[0:00] we shall read together from the gospel according to Luke and we will read a section there from chapter 23 Luke chapter 23 shall begin a reading from verse 32 down to the end of verse 49 and there were also two others malefactors led with him to be put to death and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary there they crucified him and the malefactors one on the right hand and the other on the left then said Jesus father forgive them for they know not what they do and they parted his raiment and cast lots and the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them derided him saying he saved others let him save himself if he be the Christ the chosen of God the soldiers also mocking him coming to him and offering him vinegar and say if thou be the king of the Jews save thyself and an inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew this is the king of the Jews and one of the malefactors which hanged railed on him saying if thou be Christ save thyself and us but the other answering rebuked him saying dost thou not fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation and we justly and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds but this man has done nothing amiss and he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom and Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee today thou shalt be with me in paradise and it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst then Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said father into thy hands
[2:49] I commend my spirit and having said this he gave up the ghost now when the centurion saw what was done he glorified God saying certainly this was a righteous man and all the people that came together to that site beholding the things which were done smote their breasts and returned and all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things Amen and may the Lord bless to us that portion from his own holy word we shall sing once again in Psalm 22 this time singing from verse 23 down to the end of verse marked 26 Psalm 22 from verses 23 to 26 Praise ye the Lord who do and fear him glorify all ye the seed of Jacob fear him all that Israel's children be down to the end of verse mark 26 the meek shall eat and shall be filled they also praise shall give and to the Lord that do him seek your heart shall ever live shall we sing these words together to the Lord's praise to the Lord and pray him all ye the seed of Jacob fear him all ye the seed of Jacob fear him all ye the seed of Jacob fear him all ye
[4:38] Come begin him all That his self children ve- For he decides not on the board, The hour he dismisses thee, Not from him milled his fields, For he is the hell when he to hell did die.
[5:25] Within the congregation day, My praise shall be of thee, My words beholden, glad and filled, Shall be there for crying, The peace shall eat, And shall be filled, They also pay shall give, And to the Lord that good is still,
[6:31] Good heart shall ever give. Shall we turn once more to that portion that we read together, The Gospel according to Luke, Chapter 23, And we shall read at verse 34, Then said Jesus, Father forgive them, For they know not what they do, And they parted his raiment and cast lots, Father forgive them, For they know not what they do.
[7:20] I'd like to look for a while tonight at this, The first saying of our Saviour, On the cross of Calvary, And seek to try, As the Lord helps, To enable us just to, Get a picture in our mind's eye, What he endured, To provide a way for sinners, Such as we are.
[7:57] And I'd like to do that, Under looking at this portion of scripture, Under three headings, Looking at from verse 34, Down to the end of verse 37, We shall look first of all at Christ's words, To all at Calvary, And this will take up most of our time, And secondly we shall look at for a very short time, The ruler's words to Christ at Calvary, And then finally the soldier's words, To Christ at Calvary.
[8:40] Crucifixion, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, It was the most brutal, Form of death, That the Romans had, For prisoners, Crucifixion always involved, Somebody, Who would be bound, To a cross, Either by ropes, Or by nails, And there they would, Be hung, Until they eventually died, It was the most shameful, It was the most brutal, It was the most humiliating, Form of death, Known to man, At that time, The cross that our Saviour died upon, Is best described, As a cross in the shape of,
[9:43] The letter T, The small T, As it were in our alphabet, Wherein, There is a little bit of, The cross, Above the cross piece, And there, Above there, Was written, The words that you find, In verse 38, The superscription, That was written over him, In letters of Greek, In Latin and Hebrew, This is the king, Of the Jews, I always knew, That there were crosses, In the shape of the letter T, But I didn't know, That there were other shapes, Of crosses too, That the Romans used, There were crosses, In the shape, Of the letter X, There were crosses, In the shape, Of the letter Y, Where both feet, Were nailed together, And unbelievably, There was even, Cross, In the shape, Of the letter I, Where both hands,
