We're going to turn to Luke chapter 23. I'm going to depart from our regular consecutive reading or preaching through the book of Romans. And I want to preach on a text here from Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 23. We did go through Luke's gospel not so long ago, but I went back to this passage and looked at it somewhat differently. Luke chapter 23. Let me pick up the reading at verse 26 of Luke 23. And as they led him away, they seized one, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them, Jesus said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry? To others who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called the Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by watching. But the ruler scoffed at him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him, this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged, railed at him, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Truly I say to you, Today, you will be with me in paradise. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, again, we are thankful that we can come in your name and we can plead for grace and help because you are the one who loves to give grace and help to poor, needy sinners. And so we cry again, cry to you, O God, in faith, believing again that you will show your mercy and your grace to us. Help us, Lord, as we gather today around your Word. Use your Word in our lives. Bring into our lives a greater understanding of who you are and what you accomplished on our behalf. Come by your Holy Spirit, and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. There are places that we would probably never go in our Bibles if left to our own emotions and feelings. You could call them the dark chapters of our Bibles. Let me mention a few of them. Genesis chapter 3, the story of man's first rebellion and that tragic fall. You could argue that is the darkest chapter in our Bible. And we learn from that point on that life here on earth will be fractured, broken. We live in a world that is now subject to death and decay. And Genesis 3 casts its shadow over all of our lives. Another dark chapter is found in Job, Job chapter 3. That's where Job's agony and grief reaches such a level that he wants to die. Even worse, he wishes he'd never been born. In the New Testament, we also find some very dark chapters. Think of Romans chapter 1. You could certainly put that in that category where Paul describes a society that has rejected and attempted to banish God, and it sinks into a cesspool of iniquity. And here, Luke chapter 23 is a very dark chapter. The day upon which Jesus died, that day, the world literally went dark. There was a supernatural blackout. The most terrible thing takes place. The greatest injustice, the most terrible form of human suffering is put on display. And we could say this about chapter 23. It is a cruciform chapter. It's shaped by the cross. And I know most of you know that practice of crucifixion, which was a gruesome, humiliating way of execution. It was not invented by the Romans, but by the Persians. But the Romans made good use of it. The Romans even purposed to have public mass crucifixions so people could see what would happen if you stood up against Rome. They wanted the maximum amount of people to see people crucified. And so they would put it on civil or religious holidays. And one of the reasons why the Romans again crucified thousands upon thousands was to intimidate and tyrannize the masses. According to Roman customs, Those who were condemned to die by crucifixion were compelled to carry the cross to that actual place of execution. And Luke captures Jesus on the way to the cross. And we're told in verse 26 that they conscripted or seized a man to carry Christ's cross. His name is given here. It's Simon of Cyrene. Now, John in his gospel tells us that Jesus started out carrying his own cross, but at some point during this death march, Jesus collapses. He can't go on anymore. He hasn't got the strength. And you can understand why when you think of all that he's gone through up to this point. You could go back to Gethsemane where he sweat those drops of blood when Jesus, remember, describes his sorrow as a sorrow unto death. But that one ordeal there in Gethsemane would have left him emotionally and physically drained and exhausted. And then once he's captured there in that garden, he goes through a series of trials. If you count up all the trials that Jesus goes through before the Roman judiciary and also the religious judiciary, the Sanhedrin, there are six total trials. Three with the Romans and three with the religious. And several of them involve something of a torture chamber. Jesus is mocked and scourged, spit upon. They pummel Him with their fists. Luke chapter 23 is a cruciform chapter. It is shaped by the cross. We see Jesus on His way to the cross. We see Jesus sentenced to die on the cross. And then thirdly, we see Jesus on the cross. Jesus on the cross, verse 32, He arrives at a place called the skull. or Golgotha. And here's where his shredded body would be hoisted up upon a cross after iron stakes would have been pounded into his bones and the nerves of his hands and feet. Now, all