I want to begin this message
in Romans chapter 15. If there's any counsel or advice
that I could give and hope that it would be received, and acted
upon, and remembered long after I'm gone, it would be that preachers,
God's preacher, and elders, and mothers and fathers, and believers, would make more of the Word of
God. the Word of God. I know all of
you readers, I know you read. But Solomon said of the making of
books, there is no end, and much study is awareness of the flesh.
That's what he said, that's so. But oh, that we would spend more
time in the Scriptures. That's the reason here every
service begins with the reading of the Word. In the middle of
the service, the reading of the Word. In the preaching part of
the service, the reading of the Word. Because it's so essential. You do err, Christ said, not
knowing the Scriptures. You do err not knowing the Scriptures
and the power of God. And the only place where the
power of God in redemption in all things is truly revealed,
that's in the scriptures. The man who knows most about
the scriptures knows most about the power of God. And right here
in Romans 15, verse 1 through 4, listen, ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak, not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good, to edification, understanding, knowledge, growth. For even Christ pleased not himself,
but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell
on me. For whatsoever things were written
aforetime, what is that? It's what we're reading, things
that were written aforetime. We read what David wrote a little
while ago, aforetime. We're reading now what's written
aforetime. The first entry in this book
was 33,500 years ago by Moses. The last entry was John on the
Isle of Patmos 2,000 years ago. This was written aforetime. But
it's written for four reasons. Number one, for our learning. This is written for our learning.
The scripture says in John 6, no man can come to me except
my father draw him. Except my father draw him. It
is written. They shall all be taught of God. And whosoever learns, is taught
of God, and learns of the Father, comes to me." Well, how does
God teach? Through the scriptures. Everyone that's taught of God
and learns of God comes to me. But they're taught through the
scriptures. Every man, therefore, that hath learned and heard and
learned... Let me read you a scripture over
here, just stay where you are, I'm coming back to that. But
Paul said in Ephesians, in whom you trusted after you heard. You trusted Christ after you
heard the word. Faith comes by hearing, you're
hearing by the word of God. Whoso shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call on him in
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a man preaching the word? So that's the first purpose for
the things that are written, a foretelling that you might
learn. Not just be inspired, but instructed. Secondly, they're
written for our learning that we, through patience, another
thing we learn is patience from the Word. We know all things
are of God, that all things work together for the glory of God
and for our good. And the more we read the Word
and understand that, the more we're willing to wait on God
to fulfill his purpose in us and through us and for us. The
person who's most acquainted with the Word of God learns of
God. And along with learning of God,
he learns patience. Wait on the Lord. David said,
if I had not believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living, I would have quit. I would have fainted. So I say, wait on the Lord. How
are you going to learn that? Right here. Wait on God. And the third thing we learn
is comfort. The comfort of the scriptures.
What is comfort? It's peace. peace and comfort
in a troubled world. This is a troubled world. This
is a troubled world. This is a world of great rebellion,
great sin. Paganism reigns today all over
the world. And in this world, believers
are going to have tribulation. This world itself is a tribulation. Like Lot, as he lived down there
in Sodom, his spirit was grieved over the behavior of the people.
Grieved over the behavior. In this world you'll have tribulation,
but Christ said be of good cheer. How in the world are you going
to be of good cheer? The Word. That's how you're strengthened.
That's how your joy comes and your happiness and your contentment.
Scriptures. Comfort. The comfort of the Scriptures.
Comfort one another with these words. You're not going to find
it in anywhere else. You're not going to find it watching
the news. That's the most uncomfortable occupation that you can be involved
in right now, watching what's going on in this world. And you
won't be watching these soap operas and these shows on television. If anything will tear your peace
up, that'll do it. I don't know any other place
to find any peace except the Word of God. You know, you can read a book
and all the way through be upset until you get to the end. Read
the last chapter and everything turns out all right. Well, I've
read the last chapter of this book here and it's going to turn
out all right, especially for you. It's going to turn out all
right. But that's the only source of
learning. It's a source of patience. It's
a source of peace. Save yourself from this perverted
generation. That's what Peter said to the
people of Pentecost. Save yourself, deliver yourself,
get out as best you can of that lane over there where they're
traveling to hell as fast as they can. Hating God, despising
God, rebelling against God. I think of our young people. I
read the other day where the spring break is coming. And most
of them are going different places for what purpose? To get drunk.
