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WARREN WIERSBE | AUDIO BIBLE STUDY | 7 LAST WORDS FROM THE CROSS | PART 1 | "FORGIVENESS" | AES
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foreign [Music]
we read the word of God
from Luke chapter 23
verses 33 to 38.
as we begin today a study of our Lord's
Luke chapter 23 verse 33.
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 arraignment and cast lots
lots
and the people stood beholding
and the rulers also derided him saying
he saved others let him save himself if
he be the Christ the chosen of God
and the soldiers also mocked him coming
to him and offering him vinegar and
saying if thou be the king of the Jews
save thyself
and a superscription also was written
over him in letters of Greek and Latin
and Hebrew
this is the king
of the Jews
father forgive them
for they know not what they do
while he was on his deathbed his
housekeeper came to him
and she said to him Mr Marx
give me your last words
and I'll write them down
after all all famous people want to be
and Karl Marx said this to his
housekeeper go on
get out
last words are for fools
I don't quite agree with that I think
that sometimes last words
can reveal a great deal about a person
the next time you go to the circus
remember that PT Barnum's last words were
were
when Napoleon Lay Dying he said Army
Florence Ziegfeld the great Showman
said Curtin
fast music lights
ready for the finale
the show looks good the show looks good
quite a difference from Charles Spurgeon
who when he died said Jesus died for me
and that great man John Wesley when he
died said the best of all is
when our Lord Jesus Christ died at
Calvary he made seven statements
we call them the seven last words from
the cross
and these statements are like Windows into
into
eternity that show us the heart and the
mind of God
our lord Jesus did not make these
statements because he was a fool
they thought he was a fool
he saved others let him save himself
he made these statements because he is
the very very essence and the sum total
of the wisdom of God
he didn't make these statements because
he hadn't already said enough
he had given to us The Marvelous
revelation of God
he made these statements because we need them
them
and the first of these statements is
found in Luke chapter 23 and verse 34 father
father
forgive them
for they know not what they do
if we understand this verse correctly
our Lord was making this statement while
they were crucifying him
and the tense of the verb indicates he
said it repeatedly
they took him to Calvary and they
stripped him and he said father forgive
them they know not what they do
they put him down against the ground and
his back and his arms against a wooden cross
cross
and he said father forgive them they
know not what they do
Roman soldiers got Roman Hammers and
Roman nails and nailed his hands to the cross
cross
and he prayed father forgive them they
know not what they do
they nailed his feet to the cross and
again he prayed and then they lifted the
cross and his body fell forward in
excruciating pain
as they placed the cross in a hole in
the ground Jesus prayed father forgive them
them
they know not what they do
I want you to consider with me
the four wonders of this statement now
every statement our Lord makes is wonderful
wonderful
but just for this morning let's focus on
this statement and notice the four
wonders of it
and I would trust that the holy spirit
of God would speak to us in spiritual
language today saying far more than I
can say
father forgive them
for they know not what they do consider
first of all the Wonder
of the address
he addressed God as father
father
now this doesn't surprise us because
this is what Jesus called God
father
he taught us to pray our father but he
never prayed our father he said my
father your father my God your God
his relationship to the father comes out
here three times at Calvary Jesus talked
to God
the first statement father forgive them
for they know not what they do the son
was entering into his suffering
the middle statement the fourth
statement it wasn't father it was God
out of the darkness Jesus cried my God
my God why hast Thou forsaken me and at
that point he was enduring his suffering
being made sin for us
his first statement father
his middle statement my God
into thy hands I commend my spirit the
suffering was over the victory was won father
now if you meditate upon this little
address father you'll learn a wonderful truth
truth
was changing his relationship to his father
if they had taken from you all of your rights
if they had arrested you illegally tried
you illegally
if they had taken from you not only your
legal rights and your civil rights but
if they had spat upon you
if they had scourged you
if they'd plucked out your beard
if they'd mocked you
if they had used you for jesting and for joking
joking
you see our Lord Jesus Christ was so
close to the father
that physical suffering
and inhumanity and the wickedness of man
did not Cloud the face of the father I
have visited people in hospitals
who have said to me
God has forsaken me I don't have a father
father
are you praying I can't pray
if God is my father why am I going
through this if God is my father why did
this happen but Jesus didn't talk like that
that
as our lord Jesus entered into these six
terrible hours of suffering
the first word that he spoke was father
it is that that enabled him at the end