four of the Gospels capture this incident. They all focus upon Christ there, crucified on this place called the skull. But it's interesting that they all cast a shroud of silence over His physical sufferings. Have you ever noticed that? Very little is said about His physical suffering. He was crucified. That's it. But what they really want us to know is what Jesus said when He was on that cross. They want us to see Jesus hanging on that cross And they give us a close-up, so we actually hear him speak. And the four Gospel writers capture the seven sayings of Christ that were spoken, and they're all somewhat selective. Luke captures the first, the second, and the seventh, or the final word of Jesus. And if you listen carefully, you can understand why it was said of Jesus. No one spoke like him. Now, I've said this before. I'll say it again. But someone has said that wisdom, wisdom is knowing the right words to say to the right person at the right time in the right way. You ever done that? I haven't. Jesus did. He did. Every word was crafted with perfect wisdom and love. Perfect wisdom and love. And the cross, and what we hear from Him on the cross, is proof positive. I simply want to focus on that first word. The first word that Jesus uttered from the cross, it really is a prayer. And there are five things we're going to note about the prayer that Jesus utters from the cross. Five things about the first word, or this first prayer, because there's a couple of more prayers that He utters from the cross. But here's the first prayer word from the cross, and notice that it's a significant prayer. That's the first thing. Secondly, it's an intimate prayer. That's the second thing we want to look at. Thirdly, the most important thing about the prayer is that it's a gracious prayer. The fourth thing is that it's an inclusive prayer. And then fifthly, it is an answered prayer. So that's what we want to do. And we'll run through these rather quickly. But first of all, it's this significant prayer. The fact that Jesus is praying on the cross. shouldn't surprise anybody, should it? He was a man of prayer. I mean, isn't that what Luke's gospel, in a very focused sort of way, Luke's gospel more than any of the gospels tells us about Jesus' prayer life. Luke's gospel has been called the gospel of prayer. You go back to Luke chapter 4. Jesus prays at His baptism. You find Jesus praying in the wilderness. We find Jesus praying on a mountaintop in Luke chapter 9. We find Him praying before He chooses His disciples in Luke chapter 6. After the 70 disciples return with joy, Jesus rejoices in prayer. Luke chapter 10. We hear Him praying in Gethsemane. And we hear Him praying on the cross. So, in one sense, you would expect this man to pray. No one delighted, no one enjoyed praying more than Jesus. In that book I mentioned earlier by Dr. Al Mohler about prayers, about the Lord's Prayer, he says one of the things that is now marking evangelical churches is that the church is no longer praying. But we're losing the voice of prayer. Jesus is our example. He's the one we need to follow even when it comes to this matter of prayer. No one delighted, no one enjoyed praying more than Jesus. But you know, if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you know that a prayer vigil is never an easy thing. We all struggle. with consistency. We struggle with fervency. We struggle with distractions. And prayer can be especially difficult when we are in times of intense pain or intense suffering. I remember reading again Dr. John Piper. He wrote a book after he'd been in a hospital bed for several days and had surgery. He had titled the book Ten Lessons from my hospital bed." He said, one of the lessons, several of the lessons, he said, took me off guard. I was not expecting some of the battles I had to fight. Surprised how difficult it was for me to focus on anything. When focus is hard, prayer is hard. This would have been a hard prayer for Jesus. He's in a very dire physical state. Tremendous loss of blood, dehydration. There's also a cacophony of noise surrounding the cross. People are yelling and screaming into His ears. This prayer requires an extraordinary amount of discipline of mind and tongue That's what makes this a significant prayer. All of his prayers were significant, but this even more so because it's a hard-fought prayer. Plus, remember this too, what makes it significant. These are his final words. These are his final words. They say you can tell a lot about a man by his last words or his dying words. For example, the French philosopher Voltaire, his last words were, I'm abandoned by God and man. I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life. His last words were words of hopelessness, despair, very much focused upon himself. Pastors often hear people's last words. from their hospital beds or deathbeds. And they often tell you a lot about a person. They can reveal what a person's been living for, what they were trusting or are trusting in, what was their greatest ambition in life. I'll never forget the words I heard from my mother-in-law. She asked me to come into the bedroom. She wanted to say, a couple of words to me. It was the last time I saw