(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Now, John 19 that we read is obviously the familiar passage about the crucifixion of Christ. And really, personally for me, my favorite part of the Bible, obviously I know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, but personally my favorite part of the Bible is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four gospels, that to me is the crux of the whole Bible. The whole Old Testament is pointing forward to Jesus Christ and then everything after that is pointing back to the Lord Jesus Christ and Him coming to this earth. And obviously the climax of that whole story is Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. The Bible says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And you don't have to turn there, but of course in 1 Corinthians, the Bible defines the gospel. It says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. So the gospel, or the good news of salvation, is the fact that Jesus Christ died for all of our sins, and that He was buried, and that He rose again. That is the crux of everything that we believe, everything that we preach when we're out soul winning, is the fact that we don't have to be punished for our sins, we don't have to go to the lake of fire for all eternity, because Jesus Christ died for our sins, and not only that, He was buried, and He rose again, and that's why we're saved, and that's what we believe, and that's the most important thing. So I think that we as believers should know and understand more about this event than anything else. We need to know and understand the crucifixion, the events leading up to it, the burial, the resurrection. This is critical for us to be able to preach it as we go out soul winning, to preach this message and to just understand it. And so what I want to preach about tonight is I want to preach about the seven statements that Jesus made while He was hanging on the cross. Now first of all, go to Luke 23, we're going to come back to John 19. But it's interesting, there are certain numbers in the Bible that keep coming up over and over again, and one of the numbers that God used a lot is the number seven. Like for example, seven times Jesus made the statement, I am, and He said, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the true vine, I am the bread of life, and He went through and made those seven statements. Well there are seven statements that Jesus made from the cross, and so I want to go through those tonight, but before I get into the seven statements that Jesus made while on the cross, and remember, this is the pivotal event in all of human history. I mean if we were to go back and think of the whole history of mankind, the climax of everything about what has happened on this earth would have to be Jesus on the cross. I mean that's the point that I would point to as being the pivotal moment. And therefore, Jesus' seven statements must be very important that He made while He's on the cross. And it's just interesting that there's seven of them. The fact that that number comes up gives a significance. Now here's the other interesting thing. You can't get all seven of them from just one of the Gospels. You have to look at Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. Now Matthew and Mark repeat, but of course you've got to look at Luke, you've got to look at John, you've got to get all seven. Now I'm trying to put these in order. It's hard to put them in exact order, but I've roughly got them in chronological order. But before we get into the statements that He made while hanging on the cross, I do want to show you one statement that He made while He was carrying the cross. So this isn't really part of the seven. He wasn't hanging on the cross, but this is while He's carrying the cross, so we might as well look at it. Look at Luke 23, verse 28. The Bible says, but Jesus, actually let's get the context, I'm sorry. We'll back up a few verses, give me a second to turn there myself. In Luke 23, beginning in verse number 26, it says, and as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. So of course the Bible records that Jesus was carrying the cross, but now a man, Simon the Cyrenian, had to actually help him carry the cross up the hill. And it says in verse 27, there followed Him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him. They're sad, they're crying, they're weeping when they see the suffering that Jesus is going through. He's already been beaten and scourged, and the Bible says by His stripes we are healed. That's a reference to the fact that we're saved by the blood, and those stripes were stripes of blood. Now He was hit with a whip so hard, according to the Bible, that it left a bloody stripe behind. And so He's already been beaten. The Bible talked about Him being buffeted, or basically socked in the face, spat upon, mocked, and ridiculed. Now He's carrying the cross, Simon had to help him carry it, and people are following Him weeping. And look what Jesus said. Jesus turning under them said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck. Then so they began to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? That's a pretty profound statement. It's not one that you hear preached a lot, but it's an interesting statement. You say, what did He mean by that? Well the verse that immediately came to my mind when I read that was in Luke 21, when Jesus Christ is talking about the second coming, and He is talking about some things about the tribulation and things like that. He says in Luke 21 verse 22, for these be the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled, but woe unto them that are with child and them that give suck in those days, for they shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. Some of the things He prophesied about there, both in Luke 21 and Luke 23, were in the immediate future. The temple was going to be destroyed and so forth. Some of it is still going to happen in the future with the tribulation and so forth. Now there are some people that try to preach and teach that everything that's been prophesied in the Bible has already happened. It's called preterism. But of course we know the rapture has not happened. We know that anyone who said that the resurrection had passed already was a false teacher back in the days that Paul was writing to Timothy. And so of course there are many prophecies that still need to be fulfilled. There's going to be a one world government. There's going to be a tribulation, the Antichrist. First John makes it clear that the Antichrist was still, he believed the Antichrist is still coming in First John chapter 2, and of course he is still yet to come. But here, when I see this statement, the thing that I think about is sometimes I'm out soul winning, knocking doors. And I knock on somebody's door and I want to preach them the gospel. And you know how frustrating it can be when you're soul winning? Because you know that you have the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know these people aren't saved and you want so badly for them to get saved, don't you? I mean you just want them to at least hear the truth and to just know the truth. And sometimes you look at people and you know, man, if this person would just listen to me they'd probably get saved. But it's just, oh, I'm busy, I don't have time. It's heartbreaking sometimes. Because you just want so badly to share that with them. You know that you're saved, you're going to heaven, you want them to be saved too, you don't want them to go down. I mean at least that's how I feel when I go out soul winning. But I've noticed that some people will say something like this, you knock on the door and try to give them the gospel. And here's what they say, I'm really sorry, I just don't have time right now. