So we've been looking at the miracles of Christ. But look at verse number 25 of Luke chapter number 23. The Bible said, he released unto him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison whom they had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they led him away, they laid upon one Simon, a Cyrenian coming out of the country. And on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus, turning unto them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves. And for your children, for behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the bear and the wombs that never bear, the paps which never gave suck, that then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two malefactors, or two other malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and then said, Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his garment, or his raiment, and cast lots. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if it be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And the superscription was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself in us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, saying that thou art in the same condemnation? For we indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus would cry with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. And all the people that came together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts in return, all his acquaintance. and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight, Lord, thankful, grateful, Lord, humbled by your grace and mercy in our life. Lord, we do pray for these requests that were mentioned, Lord, just a few moments ago. Lord, thank you, Lord, that the ones that we don't feel at liberty to speak out loud, Lord, you know what we have need of tonight. Lord, you know what we're facing. I do pray, Lord, you work in each situation. God, there's needs that are present. Each individual that's here tonight, Lord, Lord, we need you to work. We need you to move. We need you, God, because, Lord, we can't do it by ourselves. Lord, you know that. Lord, you know what we're made of. You know our frames. Lord, I'm thankful, God, that you know exactly what we're made of, God, and what we can't do, and yet, Lord, you still love us and care for us, and God, you step in so many times, Lord, sometimes we don't even notice, Lord, how much you're doing for us. I pray, Lord, tonight you give us eyes to see, ears to hear, Lord, that you would, Lord, allow us, Lord, some insight on what you're doing, God, and we'll be careful to give you the glory and the praise for it. Lord, thank you for praise reports tonight. I'm thankful, Lord, that we serve a God who doesn't just hear but answers our prayers. Lord, whether it's big or small, Lord, it's all big to you, Lord. It's all personal to you, Lord. I'm thankful for that tonight. I have no request, God, that is too great for you, nor one that is too small for you. I do ask you tonight, Lord, you'd help us from the word of God. Would you hide me behind the cross of Calvary God, help me, Lord, to preach as you desire it to be done tonight. Lord, speak to hearts individually. Lord, as we look at your death on the cross of Calvary, God, may that be a hallowed place in our life and in our hearts. Lord, it'll be a portion of Scripture, God, that never gets old to us. God, it doesn't just become Lord, something that we know, but Lord, it becomes something every time we come across it. Lord, we'll be reminded, God, of the great payment that you made for us. I ask you tonight, Lord, you just simply help us one more time, Lord, from your word. Thank you, God, for your faithfulness. Lord, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, and amen. We've come here to the end of the physical life of Christ. We know, we've heard this account many times. We know, we stand firm on the gospel that is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This part of the portion of the Bible to me is just, I mean, it's so holy, it's so wonderful, and we know what's gonna happen here once again. We know how the story ends, and I'm thankful for that tonight, but this summer we have been following the miracles of Christ. We didn't catch every miracle. We didn't do every single one that he did, but we've seen Christ do a lot of things that only God can do. It's a very simple definition. of a miracle, it is that which only God can do, right? And there are things in our life that I'm thankful, not only that God can only, he's the only one that can do them, but he's the only one that did them in my life, and I'm thankful for that tonight. But we've seen him do some things throughout this summer that have been really, I mean, mind-blowing. He's fed 5,000 with the lunch. of a little lad with five loaves and two fish. We've seen him remove leprosy from those who are plagued with it. We've seen him give sight to the blind. We've seen him turn water into wine. We've seen him cause the lame to walk and the deaf to hear. We've seen him cause the dead to come back to life. And these are miraculous works that Christ did and that were done in doing so, it's not the reason why he came, or the sole reason why he came, but in doing so, he proved to those that were there, not that he had to, but he was willing to show them, and so they could know without a shadow of a doubt that he was more than just a man. Yes, he was physically there. Yes, he was breathing and living like they were, but he was also God. He was 100% man, 100% God, and he did these things so that they would know, right, that he was the son of God. Now we come here