Would you turn back to Luke chapter
23? The first words from the cross. The Lord had reached the apex,
the extremity of his greatest pain. He was thrown on the ground, nailed to a cross, that cross
was lifted up in the air, and dropped in a stand, jarring his
body and tearing through his flesh where the nails had been
driven. The intensity of the physical
pain and the intensity of the spiritual pain in being made
sin cannot even be imagined. I feel a sense of guilt even
trying to talk about it as if I knew anything about what the
Lord was going through. Now, what were his first words
from the cross? You'll notice he doesn't say
anything about himself. His first words. Father. Forgive them. They know not what
they do. Now, this ignorance was not a
diminishing of their guilt. Father, forgive them. They just
didn't know any better. Therefore, they ought to be let off the
hook. No, it was an aggravation of their guilt. They're so ignorant, they're
so willfully ignorant of who you are, of who I am, of who
they are. They're so ignorant of sin, they're
so ignorant of the evil of sin, that if you don't forgive them
freely, they won't be forgiven. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. First words. from the cross. Now, at the beginning of the
Lord's public ministry, when he began to preach in his hometown,
Nazareth, he announced, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because
he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has
sent me to heal the broken hearted To preach deliverance, and that
word deliverance is the same word usually translated forgiveness.
To preach forgiveness to the captives. Now who's going to appreciate
the message of forgiveness? The captives. Anybody in here a captive? To
the captives. And now he prays, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.
Now, what is the greatest need that you and I have? Is that
hard to answer? Forgiveness. That's the greatest
need I have. That's the greatest need you
have, the forgiveness of your sins. And in this thing of sins
being forgiven, it's up to the Lord as to whether or not you'll
be forgiven. You don't have any control in
this. You can't bring it about. If
you come asking for forgiveness, even on human levels, if you
come to somebody and ask for forgiveness, you come to them
as it's all up to them. Not, you don't say, you need
to forgive me. If you're a Christian, you need
to forgive me. You need to practice forgiveness. You're not performing
your Christian duty if you don't forgive me. I ain't gonna forgive
you. Not if you come to me like that.
No, when you come for forgiveness, you come to that person knowing
it's in their hand. And we know that forgiveness
is in God's hand. And the greatest need, if that
need isn't fulfilled, I don't have anything. My greatest need
and your greatest need is the forgiveness of your sins. Now in this being, Christ's first
word from the cross, we're given his mission statement. He went
to the cross. for this purpose, to secure the
forgiveness of sins. That's why I went. God sent him
for this. This was God's will being done.
He wasn't a victim in any sense. He was only doing God's will. And this was for the glory of
God. This was going to accomplish
God's full glory. And the will of God and the glory
of God are inseparably connected with the forgiveness of sins. His first words Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do." Did you know that when
you forgive somebody, you do the most God-like thing you can
ever do? When you forgive somebody, And
if you refuse to forgive somebody, according to the Savior, you
won't be forgiven yourself. That's how important this is.
The forgiveness of sins. When the Lord said, Father, forgive
them, they know not what they do. This was not a request. Understand that and think about
that. This was not a request. He spake
as equal to the Father. He wasn't simply requesting that
the Lord was doing this, but He, as God the Son, the One who
said that you may know that the Son of Man hath power, hath authority
upon the earth to forgive sins. Like He said in John chapter
17, verse 24, Father, I will that they whom you have given me, be with
me where I am. This is the same thing. Father,
I will that you forgive their sins. You know, that scares me
to say that. But that is him speaking as equal with the Father. Father, you sent me for this
purpose, to put away their sins. Here I've come to the cross for
them to put away their sins. Father, do what you said you
were gonna do. Forgive their sins. Turn with me for a moment to
1 John 1. His purpose for coming as the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world was to save his
people from their sins and to make a way for God to be just
and justify the ungodly. Now look in 1 John 1, verse 9. If we confess our sins, now before
I go on, if we confess our sins, what does it mean to confess
your sins? Does it mean that you articulate each one of them? I confess I did this. I confess
I did that. If that's what it means, there's
not enough time in the day. Amen? Most of the sins you've committed,
you don't even know what they are. You're not aware of them. That's how ignorant we are. Remember
the way he said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they
do. You and I are ignorant, ignorant of sin and most of the sins we've
even committed. So what if you don't confess
those sins? What does it mean to confess your sins? It means
that you take sides with God against yourself. You agree with
what God says concerning you. if we confess our sins, if we
take sides with God against ourselves. Now there's no salvation apart
from the confession of sin. You're not saved because you
confess sin. You confess your sin because
God's done something for you. And when God does something for
you, you're going to be quick to take sides with God against
yourself. You're on the Lord's side. You're
not on man's side. You're on the Lord's side. And you agree with what
he says regarding you. If we confess our sins, look
what it says next. He is faithful and just to forgive
our sins. It doesn't say He's merciful
and gracious, although He is. It says He's faithful and He's
just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
He's faithful. You know what He's faithful to?