her face. She simply looked me in the eye and said, Gordon, I will see you in the mansion. The words of Jesus, the final words of Jesus, have put them in a high level of importance This is a significant word. Second thing we can say about this prayer, not only a significant prayer, but it's an intimate prayer, or you could use another word to define this prayer. It's a filial prayer. That word filial is probably not a word that we use all that often. It's a word to describe a father-son relationship. And it does, it should suggest intimacy and closeness of a relationship between a father and a son. And Jesus is speaking to His Father. You could almost say this, the word Father was His favorite word. He used it more than any other word. The whole Sermon on the Mount. Chapter 5 and 6 and 7 is shaped by the doctrine of the fatherhood of God. Listen to that sermon and you'll find out Jesus constantly is making reference to His Father. You find Jesus in that upper room discourse when He's talking to His Father. There's that long prayer, that last big long prayer in the upper room, John 14 through John 17, fifty times. He puts the word father on his lips. He loved to talk to his father in the best of times and in the worst of times. And here he is in the throes of intense pain and suffering. And something else that makes this often difficult, at least to pray, these are often vulnerable times when we're in the midst of our suffering. That's when the devil loves to work overtime to discourage and depress and to wreak havoc upon the soul. We can even have struggles with our doubts about God's love and God's goodness, and even develop some hard thoughts about God when we are in the midst of our suffering. And you see that in the Bible. You see that with Asaph in Psalm 73. You see that with Job. Both of those men, at some point, they got things straightened out at the back end, but they did suffer through what you might call some anger issues, and bitterness. They even cast aspersions upon God's character. But you don't find that with Jesus. There's no estrangement here. There's no sense of agitation. There's no harshness. But there's a sweet tenderness. There's a faith that is unwavering. His love and his dependence upon his Father is as robust as it's always been. This is a significant prayer. This is a filial prayer. The third thing we can say about this first or first word of our Lord, this prayer word of our Lord from the cross, it is a gracious prayer. Now, we can't be exactly sure when Jesus spoke these words, this word of prayer, some I think he spoke it while the Roman soldiers were pounding nails into his feet and his hands. That's quite possible. It could be while they were hoisting that cross up into the air. That's when he spoke these words. It could also be while he was hanging there and now able to look his accusers and haters and hear their taunting voices ringing in his ears. And the verb tense is significant here. Verse 34, look at it. Jesus said, you could translate, He kept on saying. It's an imperfect verb tense. So you could translate it this way if you wanted to translate the imperfect. He kept on saying, Father forgive them. He kept on saying, Father forgive them. Father forgive them. And what a contrast when you think of those other two criminals. Right? What were they saying? Hurling insults, shouting expletives at the top of their lungs? That was common fare. But Jesus is not railing against His enemies. He's praying for them. He's praying for them. That's not what you would expect Remember that there are those prayers, at least you find them in the Old Testament. They are called imprecatory prayers. That's where you pray for judgment upon God's enemies. That would have been justified. Jesus could have prayed that kind of prayer on that cross. But this prayer has none of those sharp edges, none of those fiery sparks of judgment. Jesus is praying to His Father not to judge them, but to show mercy to them. And all the more amazing and astounding when you think about what they've done to Him and what they are doing at that very moment. They are murdering Him. We often speak of man's total depravity. I think here at the cross we could speak of man's utter depravity. This is where it goes to the nth degree. It's the fulfillment of Psalm 2 that the forces of evil have gathered against God and his anointed. It's like ripping the crown off His very head, the very head of incarnate God. It's like they've taken a sword and they are plunged into the very heart of God's Son. Isaiah the prophet predicted this, didn't he? He said He would be rejected. He would be despised by men. He would come unto His own, but His own would not receive Him. But here's the marvel. of this prayer, Jesus is not exercising or asking God to exercise righteous judgment. He could have exploded from that cross and judged everybody. But these words tell a different story. It is love at its best. He is loving his enemies. He wants them saved, not damned. Forgiven, not cursed. He's praying that God would give these sinners their most basic fundamental spiritual need, which is forgiven. And we know this too, don't we, from the Gospels. In fact, Luke, again in a more