"Words of a Dying Man" | Pastor Steve Gaines

I want to talk to you about some of the things that Jesus said while he was dying on the cross in fact we're going to look very quickly at all seven of the statements that we have recording in the Gospels that Jesus spoke while he was on the cross and I want to tell you something when you're dying many times people when they're dying they say things that tell a lot about them and everything that Jesus said open up just another little window as we look into the very heart of God it's gonna be a blessed time and I'll talk to you about that in a moment but I want to talk to you about another person who was not a Christian in fact this man was an atheist his name is Karl Marx you know again what we say right before we die says a lot about what is in our lives Karl Marx started as a philosopher and became a revolutionary he was a German philosopher he founded the theory of Marxism and it's obviously named after him that theory led not only to communism but also to socialism he was an atheist and when he would talk about religion he would call it and I quote the opium that is the drug of the common people he said you'd have to be a fool you'd have to be a drug and it's like a drug that people take when they can't deal with reality religion is the opium the drug of the people and his philosophies were revolutionary and they caused many people to embraced communism and socialism in the 20th century let me just share three of the most prominent disciples of Karl Marx first of all Joseph Stalin after world war ii now you know we've got to remember that Stalin's army Russia rushed against the Germans from the east side while the Americans and the other allies and Britain we rushed from the west side and they destroyed Hitler that's all fine but then they divided Germany right down the middle and the Russians turned everything in their country through Stalin because of the works of Karl Marx turned it all into communism and Stalin then killed millions of his own people so that he could establish a socialist communist state in Russia that lasted for decades and is still in many ways going on and then there was another disciple of Karl Marx his name is Mao Zedong and he started communism in China again right after World War two and again blood on his hands he killed millions of Chinese people to start the philosophy and to ingrain that in China and to this day communism is still the rule across China and it was all because of the works of Marx and then around the time of the Vietnam War there was a man named Pol Pot who had studied the theories of Karl Marx and he started communism in Cambodia he literally butchered in the killing fields two to three million Cambodians and he brought in the Khmer Rouge and Don and I have been to Cambodia we have seen the bones of the people that he killed there just stacked dozens of feet high in so many columns all over Cambodia it blows my mind that nowadays people are even talking about in America embracing either communism or socialism well it's not communism really it's just it's just really democratic socialism what it is is big government government decides everything and the common man is no longer we the people we the people is how America is supposed to operate we're supposed to be the ones that give guidance to our nation and our leaders are supposed to follow us we're not supposed to follow them and everything that they say and I'm not trying to be a revolutionary myself I'm just saying what people think and how they they think about all kinds of not just religion but also it makes a big difference and so Karl Marx on his dying bed wonder what he said what does a man like that say when he's about to die well he died we know on March the 14th 1883 his housekeeper asked him right before he died mr. Marx do you have any final words and he was so filled with bitterness and he was so filled with anger he was just such an angry person he didn't believe in God and he shouted out these words go on get out last words are for fools who have not said enough and then he died he died talking about fools but I want to tell you something the minute he died and he opened up his eyes before Jesus Christ the next thing that man said was Jesus Christ is Lord right before he was cast into hell he said Jesus Christ is Lord I want to ask you what would be your dying words what were Jesus dying words Jesus died on a cross he was on that cross from 9 a.m. on Good Friday to 3 p.m. for 6 hours and we have 7 statements in the Gospels and I want to talk to you about words of a dying man words of a dying man the first word from the Cross of the dying son of God was this a word of forgiveness a word of forgiveness Luke chapter 23 verse 34 but Jesus was saying Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing and they cast lots dividing up his garments among them three of the seven statements we have of Jesus were prayers number one number four and number seven the first thing he did was to pray the last thing he did was to pray and right in the middle he prayed and the first thing he did was to pray a word of forgiveness he was forgiving the pea bull that had wronged him and put him on that cross even though they didn't ask for forgiveness even though they didn't apologize he was praying to the Father old Father forgive them all those who have falsely accused him all who had condemned him to die all of them who had spat upon him beaten him mocked him put a crown of thorns on him nailed the spikes into his hands and into his feet and those people that were jeering at him at that very moment while he was being crucified they were gambling for the only thing he owned on this earth and that was the few clothes he had on his back and yet our Lord gave forgiveness to them do you know why because the Bible says if you don't forgive people God will not forgive you now Jesus didn't need forgiveness but he did not want to commit a sin on the cross of unforgiveness Jesus forgave them on task is