Last Words and Lasting Words

Central's Good Friday Sermon

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The phrase that I want you to remember from tonight's sermon is so simple. Are you ready? Are you ready? Last words should be lasting words. I don't know if you've ever sat by the bedside of someone that you love. It's a shocking moment. I've done it many times as a pastor. And every year I try to think of some image that would bring the gospel. Some of you were here when we built a cross. Some of you were here when we had the white cloth across the cloth. Some of you were here when we had the two wedding dresses. Every single year we try to have an image, something to remind us of the gospel. This year, I I thought this fits the text that we're in. It's a deathbed. And all of us, if the Lord tarries, all of us will have our place in this bed. Last fall I went to my grandfather. And it was one of the most real conversations I've ever had. I knew that I wouldn't have much time with him. I knew that if I was going to say something to him, I knew that if I had something that he needed to hear, this was the moment. And I would sit next to him and I would talk to him about his relationship to Jesus Christ. And he told me his testimony. He told me how he believed the gospel. And I knew that I had very few words left that I could tell him what he meant to me. I said, Grandpa. I am so thankful for your legacy. What you have given to me in giving Christ to me. I can't express that to you. I said, look at these children. Look at your children. Caleb and Salah, Phoebe and Lydia, your great-grandchildren. Look at them. These are yours. And words got really simple in that moment. In fact, I would say that the deathbed is the place where you have the most real conversations because it's like there's no time to reorganize the deck chairs on the Titanic. You know what I mean? It's over. We don't have time for that. We don't have time for nonsense and many words. The conversations become simple. The most truthful conversations and the most truthful words. I would say to him, This is your legacy. And he would say back to me, you have a beautiful family. Take care of those kids. It's powerful. Tonight I want to invite you to the deathbed of Jesus Christ. Tonight I want you to hear some of the most powerful words. I want you to hear words talking about what Jesus says on his deathbed. What would he say to you? What would he want you to hear? What are the simple yet profound words that he would share with your family here tonight? And I pray it changes your life. Over in John chapter 19, if you'll turn there with me, John chapter 19, we see the deathbed words of Jesus Christ. We've been in a series I've entitled The Death of Death. And tonight I want to talk about how lasting words, the last words are lasting words. And so would you take your Bible? Would you stand in honor of God's holy word? John 19, starting in verse 16. John covers the crucifixion of Jesus. It says this. This is your Savior. So he delivered him over to be, to them, to be crucified. So they took Jesus and went out, bearing his own cross to the place they called the place of the skull. Which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him. And with two others, one on either side, Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription. For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the king of the Jews. But rather, this man said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be. This was to fulfill scripture, which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopus, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple, whom he loved, standing nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill scripture, I thirst. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. Tonight we see the bedside, the cross side of the death of Jesus Christ. And may God bless these words. These words, last words. May they indeed be lasting words in each of our lives as we prepare for Easter Sunday. God bless you. You may be seated. I have four very simple points that come straight out of the text. If you're new to Central Church, our habit is to generally preach through sections of Scripture book by book. And we find ourselves in the book of Luke, but this passage goes along with it. It complements it. And I want to give you four points. Four words, powerful statements about Jesus and from Jesus, that you would hear at the bedside of Jesus. That his last words would be lasting words for you. Number one, if you're taking notes, let's hear the final words of coronation. Let's hear his final words of crowning, of coronation. Pilate's inscription in verse 19 shows us that Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Now that title, it may seem trite to you, King of the Jews. He doesn't really mean that. It may seem as just a simple label that doesn't really matter. In fact, I think Pilate meant it as mockery. I think Pilate was mocking both Jesus and the Jews in that statement. Look at your king. That's the best you got. He's on a cross. And yet God overrules. We need to understand a meaningful title. We went on vacation. We went to the beach, and my family, we always have games, and it reminds me of the times that I played games with my grandfather. I would sit around that 1970s style table, brass table. Who knows what I'm talking about, by the way? The old 70s table, and I would sit there in those chairs, and we played game after game after game. Our game as a family, we would pull out this one, and this is our beach game. It's called Mancala. Did I get that right? Mancala. It's this marble game where you drop in these different marbles. And we would play this. And what's