Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday, May 30, 2014
1. LUK 23:34 “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
2. LUK 23:43 “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
3. JOH 19:26-27,- “Woman, behold, your son!” JOH 19:27 -“Behold, your mother!”
4. MAT 27:46 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
5. JOH 19:28 “I am thirsty.” 6. JOH 19:30, “It is finished!” 7. LUK 23:46 “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.”
Never, under any circumstances, no matter how severe the trial, or depressing the difficulty, let us not cease from fellowship and prayer.
In His prayer, our Lord remains in the position of His Sonship.
LUK 23:34 He called God His Father, 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 themselves.
The extreme suffering to which He now submitted Himself to could not prevent Him from still being a Son.
We should address God as our “Father” because our assurance in prayer depends upon our confidence in our relationship to God.
Under undeserved suffering or picking up our cross, we may be inclined to think that God is not dealing with us as a Father with a child, but rather as a judge with a condemned criminal.
Even in the garden of Gethsemane, when blood fell from His face upon the ground, His cry was MAT 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
What is even more remarkable is the fact that our Lord’s prayer to His Father was NOT for Himself.
He did pray for himself on the cross at one time even when He said in MAT 27:46 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
ISA 53:12 Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
JOH 5:23 in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
PHI 2:4 do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others.
PHI 2:5 “Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus,”
The prayer wasn’t just for others, but it was for His cruellest enemies.
The first major point which we see on the cross in the character of His intercession is forgiveness and graciousness.
They were undeserving individuals who had conspired to put Him to death.
Our great Intercessor pleads for those who have never asked Him to plead for them.
He knows our precise condition at this moment, and the exact state of our heart with regard to the suffering and the temptation that we may be facing.
He foresees the trials and the temptations which are awaiting us.
On the Cross, He still cared for those who were rejecting Him.
In this first saying on the cross that TLJC seeks what is important for those around the cross.
“Father, forgive them,” He doesn’t say “Father, enlighten them for they do not know what they are doing.”
The first thing that the guilty need is forgiveness for sin.
ACT 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
ACT 6:7 And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Since all men shared in His mistreatment, Gentiles as well as Jews, the gospel was preached to all of them.
MAR 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
They are here to live unselfishly and to serve those whom TLJC died for.
Our Lord’s prayer also teaches us that we should be unselfish and concerned with the spiritual in an unlimited way.
Our duty is not just to those who treat us respectably but also to those who mock and criticize our words and pass judgment upon our teaching.
Our duty is not to those who treat us kindly and generously only, but to those who despise us and reject us as well.
The first saying of the cross therefore teaches us that we must not live for ourselves.
Forgiveness means to give up resentment, excuse a guilty party, to release from payment, to forget an offense never bringing it up again not even to discuss it.
LUK 17:4 “If someone sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
EPH 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
Your sins have been paid for so I must respect the “payment” i.e. the blood or the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
PSA 51:4 “Against Thee, Thee only I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight,”
COL 3:13 “Bearing one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone else, just as the Lord forgave you, so also you should forgive others.”
EPH 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.”
ROM 12:19 “Beloved, do not take your own revenge, but defer to the wrath of God. For it stands written [DEU 32:35], `vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
MAT 5:23 “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
MAT 5:24 Leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
MAT 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
MAR 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions.
ROM 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
JOH 1:11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
JOH 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The eyes which sin had blinded saw in Him no beauty that He should be desired.
ISA 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
LUK 2:7 And she gave birth to her first‑born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
MAT 2:16 – Herod slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem, from two years old and under,
Though his judges found no fault in him, nevertheless, they had yielded to the insistent clamoring of those who hated him as they cried again and again “Crucify Him”.
ACT 24:5 “For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”
Ever since Cain killed Abel, religion has been trying to kill the grace oriented believer.
JOH 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
GAL 4:29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.
Men said in MAT 9:34 that our Lord was of the devil, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
MAT 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax‑gatherers and sinners!”
MAT 26:65 “Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, “He has blasphemed!”
MAT 26:66 “They answered and said,” He is deserving of death!”
MAR 3:21 “And when His own people heard {of this,} they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”
MAR 3:22 “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul”
MAR 3:30 “He has an unclean spirit.”
LUK 15:2 “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
LUK 23:2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar,”
LUK 23:5 But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people,
LUK 23:14 “This man is one who incites the people to rebellion,
JOH 7:12 “He leads the multitude astray.”
JOH 8:48, The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
JOH 10:20 And many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?”
The difference between responding versus reacting means a bad situation can becoming worse or a bad situation can become better. Or the opposite can happen.
The act of responding requires one to look at the circumstance, identify the problem or situation, hear what is happening and reflect.
What matters is that you stopped and put an effort to think and delayed immediate judgment.
This “gap” between the circumstance and your behavior is what contributes to gaining a sense of control in your life.
Reacting on other hand is the absence of this time gap. It is an immediate behavioral response and it is usually based upon emotions and not intellect.
When intellect or logic is bypassed for emotional vengeance, then there is a greater chance that irrationality will take over.
In the extreme sense a person who only uses reaction over responding can become emotionally overwhelmed thus producing hysterical or illogical behavior.
For one, this knowledge shows you that you have options and more control over circumstances than you realize.
In addition, constant reacting to life puts you in the `victim’ role, a role that makes life a struggle and unfulfilling.
Responding takes a conscious effort and builds mind control.
Responding looks at others actions and consequences and provides a more holistic approach to behavior.