focused way, often brings this to the fore. Jesus and this whole issue of forgiveness. You could go back to Luke chapter 5 and remember what Jesus said to that paralytic, your sins are forgiven. You think of Luke chapter 7 when Jesus is in the house of Simon the Pharisee and Jesus rebukes that Pharisee for his lack of love. And he turns to that woman and says, I tell you, her sins, which were many, she has been forgiven much. That's why she loves much. And if you have been forgiven little, you love little. And then think of the most famous parable also found in Luke's gospel. Luke chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal son. It's very possible Jesus was thinking of that very parable on the cross. praying that the prodigal sons would come home. And that parable captures the heart of God, doesn't it? You have that high drama moment when the son comes home from the far country and the father runs to his son and he throws his arms around him and he kisses him repeatedly and he welcomes him home, not as a servant, but as a full-fledged son with all the privileges of sonship. Let me say this too. Just like we find prayer hard to do, we find forgiveness quite a struggle as well. We struggle on both sides, don't we? We struggle with divine forgiveness. We have a hard time believing that God would forgive us. And we can struggle on the other side. We struggle to forgive others. And if you struggle with divine forgiveness, well, there's lots of places you could go in your Bible to understand better how God forgives. Psalm 103 would be a great place to go as far as the East is from the West. So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Micah 7, he hurls our sins into the very depths of the sea. Isaiah 43 tells us that God even develops a kind of amnesia when it comes to our sins. I will remember them no more. Isaiah 43, also Psalm 38 says God lifts the burden. Remember Christian in that Pilgrim's Progress comes to the and that's where that burden falls off his shoulders and rolls into that empty grave. Sometimes forgiveness is likened to wiping something away. I have wiped away your transgressions, Isaiah 54. But we also need to understand this about forgiveness, that it doesn't come cheaply. That's why it's on the cross. There's no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. It's because of the cross and only because of the cross that any of us can enjoy forgiveness. The words of that great gospel hymn, My sin, the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross. I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. It's a significant prayer. It's a filial prayer. It's a gracious prayer. The fourth thing we can say about this prayer, word from the cross, it is an inclusive prayer. Notice the words again. Father, forgive them. He doesn't limit the word them, does he? He doesn't say forgive the Jews or forgive the Gentiles. He doesn't say forgive the religious leaders or forgive the Roman soldiers. Jesus is asking the Father to forgive everybody. Everybody. It doesn't matter what they've done to Him, what they said about Him. It doesn't matter what lies they told about Him, how many times they spit upon Him. It doesn't matter how many cruel things that they did to Him. Spurgeon and said he loved this prayer for this very reason. It could be applied to everybody. No restrictive pronoun. Everybody can fit into this pronoun. Them. And that applies to us as well. Everybody. Everybody. Anybody sitting under the gospel here this morning can fit yourself into that pronoun them. I forgive them. No one is beyond forgiveness, the forgiveness of God. Some think they are. They have a pretty sorted past. Maybe they've sat in jail cells for most of their lives. Maybe they've gone through who knows how many illicit affairs or how many broken marriages have ended up in divorce and they can't even remember a day in their lives when they haven't been hooked on some kind of a drug. And people like that can have big doubts about God's forgiveness. How can he ever, ever forgive me? And that's another reason why this prayer from the cross is so significant, because it gives you the answer. It gives you the answer. It's a significant prayer. It's a filial prayer. It's a gracious prayer. It's an inclusive prayer. But one final thing I want us to note about the prayer from the cross. It's an answered prayer. One of the things you should know about God, the God of the Bible, is that He not only hears our prayers, but He answers our prayers. And if you think of Jesus praying, You'd have to say, if anyone's prayers are going to be answered, right? It'll be the prayers of the Son of God, the perfect Son of God. There was never, ever any sin motive or element in His prayers. They were perfect prayers, prayed with perfect faith. And I believe this prayer was answered almost immediately. One of the criminals on the cross who railed against Him. Look at verse 39 through verse 42. That man was saved. That man was forgiven that very day. Jesus tells him, you will end up in paradise that day. Talk about a hopeless case. Who would have ever thought that man would be forgiven? But there's more reason to believe this prayer was answered. Look at that