Father Forgive Them - Life of Christ Part 102

I was visiting not too long ago with a lady in the hospital who, apart from God's miraculous intervention, is probably going to die very soon. And as I was talking to her and her husband, one of the passions that this lady was telling me about that she has is to be able to say some things to her children before she leaves. And she's in a lot of pain and she's on some drugs to try to keep the pain down and her body's very tired, but through the exhaustion and through the drugs she was trying to summon up enough strength to be able to record on tape or to write down some of these things that she wants to communicate to her children before she leaves this world. And I got to thinking as I was sitting there talking to her, man, if I only had a couple weeks left to live and I knew it, what would I want to communicate to my children before I left?

And if you've got children or even if you can just kind of put yourself in the position where you can imagine having some children, what is it that if you only had a few days left to live that you'd really, really, really want to talk to them about? You think you'd want to talk to them about keeping their room clean? I don't think so. Think that'd matter?

Uh-uh. How about about picking up their dishes and taking them over to the sink before they leave the table? I don't think that'd be paramount in your mind, do you? I don't think we'd be talking to them about mundane stuff like that. We would be wanting to communicate to them the most fundamental, the most important truth that we feel in the deepest part of our soul that we'd like them to carry with them for the rest of their life even after we're gone. We begin today looking at the section of the Gospels where Jesus Christ is nailed to the cross, where he hangs there for a few hours. And while he's hanging on the cross, the Bible records that Jesus said seven things. I can't help but believe that in those moments hanging on the cross that the same thing was going on in Jesus's mind as would be going on in your mind or my mind if we knew we were leaving. And that is to try to communicate to us the most important spiritual truths he wanted us to take with us through the rest of our lives.

And so we're going to spend a week on each one of these seven sayings, the next seven weeks, and I hope that as a result of this that we'll gain some really valuable, really valuable spiritual information that we can build our lives on. We're going to look at the first one today and it begins right here in Luke 23 verse 32. Luke 23 verse 32. Remember Jesus is walking through the streets of Jerusalem carrying his cross and verse 32 says, two other men, both criminals, both robbers, were also let out with him to be executed. And when they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified him along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

The end of verse 34. And they divided up Jesus's clothes by casting lots. Crucifixion was one of the cruelest methods of execution ever devised. The Romans did not invent it. It was actually invented by the Phoenicians a thousand years before Jesus was ever crucified.

But even though the Romans didn't invent it, they deserve credit as the people who perfected it as a way of killing people in the most painful and lingering way, humanly imaginable. It would work like this. They would strip a person of his clothes down to his undergarments. And then the soldiers who had escorted them to the place of crucifixion would get those clothes. As you read here, they divided Jesus's clothes up by casting lots. Then they would nail their hands and their ankles onto the cross. And then with ropes, they would hoist the cross up and set it upright in a socket down in solid rock.

Now, the pain from nailing a person to the cross would not be enough to kill him. And so people would hang there sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for a few days. There's even some recorded instances of people hanging on crosses for as long as a week. But while they hung there, they got no food. They got no water, no sustenance of any kind. They hung there in the heat of the day.

They hung there in the frost in the cold of the evening. And usually people who lasted four or five days by the time they eventually died had become raving maniacs and lunatics on the cross. The death that you died on the cross finally came usually by suffocation, because as you hung and the weight of your body pulled down and you weakened, sooner or later you got to the point where you became so weak you could not expand your diaphragm to breathe anymore. You could get a little relief by pushing up with your legs so you could expand your diaphragm a little, but don't forget your legs are nailed to the cross.

And so you trade the pain that comes from pushing up for the privilege of being able to breathe just a little bit longer. Finally, however, people would get too exhausted to even use their legs anymore. And the last little bit of life would gurgle out of them as they hung there. In fact, one way the Romans used to hasten death, if they needed it to happen more quickly, is they would come around and break the legs of people hanging on the cross so that they couldn't push up with their legs. And if you remember, that's what was done to the two thieves on either side of Jesus. Crucifixion was such a horrible way to die that there was actually a little ladies' society in Jerusalem that would attend crucifixions.