[10:43] And both nails, Were pierced together, Last weekend, The clock changed, As we know it, And we have a little, Extra daylight now, And the timeline, Of our saviour, As we, Know it in our day, Today, Is that our saviour, Was on the cross, From 9am, Until 3pm, And scripture, Tells us that at midday, Darkness descended, Upon the land, The death, Was so brutal, That it was a, Relief almost, If you were only, To survive on the cross, For a matter of hours, But some were known, To survive, For up to two days, Even up to three days, Our Lord,
[11:46] Was six hours, On the cross, And within these six hours, She uttered seven sayings, Three of them, Are recorded in this gospel, That we have read together, The first saying, Is mentioned, The second saying, To the thief, And the final saying, And it is always good for us, Whenever we are studying, The life of Christ, To spend some time, In all four gospels, As it seeks to bring, The complete picture together, There's not one, Of the four gospels, That record all seven sayings, And one of the gospels, If memory serves me right, Only records one, Of the seven sayings, And what we have here, Is this place, Of a skull, And in the original language, In the original, Aramaic language, It is known as Golgotha,
[12:47] And in the Latin, It is known as Calveria, And that is where we get the word, And the name Calvary from, This is the place, Where our saviour was crucified, And part of our Lord's, Humiliation involved, Being crucified, Not just by himself, But in the midst of two others, The Romans were known in their time, For crucifying people, In groups of three, And whoever was in the middle, Of the three, Was classed, As the worst of all three, And here in, In this portion of scripture, We read, That Christ is crucified, In the middle, With a thief on either side, This is a fulfilment, Of prophecy, In the Old Testament, And a fulfilment,
[13:47] Of the prophecy, Of Christ himself, In the Old Testament, In the book of Isaiah, Many of us know the chapter in 53, So well, And in verse 12, Because he hath poured out his soul, And to death, He was numbered with the transgressors, As he bare the sin of many, And made intercession, With the transgressors, And these words are also quoted, In the previous chapter, By our Saviour, To his own disciples, In verse 37, When he says unto them, For I say unto you, That this is written, That it is, That is written, Must yet accomplished in me, That he was reckoned among the transgressors, For the things concerning me, To an end.
[14:47] It's remarkable, isn't it, That our Saviour would be treated in such a way, Him who was sinless, And even in this awful situation at Calvary, He is portrayed as the worst of all sinners.
[15:05] Let us look then for a while, At our first heading, At Christ's words to all at Calvary. We find that in verse 34.
[15:18] Then said Jesus, Father forgive them, For they know not what they do, And they parted his raiment, And cast lots. What you have here, Is a model prayer, Set before us, By the Lord.
[15:41] In these few short words, It shows to us, Luke's account reveals to us, Of the Messiah's forgiving nature, Within the words that he quotes here, His first saying is a prayer, And he starts off this prayer, By showing us how to address the Father, How to address God, Father, he says.
[16:11] And the prayer goes on, Secondly, To show us, Of our need, To ask for forgiveness of sins, Forgive them. And then finally, It goes on to show us, Of how inspired he was, Even to love, His enemies, For they know not what they do, He says.
[16:39] This verse, Has got a very underrated word in it, 34. In most versions of the Bible, We will read today, And said Jesus.
[16:55] In the King James version, It is different. It has the word, Then said Jesus. And this, Almost insignificant word, Makes all the difference, When we are reading, When we are reading, About the brutality, Of Christ on the cross.
[17:18] When did Jesus say, Father forgive them, For they know not what they do. Christ, Says this, At the point, Where man has done, His very worst, To our Saviour.
[17:34] They have beaten him, They have whipped him, They have wrapped the ribs, Whips round, His hands, His arms, His torso, So that, His flesh, Has been torn apart.
[17:55] They have spat upon him, They have nailed him, To the cross, They have mocked him, They have humiliated him, And it is at that, Moment in time, Then, Said Jesus, Father forgive them.
[18:17] My friends, When you think, Of your Saviour on the cross, Do not think of Christ, As somebody, That you will see in a picture, With a trickle of blood, Coming from his head, And from his hands, And his feet.
[18:40] The Lord, That is your Saviour, Barely resembled a human being, On the cross of Calvary. He was, A bloody mess, As it were.
[18:56] There was blood, Pouring from every part, Of his body. He barely, Ressembled a man, And that is what, He is enduring, For his own people, At Calvary.
[19:11] Not a trickle of blood. A man, That was brutalised, And ripped apart. That's what they did, To our Saviour.
