PM Matthew 27:32-56

[0:00] And a warm welcome to evening worship. A reminder, midweek, Wednesday, 7 o'clock, prayer meeting and Bible study led by Norman.

[0:11] Financial contributions for a purchase take-home meal as Christmas presents for the men and women who come to worship drop-in are to be received no later than this evening.

[0:24] The envelope scheme for 2021 is available for those who normally get envelopes for their weekly offerings. And additional envelopes are available for those who would like to go on to the envelope scheme, which encourages a weekly pattern of giving and enables the administration of gift aid for those who are interested and who qualify. More details of that if you're interested are on the notice board.

[0:54] Again, a reminder that the Kirk session is looking to appoint additional elders and voting forms are made available to all communicant members and completed forms should be placed in the box available on the side table.

[1:10] Your intro moderator, the Reverend Kenny MacLeod, is preaching here next Lord's Day, both morning and evening, 11 o'clock and 6pm.

[1:24] And the bad news for you folks is that I am back here. I'm back here, I think, at the end of the year. Not back before Christmas, but I'm back at the end of the year. Good evening.

[1:35] Welcome. We started without you. Let's us worship God.

[1:47] We sing to his praise and glory from Psalm number 92, verses 12 to 15 in the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 92, 12 to 15.

[2:03] Psalm 93, verse 12 to 15.

[2:33] Psalm 93, verse 12 to 15. Psalm 93, verse 12 to 15. Psalm 93, verse 12 to 15. Psalm 93, verse 12 to 15. Those that live in the heart so broad are planted by this grace.

[2:56] They shall grow up and flourish all and flourish all and flourish all and flourish all and flourish all in our holy place.

[3:19] And in all daysЯth coulir and strum and shall be ...

[3:40] ... ... ...

[3:51] ... ... ... ... ...

[4:03] Upright is the Lord, He is our God to thee.

[4:14] And He from all unrighteousness, and He from all unrighteousness, is all together free.

[4:47] In Isaiah chapter 53, the chapter that for Jewish people is the forbidden chapter, we read these verses.

[5:00] He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.

[5:18] As we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to His own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.

[5:36] Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, He did not open His mouth.

[5:51] And at the beginning of Isaiah, we read these words. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

[6:05] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Let's turn to the living God in prayer.

[6:17] Let us pray. Gracious and eternal God, we thank You for these great words of prophecy, and words of truth.

[6:35] We thank You that they call us from the idols of the nations, that are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak. They have eyes, but do not see.

[6:47] They have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouth. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.

[7:01] But our God is the God of Israel, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And we bow before the Lord from Zion, the one who dwells in Jerusalem.

[7:15] And we praise You, the Lord. The Lord who rescued us from our foes, whose steadfast love, as we were thinking this morning, endures forever.

[7:35] Eternal God, what a privilege it is to be able to just bow our heads, and to realise that we are in Your company this night, as we gather here.

[7:47] A fellowship of Your people, who long to worship You, and praise You, and to witness to Your great and saving name. We thank You for this place, for this building, for those who had the vision to establish this fellowship here.

[8:07] And for those down the ages, whose generosity, and kindness, and offerings, have sustained a faithful witness, in this place, through many decades.

[8:23] We thank You for people, who were first roused, in the faith, in this place. We thank You for those, who taught our children, in this place.

[8:37] We thank You for those, who ministered, in the pulpits, of this place. We thank You for those, who led, and governed, and ruled, in this place.

[8:53] We remember it, as a place, of baptism. of marriage, and of communion, and of conversion.

[9:09] We thank You for Your faithfulness, and Your steadfast love, through those generations. We thank You for the faithfulness, of so many, who held the torch, of faith, here in this place.

[9:27] And now, to those of us, who follow after, to fill, the place, that they filled. May we come, with that sense, of dependence, upon You Lord God, that, in a day, of small things, we might look, to Your greatness, to Your might, to Your majesty, and to Your fullness, and plenty.

[9:51] You're the God, who struck down kings. You're the God, who lifted up, the poor, and the humble.