And what they would do is they would give victims a special potion made up of wine and vinegar and gall and other morphine-like drugs to deaden their senses to produce almost like a coma so that the person could take the pain. And if you read the gospel accounts, you'll find out that those ladies were there and they offered this to Jesus, but he turned it down, preferring instead to face the pain of the crucifixion head on with his head clear and his senses unclouded. But that's crucifixion.

Definitely not a fun way to die. And when they nailed Jesus to the cross and they hoisted him up, the first thing that he said from the cross is found right here in verse 34. Look what he said. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing. Father, forgive them.

They don't realize what they're doing. John Chapter 1, verse 18 says nobody's ever seen God. Jesus Christ came into the world to explain God to us. In John Chapter 14, Philip said, you know, Jesus, if you just show us who God is, we'd all be happy and content.

And Jesus said to him, Philip, don't you get it yet? The person who has seen me has seen God. Every word, every action, every attitude, every reaction that you see coming from me is an exact and perfect snapshot of who God is and what God would do in this very same situation. And does that make what Jesus said on the cross precious or what? I mean, here he is in the moment of his deepest suffering and pain on earth, the deepest suffering and pain maybe you could have on earth. And he displays the heart of God for all of us to see.

And what we see is not hatred or revenge or retaliation or rejection. But what we see is God's love for people, love for even people who abuse him and hurt him and scorn him and reject him and nail him to a cross. You know, Jesus could have made a different prayer on the cross than he prayed. He could have prayed for justice. Father, condemn them. He could have prayed for retribution. Father, consume them. He could have even prayed for personal vindication. Father, convince them I'm really who I said I am.

But instead of all of those things, Jesus prayed for mercy. Father, forgive them. They don't realize I'm God in human flesh. They don't understand that they're killing their own Messiah. They don't realize that they're spurning your love and rejecting your plan of salvation and earning the judgment of God for their lives. And folks, I don't know how love gets any higher than this.

I don't think it gets any higher than this. Returning mercy to the very people who are nailing you to a cross and they're happy about it. They're happy about it. And you pray for their forgiveness. By the way, just before we leave the passage, you know, it might be a good place for me to say that there are lots of people around in our world today who have never come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

And one of the reasons for that is they're not really sure that this whole thing's for real. Well, Jesus maybe didn't really do this and this didn't really happen and the Bible's not really true. And when you talk to those folks, one of the things they often say to you is, well, prove to me that this thing called Christianity is really true.

What proof can you give me? Folks, one of the greatest proofs that we can give is fulfilled prophecy. Where hundreds and even thousands of years before things took place in time and space, God had already said in the Bible they were going to happen. And we find three of those right here. For example, in Psalm 69, the Bible says, And they put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. Well, didn't that happen? And then in Isaiah 53, it says that the Messiah would be numbered along with lawbreakers, transgressors, criminals.

Well, there wasn't one on each side of him. And finally, Psalm 22. Listen, They have pierced my hands and my feet. People stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them and they cast lots for my clothing. Isn't that what the soldiers did? Now, these predictions were written between six hundred and a thousand years before Jesus Christ was ever nailed to a cross. You say, now, how in the world could somebody eight hundred a thousand years get this right?

Well, a person couldn't. These are just three of among 30 prophecies of the life of Jesus Christ that were all fulfilled exactly. And in fact, Richard Park, one of our staff people, wrote me a note and said, Lon, during the past week, I was talking with a research scientist and mathematician formerly employed at the Pentagon who researched 30 of the clearest Old Testament prophecies referring to Jesus. And she calculated that the probability of one and the same person fulfilling all 30 prophecies was one with 100 zeros after it. I'm not a mathematician. I can't certify that was done correctly.

But even if she's close to right, even if she's close to right. What that says is that the fact that these things were written hundreds of years before they happen is a great proof that there really is a living God and that the word of God, the Bible really is his information to us. You say, oh, Lon, people just went back and changed the Bible after it all happened. They went back and rewrote it. So it all looked like Jesus had fulfilled.

