Okay, now looking at Luke 23,
I'm entitling the message, The Lord's Last Sermon, or The Lord's
Last Words, and he speaks these well-known seven sayings from
the cross, as he's dying in our room and in our stead, putting
away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as he's nailed
to the tree in all of his agony and pain, he declares unto us
the gospel. I love that statement where he
says, Father, forgive them. And then he says to that dying
thief today, you'll enter into paradise with me. And then he says, Lord, it is
finished. It is finished. And then he says,
Father, into thy hand commend I my spirit. The Lord spoke seven
short, brief sayings from the cross, but they declare unto
us an ocean of truth a mountain of revealed grace, and each of
these statements declare unto us the office of the Lord Jesus
Christ as prophet, priest, and king, and they declare unto us
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the Lord Jesus
Christ, they declare unto us the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now the first one, and these
are not in any particular order, And I don't think that we should
make a big thing about that. But in Luke 23 verse 34, the Lord said, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. They
are ignorant, dumb, dead, defiled sinners. They don't know what
they're doing. They don't know what's going
on, but the Lord prays, Father, forgive them, those for whom
He prayed, those for whom He stands as mediator, those for
whom He stood as assured in Savior, those for whom He died. When
He says, Father, forgive them, they are forgiven. Now remember,
when I preached from this two weeks ago from this one statement,
and if there's not a copy of the message back there on the
table, you can find it on Sermon Audio, I made a big point about
that word, Father forgive them. Them. And referring to his elect. all that the Father hath given
unto Him." He's referring to those given to Him in that eternal
covenant of grace. They will come to Him. And He'll
never cast them out. Father, forgive them. And here
we see the Lord Jesus crying as the mediator. We need one
to stand before God for us. You need a mediator. Now, if
you were charged with a crime, and hauled into circuit court
or district court, you better have a mediator to represent
you before the judge on the bench. That being so, how much more
do we need a mediator to stand before God who is holy and we
stand before God in and of ourselves as what? Guilty! The law of God says, points the
finger at your heart and my heart. Guilty! And we have no way removing
this guilt. in and of ourselves. But because
the Lord Jesus Christ came as our mediator, as our intercessor,
as our representative, He does not plead our merit, He pleads
His blood, and He said before God His Father, Father forgive
them, I paid their debt. Set them free. Now that's the
gospel. Deliver them from going down
to the pit. God said, I have found a ransom
price. He has redeemed us with his blood. We have the forgiveness of sin
only because I've been a good little boy. We have the forgiveness
of sin because I've joined the church. That's not so. We only
have the forgiveness of sin through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the richness of His grace,
we're justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what do you need? As a guilty
sinner before God, what do you need? I need forgiveness. Where is that found? Only in
the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we see in that glorious statement,
we see the gospel, don't we? We need a mediator who has somewhat
to offer. And He didn't offer the blood
of bulls and goats. What did He offer? His own blood
for us. And He obtained eternal redemption
for us. Now, look down to verse 43. Luke
23, verse 43. And we brought the whole message
last week from this verse. And there is an article on the
back page of the bulletin. Don't read it now, but you can
read it later. I tried to write a short brief
article about this verse. When the dying thief, who was
granted repentance, granted faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he
cried out, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Now remember this man who was dying, this dying thief, he saw
that writing over his head, King of Salvation. He's king of the
Jews. And he cried out unto the Lord
Jesus Christ, you're a king in your kingdom and I need for you
to pardon my sin. Lord, remember me when you come
into that spiritual eternal kingdom. Would you remember me?" Wouldn't
that be a blessing? For the Lord to look on you and
me with mercy and love and compassion? And what do you think the Lord
would say to this man? You never read one time in Holy
Scripture where God ever turned a mercy beggar away. Not one time. You read and read
and read and read. We're not worthy of the least
of his mercy, but every mercy beggar who came to the Lord Jesus
Christ, like that publican in the temple, the Lord points out,
that publican in the temple cried out for mercy, and the Lord said
he went down to his house justified. Take that leper who came to the
Lord. Remember, full of leprosy? He
said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Remember what
the Lord said? I will, you be thou clean. Verily I say unto you today,
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now, where is paradise? Where
is paradise? Well, the key is with me. To
be with me is paradise. You remember the Lord said in
John 14, I'll go away to prepare a place for you. And when I go
away, I'll come again and receive you to myself. Where I am, there
you may be also. Paradise, my friend, is to be
with Him now. That's paradise. And forever. We are one with Christ. The Lord said, today you're going
to be with me forever in paradise. The Lord is king in salvation. This man recognized his lordship,
owned his kingship. You're a king. I want to be a
subject in your kingdom. Lord, would you remember me?
