Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nivert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nivert. I've entitled this morning's
message, The First Words from the Cross. What would you think
would be the first words that the Lord Jesus would say after
being nailed to the cross? Well, let's read and find out.
The text is in Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse 32. And there
were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death.
These are the two thieves that were to be crucified by his side. 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. after he had been crucified. Here are his first words. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. The Lord had reached the apex,
the extremity of his greatest pain. He had been thrown onto
the ground on top of the cross. They drove the nails through
his hands and through his feet. They lifted up the cross and
dropped it in the stand, jarring his body and tearing through
his flesh where the nails had been driven in his hands and
in his feet. The intensity of the physical
pain the intensity of the spiritual pain we cannot even imagine. I would like to speak of this
as I should, but I can't. I can't imagine the spiritual
pain of the Lord Jesus in being made sin and being cut off and
left to himself as the sinner's substitute. Now what were His
first words from the cross? Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Now this ignorance, they know
not what they do, was not a diminishing of their guilt, but rather an
aggravation of their guilt. They're so ignorant so willfully
ignorant of who you are, and of who I am, and of who they
are. They're so ignorant of how evil
they are, and even what sin is in the first place, that if you
do not freely forgive them, they have no hope. Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. Now at the beginning, of his
public ministry when he preached in his hometown, Nazareth. You can read about this in Luke
chapter 4. He opened up an Old Testament scroll, actually Isaiah
chapter 61, and read these words. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. And the poor are those who have
nothing to recommend them to God. They don't have a thing.
And to heal the brokenhearted, those whose hearts are no good,
he came to heal. And to preach deliverance, and
that word deliverance is the word forgiveness, the same word. He came to preach deliverance,
forgiveness to the captives, those who were captured by sin
and can't deliver themselves. He came to preach forgiveness.
Now he said that in the opening of his public ministry and here
at the close when he's nailed to the cross. What are his first
words from the cross? Father, forgive them. I came
to preach forgiveness to the captives, and here at the end,
Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Now, what is my greatest need? My greatest need, let me tell
you, it's not good health. It's not wealth. It's not the
riches and wisdom of this world. My greatest need is the forgiveness
of all my sins. If I don't have the forgiveness
of sins, whatever else I have, it doesn't matter because I'm
going to end up in hell if I don't have the forgiveness of sins.
My greatest need is the forgiveness of sins. Now, in this being,
his first words from the cross, Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. we're given His mission statement,
as it were, His reason for coming. He came to secure the forgiveness
of sins. He went to the cross to secure
the forgiveness of sins. Now, He went to the cross because
it was the will of God. This was God's purpose for Him.
He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He went
to the cross Because it glorified God. All of His attributes are
glorified in Him going to the cross. His wisdom in finding
a way to be just and justify the ungodly only through the
cross. He went to the cross because it was the will of God. He went
to the cross for the glory of God. But thank God, the will
of God and the glory of God are bound up in the forgiveness of
sins. How God is glorified. in the forgiveness of sins. Did
you know that if you forgive somebody, that's the most God-like
thing you could ever do? And if you fail to forgive somebody,
you won't be forgiven. Our Lord promised that. He came
to secure the forgiveness of sins. Notice this. Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. I
want to say this reverently, but this was not a request. This
was not a request. He was speaking as equal to the
Father. Now you remember when those men
broke up the ceiling and let the man down who couldn't walk,
and he looked at the man and said, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee. And the Pharisees who heard said, Who is this that speaketh
blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And he looked at them and said,
what's easier to say, rise up and walk or your sins be forgiven
you? Well, it's easier to say your sins be forgiven you, but
that you know that the son of man have power on earth to forgive
sin. He said to the sick of palsy,
rise up and walk. You see Christ Jesus as God. Only God can forgive sin. Only
God can forgive sin. Jesus Christ is God. And he spake
as equal to the Father, very much like he said in John chapter
17, verse 24. Father, I will that them whom
you've given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory. Now, can you imagine saying to
God, Father, I will that you do this or do that? Only the
Son of God can do that. And He is not making a request. He is speaking as equal with
the Father. You sent me to secure forgiveness. This is your will. Do what you
have said. Now, I want to read a scripture
to you that I think will shed some light on this. In 1 John
1 verse 9, John makes this statement, if we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Now what is this thing of the
confession of sin? Does it mean you need to articulate
each sin you've committed? Well, if that's what it means,
there's not enough time in the day. Furthermore, most of the
sins you and I have committed, we're ignorant of. To confess
your sins means to take sides with God against yourself. It's to agree with what God says
about you and your sins. If we confess our sins, if we
take sides with God against ourselves and agree with what He says with
regard to us, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins. Not He is gracious and merciful
to forgive us of our sins, although He is gracious and merciful to
forgive us of our sins, but He's faithful. He's faithful to do
what He said He was going to do. You see, He determined we
were going to confess our sins, if we confess them, before time
began. And He determined to forgive
us of our sins. As a matter of fact, the sins were forgiven
in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And He's faithful
to carry that out. Not only is He faithful to forgive
us of our sins, He's just to forgive us of our sins because
He's made a way to be just and justify the ungodly. He's a just
God and a Savior, and the justice of God demands the forgiveness
of sins for everybody for whom Christ died. Isn't that glorious? He's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Father, forgive them. Now I like this, Father forgive
them, not Father forgive them if they ask for forgiveness. Not, Father, forgive them if
they let me be the Lord of their life and accept me as their personal
Savior. You know that kind of language
is offensive. He is your Lord, whether you know it or not. You're
in His hands. He's not in yours. Father, forgive
them if they promise to sin no more. Father, forgive them if
they are real sorry. Father, forgive them if they
plan on making restitution for the mess they've made and the
sins they've committed. Nothing like that at all. There's
no works, no Father forgive them if fill in the blank, whatever
it is, no. Father, forgive them, period. They know not what they do. They're
so ignorant that if you don't forgive them, they won't be forgiven.