No, couldn't do that. That won't stand up because, you see, we've got copies of all of these books from the Old Testament, from the Dead Sea Scrolls, written 100 to 200 years before Jesus ever lived. And they all say exactly what I just read to you.

So you can forget that. That won't hold water. An almighty God wrote the Bible. That's why he says in Isaiah 45, I am the Lord. There's nobody like me. And I'm the person who make known from ancient times what is still yet to come to prove to you.

I am the Lord. So if you're here and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way and you need some proof. Well, I don't know how to give you much better proof than this. I hope you'll really think about that. That's the end of our passage. But of course, it leaves us with the really important question.

What's a really important question? So what? Yeah, Lon, you know, appreciate this good information. You know, God bless you. And we know you didn't play golf all week.

Good for you. But so what? Let me start by asking you a question. What is the most valuable thing ounce for ounce in the world today? Gold, platinum, diamonds.

Well, it seems to me the answer would have to be anything that was owned by Jacqueline Kennedy. Ounce for ounce. Huh? Did you read about that stuff? Is that crazy? Is that insane? You want to hear some of this? USA Today said people are paying hundreds of times the value for objects that are amazingly mediocre.

Here are just a few examples. A charm bracelet. Sotheby's auction house valued at fifteen hundred dollars. You know how much it went for? Sixty eight thousand dollars. Jackie Kennedy's French grammar book had her name written in the front. They valued at five hundred dollars. I wouldn't pay five hundred dollars for that thing. I don't care who signed it. I took French grammar.

I still can't understand any of it. And that's not a French grammar book in the world worth five hundred bucks. You know how much somebody paid for that?

You ready for this? Forty two thousand dollars. Now, she had kept JFK's golf clubs. You know, he had a set of Hogan irons. You know how much the irons went for? Three hundred and eighty seven thousand dollars. The head covers for his woods. Now, all they had on them was one, two, three and four. That's all they were on these things. You know how much they went for?

Ready for this? Thirty four thousand dollars. His putter. Sixty five thousand dollars. He had a set of woods made by McGregor.

Hold on to your seats. You know what the woods went for? Seven hundred and seventy two thousand dollars. And people say they don't have any money.

That ridiculous or what? Finally, Jackie's little pearl necklace, piece of junk. It was estimated to seven hundred dollars. It's a piece of junk. Most of you ladies would have thrown something like this away years ago. You know how much it went for? Two hundred and eleven thousand dollars. And now they're going to make replicas.

You can get them at your store. So, you know, go on out, ladies, and go buy these things. Robert Lacey, who's the official historian for Sotheby's auction. Here's what he said, and I quote. He said, I think the moral of all of this is to get your initials on all your things because you never know.

Mark everything, because if you get to be famous, somebody's going to get rich off of you. Is that incredible? Well, as I watch this, I got to thinking, you know what, though? There really is something in the world more valuable than Onassis wear. And you know what it is? It's forgiveness. Knowing that you are forgiven is much more valuable ounce for ounce than anything Jackie Kennedy owned. Knowing that you're loved unconditionally, regardless of your performance. Knowing that you're free from the guilt and the penalty of all that stuff you did that now you wish you hadn't done. Knowing that when you perform poorly, even in the future, that you're still guaranteed that you'll be forgiven. Folks, you may not be able to take forgiveness down to the bank and put it in your savings account, but more than money, more than fame, more than power, more than possessions, it is the secret to living a healthy, functional life and being a happy person. John Stott wrote a book called Confess Your Sins, and in this book he quotes the head of a large British psychiatric hospital. And here's what the doctor said, and I quote, he said, I could dismiss half of my inpatients tomorrow if they could be assured of forgiveness. If they just could know they were forgiven.

I could empty half the hospital. Forgiveness is the most precious commodity ounce for ounce in the world. And what's the most distinctive message of the Bible? The most distinctive message of the Bible is that you and I can be forgiven.

That God is offering to forgive our sin. Now it's true the Bible offers us some noble ways to live. And it's true that the Bible offers us some great role models. But, you know, friends, the core message of the Bible is not about noble ethics or about great role models. The core message of the Bible is this, that we can have our sin forgiven by almighty God.

