Sermon #1242
Title: Seven Words From The cross
Text: Romans 15:4
Reading: Matthew 27:27-56
Subject: The Message of Our Lord’s Seven Sayings
Date: Sunday Morning - July 21, 1996
Tape # S-76
Introduction:
I want to begin my message this
morning in Romans 15:4 -
"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
Here the Apostle Paul the fourfold purpose of Holy Scripture. "Whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written...”
1.
“FOR
OUR LEARNING.” - God the Holy Spirit has by divine and perfect
inspiration caused this Book to be written that we might learn by the things
herein revealed...
·
The Character
of God.
·
The Condition
of Man.
·
The Redemptive
Work of Christ.
·
The glory and
Grace of God in the Gospel.
I realize that sinners are not saved
merely by acquiring knowledge. You may become a proficient theologian, a
scholar of Bible languages, and a respected teacher or preacher, and never know
the living God. Knowledge is not salvation. But no one will ever be saved apart
from knowledge. You cannot trust an unrevealed, unknown Savior. You simply
cannot trust Christ until you know something about who he is, what he has done,
and why he did it.
Romans 10:13-17 "For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (14) How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and
how shall they hear without a preacher?
(15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad
tidings of good things! (16) But they
have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith,
Lord, who hath believed our report? (17) So
then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God."
2.
“THAT
WE THROUGH PATIENCE” - The Word of God was written to teach us
patience.
Psalms 27:14 "Wait on the
LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on
the LORD."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the
LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths."
I have not yet found a more needful or
a more difficult thing to learn and acquire than patience. But we
must learn to “wait on the Lord” for...
·
The Fulfilment
of His Purpose.
·
The Revelation
of His Will.
·
The
Performance of His Work.
NOTE: This business of
preaching the gospel, this thing called the church and kingdom of God is not a
business. We do not make things happen. We wait for things to happen. We wait
for God to do his work. We sow the seed and wait. We cast our bread upon the
waters and wait. We pray and wait. “He
that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16).
3.
“AND
COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES” - This blessed Book was written for our
comfort. The children’s Bread is the the Bible. This
is the Source of all comfort for the believing heart. All the doctrines,
promises, and revelations of this Book are written to minister comfort to our
hearts in this world.
God
delights for his children to be comforted.
John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,
believe also in me. (2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be
also."
Hebrews 13:5-6 "Let your conversation be
without covetousness; and be content
with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. (6) So that we may
boldly say, The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."
It
is my responsibility as a gospel preacher to minister comfort to God’s elect. He
says to every gospel preacher, in Isaiah
40:1-2 - "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. (2) Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her
sins."
NOTE: When your heart is
heavy and your soul is is troubled, do not neglect
your God-given Source of comfort.
·
The Reading of
The Word.
·
The Preaching
of the word.
·
Meditation upon
the Word.
4. “MIGHT HAVE HOPE” - Faith looks to
the past, believing God, confidently resting in what he has done. Hope looks to
the future, believing God, confidently resting in what he has promised. We have
“a good hope through grace” of glorious things to come. In Christ we have a good hope and
confident expectation of...
·
Eternal Life.
·
Resurrection.
·
Everlasting
Acceptance with God.
What
is the basis of this hope? How can sinful men and women like us face the holy
Lord God and eternity with confident hope? Our hope is Jesus Christ himself (1
Tim. 1:1). And our hope in Christ is based upon the Word of God.
John 3:36 "He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
This is the purpose of Holy Scripture.
All that is written in the Book of God has been “written aforetime were written
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope."
In this Volume of Inspiration the Holy
Spirit has taken very special care to record for us each of those things that
were spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ, as he hung upon the cross suffering the
wrath of God as our Substitute, to pu away our sins.
As you know, there were seven things spoken by our Redeemer from the cross.
1.
“Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
2.
“Today thou
shalt be with me in Paradise.”
3.
“Woman, behold
thy Son!” - Son, “Behold thy mother!”
4.
“My God, my
God, Why hast thou forsaken me?”
5.
“I thirst!”
6.
“It is finished!”
7.
“Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit.”
There have been mountains of words and
thousands of sermons preached from these Seven
Words from the Cross. I cannot add anything to what has already been spoken
and written by faithful men. But I do hope that God the Holy Spirit will enable
me to give you a glimpse of what I see in them. That is what I want to do in
this message, for your learning, patience, comfort, and hope in Christ.
