Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it and everyone everywhere, including the venue and the chapel and those online that we all said together, amen.

Amen.

So church, we do live in a world where there is no shortage of words. English, they say is the most wordy language of all time. And thanks to this thing, for those listening on a podcast later, this is a phone, our phone. Thanks to this thing, we have way too much access to far too much of what's being said in our world. Our world has no shortage of words or opinions.

We live in a world where feelings are seen as just as valid as facts. In this world, we have to ask ourselves, when we have access to so much, where can we turn to for words that will cut through the noise? Where can we turn to to find words that are comforting, challenging, and true? Where can we turn to find words that are both timely and timeless? Words that were as much needed as when they were spoken as they are needed now? I'll tell you, there's one place, and that's the scriptures.

And we've been doing that this summer as we look at words that cut through the noise, words of Jesus Christ. Again this series has been looking at words simply from Jesus, what's often called the red letter words. Words not just from anyone, but words from Jesus Christ. Words, quotes, that changed the world.

And I'll just tell you right now, the words of Jesus that we're going to look at today, they most certainly change the world, but I will tell you right now, they are words that specifically changed me. Coming back from sabbatical, I wanted to preach a message that was deeply personal to me to share some things. As we look at, I think, the words that the Holy Spirit used to cut through my heart,to call me to faith in Jesus. And so if you have your Bibles, would you please turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 23.

We'll be looking at verse 34 today. If you want to use the Bibles we've provided, happy for you to do that, that's on page 1124. Again, these are words that Jesus Christ spoke from the cross, and they're words that the Holy Spirit used, as much as I can say this, to cut into my heart and call me to faith in Jesus Christ. They are words that Jesus said after his torture, during his crucifixion. Now, if you know anything about the physiology of a crucifixion, to even speak during crucifixion was extremely painful. And Jesus finds the strength to say the words that we're going to look at today. Jesus said these words as he was looking upon the people, the very people that were doing this to Him. And this is what He said. And so, would you hear the word of the Lord, the words of Jesus? Luke, chapter 23, verse 34. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. This is God's holy word.

Let's pray and we'll continue. Let's pray. Father, we come to you in prayer. We come to you in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, asking that you would be with us today, helping us to know the truth of your word, timeless and timely words that we might know salvation in Jesus' name, that we might, by the blood of Jesus,

be brought back into a relationship with you, our good and glorious God and we do pray these things for your glory for our joy and for the good of our neighbor we do pray these things and everyone said all together amen so father forgive them for they do not know what they do Jesus Christ prayed this for the people who were killing him as they were killing him while he hung on the cross. When I first read these words as an 18-year-old,

and I understood what was happening in this moment when Jesus said this, it was like I was on the road of life. And when I read these words, it was like God brought this enormous roadblock and set it right in front of me, and said, this is your path no longer. I have a new path for you to follow the way of my son. Has it been perfect since then? Nope, it's been pretty bumpy and rocky at times. But since that time, confessing my faith in Jesus, I've walked the path of the way, the way of Christ.

When I read these words as a high school kid, I will tell you, I lost. My defenses failed me. I couldn't get around these words. Every argument that I had against the Christian faith suddenly became very brittle and hollow.

And it was like God said to me, you're mine now, and I have a better plan for you. Now listen, Jesus Christ, as you've heard all summer long, he said some powerful words, he said comforting words, he said challenging words, at times Jesus even said some condemning words, but you know what these are for me?

You know what sort of words these are? These are confirming words for me. These words, when you understand what's happening and you understand the moment that Jesus was in when he said this, they are like confirming words. They reveal who he is and what he's come to do. And it shows us why Jesus is so amazing.

So as we begin to look at the end of the summer, rather than three points today, I'll keep it easy on you, we'll just do two points today as we look at this wonderful, powerful verse. Two things today. On the cross we see firstly that Jesus prays for sinners, and secondly on the cross we see that Jesus provides for salvation. All right, so let's get into it.