funny about this is my daughter and I had this battle all week long because whoever wins, the last person to win, you get crowned the king. You're on the throne until someone knocks you off. Which I delight in doing. Now that title doesn't mean much. There's no power to it. It's just bragging rights. That's all it is. Does this title mean anything? Actually, this was an intentional title by the sovereign purpose of God. Pilate meant it as an insult. Pilate meant it as a title that would bring ridicule to the name of Jesus Christ, but God in Pilate's world, he orchestrated providentially this declaration from the cross because the cross is simultaneously. Listen to me, the cross is simultaneously the moment of Jesus Christ's deepest shame and his highest enthronement. It is the moment of his victory. And that's why John, he's the only author who emphasizes the trilingual inscription. Notice with me the three languages. It's in Aramaic, it's in Latin, it's in Greek, it's in every sphere of society. It's in the Aramaic, the religious language of the Jews. It's in Latin, the ruling language of the Romans and the world power and the authority and the judge. And it's also in Greek. It is in the cultural language. And what this is saying from the cross, here last words, they should be lasting words. That Jesus is king over all spheres of life. And so here's the question tonight. Can you say, can you hear this message from Jesus? Can you say, He's my master, he's my king, he's my Lord. Don't let this just be another family event, cultural event. God has you here tonight so that this title would mean something to you. Answer this question. Is he the highest authority in your life? When it comes to your decision making, when it comes to the career or job that you pursue, when it comes to the raising of your children and your family, when it comes to the big decisions and the small decisions, is he your king? Does he rule in every sphere of your life? Does his voice carry the appropriate weight? Last words should be lasting words. And we should hear the last words spoken of Jesus. He's the king. Second, write this one down. Not only is coronation, but let's also hear the final words of his confirmation. In verse 28, John will say that Jesus did some things and he said some things to fulfill scripture. That's why he did it. Why? John lets us know this parenthetical. It was to fulfill Scripture. It was the confirmation of who he was. Now, I I have to confess something that when we were cleaning out my grandfather's apartment, I took something. Everyone was taking something to remember him by. I took the most unlikely thing that you can imagine. I took his old wallet. My grandfather was a very giving man. My grandfather, he would give you the shirt off his back. He'd give you anything if you were in need. In fact, almost to a fault. Why? Because he loved people. And this little symbol just reminds me of who he was. I look at that and memories flood back of all the times when he gave to my family, to my brother, to me. There are symbols here of Jesus. You have to see them. It's communicating something. Look at them with me. These objects at the cross, they fulfill scripture, they identify as character. John gives a specific attention to several objects, and we need to understand that nothing is random. Notice the tunic. Look at the tunic. Some of you are like, why are we talking about clothing? Why are we talking about this tunic? What is the importance of the tunic? It says it was a seamless tunic. What does that mean? What does it mean that this is a seamless tunic? Josephus reminds us that the garments of the priesthood, that the garments that the priest would wear, a couple of things. This ancient Jewish historian, he says, he says they were to be woven together, not in pieces, sewed together, but they were to be one seam from top to bottom, or no seam from top to bottom, one garment, and they were never to be torn. It's the clothing of a priest. It's identifying him, it's confirming his identity. This one who died for your sins, he is the priest of all priests. He is the one able to remove sin. Notice also another object that identifies his character, the sour wine. What's the sour wine about? Twice it's mentioned. They put a jar full of sour wine and then they put it on a sponge. Now there was another event. In fact, you can look in Mark's gospel. In Mark's gospel, there was a moment where they had uh myrrh, and they tried to give him myrrh as like this painkiller, and he rejects it. Do you remember that? These are not the same events. This is a separate event. They put a sponge to his mouth of sour wine. And we're told what's going on here? Well, once again, it's to fulfill scripture. Jesus, in his final moments, he has the actions communicating the fulfillment of scripture that he is the Messiah. This comes from Psalm 69, verse 21. Written hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was born. They gave me sour wine to drink for my thirst. He's identifying himself as the Savior that was promised. This is confirming that he is the master, the one who has come into the world to save you from your sins. This is confirmation. And look at the last one, Ahyssop branch. John's the only one who mentions what kind of branch this was. And does that matter? Of course it matters. It matters in the same way that the wine and the other objects matter. But whenever you read this as a good Jew, what you're going to remember is the book of Exodus, when you came out of the wilderness, whenever you're coming out of Egypt into the promised land, and the angel that would pass over the house, and you were to take blood and you were to wipe it on your doorpost as a as a