Our scripture reading on this Good Friday is taken from the New Testament from the Gospel account given us in Luke chapter 23, the verses 33 to 49. Luke chapter 23, the verses 33 to 49, the Lord Jesus after his trial before Pontius Pilate, having been delivered to be crucified, we read, beginning in verse 33 this, 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. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted 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 he 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 a superscription also 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 and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we 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 shalt thou 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 had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, He gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. And all the people that came together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding these things. The text for this Good Friday sermon is taken from this passage which we've read together. Luke chapter 23 verse 46, the last crossword of Christ. Verse 46, and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. What were his last words? Yes, we're interested in the last words that a person has spoken. People at the bedside of a dying person, we strain our ears to hear someone's last words. And if we hear that a loved one has died, we might ask, what were his last words? And maybe we ask it out of curiosity. Or maybe it's out of a desire to live alongside of the grieving family. But if the dying person is conscious and his mind is still good, we want to know what was he thinking? What was he occupied with? And it's nice to hear that the departed one was expressing words of hope, words of faith, and words of love. And that's what we hear as we listen to Christ's dying words. That's what you can write over the sermon. Christ's dying words. We'll see five things. First of all, the way he dies. Secondly, the relation he has. Thirdly, the soul he ponders. Fourthly, the hands he trusts. And fifthly, the deposit he makes. Christ's dying words. We'll see, first of all, the way he dies. Secondly, the relation he has. Thirdly, the soul he ponders. Fourth, the hands he trusts. And fifthly, the deposit he makes. Yes, dear congregation, here are Christ's last words before his death on the cross. Remember he has been condemned to death, taken to Golgotha, Luke tells us that the land was covered with darkness. It was midnight at midday, Jesus suffering the darkness of hell, forsaken by his father, and here we're told about his death. Yes, we deal first with the second part of our text. He gave up the ghost. It was a death so unique and unlike any other that after his death, the centurion was led to confess that this was the Son of God. Never had he seen a person like this and a death like this. And of course, his death was like none other. His death was a unique death for several reasons. First of all, it was a voluntary death. A voluntary death. He himself said that his life would not be taken from him. Sometimes when a young person dies in an accident, or dies unexpectedly because of some other mishap, people say, well, he was robbed of his life. What a shame! But with Jesus it was so different. He was not robbed of his life. He said in John 10, I lay down my life. No man taketh it from me. I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. In other words, he gave himself willingly. He gave himself voluntarily. And why is connected to the second thing that we must say about his death? Not only that his death was a voluntary death. Secondly, his death was a substitutionary death. Because why is there death? It's because of sin. But the wages of sin is death. Because of our fall in Adam, we must all die. Because of original and actual sin, we must all die. But Jesus didn't sin. He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, Peter says in 1 Peter 2 verse 22. The apostle says he was holy, harmless, undefiled. He could say, which of you convinces me of sin? No one could. Pontius Pilate, his judge said, I find no fault in him. Judas Iscariot even said, I have betrayed innocent blood." So, friends, as he's dying, he's not dying for himself. He's not dying on account of his own sin. No, he's dying for others. He's dying on the account of the sins of others. He's taking the place of others. As Peter will say, he suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. 1 Peter 3 verse 18. That's good news. if you discover that you're unjust and that you need mercy and you need forgiveness. Thirdly, there was majesty in his death. He died voluntarily, died substitutionary, and there is majesty in his death. John will tell us before Jesus died, he bowed his head. That seems to say that up till that moment, his head was held up. His head wasn't down. There was a strength in his suffering. But at the end, he bowed his head. He bowed his head. His head didn't fall down, but he bowed his head majestically. Or as Luke tells us, when he cried, he cried with a loud voice. It wasn't as if he was unable to breathe. That's the way someone would usually die if they were hanging on a cross. They would die of exhaustion and asphyxiation. They would suffocate to death. But Jesus was able to breathe. He could cry with a loud voice, you see. His death was voluntary. His death was substitutionary. His death was majestic. And lastly, He died triumphantly. He died triumphantly, for the veil in the temple was rent in two from top to bottom, telling us that the way to God and access to God is to be had through Jesus' death. through his broken body, and the earthquake, and the graves were opened, all miracles announcing that his death was a death unlike any other