And the Lord said, yeah, today We're going to glory. And that's
exactly what happened. You see, eternal life is to be
with Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that believeth on the Son
has eternal life. So there's the first two. Now
let's look to the third one. Turn over here to John chapter
19. As we read earlier, John chapter
19. Verse 25, we see these women
gathered around the cross, weeping, wailing, no doubt. Verse 25, John 19. His mother's sister, Mary the
wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene, remember she
was a demon-possessed woman, and the Lord healed her. And
when Jesus saw his mother, and you get a hold of this picture
now, the Lord is in agony, his hands and feet have been nailed,
his brow has been beaten and crushed, and his blood is flowing
out of his body, and he stops and notices his mother. That's love and compassion, is
it not? And the disciple standing by,
that is John, whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman,
behold thy son." Now this is the woman that the Lord used. And by God the Holy Spirit, when
she was a virgin, she was found with child, God the Holy Spirit
formed the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Scriptures called
it a holy thing. In the fullest of time, God brought
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Woman, behold
thy son. Then saith He to the disciple,
that is to John, behold thy mother, And from that hour, from that
time, that disciple, John, took her unto his own home. Now you see what the Lord is
doing there? He's honoring the law of God, first of all. We're
to honor our father and our mother. He did that perfectly. He did
that perfectly, honoring God. Woman, behold thy son. And says to John, now she's your
mother too, you take care of her. Now here's what we see in
this. The Lord Jesus Christ provides
for his people as the shepherd, as the savior. He is called Jehovah
Jireh, the Lord will provide. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not
want for any good thing. I shall not want for forgiveness.
I shall not want for redemption. I shall not want for righteousness.
The Lord is my shepherd. We see the Lord Jesus Christ
providing for his mother. Now, most think that Joseph,
her husband, had passed away, and she was a widow woman, and
the Lord takes notice of her, and notice of John, and he said
to John, John, you take care of my mom. And that's exactly
what the Lord has done for us in salvation. He sees us in need. in our sin, in our guilt, and
because He loves us, having loved His own, He loved them with an
everlasting love, He takes care of us. He provides for us everything
we need. Remember the Apostle said, My
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory
through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Shepherd, He is our
Savior, He is our surety, He's the one we need to provide for
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. He is our shepherd,
the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. What
a savior we have. Even takes notice of his mother,
but it goes much deeper than that. It looks to all His covenant
children, and He loves them, and provides for them, and saves
them by His grace. Now, here's the fourth saying,
found here in John 19, verse 28. And after this, the Lord
Jesus Christ, knowing that all things were now accomplished. You see, His death is not a defeat,
it's an accomplishment. Knowing all things are now accomplished,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Now that's such a key statement.
Knowing that the Scripture might be fulfilled. You remember reading
over here in John 19 verse 36. These things were done that the
Scripture might be fulfilled. Remember we read in 1 Corinthians
15 how that he died. It's just not that he died. It's how that he died according
to the Scriptures. Where these things were done
that the Scriptures should be fulfilled. A bone of him shall
not be broken. And they shall look upon him
of whom they have pierced. All things were done that the
Scripture might be fulfilled. And then the Lord utters these
words. Verse 28, he saith, I thirst. Now, here we see the Lord Jesus
Christ was a real man. He never stopped being God. When
God was manifest in the flesh, He never stopped being God, but
He became what He was not, a real man, bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh. A real man. He wearied in body
as a real man. God manifest in the flesh. In
John chapter 4 we read that he sat down on Jacob's well being
wearied in body and he asked a woman for a cup of water. He was a real man. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The body he had was a body prepared
by God. A body thou hast prepared me,
but let us never think that he is just some kind of mystical
man. He was a real man. He wasn't
a phantom man. He was a real man. He hungered. He thirsted, he wearied, he bled,
and he died according to scripture. The Son of God and the Son of
Man, fully and totally God, fully and totally man in one person. Figure that out. It's a mystery. It's a mystery that must be revealed.