He's faithful to do it because He did it. He's faithful to do
it because He said He would. Everybody that Christ died for,
their sins are going to be forgiven. And when your sins are forgiven,
it's God acting in faithfulness to Himself. What He promised,
He will do. And He's just to forgive your
sins. The justice of God demands the
forgiveness of your sins because they've been paid for. They've
been put away. And when our Lord is saying,
Father, forgive them, He's not making a request, Oh, please
forgive them. He's speaking as equal with the
Father. Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. And notice the way he says, Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. And
he doesn't say, Father, forgive them if they ask for forgiveness. He doesn't say, Father, forgive
them if they're sorry. He doesn't say, Father, forgive
them because they promised to make restitution for all the
wrong they've done. He doesn't say, Father, forgive
them if they accept me as their personal Savior and repent of
all their sins. He says nothing like that. He
says, Father, And the Father forgives them.
And there's no mention of any kind of work that they need to
do in order to be forgiven. Simply the will of the Father. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. No works that need to be done. And let me tell you, if your
sins are forgiven, It'll be because he forgave him. Not because of anything you do. You believe that? Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. And you know, I love the indistinctness
of this. Father, forgive them. Father,
forgive them. Not, Father, forgive them that
literally drove the nails in Your hands and feet. Not, Father,
forgive those Pharisees and scribes who called the crowd out and
said, crucify Him. Their words were the loudest
and caused it to happen. Not, Father, forgive Herod and
Pilate or even forgive Judas because he was so sorry. I love
the indistinctness of this. Father, forgive them. That's
kind of like whosoever. Whosoever. Now understand this. The them,
Christ was praying for distinct people. He wasn't praying for
everybody. It would be dishonest to say
he was, because he said in John chapter 17, verse nine, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which you have given me. Now understand this. Everybody
he prayed for was forgiven. Everybody he prayed for was forgiven. But I'm so thankful for this
indistinct description, them. Kind of like, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm a whosoever. I can get myself into that group,
them. Father, forgive them. Who are
the them? Well, whatever, I know this. They were so wicked they
crucified the Son of God. I fit that description. I fit
that description. Christ died for sinners. I fit
that description. So who is he praying for? I love
the indistinctness of it. Father, forgive them. And you can be dead sure of this.
Everybody he prayed for is forgiven. If he prayed for somebody to
be forgiven and they were not forgiven, that would mean his
prayer was meaningless. Just like if Jesus Christ died
for somebody and paid for their sins, and that person winded
up in hell anyway, that would mean his death was meaningless.
It didn't do anything. It didn't accomplish anything.
No, we don't believe anything so blasphemous. All he prayed
for were forgiven. Father, forgive them. And you
know what? Why is that? Because of who's
praying it. This is the Son of God praying.
He can't pray to His Father and the Father say no to Him regarding
anything. If He prays for you, if you're
one of the people He prayed for, Father, forgive Him. And you
know the names of everybody that He prayed for was in His heart.
He was praying for individuals. This was not a generic prayer.
Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Everybody
he prayed for was forgiven. You see, as the son of God, he
gets whatever he asks for. Mary said, I know that even now
whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give thee. And whatever
he asked for, he gets. So I know everybody he prayed
for was forgiven. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter nine. Verse 22, and almost all things, Hebrews
9, 22, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood. Now that's talking about the
vessels of the tabernacle. They're always purged with blood. Even when God gave the law, the
people said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. What
did Moses do at that point? He started sprinkling blood on
them. You know why? He knew they were liars. He knew
they wouldn't do anything the Lord told them. And so the only
hope these people had is the shedding of blood. The altar,
the candles, everything just had blood all over it. to speak
of that coming sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
and His shed blood. We know that almost all things
are by the law purged with blood. And look what he says next, without
shedding of blood is no remission. Now that word remission is the
same word translated forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness, but with the shedding of blood. And
I'm not talking about my blood or your blood. What good would
it do you if your blood was shed? It wouldn't do you any good at
all, or me any good at all, because we're sinners. Our shed blood
can't accomplish anything, but this is talking about the blood
of the Son of God. Because He shed His blood, because
He died on Calvary's tree, there is the complete forgiveness of
sins. Now, if you're a believer, all
the sins that you've committed have been forgiven for Christ's
sake. The sins you have not yet committed
have been forgiven for Christ's sake. By the shedding of His
blood, there is the forgiveness of sins. Paul said, who is he
that condemneth? It's Christ that died. What else needs to be said? It's
Christ that died, yea rather that's risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God. Now there's the answer to the
forgiveness of sins. It's Christ that died. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 2.13, having
forgiven you all trespasses. Ephesians 4.32, be ye kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. There is one singular reason
for the forgiveness of sins. What is it? It's for Christ's
sake. God said, when I see the blood,
not when I see your faith, not when I see your repentance, not
when I see your sincerity, not when I see your intentions to
do better, not when I see your sorrow, when I see the blood,
what's the one thing God was looking for? One thing, the blood. He said, I will pass over you. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. You're
there in Hebrews 9. Look in Hebrews chapter 10. Beginning in verse 9. Now remember
these are Christ's first words from the cross. And in this we
find out why he went to the cross. He went to the cross according
to God's will for God's glory to secure the forgiveness of
sins. And we're gonna end up in a few
minutes on how I can know if I'm one of the people whom he
secured forgiveness of sins for, so be patient. I know somebody
in here is wondering that. Did he put away my sin? Well,
you can find out, but let's start reading in verse nine. Then said he, Hebrews 10, verse
nine, then said he, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is a quotation
from Psalm 40, lo, I come to do thy will. Oh God. He taketh away the first, and
that's talking about the covenant of works. He taketh away the
first that he may establish the second, the covenant of grace.
Verse 10, by the witch will, by God's will, we are sanctified. And that is in the perfect tense. perfectly completed, never to
be repeated. You're so sanctified if Christ
died for you, if God willed your salvation, that you can't get
any more sanctified than you are. You can't get any more holy
than you are. You know, holiness to no degree. Some are holy, some more holy,
some less holy. No, you can't find that in the
scriptures. We are sanctified by the witch will, by God's will,
by God's will is so supreme that we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is a one-time act. Verse
11. Now it goes back to the Old Testament
priests. And every priest standeth. He doesn't sit down. You know,
article of furniture that was not in the tabernacle was a chair.
There were no chairs. You know why? His work was never
done. His work was never done. He couldn't
sit down. There wasn't any chairs there. Once he started working,
he'd have to start working again. Every priest standeth daily ministering
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices. They'd kill a lamb
one day, the next day they'd kill another lamb, the next day
they'd kill another lamb. Thousands and thousands and thousands of
lambs, goats killed. Did any of them ever put away
any sin? No, not a one. They were given simply to picture
the coming of the one who would put away sin. Every priest standeth
daily offering, ministering, and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins, but this man." Now,
I think it's very interesting. You see that word man in the
original, it is this. You can say man, or you can say
priest, or you can say king. or you can say Savior, anything
that the Lord Jesus is, you can put in there. It's almost like
there wasn't a word to describe Him. This priest, this king,
this God-man, this glorious one, this divine being, the God-man,
this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down. Why'd he sit down? Because his
work was finished and there was nothing left to do. Forgiveness
was accomplished. He sat down on the right hand
of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool for by one offering by his death on Calvary's tree
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Set apart by God. What did he
do? He perfected them. Someone says, I'm not perfect.
I am. I am. Perfect in Christ Jesus. And
that's the way every believer is. Perfect in Christ Jesus. Can't get any better than that,
can it? By one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Verse 15, whereof the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us. This is what God the Holy Spirit
bears witness to. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I'll make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their
minds while I write them. Now somebody says, God writes
his law, the Ten Commandments in everybody's heart. No, you
were born with the Ten Commandments written in your heart. As a lost
man, as a fallen son of Adam, you were born knowing it's wrong
to lie. You know it's wrong to kill. You know it's wrong to put anything
before God. You know all sexual sin is wrong. I remember one time somebody
got caught up in some kind of sexual sin, and they said, well,
the preacher didn't preach against it enough, and I didn't know.