picture of what the blood of Christ would do for you. And what, pray tell, what was the plant, what was the stick? What was the object they were going to use to cover the doorpost of the house? Answer hyssop. And you're to dip it in the blood that's in the basin. Jesus throughout the crucifixion is confirming that he is God's Messiah, the anointed one. That's what Christ means. He's the Christ, he's the anointed one, the one who can take away your sins. And what he's doing is he's communicating. And maybe maybe that's happening in this room right now to the skeptic. Maybe you don't even know why you're here tonight. We are so glad to have you. You know, I went through a lot of Easters and Good Fridays, lost. A lot. And eventually I became a pastor. And so maybe, maybe one of you could pastor at this church one day if you're lost here today. That's what God does. He transforms people and he makes them new creations by his blood. This is to fulfill scripture and show you that he is God's Messiah. It is to show you his character that you might doubt your doubts, that you might fully believe the gospel. This is a mercy. Third, write this one down. We need to hear the final words of coronation. This is the king. We need to hear the final words of confirmation. This is the long-promised Messiah from Genesis chapter 3, who would crush the head of the serpent. And then finally, we need to hear the final words of community. Notice this conversation between Jesus and his mother. This is awesome. Jesus uses his final words to create a community. Look at verse 29 with me. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister. Woman, behold your son. And then he says to John, which is the disciple that he loved, behold your mother. And from that hour he took, the disciple took her into his own home. Now, can I just pause here? You remember Saved by the Bell? Remember when Zach Morris would say, time out? Can we just time out for just a second? Is this a strange way to talk to your mom? Like, like how many of you know that if my son calls Ashley woman, he's in some serious trouble. Amen. All the parents say, Amen. This is a strange way to talk to your mom. But it's significant. It's significant in two ways. First of all, the book of John is really impressive literature. Jesus does this another time. If you remember, John chapter 2 in Cana, the wedding in Cana, Jesus gets a request from his mother. They're out of wine. And he says, Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time's not yet come. And here it is again. Why? Why is it back? Why does he talk this way? One, I think it's in caps in the book of John. I think these are like placeholders. I think it's the beginning of his ministry, the end of his ministry. He is mission accomplished. I think John, in a literary way, he's like showing that. This is the story. And so these are like bookends. But I think it's more. I think there's almost this detachment of yes, we're in relationship, mother and son. And yet, there's also this new family that's been created in Christ. A new community. Because that's what Christ does. He saves us and he puts us into community. That's what Christ does for his people. How many of you know this? That sometimes, like when a person gets saved and maybe their family is not walking with the Lord, not Christians, you become closer to even your friends in church. You become closer in that family than even your flesh and blood. It's a strange thing. There is a family that you enter into, and I believe that's what Jesus is doing. Now, I told the staff this week, finding community, actually finding fellowship and friendship in the local church. How many of you know that this is a hard thing? Do you know that that's hard? In fact, I would say, as a guy who's just got out of his 30s, I'm 42 now, all right? But but out of a just out of my 30s, one of the most impressive things about Jesus Christ is that a guy in his 30s has close, 12 close friends. That's impressive, amen. Like I got out of college and all my friends just kind of fell away because I was focusing on family and career and different things. And it's like, it's a hard thing to maintain all those relationships. Relationships are difficult. They're very difficult. This is a picture from my family. We took it with my grandfather. This was the last time that we visited him. It reminds me of the. Reminds me of the family that we have. Now I I I know that all of you have perfect families who never fight. I know that you all have perfect families with zero disagreements. Amen? How many of you have a normal family? Like just normal. Like there's some disagreement, there's some frustration. Yeah, that's the kind of family we all have. There was a moment when my grandfather said to a couple of family members, he basically said, cut it out. He basically said, They're not the enemy. Your family. From his deathbed. One of the last things he said. How many of you know that last words are lasting words? Have I said that yet? Have I mentioned that? That's a powerful thought. And maybe, maybe some of you are here today and you're in the midst of some relational friction. I just want to say to you right now that the gospel, part of the gospel, is reconciliation. And shame on us when we as Christians cannot reconcile. God wants you to be reconciled. God wants you to take steps towards reconciliation today. Whatever that is. And I don't know who needs to hear that. But Jesus is creating a new community. He's creating a community of believers, this tight-knit family, and that's how you're meant to exist. This place where you receive care and love and help when you need it. One of the most intense things I've ever seen at a bedside. There was a