Roman centurion. Verse 47, there he is, standing at the bottom of that cross, and it appears that he gives an expression of faith here. Truly, this was a righteous man. The prayer was answered by the thief on the cross. That was one example. Another is that Roman centurion, and look at verse 48. That tells us many people walked away from that cross, beating their chest, mourning, weeping, which could very well have been a genuine evidence of true grief, sorrow, and repentance. You can go further, can't you, in terms of the timeline? You can go to Pentecost. Acts chapter 2, when Peter stands up to preach, remember what he says to the audience out there, you've killed him, you've murdered him. And we're told that when they heard that, they were caught to the heart, and on that very day there were 3,000, 3,000. It might have been hundreds of those 3,000 who were there actually saying, crucify him, crucify him. On that day, he was crucified, but three thousand of them repented and they were added to the church. You see, the prayer was answered on that very day, and less than a week after on the day of Pentecost. And couldn't we even go further, brethren, and stretch it down along the timeline in faith over the next hundreds and thousands of years, this prayer is answered every time a sinner believes, every time a sinner is forgiven. Who doesn't fit into the category that we've all sinned and put Jesus on the cross? Your lust, and your pride, and our selfishness, and our hate, all of that sin, put them on the cross. A significant prayer, a filial prayer, a gracious prayer, an inclusive prayer, an answered prayer, and let me just conclude with three applications. Okay? Three applications. Very simple. What can we learn from the prayer of Jesus, or the first word of Jesus from the cross. Number one, this prayer gives hope to every sinner. That's the first application. I hope you see that. We've already touched on that already. I realize that, but it bears repeating because We need to make this as plain as plain can be because the devil works overtime seeking to keep people from believing on Jesus, his Son. He doesn't want sinners to enjoy forgiveness. He doesn't want them to be saved. So he does make good use of his stratagems to deceive them and confuse them and blind them. And two great lies or deceits of the devil When it comes to sinners are these. He will use their pride and their self-righteousness and try to convince them they can earn heaven by their own doing. He will seek to convince sinners that they can work their way to heaven. It's a salvation by works that they are good enough It's the Pharisee syndrome or the religious man syndrome. He doesn't want sinners to come to God like that publican, you remember, and cry out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He'd rather have them stand in God's presence and boast how good they are, like that Pharisee. But there are others, you see. There are those who are convinced they're too good, so they never run to a savior. The devil convinces them or seeks to convince them of that. But there are others who will never get to heaven because they're convinced they're too bad. They've blown it too many times. And the devil, who is a liar, It really doesn't matter what lie you believe. As long as He can get you to believe a lie and keep you in a state of condemnation, He's perfectly happy. And I believe the words from Jesus on the cross smashes the smithereens. You could probably argue both of those lies, but certainly one of those damnable lies. God heard and answered this prayer. God saved that thief on the cross. God saved that Gentile Roman centurion. God saved those people who were complicit in the murder of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, were guilty of the worst of sins, the most terrible and heinous of sins. The very people who railed against Jesus, the very people who crucified Him and wanted Him dead, He brought into His kingdom. Now, we can't say that everybody was forgiven. No indication that Pontius Pilate was forgiven. Herod, King Herod. In all likelihood, the majority of that religious council, those 70 elders who made up the Sanhedrin, most of them never came to true repentance. So, we dare not presume upon the gift or assume that forgiveness can be given without true repentance. But neither must we ever doubt that God cannot or will not forgive the worst of sinners. Paul could say to the Corinthians, such were some of you. And remember the list there. It's not a very flattering one. Homosexuals, greedy, drunkards, swindlers. You were the worst of the worst. You were the scandalous sinners. And yet, he could say, such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this should encourage us as Christians when we think of loved ones. Maybe your own flesh and blood. Maybe you have prodigal sons and daughters. Maybe you have grandparents who have taken a very adamant position when it comes to God. They claim to be atheists. I don't know what they do or what they claim, but maybe they've gone down a pathway that makes us think at times that they'll never, ever come back or never, ever turn to Christ. And we've got people here who've had unconverted spouses. And