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[0:00] 1. Galatians 6.14 But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the!

[0:30] In the cross. Amen. Now, at the start of some films you see a disclaimer sometimes that says that none of these things are meant to be of real people or of real events and any such comparison is incidental and it's just by accident.

[0:49] But this account here is not by accident. This account, the account of the cross, it's not some virtual reality, it's not some fantasy, it's not some make-believe Hollywood melodrama, this is reality, this is real.

[1:02] It was real blood that was shed. It was a real cross, not a styrofoam one as Hollywood would have had. It's not some accidental event, this was intentional, it's not coincidental, this was planned.

[1:16] This was not some imaginary plot or some mystical, mythical fantasy world. This was the reality.

[1:27] This was real pain at Calvary's Hill. And it's real, it's relevant to you, to me. Truth stands eternal.

[1:39] Truth doesn't change. Truth stands forever. And the cross is important then, now and forever.

[1:50] Paul says, I glory in it. I glory in it. I rejoice in it. I joy in it. This is my joy. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[2:05] And it's meaningful, it's planned and it's significant for you. It's significant for us. The cross. When He was on the cross, you were on His mind. And your sins were on His body, we're told.

[2:19] The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13.8. Picture it, if you can. If we could travel back in time to that real place, to that real cross, to that real blood that was shed as He had been there since 9am.

[2:35] It was now approaching 3 in the afternoon. In John 19. He had been suffering the agony of crucifixion for nearly 6 hours.

[2:46] Prior to that, He prayed in the garden. He was beaten and bashed, thrashed and torn by the whip. Six trials. Six trials. All mocked and illegal.

[2:59] What they did. And most of those agonising hours, He was silent on the cross. Four statements were made.

[3:10] Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. To the thief alongside Him. Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.

[3:22] To His mother and son. Behold thy son. Behold thy mother. And now from this cross, we hear another cry.

[3:33] It had been silent from midday to 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Midnight at midday.

[3:44] Imagine that. Three hours of utter blackness. As the earth was shrouded in darkness. And here He was experiencing the wrath, the rejection of His Father.

[3:57] As He was bearing in His own body the sins of the whole world. Your sin. My sin. Sins past. Sins present.

[4:08] Sins future. The fourth cry. A cry of anguish. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27, 46.

[4:20] And next out of the darkness, He utters a fifth cry. A fifth cry from the cross. A very human statement. We see that in John 19. From verse 28. The context there.

[4:31] After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished. That the scripture might be fulfilled. Saying, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar.

[4:42] And they filled a sponge with vinegar. And put it upon hyssop. And put it to His mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar. He said, It is finished. And He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.

[4:55] A cry of anguish. The cry of, I thirst. I thirst. The sight was awesome here. The maker of heaven and earth. The maker. The creator of all the streams.

[5:06] All the rivers. All the seas. All the fountains of refreshing water. Cries out. I thirst. I thirst. The one who made every water. Every drop.

[5:17] Says, I thirst. In need of a drink. Crying out to the Father. And it was fulfilment of scripture that He gave here.

[5:28] It was a fulfilment. Over 20 scriptures from the Old Testament were fulfilled in the last 24 hours of our Lord's crucifixion.

[5:41] Here are just a few. In Psalm 41.9. The betrayal of a friend. My own familiar friend in whom I trusted. Which did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me.

[5:57] Of his silence before the judges. In Isaiah 53.7. He was oppressed. And he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her to shearers his dung.

[6:10] So he opened not his mouth. The numbering with his transgressors. In Isaiah 53.12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great.

[6:22] And he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death. And he was numbered with the transgressors. And he bare the sin of many. And made intercession.

[6:33] He prayed. He made intercession. For the transgressors. The mockery of the spectators was fulfilled. In Psalm 109.25.

[6:44] I became also a reproach unto them. When they looked upon me. They shaped their heads. Psalm 22.18. The gambling for his garments. They parted my garments among them.

[6:56] And cast lots upon my vesture. The forsaken. Being forsaken. Of the father. In Psalm 22.1. My God.

[7:07] My God. Why hast thou forsaken me? That his bones were not broken. In Psalm 34.20. He keepeth all his bones.

[7:19] Not one of them is broken. And then the prophecy of his thirst. In Psalm 69.21. It was prophesied. That he would have this thirst.

[7:30] Psalm 69.21. They gave me also gall for my meat. And in my thirst. They gave me vinegar to drink. It was prophesied.

