the things
that I see here. Turn to Isaiah 53. When our Savior prays, Father
forgive them. He is fulfilling the Old Testament
prophet. Long, long, long before this
ever came to pass. Long before it came to pass.
God revealed everything that would come to pass when his son
was nailed to the tree. Every detail. Every detail about
the crucifixion is clearly revealed in the Old Testament. Here is
just one. Isaiah 53 verse 12. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
straw. because he hath poured out his
soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and did
bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
There's the prophecy. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bared the sin of many. And
being numbered with the transgressors, bearing the sin of many, he prayed,
made intercession for the transgressors. He is bearing the sin of many,
and he is interceding for many. And the fulfillment of the prophecy
is, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now
understand this and understand it clearly. The Old Testament
prophets throughout the Old Testament in the types and ceremonies and
pictures of the law, in the prophecies of the Old Testament. constantly
set forth the Lord Jesus as being a substitutionary sacrifice by
which God would save his people from their sins. And here his
intercession is directly connected with his substitutionary sin-atoning
death as the Lamb of God who died to put away our sins. That
was the prophecy, and now it's fulfilled. I see our Lord Jesus here identifying
himself with us in a remarkable way as the sinner's advocate. Never before had he one time
made such a request as this, throughout the days that he lived
on this earth, never before had he called upon the Father to
do something for the forgiveness of sinners. Previously, as he
walked on this earth, he forgave sin by his own authority. Now the Jews were right. The
scribes and the Pharisees were right when they said none can
forgive sin but God only. And what they failed to understand
is that this man, the fully man, is God himself in human flesh. And while he walked on this earth,
to the man who was sick of palsy, he said, Son, be of good cheer,
thy sins be forgiven thee. To the woman who washed his feet,
he said, thy sins are forgiven. By his own word, by his own authority,
as God Almighty, he forgave their sins. But here, the Lord Jesus
prays. He speaks as a suppliant before
God's throne. He speaks as one who sues for
something at the court of heaven. And he cries, Father, forgive
them. Why? Because now he takes his
place as our substitute. The just is dying for the unjust,
and he pleads with God as an intercessor, as an advocate,
as our high priest. He pleads with God on behalf
of his people, making intercession for us on the basis of the death
he was dying, as if to teach us. God does forgive sin. God will forgive sin. God forgives
your sin, but it can't be done except by my blood, except by
my death. The scripture tells us that when
he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high. He sat down in heaven and is
accepted of God as our sacrifice and our substitute, and now maketh
intercession for us. We're told, wherefore, on the
basis of all that he has accomplished as our high priest, and because
now he lives again, he is able to save to the uttermost then
that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for him. The end result of that is this.
If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I turn
to 1 John 2. Let me show you this. John is talking to us about the
revelation of Christ, the Word of God. He's declaring to us
the free forgiveness of sin. And he says, I'm telling you
these things that you sin not. You see that? 1 John 2 verse
1. My little children, these things write out unto you that
you sin not. The best way to curb the believer's
appetite for sin. The best way to keep our hearts
guarded from the evil that's in us is to declare free, full,
absolute, unqualified, everlasting forgiveness. No better way. Johnson, all that
I've said to you, beginning in chapter 1, verse 1, right down
here to the end of the first chapter, is everything I've written
to you. I've written to you because I
don't want you to see it. Now look what he says. And. He didn't say but. He said and.
And if. And you can write that as large
or as small as you want to. This is what he's saying. When
you see it. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate, an intercessor, one who stands in court on our behalf
with the Father. And we have assurance of the
forgiveness of sins because this one who is our advocate is Jesus,
He who came to save, Jehovah who saved, the Christ, that one
anointed and ordained and appointed of God. the righteous one, and
he is the propitiation for our sins. He is the satisfaction
of divine justice on our behalf, and not for ours only, but for
God's elect worldwide, for also for the sins of the whole world. On the cross, the Lord Jesus
is acting as our substitute. the just dying for the unjust,
and now he takes the position of a suppliant before God and
points to his own sacrifice and says, Father, on the basis of
my blood atonement, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Oh, how blessed it is to hear the Son of God as my substitute
declare. I have prayed for thee. If he intercedes for me, all
is well. If he intercedes for me, sin
cannot be imputed to me. If he intercedes for me, sin
shall never be charged to me. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Five bleeding wounds he bears,
received at Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him. Oh, forgive, they
cry. Don't let that ransomed sinner
die. Now, here's a third thing. Sin cannot be forgiven without
atonement. If any sin could be forgiven,
swept under the carpet, excused, overlooked, winked at, it would
be sins of ignorance. Ignorance. We do that all the
time, especially with our own children. It doesn't work as
well with somebody else's children, but it does with ours. Well,
he didn't know. He had no window in that. Ignorance. But the scriptures make it abundantly
clear that even sins of ignorance incur guilt and demand atonement. Turn to Leviticus chapter 5.