anybody ever hurts you I've been hurt before I've been hurt by preachers I I've been talked about and stuff before and by people that I dearly loved I I couldn't believe it but you know what in my heart I had to forgive them you know why because if we don't forgive other people God won't forgive us now that's not the only reason you want to forgive but it's not a bad reason we need to forgive other people you said well I can't forgive this person for what they did now listen to me if somebody has molested you or assaulted you report them okay I'm not telling you that I'm not saying just don't even think about it but what I am saying even in that somehow in your heart you've got to forgive other people because if you don't forgive other people you are locked in a jail cell spiritual cell if you will and a dungeon of unforgiveness and the one who is really being hurt by your unforgiveness is not the other person but you you've got to forgive them just like Jesus gave them a word of forgiveness you've got to forgive other people the Bible says in Ephesians 4:32 be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving each other just as God in Christ so has forgiven you Jesus himself said after he gave us the Lord's Prayer he said in Matthew 6:14 and 15 for if you forgive others for their transgressions your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you don't forgive other people then your father will not forgive your transgressions some of you need to forgive other people some of you need right now to walk out of a dungeon of unforgiveness and say I forgive you and I'll just put you in God's hands and father I pray right now in Jesus name that people will be able to forgive and let it go and lord give a word of forgiveness in Jesus name Amen a word of forgiveness is how Jesus began on the cross and forgiveness is still coming from that cross praise the Lord now secondly the second word from the cross was a word of salvation he spoke it to one of the thieves and here's what it says in Luke 23 verse 43 he said to him - that is - that the truly I say to you today you shall be with me in paradise now what's going on we know in the Bible that Jesus was crucified between two thieves we know according to Matthew 27 that both of those thieves originally at the beginning of the crucifixion they were both hurling abuse at Jesus Christ along with all the crowds below but the Bible says somewhere along the way one of him realized that Jesus was the king of kings and the Lord of lords that Jesus was indeed bringing a kingdom into the interplay that the kingdom of God was advancing through this Messiah who was dying on the cross and the Bible says he cried out to him and Jesus said to that man in Luke 23:43 he said to him truly truly I say to you today today you shall be with me in paradise on both sides was a thief but now one of them has cried out for salvation we read the whole context in Luke 23 39 and following one of the criminals who was hanging there was hurling abuse at him saying are you not the cross the Christ save yourself and us but the other answered and rebuking him said do you not even fear God since you are under the same of condemnation and we indeed are suffering justly for we are receiving what we deserve for our sins but this man has done nothing wrong and he was saying to Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom the the verb means he was saying it over and over again remember me when you come into your kingdom remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus said to him truly I say to you today you shall be with me in paradise and when they both died they both walked into the presence of God the Father well that guy just barely made it into heaven amen you talking about just barely making it into heaven don't you know he was excited to be where he was the moment he died he was absent from his body he was present with the Lord and he prayed probably the most unusual sinner's prayer ever to be prayed Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom but he wasn't really a bad prayer he realized that Jesus was King and he surrendered to the king I want to tell you it's not the words that come out of your mouth God's not looking so much at your words he's looking at your heart the Bible says in 1st Samuel 16 verse 7 God sees not as man sees for man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart Jesus was looking at that man's heart and Jesus is looking into your heart right now what does he see what does Jesus see when he looks into your heart and into my heart does he see repentance does he see faith does he see a child of God a person that wants to become a child of God does he see somebody like he saw in the thief on the cross or does he see someone cursing him and belittling him life the other person I tell all humanity is wrapped up in those two thieves those who curse Jesus and deny Jesus and mock Jesus and those who embrace Jesus would you today receive the forgiveness of God would you receive the salvation of God would you call upon the name of the Lord and be saved Jesus second word from the cross was a word of salvation and then thirdly Jesus word from the cross was a word of provision look at John 19 turn over very quickly to John 19 or just follow on the screen verses 26 and 27 when Jesus then saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to his mother woman behold your son and then he said to the disciple behold your mother that was John who wrote the Gospel of John that he was talking there to that disciple from that hour the disciple that is John took her into his own household now we know that when Jesus was born obviously he had a mother and a father we know that because we read about that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem that Joseph and Mary were there we know that 12 years later when Jesus was taken to Jerusalem that Joseph and Mary were still married and still alive but by the time you get to Jesus baptism he's 30 years old he began his