He is, call his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their
sin, for he is Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with
us. God with us. He thirsted as a
real man. Now here's the blessed, blessed
gospel nugget that we need to dig from this. As a real man,
the Lord Jesus Christ, as our substitute, honored the law of
God for us. In every jot and every tittle,
He honored the law of God. Being tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. He was a real man. He thirsted. He wearied. He hungered. He had
to eat. He sweat, as it was, great drops
of blood. He was a real man. And as the
God-man mediator, the law of God was honored by the perfect
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Adam's disobedience, we were
made sinners, right? by the obedience of another one
who's called the second man, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus
Christ. By his obedience, by his righteousness
and his obedience, we're made righteous before God. What a
mediator we have. And think about this, the God-man
mediator, they took his dead body down from a tree, they laid
him in the tomb. Now he went in spirit and soul
back to glory with that dying thief. But three days later,
he came back and occupied that body, and as a real man, a glorified
body, he walked out of that tomb, three days later, and then 40
days after that, the God-man mediator, this is a real man,
a glorified man, he ascended to glory, 40 days after his resurrection. And where is that God-man mediator
today? The man Christ Jesus, where is
he at today? He's seated on the throne of
God. Thank God we have a mediator,
the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who honored the law of God for
us. Now, I love this next one, verse
30. Verse 30. He said, when he received the vinegar, he said, It is done. It's finished. You see the gospel
message, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit back to
God who had given it. It is finished. Now he's saying
more than my life is over. There's much more than that.
He's saying that the work of redemption is finished. Remember
he said, I must be about my father's business. Remember that in Luke
chapter 2, when he was just 12 years old, and his parents, Mary
and Joseph, his foster father, they took him to the temple to
do according to the law. And they left, remember, went
back home, and he was still there. And they traveled, what, two
or three days, and they had to come back and look for him. And
you remember what he said to him, 12 years old, he said, I
must be about my father's business. And then in John chapter 4, he
said to those disciples, he said, don't you know that I must complete
and finish the work the Father has given me to do? And then
he prayed in John 17, Father, I have glorified Thee on the
earth. I have finished the work You gave me to do. And now he
cries from Calvary's tree, all the Scripture being fulfilled,
every type and every shadow, every picture being honored,
The Lord Jesus Christ said, salvation is done. It is over. And that's the gospel message.
The gospel message to us is not, you must do something. You must
do something. You must bring something. You
must be somebody. The gospel message is done. It's
done. the Lord Jesus Christ had I finished
the work you gave me to do." Now, let me give you a warning
here. There's a saying that goes around in the religious circle
that has for a number of years. People oftentimes say, I'm trusting
the finished work of Christ. Now, that's not a good statement.
I'll tell you why it's not a good statement. Faith trusts Him who
finished the work. You see what I'm saying? We look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. See, saving faith is looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Now, we rejoice
that He finished the work, but we look to Him who finished the
work, not just to finish the work of Christ. I'm trusting
Him who finished the work for us. Does that make sense? So
he said, it is finished. It is finished. Now, we've got
to go back to Matthew 27. And here's the fifth one, Matthew
27. Verse 46. Well, let's begin reading it.
Matthew 27 verse 45. From the sixth hour there was
darkness over all the land, Until the ninth hour, that is from
12 noon to 3 o'clock, the sun was darkened, we read. And about
the ninth hour, the Lord cried with a loud voice, as he said
with a loud voice, it is finished, and he said, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. Now that's unusual language.