[10:05] And so, we come to You, seeking Heavenly Father, that, it might be, within Your will, that once again, this nation, of Scotland, might again, see revival. Turning again, to You, and to true faith.

[10:22] We pray, Heavenly Father, that our pulpits, might again, be filled, with men, who trust Your Word, and, have no other task, but to simply, and clearly, proclaim Your Word.

[10:36] And this night, Father, where Your Word, is proclaimed, we pray, that You will bless it, and bring forth, the fruit, of Your purpose, and Your will.

[10:52] You're the God, of Heaven. And yet, as we were thinking, this morning, You found a way, and a mechanism, to become, the man, Jesus Christ. God, among us.

[11:07] Fully God, fully man, full of grace, and truth. And we thank You, for this time of the year, when we celebrate, so much, of that wonder, and that miracle.

[11:26] And we thank You, Heavenly Father, for the truth, of the Gospel, surrounding, that great, Nativity story. We thank You, for Joseph, and how he trusted, we thank You, for Mary, how in love, and in obedience, she opened herself, to the will, and purpose, of the Godhead.

[11:54] we praise You, and we thank You, Heavenly Father, for those men, who came to, seek, a Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord.

[12:09] For the angels, who ministered, to the shepherds, and for their faithfulness, in following up, on that testimony, and witness.

[12:23] And now we come, Heavenly Father, and we pray, and amongst all the lights, and the tinsel, and all the carols, and all the songs, and all the presents, that we might see, thorns, amongst the straw, that we might see, this crucified Christ, in the child, in the manger.

[12:50] Amen. Father, when this night, we thank You, that You sent, above all things, a Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord.

[13:02] And again, we confess, our need of that, salvation. In the name of Jesus Christ, and through the power, of the gospel, God's Word declares, that our sins, are forgiven, in Christ.

[13:41] And so, Heavenly Father, we again, cry out, for a world, that is in so much need, of such a salvation. Full, and free. We pray, that there might be, a voice of clarity, sounded, in amongst, all that is going on.

[14:06] We pray, this night, Heavenly Father, for the work, of the Salvation Army, in Scotland, at this time of the year. And for all those, who look after, the poor, and the destitute, and those, who are homeless, at this time, providing food, and warmth, and accommodation.

[14:23] And we pray, for these offerings, that, have been put aside, from this fellowship, these last, few weeks. For those, who go to, the Wednesday drop-in.

[14:40] We pray, that that, might be a testimony, and a witness, to the care, and compassion, of the Lord, that we serve. We pray, for a generosity, at this time, of the year.

[14:56] We pray, for an appreciation, of family, and friends. And then, amongst all, the frustrations, we pray, that, it might just be, an extra opportunity, to just give thanks, for, the pleasures, of Christmas's past.

[15:15] When our tables, were full, and overflowing, and surrounded, by loved ones. We pray, for those, who have gone, before us, in Christ.

[15:30] And we look, to the day, when we shall be, reunited, in the new kingdom, of your love. Where there shall be, no more pain, and no more parting. And so, in all things, Heavenly Father, we give thanks, to you, you who are the Lord, of heaven and earth, and you, whose steadfast love, endures, forever.

[16:01] Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we ask this. Amen. Amen. Well, if you turn with me, in your Bibles, to Matthew's Gospel, to chapter 27, and we read, from verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, Beispiel.

[16:42] This is the word, and they went out, and they found, a man, of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled, this man, to carry, Jesus' cross, and when they came to a place called Golgotha which means place of a skull they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall but when he tasted it he would not drink it and when they had crucified him they divided his garments among them by casting lots then they sat down and kept watch over him there and over his head they put the charge against him which read this is Jesus the king of the Jews then two robbers were crucified with him one on the right and one on the left and those who passed by derided him wagging their heads and saying you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days save yourself if you are the son of God come down from the cross so also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him saying he saved others he cannot save himself he is the king of Israel let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him he trusts in God let God deliver him now if he desires him for he said I am the son of God and the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour and about the ninth hour

[18:51] Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying my God my God why have you forsaken me and some of the bystanders hearing it said this man is calling Elijah and one of them at once ran and took a sponge filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink but the other said wait let's see whether Elijah will come to save him and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit and behold the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks were split the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many when the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake what took place they were filled with awe and said truly this was the son of God there were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him among whom were Mary Magdalene

[20:33] Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee Amen and may God bless to us this reading of his holy word and to his name be all praise and glory given we turn to sing psalms yeah number 8 and we're singing verses 3 to 6 of sing psalms on across the hour I revoke yeah pins the where the gravity and I love you which you have set in place.