ministry there's no more mention of Joseph most people believe and I believe that Joseph had died by the time Jesus began his ministry and only Mary was live we know she was alive because it Cana of Galilee when he turned the water into wine that was the first miracle Jesus ever performed and Mary was there and she was there all the way through his three years of teaching the disciples until he went to the cross she was at the cross and then we know that she was there after Jesus ascended because she was with her her other children and they were praying with the apostles in the upper room after Jesus had ascended back to heaven the Bible tells us that in Acts chapter 1 verse 14 they were praying they were all together pray she was she who had borne Jesus was now born again by Jesus that's an amazing thing in of itself but the Bible says that he wanted to take care of his mother he wanted to provide for his mother so he looks down he looks down from the cross and he sees his mother and he said woman and that was just a respectful word woman and he looks over John behold your son he looks at John and he says behold your mother he took care of his mother he provided for her while he was on the cross you remember that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they would not take care of their own parents and here's what it says in Matthew 15 he answered and said to them why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition for God said honor your father and your mother and he who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death but you say whoever says to my father to his father or mother whatever I have would help that would help you has been given to God he is not to honor his father and mother and by this you invalidate the Word of God for the sake of your tradition you hypocrites you play actors you mask where's rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you this people honors me with their lips but their heart is far away from me but in vain do they worship Me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men Jesus said you don't even take care of your own parents why should I believe your doctrine Jesus practiced what he preached he took care of his mother and Jesus provided for her and I want to tell you this Jesus who provided for his mother Jesus will give you that same word of provision people are losing their jobs people are running out of resources we don't know why this has happened only God knows we don't know how long this will go on only God knows but I want to tell you this Jesus Christ is your provider now I want to tell you something though there is something about his provision that you need to know if you really want Jesus to provide for you then you need to be a giver and I'm talking about meeting the needs of other people this is not a time to be selfish and just think about yourself this is a time to think about ministering to other people you can do that financially you can find out somebody who has lost their job some of you still have jobs you know what help other people that have lost their job some of you have plenty of food other people don't why don't you share some of your food with them some of you have financial wherewithal you can be a real blessing to other people you know the Bible says that when we give God gives more to us when we help other people God helps us whatever you so that you will reap this is not a time to hoard this is a time to help this is not a time just to stockpile this is a time to serve other people listen to what Paul said to the Corinthian church in 2nd Corinthians 9:7 Nate you must each decide in your own heart how much to give don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure for God loves a person who gives cheerfully now listen to verse 8 and God will generously provide all you need provide there it is provide all you need how much all you need not all your greed but all you need God will provide all you need and then it says then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over and I listen to share with others jesus said in Luke 6:38 give and it will be given unto you good measure pressed down shaken together running over it shall be poured in your lap now is not a time just to think about yourself now it's not a time just to think about you and your family now is a time to say God use me however you want to use me God I want to be a channel of blessing to other people Oh God you've provided for me I want you to provide to other people for other people through me God and I know that when I give you'll even provide more to me that's just the way things work the Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 9 he who has generous will be blessed for he gives some of his food to the poor he doesn't say if you're blessed you're generous he said if you're generous you're blessed and I want to let's just take a moment and look if you've lost your job I want to pray for you right now if you're in financial need I want to pray for you right now let's pray everybody agree with me right now in the name of Jesus father I pray for those who have their jobs that you will provide every need that they have I pray that they won't miss one meal dear God I pray that you would provide everything that they need but Lord anything that people need out there in the way of finances or any other thing a job Lord bless them anoint them I pray that in all respects they will prosper being good health just as their souls prosper bless them indeed enlarge their borders let your hand be upon them keep them from harm that they may not be paying in Jesus name and we all agree and say amen praise God for Jesus word of provision number four a word of suffering a word of suffering look in Matthew 27 our follow on the screen verses 45 and 46 now from the sixth hour that's high noon sixth they started at 6:00 a.m. 6:00 at the 6:00 hour at noon darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour from 12:00 noon until 3:00 in the afternoon about