Father, forgive them. Now, that's grace. That's the way
grace works. It's what God does. There's no
work that they need to do in order to achieve this forgiveness.
It's simply, Father, forgive them. They know not what they
do. They're totally in your hands. They won't be forgiven if you
don't sovereignly forgive them through what I've done on Calvary's
tree. Father, forgive them. This excludes
every aspect of salvation by works. Father, forgive them. And I love the indistinctness
of this. Father, forgive them. The word
them. I'm glad he didn't say, Father,
forgive them that literally drove the nails in my hands and feet. He didn't say, Father, forgive
those people that cried for my crucifixion, literally. He didn't
say, Father, forgive the chief priests and the scribes who incited
the masses to have me crucified and lied about me. He doesn't say, Father, forgive
Pilate or Herod or even Judas, who seemed to express such sorrow. He says, Father, forgive them. Now, it's true that Christ died
for a specific people. He didn't die for everybody.
A preacher who says Christ died for all the sins of all men without
exception doesn't know the gospel and has never preached the gospel.
I want you to understand what I'm saying. That is a message
of salvation by works. If you think that he died for
everybody and made salvation available for everybody, and
now it's up to you to take what he did to make work for you,
That's not so. That's salvation by works. That
makes salvation ultimately dependent upon what you do and not what
He did. That's works, my friend. May God give you the grace and
me the grace to see that. He died for a specific people.
He said in John 17, verse 9, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. but for them which you have given
me." He prayed for specific people, but I'm glad he just left it
at them, because if he said them that fill in the blank that did
this or did that, I would be afraid it wouldn't be me. But
thank God for this word them. It's kind of like whosoever.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
That's better than if it said, if Todd Nybert calls upon the
name of the Lord, he shall be saved, because there are other
Todd Nyberts. I'm not the only Todd Nybert
in the world. There are other men by the name of Todd Nybert,
and it might have meant them when it says, if Todd Nybert
calls on the name of the Lord, he shall be saved. But I'm a
whosoever. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now you can be dead sure of this.
EVERYBODY HE PRAYED FOR TO BE FORGIVEN IS FORGIVEN. NO EXCEPTIONS. If he prayed for
somebody to be forgiven and they were not, that would mean his
prayer is meaningless, ineffectual, powerless. If he prayed for somebody
to be forgiven and the father didn't forgive him, that would
mean the father did not hear his prayer. This is no generic
prayer. He's praying for a specific people who must be forgiven. Christ prays for you. Everything
is fine. All he prayed for are forgiven
because he gets whatever he asks for. You believe that? He does. He's the Son of God and he gets
whatever he asks for. When he said, Father, forgive
them, everybody he prayed for was forgiven. In Hebrews 9, verse
22, we read, Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission
of sins. Now that is what the Bible teaches. Without the shedding of blood.
And it's not talking about the blood of an animal. It's talking
about the blood of the Son of God. Without the shedding of
blood, there is no remission of sins. But listen to this.
with the shedding of His blood, there is the remission, the forgiveness
of sins. God did say, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. He didn't say, when I see your
faith. He didn't say, when I see your repentance. He didn't say
when I see your sincerity. He didn't say when I see your
intentions. He didn't say when I see your baptism. He didn't
say when I see your church attendance. He said when I see the blood.
When I see the blood. One thing God was looking for,
the blood. When I see the blood. Who had
to see it? God did. He didn't say when you
see the blood. He said when I see the blood. I will pass over you. With the shedding of blood, there
is the remission of sins. Now I'd like to read a passage
of scripture from Hebrews chapter 10. And this is a quotation from
Psalm 40. And these are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 5, Wherefore, when he cometh
into the world, this is talking about the incarnation of Christ.