Now think about this, to get drunk, binge drinking in college.
It's the most popular thing now in colleges is drinking. Not
just drinking, drinking to excess. Drinking like fools. Just see how drunk they can get,
how much hell they can raise. Now you better get out of this
generation. You better get out of that crowd. They can't do
anything but hurt you. Quit associating with them. Quit
running with them. Quit socializing with them. Stay
away from them. Save yourself from this perverted
generation. That's right. The only peace
and happiness that can be found is among the people of God. The Word of God. It's for your
learning, for your patience, for your comfort, that you might
have hope. Through learning the scriptures
and patience of God, waiting on God and the comfort and peace
of God, you can have hope. That's what these things are
written for. And what I'm going to do today, this morning and
tonight, is talk about what the scripture says about what our
Lord spoke from the cross. These words are for our learning,
it's for our patience, for our comfort and for our peace. And
there's seven sayings, I want to go through them first. And
you know, I'm not certain of the exact order. I know pretty
well which was first, I know which was last. And I know pretty
well where each of these seven sayings, in what time frame they
occurred. But not without doubt. But there's seven of them recorded.
And no one writer, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, recorded all seven
of them. Three recorded in Luke, and three
recorded in John, and one in Matthew. But let's read them,
and then I'm going to comment on them. In Luke 23, you can
mark these. If you take a note, you can mark
the seven sayings. Three of them this morning, four
tonight. Luke 1. Suppose I just read the three
this morning that I'm going to deal with. Luke 23, verse 33. And when they would come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and
the male factors, one on the right hand, the other on the
left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. And they parted his garments
and cast lots. All right, look down at Luke
23, verse 39. Here's what I say is the second
one. And one of the male factors which
were hanged railed on him, saying, If you be the Christ, save yourself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Don't you fear God, seeing that you are in the same
condemnation? And we will indeed justify, for we receive the due
reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing
of this. And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Now, here's the second one. And
Jesus said to him, Verily I say unto you, Today shalt thou be
with me in paradise. John 19 is the third one. John
19, verses 25 through 27. John 19, 25. Now, they stood by the
cross of Jesus, his mother. John 19, 25. His mother's sister, Mary. See,
now his mother's name was Mary. It says her mother's sister's
name was Mary. This is her sister-in-law. Wouldn't be two Marys in the
same household. But this is Joseph's sister, her sister-in-law. Mary,
the wife of Cleophas. And Mary Magdalene. When Jesus
therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom
he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then said
he to John, Behold thy mother. From that tower the disciple
took her into his own home. All right, let's look at those
three, and tonight the Lord willing, I'll give you the others. But
here's my outline. As we look at each one of these
seven sayings, this morning three, There are three things prominently
set forth in these sayings. One is our Lord's person and
work, office. In each one of these sayings,
there is a distinguishing office of Christ, his office work. Secondly,
there's a chief doctrine established, the doctrine of our faith. And
thirdly, there's an example for us to follow. So there's an office,
each one of these words, There's a doctrine, and there's an example. Here's the first one, Luke 23,
verse 33. Let's look at it. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and
the male factors, one on the right hand, the other on the
left. Then Jesus said to the father, as a mediator, he's praying
for someone. Our Lord's interceding for someone.
Our Lord is standing between someone and God. And all the
distance from God to those someones, between God and those someones.