the ninth hour that is three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli Eli lama sabachthani my God my God why have you forsaken me Charles Spurgeon talks about the hill when it of Calvary when he became totally dark he said it was midnight at midday and what was going on is this God took all of the sin of all mankind of all time all the way back to Adam all the way out in the future to the last human being that will ever be born on this earth he took all of that sin and in one putrid mass laid it upon his son the Lord Jesus Christ and he struck that with the wrath of God and Jesus for the first time in all of eternity for about three hours he was separated from God that's why he recoiled by the way in Gethsemane when he was saying father if there's any other way besides me going the cross let it happen yet not my will but thine be done he was not a coward no thirty thousand Jews were crucified by the Romans Jesus was not a sniffling coward he just did not want to be he knew that when that sin was laid upon him he'd be separated momentarily from the father and that's what he was recalling from not the physical pain and not the shedding of blood Jesus was separated from God and he cries out and by the way he's praying a scripture here Psalm 22 verse 1 my God my God why have you have you forsaken me Hershel Hobbes said well he was momentarily for three hours forsaken so that you and I don't have to be eternally forsaken by God in hell and friend Jesus bore your sin in his body on the cross Isaiah prophesied it in Isaiah 53 said surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried yet we ourselves esteemed him Jesus stricken smitten of God and afflicted but he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging by his stripes we are healed all of us like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned to his own way but God laid the iniquity of us all on Jesus and Jesus took that chalice of the wrath of God from the sin of man and drank it to the dregs turned it over and he was bearing the cross and bearing our sins on the cross up Calvary's Mountain one dreadful morn walked Christ my Savior weary and worn facing for sinners death on the cross that he might save them from endless loss Father forgive them thus did he pray even while his life's blood flowed fast away praying for sinners while in such woe no one but Jesus ever loved so oh how I love him Savior and friend how will my praises ever find in through years unnumbered on heaven shore my lips will praise him for ever more blessed Redeemer precious Redeemer seems now I see him on Calvary's tree wounded and bleeding for sinners pleading blind and unheeding dying for me he died for you he died in your stead he died in your place Jesus gave a word of suffering fifthly Jesus gave a word of opportunity oh I love this look at John 1928 or look on the screen after this Jesus knowing that all things had already been accomplished listen now to fulfill the scripture said I am thirsty Jesus was breathing heavily while he was on the cross for six hours he'd been hanging on a cross his mouth was dry his lips were sticking together his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth and Jesus was thirsty it had been prophesied that the Messiah would die on a cross in Psalm 22 from which Jesus spoke my God my God why have you forsaken me but on down in chapter 22 of Psalm verse 15 it says my strength is dried up like a potsherd that is like a clay pot and my tongue Cleaves to my jaws and you lay me in the dust is there anything drier than dust the dust of death Jesus needed just a little bit of water just a little bit a sip of water and he offered somebody the opportunity to serve Him now you think about that he offered somebody the opportunity to serve he had already said whoever gives out even a cup of cold water in my name I will bless them and they're their token of the service will never be forgotten Jesus offered somebody the amazing opportunity to help him out he said I am thirsty and we read in John 19 29 and 30 a jar full of sour wine was standing there so they we don't know who they was we don't know who that was but they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop brought it up to his mouth therefore Jesus received the sour wine we don't know who they were but those folks serve Jesus they had the opportunity they had the privilege they had the blessing of serving Jesus in his time of need I want to ask you would you have helped Jesus would you have taken that opportunity to help Jesus while he was on the cross he said well of course would pasture I would have done that well let me ask you this would you serve him today will you serve him today Jesus hasn't blessed you with everything just so that you can have it he blesses you to be a blessing he wants you to serve other people if you would serve Jesus you have to do that by serving other people you want to help Jesus help other people you want to serve Jesus serve other people pray for them witness of them serve them find a need and meet it find a hurt and heal it listen Jesus is giving you the same opportunity he gave those people whoever they were they helped Jesus just with that sour wine lifting up on a hyssop branch that's prophetic a hyssop branch lifting up that sponge and that wine and Jesus drank it so that he could shout what he's about to shout oh God gives you that word of opportunity today this is a great time let me tell you something people are more open to the gospel right now more open to prayer more open to loving deeds right now in this coronavirus than they've been in a long time God is getting America's and the world's attention and I want to tell you you've got an opportunity to serve Jesus right now like you've never had probably in your whole life a word of opportunity number six very quickly the sixth word from the cross is a word of victory oh I love this one I love them all but I really like this one John chapter 19 verse 30 therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine he said it is finished one word in the Greek to tell us die and what it means is when you paid your bill they would stamp it on the receipt to tell us I paid in full Jesus again had drunk all of the wrath of God taking that chalice turned it over and now he says it is finished what was finished the suffering of Jesus was finished they never spit upon him again they never mockingly and that suffering was over the purpose of his incarnate was finished he had come to die and died he was about to he had given his life on the cross and the Incarnation purpose was finished the mission of the Father that God had sent him Jesus had said in John 6:38 I come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me it was the will of God for Jesus to be born and to die on the cross and that was about to be accomplished the mission of the Father and then what else was finished the power of Satan was finished Jesus said in John 12 now judgment is upon this world now the ruler of this world is going to be cast out Jesus had come in and even though the serpent had bit him on the heel he had crushed the head on the serpent because he had died on the cross for the sins of mankind and then he would be raised from the dead so the power of Satan was finished the payment for sin was finished we read about that in first Peter 1:18 and 19 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless the blood of Christ Jesus blood had been shed and now the payment for sin was finished and then our separation from God is finished the veil was torn in that temple from top to bottom the Bible says man didn't tear it God tore it and the Bible says when he said it is finished that Bailes and now we're not separated from God we don't get to God through a Pope or through a priest or through a preacher or through a church or through a denomination we get to God through Jesus he is the one mediator between God and men and the Bible says that we our separation from God is all finished now we're united with God if we know him through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and the power of sin also was finished isaiah 53:6 says it was all the iniquity of us all fell upon jesus it was all put upon Jesus and Jesus Christ said it is finished a word of victory and then there's one final word to give and that is a word of commitment look at Luke 23 46 very quickly Jesus crying out with a loud voice said father into your hands I commit my spirit having said this he breathed his last Jesus quotes Psalm 31 verse 5 and he says into thy hands I commit my spirit he gave his all death is is when your spirit and soul leave your physical body and Jesus spirit and soul left his body and went to be with the father along with that other dying thief and he went to be with the Lord he went to be with the father and then he would be raised back from the dead three days later but Jesus Christ committed his spirit to the Lord you know I was reading this morning in my devotional time the first martyr the first martyr of the Christian Church was a deacon named Stephen he was preaching in Jerusalem he got in trouble with some of the Jewish people and they stoned him to death and while he was stump being stoned to death I had never I've seen part of it but I'd never seen what I saw today you know it's on I've been reading the Bible for 40 years and almost every time I read it I see something fresh and you this is not the book of the month this is the book of the ages brother you need to get in it and as I was reading I saw that that that's Steven when he died he quoted two of the sayings of Jesus from the cross and interestingly I'd never noticed but it was the first one and the seventh one the first and last but he reversed them he reversed them the first thing he prayed right before Stephen died while the rocks were hitting him and the life was Lilu going from his body he prayed in acts 759 they went on stoning Stephen as he called out on the Lord and said Lord Jesus receive my spirit just like Jesus he prayed Psalm 31 verse 5 into your hands I commit my spirit and then he also prayed what Jesus prayed at the very outset at 9 a.m. we read in acts 760 falling on his knees Stephen cried out with a loud voice Lord don't hold this sin against him that his father forgive them they don't know what they're doing he prayed the same thing Jesus did I want to ask you don't ask you how do these last words of Jesus impact you they impacted Stephen so much when he died he had the presence of mind to pray back number seven first and number one last the last thing he said before he went into and by the way Jesus he saw a vision of Jesus and Jesus was standing in the honor of the first Christian martyr and Jesus then embraced him into his arms when his spirit and soul left him there from Jerusalem Stephens spirit and soul went to be with Jesus he prayed what Jesus prayed what will be your last words don't you want your last words don't you want your last words to be father into your hands I commit my spirit and if you've got bitterness while the rocks were hitting him he forgave the people that were throwing the rocks Oh God will give you a word of forgiveness father forgive them they don't know what they're doing you a word of salvation this day you'll be with me in paradise he'll give you a word of revision he'll take care of you just like he did his mother he'll give you that word of suffering because he suffered you don't have to he bore your sins he was separated from God so you don't have to be he'll give you a word of opportunity I thirst he'll let you help other people and meet their needs you can benefit from that word of victory it is finished paid in full and that word of commitment one day you can speak into your hands I commit my spirit Jesus died for you will you live for him

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

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Length: 34min 54sec (2094 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 06 2020