Oh, no. You did, too. You did, too. Nobody say anything like that.
We're born with the law written in our heart. He's talking about
the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. He puts their
law, the law of faith. You know, I can't not believe. I've got the law of righteousness.
I can't be satisfied with anything short of perfect righteousness.
That's the only thing that will satisfy my conscience. I've got
the law of sin. Paul spoke of it in Romans 7.
I can't see myself as anything but a sinner. I've got the law
of love. I can't help but love the Lord
the way He is. I love Him as He is. I wouldn't change Him
if I could. The law of liberty. You can't
put me, if you put one work to me that I got to do to be saved,
I'm back in bondage. I can't handle it. I've got to
have the law of liberty. This is God writing his laws
in the hearts and minds of his people. Look what it says in verse 17.
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Do you know that if Christ died
for you, God doesn't remember any of the sins that you've ever
committed? How can that be? Because there's
nothing there to remember. It's what the Bible calls justification. You remember that Republican
in the temple, standing afar off, beating on his breast, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. What did Christ say about that
man? He went down to his house justified. Now, you know what
justification means? Sinlessness. If you're justified, you have
no sin. When God says, I won't remember
your sins, it's not because he just kind of pushed him in the
back. There's no sense there to remember. Now, you and I can't
enter into that. I'd love to be able to just not
remember sins of anybody else, wouldn't you? You know, if you've
been done wrong, wouldn't you like to just forget it and not
ever even think about it and bring it up? But I'm not so sure
that that's possible. You know, even Joseph, after
all those years, when he saw his brothers, he said, I'm Joseph,
whom you sold in Egypt. He remembered, he knew exactly,
and he forgave him. He forgave him for Christ's sake,
but he didn't forget. But God does. And the reason
is not because his memory is faulty, or he can just choose
to not remember something. You know, I can do that sometimes.
I can just choose, that didn't really happen, although it did,
but I can forget it. I can talk myself into anything, vindicate
myself, justify myself, I'm good at it. We're all good at that.
But this is not what we're talking about. We're talking about God
not remembering sin because there's nothing there to remember. Now
look what the writer of the Hebrews says in verse 18. Now where remission
or forgiveness, the same word of these is, there's no more
offering for sin. Don't try to bring anything to
make up for your sin. It's already been made. That's
what men try to do. They try to bring an offering
for their sin. Don't do that. That's an insult to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. Father, forgive them. I love the authority with which
he speaks to the Father. Equal with the Father, the Son
of God. Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. Now, if you'll remember, in this
passage of scripture, there were two malefactors, two thieves,
two wicked men, and they were both reviling and cursing Christ. If you're the Christ, save us
and save yourself. Come down. If you're the Christ,
if you're the Christ, I ain't making fun of it. All of a sudden,
one says, Lord, remember me. when you come in
your kingdom. I know you're not going to stay
on this cross. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning king. Would you remember me when you
come into your kingdom? Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Prayer
answered. Prayer answered. The Father forgave
that man. And you remember the Roman centurion.
He was the one presiding over the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
giving commands. This was a wicked, hardened man. All of a sudden at the end, the
scripture says, he feared greatly, seeing the things that were done,
saying, surely this man is the Son of God. Isn't that faith? You know why I said that? Father,
forgive them. And the father forgave him. Then shortly afterwards, on the
day of Pentecost, Peter stands up and preaches. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God, as you yourselves know. by miracles and wonders and signs
which God gave by Him. Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain." And he kept on preaching,
and there at the end of the message, he says, God hath made this same
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And the Scripture
says the people were pricked in their hearts. Men and brethren,
what should we do? We're in trouble. What happened
to these men? Christ said, Father, forgive
them. And the Father forgave them. I think of Esther's resurrection
when he was talking about his day. He said, you go tell my
disciples and Peter, and Peter. I have no doubt that Peter did
not believe himself to be a disciple anymore. He thought of the words
of Christ, who so denies me before men, him will I deny before my
Father which is in heaven. I've denied him before men, I'm
not a disciple. That's what he thought. You code
dealt my disciples and Peter, make sure you tell Peter. Why? Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. There's example after example
after this. I think of Acts chapter eight, that Ethiopian eunuch
when Philip preached the gospel to him. He came to Jerusalem
to worship and was going back as empty as he came, not understanding
the gospel. He was sitting there reading
Isaiah 53. What a place to read. Philip comes up to him, do you
understand what you're reading? How can I? He said, some man
should guide me. And he was reading in that place where the Lord
was silent and Philip opened his mouth and preached unto him
Jesus, he heard the gospel. They came up to water. He said,
what hinders me from being baptized? And I'm sure the reason he asked
that is because he didn't know if he should be baptized. I mean,
after all, look how sinful I am. Look how stupid I am. I haven't,
I don't know enough. I haven't learned enough and
all the things that people, I haven't experienced enough. I still struggle
with sin so much. How can I be baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. And he said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. That's what faith is. Faith is
not believing you're saved. It's believing that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. Because if you believe he's the
Son of God, you believe he must be successful in all he does. You see that, you believe it.