of those six hours to be able to say father
there is no father look at the way the
people are acting he could have said
there is no father look at what my
disciples have done is your faith shaken
by the wickedness of Sinners or the
weakness of saints
I have met Christians who say I can't
believe anymore this man or that woman
was such a great Christian look what
happened to them Jesus didn't say I
can't believe anymore Peter has denied
me I can't believe anymore Judas has
betrayed me
it's a marvelous thing when you get your
eyes off of the Saints and get your eyes
off of the Sinners and get your eyes on
that's the way to take the sufferings of life
life
that's the way the Gospel of Luke begins
here is our lord Jesus the 12 year old lad
lad
and he says to his Earthly parents
didn't you know I must be about my
father's business
from the very beginning it was the
father not not myself I do those things
that please him the
the business and this was the Grand
one day our Lord looked up to heaven and
said I thank thee O Father
Lord of Heaven and Earth
but thou has hid these things from the
wise and The Prudent and revealed them
unto babes even so father for so it
seemed good in thy sight and my friend
if in the sunshine of life we can look
up and say even so father
it seemed good in thy sight why can't we
he prayed in the garden and again it was father
father
father if it be thy will let this cup
pass from me but not my will thy will be
done I'll tell you my friend if in the
prayer closet you can say father thy
will be done you'll have no problem on
the cross saying father forgive them
The Wonder of the address father
father
isn't it time that some of us stood a little taller
little taller
climbed a little higher
isn't it time that some of us got away
from our petty picky eunish infantile complaints
complaints
isn't it time that some of us stop
looking up to heaven and saying you
forsaken me you don't love me
isn't it time we did what Jesus did
I heard about an atheist who did a very
mean thing
he went into a school where a class of
deaf people was studying
and he wrote on the Blackboard
if God loves you
there was a silence in the classroom and
then one child got up and picked up the
chalk and wrote on the same Blackboard
even so father
but a second Wonder comes to us from
this statement and that's the Wonder of
the appeal
father forgive them
one of the most difficult things in the
Christian life is to forgive now you'd
think it would be one of the easiest things
things
you would think that inasmuch as God has
forgiven us we would be able to throw
our arms around those who have hurt us
and forgive them but there are
Christians in every Church who carry
unforgiving Spirits Within
Peter writes and says laying aside all
malice and all guile and all evil
speaking Paul writes and says be ye kind
one to another tenderhearted forgiving
one another even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you and yet there are
people listening to me right now who
there are people who say I as long as I
live I'll never forgive him for what he
did I'll never forgive her for what she did
has anyone ever treated you the way
Jesus was treated have you been crucified
crucified
oh you've heard you've had a broken
heart you've wept
people have done things that have
but my Lord was able at the time of his
greatest suffering
to make a wonderful appeal
when Samson died
he asked for Revenge upon his enemies
the Romans worshiped the god of Revenge
some Christians worship the god of Revenge
forgive them
now in praying this prayer the Lord
Jesus was fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy
prophecy
Isaiah 53 certainly is a picture of our
suffering savior who hath believed our
report to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed he has led as a lamb as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb so he opens
not his mouth he was wounded for our
transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities
iniquities
when you get to the end of Isaiah
chapter 53 verse 12 it makes this
marvelous statement and he made
Peter tried to defend him in the garden
and Jesus said put up your sword
the cup that the father has given me
shall I not drink it thank you not that
I could call Legions of angels and they
would deliver me back in the Old
Testament one Angel killed 185
000 soldiers
if Legions of angels had come they could
have wiped out the Earth
but he didn't pray for Revenge he didn't
pray for judgment he prayed father
forgive them he was practicing what he preached
preached
you have heard that it has been said
unto you by them of old
love your neighbor and hate your enemies
but I say unto you love your enemies
do good to them that despitefully use
that's what he did
he said what do ye more than others even
the publicans can salute the publican
even the Sinners can salute the sinners
you see each of us in this congregation
today is living on one of three levels
either the level of the demonic
Satan always returns evil for good
or the level of the human
Men return good for good and evil for
evil or the level of the Divine where we
return good for evil and as they nailed
his hands he prayed for forgiveness for
them and as they lifted him up and
dropped that cross in that hole on
Calvary as he hung there between Heaven
and Earth being reviled being laughed at
this word forgive
simply means to send away