First point. Jesus prays for sinners. Keep your Bibles open here today. Verse 34. In these words, Father forgive them for they do not know what they do, we see Jesus doing something remarkable. I've said it before, I'll say it again because you cannot forget

this. Jesus was praying this for the people who were killing him as they were killing him. Say what you want about Jesus Christ, but you cannot deny that this man lived everything he taught. Jesus prays for sinners. This is a prayer. So let's talk about prayer for a second. Bump your neighbor and say we're talking about prayer because we're talking about prayer right now. Now I've always said there's two types of Christians. There's those who pray and those who say they pray. And I looked at my life and for a long time I thought to myself, I don't pray enough to really qualify myself as a praying man. There was this one time a number of years back that I was I was leading a mission trip to a place called Switzer West Virginia. Now you people who are West Michiganders, you have no idea where Switzer West Virginia is and there's no reason for you to know where that is. It's in the middle of nowhere Appalachia. Like when you go to the middle of Appalachia and you're lost, keep going and maybe you'll find Switzer. This is where we were at as a group.

Now I brought a group down there to help out this little church. Then what happened during the week was there's these three little old ladies who would come to the church every single day and they would make us lunch.

And one day we got our morning project done early. So I thought, you know, I'm gonna go help these little ladies get ready for lunch. So I go into their little church and I'm walking down the stairs and I get to their basement and I start walking towards the little kitchenette that they have and one of the women was on the phone and she says, Oh my goodness, yes, we'll pray for that. And then she hung up the phone. Now I know some of you don't know what I mean when I say hung up the phone. See, you know, back in the olden days, in the 1900s, there was this thing, phones were actually attached to a wall

and were connected by a cord. And you knew the people who were extremely talkative, because their cord was a lot longer than other people's cord.

If you remember, some cords were like 35 feet long, and that's so mom or grandma could talk throughout the entire house and still be connected to the wall. Let me see, who here had a mom or a grandma like that? Who here was a mom or grandma like that? Yeah, okay. So I get down and I'm walking to this kitchenette and she says, Oh my goodness, yes, I'll pray for that. She hangs up the phone. She turns to her friends and she says, so-and-so is going in for emergency emergency surgery right now. And I'm walking up to these three little old ladies and they say, would you like to pray with us? And do you know what went through my head? That Eminem song. This looks like a job for me. Like I was like, I'm here. This is why I'm here. I'm the highest ranking person here. So yes, I will pray. And in my mind, I thought for just a second, I was outlining how the prayer was gonna go.

You know how this works around here. We got this really unique way of doing prayer where someone says, okay, why don't you start, and if anyone feels like they are led to pray, go ahead and pray, and then I'll close it up at the end. You know how we do that around here, right?

Yeah, okay, so apparently not everyone does it like that.

So I'm walking up and they say, would you like to pray with us? And I say yes, thinking this is how it's gonna go. But no sooner did I say yes, than did these three women all start praying at the same time out loud. And I realized in a fraction of a second, I am seriously outgunned here. I've just entered something new. I don't pray like that. The pastors I know, we don't pray like that. I am telling you, it was a deep prayer. It was devoted. It was desperate. It was a prayer pouring out their hearts. It was a prayer that they fully believed that God could heal. It was unashamed because they were all talking at the same time and they didn't care what anyone thought of their prayers.

They were crying out to their God. It was a beautiful thing. You know, what makes someone brave is not just what they're willing to do, but what they're willing to do in front of other people. And so let me just throw a challenge out to the Christian men in the house. Pray out loud. Pray out loud with your wife, with your family, with your kids. Jesus Christ was on the cross.

You want to talk about an inconvenient time to pray? He is on the cross and he still prays. So when I was in that little prayer circle with these women, I'll be honest with you, I walked away from that prayer time really discouraged. And I was really discouraged for a long time.

It troubled me. Because you want to know what I did? I made that the gold standard for prayer. For a long time I was discouraged about my prayer life because I didn't pray like that. Nobody I knew really prayed like that. And I was really discouraged for a long time.

Until my understanding of prayer, look to the scripture. When you get to the scriptures, you see something drastically different. See, when I was growing up, I thought prayer was that time that you carved out at some point in the day, and you folded your hands, and you got on your knees, and you closed your eyes, and then you started praying like you were writing a letter. Dear God, how are you today?