That's what the Bible is all about. And I want to talk to you in a little bit of time I have left about forgiveness and want to communicate two very important things that God says about his forgiveness. The first one is this, that God's forgiveness is not like human forgiveness. God's forgiveness is full, not partial.

See, human forgiveness is not usually this way, but God's is. When I was growing up, whenever I would ask my mom to forgive me for something, she'd always say this. She'd always say, I will forgive you, but I will never... Did y'all know my mom? My mom used to say that all the time, I will never forget. And you know what?

I'll tell you something else. She never did. She never did. Years later, I'd be a grown up person and we'd be talking about something and she'd bring that stuff up, put it right in my face. Do you remember when you used to when you did this to me? Do you remember? Yes, mom. How can I forget?

Every time we talk, you bring it up again. Of course I remember. My mom had a great memory.

Like an elephant. That's not a comment on her anatomy. It's a comment on her memory. Boy, you know, that's a hard way to live with partial forgiveness. My mom and I in our relationship, we could never start over. We could never have a clean sweep. We could never reach the kind of relationship that we could have reached if we could have put all that behind us because she could never forgive fully.

It was always partial. I'm happy to announce to you this is not the way God forgives. The word that Jesus uses here from the cross is a word that means to remit somebody's debts, to cancel somebody's debts, to dismiss somebody's debts. And when a debt is dismissed, when a debt is canceled, it's gone, folks, for good. Nobody comes around and reminds you you once owed a debt that you've paid in full.

The car company doesn't send you a letter every year reminding you you used to have a car loan that's paid off. It's gone. It's good.

It's done. That's how God forgives. Listen to the word of God. Psalm 103. As far as the east is from the west, that's how far God has removed our transgressions from us. Micah chapter 7 says that God has hurled our sins into the deepest part of the sea and he put a sign up that says what?

No fishing. Now, the last part's not in there, but that's the idea. Hebrews chapter 10, New Testament. God says, and this is the covenant that I will make with them. Who is them?

It's all of us who've trusted Christ as our personal savior. This is the covenant I'll make with them. Their sins I will remember no more.

No more. When missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they ran into a big problem. And the big problem they ran into is that there's no word in Eskimo language for forgiveness.

That's a problem because if you want to translate the Bible and communicate the core message of the Bible, and there's no word for forgiveness, how are you going to do that? Well, finally, as they went on and kept learning Eskimo, they ran into a one word phrase that goes like this. Isumajijujungnayinirmuk. And you know what that means? It means not being able to think about it anymore.

Not being able to think about it anymore. And the missionaries said, that's it. That's our word. And they translated the Bible word forgiveness with the word isumajijujungnayinirmuk, not being able to think about it anymore. Because folks, this is how God forgives. And this is what Jesus offers you and me and every person alive. He offers to isumajijujungnayinirmuk, our sin, and not think about it anymore.

It's gone. Now, the second thing I want to tell you about forgiveness is not only is it full, but it is forever secure. It's irrevocable. It's irreversible.

This goes by other names. Eternal security, once saved, always saved. I don't care what you call it. The truth is the same. God says, when I forgive you and you are in a forgiven status with me, that is irrevocable.

It'll never change and you can never lose it. This church I used to go to years ago, I was just a young buck then, and there was this elderly lady there. She's about four foot nine. And she was the most active woman I'd ever seen in my life. She was at church. She was at Sunday school. She was at the women's group. She was at prayer meeting. She was like, she was everywhere. This woman was just a spiritual machine.

She's like a little tiny spiritual hand grenade. And one night after prayer meeting, she asked me if she could have a ride home. It was close by and I said, sure. So we were riding along and I said, how long have you been a Christian? She said, over 40 years. Well, I was only 26 at the time, so that made me feel real young. And I wish I could feel that young now.

But anyway, I felt young then. And so I said, well, that's great. And we were talking and I said, hey, isn't it going to be great when we get to heaven? And she said, well, I hope so. I said, what? She said, I hope so. I said, what do you mean you hope so? She said, well, I hope I'm going to get to heaven.

