INTRODUCTION
“On the day that Karl Marx died, his housekeeper
came to him and said, ‘Tell me your last words, and
I’ll write them down.’ Marx replied, ‘Go on, get
out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said
enough!’” He was wrong as last words can be very
revealing and important. P.T. Barnum said, as he
was dying, “What were today’s receipts?”
When the noted philosopher and infidel Voltaire
was upon his deathbed, he said, “I am abandoned by
God and man!” The emperor Napoleon uttered these
words, “What an abyss between my deep misery
and the eternal Kingdom of Christ.” And the famous
preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Jesus died for
me.” Sir Thomas Scott. Former Lord Chancellor of
England, was facing his own imminent death when
he declared, “Unto this moment I thought there was
neither a God nor a hell. Now I know and feel that
there are both and I am doomed to perdition.”
In the Lenten study which we begin today, we will
be considering Christ’s last words. They are referred
to as His seven last words. “These words are very
important, not only because of the person who
spoke them but also because of the place where they
were spoken. When our Lord was doing His greatest
work on earth, He was uttering some of His most
powerful and life-changing words. These seven last
words from the cross are windows that enable us to
look into eternity and see the heart of God.”These
words spoken as Christ was dying reveal truths we
need to know for living.They are absolutely crucial
to our well-being.Without them we cannot possibly
experience life in all its fullness.
The first of these seven statements is found in our
text for this morning. Brought to trial and unjustly
condemned, Jesus was led to Calvary by Roman
soldiers. He was mercilessly nailed to a wooden
cross. He was crucified between two common
criminals.The sinless Son of God was mocked,
tortured and left to die.Nevertheless, lifting His
head to heaven, He cried out saying,“FATHER,
FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW
WHAT THEY ARE DOING.” (Luke 23:34)
Astoundingly, He asked forgiveness for His
enemies. Can you imagine that?
FORGIVENESS IS AVAILABLE
Forgiveness is one of our greatest needs. Without it
we cannot get on properly with our lives. As guilty
sinners we all fall far short of God’s expectations.
Max Lucado says, God “tells us to go north and we
go south. He tells us to turn right and we turn left.
Instead of seeking His will, we seek our own.We
disregard and disobey Him.” In our natural state we
are lost; alienated and separated from God.. Romans
3:23 declares that “ALL HAVE SINNED AND
FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.”
Knowing our need for forgiveness, Jesus’ first word
from the cross speaks to this great need.He offers us
that which “In one bold stroke…..obliterates the
past and permits us to enter the land of new
beginnings". Fortunately, “God is more concerned
for the future than the past.
He is more interested in what we can yet become
than in all the things we used to be.”
Forgiveness is available simply because Christ paid
the just penalty of our sin. Being holy and just, God
cannot just close His eyes to our sin. If He did that
He would not be true to Himself. He would betray
His holy and just nature. Being holy He cannot
tolerate sin. Being just He cannot allow it to go
unpunished. Yet He is love and doesn’t want to
inflict upon us the just penalty of our sin. Therein
lies the dilemma. The only solution was for God
Himself to pay the just penalty of our sin. So He
sent His Son to earth to die on the cross for you and
me.1 Peter 2:24 declares that “HE HIMSELF BORE
OUR SINS IN HIS BODY…”
As a result of Christ’s dying for you, God can
forgive your sin. This forgiveness, however, is not
automatic. You must personally receive it by
receiving Christ as your Savior.“The story is told of
a time when a father and his daughter were walking
through the grass on the Canadian prairie. In the
distance they saw a prairie fire which would soon
engulf them. The father knew there was only one
way of escape: they must quickly build a fire right
where they were and burn a very large patch of
grass. When the huge prairie fire drew near, they
could stand on the section that had already burned.
When the flames approached them, the girl was
terrified, but her father assured her saying, ‘The
flames can’t get to us. We are standing where the
fire has already been.’So it is with the forgiven
when they see the judgment of God approaching.
In Christ they are standing where the flames have
already been and, therefore, are safe
In order for Christ’s death on the cross to cover your
sins you must trust Christ as your Savior. Romans
5:1 declares that we are “JUSTIFIED BY
FAITH….THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST.”To be justified is to be forgiven.
We are justified or forgiven the moment we confess
our sins and repentantly turn to Jesus as our Savior.
God’s forgiveness is available to every one of us.
“It must, however, be appropriated. Although it is a
universal offer, it has no effect on the sin debt of a
person who has not personally put trust in Christ.
It is like a paycheck that is never picked up; it is like
a gift certificate that is not redeemed; it is like a life
preserver that is ignored by a drowning person.”