death, a unique death, that the way he died. Yeah, how did he die? We wanted to come to that. How did he die? He's dying, and he's praying. That's the first thing you can say about the way He died. He died praying. And then we can say that He died the way He lived. He died the way He lived during His life, during His ministry. He would arise early to seek the face of His Father because He loved to commune with His Father. In the face of difficulties, in the face of suffering, in the face of temptation, He prayed. And as he's dying, he's praying. He died the way he lived. There are people who hope that when it's time to die, they hope they'll die differently than they lived. No, they don't see any need to pray now, but they hope to pray then. They know that they must meet God and they hope that they'll die differently from the way they lived. There are some here like that. Who hope that when it comes time to die, they'll be saved. But they don't seek salvation now. You hope to die differently than the way you lived. That's a terrible way to die. to want to live one way while wanting to die another way. That's like Balaam in the Old Testament who wanted that. He said in Numbers 23 verse 10, let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. But he didn't want to live the life of the righteous. But he did want to die and go to heaven. like the righteous. That's a terrible way to want to be, to live one way and die another. It's far better, friends, to die the way you're living. It's far better to be like the Lord Jesus, to live the way you expect to die, to commit yourself to His care, day in and day out, so that when it comes time to die, you have nothing left to do but to commit yourself into His care once more. Yes, far better to live the way you will die, to live in prayer and to die in prayer, to be a praying man or woman, boy, or girl in life and in death. And in the day of grace, it's the time to seek the Lord and to turn to the Lord, especially in your youth, friends. That's the time to seek Him while He is to be found, to call upon Him while He is near. to ask Him to teach you to pray by His Spirit, and so living, and so dying, that's far better, and that's what Jesus does. He died the way He lived. Notice also that He dies with the Scripture in His mouth. He dies with the Scripture in His mouth. That's what Matthew Henry says here. Christ died with the Scripture in His mouth. It's been said that Jewish mothers taught their children to pray this very prayer that Jesus prays here. Jewish mothers taught their children to pray this prayer before they went to bed, just like we teach our children to pray, now I lay me down to sleep. I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take. The Jewish mothers, they taught their children to pray, into thy hands I commit my spirit. That's a good prayer, because it's taken from the book of the Psalms. It's taken from Psalm 31, verse 5, a prayer of David. Yes, David there is experiencing suffering and trials. Yes, he's troubled. There are those who are against him. There are those who seek his hurt. They have hearts filled with hatred. lips speaking lies, David's distressed, David's afflicted, what can he do? He turns to God and he prays into thy hands I commit my spirit. And that's the final prayer Jesus prays. A prayer that's formed and informed by the Word of God. In other words, the Scriptures, friends, was not a strange book to him. He knew the Scriptures. He loved the Scriptures. He has thought on them throughout his life. And while in suffering and in agony, he hasn't forgotten the Word of God. Of him it counted like of no one else. Psalm 119 verse 11, Thy word have I hid in my heart. Friends, what will you think about in your death? Will you die with the Scriptures in your mind? and in your mouth. What we think about in our life will be what we think about in our death. And will it be the Word of God stored up in our hearts that will be taken up at last, that the friends, it's true, the things that you've treasured most in your life will be on your heart and in your mind at the end. Is it the Scriptures? Do we treasure the Scriptures? Do we read them? Study them? The hymn writer puts it this way, How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. It's an excellent Word. It should be precious to us because it's His Word. It's God's Word. It should be the meditation of our heart. It gives light in darkness, comfort in distress. It gives us prayers to pray when we don't know what to say. But then we do need, yes, a relationship with God. And that's the second point that we come to. Not only the way He died, but secondly, the relation He has. The relation He has. Yes, the Lord Jesus takes this prayer from Psalm 31 on his lips, but then he does add something to the prayer. He adds the address, Father. Yes, Father. He's turning to his Father. There's a relation that he has And that's special, isn't it, boys and girls, that you can go to your Father, your earthly Father, you can take your needs and your cares to Him, and you can say, Dad, here is something. Can you help me? Here is something I need you to do for me, Dad. Here is something I need you to care for. But the Lord Jesus turns to His Father. He's been taken up with His Father throughout His earthly life. Remember the first words? Here are the last words of Christ. What are the first words of Christ in His earthly life? It's, Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business. How often does He not speak about His Father? Some 17 times in the Sermon on the Mount. Some 45 times in the Upper Room. Even His first prayer on the cross was directed to His Father, and He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Oh, true, there was suffering that He endured on the cross, and in that suffering and agony, He