[21:39] I ask myself for praise, man, that you should give him cause.

[21:53] The Son of Man that you should give such gracious care of God.

[22:10] You may to bless all the heads and doors to cover Him and His eyes.

[22:24] I am through the front and also with glory as being guard.

[22:41] To be in charge of all the words created by Your hand, And every day that You have made, You may even to command.

[23:14] Let's just pray. Father, we ask You to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, And that is that when we consider an event that happened well over 2,000 years ago, That that event might become real and present and relevant for us tonight.

[23:42] And we also ask, Heavenly Father, that You will take the words of a mere man which really can do nothing, And transform them by Your Holy Spirit, So that they might become words which penetrate into our hearts and lives.

[24:01] And so our prayer is this night, Heavenly Father, that Your Word will speak to us, O Lord. That You will show us Yourself, That You will show us Ourself, And that You will show us the Saviour, And that Your Word will speak to us, O Lord.

[24:28] Amen. Well, the last couple of Sundays we've been on a little bit of a journey, Which, in very broad terms, Outlines one of the principal seams, Which run through the whole of the Bible.

[24:51] That journey was taken and began in the Garden of Eden, Where we saw why the cross was necessary.

[25:02] It took us to Egypt and the Passover, When we saw the provision of God, And we saw that that provision began, With notions of sacrifice, Of a lamb, Of blood, And of a people's obedience, Covenant obedience, To the requirements that God had laid down, For the Passover, To be effective, And for God, In His wrath and His judgment, To pass over, The homes, Where the lintel had been, Marked with the blood, Of the lamb.

[25:52] And then we took a mighty, Step, But, Even in taking such a big, Big step, We saw familiar themes, As we saw Jesus, And His struggle, In the Garden of Gethsemane.

[26:13] And tonight, We come in our journey to, What is unquestionably, The greatest and most significant place, In the history of the world.

[26:23] The hill of Calvary, Where the eternal lamb of God, Jesus Christ, The second person of the Trinity, Is crucified, On a Roman gibbet, We see this, Rightly, In the context, Of God's, Unfolding plan, That had been, Foreshadowed, That had been, Given a foretaste of, And if we had time, We could have looked at the upper room, Where we would have seen, A preview, Of his body broken, And his blood shed, And as we read through, These verses describing, For us the cross, It's,

[27:23] Done so, In fairly sanitized terms, And that's very deliberate, If any of us have seen, Some of these films, Portraying the, The scourging, And the trial, And the crucifixion, Of Jesus, These films, Are very, Very graphic, Now, Don't get me wrong, These films, Probably portray, What actually took place, But the gospel writers, Deliberately, Don't do that, Because, What the gospel writers, Don't want us to do, Is, To simply, Respond to the cross, By some, Emotional response, To the suffering, Of Jesus, Or simply, Responding,

[28:24] In gratitude, For what he went through, You see friends, We can be, Deeply grateful, To Jesus, Thankful, For him, And thankful, For all he did, But that's not, Saving faith, The cross, And the gospel accounts, Seek always, To bring us, To a supernatural, Saving faith, And not simply, To some response, Of grateful emotion, The cross, Of Jesus Christ, Seeks to bring us, To nothing short, Of conversion, That we once were, And now we are, Through the power, Of the shed blood, Of Christ, That said however,

