A Cry Of Anguish Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God turns His back on His only Son as the Lamb of God is slain. Today we'll at least describe the unthinkable mystery and then try to comprehend it.

Please stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, have you ever come to terms with what this cry means? Is that even possible? No, Dave, it's not possible, but I believe that God is honored when we attempt as far as we can to understand what happened in those moments, because indeed during those three hours, hell was compressed, our hell was compressed, and it was laid on Jesus.

We cannot understand it, but we love Jesus, we worship Him, and we recommend Him to everyone as the only qualified Savior. I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry. Thanks to you, the Ministry of Running to Win is now in 20 different countries in four different languages, and we are continuing to increase that number. Thank you. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner?

Of course, you need more info. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com.

That's rtwoffer.com, and when you're there, you click on the endurance partner button, or you call us at 1-888-218-9337. We are all a part of a vast company of believers, making the cross of Christ known to as many as possible. You see, all of the punishment of hell, not just for one, but for many, had to be compressed into a three-hour period as He endured the wrath of God that would justly fall upon those who would not be redeemed. That is to say that Jesus was going to endure the wrath of God that we would have received if He had not redeemed us.

Now we kind of reach the limits, don't we? Because what we really have is an infinite being, perhaps with infinite suffering that we cannot possibly comprehend. How could the pure, holy, spotless Son of God come into direct contact with sin and not be grieved and not be forsaken if we can almost visualize Jesus dying with a blanket of all of our sins in which He is wrapped?

And holiness has to come into contact now with sin. Who can fathom it? I think that one of the best illustrations of what happened on Calvary is that story that's been told many different times, I'm sure in different ways, stories have a life of their own, about the person who was speeding and then was unable to pay the fine.

And so he stood before the judge, the defendant did, and the man did not have any money, and the story is that the judge left his bench, took off his robe, went down the stairs, stood with the defendant, took $100 out of his own pocket, laid it on the table, went back, put on his robe, walked up the stairs, was on the bench, reached over, and took the $100 bill, and said, you are free. Now there's a part of that illustration that is right. There's also a part that is wrong.

The part that is right is that's exactly what was happening here. God was dying for God. That's why Luther went into a room to contemplate this text and came out and said, I cannot fathom it.

I have given up. How can God die on behalf of God? But that's exactly what happened. That's why we sing that thou my God should die for me. So the illustration is right, that the God who demands the payment is the God who gives the payment that he demands. That's the gospel. The thing that's wrong with that illustration is we're not talking about $100.

We're not talking about silver and gold. We're talking about the precious blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without spot. We're talking about infinite suffering of a beloved son. We're talking about the Father breaking fellowship with the one whom he loved.

That's what we're speaking of, with hell compressed into three hours. But the God who demanded a payment if he was to love sinners and to receive them is the God who gave the very payment that he demanded. That, my friend, is the gospel. Now, there's a question to be asked, and the question is, did Jesus suffer just as man or also as God? There are some people who think, well, his human nature suffered, but God can't suffer.

Now, you know that I disagree with that. I think that the Father suffered as well. No father could watch his son go through this without feeling the pain. And I believe that Jesus as the God-man suffered. And I agree with those who say that a God who cannot suffer is a God who cannot love. And I think Bonhoeffer was right when he wrote in prison that only a suffering God can help us. It means that when the Bible says that Jesus is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, it is not just Jesus the man. It is Jesus the God-man. It is Jesus with the divine nature. And God now, God, is entering into our predicament, as we see here at the cross. God is the one who himself suffered and feels your pain and your hurt. Here's a third wonder.

We talked about the wonder of the cry itself, the wonder of the answer, but there's really a third, and that is the wonder of the human heart. Now, I want you to visualize it. You're at the cross.

You're not listening to this message now. You are there. I want you to see the cross.

I want you to see the mobs milling around. And I want you to hear Jesus with a loud voice. The Bible says he cried. And we know that it was loud because the text tells us that many people heard. And he cries, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

There has been three hours of darkness with no explanation, no eclipse. The Bible says in the book of Matthew also that the rocks trembled and there was an earthquake and rocks split. Would you not think that people would be repenting? Would you not think that they would say this has been predicted in Psalm 22, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Because Psalm 22 is the best example of crucifixion that one could ever have. And we know that David wrote this under the divine spirit because the Jews did not crucify people.