tonight and we see here this evening that we have come to the end of his life. You say, well preacher, his death isn't a miracle per se, right? He died on the cross of Calvary. And I would have to beg to differ with you tonight because if we go off that simple definition of a miracle is something that only God could do, I would stand firmly tonight and say, as we look at Christ on the cross of Calvary, that only God could die like that. He wasn't just a mere man. Yes, though he had a flesh and though he was a man like you and I were, he was 100% God at the same time. And we're gonna see tonight that even in his death, in how he died and how he acted and what he said tonight, the things that he did show us that he is God. Right, he is the very son of God. Now, I believe every person can know that Christ was not only fully man, but also fully God by noticing the following truths we find here as we approach this place called Calvary. I want you to notice number one, he called some back to reality. He called some back to reality. In verse number 25, this isn't in my notes, but as I was studying the crosses, I said, man, that's a true thought, if there is one, that I, in verse number 25, the Bible said that they delivered Jesus to their will. Who? Those who had brought him, those Pharisees, right? The high priest, those who wanted him dead. The Bible says they delivered, Him to their will, right? And we realize that at any time that you and I try to force Jesus into what we want, our will, our desires, right? Lord, get on board with this. We are going to put Jesus or place Jesus somewhere He doesn't deserve to be. Jesus did not deserve to die on the cross of Calvary. He didn't deserve that. He was innocent. He was perfect. Never done anything amiss. And yet we also know that he was, that's why he came. He came to die for our sin. And so we see here tonight, number one, he called some back to reality as he begins this walk, this journey from the hall to Calvary, there's a group of ladies that are following behind him. And here is this man they've come to love so deeply, so sincerely, and all of those kind of things, and yet they've watched him be badly beaten, they've watched him horribly lied on. horribly treated, disfigured so much that the Bible said that he was almost unrecognizable as a man. Isaiah said it this way, Isaiah 52, 14, it said, as many as were astonished at thee, his vengeance was so marred more than any man. And I understand we have the movies, I understand we have the dramas, I understand we have those depictions in television shows that try their best to depict this, but I think they fail at really trying to capture exactly just how mistreated Christ was, just how beaten and battered that he was for you and I. He went through things tonight that I could not dream of going through. And he did that for you and I, but there is this group of ladies who have followed behind him. The Bible said they are wailing, that they are crying out loudly. They are completely distraught. They are so bothered by what they see. They are crying out to the Lord. That you know, why don't you don't have to go through this right? They lamented him. Why are you doing this and Jesus turns? Back to them and he begins to speak to them and he said listen There is something worse that is going to happen per se there is something that you've got to realize that Don't feel sorry for me. This is why I came. I was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. None of this took Jesus by surprise. He knew every buffet. He knew every jeer. He knew every spit that would come upon his face. He knew every word they would say. He knew every time they would whip him with a cat of nine tails. And he came anyways. This did not take Christ by surprise. Those around him, it did, and they're crying for him. Hey, stop, don't let them do anymore. He says, no, what you don't understand is that there is coming a generation, he said, pray for your children because there has been a rejection of Christ by God's people. He said, pray for them because it's far, what I'm going through is difficult, but it's far worse for those who reject me. For those who turn me away. The only thing worse than what happened to Christ was the fact that the people of God, Israel, had rejected him. He come unto his own, his own received him not. That is the absolute worst thing that someone can do in their life, is to reject what Christ did for them. It is our only hope. It is our only way into heaven and it is the only way to know that we have eternal life and there is those, the worst thing someone can do is when the Holy Spirit is convicting their heart and the word of God is drawing them in for them to say no. Some will say it flippantly, some will say it angrily, some will say it carelessly, some will say it arrogantly, but what they don't realize It's what they're doing. They are putting themselves in a place of judgment that truly no person is ready to experience or bear. They're really, well, hell's a party. It's not. It's not. It's a place of eternal torment. It's a place of eternal fire. It's a place of eternal devastation, eternal death tonight. And Christ turns around to them and he says, listen, don't weep for me. We for those who've rejected me. We for those who have nothing to do with me. So he calls some back to reality. But notice number two tonight, he calmly forgave others. He calmly forgave others. We come down to verse number 33 tonight. The Bible says that when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. Four words, there they crucified him. We now know and we understand the