[29:28] It seems difficult, To take the journey, Of understanding, That we have taken, And not be amazed, And somewhat mystified, By all that was going on, If we have not, Then we've never really begun, To understand, What is going on here, But that also, Tells us, That we can reject, The transforming, Power of the cross, And it's supernatural, Message of salvation, That leads to conversion, That we can reject that, While still having, An understanding, Of what was taking place here, But what the cross does, Is, It demands, A response, Beyond understanding, Beyond gratitude, Beyond emotion, Beyond even,

[30:29] If such thing were possible, An empathy, With what Jesus went through, And what he suffered, So turning to the passage, This evening, I think we have so much, To learn, By eavesdropping, On a number of conversations, That are very obviously, Going on, In the account, Of the gospel writers, There is a conversation, Of the crowd, Which Luke records, There are conversations, Among the crucified, Which Matthew, And Luke, Record, And there is a conversation, Conversation, Among, The father, And the son, So very briefly,

[31:32] The conversations, Of the crowd, If you have your Bibles, Turn to Luke's gospel, And to the 23rd, Chapter, Of Luke's gospel, And we'll see there, Outlined for us, A summary, Of the kind of things, That were being said, By those who had gone, To witness, This awful event, That would have been, Very common, For people to go along, Crucifixion, Was in effect, A spectator sport, And indeed, That's why the Romans, Used it, So that people, Might see, What happens to people, Should, They step out of line, And Luke 23, 35, Tells us, That the conversation, Among those, Who were witnesses, To this, Was such, That they said,

[32:33] He saved others, They goaded him, To save himself, And, In verse 39, Are you not the Christ, Save yourself, And us, Well it's plain, And obvious, That Dr Luke, Begins to present, An amazing picture, At the cross, There is a word, That is on people's lips, And that word, Is save, This was the death, Of a saviour, And probably, In ways, That they could not, Understand, They were using, That word, Salvation, And saved, He saved others, He cannot save himself, They had little idea,

[33:34] Perhaps, What that truth was, But something, Had led them, To the conclusion, That we were about, The business of salvation, In this crucifixion, As William Booth, Said, It was precisely, Because he did not, Come down, That we believe in him, And that he saved us, The second conversation, The second conversation, Is a very unusual, Conversation, It's a conversation, Among, The crucified, Matthew, Going back to his gospel, Makes it very clear, As does the plaque, Placed over Jesus' head, That this is, King Jesus, The gospel writers,

[34:34] Tell us, Of a number, Of conversations, Verbal exchanges, Would be more, Accurate descriptions, Or soundbites, And it seems, That these, If we put, The gospel writers together, Engages in some kind, Of progression, The king, Is mocked, The king, The king, Is charged, The king, Is challenged, But by far, The most dramatic, And powerful, Address to king Jesus, Or conversation, With king Jesus, Is recorded for us, In Luke's gospel, Chapter 23 again, And at verse 42, Where the king, Is petitioned,

[35:36] Luke 23, 42, The thief on the cross, Turning to Jesus, And saying, Remember me, When you come into your kingdom, And if anything, Causes us to consider, The unique identity, Of the man, And the cross, It is this petition, Just think about it, Jesus, Is a dying, Man, A condemned, Man, A convicted, Man, A mocked, Man, And yet, Here is another, Dying man, Turning to him, And looking to him, For hope, Assurance,

[36:39] And peace, At a worldly, Human observation, There can be no more, Hopeless, Helpless, And traumatic, A picture, Than a man, Being crucified, He is done for, He is going nowhere, He is powerless, To do anything, The end, Was near, And inevitable, And yet, A man, Hanging on a cross, Beside him, Turns to him, And finds hope, And assurance, Peace, And promise, It is amazing, Really, It is amazing, What was about, Jesus, On the cross, That someone,

[37:40] Who was in an equally, Helpless, And hopeless, And useless, Position, Should turn to him, Of all the people, To turn to, To turn to someone, Who was exactly, In the same predicament, As you were in, And the assurance, The conversation, Back from Jesus, To that man, Is also astonishing, Because if you, Think about it, Jesus assured him, That today, You will be with me, In paradise, And there is another reminder, About what Christianity, And following Jesus, And conversion, Is not about, It can't be about, Religion, Because religion, Was going to be, No utter use, To this guy, This guy, His life was done, And it would be gone,