That's how I thought prayer was. I thought it was simple and like writing a letter and then I experienced these ladies and then I was like, oh wait, wait, no, it must be really big and broad. But then when I started searching more and more of the scriptures, you see something, all that and more. See, when you look at the prayers of the scriptures, you see raw, honest prayers. You see honest prayers. And what I mean is that sometimes people who are praying in the Bible, they're confused about what God is doing or what God is allowing.

When you look at some prayers in the scriptures, there's not many of them that are very elaborate or even deeply religious sounding. And yet Christ shows us something beautiful that you can pray even through excruciating pain. Prayer is not a letter to God. Prayer is talking to the Father through the Son in the power of the Spirit and then listening.

See, I once thought prayer was patient and on your knees, and I thought it was powerful and out loud. Then I realized it's all that and more. Those ladies will always be champions of the faith in my book, but I'll tell you now, they're no longer the gold standard of prayer for me. You want to know what is?

It's this prayer of Jesus that we're looking at today. This is a prayer, mind you. Father, forgive them. This prayer from Jesus on the cross, this is the epitome of grit. It's selfless, it's short, it's faithful. For many of us, we don't pray, we just say we do. And I'm telling you, we are missing out on so much. This is the prayer of our Savior as He was dying. This is what he's praying as he's dying, as they are killing him. It's this prayer, Jesus pleading with God the Father for the forgiveness of the people who are killing him. He's praying this as they are killing him. What sort of man is this? Can you imagine a woman praying

for the forgiveness of her husband as he is cheating on her? Can you imagine a 68 year old man praying for the forgiveness of his accountant as his accountant is draining his retirement dry? What sort of man is this? There is something else going on here with Jesus. Jesus is praying for the forgiveness of the people who are killing him as they're killing him. But listen here, it does not end there. It gets even more powerful. See, Jesus Christ, yes, He does die on that cross. He is killed on that cross. He does not come off alive. They take His dead body off the cross and they lay it in a tomb where it lays stone-cold dead for three days. But then, in this little thing we call the resurrection, the Son of God rose again. The resurrection is what makes or breaks the Christian faith. Jesus Christ rose again. And then for 40 days, he continued to minister, and then he returned to heaven. So here's the question, what's Jesus doing now in heaven? Well, aside from ruling and reigning, did you know that Jesus is also praying for you? He prays for us still. Romans chapter 8, verse 34.

Jesus Christ, who died more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. This is take a moment, listen to the rain, embrace it, it's beautiful. Notice here it says, he's at the right hand of God, interceding for us. It doesn't say praying, it uses a special word, interceding, intercession. Now listen, if you're like me and you come from a pretty conservative background, that's probably not a word you hear a lot, but it's a biblical scriptural word that is a way to pray. Now what is intercession?

Intercession is praying where we stand in the gap for someone else and we intervene in on their behalf in prayer. And so, when Jesus says, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do, I would tell you that is the greatest in a sensory prayer in all of the Bible. Ten words in English, it was actually only eight words in Greek, and it is a prayer that still changes hearts. Jesus still intercedes for us. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25 says, Therefore Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Christians, listen to me. Jesus is praying for you right now. Right now in heaven, Jesus is speaking your name to God the Father, and he's praying for you. But this here, right now, this is the point where you ask me, so what?

Because here's one of the things I really want us to do as a church, I want us to be able to ask really big, hard questions. We need to be able to express our doubts and have our questions and ask them. And you can ask any question you want here

without judgment. We want to have conversations. We want you to bring your questions. In fact, I want you to think about your hardest possible question and then send it to Pastor John. That's what I want you to do. So Jesus is praying for us. Okay, I invite you to ask the question, so what? My friend, here's the so what. Knowing that Jesus is praying for you, I want you to remember this because whatever life throws at you, whatever people do to you, whatever your boss is like, whatever your marriage is like, however hurtful your friends can be, I want you to remember at all times that the Savior of the world is praying for you by name in heaven right now. And let that wash over you and remind you how deeply cared for and loved you are by God.