[19:28] And it is most interesting, In the Gospel, Of Luke, And in chapter 3, We read this, In verse 21, When John baptises Jesus, Now when all people, Were baptised, It came to pass, That Jesus, Also being baptised, And praying, The Father, Praying the heaven, Was opened.
[19:53] Praying. Christ's public ministry, Began in prayer, At baptism. And now we find, Christ's public ministry, Is coming to an end, And it ends in prayer too.
[20:13] Isn't that remarkable, When we think of our Saviour, Forgiveness, Was his first thought, Even while being, Put to death, On the cross.
[20:26] Forgiveness, Was his first thought, As he neared death, As it was, Throughout the whole, Of his three year period, Of ministry. What a Saviour we have.
[20:38] What a gift, We have today, If we are the Lord's people, If we have been forgiven, From our sins. But forgiveness, Isn't always easy, As we know ourselves, To our cost.
[20:53] When people wrong us, It hurts so much. And if truth be told, It is sometimes easier, To accept the forgiveness, Of somebody, When it is ourselves, They have hurt.
[21:10] But when it comes, To hurting, Our mothers, And our fathers, And our wives, And our husbands, And our children, That's a different kind of hurt.
[21:28] Yet here at the cross, Christ's mother, Is present. And she is witnessing all this. And she is seeing all that he is enduring.
[21:40] And yet Christ seeks, To provide, Forgiveness for him. To whom is this prayer, Addressed.
[21:50] Who is it directed to? Well, Verse 35 tells us the answer to that.
[22:01] And the people stood beholding. Who are the people? The people are everybody that are there. The people that are there, Including his very enemies. Let's go through some of the people that are there.
[22:13] This is a prayer for his executioners. This is a prayer, Even for his own Jewish people that are present.
[22:25] This is a prayer for the Jewish leaders that are present. This is a prayer for those who are part of the Sanhedrin that are present. This is a prayer for those, Who, Coming from the Jewish nation and the Jewish culture, Should have known who the Christ was.
[22:39] But they looked upon him as an imposter. Not only that. But this is a prayer for the Roman soldiers. This is a prayer for the Roman politicians.
[22:54] This is a prayer directed for everybody, Who took part in the first trial that took place in order to have Christ crucified. And this is a prayer also for the sycophants that would have been there.
[23:07] Who would have been found there regularly, Taking joy out of watching suffering, The suffering of other people, As they near death.
[23:19] What a motley crew of people, Disassembled at Calvary, Witnessing Christ, Being put to death. If this is teaching us anything, This is teaching us surely this, That we should never regard anybody, As being out with the reach of Christ.
[23:48] We should never write anybody off, As being too sinful, Too far gone. We should never give up hope on anybody, That they cannot be saved.
[24:01] And maybe you're in here tonight, And maybe the devil is reminding you of something that you did 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, And saying, Well, whoever will be saved, I can't be saved because of this, That and the next thing, That I did.
[24:21] I have things, That I will not forgive myself for doing. I'm sure many are like that in here today. But in Christ, He has forgiven us of these things.
[24:38] And if Christ is willing, To provide a way, That even his executioners are put to death, And even the mockers are put to death, What makes you think, That he won't listen to your prayer, For him to come into your heart, If as yet you haven't trusted in Jesus, As saviour and friend.
[25:03] Here we see Christ's divine intercession at work. And it's remarkable, Isn't it, When we read it?
[25:16] It's remarkable, That even, When Christ is enduring this unspeakable agony, Still all that's on his mind, Is the salvation of sinners.
[25:29] Have you ever noticed the calmness of Christ, On the cross as you have read these passages, On the gospel. There's no anger, There's no sign of resentment, There's no sign of getting even, There's no desire to punish, Those that are afflicting such pain upon him, You won't find any of that in Christ.
[26:11] Christ deals with this in a way, That you and I would have, Much greater difficulty in dealing with it. What do you find Christ doing?
[26:25] When everybody there is, Showing him hatred, And where the wrath of man is spewing, From the put of hell itself in his direction, And all aimed at him, He pleads, For the intercession of these people.
[26:44] Perhaps in a whisper, Perhaps in a low voice, Barely unable to speak, We have to take into account, How difficult it was, For somebody who was being crucified on the cross, Even to breathe, Far less speak.