They stoned them. But this is crucifixion. It says in verse 2, oh my God, I cry out but day, but you do not answer, but by night and I am not silent.

You see there that you have both night and day there in Psalm 22 after the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Verse 6, I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me.

They hurl insults, shaking their heads. They say he trusted in the Lord. Let the Lord rescue him.

Let the Lord deliver him. I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is turned to wax. That that's crucifixion. Dogs have surrounded me, a band of evil men have encircled me. They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. People stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. Surely somebody in the crowd must have said, this is surely the son of God, because he's fulfilling Psalm 22. He began by saying, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Which is verse 1. And if they had known the rest of the verse, they'd have said, this is the son of God.

But there's nobody saying that. You know what they say? They say, you know, he's calling for Elijah. They pretended.

This is just part of the mockery. They knew right well he hadn't said Elijah. But because Eli is the beginning of Elijah, they mock him and they say, oh, well, maybe Elijah will come and deliver him. Now leave him alone. He couldn't deliver himself.

We taunted him. But let's see whether or not Elijah comes. And you say to yourself, what's going on with these people? What will it take? I want you to know that their heart is no different than the heart of people today.

Not one whit different. There's some of you have heard the gospel Sunday after Sunday after Sunday by radio. You've read the Bible. You've done this like this, and you still haven't responded. And we say, what will it take? I ask you today, what will it take? Heart is no different. Jesus dies, and people go on doing their financial transactions, shopping, living their own life, pursuing their own ends, as if it doesn't matter. The heart is the same. Three unforgettable lessons standing here at the cross.

What are they? First of all, the cross was not just for us. It was for God. The cross was not just for us. It was for God. You know, in the Old Testament times, when it said that I will pass over you, you remember the Passover, where the blood was put on the lintel of the door. That blood was for the angel, for Jehovah, as he went through the land. And in some of those houses in Israelite territory, there were people with emotional problems.

There were people with doubts. There were people who had committed great sins. And even though all of those things are important, at the end of the day, they were spared the judgment because God says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And when Jesus died, God saw the blood, as it were, of those who would believe and redeemed them.

It's not just for us. Yes, Jesus died for us, but Jesus died for God. It pleased the Lord to bruise him.

And you know what it says regarding the death of Christ? It says that his death was a sweet-smelling savor to God. God delighted in it. Now, if you ask the question, well, how can God delight in it, and at the same time, God is grieved to see his son suffer, then you have not given enough thought to what John Piper calls the infinitely complex emotional life of God. But the simple fact is that God was pleased with what Jesus did on the cross. And then God had a public relations problem that he had to take care of. There were people who were accusing him of compromising his holiness because he forgave people in the Old Testament like David and Elijah and a whole host of other people like the patriarchs.

And no permanent sacrifice had been made for them. So it says in the book of Romans that God had to display Christ as a propitiation because of the sins that were past. And he had to have Christ die so that his justice would be appeased so no one could say that he is unjust in forgiving great sinners. So it's not just for us that he died, but for God. Second great lesson, he bore our rejection. He bore our rejection so that we might be accepted.

We can put that differently. We could say that because Jesus was forsaken by the Father, you and I need never be forsaken by the Father. Now I'm talking about believers. Those of you who have trusted Christ as Savior, I'll have a word for you other folks in just a moment.

I'm talking about those of you who have prayed to God, those of you who have agonized, those of you who have asked God questions and you have said, God, you forsaken me. Look at my health. Look at what I'm going through. Look at the grief of those who have gone on. Look at my background. Look at the way in which I was adopted.

Look at what I'm enduring at school. Where are you, God? Well, I want you to know today the answer is this that God says to you believers, I will never leave you nor forsake you. You'll never experience what Jesus experienced because he experienced what he did in your behalf. You say, well, where is God then?

Always remember that feelings are not facts. It's possible for you to feel as if God has forsaken you and when in point of fact, he's not done that at all. In fact, his word, he's got a promise out there that he needs to keep. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus went through darkness that you and I might walk in light. Jesus was cursed so that you and I can be blessed.

Jesus was condemned so that you and I might be able to say, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. And Jesus suffered hell so that you and I could be with him and enjoy heaven. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Nothing shall separate you from the love of God. There's a third lesson. This is now for those of you who haven't accepted Christ as Savior or those of you who aren't sure and the good reason that you aren't sure is because you haven't. I'm talking to you. But all sin is very, very expensive.