Now, before we get to our second point, I just want to call out something that many

of you probably have noticed if you have your Bibles open. If you have your Bibles open, you'll notice that we're not actually looking at one verse today. We're looking at half of a verse today. Verse 34 continues. It goes on to say this, and Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do and they cast lots to divide his garments. So not only were they killing him, but as they were killing him, they were gambling to see who gets his stuff. They were slaughtering him and stealing from him at the same time. And listen to me, not just his stuff, his garments, that means his clothes. For us in the modern age, it's very hard for us to understand how absolutely horrible crucifixion was. It was designed to bring about the most intense, horrendous possible physical pain, while also making you go through the most horrendous psychological torture imaginable.

Because one thing you need to know about Romans is when they crucified people, they stripped them naked first, and they crucified them naked. Jesus Christ was naked on the cross, praying for the forgiveness of people who were killing him as they were killing him, as they were stealing his clothes right in front of him. Bring me any other religious leader, because they've got nothing on Jesus. My friend, do not delay. Cast your sin aside, cast your pride aside, and lay it all before the cross, because there is no one like Him. There is no one who has done for you apart from what Christ has done for you. There is no one who will call you like Jesus will, who loves you like He does. What He did for those men

is a shadow of what He's done for the entire world, what He's done for you. So do not delay. The cast lots to divide his garments and yet he still prays for them. This is how amazing of a Savior we have in Jesus Christ. Jesus prays for sinners, for you and for me, and he also provides for salvation.

And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. They do not know what they're doing. Okay, so what were they doing? If they don't know, what were they actually doing? Let's talk about that. See, here's what so many people get wrong about the death of Jesus. So many people, especially in our culture, so many people have this understanding that Jesus was simply this nice guy who was wrongfully murdered and it's so sad what happened to this nice guy by these evil people.

Now think about it from their perspective for a second.

Think about it from the authority's perspective for a moment, because it's not just what Jesus did that got him killed, it's what he said that got him killed. Let's look at some of these things. Mark 11, verse 26, Jesus said that unless you forgive, you will not be forgiven. Jesus said in John 10 30, Jesus said that he and God the Father were one. They were the same. They were one in essence. Matthew chapter 5 verse 40, Jesus said that someone asks for your coat, you are to give them your shirt as well. Wasn't Jesus living that one out here? John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus said that He was the only way to heaven, that He was the only way to God the Father. My friends, you don't get to say the things that Jesus said unless you are who Jesus said He was.

Church, I will tell you now, it was realizing this that God turned my heart and made me become a Christian. If Jesus isn't Emmanuel, if Jesus isn't God with us, if Jesus isn't the Savior of the world, if the things that Jesus said were not true, then listen to me, then he got what he deserved. You don't get to say the things that Jesus said if they're not true. You don't get to say the things that Jesus said if you weren't who Jesus said he was. If Jesus wasn't who he said he was, then do not call him a great moral teacher. Rather, he was the greatest liar the world has ever known, and he should not be venerated. He should be demonized or at least forgotten. If Jesus wasn't who he said he was, if Jesus was lying, he got what he deserved. But what's beautiful about this is that Jesus took everything he said and he went all the way with it, all the way even to his death. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. Jesus knew in this moment that his death on the cross was a pivotal moment in all of human history, but he knew that they didn't realize it. See, they thought they were killing a rebel against Rome. They thought they were killing another common criminal. They didn't realize that they were killing the one who is providing them salvation.

What were they doing? They were killing the Savior of the world. But what was Jesus doing? He was the perfect Son of God, and in this moment He is dying for the sins of the world. He is paying the penalty that your sins and my sins deserve. He was taking the punishment that was for us to bear. The world that is around us does not realize this. Some of you sitting here right now, you do not realize what happened when Jesus Christ died on the cross. It was five long years that my wife and I were in the adoption process. But when the time finally came for us to fly to Ethiopia and to adopt our son, we sat nervously in that Ethiopian courthouse and we waited our turn to meet the judge. Now listen, this was one of the greatest moments of our lives. And it was also one of the greatest moments of our son's life, but he had no idea what was happening.