The scripture says, God who only hath immortality, who dwells
in a light which no man can approach, someones, none of them. None
of them can gain an audience with this God. They can't approach
the light in which you dwell. Impossible. Whom no man has seen
or can see, Paul said. You talk about the distance,
talk about infinity between the holiness of God and the rottenness
of men, the light of God and the darkness, the life of God
and the death. the righteousness and the pollution,
it's so far, whom no man has seen nor can see, dwelling in
holiness, honor, and power everlasting. Samuel wrote this, if a man does
wrong to another man, the judge will judge him. I read in the paper yesterday
about a young man who was drinking and killed two of his friends
in a car wreck. And he stood before Judge David
Hagerman, and David, he's done a good job, he's saying some
good things. He said, nobody can right the wrong you've done,
and you've got to live with it. And drugs are not going to wipe
it out of your mind, but you've got to pay for it. Sentenced
him two years, but he said he'll be out in four and a half months. He's done wrong, and the judge
judges. That was the victim's families. If a man does wrong, the judge
will judge him and deal with it and try to right it a little
bit. But then Samuel said, if a man sinned against God, who's
going to entreat for him? Who's going to do anything about
that? Well, here he is. Listen. They don't know what they're
doing. That's the mediator. That's the first thing I see
in this statement is his office. He's our mediator. If any man's
seen it, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. There must be a mediator. There's
got to be, in things pertaining to God. We can't approach God. We can't gain an audience with
God. God can't look upon us. Christ can take hold of God being
God, and take hold of man being a man, the God-man. And he can
intercede, he can plead for us. Turn to
Hebrews 5. See, there's got to be a mediator. Now listen to this, Hebrews 5.
This is so clear here, Hebrews 5. Hebrews 5, this is talking
about the mediator, this is talking about the priest. between us
and God. Verse 4, it says, Every high
priest taken from among men is ordained, appointed for men in
things pertaining to God, spiritual things, that he may offer both
gifts and sacrifices for sin. It's got to be a mediator who
can have compassion on the ignorant, on them that are out of the way,
for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason
hereof he ought as for the people for himself also to offer for
sin. And here's the second thing,
no man takes this honor on himself. But he is called of God. So there's
got to be a mediator. And secondly, he's got to be
chosen of God. It can't be Mary, she can't mediate for us. She
can't be an advocate. She can't be an intercessor.
Because she wasn't appointed of God for that office. It can't
be St. Jude or St. Christopher or some
favorite saint of yours. It can't be. It can't be your
mom or your preacher. He's got to be chosen of God,
appointed of God. Now look at the next. Well, who
is? Verse 5. So also Christ. He didn't glorify
himself to be made the high priest. Well, who did? He that said unto
him, you're my son. This day I've forgotten you.
It's got to be a mediator between man and God. It can't be one
we've selected, it's got to be one God chose. And Christ is
God's chosen. And then the third thing, he's
got to be heard. He's got to be heard. All right,
look at verse 6. Yeah, 6 identifies him. He saith
also in another place, I am the priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. Just listen to this, who in the
days of his flesh, our Lord walked this earth in the flesh, when
he had offered up prayers, prayers for whom? Not for himself, for
us. And supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that's able to save him from death. He was hurt. Oh boy, that's the
key right there, he was hurt. Now you can confess your sins
to Mary if you want to, but she's not going to be hurt, not on
your behalf. And you can go down here and say all this mumbo-jumbo
with the fella in the black robe behind the curtain. That'd be
all right. But he's not going to be hurt. He's not going to
be hurt any more than you are. Because I have no respect for
a man's clothing. He's not going to be hurt. And
you can take a dead priest or saint and put him on your dashboard.
But he's not going to be hurt either. This one's hurt. Jesus cried,
Father, forgive them! Well, for whomever he prayed
that, better they forgive him. You write that down. He's hurt
in that he feared. He's hurt for his piety. Though
he were a son, he learned obedience for the things he suffered. He's
our righteousness. He's our high priest. He's our
mediator. It's got to be a mediator. Look
at Hebrews 7, verse 25, about our mediator. It says here in
7.25, Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost them that
come to God by him, through him. Chapter 2. You've got to see
this and underline it in your Bible, if you haven't already. First Timothy 2.5. Well, there's
one God. One God. There's one mediator
between God and man. Who is it? It's the man Christ
Jesus. It's the man dying here on the cross, who prayed, Father
forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. the man Christ
Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due
time. All right, what's the chief doctrine
of our faith that I see here? I see Christ the Mediator praying
for his people like he did in John 17. The second thing I see
is the chief doctrine is the forgiveness of sins. He heard,
they're forgiven. It says that in Hebrews 10. We
can believe that our sins are put away. Look at Hebrews 10.