I said, what? You've been a Christian for 40 years? I've only been a Christian for about four. And I know I'm going to heaven. You've been a Christian for 40 years and you're not sure you're going to heaven? She said, I don't think anybody can know for sure they're going to heaven.

And I went, what? You know, it's sad how many people are sitting in churches all over the world who don't really know for sure that they're going to heaven and that their forgiveness is secure. Folks, does God want us to trust Jesus Christ as our savior? Does God want us to trust what he did on the cross as payment for our sin and to take forgiveness and then to live for years uncertain that maybe we can lose it? No way. No way.

You can't live a life like that. Let me show you a couple of verses of scripture, just two. First of all, Romans Chapter eight, verse one. It's page 800 in our copy of the Bible.

Would you turn there with me? Romans Chapter eight, verse one. And I think this one verse probably sums up the good news of the whole Bible in one sentence.

Look at it. Romans Chapter eight, verse one. Therefore, there is now no condemnation.

Not some. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for those who have embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior. There is no condemnation ever. Our past sins have been forgiven. Our present sins have been forgiven. And any sin we're going to commit in the future has been forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. You and I can never, ever be brought into a position of condemnation before God again. That's what this verse says.

That's pretty airtight. Let me show you one more verse. Turn back to John Chapter 10, if you would. Verse 27. John Chapter 10, verse 27. My sheep listen to my voice and I know them and they follow me. Verse 28. And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Folks, the only way God could make a promise like that is if there is nothing you and I could even do to cause us to forfeit or lose our forgiveness.

Do you understand what I'm saying to you? That if you or I could do something that would cost us our forgiven status in the sight of Almighty God, God can't make a promise like that. OK, maybe he wouldn't take it away. Maybe he wouldn't do something with it to mess it up.

But if you can do something to mess it up, he can't make a promise like that. But the point is, you didn't earn your eternal life. You didn't merit it. You didn't deserve it. You didn't work for it.

You didn't achieve it. Look what it says here. Verse 28. I give them eternal life. God gave it to you as a gift when you trusted Christ as your savior. And Jesus said, if I give it, I'm the only one who can take it back.

And I'm telling you, I'll never take it back. And that's why I can promise you will never perish. He said, But yeah, what if somebody comes along and it's bigger and stronger than Jesus?

Well, he covers that, too. Watch. No one can snatch my sheep out of my hand. My father, who's given them to me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my father's hand. Until somebody comes along who's strong enough to overpower Almighty God and snatch God's sheep out of his hand. And that ain't never going to happen, folks. Then until that time, his sheep shall never perish.

Their forgiveness is irreversibly and forever secure, and you can take it to the bank. Now, God wants you to know that. God wants you to be confident and certain and sure that that's the way things really are. And it doesn't matter what your human logic tells you. I've met people who said, Well, it's not logical that, you know, people could know for sure they're going to heaven.

It doesn't matter what's logical. The point is that the owner and operator of heaven says you can know. I'll take his word for it. That's why the Bible says, First John, Chapter five, that this is the record that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He who has the Son of God has life. These things I write to you, John says, who believe in the Son of God. Watch this now so that you may know for certain that you have eternal life.

God wants you to know that your forgiveness is irrevocable. Folks, you can build a life on that. You can build a destiny on that. You can live if you've got that kind of foundation. When I was in high school and even when I first went to college, I was scared to death of life. Terrified. And the reason is that all of a sudden life had become so complicated.

I mean, there were all these choices, all these temptations, all these decisions, all these challenges. And all I could think about is, well, what if I blow it? What if I screw up? What if I fail? My parents will be mad at me.

Everybody be mad at me. And I got so terrified by the idea of failure that I just drew a little tiny shell around my life and I didn't try anything. You know, I wanted to try out for the baseball team in my high school. But I was too afraid of failing, so I never did. I wanted to run for political office in my high school. I think I'd have been a good politician.

What do you think? Now, those were the days before political correctness, so I would have been okay back then. But I never did.

Why? I was too afraid of failing. There were a lot of things I wanted to try, but I was too scared to fail.

