Sermon in Minneapolis 21.03.2008

The disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith to his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her into his own home.

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon his heart, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day, for the Sabbath day was a high day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other, which was crucified with them. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they broke not his legs. But one of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

And he that saw it bear record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they have pierced.

And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred-pound weight.

Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein never man yet laid. There laid the Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day, for the sepulcher was nigh at hand. Amen.

Amen. First of all, I would bring greetings from children of God in Ishprami. We came for a visit to see many of our children, and to be here in Minnesota for Easter. So it is good to be here.

Last evening, our brother spoke primarily on that part of the final day, we could say, of the Lord Jesus Christ, before his crucifixion, where he had instituted the Lord's Holy Supper, and how things went there at that meal. And what that meal means even unto us this day, as the children of God of 2,000 some years later.

And we, last evening, were able to bow our knees and be united, as even our brother said, in this meal of unity, which unites us as the children of God.

The text that we have read is rather long, but I thought that it would be good to read it, for it brings that connection from where our brother left off last evening to the point where he is laid in the grave. And I know that on Sunday, when we gather back together, I'm sure that one of the brothers will then remind us of that victorious resurrection from the dead.

I was thinking of a number of things when one of the brothers asked if I would serve this evening. And I know from past experience that it seems like to serve at the time of Easter or Christmas is a very humbling experience for myself, and I'm sure for all the servants of God. Because we can really find ourselves to be small before the events that are described in Scripture, those very important events that give us the basis for the hope of salvation that we have.

For we know from other parts of Scripture that that which has been written has been written for our learning and for us unto whom the end of time has come. So we are always encouraged by the Word of God to continue in this begun faith, to put away sin as sin attaches, and to trust in the power of the Gospel.

Here, when reading this text and other texts that were appointed for this time, it came to mind that something that's very ordinary for us as people, that we can be witnesses of the same event and we can walk away perhaps with different perceptions of what really took place. So that if someone were to inquire of us what actually did take place, we might give an account that is from our own point of view or perception as to what took place at the moment.

And the text that we read, of course, is written by a brother in faith, the Apostle John, who even says in this text that what has been written here has been true as one who was a witness of the events that took place. We even read in this very text how John was close enough to the cross where Jesus hung to receive that request or command of the Lord Jesus that he would care for those earthly needs of his own mother who was there watching the events unfold before her eyes.

The 22nd chapter of the Psalms is a very insightful chapter also for us and one that I thought that maybe I should use that text. But it speaks of these very same events from the point of view of the Lord Jesus Christ as he hung there upon the cross and as he felt himself to be alone and to be rejected of all people.

And, of course, we have the narrative of these texts that are from the point of view of the detractors or the crucifiers of the Lord Jesus who belittled him in his moment of death, who mocked him and ridiculed him, that if you are the Son of God, then come down from the cross. Or when he prayed his final prayer, that they said that he is praying unto Elias and we'll see if he comes and takes him down from the cross.

So these kind of thoughts came into my mind as to what is it here that the Heavenly Father wishes to speak again unto us of this major happening in time and, more importantly, for us as believers, the major foundation stone in that hope of salvation that we have.

Jesus was, of course, wrongly accused and incorrectly tried and thought to be guilty and brought to this very point of the Scripture that we have read where all has taken place and now has come that final few hours of his life.

When I was listening to the brother speak last evening, I was reminded, too, of how from the time of the beginning of the Paschal Supper or the Last Supper until the time that Jesus died on the cross is only a little less than 24 hours. So all these events of Scripture that we have studied even at this time of year and are reminded of happened in a very short time period where our Lord and Savior suffered in a way that we can only, I think, in part, understand.

And so we read that the sentence was given that he should be crucified and they delivered him to them that would crucify him and they took Jesus and led him away up onto the hill of Golgotha, the place of the skull. And there they crucified him, two others with him, one on either side, and Jesus in the midst.

And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, which was the crime that he was found guilty of, that he said that he was Jesus, the King of the Jews. He had said that he was the Son of God. And for this cause, the Jews demanded that he would be put to death, that he would be crucified.

We know that that was no cause at all, but that the real cause that started long before there in the Garden of Eden when the first pair fell into sin and lost their faith that mankind had carried all through the centuries and generations, that this sin-corrupted being that we have even this evening brought with us, that promise had been made there at the fall that there would come a time when the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise his heel.