Read verse 12 through 17. Listen to this. But this man,
this man Jesus, is one mediator between God and men, and that's
the man, Christ Jesus. Now, let me tell you something.
When you're quoting that verse, quote it right. He doesn't say
there's one mediator between God and man, mankind. There isn't. is one Mediator
between God and men. That's right, those who believe.
People who don't believe have no Mediator. That's right, people
who do not believe Christ have no Mediator. He's a Mediator
between God and men, not mankind, between God and men, and he's
the man, Christ Jesus. And it says here that this man,
verse 12, Hebrews 10, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God. If you'll
study the Old Testament priesthood, the tabernacle and the temple,
they never sat down. Of all the furniture in the temple
and in the tabernacle, there was no chairs for the priest. Priests never sat down because
their work was never finished. They had to offer the same sacrifices
over and over and over and over and over and over again. There's
no chairs. Always stood in the holy of holies and in the holy
place, always stood. Christ made one sacrifice and
sat down. His work was done. It's finished.
It's finished. From henceforth expect him that
his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering, one sacrifice
he has perfected. What's perfected? Complete. Finished. Righteous. Holy. Forever. Them that are
sanctified. Therefore the Holy Ghost is a
witness to us after he said before, this is the covenant I'll make
with them after those days, I'll put my law in their hearts, in
their minds when I write them, and their sins and their iniquities
I'll remember no more. Sins forgive us. He said into
the depths of the sea I've cast your sins behind my back. I'll
remember them no more. I separate them from you as far
as the east is from the west. Remember them no more. Our Mediator
was heard by one offering, one sacrifice. He perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Our sins are pardoned. Now, what's
our example? Matthew 6. Matthew chapter 6. Here's the
example that he's setting for us out there, and here's the
duty for those who have learned of God. Verse 12, we pray, Matthew 6, 12, forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors, lead us not into temptation,
deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and
the glory forever, amen. If you forgive men their trespasses,
your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. If you forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses. If I lowered, spat upon, crowned
with a crown of thorns, scourged with a whip, nailed to a cross,
and looked to the Father and prayed for forgiveness for those
who did it, I believe that's a good example, don't you? For
us to forgive those who do us wrong. If you can't forgive,
he said, you're not forgiven. He said in Ephesians, forgive
one another as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you. All right,
here's the second statement now we look at in Luke 23, 39. Now
listen to this. And one of the male factors,
there were crucified with him two thieves, and one of them
which hanged rail on him saying, if you be the Christ, save yourself
and us. Now, prior to this, according
to one of the other writers, both of them did this. Both of
them. But here's one that says, something's
happened. What a marvelous example of someone
being taught of God. Both these men were railing on
this man, Jesus. But the significant thing here
is they called, they said, if you be the Christ, where do I
hear this? Here are two thieves dying, and
they both are talking about Him being the Christ, the Messiah,
the Redeemer. Israel is emancipated. That's
what the subject is here now. If you be the Christ, save yourself.
And one of them stopped railing. Something happened. Talk of God. He says in verse 40, but the
other one answered and said, Don't you fear God, seeing you're
in the same condemnation? I looked at that. I thought,
Well, he's saying that you're dying a death, that this man's
dying on whichever side he was on. And you're in the same condemnation,
but he says, don't you fear God? Seeing you're in the same condemnation
with God? This man, the Christ, he believes
he's the Christ. He's going to say that in a minute.
God opened his eyes. God miraculously has changed
this man's thoughts of Christ from railing to worshiping. from harassing him to blessing
him. You're in the same condemnation.
And listen, and here, and he says, we're indeed justly. We're
getting what we deserve. Did you ever hear a thief say
that? I've gone to prisons, preached
a lot of times. I can't find a guilty man in any prison. Not
ever one of them with their own false charges or somebody else's
fault. But here the man says, I'm getting
what I deserve. just exactly what I deserve.
And you know what Job said about a man who can say that? It will
be worth your while to turn to Job 33. Job 33, turn over there
and let me show you what Job said about a man who knows he's
a sinner and knows he deserves to die and knows he hasn't got
a leg to stand on or a plea to offer. That's right. He talks about two things here.