after 10, 15, 20 years, they get pretty discouraged. Don't give up hope. Don't stop praying. Don't stop praying. And yes, the longer they go on in their sin, the greater the danger. The greater the danger of a hardening of heart and a searing of conscience. But we can't lose sight of the fact, in our Bibles, and sitting on most church pews, there are people who are trophies of God's amazing grace. that saved a wretch like me." And they would testify, like the Apostle Paul, probably in the blink of an eye, I am the chief of sinners. But where sin abounded, grace abounded even more. The first word from the cross tells us we have reason to hope and pray for lost sinners, no matter how far they strayed from God. The second thing we can say from the cross or from the words given by our Lord at the cross is why Jesus and only Jesus is the Savior of the world. Why Jesus and only Jesus is the Savior of the world. The closer we get to the cross, the more these two things appear. A greater manifestation or a greater high definition or a greater display of sin and of Christ. You see more of man's sin the closer you get to the cross, and you see more of Christ's holiness and His blamelessness and His perfection as you get to the cross. The closer you get to the cross, almost simultaneously, We see the awful display of man's wickedness, his depravity, but we see the dazzling display of Christ's innocence and perfection. And it's not just the Sadducees and the Pharisees. It's not just Pontius Pilate and King Herod and all those Roman soldiers who put their depravity on display. But even Christ's own disciples, their sin, their failings, their inconsistency, they said they would remain loyal and steadfast, but they all end up running like scared rabbits there in the Garden of Gethsemane. And the prime spokesman for the disciples, Peter, he was adamant that he would stay true, but he denies his Lord three times. A faithful man, who can find? You don't find them at the cross. But there's one bright, shining light in the midst of so much darkness. It's the brightness of the glory and the blamelessness and the perfection of Jesus Christ. And this is why the Bible loves to focus upon Jesus. He's the only perfect One. The New Testament writers are unequivocal in their testimony. In Him was no sin, says John. Peter could say, He knew no sin. 2 Corinthians, again, Hebrews chapter 4, tempted but without sin. He is the Lamb of God. He's the perfect, pure Lamb of God. who takes away the sins of the world. We needed a perfect Savior. He's the only person who ever lived on planet earth who was impeccably, perfectly true to every word, every deed, every thought, was in perfect alignment with God's holy law. He's the only Lamb of God in human form. And there's two things that we desperately need if we're ever going to get to heaven. You need forgiveness. And you need a perfect righteousness. You need someone who would take the punishment for your sin. And you need someone who lived a life that you could never have lived. A perfect life. You need a person who has perfect performance, perfect death, and a perfect life. You need both of that. You don't have that. I don't have that. Jesus is the only one. The only one who lived that perfect life and died that perfect death. There was no inconsistency. There was no deviation. Not one hypocritical thought or action in His life. And it shows itself right here at the cross by loving His enemy. Remember what He said to His disciples? Love your enemies. Does he practice what he preaches? Yes, he does. He commands us to love our enemies. Back in Luke chapter 6, and he gets pretty specific as to the practical how-to. You know why he does that? Because he knows how we like to evade and play games He says, I want you to love your enemies and I'm going to fill in the blanks in case you wonder how. Do good to those who hate you. Do good. Doesn't say avoid them. Do good. Bless them. Bless them. Don't curse them. They've cursed you. Don't you curse them. And pray for them. That's what Jesus is doing. He's praying for His enemy. That's exactly what He's doing on the cross. He's praying for the greatest need that they have. And the fact that he's praying for them on the cross tells him there's no resentment or ill will towards his enemies. Jesus practiced what he preached. He was perfectly consistent. He never fell short of that exacting standard. That's why you never find Jesus in any of the Gospels apologizing or retracting anything that He said, no sin, no failure, perfect holiness and righteousness displayed even there on the cross, He was obedient unto death. That's why He's the only Savior of the world. That's who we need. And the third thing we can say as far as the words spoken by Jesus from the cross In practical application, here is one of life's greatest challenges when it comes to living a Christian life. If you have a pen and paper, maybe you want to write this one down. Because I really think, brethren, this is where a lot of us fail. One of the greatest life challenges when it comes to living a Christian life. Being a Christian means you believe on Jesus, It also means this, you imitate Jesus. You imitate Jesus. We believe