[38:42] This man, Would never worship, Far less attend church, This man, Was incapable, Of ever doing, A single work, Of good, Or making an offering, Or living a life, All he could do, Was turn in his head, In cringing agony, Cry out, And receive, What only Christ, Could give, The promise, And assurance, Of salvation, And of an eternity, That was secured, In that man's, Trust in Jesus, The third conversation, Is a truly, Remarkable conversation, Which, Is a similar vein,

[39:42] To the one, That we looked at, In the garden, Of Gethsemane, And indeed, Something of what, We learned there, Can be of enormous, Assistance to us here, As we eavesdrop, Once again, On a conversation, Between two parts, Of the Godhead, Of God, Speaking to God, And the most mystifying, Of all these, Conversations, Recorded, In the, New Testament, Must surely be, Jesus' words, On the cross, My God, My God, Why have you, Forsaken me?

[40:30] A seemingly, Unfathomable, Cry of Jesus, On the cross, Certainly, Human logic, Define, How could God, Forsake God?

[40:57] And what we saw, Being stretched, To the limit, In the garden, In the natures, Of Christ, And the wills, Of Christ, Now seem, To be, Almost destroyed, What is going on here?

[41:18] Well, Let's just affirm, What cannot, Be happening, It could never mean, That the unity, Of the Trinity, Was broken, That's impossible, That the eternal, Communion, Of the Godhead, Could be broken, Even for a moment, Or even set aside, To be picked up, Restored, Or repaired, The Holy Trinity, The Holy Trinity, Could not be broken, By anything, Either internal, Or external, Nothing, Can break, The unity, Of the Trinity, Nor, Could it mean, That the Father, Stopped loving the Son, Especially, Especially, Not now, When Jesus, Was offering,

[42:19] The supreme gift, Of filial obedience, To the Father's will, That he struggled with, In the garden, If ever, He loved him, He loved him now, Nor, Can we ever think, That this had come about, By some secret plan, Of Jesus, To persuade the Father, To give salvation, That he was otherwise, Unwilling to bestow, That's where, Steve Troc, And all that, Nonsense there, Goes so badly wrong, That's only the first place, It goes wrong, What was happening here, In the cross, You'll remember, Was established, Before the beginning, Of the world, In the councils, Of the Trinity, And therefore, It could be nothing,

[43:20] Of, God, Going away, Somehow, To consider, What Jesus had done, To consider, Why this might be enough, Or this might be, The solution, So what of this experience, Of Jesus, This cry, From the only, God forsaken place, On earth, Well, The first thing is, It was a real experience, It was a real experience, Sometimes, When we're going through, Difficult times, In our life, We, We get the impression, That, God might have, Forsaken us, Or, He might have left us, And I've, Dealt, Pastorly, With people, Like that, And as any pastor, Would know, The only, Real way, Of dealing with that, Is not to build them up,

[44:21] But to show them, God's word, And the promises, That God makes there, To say, I will never fail you, Leave you, Or forsake you, And what you're experiencing now, Is about feelings, And not about facts, But when Jesus, Experienced this on the cross, It was real, And, This sounds irreverent, And it's, Believe me, Not meant to be, Jesus was not just having, A bad day, Emotionally, He was truly, Experiencing, What it meant, To be forsaken, By the Father, What made this, Particularly difficult, Could you imagine it, Being even more difficult, Was that it was, Not only a real experience, It was a unique experience, Jesus had never, Ever,

[45:24] Prayed, Or looked to the Father, And not known anything, Other than the Father's, Delight, And joy, And smile, This is my beloved son, In whom I am well pleased, Was not just a one-off, Affirmation of Jesus, But was the consistent, Affirmation, Of the Father, Of the Son, And it's interesting, Do you notice, That when Jesus, Cries out, He is no longer, Crying out, My Father, My Father, But he cries out, My God, My God, My God, A real experience, A unique experience, But it was, An experience, Born of commitment, And obedience, There is,