Verse 23, he talks about the mediator. If there be a messenger
If there be an interpreter, if there be a mediator, one among
a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious
unto him, and said, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I
found a ransom. That's our mediator, that's the
one we just read about. Now listen down here at verse
27. He looks upon me, and if any
say, I have sinned, I have perverted that which was right, it hasn't
profited me. I'm getting what I deserve, he'll
deliver his soul from going down into the pit, and his life's
going to see the light. That's the first. Nobody can
be saved if he's lost. Christ came to save sinners.
If a man can say from his heart, I've seen it, I've perverted
that which is right, I've done it, nobody's fault but mine.
stand on my own two legs before God. This is the truth. It hasn't
profited me anything. But he'll deliver his soul. But
he's got to be brought to that place, and that's where this
man is here. He says, Lord, he says to that other thief, he
says, don't you fear God, seeing we're in the same condemnation,
and we're getting a due reward of our deeds. But the next thing
he said, do you know who this is? This man's done nothing wrong. He's done nothing amiss. This is a perfect man. This is
the Christ. This is a holy, perfect man. Never done anything wrong. And
then he says, Lord, sovereign Lord, King of kings, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And that's how our Lord's going
to answer. And here is the office. He's
king. He's a sovereign Lord and King.
He'll quicken whom he will. He'll save whom he will. This
man says, Lord, you're not going to stay dead. You're coming into
a kingdom. So will you, when you come into
that kingdom, will you think on me and remember me? Now, here's
the sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords. He says, Verily
I say unto thee, today you'll be with me in paradise. That's what scripture says, that's
what our Lord says. He saved that man. Eleventh hour. Don't you fear God? I do. Seeing in the same condemnation,
we indeed justify getting what we deserve. Lord, you're king,
you're sovereign, you're almighty. You're coming into a kingdom.
Kingdom of God's dear son. But you remember me, think on
me, consider me. Our Lord said, today you'll be
with me in paradise. I love that. I just love that. That's the way everybody says
it, God said. I just love that. I'll go to Jesus, the hymn writer
said, I'll go to Jesus, though my sin hath like a mountain rose. I know his courts, sovereign
courts, I'll enter in whatever may oppose. Because prostrate,
I'll lie before his throne. It's the King that saves. It's
the Lord that saves. It's one who has power over death,
hell, and the grave. He's got the keys. Prostrate,
I'll lie before his throne, and there my guilt confess. I'll
tell him, I'm a wretch undone without your sovereign grace.
And I'll to the gracious King approach. whose scepter pardon
gives." Boy, Esther came, didn't she?
Do you know whether she's going to live or die? Until he said,
that was it, wasn't it? He held her, you pushed on that,
didn't you? He held her alive, right there
in that scepter. All right. Out to the gracious King approached,
whose scepter pardon gives. Maybe he'll hear my plea. If he does, this old sinner lives. He's king now. You can run around
talking about what you're going to do for God, but God's going
to have to do something for you. This sovereign king. There's
lots of people out there, another thief, this thief, one of them.
God have mercy. One of them got enlightened.
One of them got illuminated. One of them cried for mercy.
One of them went to glory. But here's the thing, I can but
perish if I go. I'm resolved to try. If I stay where I am, I'm going
to forever die. That'd do something. Now, what's the author say? He's
king. Sovereign king. That's how he saves people. I've
set my king on the holy hill of Zion. You can talk about accepting
him as your personal savior and your healer and all these things,
but let me tell you this, he's the king. And the door to the
kingdom of heaven is the lordship of Jesus Christ. He's sovereign
king. It's not walk the aisle and be
saved, it's bow to Christ and be saved. That's what that thief,
I mean that leper said, Here's a man coated with leprosy, dying
with leprosy, and he came to Christ and fell on his knees
and looked up at him and said, Lord, if you will, if you will,
you can make me clean, if you will. Our Lord said, I will be
thy clean. Why won't folks do that? Chief doctrine of our faith is
salvations of the Lord. That's what we're finding out
there, when Christ said to that thief, today you will be with
me in paradise. You will. He didn't say that
to anybody else, except that man right there. You believe
he's in paradise? Well, one thing I know he is,
I don't know about anybody else, but I do know he's there, because
that's what Christ said, and he's the king. He says, I have
the keys of hell and death. And whoever's got the keys determines
who goes through the door. And what is our duty? Worship
him. Oh, come let us worship, David
said, let us bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our God. He is our God and we are his
people. That's my response. He's king. Salvations of the Lord, 100%
from Alpha to Omega, from beginning to end. So I bow. Now here's
the third one. John 19. This is beautiful here,
and I want you to watch it. John 19, 25. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his
mother, and her sister-in-law Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and
Mary Magdalene. She stood near enough to hear
his voice. How near was, you can picture this in your mind,
where our Lord's crucified and there's thousands of people there.