We have to receive forgiveness by personally
receiving Christ. When we do, 1 John 1 says
“…GOD IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO
FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND CLEANSE US
FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.”
This forgiveness which Jesus spoke of as He was
dying is essential for living. Why is this forgiveness
so important? Because apart from it we cannot
know God or have fellowship with Him yet we were
created to know Him. Deep within we crave for
fellowship with God. Apart from this forgiveness
that Christ offers we cannot escape the terrible
burden of guilt. Furthermore, without Christ’s
forgiveness we cannot gain eternal life.Our Lord’s
offer of forgiveness is vital to our well-being.
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
Although most people are unaware of it, our
greatest need as human beings is to know God and
fellowship with Him. Author Selwyn Hughes says,
“because we were made in the image of God,
everyone, even the most hardened of atheists,
reaches out to God, (often unknowingly).”An atheist
once said to Hughes, “I don’t believe in God, but I
would like to, if only to satisfy the desire that seems
to be within me for transcendence.” We were
created to know God and to live in intimate
fellowship with Him.
The Westminster shorter catechism puts it this way:
“What is the chief end of man?” “To glorify God
and enjoy Him forever.”St. Augustine said, “Our
hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”
Do you have a restless heart?
Do the things of this world leave you feeling empty,
unfulfilled and dissatisfied?
It can’t be otherwise for you were created to know
God and live in daily fellowship with Him.
The natural tendency is for us to primarily seek after
the physical and temporal things of life, trying to
feed the hunger that gnaws at our souls. C. S. Lewis
put it this way: “We are half-hearted creatures
fooling around with alcohol and sex (and ambition
and possessions and money) when infinite joy is
offered to us.All too many people focus on God’s
gifts while ignoring the Giver.”The Psalmist David
spoke for all of us when he cried out saying, “O
GOD…MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR YOU, MY
BODY LONGS FOR YOU, IN A DRY AND
WEARY LAND…” (Psalm. 63) Created by God
and for God we thirst for Him. Fortunately, God is
not some distant deity, far removed from us. He can
be known. 1 John 1 invites us to enjoy fellowship
with “GOD THE FATHER AND HIS SON JESUS
CHRIST.” Yet, for all too many, God seems distant,
unconcerned and unknowable. The problem is our
sin. Isaiah 59:20 says, “YOUR INIQUITIES HAVE
SEPARATED YOU FROM GOD; YOUR SINS
HAVE HIDDEN HIS FACE FROM YOU.”
Sin alienates and separates us from God, making
fellowship impossible. Being absolutely holy and
just, God cannot have anything to do with sin and
He cannot have fellowship with unforgiven sinners.
Hence, until our sin has been dealt with through the
cross, God seems distant and far removed from us.
We can’t know Him or have fellowship with Him.
That won’t change until we receive the forgiveness
that Christ alone offers. 1 Peter 3:18 declares that
“CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ONCE FOR
ALL, THE RIGHTEOUS FOR THE
UNRIGHTEOUS, TO BRING YOU TO GOD.”
When we repent of our sins and receive the Savior
we are forgiven and brought into life-changing
fellowship with God. With forgiveness comes
fellowship. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God
made it clear to the wayward Israelites that he
would forgive their sins. Then he told them that this
forgiveness would result in wonderful, intimate
fellowship. “I WILL BE YOUR GOD AND YOU
WILL BE MY PEOPLE….AND YOU WILL
KNOW ME.” Knowing God and living in daily
fellowship is what we were created for. It is what
makes life ultimately meaningful and worthwhile.
Through forgiveness fellowship with God the
Creator is available.That is why Christ’s last word
of forgiveness is so crucial for living today.
GUILT
Christ’s last word about forgiveness is also essential
to your life today because it is the only adequate
way in which to deal with guilt. Guilt is a
consequence of sin. “Guilt is one of the most
powerful emotions we experience. Its influence is
frightenly pervasive and its staying power is
tremendous.It can literally live unexamined and
seemingly unfed for years.” Yet it does untold
damage.Dr. Frank Minirth likens guilt to an
“emotional acid”. Like a prison, guilt holds its
victim captive in an emotional box from which few
escape without outside help. Unresolved guilt
wrecks havoc in the mind, body and spirit. Mentally
and emotionally it is devastating. It produces
feelings of pain, fear, anger, depression, rejection,
despair and worthlessness.
Medical researchers have determined that guilt
causes many physical illnesses. Not only does it
trigger secretions in our glands that cause specific
physical ailments, it also increases our risk for many
other disease.Guilt also causes spiritual problems as
it destroys our fellowship with God. Dr. Cecil
Osborne says, “Sin and guilt constitute the greatest
single problem for most people, though they may be
partially or totally unaware of the basic difficulty.