Father Here is their sin send it away
don't let their sin remain on them as a burden
it's the picture of the Old Testament
day of atonement
when the priest would take the Two Goats
and one goat was killed and the blood
was taken into the Tabernacle and
sprinkled on the holy of holy in the
holy of holies on The Mercy Seat
and then the priest would put his hands
upon the head of the living goat and
confess the sins of the people of Israel
and then that goat would be led out into
the Wilderness taken away as far as the
East is from the West so far hath he
removed our transgressions from us
he has buried them in the depths of the
sea he has blotted them out like a thick
cloud and this word means to take away
father forgive there is forgiveness
because he died
our God is not a god of Vengeance he is
a god of forgiveness now there is coming
a day of vengeance
our God is a consuming fire
there's coming a day of judgment and it
is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the Living God
but today is not a day of War today is a
Day of Reconciliation God has not
The Wonder of the appeal
forgive them
my friend forgiveness
is the greatest experience in life
to come as a guilty sinner before a
Thrice holy God
to believe on Jesus Christ as your
savior and have that God say to you
this is what Jesus did when he was here
they brought a man to him who was sick
and Jesus said to this man
my son your sins be forgiven you and the
doctors of the law who were sitting
there said who is this man who forgives sins
sins
and Jesus said that you may know that
the son of man has power has Authority
on Earth to forgive sins I say to you
rise take up your bed and walk and the
man was not only healed physically but
healed spiritually
a woman came in one day not an ordinary woman
woman
a woman of the streets a woman of reputation
reputation
and she dared to bring ointment and
anoint the feet of Jesus she dared to
let down her hair and wipe his feet with
her hair
and the people were scandalized
and the host said to himself this man if
he really were a prophet he would know
what kind of a woman she is and Jesus
said to the woman go in peace I forgive
you and again they said who is this That
the last thing Jesus says in the Gospel
of Luke is go on out into all the world
and preach the remission of sins the
Forgiveness of sins let people know that
sin doesn't have to bind them sin can be
sent away sin can be forgiven sin can be broken
broken
The Wonder of the appeal forgive them
now he's not praying for a lost world today
today
our lord said in John 17 I pray not for
the world but for them whom thou has
given me out of the world but on the
cross he prayed for lost sinners
and if you've never been forgiven my friend
friend
there's The Wonder of the argument
father forgive them for they know not
what they do
here is the victim arguing on behalf of
those who are persecuting him
here is the sinless Son of God
presenting to the father in argument why
judgment should not fall
and judgment did not fall
back in the Old Testament when David was
carrying the ark up to Jerusalem the ark
began to waver on the cart and a man
reached out and touched the ark and he died
died
he didn't burn the ark he didn't pound
nails in the ark he didn't spit on the
ark he just touched the ark and he died
and yet here were men cruelly
cruelly
crucifying the very Son of God and he
didn't die here is a nation that said we
have no King but Caesar crucify him and
they didn't die in fact for some 40 more
years the Lord patiently waited
and then judgment came
now please don't misunderstand this
statement for they know not what they do
our Lord is not saying that a person is
saved because he's ignorant
in some states they have signs that they
put up along the road when a new traffic
sign is erected you've been driving down
that little road for several years and
and you don't you just go straight
through it's a intersection no stop sign
but one day they decided to put a stop
sign up
and so they warn you several miles in
now if you're ignorant of what's going
on I dare you to tell it to the cop
you go zooming through the stop sign and
you look into your mirror and there are
those flashing blue lights
and you pull over and
the policeman comes over and says didn't
you see that stop sign
and jokingly you say officer when you've
I didn't know it was there and he says
to you did you know that ignorance is no
our Lord is not saying that because
people are ignorant
they're saved
what he is saying is that a gracious God
Stoops to the weakness of man but when
men do find out the truth they are
responsible to do something about it
no one in this congregation can plead ignorance
you've heard the word of God
you've been a part of a Christian
worship service
I doubt that anyone here today can say
well God no God's not going to judge me
because I'm so ignorant
they they mocked his
being a prophet they blindfolded him and
slapped him and said Prophet tell us who
did it
they mocked his King Ship by putting a
robe in a scepter and a crown of thorns
on his head
they didn't believe he was the Christ
but most of all they were ignorant of
their own actions you see sin always
The Prodigal Son with his eyes wide open
said father give me with his eyes wide
open he went out to the far country and
wasted in riotous living
he ends up living with the pigs
and the scripture says when he came to
himself the ignorance of sin when he