[46:27] You will notice, No voice from heaven, To reassure him, No voice of heaven, To reassure him, Of his identity, As a beloved son, In whom the Father, Is well pleased, No Holy Spirit, Coming to reassure him, In this moment, The reality, Of this forsakenment, Is not just darkness, But silence, And that's how, It had to be like, Jesus became, Sin on the cross, He experienced, All the consequences, Of sin, And in his humanity, And divinity, These were real, If they were imaginary, And not real experiences, Then our sin, Could never be taken, By Jesus on the cross,

[47:28] Because the sin, In my life, Is a reality, The sin in your life, Is real, The sin in my life, And in your life, Demands a penalty, The reality, Of God's view, On sin, Is clear, In the crucified, Saviour, That our sin, Requires judgment, And all the consequences, Of sin, As per the garden, Our Lord, Entered into, The forsakenment, Of the father, In the same way, That Adam, Experienced that, Forsakenment, Of being extinguished, From the garden, So let's try,

[48:29] And understand something, Of what that cry, Was about, It was, A cry, Of sinless, Perplexity, Why, Why, Have you, Forsaken me, Jesus, Fully understands, Why all this, Had to happen, The humanity, Of Jesus, Has he entered, Into, The God, Abandonment, Of the cross, He is, Utterly, Bewildered, On the cross, Jesus, Jesus, Experiences, The bewilderment, Of perfect, Sinlessness, As he now, In the fullness, Of his identity, Becomes, Sin, He takes,

[49:30] Sin, To himself, And he experiences, For us, What he did not, Deserve, In his holy being, And identity, His holy perfection, And his sinlessness, And it is a cry, Of sinless, Perplexity, Secondly, And obviously, It is a cry, Of sin bearing, Substitution, Why, Why is he here, Why is he crucified, On this cross, Listen to this, And if you listen, To nothing else, Hold on to this, He is here, Because of who he is, A.W.

[50:32] Pink, A.W. Pink talks about, The preternatural, Character, Of the death, Of Christ, And what that means, Is that, It was determined, Before, Hand, That this would be, What he would do, He came, To be, Crucified, The identity, Of the Christ, Cannot be understood, Unless, There is the identity, Of the saviour, Going, With it, That's why, Liberalism, Is such, Absolute nonsense, That's why, Our, Steve Chalk, Talks absolute nonsense, Because you cannot, Have Jesus, Without the saviour, On the cross, It is part,

[51:34] Of who, He is, And we need to be, Clear about that, When there is so much, Confusion, Around, Adam did not sin, And then God said, Well that didn't work out, Where do we go from here, I know, I'll provide salvation, And I'll send my only son, To secure it, No, Before Adam was created, The fall was anticipated, Before sin entered the world, Salvation, From it, Had been planned by God, In the eternal councils, Of the deity, Pre-Adam, Pre-creation, Pre-creation, Pre-creation, Pre-creation, Pre-creation, Pre-creation, Pre-creation, The cross, The cross, Was anticipated, And the fall, Was contemplated, Knowing all that it would entail,

[52:38] Including the reality, Of this, Forsaken anguish, That's why the link, Could never be broken, Because Jesus knew, That not only, Was he going to become sin, But he knew, That he was going to experience, The anguish, Of forsakenness, And Jesus, Is the one, Who before the beginning, Of the world, As we saw this morning, Says I'll go, I'll do it, My identity, Will be absolutely, Fully, And completely, Defined, As the saviour, When we call him saviour, We call him, By his name, Christ hangs,

[53:38] On the cross, As the covenant king, The saviour, Who suffers, The covenant judgment, Of God, For the unjust, A saviour, Who would die, In order, That we might live, A lamb, That was slain, So that the lintel, Of our lives, Might bear, The mark, Of the blood, Of the lamb, He is crying out, As the one, Who came, As our substitute, For all those, The father, The father, Had given to him, In eternity, And we need, To be very clear, That this is, There is not, An iota, Of injustice, Of child abuse,