on Jesus, but we have to imitate Jesus. Believing on Jesus and we're justified by faith, that has to do with our standing before God, but we also are to live like Jesus, our sanctification, we are to become holy like Jesus. Now, we can never become perfect like Jesus, That awaits glorification, that final act of glorification. But we are to imitate Jesus. We are to follow in His footsteps. The Apostle Paul could say, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Peter could say, Jesus left us an example that we might follow in His footsteps. And so, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. And it's obvious, as you read on into the book of Acts, that there was a man by the name of Stephen who understood that imitation meant loving his enemy. Right? Acts chapter 7. Peter's put to death. Stephen's put to death. Jews have picked up stones and they hurl them on Stephen and there's no question they're angry. We're told they're gnashing their teeth. All the while, he's been telling them the truth. He's simply been preaching the truth. He's telling them their need of Christ and what they did to Christ. But as this ton of bricks comes crashing in upon Stephen, turning his face into a bloody pulp, Here's what we're told. Acts 7, 59. Stephen's praying, calling on God, saying, Jesus, receive my spirit. But this is what he's also doing. Verse 60 of Acts 7. He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with sin. What's he doing? He's imitating Jesus. He learned from Jesus about loving his enemies. He was suffering like Jesus. He was praying like Jesus. There was no malice or bitterness in his heart towards his enemy. We can imitate Jesus by praying this prayer when sinners sin against us. Now, I'm going to make a vital distinction here. If you don't get a hold of this, you're going to be confused when it comes to forgiveness. Because there's a lot of confusion with Christians today about forgiveness. And the more I thought about that, this is why this word from the cross is so crucial for our understanding of forgiveness. There's two aspects to forgiveness. There's a vertical commitment, and there's a horizontal transaction. Okay? Jesus on the cross is showing the vertical commitment. He's committed before the Father to forgive His enemies. He wants His enemies forgiven. But has He forgiven them? Well, not until that thief repents. That's when the horizontal takes place. There needs to be a vertical commitment before God. You should always, always, always have a heart disposition towards your friends, towards your church brethren, towards your enemies where you are desirous and want to forgive. But that doesn't mean you can always forgive. Have they confessed their sin? Have they repented of their sin? You see, we must always have a vertical commitment in our relationship to God, where we have, like Jesus, a desire to forgive and want God to forgive them. But that's He from the cross and those men and women at Pentecost. They were not forgiven until they turned from their sin. We should always have a heart that's willing to forgive. There's no place for bitterness. There's no place for hate. There should never be in your heart a sense that I can't forgive or I won't forgive. That that's sinful. That's sinful. That's not being like Christ. Christ wanted the Father to forgive. Father, forgive them. And so, we as Christians, we should be the most willing, eager to forgive. Have you been forgiven? Forgive. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, we never put God more on display or more like God than when we forgive. Let me close with one question. In light of the desperate need of forgiveness, are you forgiven? Are you forgiven? If you're not a Christian, I hope you realize, children, if you don't know the Lord, I hope you realize you need to be forgiven. You can seek mommy and daddy's forgiveness, but never really be forgiven. Never ask God to make you right with God through Christ. You've never sought forgiveness from God. You can seek forgiveness from your brothers and sisters because you hurt them, but have you sought forgiveness from God? You can be religious, you can be moral, you can be a nice kid, a nice son, a lovely daughter, and not be forgiven? You can have lots and lots and lots of knowledge. You can know all the questions of your catechism. You can have a high theological acumen. You can go to seminary. You can teach at Bible college. You can stand in a pulpit and not be forgiven. And so, all I'm saying, my sinner friend, if you sit here this morning in a state of condemnation, If you sit here this morning outside of Christ, I plead with you, go to the Savior and ask for forgiveness. You can go home today justified by faith. And here's why. Because Jesus died on the cross for sinners. You accomplish salvation for all who will come to Him. That's your greatest need. That's your greatest problem. Your greatest need is forgiveness. Your greatest problem is sin. Come to the Savior, the Savior who never stops praying. Maybe He's praying for you today. Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, again, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your Son. We thank You for all that He's done for us