process by which crucifixion was. It was not invented by the Romans, but it was perfected by them. They had got it down to a science. They knew how to torture. They knew how to abuse. They knew how to make their enemies crumble. And it was reserved for the worst. Even a Roman, if they were a Roman citizen, wasn't allowed to be crucified. It was for the worst enemies of the state and they had perfected it. And so when the Bible said there, they crucified him. Don't you think for a second that it was quick and it was painless and it was pain-free and it was, no, they knew what they were doing. With every drive of the nail, every ounce of whatever they did, it was all done for punishment and cruelty and to make the enemies bow down to them, to set the example. And so one of the things we must remember, the one getting treated the worst in all of this is completely and totally innocent. He has done nothing wrong. He is perfect, sinless, and he is the one that is receiving the brunt of everything. And the Bible said when they arrived at Calvary, they crucified, they nailed him to the cross. both hands and both feet, the cross is dropped into the ground, the pain is unimaginable, almost inconceivable probably to the very first thing Jesus says to those who are doing these acts to him, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. See, we like to think that we knew how bad our sin was. We know that it wasn't good, we know that it was bad, we know there are some things that it cost us, but I don't think we understand really the depth of our sin and the pain that it caused the Lord. And yet, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now, I'm pretty sure tonight that this wasn't the first man they nailed to a cross. If this was their job, if this was their profession, history tells us that Rome marched and Rome conquered, and there was probably many that were put to the cross, many that were put to crucifixion, and so this wasn't probably, it wasn't their first time, but it was probably the first time they'd ever seen anybody act like this. Anybody talk like this, anybody speak like this. That when someone was being executed, they spoke to their executioners. but they never spoke to him like this. Oh, I can guarantee you that those who've been crucified before, they probably had some words for those that were doing it to them. They probably said things in a nice way. Probably gave them the choice vocabulary. They probably called a lot of things because of all this and all of that. We realize tonight, Christ says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Forgive them for they know not what they do. Boy, people call me a lot of things because of the failures in my life. People call me a lot of things because of the faults of my life. People call me a lot of things because of my selfishness in my life. But when I came to Christ, he called me forgiven. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Here's an interesting observation. Who was Jesus forgiving? Notice here tonight, the Bible said he is being crucified. He has been crucified in verse number 33. He is now hanging between two malefactors, and he cries out, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. I love my Bible, because every time I read through it, I'm like, how did I miss that last time I read this? Who was he forgiving? Both. Who? Those who had sinned before he was hanging on the cross. and those who would send after. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do is referencing those who put him on the cross, those who committed the acts, those who nailed his hands and punished the innocent God. But in verse number 35, the Bible said, and people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself and be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers mocked him, coming to him and offering vinegar, and saying, Thou be the King of the Jews. Save thyself. And what did Jesus say? Nothing. Why? He'd already forgiven them. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Well, I'm glad when I came to Christ, he didn't just forgive the sins I already had committed, but he's taken every sin that I will commit and forgiven that one as well. Preacher, how can he do that? He's God tonight. Well, aren't you glad for the day that Jesus calmly forgave you? Boy, you came in there, tore up, messed up from the floor up, right, I mean, talking about just a problem, maybe crying, maybe not, but just, I mean, your sin was real, you were broken, you were humbled and all of that, and boy, you was crying out to him, and he said, I forgave you. You're forgiven. He didn't stress it. You didn't have so much sin, Jesus didn't know what to do with you. He wasn't over there like, man, I hope I got enough grace for you. He said, we're sinning to the bound. Grace did, Father, forgive them. for they know not what they do. He calmly forgave others. He called others back to reality while he's dying. While he's dying, he is forgiving others. He's calling others back to reality. Number three tonight, he confidently made a promise. He confidently made a promise. Look down at verse number 39. And one of the mouth-actors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now we know that Jesus was crucified with two other men, we just read it. Both of them are guilty of their crimes. Malfactors, guilty, not innocent. And Isaiah 53 12 told us this, right? And he was numbered with the transgressors, even though he himself was without sin. Now one of those malfactors railed against the Lord. The word rail means to vilify, to make a villain out of. In essence, he was looking