But I don't think that negates how monumental of a moment it was for him. Our son did nothing to contribute to the adoption process aside from being born. Yet the adoption, becoming finalized, was one of the biggest moments of his life, and he doesn't remember it. It's like this, Christ dying on the cross is one of the biggest moments of your life, and some of you don't realize it yet. But realizing this and accepting this truth will change everything. It changes hearts. Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.

What were they doing? They were killing the Savior of the world. They were fulfilling prophecy. They were witnessing firsthand the righteous judgment of God being poured out on His Son for the sins of the world. Jesus in this moment is providing salvation for all who will place their faith in Him.

Because this is what happened. This is what happened on the cross. Jesus took your sin and took the punishment you deserve so you don't have to. They don't know what they do. Jesus is reminding us how lost the world is. The world doesn't know.

The world, back then, those soldiers had Jesus right in front of them. They had the crucifixion live happening right before them, and they didn't realize what was happening. Many people can look upon Jesus, many people can come to church many people can hear the gospel proclaimed and not realize their need for a Savior and It's because we are lost. It's because our hearts are hardened The world is lost and they don't realize who Christ is or what he's done The world is lost and they don't know what they do This is why Christians should be the most empathetic and compassionate people on the planets. Listen, if someone is lost in the woods and they're trying to find their way home and they're going in the wrong direction, do you hate them for it? No, of course not. Likewise, in this world, when people promote sin, we should not hate them for it. On the flip, we should be empathetic because they are lost, they're going in the wrong direction. Or even more, like Jesus, we should be pleading with God for their forgiveness because they don't know what they are doing.

When I see people choose the desires of sin rather than the joy of Jesus, it's not pity I feel, it's not hatred I feel, it's empathy, it's compassion. In some ways it's sadness because I wish they knew that what Christ offers is infinitely better. When I first read this verse as an 18 year old, you want to know what I thought? I was thinking to myself, if I was in Jesus' shoes, if I was on the cross, after a lifetime of pouring out love to these people, and this is what they were doing to me, if I was in that moment, you want to know what? This is where I'd show my cards. This is where I'd show my cards. I'd be sitting there from the cross. I'd take every ounce and I'd say I can't believe you people everything I've done for you I Served you I taught you I've done all these wonderful things for you. And this is what you do for me That's what you do to me. You all can go to hell That's what I would say because I would show my cards as the sinful wretch that I am but you want to know something Jesus does show His cards here. He's showing the world exactly who He is. Jesus shows His cards and it's amazing.

When I first read this verse at that moment, I realized what I was doing. I was spiritually blind, living a life of sin, putting myself before God, putting myself before others, wanting to be accepted by the world rather than wanting to be accepted by the creator of the world. This verse spoke deep into my heart. I don't know if you've noticed this, my friends, but it seems like, especially in the last generation, that people in our world have graduated from celebrating sin to finding identity in it. But they do this because they don't know what they do. They're lost. They give themselves to sin. And what we need to know, what we need to be reminded of is that sin is what put Jesus on the cross, my sin and your sin.

And it was in reading this that my spirit was broken. It was in reading this that I realized that Jesus was the one worth giving my life to, that He was who He said He was. And so when we repent of our sin on Christ and Christ pays the penalty for us. And because our sin has been punished and not just ignored, this is why we can rightly say and rightly sing as we did in the beginning that justice has been satisfied and all Christians should say amen at this. And not only this, but our sin is taken away as if that wasn't enough, we are given abundant life, and if that wasn't enough, we're given eternal life, and if that wasn't enough, you know what also we get? We get brought back into the family of God. We get reconciled to God and we get to have a relationship with our Creator again, and this is because of what Jesus has done for us.

And so, church, when you read these words, many of your Bibles will have these words in red, and it's very appropriate because these truly are blood-stained words, as we see how these words cut through all the noise. Church today we read a quote from Christ that changed the world. My prayer is that it will change you, and that the Spirit will call you into a faith in Jesus. But for those of us who have faith, let me remind you, Jesus prays for us, He provides salvation. And for those of you who are walking with the Lord, is there any, let me ask you, is there any better response to this any, let me ask you, is there any better response to this than to worship? If you agree with that, say Amen. Amen. Would you please stand?