But Mary's close enough and John's close enough to hear him speak. Simeon said this to Mary. You
just stay where you are. Simeon said to Mary, he blessed
them, and he said, Behold, this child of yours is set for the
fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which
shall be spoken against. And then a sword will pierce
your soul, a sword will pierce your soul, Mary, your own soul,
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." That's what
Simeon said about her. Our Lord died for Mary's sins,
too. I'll read you something she said, over here in Luke 1,
verse 46. Mary said, My soul doth magnify
the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my
Savior. So Mary exalted Christ, and He
is her Savior, just like you and me. Evidently Joseph's dead. If Joseph had been there, this
wouldn't have taken place. Joseph's evidently dead. And
Mary's there at the cross with her sister-in-law and with Mary
Magdalene. And then our Lord said, in this
great hour, he said to Mary in Luke, John
19, verse 25, he said, He said, verse 20, 25, when Jesus,
verse 26, when Jesus saw his mother and the disciples standing
by whom he loved, he said unto the mother, Woman, behold your
son. And then he said to John, behold
your mother. Mary, John, take Mary into your
home and care for her like you would your own mother. Now what
is this office here? Well, here it is, even in his
greatest hour of suffering, our Lord provides for his own, even
his own family, his own mother. That's right. He's Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will provide. He's Jehovah, my shepherd, my
shepherd. And he's fulfilling Ephesians
6. Turn over to Ephesians 6. Our righteousness is fulfilling
Ephesians 6, which goes back to Exodus. This is a commandment, Ephesians
6, verse 1. Children, obey your parents and
the Lord. This is right. And that doesn't just mean if
they say go get a load of wood, go get a load of wood. That doesn't
just mean that they say be home at 11, be home at 11, though
it does mean that. But it means an obedience out of love and
respect. It means what the next verse
says, honor. Honor to whom honor is due. Tribute
to whom tribute is due. And that's what our Lord is showing
us right here. Just think of the hour. This
is the hour for which he came into the world. This is the hour
that's been prophesied and promised for all eternity. This is the
hour of redemption. This is the hour when he's battling
the forces of evil. And I'm just too busy to fool
with my parents. I'm just too busy to be thinking
about my mother and dad. I'm just too busy. Our Lord's
redeeming a lost kingdom. He's engaged in the battle with
Satan, with sin. The sins of all of us are put
on him in the wrath of God. And he stops and looks at his
mother. He said, Woman, that's your son.
And you take care of her as long as you live. Isn't that beautiful? Honor your mother and father.
Listen, which is the first commandment with promise. And there's a promise
for the neglecting them too. You reap what you sow. There's
a promise for neglect. There's a promise for disobedience. There's a promise for disregarding
and lack of respect. God, God himself, and this is
his office, our provider, Jehovah-Jireh, our shepherd. And this is the
doctrine. My God will supply all your needs,
he'll take care of you. But this is the duty, this is
the example. Take care of your family, your
loved ones, provide for them, honor them. Turn to 1 Timothy
5. Like I told you, there's a promise,
it's a commandment with promise, but there's also a word of rebuke
for those who do not fulfill it. 1 Timothy 5, verse 8. If any provide not for
his own, especially those of his own house, he's denied the
faith. He's worse than an infidel. Our
Lord set an example for us in honor, respect, love, tenderness
and care. Look not every man on his own
things, but on the things of others. Mother, woman as your son, son
as your mother, take care of them. Go thou and do likewise. All right, I hope that there's
enough interest for you to come back this evening, and let's
look at the next four of these sayings of our Lord from the
cross.