at Christ and saying, this is your fault that I'm up here. Or this is your fault that I'm still up here. Now, he railed against him. So what was this man so upset about? He was upset Jesus wasn't getting him out of the mess that he made for himself. There are still plenty of people today who have that same mindset. Lord, if you really loved me, you'd get me out of this. Well, if you really loved me, you wouldn't let me, you'd get me out of this self-made trouble that I'm in. And if he doesn't, well, I got all the reason to be mad at him then. You saved others, save me, get me off the cross. That's why he's railing against him. Why? He's mad. But the other malefactor, no pun intended, reached out to the Lord. He reached out to the Lord, even though both his hands were nailed to a cross. He reached out to the Lord. Now notice this, we see some things this man tried, or this man tried before he reached out to the Lord. The man tried higher standards. In verse number 40, but answering the other rebuked him saying, dost thou not fear God? Right? Seeing thou art in the same condemnation, you know, you ought to know we're both guilty here. I mean, what's wrong with you? He's trying to higher standard. He's trying to take the moral high road right here. He rebuked the other thief, right? What's wrong with you? And Jesus didn't say a word. He tried higher standards. He even tried self-guilt. Look at verse number 41. And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. He said, I know why I'm here. I know what I did. I know what I'm guilty of. And Jesus still didn't say anything. He tried higher standards. Jesus didn't respond to it. He tried self-guilt. Jesus didn't respond to it. This man even proclaimed the truth, verse number 41. This man had done nothing amiss. This man ain't been to Bible college, this man has not completed a Sunday school course, and yet somehow he understood the doctrine of sinless perfection when it came to Christ. This man had done nothing amiss. Notice this, he recognized he was wrong. He recognized who Jesus was, and Jesus still doesn't respond to it. He was teaching the doctrine of Christ's sinless perfection, and Jesus doesn't say a word. Verse 42, he reaches out to the Lord. Look at verse 42, and he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me. There's a whole lot of head knowledge in the first few verses. He knows doctrine, whether you realize it or not. He knows that he's guilty. He knows what sin is. He knows that neither one of the two of them are perfect. He knows this. But in verse 42, what is in his head gets into his heart. Lord, remember me. Lord, I need mercy. Now, I love how Jesus responds to this. He doesn't say, well, sir, you did not properly pray the sinner's prayer. You did not say A, B, and C, even though that's great to explain it. This fellow doesn't necessarily admit, I admit I served, I believe Jesus died for me, and I'm gonna confess him as Lord. Lord, remember me. I know why I'm here, I know what I've done wrong. You're perfect, you ought not to be here. And Lord, wherever you're going, that's where I wanna go. Would you remember me? Would you remember me? Look at verse 43. Look, notice Jesus' response. Confidently responded. This man is but a few breaths away from death. He's gonna give up the ghost in just a few moments. And yet it is spoken clearly that it is recorded, Father, excuse me, verily I say unto thee today, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Old Elijah has nothing to do with the message I just thought about. Old Elijah was scared of dying. Jezebel's gonna come and kill me, Lord. And God said, no, you're not even gonna die. He just took him up in a whirlwind. This fella knows he's gonna die and Jesus said, you ain't got nothing to be scared of. He told him today. You ain't making it through today, but don't worry, you'll be with me in paradise. It says it with confidence. That word verily means of a certainty, firmly with assurance. He said, because of my grace and mercy, you will be with me in paradise today. My assurance of heaven and my salvation is not based upon the feelings and the goosebumps that I had when I crawled on Christ. It is based upon his word, with my confidences in the word of God tonight. He's told me in Romans that if I call on him, confess unto him, thou shalt be saved. And so if I go today, if I go right now, it'll be an interesting service. Y'all figure out how to finish it. I know where I'm going. I know where I'm headed at tonight. And boy, that is a wonderful truth. Brings such peace to my heart. But you probably bumped shoulders with somebody today who doesn't know that. They're probably at home tonight maybe wondering, man, if I were to die right now, what's gonna happen to me? How's this gonna play out? What's on the other side of this life? Well, we know the truth. Let's make sure we're saying it. Aren't you glad for the day that Jesus made a confident promise to you? And you couldn't, oh, it saved me. He wasn't like, well, I'll see what I can do. I don't know about you. You're real rough. He made you a confident, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. We see here tonight that he was made a confident promise. And notice number four tonight, he consciously gave up his life. Preacher, how do you spell consciously? I have no idea. I would spell it to you how it's on, but I'd probably still spell it wrong trying to spell it to you while I was reading it right. Verses 44 through 46, we see him give up the ghost, gives up his life. I marked this down. Jesus did not die on any man's timetable. Matter of fact, Pilate was