So the time of God had come to be fulfilled when now that very moment was unfolding before the eyes of those witnesses, both believing and unbelieving, when Jesus went unto the death of the cross.

I have sometimes thought of that very means of execution, which is actually what crucifixion is. It's not used in our time today when we hear of someone that has been executed, but it was the way of execution that the Roman government had chosen and had used in other instances and was the way by which Jesus would be put to death.

And there are different ideas on how exactly that was carried out but most commonly we see, of course, in our churches, we see those crosses that are kind of like a T and maybe that's the way that they were and there were crosses that were that kind of T and others that were more of a T that we use in writing.

And it seems like maybe the latter is the way that could very well have been the way that Jesus was crucified because he had to carry his cross with him or as it was in those times, that beam that they carried forced the one to be executed to carry and would bring up and place it on top of a pole that was already placed there in the ground.

And so that when Jesus was able to look out upon those that were witnessing his suffering and death that he was actually looking almost at eye level for anyone that was around him. And they were able to see and hear him and hear his prayer on behalf of his detractors as well as the conversation that we mentioned that he had with John.

And they witnessed then the execution of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that there is much scripture fulfilled in the text that we have read and John the Apostle takes time to point out for us that these very things that happened were prophesied already that we would know that that was the will of God and that this was the promised Messiah that would come, that we would be encouraged in that faith that we have, that it is a faith based upon the promise of God's word and not upon the imagination of man.

We know that in this time that we live and actually through always it has been that way that the children of God have found their strength, have found their courage in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus and in his suffering and death in that grace work which he had done.

He, as he even prayed and is mentioned in the 22nd Psalm, said that there is no one here that can help me and it brings us back to that very point that man has not had anything to do, anything to offer in the work of salvation but it has been totally and completely the work of God, the grace work.

We have not been able to even bring the smallest merit, we have not been able to bring the smallest matter before the heavenly Father, but he has through his love, through his wisdom, called us to be his own children, has placed the Son this way that leads unto life eternal.

Jesus has said that no one can come unto the Father except by me and except that the Father draw him or call him. So we travel here as the beggars of grace, as those who have been called with a holy calling, those whose eyes are fixed upon the homeland shore, those who live every day for heaven and not for the things of this earth.

Jesus' sacrifice was complete. He said that it is finished. He is the victor over sin, he is the victor over death and hell, and has opened the way of heaven for us.

The scriptures seem to be silent, we could say, as to what exactly took place when Jesus died or between the time that Jesus died and when he rose again, but we know enough to know and confess that he descended into hell and rose again on the third day for the hope that we have.

But there we know that he was able to overcome the power of hell and of death itself so that we who trust in the grace promises of God are trusting in a sure promise, in a sure word, a word that is beyond us and beyond our doubts and fears, beyond our cares, for it is the word of God.

When we travel here in this life we have fears and we have cares, we have adversity and sometimes we forget that we are the children of God, that we have here no continuing city, that we are living for heaven.

And then comes unto us the word of God that encourages us to continue in this begun faith and reminds us that that hope that we have is not based on anything that we possess, not based on any cleverness or strength that we find in ourselves, but it's that fulfilled word of God, that victory that the Lord Jesus won in our behalf.

When we read even at the end of our text of his burial, we know that the people of this world undoubtedly felt that their problems were over, that this one who had come preaching and teaching a strange doctrine of the kingdom of God and of the forgiveness of sins and had caused turmoil in the land of Israel, that he was finally silenced.

He no more would be able to trouble those who were in places of authority or upset the apple cart in society, that that word was finally going to be shut off.

But we know that the disciples also were in fear and wondered what had happened. They forgot the words of the Lord Jesus that it would be but a little while and ye will see me again.

And when those three days were completed, the joy of the resurrection victory was fulfilled and the disciples received that strength to go forth and preach the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

And that same authority of the Holy Spirit has continued until our time where we have been entrusted with the gospel of reconciliation, that gospel which frees the sinner from sin, that brings hope and brings peace unto the conscience.

That is the gospel that we preach as parents to children and one to another and travel friend to travel friend. We are able to overcome the enemy of the soul with the power of the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, for the scriptures say that the devil flees from the word of God and the very core of that word is the forgiveness of sins.

That power that we have been entrusted with, yet we perhaps even forget in our everyday life that this power, this gospel that has been our strength, that's older ones which has carried us until this point, is also the strength of our children and our young ones.