[54:41] In the cross, If you want, If you want, To look, For the God, Of the old testament, That people, Wrongly portray, As that God, Of wrath, God, Of judgment, As against, The new testament, That is all about, The God of love, Look at the cross, And there, As town end, Helpfully says, For us, Here, Judgment, Wrath, And love, Meet, Here is Isaiah, He laid upon him, The iniquity, Of us all, Here is the sin bearing, Substituting, Crying out, As he experiences, The utter sinfulness, Of sin, And the seriousness,

[55:43] Of sin, But notice the final part, Of that conversation, And here, John, In his gospel, Very helpfully, Outlines this for us, If you turn with me, To John 19, And at verse 30, When Jesus, Had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished, And he bowed up, His head, And gave up, His spirit, John makes it very clear, That these are the last words, Of Jesus, For a while, And after he says, Those last words, It is finished,

[56:44] He gives up, His life, In his sin bearing death, But here is the king, Dying, Here is the lord, Of eternity, Dying, Here is the one, For whom it was said, Nobody, Takes my life, From me, I give it up, Of my own accord, You see, Jesus, Is choosing, The moment, He will die, He is choosing, The moment, He will make, His sacrifice, And he did so, At the completion, Of his task, If ever we needed, Extra confirmation, That his identity, Is saviour, When we call him saviour,

[57:44] We call him by his name, It is that, Once he declared, It is finished, Jesus himself, Gave up, His spirit, In his humanity, He could not understand, What was going on, In his humanity, There was no word of comfort, From the father, Only silence, No grimmer of light, Only darkness, No communion, Or fellowship, Only isolation, It is almost, As if nothing, Remained, At that point, But here is what, Did remain, His faith, In the salvation, Plan, Of God, And his confidence, That he was saviour,

[58:46] Lord, And king, And in spite, And in spite, In spite of perplexity, Silence, Silence, Darkness, Isolation, And unimaginable suffering, He never, He never lost, His belief, In God, In God, In his justice, In his promise, In his power, In his word, And his plan, Of salvation, And almost, In an affirmation, Of his divinity, Of his lordship, Of his kingship, On the cross, Jesus is the one, Who determines, When he, Will die, And he does so, At the completion, Of his work, What must sin be,

[59:52] If it took the bloodshedding, Of the Lord Jesus Christ, To atone for it, In a world, In a generation, That has made sin, Something that we laugh at, Something that is funny, Something that has to be paraded, We only need to look, At the cross, To see, A saviour, Who is Christ the Lord, Let's pray, I cannot tell, How he would love, A child so weak, And full of sin,

[60:53] His love must be, Most wonderful, If he could die, My love to win, I sometimes think, About the cross, And shut my eyes, And try to see, The cruel nails, And crown of thorns, And Jesus crucified, For me, And yet I want, To love thee Lord, O light the flame, Within my heart, That I may love thee, More and more, Until I see thee, As thou art, It is truly, A thing most wonderful, Almost too wonderful, To be, That God's own son, Should come from heaven, And die, To save a child, Like me, Amen, Let's close,

[61:55] And crown our day, By singing, One of the great hymns, Of the church, Crown him, With many crowns, A hand upon his throne, Or crown the heavenly anthem, Drowns all, Is he by its own, Away my soul, And sing, A king who died for thee, And play him as thy match, Bless me, Through all eternity, Proud with him, The Lord of love, Behold his hands and side,

[62:57] Rich wounds, And visible, How of him, Here, The glory fight, No angel in the sky, Can fully bear the sight, The town prevents his burning eye, That mystery so bright, Proud with the Lord of heaven, One with the Father known, One with the Spirit, Through him, Gave from yon, Deer glorious throne,

[63:58] To him the endless praise, For thou for us hast died, Needeth the Lord, Through endless days, He's adored and magnified, The day is long spent, And the darkness has come, But we go as children of the light, Into that darkness, And as we go, Our prayer is, That the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Will go with each, And with every one of us, This night and forevermore, Amen, And with every one of us,

[65:19] And with every one of us,