[27:08] Where they would have to physically, Lift their whole body up to breathe, Starting from the nails, That were at the bottom of their feet, In order to lift themselves up to inhale, And then exhale, As the body would droop.
[27:27] What agony he went through, Even to utter these words. He could have prayed, Father, consume them.
[27:39] He could have called upon the angels, To come and save him. But our saviour was not going to do that.
[27:51] Had he done that, His work as a messiah, Would have been a failure. And there would be no hope for you and I, Of eternal glory to come.
[28:04] No hope of salvation of sins. No hope of forgiveness of sins. Christ endured. Christ endured. And my friends, If you need encouragement, To show you, How much Christ loves a sinner.
[28:23] Here it is. And like Christ, We have to, Do as he does.
[28:33] And it is our duty, And it is our duty, To pray, And to love even those who persecute us. Those who cause us harm.
[28:47] Those who may be mocking, Us for coming to worship, The Lord. The man who prays for his enemies, Is a man, Who has a mind of Christ, And great will yet be his reward.
[29:06] You know, If you had anybody, Who was involved, With the mission of persecuted Christians, In your church tonight, Whether it was somebody, From Voice of the Martyrs, Or Church and Chains, Or Release International, Or Steadfast Global, They would all tell you the same thing.
[29:31] They would tell you wonderful stories, Of Christians, Who are being persecuted, For their faith. And yet in their persecution, They are praying for even those, Who persecute them.
[29:50] They are doing what Christ taught. This is what Christ teaches to us, In Matthew's Gospel in chapter 5. This is what he teaches us, With regard to loving our enemies.
[30:04] In verse 43, Ye have heard it being said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, And hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, And bless them that curse you.
[30:15] Do good to them that hate you, And pray for them, Which despitefully use you, And persecute you. Here is Christ, Here is Christ, Being the living proof, Of what, He taught, His own disciples.
[30:37] On the Sermon of the Mount, If we can use the term, This is Christ practicing, What he preached. As he nears death, In torment of body, And in torment of soul.
[30:57] You have a similar record, In the Gospel according to, Not the Gospel, But in the book of Acts, In chapter 7, And in verse 60, Where this is what we read, With regard to Stephen, And they stoned Stephen, Calling upon God, And saying, Lord Jesus, Receive my spirit.
[31:21] And he kneeled down, With a loud voice, Lord lay not this, Soon on their charge. And when he said this, He fell asleep. It's such a challenge, To you and I, Isn't it?
[31:36] When we are wronged, And when we have been heard. But what does it mean, In this portion of scripture, Where we read, For they know not, What they do.
[31:51] It almost suggests, In a way, Some kind of, Motive of forgiveness. It almost suggests, In a way that, Our Lord and our Saviour, Is taking pity upon them.
[32:04] It almost suggests, In a way that he's making, Some kind of an excuse, For those who have pierced him. They were not ignorant, Of what they were doing.
[32:16] Because they all, Had their hands, In the air, In unison. Shouting, Crucify him. Crucify him. But what is happening here, And why he is saying this, Is simply this, Is that these people, Were spiritually ignorant, Of the enormity, Of their crime.
[32:40] They simply, Did not believe, Believe, That this was the Messiah, Who was come, Who was being crucified.
[32:52] They did not know, That it was the Lord of glory. And yet, There in the midst, Are multitudes, From the Jewish community, And the Jewish leadership.
[33:08] The people, Who from generation, To generation, Had been taught, About the coming Messiah. And yet, They look upon Christ, As an imposter. I did have a few quotes, From some of the Puritans, That I would have read out to you, From John Gill, And I left them in the car.
[33:34] So I can't read them out to you, But I can read to you, What we read, What we read in the gospel, In the Acts chapter 3, And in verse, 17, This is what we read, With regard to what is taking place here.
[33:52] When Peter is appealing to the Jews, To repent, In verse 17, He says, And now brethren, I walt that through your ignorance, You did it, As did also your rulers, Through their ignorance.
[34:10] And also we read, In first Corinthians, And in chapter 2, And in verse 8, We read this, Which none of the princes, Of this world knew, For had they known it, They would not, Have crucified, The Lord of glory.
[34:34] Glory. They simply did not believe, And realize, That this was the Christ.