And you know what? When Jesus Christ came into my life and suddenly I realized that whether I failed or I didn't fail, whether I made mistakes or I didn't make mistakes, whether I blew it or I didn't blow it, that God's forgiveness was absolutely assured regardless of my performance. That's what gave me the courage I needed to step out and take some risks and try to do something for God.

Man, I could build a life on that. Now, I'm raising some teenagers today, and you know what? They've got the same fears I had and the same concerns I had about growing up and facing the real world, except things are going much better for them. They tried out for baseball teams.

They ran for offices. You know why? Not because it's any easier today to grow up. It's harder. But because I didn't know Jesus Christ when I was going through high school. I didn't have a foundation to know I was forgiven. But we built that foundation by God's grace into our teenagers and told them, get out there and do your best for God. Give it a shot. The worst that can happen is you fail, and if you fail, the forgiveness of God is assured. Don't worry about it. Go do it. And I'm watching their high school careers go the way I always dreamed mine could have gone.

It never did. But I'm thrilled to watch theirs go that way because they've got a foundation they can build their life on, the forgiveness of God. You know, this isn't just for teenagers. This is for grown-ups, too.

It's for you. And if you know Jesus Christ, thank God his forgiveness is full. He'll never throw it back in your face. And thank God his forgiveness is forever secure. You can't do anything to lose it. So get out there and do something for God. And so what if you fail?

Who cares? You can't lose the forgiveness of God. I don't have any bumper stickers on my car. Oh, I have a couple of things, but nothing Christian.

No fish, no nothing. You say, why not? Well, the truth of the matter is I'm too bad a driver. And I would be bad for the kingdom of God if I had bumper stickers on my car because people would look at me and say, uh-huh, a Christian. So rather than set the kingdom of God back, I just don't put any Christian bumper stickers on my car. Now, I know this isn't right, and I'm trying to get better, but I get behind the wheel. Have you ever seen Mr. Toad's Wild Ride where his eyeballs just kind of spin in their sockets? And that's kind of how I am when I get behind the wheel. I don't know. I'm sure it's psychological, and I'm sure that it goes back to my childhood, but I haven't got the time or the money to figure it out. But, you know, I'm trying to get better.

My wife is trying to help me get better. But I'm still not good enough to put a bumper sticker on yet. However, if I were to put a bumper sticker on my car, of all the Christian bumper stickers I've ever seen, you know the one I'd put on?

It'd be this one. Going in the wrong direction? God allows U-turns.

That's the one I'd put on because that's a great bumper sticker. And isn't that a great thing about God, that no matter how far you are down the wrong road, you're never so far that God won't allow you to do a U-turn. In fact, not only will He allow you to do one, but when you make the U-turn, He'll be standing right there with His arms wide open for you.

And no matter how far you are down the road, that's where He'll be. How do we access this forgiveness of God? Got to make a U-turn.

Peter said, I know that you crucify Jesus Christ in ignorance. Repent and turn to God so your sins can be wiped out. And so we need to say things like, well, you know, once I didn't think I needed anybody, I see that's not right. I'm willing to make a U-turn. And once I thought I could earn my way to heaven, I didn't need anybody's help, but now I see that's not right. I need to make a U-turn.

And once I believed I could find all the fulfillment I needed in the things of this world, but gee, you know, I don't think that's right anymore. I need to make a U-turn. I mean, God lets you make U-turns. God loves for you to make U-turns. And I hope you'll U-turn right into the forgiveness of God if you've never done it before.

And even if you have, I hope you'll appreciate what Jesus was really offering us from the cross because you can build a life on it. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are such a loving and forgiving God. Thank you that you didn't pray on the cross, that you prayed, Father, condemn them or, Father, convince them. But you prayed, Father, forgive them. And, Father, I want to pray that as we consider that this morning that you would take the truth that we've studied and you would drill them into our brain and that they would change the way we see life and they would change the way we see the world and that they would be the kind of foundation that we can build a life and a destiny around knowing that we are forgiven fully and forever because of your mercy. Thank you that that's what you offer us as Christians. Help us to appreciate what you say about forgiveness.

Help us believe what you tell us about forgiveness. And may it change our lives. Father, thank you for loving us so much. And I pray you'd help us love you back in return. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.