family in my previous ministry, not this church. The father was dying of terminal cancer. And he called his family in. I was in the room. And he said to son number one, I won't be here much longer. But everything's gonna be fine. Because when something breaks in the house, I need you to take care of the house. I'm counting on you. You got this? Yes, Dad. You can count on me. Son number two. When the car breaks down, when the car needs a tune-up or an oil change, you're over the cars. You're gonna take care of your mother. Can I count on you? Yes, Dad. You can count on me. Son number three. When the time comes and mom has to move out of the house, you are going to take care of her, even if she has to move in with you, but you are going to take care of your mother. In fact, it's it's a very, it's not a godly thing. In fact, it's it's worse than an unbeliever if you don't take care of your own family. Will you take on that commitment? Dad, don't worry about it. You can count on me. That's what it's like in Christ. That's what it's like to be a Christian. God gives you a family where you care for one another. In fact, one of the things I think Central Church, one of the best things going on at Central Church right now is our small group ministry. We're in the mid-60s as far as small groups, we have that many. And this is our way of shepherding. This is our way of pastoral care. This is our way of counseling. In fact, if you come in for counseling, one of the first questions we're going to ask you is what small group are you attending? Where are you going to get fed and to get care? Because each elder has three to five small groups that we're over. I have small groups that I'm over. And I check in on, and others check in on. We have elders that are speaking into those small groups, and that's how we receive care. God made you to exist in community, and that's some of the last words from the cross. But are they lasting words for you? Do you embrace the family that God's given you? Number four, and we're done. The final words of completion. My grandfather on my dad's side, when he died, he left behind a house and he left, he'd spent his entire life paying that house off. And he left a deed behind. And on the deed, all those payments had accrued till it got to the point where it said paid in full. And all the kids were left to take care of all the family resources. But but this is quite meaningful for me because I just think about the work that my family did not do for that house. And yet it was paid in full by him. In fact, that's the word that we see here. It's the word to telesthi. That's what Jesus says. That's one of the final words from the cross, to telesthi. It is finished. And in Greek society, you know where that word was used? Real estate. This was a real estate word. This was a word of when something has made its final payment and you take the stamp, boom. Finished. Paid in full. That's what the word means. And Jesus is uttering this as his last words from the cross. And the question is, what is finished? I think several things are finished. His suffering is finished. Romans 6.9 makes that clear. His sacrifice is finished. It's a single sacrifice, and there's no more offering needed. Hebrews 10, 12 reminds us of that, never to die again. In fact, I think it's also the separation from God is finished. You have spent your lifetime far from God, walking away from God. And when you repent, you now face God. You take God's side against your sin, and the veil is torn from top to bottom, and there's no more distance. We read that in Matthew 27. It's finished. God accepts you. Jesus' last words are one of a debt payment. He bowed his head and gave up his spirit. He's even in control of that, but the payment is complete. And that's one of the things you need to hear tonight. Payment is not complete by you being a good person. No one in this room will be saved by your own goodness. You're never going to be good enough to be accepted by God, ever. Payment is accepted by what Jesus did on the cross 2,000 years ago. Old Testament saints, they looked forward to the cross. New Testament and saints today, we look back to the cross, and we're saying it's all because of what Jesus did on Calvary's Hill 2,000 years ago. He made our payment. It is paid in full. Fifth point. I know I said four points, but Pastor Greg got away with it Sunday. And he added an extra point. And so I'm inspired with a final point. If you go to Luke's gospel in Luke 23, verse 43, Jesus says to the person by his side, truly I say to you, this is the thief on the cross. Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. These are some of the final words of Jesus Christ. And it's mind-boggling to think that this guy makes it. No, I think it was like five, I think it was five Good Fridays ago. I played a clip for you. And it was Alistair Begg's clip preaching. How many of you remember this? Do you remember this? This was such a powerful clip. He basically says, I want you to imagine what it must have felt like for this thief on the cross. How confused he must have been. Like just imagine this guy. He's hanging there on the cross, he's cussing Jesus out, he has a change of heart, he believes in Jesus, and he dies. And he goes to heaven. And everybody in heaven's like, what are you doing here? Everybody in heaven's like, How did you get here? And he's like, I don't know. I don't know how I got here. They're pressing him. Well, let's try and figure this out. Let's work through this. Are you familiar with the doctrine of justification by faith? And the guy's just blank. Never heard of it. He's never been to a Bible study? He's never been baptized. And the guy says, Well, let's just get to the heart