It's really costly and it's always got to be paid for. I was thinking about this this past week and something dawned on me. If God the Father who loved the son so much, his beloved son, if the father was willing to hide his face for three hours and the son endure all of this agony and be forsaken by the father, what will God do to those sinners who do not accept his son? I'll tell you what he's going to do.

He's going to forsake them. It says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 9 that when Jesus comes it's going to be an everlasting fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. That is being forsaken by God. What is hell? Hell is darkness. Hell is loneliness. And hell is being forsaken by God and man.

That is hell. And an eternity in hell will not buy you forgiveness. Sir Francis Newport said, oh, this is before he died. Oh, that I was to lie a thousand years upon the fire that has never quenched to purchase the favor of God and be united to him again.

But it is a fruitless wish. Millions and millions of years will bring me no nearer to the end of my torments than one poor hour. Oh, eternity, eternity, eternity, forever, forever.

Oh, the insufferable pain of hell. And with that he went into eternity. There was a man who was about to die and his daughters said she was there in the room and he said, would you blow up the candle that's on the table? And she said, oh, daddy, I don't want you to die in the dark. And he said, I want to die as I have lived.

You live in darkness, you die in darkness, and you go into outer darkness. Your only hope, my friend, is to respond to Jesus and to say, be my sin bearer. I receive you as my own. I accept the hit that you took on my behalf because sin is incredibly serious. Just look at the cross and I therefore believe in him and I trust him with all that I am, I believe. And if you're listening to this and you're still turning away, I do have to ask you this question.

What would it take? Let's pray. Our Father, we marvel today the wonder of Jesus. We marvel at his grace, at his suffering.

We've tried so inadequately to think about what happened on the cross during those three hours. Father, those of us who know you as Savior rejoice in the fact that we will not come under condemnation. But oh Father, what about those who do not know Christ? Would you today break their hearts?

Would you overcome their resistance, their blindness, their stubbornness, their unwillingness to respond? And now I want you to talk to God. Whatever it is that you have to say to him, you tell him. If you know him as Savior, pray for those around you. Pray for people that you know who have never come under the protection of his love and grace. Whatever it is that God says to you, you do it.

You talk to him now. And if you've never received him as Savior, even now reach out to him and say, Jesus saved me. I receive you. I accept you as my sin bearer. Father, we pray for those in whose hearts you are working, those whom you are calling at this moment. Bring them, oh Father, to full assurance of faith we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen. My friend, have you been brought to full assurance of faith? Have you embraced Jesus Christ as Savior, recognizing your sin and helplessness, knowing that he took your darkness so that you would not have to be cast out into outer darkness? I trust that the Holy Spirit of God will take what has just been presented and transform your life. And I want to thank the many of you who support the ministry of Running to Win.

I'm holding in my hands a letter from a Spanish-speaking listener, because we are more than 100 stations in Spanish. God has shown me his love and care through your program. I now see my weaknesses, frailties and sins, how deep it is, and how much I need God every moment that I breathe. Though I am broken, God has delivered me from many dangers and bad decisions. Thank you. My friend, today you are a part of testimonies just like that. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner?

That's someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts so that the gospel of Jesus Christ can go out not only in Spanish but in Arabic, in other languages, so that we can expand the good news to as many as possible. Here's what you do for more information. You go to RTWOfferer.com. When you're there, click on the endurance partner button. It'll give you the information that you need, or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. I like to speak about it as becoming a part of the Running to Win family.

Go to RTWOfferer.com, click on the endurance partner button, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. The idea of being swallowed by a large fish is not very appetizing, and the story of Jonah has led some people to question what really happened. One curious listener is asking this, did Jonah die when he was in the belly of the whale?

I hope it's okay if I tell you that I don't know. There's some indication there in Jonah chapter 2 that he's talking about dying, and then you wonder whether it is poetic or whether or not he actually died. The point is, though, that in the belly of the fish, it appears as if Jonah went through some kind of a transformation, and spiritually, most assuredly, he did. What a prayer he prayed. And, you know, he ends Jonah chapter 2 with the words, salvation is of the Lord. And you know what happened after that. As soon as he said, salvation is of the Lord, the whale spewed him out.

And then, of course, you have the rest of Jonah's career. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to Win comes to you from the Moody Church in Chicago. Next time, the Savior proves His humanity by uttering two simple words, I thirst. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.