The only fear I have in preaching this
message is the tendency to reduce these tremendous themes to mere homeletical points of dry doctrine and lifeless theology.
May God forbid that from being the case!
These Seven Words from the Cross are the very words our our great God and Savior, spoken as he engaged the forces
of hell and endured the indescribable wrath of God in the place of sinners.
The enormous load of all my guilt
Was on my Savior laid;
With woes, as with a garment, He
For sinners was arrayed.
And in the horrid pangs of death
He wept, He prayed for me;
Loved and embraced my guilty soul
When nailed to the tree.
Oh love amazing! Love beyond
The reach of human tongue;
Love which shall be the subject of
An everlasting song.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme
And shall be till I die!
Proposition: In these seven
words from the cross I see the glorious Person, work, and offices of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
I.
The first word from the cross is found in Luke
23:34. "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Here I see CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR.
Here is the Son of God suffering by
the hands of wicked men, suffering with wicked men, suffering as a wicked man,
and yet praying for the men who made him suffer. “There is one God, and one Mediator
between God and men,” and that Mediator is “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
A.
We must have a
Mediator (Heb. 5:1).
B.
The Mediator
must be a man of God’s choosing (Heb. 5:4-5).
C.
The Mediator
must pray and be heard (Heb. 5:7).
Who meets all these qualifications?
Only the Lord Jesus Christ!
·
John 14:6
·
Romans 8:34
·
Hebrews 7:25
Illustration: Peter - “I have prayed
for thee!”
1 John 2:1-2 "My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) And he is the propitiation for our
sins: and not for ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world."
II.
The second word is found in Luke 23:43. "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in
paradise." Here I see CHRIST OUR KING.
Even as he hung
upon the cross, suffering untold agony under the wrath of God, Jesus Christ
reigned as Lord and King over everything.
·
Here is the
sovereign King, the Ruler of the Kingdom of God, saving whom he will!
·
Here is the
King of Grace opening the door which
no mere man can ever open.
·
Here is the
Prince of Peace, giving peace that
no man can give.
·
Here is the
King of Glory, promising mercy and
eternal life that no man can merit.
Would you obtain mercy like this dying
thief? If you would, come to the King, Christ Jesus. Acknowledge him as your
Lord, and cry, “Remember me!”
“I’ll go to Jesus, though my sin
Hath like a mountain rose.
I know His courts I’ll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.
I’ll to the gracious King approach,
Whose sceptre mercy gives.
Perhaps He will command my touch;
And then this sinner lives!
I can but perish if I go,
I am resolved to try;
For if I stay away I know
I must forever die!
“Salvation is of the Lord!” Grace comes from the throne
of grace. And the King who sits upon that throne is the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3:22 "Who is gone
into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers
being made subject unto him."
John 5:20-21 "For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all
things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that
ye may marvel. (21) For as the Father raiseth up the
dead, and quickeneth them; even so
the Son quickeneth whom he will."
John 17:2 "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."
III.
The third word spoken by our Lord as he hung upon the cross is found in John 19:26-27. "When Jesus therefore saw his mother,
and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! (27) Then saith he to the disciple, Behold
thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." Here I see CHRIST OUR REPRESENTATIVE AND EXAMPLE.
Even in the agonies of death, under
the penalty of sin, enduring the wrath of God, fulfilling the everlasting
covenant, accomplishing eternal redemption for us, and satisfying the divine
justice, our Lord Jesus Christ did not neglect the responsibilities of manhood!
Our Savior, as our Representative and Examle,
deliberately gave attention to his responsibilities as a man, even in the time
of his dying agony. He fulfilled all
righteousness! He did everything that it is right for a man to do.
·
He was
circumcised.
·
He was subject
unto his parents.
·
He was
baptized.
·
He attended
the synagogue.
Our
Lord Jesus was “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
under the law.”
A.
He fulfilled all righteousness as our legal Representative.
Romans 5:19 "For as by one
man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous."
B.
He fulfilled all righteousness as our Example of Righteousness.
John 13:14 "If I then, your Lord
and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's
feet."
1 Timothy 5:8 "But if any
provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
IV.
The fourth word is found in Matthew
27:46. "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Here I see CHRIST
OUR SUBSTITUTE.