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And I'm just thinking to myself, why are you sorry? Are you doing me some favor by listening to me give you the gospel or something? Like, oh, I'm so sorry, I'm not going to let you go through your little song and dance. Don't you realize I'm here with the gospel of salvation. We're talking about your soul either going to heaven for all eternity or hell for all eternity and you're sorry? No, I'm sorry that you won't listen. And this is I think what is going through Jesus' mind here when they're weeping for him and he's saying don't weep for me, weep for yourselves. Because yes, he's going to be beaten, yes, he's going to be spat upon, yes, he's going to be mocked and reviled, yes, he's going to go to the cross and be nailed to the cross and yes, he's going to descend into the center of the earth, the Bible said, in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights into hell itself. But you know why Jesus endured the cross? Because the Bible says he endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. The Bible says in Psalm 16, he said, therefore, I'm going to quote it wrong, I've got it memorized but try standing in front of people and all of a sudden it goes out the window. Let me turn there real quick so that I don't get it wrong here. In Psalm 19, the Bible says, where am I? It's not Psalm 19, good night, I'm losing my mind, Psalm 16, alright. In Psalm 16, he said, I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved, therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth, my flesh also shall rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption, thou wilt show me the path of life, in thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. What's Jesus saying in Psalm 16, which is quoted in Acts 2 as being about Jesus. What he's saying is that he endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. What he's saying is that when he was even in hell, he said the thought that brought him joy and made his heart glad was that he would not be left in hell. He said, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. He knew that after his death and after that time of being dead for three days and three nights that he would rise again and that he would spend eternity rejoicing and glad. He said don't weep for me, my suffering is temporary, your suffering is going to be eternal. I mean he's saying don't weep for me, weep for yourselves, weep for your children and that's what I feel like sometimes when I'm out souling, just don't tell me you're sorry because it's no skin off my back. You're the one who's missing out on the truth here. You're missing the gospel here. It's yourself that you ought to weep for. That's the thing that came to my mind. And of course he goes into this powerful statement about the people begging the mountains to fall on them just directly from Revelation 6 and the book of Isaiah and on and on and on. This is one of the seven statements that he actually made on the cross and this shows insight into what was going on in his mind. Now one of the most fascinating things I think about in the Bible and honestly part of the reason why I love the four gospels so much, the thing that is the most fascinating thing in the Bible is how Jesus was human. He was not just, yes he was 100% God. We know he was God in the flesh, but he was also a man. He was also human. He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. He was a hungered, the Bible says. He was a thirst. He was tired. He became angry. He became sad. He wept. He groaned within himself. And even in the Garden of Gethsemane, he didn't want to go to the cross. He's begging the Father that if it were possible, the cup would pass from him. But he said, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. Jesus Christ, the Bible says, endured the cross, despising the shame. He didn't like being made fun of, just like you don't like being made fun of. He didn't like being spat upon, just like you don't like being spat upon. He despised the shame. But he did it because of his love for us. He did it because it was the only way for us to be saved. And so Jesus Christ was a human being, even though he was God in the flesh. Difficult to understand, but it's as true as the days long. And so these statements that he makes are very interesting. Look at verse 34. This is the first statement that Jesus made on the cross. And again, I'm trying to go in the best order I can. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted as raiment and cast lots. Now that's got to be a pretty hard thing to say. Now there was another man who made a similar statement. Go to Acts 7. Go to Acts chapter 7. This is another reason why this statement is so significant. Look at Acts 7. What I love about Stephen in the Bible, and I'm glad that I just named my son Stephen that was born on July 24th, and I spelled it with the biblical spelling. My name is spelled with a V, which I like being spelled with a V, but I decided to give him the biblical spelling so that we could have a little way to differentiate between the two of us. But Stephen was a man who was very Christ-like in a lot of ways. First of all, he preached the truth without holding back. That's what I like about Stephen. He was filled with power and the Holy Ghost. We know that Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Ghost, the Bible said. Stephen preached hard and he preached with great power and conviction, but you know, he died in a way that was very similar to how Christ died. First of all, he died for preaching the truth. That's how Jesus Christ died. But not only that, Stephen made some of the same statements or similar statements to what Jesus made, because Stephen, the Bible says in verse 59, it says they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Well, we're going to get to it later, but that's one of the statements that Jesus made. Into thy hands I commend my spirit. But look what happened next. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. So there's a man who lived like Christ. One of the great characters of the Bible. Lay not this sin to their charge. Now that'd be pretty hard to say, wouldn't it? When people are stoning you to death, when you just preached the word of God and people got so angry that they plugged their ears, ran toward you, dragged you out of the city and threw rocks at you and they're stoning you to death. And as you're dying, he said it with a loud voice, everybody around him heard, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. You know, that's a great man. And Jesus Christ said something similar when he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. You know, one of the things that we can learn from that is that a lot of times when people do us wrong, it's not that they're trying to do us wrong because they're evil people or bad people. Sometimes people do us wrong out of ignorance. They don't know what they're doing. And that's why the Bible says, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his Son to shine upon the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. You see, when people do us wrong, it's not always that they just hate God and hate the Bible and hate us and hate everything that's good in the world and they just love to make people suffer. You know, there are people like that out there. And God said, pray not for these people, they're wicked. But let me tell you something, a lot of the times when people do us wrong, they know not what they do. And you know, obviously some people involved knew what they were doing. But he said, pray for them, I'm sorry, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Now later on, one of the Roman centurions that even was there nailing him to the cross is going to say, truly this was the Son of God, and believe on him. That guy didn't know what he was doing, was he? Because he was surprised that it really was the Son of God. At first, he didn't believe in him. He did it ignorantly and unbelief. He wasn't trying to do wrong. You know, I've had people do me wrong, you've had people do you wrong, but we're commanded by God to forgive and to pray for those people and to love people that do us wrong. Now a lot of people will of course twist this doctrine and say, oh, love pedophiles, love Adolf Hitler, love Joseph Stalin, you know, love evil dictators, love mass murderers. That's not what the Bible's teaching. When the Bible says love your enemies, he's talking about people that are your personal enemies, people that do you wrong. That person at work that basically lies about you in order to cover up for their own mistake or to make themself look good, that person who steals your commission, you know, or whatever on that sales job, the person who deceives you on the job, you know, that person, we're supposed to love and pray for that person and say, you know what, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Should not this sin be laid to their chart. Of course I've been, you know, beaten by the police for no reason and tasered for no reason and, you know, it'd be easy to just basically want to say to those people, hey, man, you know what, burn in hell, buddy, but you know what, that's not a Christian attitude. That's not godly. And I can honestly say right now with God as my witness that in the back of the police car I prayed for every single one of them to be saved. Now does that mean that I don't think they should be punished? Well obviously they should be punished for, you know, breaking the law and for harming me. But at the same time I prayed, I said, you know what, God, I pray that you be merciful to these guys and that some soul winner, this is what I prayed in the back of the police car, I said some soul winner would go knock their door in Yuma and give them the gospel. Because I don't hate those people. You know what, honestly, did they do a bad thing? Yes. But you know what, honestly, some of them might have just been sadistic weirdos. I don't know. Some of them might have just been doing their job, right, and just brainwashed and they think that's normal or whatever. So the bottom line is, I don't know, I'm not going to judge the heart. I know what they did was wrong. But at the same time I'm going to forgive and I'm going to love my enemies and pray for them that despitefully used me and persecuted me. You know, it was hard to do that but the only reason I did it is because I knew that the Bible said I'm supposed to do it, you know what I mean? And so I was trying to put that into practice, Christian love of at least praying for them that they would get the gospel and that somebody would knock that door. You know, we need to try, and it's hard sometimes, but we need to try and love our enemies to be like Christ, to be like Stephen. And so when people burn us on the job, and you know, honestly, a lot of your enemies you can turn them into your friends by overcoming evil with good. And when people burn you and when people are rude to you, you know, if you turn around and do something nice for that person, a lot of times you can win that person over just by buying them a soda, buy them a sandwich, you know, tell them you're sorry, whatever. And try to, as much as possible, live at peace with all men. But this is amazing. I mean, Jesus Christ, I love the song Blessed Redeemer. We sing it often and the Bible says, Father forgive them, thus did he pray, even while his life blood flowed fast away, praying for sinners while in such woe. No one but Jesus ever loved so. Blessed Redeemer, it's a great song. And he was thinking about other people. He was praying for sinners. He was praying for the unsaved. He was praying for his enemies. I mean, these are his enemies that are beating him and nailing him to the cross. But many of them were just doing their job, quote unquote, and he prayed for them. And he prayed that they'd be forgiven. He prayed that they'd be saved. And you know what? I think his prayer was answered when that Roman centurion said, hey, truly this was the Son of God and believed on him. Let's go to the second statement. That's a profound statement. It says in verse 35, and the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, these are people mocking him, 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. You know, when people are making fun of you and harassing you, that's amazing to be able to say, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. But you know, that's what we need to strive for, that's the kind of love that we need to have in our hearts. But look, if you would, at John chapter 19. Let's go to the second statement, John chapter 19. So the first statement was, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Look at John 19, the Bible reads in verse 25, now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. So again, he's thinking about other people. He looks at his mother, who's there at the cross. And this has got to be a difficult time for her, you know, whenever your children suffer, you suffer with them. And so obviously his mother, Mary, had the affection that any mother has for her child. And she sees her son, Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross, beaten and brutalized and bloody. The Bible says that he had no form nor comeliness, his visage was more marred than any man. And she looks upon him and she's feeling bad for him. And there's kind of a theme in these first few statements. You know, hey, weep not for me, weep for yourselves. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now his mother is there weeping for him, worried about him, feeling bad for him, but he's worried about her. And he basically commissions John, you know, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, the author of the book of John, one of the 12 disciples, he commissions John to take care of his mother. And he tells her, you know, woman, behold thy son. He's saying, this is your son, he's going to take my place. And then he says, behold thy mother. And look what it says, from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. So this shows that Jesus is trying to take care of his mother. Now Jesus loved his mother. And a lot of times people, they try to elevate Jesus' mother too high, don't they? And they worship her and they think she's God. I love the part where Jesus' mother and his brethren, they come and they want to talk to him and he's basically, he's still preaching, he's not done preaching. He's in the middle of preaching. And somebody comes up and taps him on the shoulder while he's preaching and says, hey, excuse me, your mother and your brethren are here desiring to speak with you. And he says, well who is my mother? Who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand to his disciples and said, behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my mother and sister and brother. Now look, doesn't that show you right there that we don't need to worship Mary? He left her outside and said, well, you're my mother if you obey my word. You're my mother, you're my sister, you're my brother. And this shows that, you know, Jesus loves us and Jesus cares about us because he cared about his mother. So it's not that he was being disrespectful to mom. He wasn't trying to say I don't care about my mother, I don't care about my brethren. What he was saying is I care about my disciples. Like for example, if I said to you, you know, faithful word Baptist church is like family to me. You're my brothers and sisters in Christ, this is my family. That's not downgrading my physical family. Because by comparing you to my family, that shows that I do love my family. And that's why if I want to make a comparison of how much I love you, I'm going to say you're like a brother to me, you're like my sister, you're like my mother. And that's what Jesus was saying when he stretched forth his hand to his disciples and said, you know what, if you do the will of God, you're my mother, you're my brother, you're my sister. You know, that's an amazing thing to call Jesus Christ's brother. That's amazing. And yet that's how he looks at us as a brother. He's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And he says here, woman, behold thy son, behold thy mother. That's the second statement that he made. Taking care of his mother. Making sure that she's going to be taken care of. You know, it's clear here, obviously Joseph is not around anymore. He's not mentioned after Jesus, 12 years old. We don't know, but he probably died at some point between 12 and this point because obviously Mary needs somebody to take care of her. And that's why Jesus sets her up to be taken care of by the Apostle John. But look at the next statement. Go to Luke chapter 23. We're going to be kind of bouncing between a few of the Gospels here. So the first statement was, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. The second statement was, woman, behold thy son and behold thy mother unto John. The third statement is this. In Luke 23, this is the famous story about the thief on the cross. Luke 23, 39, and one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself in us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we received the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Again, an extremely profound statement. Jesus Christ is basically bringing salvation to his fellow person who is being executed even while on the cross. This is basically one of the last people that he reached. Now the Bible's clear that before this, both of the thieves cast the same in his teeth and reviled him. So this guy originally was not saying, Hey, this is the Son of God. We deserve to be here. He's done nothing amiss. Calling him Lord. That's not how he was when he first got on the cross. If you look in the book of Mark, it's clear he was mocking Jesus too. They both were. But through that testimony of Jesus saying, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And through other statements he might have heard, through just seeing Jesus Christ there on the cross, he has become convinced, just like the centurion's going to be convinced, Hey, wait a minute. This truly is the Son of God. And of course this is the perfect example of somebody who did no works to be saved at all. I mean, this guy didn't do any works. He's a thief. He's a bad person. He says, I deserve to be up here because of all the bad things I've done in my life. He's hanging on the cross. He did not join a church. He did not get baptized. I love it when I show this to people who say, you have to be baptized to be saved. And they're like, well, that was an exception. Well, I mean, how many exceptions is God going to make? Just certain people that he likes? He didn't get baptized. He did not join a church and he didn't do any good works. I mean, let me tell you one thing. When that thief on the cross, when he got to heaven, he didn't get any rewards. He didn't earn any rewards. I mean, I guess he did do one thing. He did give the Gospel to one person, because he told the other guy, hey, shut up, you need to get saved too. So he did give the Gospel to one guy, but really that was right before he got saved. And then he called upon the Lord and he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Now again, probably not the most doctrinally correct salvation prayer in the Bible. Because, I mean, if he really took them literally, it would be like, you know what, I'm going to go, you know, I know I'm dying, but you know, a couple thousand years from now, when you're in your kingdom, just remember me. Think about me. A lot of people, they doubt their salvation because they don't think they prayed the right thing. But the Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You say, well, what do you have to say? What do you pray? What do you call upon him? What do you say when you call upon the name of the Lord? You know what? Just say Jesus. Just say save me. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. It didn't matter the exact words. You know what? Jesus just saw the faith, and he was calling upon him. I mean, clearly this guy believed. Now first of all, did this guy admit he was a sinner? Oh yeah. He admitted he was a sinner and just called out to Jesus in whatever words he could find, whether it was the most logical words or not. He just called, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, and Jesus promises him. Talk about assurance of salvation. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Now many will take that statement. Go to John chapter 3, and I'm trying to hurry through these. Many will misunderstand that statement that Jesus made, today shalt thou be with me in paradise, to somehow construe that Jesus Christ did not really go to hell for three days and three nights, right? Now some people will really go out to lunch and way out in left field and they'll tell you, well, hell is paradise. Well, you've got a weird idea of paradise, buddy, because hell is a paradise, okay? Some people will try to twist that doctrine, but some people will construe when Jesus said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise, that somehow Jesus didn't go to hell, he actually went to paradise, which is heaven according to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Paradise and heaven are the same place. Some people will try to construe that, but wait a minute, the Bible says that Jesus was dead for three days and three nights. Well, here's the thing, when you're in paradise, you're not dead. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were in paradise and the Bible said that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. He said, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God's not the God of the dead, God's the God of the living. Jesus died and the Bible says that Jesus would spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. That's not where paradise is. The Bible says that they went up into paradise in 2 Corinthians 12 and that paradise is heaven. Jesus Christ was not in heaven when he died, he was in hell for three days and three nights because that's where you go when you're dead. That's the place called death. And then he was there for three days and three nights. You say, well wait a minute, then why did he say, today shall be with me in paradise? Look if you would at John 3.13 for the answer. This is Jesus talking to Nicodemus and he says, no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, look at that last phrase, which is in heaven. So when Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, where was Jesus physically at that time? He was on earth. His body, soul, and spirit were right there on earth talking to Nicodemus, but yet he said, the Son of Man which is in heaven. So according to Jesus, he was also in heaven. How can that be? Not simply because of the fact that Jesus Christ is God. And he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. So to be in heaven with the Father is to be in heaven with Jesus because the two are the same. Because it's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one. You say, well I don't agree with your interpretation there. Well, I don't know how else in the world you could construe that Jesus, the Bible says he went to hell according to Acts 2.31, Matthew 12.40, Ephesians chapter 4, and he said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Basically when the thief died on the cross, he went to be with the Lord in heaven. He went to be there and basically Jesus said, the Son of Man's in heaven right now while he was talking to Nicodemus. Now what's interesting about that is that, did you know that every modern Bible version takes this verse out, this part of the verse, where it says which is in heaven? And it's funny, almost everything I've preached so far tonight, did you know that it's all changed in the NIV? Remember when Stephen called out upon God and said, Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commend my spirit? In the NIV, that's taken out and it doesn't say he's calling upon God. That's attacking the deity of Christ. Well taking out in John 3.13 where it says which is in heaven, that's taking away from the fact that Jesus Christ could be in more than one place at once because he's God. I mean do we know for a fact that he was talking to Nicodemus on the earth? Yes. Well was he also in heaven? Well there you go. You say, I don't understand that. Well, it doesn't matter, it's still true. Jesus could be in heaven and talking to Nicodemus at the same time. So even though Jesus Christ's soul went to hell to pay for our sins, he could still say to the thief, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Because there's the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost and basically God's omnipresent. The Bible says if I stand in heaven, behold thou art there and if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. God is omnipresent. Let's go to the next statement. Let's go to Matthew 27. So let's do a quick review. The first statement was, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. The second statement was, Woman, behold thy son and behold thy mother. The third statement was, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Why did Jesus say that? You know why Jesus told that guy? Because he could have just let him wait a couple hours to find out. Leave him hanging, no pun intended. He decided not to leave him hanging. He said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. You know why he wrote that? For us to read it. Because he wanted us to know how easy salvation is. Don't you love that example? How many times have you been giving somebody the gospel, I know Brother Garrett, I go soloing with Brother Garrett, he always talks about the thief on the cross every single time. Because it's such a great illustration of salvation. It's so clear. Look at Matthew 27. Here's the proof about what I said about the thieves, how they both originally mocked him. Look at verse 44. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani. Now if you, now let me, I'm a scholar, I can tell you what that means in the Hebrew. No, thank God he translated it for us. That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now this is, there's a lot of depth in these statements, isn't there? Now go back to Psalm 22. Jesus is quoting the Bible here. He's quoting the book of Psalms. Go back to Psalm 22 and see where this quote comes from. Now first of all, it's interesting that he quoted it in Hebrew. I think part of that is that he's pointing us to the Old Testament scriptures. Because Jesus did not normally speak Hebrew. That's why when he spoke Hebrew, it makes a point to tell us that. And the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. So this is intentionally showing us, hey, this is a quote from the Old Testament. That's a heads up right there. Now some of them that stood there, while you're turning to Psalm 22, I'll continue reading Matthew 27, some of them that stood there when they heard that, they said, this man calleth Elias. Because here's the thing, they didn't speak Hebrew. So when they heard him say Eli or Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that means my God. But they thought he was saying Elias. They thought he was crying out for Elias to come save him, to come help him. And they said, oh, let's see if Elijah comes and helps him. Ha ha ha. It's funny, sometimes people will make fun of you. They're the one who doesn't know what they're talking about. They're making fun of Jesus. What? He thinks Elijah is going to help him? It's like, hey, idiot, he said my God, my God, you just don't know the language. But look at Psalm 22. It says in Psalm 22 verse 1, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now what's interesting about this is that this passage is one of the most powerful Old Testament passages on the crucifixion. I would say that the number one passages on the crucifixion in the Old Testament, first of all, Genesis 22 is a powerful picture of the crucifixion. Psalm 22 is a powerful picture. And then Isaiah 53 is the other one. Now in Psalm 22, we can see a lot of great things about the crucifixion. He says my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh, my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season am I not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bowls have compassed me, strong bowls of beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleave it to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet." Now what is that if it's not a powerful reference to the crucifixion where he said they pierced my hands and feet? But this gives us an insight into the