came to himself he said what a dope I
have been what a fool I have been they
didn't realize the enormity of their sin
they didn't understand their own actions
they parted his garments they were
fulfilling scripture they gave him
vinegar they were fulfilling scripture
they mocked him they were fulfilling
scripture they didn't realize it
you see what our Lord is saying here is
something very wonderful
in the Old Testament scriptures God gave
to the Jews five very special sacrifices
one of them was the sin offering
Leviticus chapter 4 tells you about the
sin offering how to read it
it starts off like this
if anyone
shall commit a sin of ignorance
not a high-handed willful
belligerent proud arrogant sin if anyone
shall commit a sin of ignorance
it was sin and they're guilty but it was
a sin of ignorance then let him bring
the sacrifice
and the rest of that chapter says if the
priest sins he does this if the Common
People sin they do this if a ruler sins
they do this that's what you have at
Calvary the priest did sin a sin of
the Common People a sin of ignorance
so God in his grace listens to the
intercession of his son and he holds
back judgment
because Jesus Christ is the sin offering
now he knew what he was doing
you see they didn't know what they were doing
doing
and they didn't know what he was doing
but he knew what they were doing and he
knew what he was doing when you read The
Upper Room discourse John 13 through 17
several times you find that word no
Jesus knowing that all things came from
the father Jesus knowing that the hour
was come Jesus knowing that the
scripture should be fulfilled Jesus
knowing Jesus knew what he was doing
they didn't know what they were doing
they thought he didn't know what he was
doing and they knew what they were doing
was just the opposite just like Sinners today
today
the awful ignorance of sin
his argument
they know not what they do
but once they discovered what they had
done they had to do something about it
which leads us to the fourth Wonder of
this statement
we've had the Wonder of his address father
father
and The Wonder of his appeal forgive them
them
and The Wonder of his argument they know
not what they do look with me at The
Wonder of the answer did God answer this
prayer yes
what's the work of the Holy Spirit to
let people know what they're doing
and at Pentecost Peter got up and said
you crucified the Lord Of Glory you
denied the whole
just one and conviction Came Upon them
and they knew what they had done and
having known what they had done they
were responsible to do something
and they cried out the said man and
and Peter gave them the answer repent
believe on the Lord Jesus give evidence
of your faith by being baptized and
have you ever noticed in Acts chapter 3
that Peter sort of Echoes what Jesus
said of the Cross Peter preaches a
second message in Acts chapter 3 and he
says this
you delivered him up and you denied him
and you killed the Prince of Life whom
God has raised from the dead and his
name through faith in his name has made
this man strong the man that they had
healed and now Brethren I know that
through ignorance you did it as did also
your rulers but now you're no longer
ignorant father forgive them they know
not what they do I know that through
ignorance you've done it but
now that you know who he is and what
you've done and what he's done what will
you do about it and 2 000 more people
got saved
you see God answered the prayer three
thousand saved at Pentecost 2 000 more a
few days later than all through the book
of Acts a great multitude until one day
we get to the Book of Revelation where
there's a great multitude that no man
can number people who deserve to go to hell
hell
people whose Minds were blinded by Satan
people whose Wills were enslaved by sin
in the world people who deserve judgment
but because Jesus died [Music]
[Music]
and because Jesus said father forgive them
them
they were given the opportunity for
salvation and that opportunity is still
you say I don't know all about the Bible
I don't either
Mark Twain used to say it's not what I
don't understand about the Bible it
do you know today that you are a sinner
who needs forgiveness do you know today
that Jesus is the only savior who can
give forgiveness
do you know today that through faith in
Jesus Christ your sins can be forgiven
and you enter into the family of God and
a new life of blessing and victory do
you know this then you are responsible
and if you do nothing about it there
remains no more sacrifice for sin for if
we sin willfully
after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin
sin
no one can plead ignorance Before the
Throne of God the Bible is in this world
conscience is in man's heart creation
speaks of the glory of God the holy
and Jesus died that he might have his
own prayer answered
father forgive them
for they know not what they do
Wesley put it so beautifully
received on Calvary
they pour effectual prayers they
strongly plead for me forgive him all
forgive they cry nor let that Ransom
sinner die father forgive them
for they know not what they do
we Marvel that our Lord spoke at all at Calvary
and yet in Grace he spoke from the tree
and turned that tree into a throne
and gave to us these marvelous words of
Grace I pray that someone having heard
this message now
will believe and be saved and be a part
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