That is to say, and I'm glad that the scriptures give us the
interpretation of what that says, because we would be in trouble. I don't understand that kind
of language. But God the Holy Spirit gives
us the interpretation. He cries, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Now, here's a puzzle, a conundrum,
a mystery. How can God forsake God? How can God forsake God? The
old reformer Martin Luther, as he was in his study, looking
at this scripture, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
He pushed back his chair and said to his wife or said to his
servant, no man can understand that. How can God forsake God? No man can enter into that. And
yet, that's exactly what happened. The God-Man Mediator and His
humanity was totally left to Himself. Forsaken of His disciples,
forsaken of God. Now why did God have to forsake
Him? You want to know the answer to
that? Turn to Psalm 22. Why did God forsake the Son of
God, the God-Man Mediator? Because God is holy. This comes
from Psalm 22. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as our substitute, was made sin for us. And when He was made
sin for us, God had to turn from His Son. He's too holy to look
upon sin with favor. Psalm 22, verse 1, My God, My
God. You got it? Why hast thou forsaken me? Why
art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not, and in the night season am not silent,
but thou art holy. That's the reason. O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel, our fathers trusted in thee,
they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto
thee and were delivered, they trusted in thee and were not
confounded, but I am a worm. Now this is the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I am a worm and no man, a reproach
of men and despised of the people. Thou art holy and I am a worm. Now how can this be? The Lord
Jesus Christ had the sin of God's people reckoned and laid put upon Him, we use the word
imputed to Him. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Because He was forsaken as being
made sin because he was forsaken by God. God said, I will never
leave you. I will never forsake you. The
Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the judgment of God for us, having
put away our sin. And now God said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. He bare
our sin in His own body on the tree, that we might forever enjoy
the righteousness of God through Him. That's substitution. That's
satisfaction. And that's what we see in that
statement, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Well,
He was made sin. And God, too holy to look upon
sin with favor, but when He put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself, therefore He obtained for us eternal redemption. And
God said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Now,
turn back over to John 19. John chapter 19. Let me correct myself. Turn back
to Luke 23. It's alright to have a mid-course correction, is it
not? Luke 23, turn over there. Here's the last statement the
Lord makes in verse 46. When Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up his spirit." Now, he said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. As a God-man mediator. Now you
can turn to this if you want, but if not, just Listen, I'll
read it to you. I'll try to read it correctly,
but in Hebrews chapter 6, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He dismissed
His Spirit from His body, and that's what happens at death,
there's a separation of our soul and spirit from our body, and
the body goes back to the dust, goes back to the ground, And
the Spirit goes to God who gave it, but the Lord Jesus Christ
is called our forerunner. Our forerunner. In Hebrews chapter
6 verse 19, we have a hope, an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, which enters into that within the veil where the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest
forever, after the order of Melchizedek. Now when he by himself purged
our sin, what happened? He sat down on the right hand
of the throne of God, and he sat down because his work was
finished. Finished. The apostle said to
me, Absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. He
says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. Now, here's what we can glean
from this. The Lord Jesus Christ, when they
took His body down from a tree, He died. for our sin according
to Scripture. He died a real death. He was
really dead and that's what sin demands. And they took his dead
body down from a tree. We'll read about it next week.
Joseph begged for his body and they took that body and they
placed it in the tomb where never man had laid, sealed it up. That's where his body was. He
wasn't there. You remember what he told that
dying thief? Today, he didn't say three days later we're going
to glory. He said, today, you're going to be with me in paradise. And that's what happens when
a believer dies. The Lord takes him to glory immediately. And we are with the Lord. But
the Lord Jesus Christ on that third day, his body brought back
to life a new body, a spiritual body, walked out of that tomb
in a resurrected body, and that means that we too will take this
flesh, this body, when God calls us home, our soul and spirit
will go back to God who gave it, and this body will take it
and put it in the ground. The Lord said, dust thou art
and dust thou shalt return. But when we go to the cemetery
and we put the body of our loved ones, those who are believers,
and we bury their body away, we do so in hope. In hope of
what? In hope of a resurrection. His
resurrection is a guarantee of our resurrection. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again because He justified it. And
we'll be justified totally and eternally and we'll have a new
body. No more death, no more sin, no
more pain. We'll have a new body like unto
His glorious body and we'll worship and enjoy Him forever and ever. For this corruption must put
on incorruptible, this mortal must put on immortality. Then
we brought this saying that is written, that death is swallowed
up in victory. Let me read you a couple of scriptures.
For our conversation is in heaven, for whence also we look for the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself." So when we go to the cemetery, and we take
our dear loved ones there, and we place their bodies in the
tomb. We don't walk away with no hope. We walk away with a good hope,
a resurrection hope. The Lord's coming back and He's
going to raise our dead body up. If you want to read this
with me, you can. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, and
I'll close by reading this. Verse 51. Here's another one
of those mysteries. 1 Corinthians 15, 51. Behold,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We're
all going to be changed. In a moment, and twinkle Him
an eye at the last trump, the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible. That is those in Christ. Incorruptible. And we shall be changed. In a
moment, and twinkle Him an eye. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. Can
you imagine having a body that never gets sick, never gets old,
never feels pain, that worships the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly,
without sin, without distraction? So when this corruptible shall
put on incorruption, this mortal shall put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death,
swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. Well,
the Lord took care of that, didn't He? The strength of sin is the
law. The Lord honored that, didn't
He? Now, thanks be to God who has given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, into Thy hand I commend
my spirit.