human feelings of Jesus as he's on the cross. He's complaining about being thirsty. His tongue is cleaving to his jaw. He can't get any moisture in his mouth. His mouth is dry, and he's thirsty, and he's in pain, and he's being made fun of, and he's hanging on the cross, and he's surrounded by people who hate him and enemies, and he's crying out saying, God, why hast thou forsaken me? His bones are all out of joint. He's in pain. This is a powerful insight into what it was like from Jesus' perspective, being on the cross. You know, we look at the Bible, we're looking at it from the outside, seeing Jesus on the cross. Like Isaiah looked at it from the outside, he's despised, he's rejected, he's on the cross. But in the book of Psalms, it's coming from his own thoughts, his mind, when he's saying, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he talks about his bones. He says in verse 18, they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. And on and on. Now, what is the significance of this statement? First of all, it's to point us to Psalm 22, so that we can turn to Psalm 22 and get more details about the crucifixion and more insight into what's going on in the heart and mind of the Lord Jesus Christ as he's on the cross. I think that's the main reason. But the other thing that God is showing us here, go to Isaiah 53, if you would, Isaiah chapter 53. And it's interesting because a lot of these statements that Jesus made on the cross, people struggle with them and they misunderstand them sometimes. And I've even heard some people say, well, this proves that Jesus was not God. You know, I've had people bring this up and say, you know, when he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That proves that he wasn't God. Of course, the fact that he said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise proves that he was God. But they'll say, oh, this proves he wasn't God because he's talking to God. Well, again, you know, the Trinity is the true doctrine of who the Lord Jesus Christ was. Now, the Trinity is being attacked from both sides today. And when I say Trinity, I realize that word's not in the Bible, but here's what is in the Bible. These three are one. And that's all Trinity means. It means three in one. Now, there are two heresies about this. The Bible teaches that the Father and the Word and the Holy Ghost, he said, these three are one. Now, these are the two heresies. There are those out there who believe that Jesus is not God. You know what they're saying? These three are not one. They're saying it's three separate beings and they'll even teach that Jesus was a created being. That's your Jehovah's false witnesses. That's the Latter-day Satan, the Mormons, okay? They basically attacked the deity of Christ, even though the Bible says, but unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness, a scepter of Thy kingdom. Over and over the Bible declares Jesus to be God. I mean, that's a whole sermon in and of itself. So one heresy says, you know what, these three are not one. But then there's another heresy among Pentecostals many times that are so-called Jesus-only Pentecostals. And I don't know all the terms that they use, but here's their heresy. On this side, this is what they say. This one is not three. So one heresy says these three are not one. And then the other heresy says this one is not three. They don't believe in the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, they don't believe in the Trinity. They say it's all just one, just Jesus. And they say basically the Father turned into Jesus. The Father became Jesus, you know, and then basically it's like He's just changing form. But wait a minute, that Jesus-only movement or Pentecostal doctrine, that flies in the face of what we see here. Because there's clearly three here. And when we see Jesus being baptized, the Father's voice and the Spirit descending like a dove, there we have all three present. This is clearly a distinction between the Father and the Son, isn't there? Because Jesus is on the cross and He said, my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Now let me ask you this, do you believe that Jesus really was forsaken by the Father? I do. Because here's the thing, Jesus Christ can only speak the truth. Jesus said, I am the truth. No lie or false teaching or false speech ever came out of Jesus' mouth, ever. And so if Jesus didn't say, did you forsake me? He said, my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? So had He been forsaken? Otherwise He wouldn't have said, why did it happen? If it didn't happen, because then He'd be lying. Now Jesus was forsaken of the Father at that time. That destroys the Pentecostal oneness doctrine. Look down, if you would, at Psalm 53 and we can see the significance of this. Of course, this is a powerful scripture on the crucifixion. He's despised, verse 3, He's despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not, surely He had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way and watch this, this is the key, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Now jump down to verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. So according to this passage we see the Lord laid the sins of the world upon Jesus. Did He not? And the Bible says that the Lord bruised Jesus. So what we see on the cross is that God the Father, and this is important doctrine my friend, that's why we're going over these statements because they give important doctrines, the Father basically punished the Son for the sins of the world. That's what the Bible says. It says that He was bruised for our iniquities and it was the Lord who bruised Him. Now many people will say that Satan is the one who killed Jesus and punished Him. That's a bunch of false doctrine. Jesus said no man taketh my life from me. He said I offer it up freely. He said I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again. This is a transaction where God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are involved. He could have called 12 legions of angels at any time. This isn't Satan. I heard some song where Satan is rejoicing about getting Jesus hanging on the cross. That's not true. Because obviously Satan is possessing Judas and all that. I get all that. I'm not trying to downplay that. But what I am saying is that the Lord bruised Him. The Father laid on Him the iniquity of us all. That's what the Bible says. So when Jesus died on the cross, He took all of our sins. The Bible says who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. So when Jesus hung on the cross, every sin that you've ever done in your whole life or ever will do, it was as if Jesus had done it. Jesus took all the guilt and all the shame and all the responsibility for every sin that anyone has ever committed upon Himself and basically when He had all that sin upon Himself, the Father punished Him for our sins. The punishment that we deserve and anybody who doesn't believe on Jesus Christ will receive at the hand of the Father the punishment for their sins. That punishment was directed upon Jesus. And that's what He meant when He said, my God, my God, why has He not forsaken me? Basically there's a forsaking, okay, where Jesus Christ is now not in loving communion with the Father as He'd always been. Always doing the things that pleased the Father. Having that loving Father-Son relationship with the Father throughout His human existence and life, He gets to this point and for the first time the Bible talks about how darkness covered the whole face of the earth and basically now, at this time, the Father is now basically not in a position of fellowship and love with the Son, but rather pouring out His wrath. Basically punishing and bruising Him for our iniquities. That's what the Bible says. And so this is Jesus Christ being punished for our sins. Being forsaken of the Father and actually being punished. And that's why it's not hard to believe that Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights like the Bible said that He did in Acts 2.31 and everywhere else. But because of the fact that that's the punishment for our sins that He took. He bore that punishment. And then of course, three days later, He rose from the dead, He came back to life and He seated at the right hand of the Father. Let's go to the next statement that He made. That's an interesting statement. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now you say, why would Jesus ask why, though? I mean, He knows all things. He understands all things. But remember, Jesus was human. I mean, why did He cry and pray to the Father in the garden, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. He knew that it wasn't possible, but He's a human being. He's just expressing His feeling. You know what I mean? He's expressing His feeling of dread of not wanting to go there. And basically, I think God gives us this statement, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, just to show us Jesus Christ's suffering or the fact that it was horrible to Him to be forsaken of the Father. You know what's a wonderful thing about that? None of us will ever have to know what that's like. Because Jesus said He promised us, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. What a horrible feeling when Jesus was forsaken of God, forsaken of the Father, and was the object of God's wrath, because God directed His wrath toward that sin that Jesus had in His body. We never have to experience that. I don't know, I would never want to be on the receiving end of that wrath. And thank God, He did it for us. And it wasn't fun when He did it. That's why He said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's just an expression of what He's going through at that moment. But look at the fifth statement, John 19, John 19, 28. He says in John 19, 28, after this, Jesus, knowing all things, were now accomplished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith I thirst. So why did Jesus say I thirst? The Bible tells us why. That the Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, I thirst. And it says, there was said a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon a hyssop and put it to his mouth. Now, I don't know about you, but I am not a picky eater. I go to people's houses, I eat what's put in front of me, I go to a restaurant. Sometimes I've literally, because I travel a lot, and sometimes I get sick of eating in restaurants, and so I have literally walked into a restaurant many times, and the waitress came and I said, you know what, just surprise me. Don't tell me, just bring me whatever's your favorite thing, whatever's the best thing on the menu, just bring it to me. Now there are a lot of people I know who wouldn't have the faith to do that, because they only like about two things on the menu. If it's not chicken strips, they're in big trouble, you know. Have you ever noticed that picky eaters love chicken strips? You know you're with a picky eater when they just want chicken strips and fries. It's like the only thing that they like. So I've walked in and just said, just bring me whatever. But there's one thing that I hate. Even though I'm not a picky eater, we all have things that we hate, don't we? Spinach. It's not spinach. I love spinach. Haven't you noticed the mussels? Yeah. I eat spinach. Oh, okay. Oh, thanks. But anyway, vinegar. Vinegar is the one thing I hate. I can't stand it. And some people like it, right? They put on their salad, oil and vinegar, vinegar, potato chips. I'm telling you, sauerkraut, you know, tastes like vinegar. I'm telling you, that's the only thing I hate. Anything that is derived from vinegar in any way, I just don't. Who agrees with me that vinegar is a horrible tasting thing? It tastes like it's something that's gone bad or it's rotten. I hate it. Now Jesus felt the same way. So I'm not alone. Only a few hands went up. But Jesus, if you're going to be Christ-like, you're going to agree on this point. Jesus didn't like it either because he speaks of it in a derogatory way. They gave me vinegar to drink in Psalm 22 as part of the fact that he's being treated horribly. And I know that some of you that like vinegar, you probably don't after a game of basketball in the summer, you don't grab for an ice cold bottle of vinegar, do you? It's not exactly the thirst quencher. Okay, I mean, and look, when you're saying I thirst, guess what you want? Water. And what do they give him? Vinegar. Just a mockery, just to torment him. And it says when he had tasted it, he wouldn't drink thereof. I don't blame him. It tastes disgusting. And so he made that statement, I thirst, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Let's hurry up and finish. Now, I have this in my notes as statement seven, but let's just look at it right now because we're already in John 19. I couldn't really tell which of these was six and which of these was seven because right as Jesus is dying, he cries out with a loud voice saying, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And he also said, It is finished, bowed his head and gave up the ghost. So statement five was I thirst. This could either be six or seven. Personally, I think this is probably seven. But in John 19, 30, it says when Jesus therefore received the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. So that to me sounds like that's the last thing that he said. Now, this is another significant statement that is often misunderstood. I've heard really eloquent sermons about how it is finished means that everything that we needed for our salvation was done at that point. But hold on a second. That's not true. The big thing about our salvation is the resurrection. Because the Gospel, remember earlier in the sermon? The Gospel is what? The fact that Jesus died not just that he died, buried, and rose again. The fact that he died for our sins and was buried and rose again. The fact that it brings salvation because he died for our sins. So the Gospel is the death, burial, and the resurrection. So when Jesus said it is finished, there's no way he meant everything is done that needed to be done for you to be saved because he still had to rise from the dead. Very important. I'll show you exactly what Jesus meant. Go back to John 4. What's interesting is that Jesus makes three statements in the book of John that tie in with it is finished very clearly. And these three statements that Jesus made, it doesn't record these in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. But John is the only Gospel that records him saying it is finished. And because God wants us to understand the Bible, he put three things in the book of John to show us what he meant by that. Look what John 4.34 says, Jesus saith unto them, my meat. They're trying to offer him food. They're like, Jesus, you need to eat. And here's Jesus' answer when they try to offer him food. Because he was in the middle of soul winning while they tried to give him the food. Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. So there's the first thing he said. He said, I want to finish his work. Look at John 5.36. John 5.36 says this, but I have greater witness than that of John. For the works which the Father hath given me to what? To finish. He said, the works which God hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. Now go to John 17, verse 4. So he said, I'm going to finish his work. He said, there are works which the Father hath given me to finish. Look what he says in John 17.4, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. So when Jesus Christ is saying it's finished, what he's saying there is that the life that he had to lead and the works that he had to accomplish while upon the earth were finished. Okay. Obviously the plan of salvation is not finished because we still need the burial and we still need the resurrection, but Jesus Christ had certain works laid out and he said, I've finished the work that thou gavest me to do. Now why is that significant? Because Jesus Christ, in order to die for our sins, he had to live a perfect life. Because when we get saved, not only are our sins imputed unto Jesus and his payment when he died for us, not only did he bear our sins in his own body on the tree, but the Bible also says that when we get saved, Jesus' righteousness is imputed unto us. So it's an exchange that takes place. Our sins were imputed unto Jesus and his righteousness is imputed unto us. So we are declared righteous in the sight of God. That's how we're able to waltz into heaven. It's all on his righteousness. It's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy that he saved us. So that's significant. Jesus had to live a sinless life. That wasn't easy. Jesus had to be tempted at all points like as we are. That wasn't easy. He finished all the works that he was given to do. Paul said something similar when he said, I've finished my course, I've kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. So I believe that when Jesus said it is finished, he meant his life is finished. His works, his perfect sinless life was finished. It's over is what he's saying when he said it is finished. Now of course everything we need to be saved is complete because he did get buried and rise again. And the last statement, go to Luke 23, and this could either be statement 6 or 7. I'll call this statement 6. I think it is finished with statement 7 personally. Hard to say for sure. But it says in Luke 23, 46, and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous man. A little bit later he says, truly this was the Son of God. Look at verse 48. And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned, just lamenting, weeping. Now it's interesting because it says he cried with a loud voice. And then he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. So it's not really saying that he said into thy hands I commend my spirit in a really loud voice. It's like after he cried with a loud voice, then he said, into thy hands I commend my spirit. So I don't know what this cry was. It seems like he wasn't saying anything when he cried out because it doesn't really tell us what he said. If I had to guess, I would just say he just cried out with a loud voice because that's what the Bible says. I think it was just pain. I think it was just agony. I think it was just the suffering of being forsaken, the pain of physically being hung on a cross, the shame, the agony, and he's facing death. And it's not, you know, for us the Bible says, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? But here's the thing. Jesus Christ faced the sting of death in all of its horror because he died with the sins of the world on him. When we, you know, for the saint, the death for the saint is not really death at all. We don't have to fear this. I mean, when we die, it's just a departure to heaven. It's just, it's just a transition into a better place. And I love that phrase, oh death, where is thy sting? You know, people are afraid of dying, aren't they? But the Bible says there's no sting in death if you're saved. You know, you probably have wondered about it, like I have, what's it like to die? You know, is it going to hurt? Is it, you know, now it might hurt, you know, leading up to it, you know, because a lot of ways that you die are painful leading up to it. But death itself, there's no sting. Oh grave, where is thy victory? Now, what is he saying there? He's saying that without Christ, there would be sting and there would be a victory of the grave, meaning we would remain dead. Meaning that we would spend eternity in a place of death, in hell. And so, Jesus Christ experienced the death of a, basically similar to what an unsaved person would experience. The death of someone who dies in their sins. He didn't die in his own sins, he died in their sins. But he still died in sin. And he faced that horror. He cried out because he was experiencing pain. He was suffering. But he trusted the Father and he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. He knew he wouldn't stay down. He knew he wouldn't stay there. He knew that God would not leave his soul in hell. He knew that it would be an escape someday, very soon. Now, the unbelievers, they don't have that. They're going to be there forever. His soul rested in hope because he knew he was getting out three days later. But for the unbelievers, there is no hope. We need, the only hope is to be saved now. And so that's why we go soul winning. This event right here is what we're preaching. You know, I don't know about you, but when I go out soul winning, you know, I always like to talk about the fact that Jesus, you know, died and was beaten and was spat upon and nailed to the cross and that he took all of our sins into his body. I bring that up every time. He was our substitute, being punished for our sins. That's the Gospel. And the burial and the resurrection. Be sure that you cover that. Those are the three things. The death of Christ for our sins, his substitutionary death, his burial, his resurrection. Powerful statements. Let them sink down into your ears. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for your word, dear God, and what we can learn from it. Please just bless these sayings to our ears, dear God. And you know, I am an imperfect human being. I am not all knowing. I do not have all understanding and wisdom that I should have. But Father, I've done my best to try to explain and expound these seven statements. I'm sure that I left out many things, and I'm sure that others could have been more eloquent at times. But Father, I just pray that you would just help us to grasp, it's hard to grasp something so deep as these seven statements, but help us to understand it to the best of our ability. And I pray that those that are here tonight would have taken something from the sermon that would help them. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.