That's what faith is. If you believe he's the Son of
God, you have faith. And I'm not talking about the god of
religion, I'm talking about the sovereign son of God, the one
who created the universe, the one who controls everybody and
everything, the one who cannot possibly be a failure, the son
of God. You believe he's the son of God?
That is faith. Whoso believeth that Jesus Christ
is born of God. I think of Paul. On the road to Damascus to kill
some Christians. He hated Jesus Christ, and he
thought he was serving God and hating Jesus Christ. And the
Lord knocked him off his horse. And sin and I anonized to him,
and anonized said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee,
that thou shouldst know his will, and see that just one, and hear
the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness
to all men of what you've seen and heard. Why did that happen?
Because Christ said, Father, forgive them. They know not what
they do. You see, everybody that Christ,
that the Father forgives, are people that Christ prayed for. He prayed for me. I pray for them, he said. I pray
not for the world, but for them which you have given me, for
they are thine. Now, I can give the testimony
of every believer in this room. You know, we all have the same
testimony. Every one of us do. We have the same testimony. There was a day when God saved
the very chief of sinners. And I'm not talking about the
man who was the chief of sinners. Paul said he saved sinners of
whom I'm chief. This is every believer's testimony. I'm the
very chief of sinners, and I am an example I am an example of
how much of salvation is by grace. Are you? I am an example of how
Christ really is all in salvation. It has nothing to do with anything
in me. It's all Him. That's the testimony of every
single believer. Now somebody's asking the question,
could I be in the them? I pray for them. Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. Could
I be in that group? Turn to Acts chapter 13. We're
going to close with this. Verse 38. Well, let's begin in verse 33,
because it will make verse 38 more meaningful. God hath fulfilled the same unto
us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus again, as it's
also written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. Now, when Christ was raised from the dead, not to see corruption,
the reason he didn't see corruption is because he completely satisfied
God. He didn't go through the process
of decay because he rendered complete satisfaction and secured
the forgiveness of everybody he died for. What glory! 36, for David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on asleep and was
laid unto his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised
again saw no corruption, saw no decay. Be it known unto you,
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him All that what? Believe are justified
from all things which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses. Now, how can I know if I'm in
this group called them? I want to know, don't you? I
mean, I don't want to leave this place thinking I might not be
one of them. I want to know that I am. How
can I know if I'm in this group that Christ prayed for? Father, forgive them. Do I believe? Not how holy am
I, not how much have I grown or how much have I not grown. Not what sins do I still commit
that makes me think maybe I'm not saved because of these sins
that I still commit, that I still struggle with. Do I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Not do I believe I'm saved, not
do I believe that Christ died for me, not do I believe that
I'm born again. Do I believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal,
uncreated, sovereign, all-powerful Son of God, the second person
of the Blessed Trinity, fully God and fully man, who is incapable
of failure. The express image of the Father. Do I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Yes, I do. Beloved, that is saving faith. And you can be sure that when
he prayed, Father, forgive them, He meant you. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that Christ
came to the cross in order for our sins to be forgiven. Lord, how thankful we are that
you're glorified in the forgiveness of sins. How we thank you that it was
your will to glorify yourself in forgiving sins. And Lord,
I ask in Christ's name that you would cause by invincible grace,
irresistible grace, grace that won't say no, take no for an
answer, grace, life-giving grace. I ask in Christ's name that you
will cause each person here to believe. Oh Lord, hear this prayer for
the Lord's sake. In his name we pray.