When he left heaven and became flesh, the word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. When he cometh into the world,
he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not. All of these
animal sacrifices never pleased God, they just pictured something. But a body hast thou prepared
me, a human body, great is the mystery of godliness, God was
manifest in the flesh. Then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it's
written of me, And this is the book of God's decrees and purposes. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me to do thy will, O God. And here's why Christ
came. He came to do God's will. What a statement regarding everything
he did. It was to do God's will. Verse eight, above when he said
sacrifice, and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering
for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which
are offered by the law. Talk about all the Old Testament
sacrifices. Then said I, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first. All
those Old Testament laws have been done away with. He taketh
away the first. the circumcision, the animal
sacrifices, the feast days, the holy days, all the rules and
laws, they've all been taken away. He taketh away the first
that he may establish the second. That's the gospel. The new covenant,
the old covenant of works has been taken away that the new
covenant may be established. And remember he said, I come
to do thy will, O God, by the witch will, by God's will. Here
we have the supremacy of the will of God, by the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Now what is sanctification? It's
being declared by God to be holy. It's being set apart to be holy. It's being made holy. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus Christ
accomplished by His death on the cross, the complete sanctification
of His people. We are sanctified once for all. It doesn't need a repetitious
work, he did it. We're sanctified once for all,
perfectly completed, never to be repeated. We're sanctified
once for all through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
Now he speaks of the Old Testament priests. And every priest standeth
daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins. Now notice the Old Testament
priests. were never finished. There was
not a chair in the tabernacle because their work was never
done. They were always standing, daily, ministering, oftentimes,
the same sacrifices, which could never take away sins. Not one
of those sacrifices ever took away a sin. But this man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, this priest, This priest after the order of
Melchizedek, not brought up after the Levitical priesthood, this
king, this savior, this God, this man. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. Why did he sit down? His work
was finished. He completed the salvation of
everybody He died for. He secured the forgiveness of
sin for everybody for whom He died. From henceforth, verse
13, expecting, simply waiting. until his enemies be made his
footstool." No enemy of Christ has a chance because there's
no such thing as chance. He's in control of everything, and
all he's doing is waiting until his enemies be made his footstool. Verse 14, 4, By one offering, He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, them that are set apart by God. Somebody
says, nobody's perfect. I am. I am. Not in myself. I'm painfully aware of my own
sinfulness. But here's what the blood of
Christ did for me. Here's what the offering of Christ
did for me. It made me perfect by that one offering he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified now that's what God's
Word says everybody he died for they're perfected forever what
confidence I have to stand before God in judgment I don't have
any sins for which to give an account I'm perfect before God
because all my sins were put away verse 15 whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us. This is what he bears witness
to. For after that he said before, this is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. Now salvation
comes through a covenant, a promise God has made. David spoke of
this covenant in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5. He said, Although my
house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. And this is all my
salvation and all my desire. Now, this is the covenant that
I'll make with him after those days, saith the Lord. I will
put my laws into their hearts, and write them into their minds. Does that mean he puts the Ten
Commandments in our hearts and minds? No. You were born with
that. Somebody who's never heard of
the Ten Commandments knows that it's wrong to kill, that it's
wrong to steal, that sexual sin is wrong, that coveting is wrong,
that lying is wrong. Everybody knows that. Everybody's
born with that knowledge. Somebody says, I need to be taught
how to live. You already know how to live.
You know it's wrong to do those things. You know you ought not
lie. You know you ought not murder anybody. You know you ought to
respect authority and obey your parents. This is not talking
about God writing his law in the hearts because everybody's
bored with that. He is speaking of the law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus. He's talking about the new nature,
the law of faith where you cannot not believe. The law of sin where
you cannot see yourself as anything but a sinner. The law of righteousness
where you can't be satisfied with anything short of perfect
righteousness, justification. The law of love, you can't help
but love God. It's your nature to love God
just as he is. The law of liberty, you can't
bear being put under some kind of law. You must be free. You
must be at liberty. This is the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus. He says, I'm gonna put this in
their hearts. I'm gonna write it in their minds. Look what
he says next in verse 17. And their sins and iniquities
I will remember no more. Do you know when I'm in heaven,
God will not remember any of the sins I've committed. Now
you say, how could God forget that? How could God forget that? He's God, how could he forget
that? Because there's nothing there to remember. Christ put
them away so they are not. And when I'm in heaven, God's
gonna look at me and say, he never sinned. He's perfect. It's what the Bible calls justification. If I'm justified, there's no
sins to remember. I have no skeletons in the closet. I stand perfect before God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what Christ was praying
for, his first words from the cross. Father, forgive them. That's why I'm doing this. This
is why you sent me. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. May God richly bless you. This
is Todd Knight, a friend that God will be pleased to make himself
known to you. That's our prayer. To request
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