[7:43] And he fulfilled that too. At the cross for you. For me. And when we think. That he cried I thirst. It reflects to us. His humanity. 1 Timothy 3.16.

[7:55] Without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God. Was manifest. In the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ. The God man.

[8:06] He was not. A divine man. Nor a humanized God. He was. The. God. Man. God. Manifest.

[8:17] In the flesh. God. Wrapped. And enrobed. In human flesh. For us. It's two. That being in the form of God. Thought it not robbery. To be equal with God.

[8:29] But made himself of no reputation. And took upon him the form of a servant. And was made. In the likeness of man. And being found in fashion as a man. Humble himself. And became obedient unto death.

[8:41] Even. Even. The death. Of. The cross. In the incarnation, Christ did not cease to be God. Even though he became a man, he was not anything less than God.

[8:57] Yet for 33 earthly years, he voluntarily gave up his own rights as God and took on him the form of a man. We see that right through the account of Scripture, that he was God, yet man.

[9:11] Very God, very man. As a human being, he tired and fell asleep in the boat. But moments later, as God, he commanded the winds and the sea.

[9:26] And they obeyed him as God. As a man, he was brokenhearted at the tomb of Lazarus. But as God, he raised up Lazarus from the dead.

[9:36] As a man, he suffered a horrible death on the cross. But he, as God, was bodily risen. From the dead. Victoriously. I thirst.

[9:50] It pictures for us hell. It pictures for us the hell. As we see Lazarus and the rich man. And the rich man cried out in Luke 16, 24.

[10:01] Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And said Lazarus. That he may dip the finger of his... Just want a drip. Lazarus.

[10:12] Father Abraham. Said Lazarus. That he may dip the tip of his finger in water. Ah! Ah! There's a picture of our thirst.

[10:23] Of the man in hell. And he's still thirsty today. Jesus says, I thirst so that we need not encounter hell. So that we can be saved from hell.

[10:36] So that we need not thirst for eternity. Why did they nail him to Calvary's tree? Why? Tell me, why was he there? Jesus, the helper, the healer, the friend.

[10:47] Why? Tell me, why was he there? All my iniquities on him were laid. He nailed them all to the tree. Jesus, the debt of my sin, fully paid.

[10:58] He paid the ransom for me. Think of him. Think of him, friends. Of our saviour in the garden. The very stress of our sin. Of the weight.

[11:10] Of the burden. Of our guilt. Of our shame. Tearing himself apart from the inside out. As the capillaries were bursting. As it were great drops of blood.

[11:22] And then the bleeding on his back thrashed for us. The wreath of thorns on his head. Crushing. Wounding. The spitting upon him.

[11:32] The beard plucked. His face marred more than any man. His bruised back. Bearing that rough work for you. For me. To the hill.

[11:44] Where he was nailed with spikes in his hands and feet. And the cross shows God. God intervening. For mankind. For humankind.

[11:56] For our salvation. And he's not ignorant of our sorrows. He has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. And only he can quench your spiritual thirst.

[12:07] I trust you have one. As Psalm 42. The psalmist cried. As the heart. As the deer. Pantseth after the waterproof. So pantseth my soul after thee.

[12:19] O God. My soul thirsteth for God. For the living God. And to the woman at the well. In John 4 he says. Whosoever drinketh of the water. That I shall give him.

[12:31] Shall never thirst. The eternal cry forever and ever. Of those in hell. In the lake of fire. Will be. I thirst. As they suffer God's wrath.

[12:45] Think of Calvary now. There from Calvary a stream. For every sinner's pain. And he that drinketh. Jesus said. Shall never thirst again.

[12:56] This stream from Calvary still flows. To bless. And cleanse. And heal. And he that drinketh. Jesus said. New life. And rest. Shall feel. What?

[13:07] Never thirst again. No. Never thirst again. What? Never thirst again. No. Never thirst again. For he that drinketh. Jesus said.

[13:18] Shall never. Never thirst again. Brothers and sisters. We can think. Of his blood today. We can think. Of that. Wounding. As we partake.

[13:29] As a body of believers today. And we. Have the helpers come. Peter Guttridge. And perhaps Ralph could assist. If you could. Ralph. Pass the bread and cup.

[13:41] And hold together. And let's be prayerful. As we do so. God forbid. That I should glory. Go ahead. And pass the bread. And bend the cup.

[13:52] God forbid. That I should glory. Save him. The cross. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. By him. The world is crucified. Unto me. And I. Unto the world.

[14:03] I love to tell the story. Of haunting things above.

[14:14]  Of Jesus and his glory.