[34:54] It's quite remarkable, Isn't it? It teaches us, Surely that ignorance, Is not an excuse. These are people, That are without excuse, Not without excuse.
[35:10] The Romans, Certainly would not have known, As much as the Jewish people, But they simply chose, Not to believe, That Christ was the Messiah.
[35:24] And why is it then, We read in here, That the Lord, Seeks to ask the Father, For their forgiveness, For their forgiveness.
[35:34] How is it, That he just doesn't, Do it himself? After all, He was able to, Raise people from the dead. After all, He was able to, Give sight to the blind.
[35:46] After all, He was able to, Cure multitudes, That had many diseases. But yet, We read here, Father, Forgive them, For they know not, What they do.
[35:59] We have to remember, My friends, That at this moment in time, Christ, Is our substitute. Here, Christ is the just, Dying for the unjust.
[36:13] Here, Our Lord and Saviour, As he hangs to the cross, As he nears death, Here is our Saviour, And he is no longer, In the same place of authority.
[36:25] He, But he doesn't give up, On those, That are tormenting him. And he doesn't give up, On all those, That are hating him.
[36:41] And all those, That are longing, For him to die. Instead, He intercedes for them, To the Father. What a triumph, This is, Of his redeeming love.
[36:57] What a Saviour we have. We're so guilty, Sometimes, Of writing people off, And saying, Of some people, Well, Whoever will be saved, It won't be them.
[37:11] But that's not the way, Our Lord was. At what point, I wonder, Did Christ say, Father, Forgive them, For they know not, What they do.
[37:28] Well, I don't know, If you've ever thought of this, But I think of it often. Of course, It is not recorded, In scripture.
[37:40] Did he say it, More than one time. I think of my Saviour, As he carried the cross, And people pushing him, And shoving him, And spitting on him.
[37:59] I picture my Saviour, Saying, Father, Forgive them. I picture my Saviour, As the nail goes through, His first hand, Father, Forgive them.
[38:16] I picture my Saviour, When the nail goes through, This hand, Father, Forgive them. Through his feet, Father, Forgive them.
[38:28] It is speculation, For sure. But it would not surprise us, That our Saviour, Would say such a thing. Father, Forgive them, For they know not, What they do.
[38:44] And then we read, That they parted his carmen, And they cast lots. It's quite remarkable, Isn't it, That each condemned, So, Prisoner, Who was sentenced, To die on the cross, Was made, For part of the while, At least if they could, To carry their own cross.
[39:03] And there would be two soldiers, In front of them, And two behind them. As if there was any, Way, Imaginable, That this soldier, Could possibly escape.
[39:17] And those that were, Jewish people, That were put to death, In such a way as this, They would normally, Wear five articles, Of clothing. And we list them.
[39:33] The first thing, That they would wear, Would be the turban. And then there would be, The girdle. And then there would be, The inner tunic. And then there would be, The outer tunic, Or the robe.
[39:46] And then there would be, The sandals. And what the soldiers, Would do then, Is that they would take, All the clothing, Bar the best part, Of the clothing.
[39:57] And seek to possess it, For themselves. And what they would, No doubt do, Is move it on, And maybe sell it on, For a little bit of money, For themselves.
[40:09] Divide, The five items of clothing, Between the four. But we know, That five doesn't go into four. The outer tunic, Or the cloak, As it were, Was the best part of, Or the prized part of, What the Jewish people, Would wear.
[40:29] And it was woven, Without seam. And they were, Therefore wouldn't split it, Into four parts. Instead, They would cast lots, And gamble, To see, Who would get it.
[40:42] As it is, In our own day, Sometimes, The jackets that we wear, Is the best, And most expensive, Part of our clothing.
[40:54] Be it a super dry jacket, Or a Harris tweed jacket, Whatever it is, Sometimes, A jacket that we wear, Costs more than everything else, Put together. Same kind of scenario here.
[41:07] And they cast lots, Just as what was, Proclaimed in Psalm 22, And they part my garments, Among them, And they cast lots, Upon my vesture, Underneath the cross of Christ.
[41:30] Isn't it remarkable, Man's inhumanity, Towards man, But yet, Here we have another scripture, Being fulfilled.
[41:42] When you go through, The seven sayings of the cross, You will find that, Every single one of the seven, Has been, Already in the Old Testament, Been prophesied.