of it. The inspiration of Scripture. Do you affirm the inspiration of Scripture? The guy's just clueless. Finally, Alistair Begg gives this illustration. If you haven't seen it, you ought to watch it. It's great. He basically says, the angel says, On what basis are you in this place? How did you get here? And this is all he says. You ready? The man on the middle cross said, I could come. That is the only reason that any of you will get into heaven. The man on the middle cross invites you and says, You're welcome and you're accepted by God. The moment you turn from your sin, you repent of your unbelief. Put your faith in Jesus Christ. And the moment you believe that message, all of his righteousness comes to you. That is the gospel. Heads bowed, eyes closed. We're going to take communion tonight. And I want to invite our ushers to walk around. And if you don't have these elements, if you just weren't able to pick them up on the way in, this is one of the ways we love to celebrate Good Friday. Just lift your hand nice and high. Lift your hand nice and high. Our ushers would be delighted to bring these elements to you. And I just want to say this to you. This is only for believers in Christ, those who have trusted in Jesus. Keep your hand up until someone gets to you. We will find you, all right? Just lift your hand nice and high. See a few more over here. You need to know this. This is just for those who are in Christ. We're celebrating what Christ has done for us. That the man on the middle cross said that we can come. A few more up here in the front. Right over here. Bow your heads with me. What we're celebrating is the gospel. It is a picture of the gospel. And I'm going to do something pretty bold, alright? Heads bowed, eyes closed. I just want to ask this question. Alright? Every time the gospel is given, it comes with an invitation. And we want to invite you to believe today. You see, when we take this bread, we remember the life of Jesus. That like bread is made, a piece of grain has to give up its sustenance, it has to die, it has to be crushed in order to get bread out of grain and bring life and sustain life and bring about life in any of us. Jesus is that. When we think about the juice, that that's a picture of his suffering atonement for our sin. You see, you don't get to heaven on your own. You don't get to heaven by being a good person. No. Friends, the only way that any of us will get to heaven is by the merit of another. Jesus, he is the one. He is the one who shed his blood so that you wouldn't have to experience punishment from God. Heads bowed, eyes closed. If you're a Christian, I want you to just sit in this and and give thanks that Christ has done that for you. That he shed his blood for you, that he died the death that you and I deserved. I'm gonna just ask this question and I just feel led to do this. Is there anyone here that's not a Christian, but you'd like to talk to someone about what it means to be a Christian? Would you just lift your hand and we will find you? Is there anyone here tonight who needs to talk about their relationship with the Lord? With no one looking around. Is there anyone who would like to do that? Is there anyone that needs to believe the gospel that God is pressing you tonight to turn from sin and to turn towards righteousness? Is there anyone that needs to make a change? Is there anyone here tonight who God is calling you to do one of the things that his final words, last words should be lasting words? Maybe it's community. You need to find your way into a small group or membership. Maybe for others of you it's getting into the church membership. Maybe some of you are here tonight and you're skeptical of the gospel. You need to take your next step and you need to talk to a pastor. You need to talk to someone. Don't just leave it there in skepticism. But take your next step. Maybe there's some here tonight that need to confess and repent of sin. You've been far from God. You need to turn away from your sin and say, He's my king. Lord, maybe just pray this prayer. Be my king. Would you be king of my marriage? Would you be king of my decisions? Would you be king over my addictions? Would you be king over my life? Would you just pray that right now? But don't take this in an unworthy way. As you pray, go ahead and take the top off and get the bread ready. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to celebrate what Christ has done for us. We thank you that in Christ we have life. We know that apart from Christ we have death. We know that there's no other name under heaven given to men by which we might be saved. That Jesus is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. Father, tonight, may we love Him, may we adore Him. May we draw near to Him in repentance and obedience. Father, we want to say this to you. We love you. We confess our neediness before you. And we thank you for your Son who gave His life that we might live. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's take the bread together. Let's remember Jesus Christ, our life. You can also open the cup. Go and just peel that top off. Let's remember that sin demanded a sacrifice, not the blood of bulls, not the blood of goats, not animals. It demanded a human sacrifice. And yet the problem is all humanity is inherently sinful. All but one. You see, Jesus was the Lamb of God, spotless, chosen for this job. God's perfect man, man's perfect God, fully man and fully God, and he lived the perfect life we could not live. And that means he became the perfect sacrifice for sin. And so, friends, let's remember that salvation has come to us freely, but it was costly. The blood of Jesus, let's remember his sacrifice. Let's take it together.