Let me show you. Let me just show you one passage. Leviticus
chapter 5, verse 15. No sin can be forgiven without
atonement. Leviticus 5.15, If a soul commit
a trespass and sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord,
then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish
of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver after the
shekel of the sanctuary for a trespass offering, for sin offering. And
he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done. What
harm? The harm that he did by failing
to do everything commanded in God's law. the harm that he hath
done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and
give it unto the priest, and the priest shall make atonement
for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven
him." You mean, Brother Dodd, God demands satisfaction and
must punish even sins of ignorance? Oh yes. We see the sins of ignorance
are sins arising from our hearts of enmity against God because
we will not hear what God says. David prayed like this. Who can
understand his errors? Who can understand his errors? We sometimes begin to think we
know a little bit about the depravity of our hearts. We haven't even
begun to get started knowing what's in us. Who can understand
his errors? And so he prayed, cleanse thou
me from secret faults. God cleanse me from my iniquities. My secret faults. Scripture describes
sin this way. Sin, our nature. Transgression. That's breaking down the barriers. That's pushing over the fences. That's violating God's law. Doing that which we know we ought
not do. And iniquities. That's failure
to do what God requires. Secret false. Sin is always sin
in God's sight, whether we're conscious of it or not. And sins
of ignorance demand atonement, satisfaction, or punishment just
as surely as those of which we're conscious. God will not lower
his standard. He says, the soul that sinneth,
it shall die, and die it must. Now, let me say something about
our ignorance. Here is the blindness and ignorance
of man's heart by nature. Our Savior says, they know not
what they do. Now there's more to that than
I can get said this evening. But these men clearly knew what
they were doing outwardly. They knew they had crucified
him. They knew they were laughing
and partying while he died. They knew they were tormenting
him. They knew they had lied against
him. They knew he had been betrayed
innocently. They knew all these things that
had gone on around them. And yet our Savior says, they
know not what they do. They were ignorant of the enormity
of their crime. Do you remember how Paul spoke? He said none of the princes of
this world knew who he was, otherwise they would not have crucified
the Lord of Glory. Paul said concerning himself,
I was a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly. These are men, then, of whom
the Savior speaks. These among this crowd of his
tormentors, for whom he prays, are the people for whom he suffered.
And he cries to God on their behalf, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. But they should have known. There
was no reason for them not to know who he was. There was no
reason for them not to recognize him. They read the Old Testament
prophets every Saturday in their synagogues. And the Old Testament
prophets that they read spoke clearly and distinctly of him,
identifying who he was, so that if they simply read the prophets
with any desire to know him, with any desire to know God. Not just a desire for religion
and morality, but a desire to know God. There was no excuse
for them not recognizing who he was. But they didn't. But
they didn't. As a matter of fact, if you read
the Old Testament prophets, look at them carefully. No man in
history could possibly meet all the prophets, all the stipulations
required in the Old Testament to identify the Messiah except
this man who now hangs upon the curse tree. Indeed, his critics
said, never a man spake like this man. They cried again and
again, is not this the Christ? Is not this the Christ? Is not
this the Christ? God the Father spoke from heaven.
Audibly, men heard him say, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. And yet, our Savior says, they
know not what they do. You see, their ignorance only
demonstrated the blindness of their hearts. Their rejection
of the Son of God bore full witness once and for all that the carnal
mind is enmity against God. Their ignorance was the ignorance
of blind hatred, envy, and malice. Nothing else. How sad it is to
see the same today. I mean everywhere. Ignorant of
the Son of God. We preach Him and men hate Him. We preach Him and folks cuss
Him. We preach Him in all His glory
and grace, in all the fullness of His Godhead, in all the fullness
of His saving power, and men refuse Him and despise Him because
they are ignorant. ignorant of him because of their
utter hatred of him. That's all. Because they despise
God being God. And man's enmity against God
blinds his eyes and blinds his heart. So he sticks his fingers
in his ears and covers his eyes and hardens his heart and will
not believe. And his ignorance will never
be removed. until God removes it. Men are ignorant of who and what
they are. Ignorant of Christ's person and
His work. Ignorant of their need. Ignorant
of His precious blood. Ignorant of God's saving grace.
God calls sinners to come to Him by the gospel. He sends His
servants out to call sinners to come to Him by the gospel.