And we oftentimes as weary and even we could say dried out parents and grandparents, we forget that very basic lesson to proclaim the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, to encourage our children even to speak of the matters that may have befallen them, the matters that trouble the conscience.

Our brother last evening spoke a little bit about confession and I thought that he was going to speak of another Finnish brother who had spoken or written of another example of confession.

And it comes to mind and it was an old Finnish brother that has long since passed away but he said that a certain young man had come to him at some point and said that I want to confess my sins and he had said, Do you not want to believe them forgiven first?

And so it goes with even what our brother said that the gospel is for our youth to proclaim one to another, to encourage one another, and confession is that gift that has been given that we can speak of name matters and real instances that have happened in our lives.

But this gospel has always been the source of our strength, has been that weapon that we can use against the enemy of the soul and we are reminded of the reason why when our Lord and Savior gave himself to suffer and to die and was victorious over sin and death and over hell and rose victorious that we ourselves could have hope.

And our hope is not in vain. It is a lively hope founded upon the unchanging word of God and we therefore as corrupt and weary travelers in this life need not remain as if looking into the sepulcher of our own heart into the corruption and evilness that is found there with a vain hope that we might find something there, some reason of the hope that we have that would be within our own selves.

But we believe upon the risen Lord Jesus. We believe upon him who overcame all of our enemies.

Our text speaks of the final words of our Lord and Savior as recorded by John that when Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was a vessel full of vinegar which was given to him upon hyssop and when he had received it he said, It is finished, bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

That part of scripture still comes to mind dear brothers and sisters and perhaps we could read part of it. We know the testimony of John and the testimony of others that were there at the time of the crucifixion and we can take a moment just to read how that very time seemed unto the Lord Jesus as he hung there upon the cross.

In the 22nd Psalm we read the words of Jesus as given through David long before: "But I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out their lips, they shake their head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me hope when I was on my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; and there is none to help.

Many bulls have encompassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round about. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet.

I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture.

But be not far from me, O Lord; O my strength, haste thee to help me."

These are the words of Jesus as he looked from the cross on those that crucified him.

Jesus' life is an example unto us as well as his words. He endured the complete scorn of mankind, the complete belittlement and mockery out of love for sin-fallen man.

He did not escape from the death of the cross even though he had told his disciples that when he was captured that he could have called the ten legions of angels to help him, but he stayed there upon the cross that we here this evening might have this hope of salvation that we do, that our sins could be forgiven, that we would one day reach the destination of life eternal.

We can't only in part understand his suffering and death but as sin-fallen mankind he had to come in our form, he had to be like we because it was we that were guilty, it was man that had sinned, was man that had to also suffer.

And so he came in the form of true man and true God so that he could suffer and die in our stead, that he could take our place and true God, that he could be victor over the threefold enemy and over sin, death, and hell so that our faith, dear brothers and sisters, is not in vain.

Continue, dear friends, to trust in the power of the gospel and make the gospel the center of your home and remember that that same gospel that has carried you until this day shall carry the generation that has begun and will continue.

That is our hope: to put away sin as sin attaches to trust in that power of the blood of the Lamb.

So dear friends, this Good Friday and every day be encouraged to believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And if there are even those name matters that have occurred, do not fear to hasten unto the throne of grace to hear that proclamation of forgiveness even for name matters and errors of the way, even doubts and fears.

From this very congregation many years ago, I remember an elder lady who has gone to the rest of the children of God and one meeting that we had here in Minneapolis, that was the old church, I guess we would say.

She said that she wanted to go and speak to a certain, I think it was sister and faith, about some issue and she felt so weak that she didn't know how she could do it.

She said she started walking to go there for a visit and when she did so, she met another believer coming down the sidewalk and she said that I feel so doubting, I feel so poor and weak that I don't know how I can go and speak of the way and the journey.

And she said that this believer blessed her with that simple blessing, "Dear sister, believe all sin forgiven in Jesus' name and blood," and she received that strength.

And I learned a lesson, dear friends, brothers and sisters, that the gospel is good for doubts and fears as well of course as name matters that have come upon the conscience.

It is good for the life of faith and it is good when the pathway to the fount of grace is well beaten by the travelers in God's kingdom.

I ask you, dear friends, that may I hear that gospel for my own heart, I promise to believe and remain in the grace care of God, Jesus' name. Amen.

Let us close our service with the benediction: The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious unto us; the Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Christ forever, nature light and negative.