marveled. Pilate marveled when he found out Christ was dead. Already? Mark 15, 44, and Pilate marveled if he was already dead. And calling the centurion, he asked whether he had been any while. How long has he been dead? He was surprised by it, because crucifixion, it wasn't supposed to be quick. It was meant to suffer. for a long time, but Christ didn't die on any man's timetable. He gave up his life. Now verse 44 tells us for three hours the entire earth was dark. Preacher, wasn't it just dark around Jerusalem? I believe my Bible tonight. All around the earth. Could you imagine being in Africa somewhere? Why is it so dark all of a sudden? What is going on? What is this about? The whole earth was dark. Some say it was because God the Father turned his back on God the Son when he became sin for you and I. He could not look upon him as he became sin for us. Some say it was God acting gracious towards us. We could not handle to see just how wretched and disgusting and grotesque our sin really was. So God graciously blotted out the son. So we wanted to see that. I truly think that we don't understand the depth of our sin. I'm glad that it's forgiven tonight. And the parts that I do know I don't like, but I don't think I've come to understand just how wretched my sin really is. Jesus cried, it was finished in verse number excuse me, later on before this, he cries, it is finished, one of the other gospels. So preacher, how could he cry that before he had died? How could he cry that it was finished if it required the death of Christ? Well, if you go back to the book of Leviticus, you go back to that when they'd bring those two goats, right? One was slaughtered, which is fixing to happen. The other one, the sin was cast upon and they were removed out of the camp and they were never to be found again. And so when Jesus cries, it is finished, that sin has been placed upon him. He has become sin who knew no sin. And he cries out, it is finished. The Bible says here in Luke that the veil is rent. Speaking of the veil in the temple, we know the Bible says it was rent from the top to the bottom. Preacher, how much does God wanna fellowship with me? How much does God wanna be involved in my life? God wants to be so involved in our life that he sent his son to die on the cross, that way the veil could be tore open, and that you and I on a personal, I'm glad tonight, listen, I spent some of my life running to a priest, confessing my sins, leaving the same way that I walked in, but can I say every time that I've met with the Lord, every time that I've come before him, I have stood boldly before the throne of grace and has left me a different man. and god loves you and I so much and wants to fellowship with so much. He sent his son to die on the cross so we could I need I need to talk to god for me on on on your behalf or on my behalf. Listen, I will pray for you and we ought to pray one for another. That's biblical but you ain't gotta go through me. You Amen, you got speed dial, just like I do. We see here tonight that the cry is finished, it became our sacrifice, the veil was rent, man could go directly to God. The system of sacrifice and offering was only meant to be a picture of what Christ was going to do. Christ was truly the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And then Jesus, like the Lamb of the Old Testament, lays down his life before the Father. Father, into your hands. into thy hands I commend my spirit. Having said this, he gave up the ghost. He laid it down willingly. He gave it up willingly for you and I tonight. Well, just think about that. Had you been the only one, had Genesis just had your name in it and you were the only one that ever sinned, that Jesus would have died for you. He would have died for you tonight. Then Jesus, like the Lamb of God, lays down his life before the Father. Nobody took his life, he laid it down. Aren't you glad that Jesus did that for you? Then notice lastly tonight, he convinced some with his death. He convinced some with his death. Only God can die like this. Verses 47 through 49, just like he had done with the blind, the lame, the dead, and even that little boy's lunch, what Jesus did, convinced those around him who he truly was. Only God could die like that. The same thing is true when it comes to his death. How Jesus died convinced those around him who he was. The thief on the cross was convinced, Lord. Remember me when you come into your kingdom? He was convinced. of who this man was. Look at the centurion later on in verse number 47. Now the centurion saw what was done. He glorified who? God. Saying certainly this was a righteous man. He said, I've seen a lot of people up on them crosses. And ain't none of them died like that. Certainly he was right. And he glorified God. All those that have been witnesses to what took place acknowledged what they saw wasn't like anything they'd ever seen or heard. The Bible said they smote their breast. They were sad, discouraged, convicted. But notice what the Bible said and they returned. They went back to where they were. There are two people in this world. Those who believe on Jesus and what he did for them, they will glorify God. And those what Jesus did, those who know what Jesus did for them, they acknowledge it. but return back to where they came from. One believed, Lord. They'll acknowledge, glorified God. The other said, wow, that's terrible. But then they just left. Never responded to it like they ought to. Tonight, are you convinced that Jesus died for you? Only God could die like that. I'm thankful that he did. And he did it for you, and he did it for me tonight.