[41:56] And here is something else, That has been prophesied, In the Old Testament. And my friends, Let me tell you, As if our Saviour, Hadn't gone through enough, It would appear, That he barely, Had any clothing on, When he was crucified.
[42:18] Such humiliation, He endures. And yet, We have, Yet, Maybe there's somebody, In here tonight, That still hasn't committed, Their lives to Christ, Well what else, Can he do?
[42:41] He has been battered, He has been bruised, He has been torn apart, He has been humiliated, And here he is, On the cross, Barely clothed, Dripping in blood, Nearing death, Praying for those, Those who are persecuting, And can it be, That yet there are people, In here tonight, Who are still saying, Not yet Lord, I'm not ready, To commit to you yet, Oh my friends, Please don't, Have that attitude, After all, He has endured, For a few minutes, Let's just look briefly, At our second heading, The words, Of the rulers, To Christ, At Calvary, In verse 35, And the people, Stood beholding, And the rulers,
[43:41] With them, Derided him, Saying, He saved others, Let him save himself, If he be the Christ, The chosen of God, The people are, Understood to be, The Jewish people, As we have said, And they are the rulers, Of the Sanhedrin, As we have said, Those, Who are ignorant, Those who ought to have known, And yet, In their utter blindness, Of these Jewish leaders, It's remarkable, Instead of seeking, The Saviour, We read in Psalm 2, We have sung in Psalm 2, I am a worm, And a no man, A reproach of men, And despised of the people, All that see me, Laugh to scorn, They shoot out, From the lip, And they shake their head, Saying, He trusted on the Lord, That he would deliver him, Let him deliver him, Seeing, He delighted in me, These leaders,
[44:42] Have become mockers, Isn't that just remarkable, Those, That had the scripture, Those that had the answer, Those that should have been awaiting, The birth of the Saviour, And here they are found, Gathered at the foot of the cross, Mocking, In unison, With all the other haters, And they mock Christ, In three different ways, Three different things, They say to him, He saved others, Let him save himself, What a mockery, And then you have, The satanic if, From the pit of hell itself, If, He be the Christ, If, And then finally, The chosen of God, It would be like,
[45:42] Somebody here saying, Hapara, Hapara, Chosen of God, If he is the Christ, He saved others, Well let him go, And save himself, That was the attitude, And what you find here, Is that the very mercy, Of our Lord, Is used in mockery, Against him, And it did not enter, The minds of these Jewish people, For not one moment, It did not enter, Enter their mind, That the meaning, Of Christ being the Messiah, Was not the saving of himself, But the saving of others, It was beyond them, To understand that, And they would look at Christ, On the cross, And say, Well whoever he is, He is certainly,
[46:44] Not the Messiah, Whoever this imposter is, It is not the Christ, And then you have finally, In our third heading, In a brief moment, The words of the soldiers, To Christ at Calvary, In verse 37, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, Save thyself, And then we read of the inscription, Over his head, Well the soldiers, Go down a different route, First of all, They mock him, By offering him wine, Vinegar it is written here, This vinegar was cheap wine, This cheap wine, Is what the soldiers drank, All day long, And they seek to pass it, To the Lord, They seek to give it, To all the condemned, Prisoners, Who are nearing death, This is not an act of mercy, This is not an act of love,
[47:46] To quench thirst, This is pure mockery, Because all they are seeking to do, Is hoping that this person, Would take a sip, To make them last, A little bit longer on the cross, In the midst of all, The agony that they were enduring, And if it meant, That, The prisoner, Could live an hour or two longer, And suffer an hour or two more, These soldiers would gladly, Give a drink, To a parched lip, So they mock the Lord, In this way, And then they go on, To mock the Lord, Again, As the Messiah, The soldiers mock him, As a helpless king, The soldiers mock him, As being king of the Jews, The soldiers mock him, As a king without a crown,
[48:49] As a king without an army, As a king without a crown, Because that's all they were used to, Can you picture the scene at Calvary, Can you picture, What Christ is going through, Look at the two groups of people, That are there, Look at the Jewish nation, That are there, And they are mocking him, For his claim to be the Messiah, And look at the Romans, That are there, Who are mocking his regard, To be king, And together, They are in unison, But the Romans didn't, Understand, Like the Jewish leaders, That the true function, Of Christ being king, Was not, To take care of himself, As king, But to take care, Of his kingdom, And all those, That were part of it, Is that you and I, In here tonight, My friends, Yes, They denied,