Unresolved guilt can seriously hinder our ability to
relate to ourselves and to others.“It severely
damages our capacity to love and to be lovable”
Without question, unresolved guilt is one of the
“greatest of all burdens and one of the most
crushing of all oppressions.”
The only adequate way to deal with it is through the
forgiveness that is offered us in Christ. In the 32nd
Psalm, the Psalmist David tells of the inner turmoil
and distress that resulted from his guilt.He had
committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had
her husband killed in an effort to cover up his sin.
The resulting guilt became a terrible burden and a
crushing oppression.In vivid metaphor David shares
with us the consequences of his unforgiven sin.
Long before medical researchers discovered the
physical and psychological effects of guilt, the
Psalmist eloquently described them.In verses 3 & 4
he said, “WHEN I KEPT SILENT, MY BONES
WASTED AWAY THROUGH MY GROANING
ALL DAY LONG. FOR NIGHT AN DDAY YOUR
HAND WAS HEAVY UPON ME; MY STRENTH
WAS SAPPED AS IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER.”
His body ached in anguish and his spirit groaned in
despair.Guilt had wrecked havoc in his body, mind
and soul.
There was no escape from the crushing burden of
his guilt until, as he says in verse 5, “I
ACKNOWLEDGED MY SIN…..AND
CONFESSED IT TO THE LORD.” “WASH ME
THOROUGHLY FROM MY INIQUITY,” David
pleaded, “AND CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN.”
Forgiveness was offered and David quickly
accepted it.Set free from the burden of guilt, David
cried out saying, “BLESSED IS HE WHOSE
TRANSGRESSIONS ARE FORGIVEN, WHOSE
SINS ARE COVERED….” Like David, we can
adequately deal with our guilt only when we come
to the Lord for forgiveness. John 8:36 says, “IF
THE SON SETS YOU FREE, YOU WILL BE
FREE INDEED.”Freedom from guilt comes
through the Savior.
ETERNAL LIFE
The dying words of Jesus are essential for living
because they are words that lead to eternal life.
If we are to know victorious living we must provide
for the life to come. Philosopher Francis Bacon said
that “men fear death as children fear the dark.”
Indeed, the fear of death lies deep within the mind
of the unbeliever and it can wreck havoc. Fear of
death can prevent us from truly living. Louis XV,
King of France, ordered that the word “death” was
never to be spoken in his presence. The thought of
death and dying was more than he could bear.
When we fear death and dying then we cannot live
as we should.Perhaps the main reason people fear
death is that they know that in death they just might
have an encounter with their maker.Death is a
journey into the unknown and who can be sure that
there is not a judgment to be faced before God?
Christ removes the fear of death and imparts to
those who trust Him for forgiveness the assurance
of eternal life in heaven.Hebrews 2:14 says that
Christ, “DELIVERS THOSE WHO THROUGH
FEAR OF DEATH, WERE ALL THEIR LIFTIME
SUBJECT TO BONDAGE.”
Jesus said, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND
THE LIFE, WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND
BELIEVTH IN ME THOUGH HE DIE YET
SHALL HE LIVE.” (John 11:25 & 26) In John
14:2 He said, “IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ARE
MANY DWELLING PLACES. IF IT WERE NOT
SO I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. I GO TO
PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU….” On yet
another occasion (John 14:19) He declared,
“BECAUSE I LIVE, YOU SHALL LIVE ALSO…”
Christ promises us victory over death and the grave.
Through the forgiveness He offers. Christ removes
the fear of death and dying. In so doing he sets us
free to really live!
CONCLUSION
A number of our most vital human needs can only
be met through the forgiveness Christ offers. Even
though we are not always aware of it, we all crave
for fellowship with God. The fact is that we were
created to live in fellowship with our Creator. From
deep within we also cry out for a way to escape the
terrible burden of guilt. And we all have a
God-given longing for permanence, for something
that lasts and gives life meaning that transcends our
fleeting years on earth.All these needs are met when
face our sin and come to the Savior for forgiveness.
No wonder Proverbs 28:13 declares, “HE WHO
CONCEALS HIS SINS DOES NOT PROSPER;
BUT WHOEVER CONFESSESS AND
RENOUNCES THEM FINDS MERCY.”
When we come to Jesus He says to us, “YOUR
SINS ARE FORGIVEN. YOUR FAITH HAS
SAVED YOU. GO IN PEACE.”
Have you come to the Savior?