missed the conscious sense of the Father's love. And He's plunged into great darkness, and He can't address God as Father because His Father has forsaken Him. But now he has paid the debt in full, he has satisfied God's justice, he has finished the work that his Father has given him to do, and he may know the Father's love again. The Father's heart is open to him again, and now he has access to his Father again. And his Father is ready to hear him, and his Father is ready to receive him, and his Father is ready to care for him. What a blessing it was for him to know his fatherly care again, and his fatherly love again. And what a blessing it is to pray like this, to come to the Father in childlike way and in faith with the spirit of adoption, the Christlike spirit to pray as he taught his disciples to pray, our Father which art in heaven. Yes, there's a God in heaven who's willing to be your Father. There's access with God in heaven for Jesus and for all those who trust in Jesus, those who are by nature children of wrath, but adopted through the Beloved And He cares for His children and He knows our needs. That's the way to die in hope, isn't it? That's the way to die in confidence, isn't it? How can you die in confidence? Hope and expectation. It's knowing that this God has become my God and Father for Christ's sake. that I'm reconciled to Him, that my sins have been blotted out in Christ, that He is my Father. He's become my Father for Christ's sake. Friends, what must we do in life and in death? It's not, young people, what you maybe are inclined to do. We all, by nature, are to turn from God, to turn from the Father. To go with the prodigal son into the far and distant land seeking our happiness outside of him. But that's not the answer. It's by turning back to Him. It's turning to Him by faith. Because there is a way to the Father heart through the Father Son. There's a relation He has. And you may come. Yes, with all your sin and guilt. You may say, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before Thee. The relation He has. What relationships do you have? Who are your friends? Maybe you can mention some. Maybe, young people, you have lots of friends. Or maybe you have friends in high places. Maybe you've met someone who's famous. But what can they do for you when you die? Do you have a relationship with this God? Have you turned to Him in faith? And has He become your Father for Christ's sake? He's the Father of Jesus. And all those who trust in Jesus. The relation he has. Thirdly, the soul he ponders. The soul he ponders. Yes, who is the object of his prayer? It's the Father. What is the subject of his prayer? What does he pray about? What's he thinking about? His soul. Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. He's praying about his soul. Now, soul and spirit are used interchangeably throughout the Bible. For instance, in John 12, verse 27, the Lord Jesus says, Now is my soul troubled. John 13, verse 21, just a chapter later, it says, He was troubled in spirit. Soul and spirit are used interchangeably, but it's talking about the same thing. That's what he's taken up with here, his soul. Friends, we have a soul. What is it? It's that spiritual part of us whereby we live, think, and desire. It's that part of us whereby we can think about God. We can worship God. It's that part of us with which we, yes, live and think and desire. It's also called in the scriptures our inner man. Ephesians 3 verse 16, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 16. Our souls. You know that our bodies are going to be separated from our souls. At death, Ecclesiastes 12 verse 7 says that, then shall the dust return to the earth, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. And that separation is also going to come for Jesus. The separation of body and soul is coming for Jesus at death. His soul is going to be separated from His body. His body is going to be taken down from the cross. It's going to be wrapped in linen. It's going to be buried into a tomb. But He's not praying for His body. He's not thinking about His body. He's thinking about His soul. The soul lives forever, soul that doesn't die. Let's not forget that we have a soul, friends. The rich farmer forgot that he had a soul. He was taken up with the here and now, with with his crops, and his barns, and his farm, and settling down, and taking it easy. And what's remarkable is in that parable Jesus tells us about this rich farmer. He talks to his soul, so thou hast many goods laid up for many years. But he didn't really think that in his soul he was going to have to meet God that night. And he wasn't ready. Friends were more than bodies. Friends, we have a soul. Thomas Watson says it's the sparkling diamond in a ring of clay. No, not that Thomas Watson, the Puritan, thinks that the body is unimportant and that the body can be ignored and that you can do anything with the body. No. But he is saying that the soul is the most noble part of us. How much time do we spend on our bodies? We spend a lot of time on our bodies. We feed our bodies. We clothe our bodies. We wash our bodies. We exercise our bodies. We rest our bodies. We beautify our bodies. How much time do we spend on our soul? What do we do for our soul? Do you ponder your soul? Do you ponder your soul, especially because you have to die and meet God in your soul? Should we not think about our soul? Jesus said in Matthew 10 verse 28, Fear not them which can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Or as Jesus says in Matthew 16 verse 26, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? The soul is so valuable that if you were to gain the whole world and claim it as yours, possess the gold of it, the treasures of it, to lose your soul. There is no comparison. Should we not think about