And men refuse and despise the Son of God. All because they
are ignorant of Him. But ignorance with you today,
like with these Jews who crucified him, is excuseless. You've got
his word in your hand. The full revelation of God right
here. And you are excuseless. You complete
ignorance only to your own condemnation for despising God's revelation
and your refusal to hear his word. but it is the glory of
God's grace to make known to foolish, ignorant,
God-hating sinners the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ. Oh, may He do that for you. See,
I see here our Savior giving force to his doctrine
by his example. Turn to Matthew chapter 5. Verse 43. Here in the Sermon
on the Mount, our Savior says, You have heard that it hath been
said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say
unto you, love your enemies Bless them that curse you. Do good
to them that hate you. Pray for them that despitefully
use you and persecute you. And here our Savior practices
what He preached. He said, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. how I pray. God teach me to follow
my Redeemer's example. If he will give me grace to love
my enemies, to bless those who curse me, and pray for those
who despise me, I'm certain I'll find it difficult to harbor malice
toward them, to desire their hurt, to avenge myself upon them,
or even to speak evil of them. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4,
let me show you. Now listen to me, children of
God. Get to Ephesians 4 and listen
to me. If I do not find my example for
life in the cross of Christ, I have not found expiation for
my sins in the cross of Christ. If I do not find the example
to govern my life in his death, I do not find expiation to atone
for my sin in his death. Look at Ephesians 5, chapter
4, verse 29. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. And that's not talking about
cussing. Now don't misunderstand me. I know some idiot go out
here and says, well Brother John says it's alright to cuss. No he didn't.
I'm just saying that's not what he's talking about. That's not
what he's talking about. He's talking about the corrupt
communication of a bitter heart. But that which is good to the
use of edifying. That it may minister grace unto
the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed into the day of redemption. Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. Quit talking hatefully,
and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another. even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you. And be ye imitators of God, that's
the word, imitators of God, as dear children, and walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself a sacrifice
and an offering to God of a sweet-smelling savor. O Spirit of God, teach
me to imitate God my Savior. One more thing. I see here one
thing we all have in common. One great need every one of us
has. a great need that only God Almighty
can give, fulfill, meet, and satisfy. We are sinners in need
of forgiveness. Our Savior says, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. I know that forgiveness
is God's sovereign prerogative. I know that the only way God
can forgive sin is to put it away. God cannot and will not
pretend it doesn't exist. And I know that the only way
the Holy Lord God can put away sin is by the sin-atoning sacrifice
of his darling son that blots out our transgressions. And yet,
it is my joy To hear him say and to declare to you that there
is forgiveness with God. Forgiveness. Turn to Psalm 130. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? O hear me. If God marks
one sin of ignorance, iniquities, not transgressions, not your
nature, not your breaking down the barriers and despitefully
testing God's law aside with iniquities. If God should regard
in you just one ignorant thing by which you fail to stand before
Him in perfect holiness, who shall stand? Let alone what you
know. But look at this next word. But there is forgiveness with
thee. The first word God spoke to the
fallen pair in the garden says there is forgiveness with thee.
God's very name says there is forgiveness with him. Moses said,
show me your glory. He said, I'll show you my name.
He said, my name is this, forgiving, iniquity, transgression and sin. The reason why God sent his son
into this world was to accomplish the remission of sins by the
sacrifice of himself. All the law, all the Old Testament
law, is given by God, every ceremony, every sacrifice, everything in
the law is given to declare that there is forgiveness with God.
What does that altar mean? Accept forgiveness. What does
that mercy seat mean? Accept forgiveness. What does
that tabernacle mean? Accept forgiveness. What do those
sacrifices mean? Accept forgiveness. The whole
law declares there is one coming in and by whom forgiveness shall
be found with God Almighty. In the Old Testament prophets
To Him give all the prophets witness, the scripture says,
declaring the forgiveness of sins through Him. The Lord Jesus
sends His servants out into this world to proclaim in all the
world the forgiveness of sins. To preach repentance and remission
of sins through the blood of His cross. I know God forgives
sins. Because I've experienced it incessantly,
incessantly for 39 years. Who forgiveth, don't you love
that word? Forgiveth all thy transgressions. Forgiven. forgiven. Everybody I know who has remained
in any kind of a relationship with me my lifelong, my lifelong
family and friend worldwide has forgiven me much. It's the only way we get along. But Ron, your forgiveness of
me involves simply you being willing to overlook my evil. You can't forget it. And that torments me. Understand
that? It's likely to come up again. not God's. He says I, even I
am he that blotteth out thy transgressions. He casts them into the depth
of the sea. Cast them behind his back. Remove them from us as far as
the east is from the west. And he says I will not remember
thy sins. How can that be? Because they're
gone. They're gone. Did you hear me? They're gone. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his
shed blood, has put away our sins. And God forgives us our
transgressions on the basis of justice satisfied through the
blood that has blotted them out. And the Lord God says in that
day, I'll look for them. I'll search for them. And they
shall not be found. For I know whom I have pardoned. No wonder David sang like this. Blessed is the man. unto whom the Lord will not impute
sin. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. That's what he cried before the
world was. That's what he cried when he
prayed for those who were not yet numbered among his living
disciples in John 17. That's what he cried when he
died as our substitute at Calvary. And that's what he continually
cries as our advocate in glory. Thank God. Thank God. There is forgiveness with thee. Amen.