[49:49] That Christ, Was the king of kings, But this Christ, Is God's king, This Christ, Is God's anointed, And this Christ, Is God's appointed king, No matter, What the Jewish people, Are saying, No matter, What the Roman people, Are saying, And one final question, Did the Lord answer, The saviour's, Prayer, Well, Most certainly, He did, We read in, Matthew chapter 27, And we also read in, Luke's gospel, Here, In verse 54, Now when the centurion, And they that were with them, Watching Jesus, Saw the earthquake, And those, Things that were done, They feared greatly, Saying, Truly, This was, The son of God, Not only that, But we read,
[50:50] In Acts chapter 2, You can read it yourselves, From verses 36 to 41, That at Pentecost, Three thousand people, A short time later, Came to faith, In the Lord, And not just that, But in the book of Acts, And in chapter 6, Verse 7, We read, And the word of God increased, And the number of the disciples, Multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, And a great company of priests, Were obedient to the faith, I wonder how many of that, Great company of priests, Were there that day, Laughing, And mocking Christ, My friends, It was not the eloquence, Of Peter's preaching, That won the souls, Of three thousand people, To Christ, It was the answer,
[51:51] To this prayer, As Christ nears death, On the cross, Father, Forgive them, For they know not what they do, Those of us, That are Christians, In here tonight, How wonderful it is, What comfort it brings to us, To know, That even before we were born, Even before we became, Believers in Christ, Christ was praying for us, Only at the end of time, Only when this world is no more, Will we ever know, How many souls, Were one for Christ, In and through this interceding prayer, Multitudes, And now our time is up, Now the clock has beaten us,
[52:51] Yet again, How wonderful it must be in glory, When there is, And where there is, No clock, No time, No end of worship, Don't you want to be there, At the end of life's journey, But here tonight, God is asking us this question, As we part, What now, Are we going to do, With this Christ, Who uttered these words, Father, Forgive them, For they know not what they do, Well I hope we realise, That Christ has done it all, My friends, There is no plan B, There is nothing that we can do, To save ourselves, I was five years old,
[53:54] When I asked the Lord, To come into my heart, And I was 19 years old, When the Lord eventually, Came into my heart, Why was there a 14 year wait, Because in these 14 years, I was convinced, There was something, I had to do myself, And there was always, Something of this world, That I would not let go of, And we have to come, To the point, Where we realise, And recognise, That there is nothing, That we can do, To save ourselves, Except come to the one, Who has done it all, And paid it all, As our substitute, And ask with all of our heart, A hundred percent of our heart, For him to come into our lives, That's when he comes in, Not when we ask, With half a heart, Not even when we ask,
[54:55] With 90% of our heart, Holding on to a few worldly things, So here's the question tonight, What are we going to do with Christ, Another Sabbath is over, And who knows, Will we hear, The word of God again, What if we're in eternity, By next weekend, What if the Lord Jesus Christ comes, Tonight, This week, Where are we going to spend eternity, Surely there's nobody in here, Who is saying, That they want to go to hell, And be with the spitters, And the haters, And the abusers, Of Christ, Surely not, Surely you're not saying that, When Christ is before us,
[55:57] Showing us all he has endured, As our substitute, How can, We possibly, Refuse this crucified Christ, Who died, And rose again, And offers forgiveness, And mercy to us today, Offers to look after us, In this world, Offers to keep us safe, In this world, To guide and protect us, And tells us that the best, Is yet to come, At the end of life's journey, How can we refuse him, We read, In verse 48, And all the people, That came together to sight, Beholding the things,
[56:58] Which were done, Smote their breasts, And returned, I can't be at the door, To be at the door, Tonight, As we part, But I ask this, That each and every single one of us, As we walk out the door, That we smite our breast, And we say, From this day onwards, For me to live as Christ, And to die, Will begin, Amen, May the Lord bless to us, These thoughts, We shall sing in conclusion, Again in Psalm 22, We shall sing from verse 27, Down to the end of verse 37,