our soul? Jesus is thinking about it. Jesus is thinking about His soul, and He has a sinless soul. And how much more should we not, who have a sinful soul, think about it, pray about it? Take it to God. Say, Lord, save my soul. Lord, wash my soul. Lord, take my soul. Lord, sanctify my soul. And in dying, Lord, receive my soul. The soul he ponders. Do we do that, friends? Sometimes, knowing that they have to die, people make preparations for death. They make out a will, maybe. set aside money for the funeral and for their descendants, and that needs to be done. People, they determine where they want to be buried and many other things that need to be decided when it comes to our death, and that is important. But people thinking about that and preparing for that, so many don't think about their soul, where it will be when they die. Is that maybe what you've done? You've forgotten about your soul. You don't think about your soul. Friends, don't obsess so much about your bodies. Don't concern yourself with your body so much. Concern yourself with your soul. Where will it go? Is it saved? Is it washed? Is it renewed? Do we think about the value of our souls? Jesus does. The soul He ponders forthly. The hands He trusts. The hands He trusts. Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. Yes, there's the way that He dies. There's the relation that He has. There's the soul that he ponders, fourthly, the hands he trusts into thy hands, Father. I commend my spirit. He trusts those hands of his Father with his soul. And what terrible things the hands of men have done to him. He had foretold that too, that he would be betrayed into the hands of men. They shall kill him, Matthew 12, 22 and 23. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. And yes, they would take Him and scourge Him. They would take Him with their hands and crucify Him. And when Peter describes the hands of men that did this to Him in Acts 2 verse 23, he describes them as wicked hands. You have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain Him. Wicked hands have laid hold of him. Wicked hands arrested him. Wicked hands scourged him. David spoke about the hands of the unrighteous and cruel man in Psalm 71 verse 4. Jesus has felt those hands, yes, arresting him and hitting him and scourging him and wicked hands treating him cruelly. Wicked hands nailing him to the cross. And he didn't resist those wicked hands. He let those wicked hands take him. He let those wicked hands scourge him. He let those wicked hands nail him to the cross and one of the soldiers will take a spear and thrust it into his side with his hands. He had delivered himself into the hands of sinners. Wicked hands. But besides the hands of men, there are the hands of God. There are the hands of His fathers, and those are good hands, young people. With those hands, He doesn't do evil. He opens those hands, and they're powerful hands. With those hands, Isaiah 48 verse 13 tells us, He made the heavens and the earth. Oh, I know he's a spirit and doesn't have a body like us, but that's how it's pictured. With those hands he made the heavens and the earth. With those hands go open to provide for all creatures, Psalm 145, verse 16. Thou openest thine hand and satisfyest the desire of every living thing. Jesus said in John 29, those are safe hands. God's people are safe in His hands, no man is able to pluck you out of my Father's hand. Jesus trusts those hands. He finds them good hands. He loves those hands. Do we, friends? Do we trust the Father's hands? Do you realize that in the gospel those hands are stretched out still? That's the refrain throughout the scriptures. His hands are stretched out still. And those hands are mighty hands, able to save unto the uttermost. They're merciful hands. Those are hands you can trust. Those are hands you can trust your body to and your soul to. We shake hands with all kinds of people. That doesn't mean that you trust every hand you shake. You might not trust your vehicle into just anyone's care. You might not trust your home into just anyone's care. Do you trust the Father? And do you trust His hands? The Lord Jesus does. The hands He trusts. And lastly, the deposit he makes. The deposit he makes. Here is his soul. There are the Father's hands. And what does he do? But commit his spirit into those hands. Yes, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And it says that there is an activity taking place on the part of Christ. He is committing his spirit into the hands of his Father. Now the word commit or commend is a special word. It's used in Luke 12 verse 48 to describe a master who entrusts his servant with great responsibilities. It's like Potiphar who entrusted much of the care of his household into the hands of Joseph in the Old Testament. Jesus says in Luke 12 verse 48 to him, that has been committed much. Much will be required. They're entrusted into His care. They are entrusted to His care. It's a special word. It's a word that's used in the banking world. When you lay up something in deposit. When you put something in trust in the bank. And what you give in trust to the bank is usually something of great value. That's what Christ does. He deposits His soul. He entrusts the jewel of His soul into the care of His Father, now that He's dying, knowing all that He knows about the Father, knowing about the Father's power, knowing about His Father's goodness, knowing about His favor, knowing that His soul can be committed to the Father, and that the Father is willing to receive His soul and take it to Himself, so that in His soul at death, He may be in heaven, He may be in the haven of rest, and after three days His soul will be reunited to His body, raised from the dead, and He'll appear to His people till His ascension of body and soul into heaven, to the Father house. That's what the Lord Jesus did in trusting His soul into the care of His Father. That's what we should do. with our souls in life and in death and when we wake up and when we go to sleep. Yes, boys and girls, if I should die before I wake, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take. That's what we should do. Do we pray this? Do we entrust that jewel of our soul to the Father? What's your prayer in life? What will be your prayer at death? Do you trust His hands? Have you come by the grace of the Holy Spirit to see your need of those safe hands, those mighty hands, those merciful hands like David in 2 Samuel 24, who I referred to last week at the prayer service. David, he had taken that census, remember? Shouldn't have done it. Prophet Gad came with a message of judgment and three options were given to him. Three years of famine or three months running from the enemy or three days of a plague. And David doesn't seem to know what to do when he says, let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great. David trusts those hands even for the punishment that he deserves. He has entrusted himself into those hands before and he does so again. And why shouldn't we do the same? Do you trust yourself? with your soul? Do you trust your hands to take care of you? Can you bring yourself into God's favor? Why not seek these hands of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and trusting your soul into His hands? Because whoever does so is safe. In the words of Paul, 2 Timothy 1 verse 12, he tells us at the end of his life what he's done with his soul. Yeah, 2 Timothy is probably his last letter. There in chapter 1 verse 12 he says those familiar words, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him. Same word as used in our text. He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. What has He committed? Himself. His soul. And Paul is persuaded by the Spirit that this God and Father is able to keep it. And if I can give that to Him, then I can entrust everything to Him. I can entrust my soul to Him and my body. My family and my parents. my children, my church. Paul says in Acts 20 verse 32, speaking to the elders of the church of Ephesus, I commend you to God. Same word, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. And if I meet with opposition, and if they're throwing stones at me, Then I can say with Stephen who, like Jesus, in his dying prayer, says, Lord, receive my spirit, Acts 8.59. And through Christ, the Father's heart goes open, and the Father's hands go open, and the Father's house goes open, and the Father can say, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. But if we don't entrust our souls to Him, friends, if we don't seek His hands in grace, then we will find His hands to be hands of wrath. Hebrews 10, verse 31, how terrible it will be to fall into the hands of the living God in His wrath. Why not turn to Him in the day of grace to those hands of grace. Father, into thy hand, into thy hands I commend my spirit. That's Christ's dying prayer. Having satisfied divine justice on the cross, finished the work given to him by the Father, Jesus dies committing his soul to his Father. And he who lived and died that way teaches sinners like you and me to live and die that same way. Can He not teach you to do that, young people? To live this way, to die this way, trusting our soul into His hands. Listen, what will your last prayer be? Think for a moment about your last prayer that you may pray. at a time in your life when you may not be able to pray long because you may be sick or aged and your last prayer may not contain many beautiful words. The last prayer that you'll pray before you go into a coma. What will you say? burdened by your sin, you may pray, Oh Lord, forgive me my sins. Maybe it's because you don't know yourself to be forgiven that you pray that. Can I say that most often that's not the first time you will pray that. You do need to pray for that now already. Why won't you? when you've got so many sins on your conscience and so many sins to confess now. But yes, it would be good to pray for forgiveness. Maybe your last prayer would be, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's a fitting prayer too. Maybe your last prayer will be a prayer of protection. Maybe it will be a prayer for someone else. Maybe it will be a prayer for a child or maybe a sibling, someone you're burdened about. But often that's not the first time you will pray. If you don't pray now, just why not pray for all these things and also pray, Father, into thy hands. I commend my spirit. I know of no better hands to take care of you, to bring you to glory. Why not pray, trusting the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, so that you may be led to the Father house? lead me unto thy habitation. Amen. Let us give thanks and pray. O most good doing and gracious Lord, what a privilege to hear the last words of Christ before his death on the cross, having accomplished redemption and entrusting his soul into thy Father's hands, into the Father's hands. showing us the way to live and to die happily. Grant, Lord, that in our young years already we may entrust our souls into Thy fatherly hands and trust Thy hands throughout life, the hand of providence, too, whereby Thou dost send adversity and prosperity in which Thou dost give rain and sun, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink. Yet trusting Thee, we may see the way through the Father heart, to the Father hands, to the Father's house, Thy people may rest at last, and behold Thy face. Faith then to be sight, and all the tears wiped away. Remember us for this day. Bless us in our families. Bless us around Thy Word too. Forgive our sins in preaching and in listening. and hear us for Christ's sake. Amen.