Last Words
Matthew 27:46
Often times we can learn a lot about a person’s life from their last words
We can also delve deep into their inner being and truly see what they are experiencing among their last moments here on earth
Here are a few examples of some famous last words
P.T. Barnum - 1891: “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?”
Humphrey Bogart - 1942: “I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis”
Writer, Oscar Wilde - 1900: he died saying “Either that wallpaper goes or I do”
Lady Nancy Astor - 1964: “Am I dying, or is it my birthday”
Author, James M Barrie: “I can’t sleep”
General John Sedgwick: killed in battle during the Civil War in 1864 saying “They couldn’t hit an elephant from this dist….”
Robert Erskins Childers - 1922: executed by firing squad said “Take a step forward, lads. It will be easier that way”
Paul Claudel - 1955: asked “Doctor, do you think it could have been the sausage?”
And we all know what a redneck’s famous last words are
“Hey! Watch this!”
This morning we are going to look at some last words of our Savior as he hung on the cross
Luke 23:46 records Jesus’ last words as “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”
Signifying that He gave Himself for us
No one took His life
He willingly gave it
John 19:30 records them as “It is finished”
He had fulfilled His task
The single Greek word used here which is translated “it is finished” has been found placed on receipts for taxes
Meaning “paid in full”
Jesus came to finish God’s work of salvation
But the last words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 37:46 and also in Mark 15:34 are
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”
Which means “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
These are the words we will focus on today
PRAY!
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
This very moment is the whole reason Jesus came to earth
This very moment changed all of history
For this was the moment that our Savior took upon Himself all of the sin burden this world has ever faced
This is the moment He was relinquished by the Father
I. Relinquished
To relinquish is to abandon something
To give something up or put something aside
That is what God had to do
Because God can not look upon sin
And Jesus was made sin for us
So He had to be abandoned
But this relinquishment of the Son had a two fold outcome
First this is the moment of atonement
A. Atonement
Atonement means “making amends for an offense, cleansing”
Romans 3:25 “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement”
As one who would turn aside His wrath, taking away sin
These words reveal the awful price He had to pay to atone for our sin
From noon till 3 pm there was darkness
Luke 23:44-45 says “it was now the sixth hour (noon) and darkness came over the whole land…for the sun stopped shining”
We do not know how this darkness occurred, but it is clear God caused it
We also do not know what happened to our Lord Jesus during those three hours
The darkness was nature’s sympathy with its Creator
Nature itself testified to the gravity of Jesus’ death
Extraordinary light attended His birth
Extraordinary attended His death
The darkness that afternoon was both physical and spiritual
For not only was there darkness of nature, but there was darkness in the soul of our Savior
At last the silence is broken by a cry
MY GOD! MY GOD!
Only once did the Lord Jesus call upon His Father as God
And it was here
He appeals to God as the Creator
And that is the very lowest ground
In the darkness He has not lost the knowledge or fact of His Son-ship to the Father
He has lost the right, for the time being, on account of taking our place
You will notice this is a question
The only question ever uttered to the Father from those lips
And how startling it is to find that to that solitary question there was no reply
This question was a deep expression of the anguish He felt when He took on the sins of the world
Which caused Him to be separated from His Father
This was what Jesus dreaded as He prayed to God in the garden to take the cup from Him
The physical agony was horrible
But even worse was the period of spiritual separation from God
Jesus suffered this double death so that we would never have to experience eternal separation from God
B. Separation - Forsaken
Just listen to the agony in Jesus’ voice as He cried those words
Did he say them out of weakness?
No, because later He cried with a loud voice
Was it imagination that God forsake Him?
Sometimes we think we are forsaken of God
But of course we are mistaken
For He Himself declared “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”
Was He mistaken? Had He made a mistake?
He never made a mistake in His life
God doesn’t make mistakes
He was forsaken
He was separated because He was made sin
This really is a cry that not one of us can truly fathom
It is a cry out of the deeper depths than the human should has ever touched
It was really true
He was forsaken because we ought to have been
He was forsaken in order that that fate might never be ours
For this instant Jesus was separated from His Father
And the agony He experienced is beyond our comprehension
Just imagine the agony that will be experienced by those who are eternally separated from God in Hell
That is the true agony
That is the true punishment
The true torture of an eternal death in Hell
Being separated from God
And sometimes we that know God may have to walk in darkness like it says in
Micah 7:8 when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Remember, even in the darkness we can still say “My God”
Jesus had no intention or desire to abandon the God who had forsaken Him
Jesus is the only child of God that has ever
Or ever will be forsaken of Him
The Father separated Himself from the Son
So that He would never separate Himself from us
These last words of Jesus sealed the deal of out salvation
As He paid the price in full for our sins
They bring us to the point where we can meet with God
Fully covered in the blood of Jesus
So that we can take part in the great and wondrous return of Jesus Christ
Which brings us to the other last words of Jesus
Those last words spoke before His death are directly connected to His last words spoken in the scriptures
Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
II. Returning
Yes Jesus is coming back
He said I come quickly
He is returning and it will be
A. A Sudden Return
No one can predict when it will come
After 14 years of studying the Bible, William Miller (1782-1849)--a U.S. revivalist who predicted the second coming and earned a large but temporary following of 50,000-100,000
Became convinced that Christ would return in 1843.
When Miller announced April 3 as the day, some disciples went to mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven.
Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in reunion with their departed loved ones.
Philadelphia society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God’s kingdom amid the common herd.
When April 4 dawned as usual the Millerites were disillusioned, but they took heart.
Their leader had predicted a range of dates for Christ’s return.
They still had until March 21, 1844.
The devout continued to make ready, but again they were disappointed.
A third date--October 22, 1844--was set, but it also passed.
This is a return that is going to be sudden
The word quickly here means suddenly
We don’t know the day or the hour
But Jesus is coming soon and unexpectedly
I Corinthians 15:52 describes it as a twinkling of an eye
This is the only place in scripture that this Greek word is used (hree-pay)
It means “a jerk or sudden event”
Every time I see the sun shining through the clouds
Producing those beautiful sunbeams down through the sky
I imagine that is how it will be on that glorious Rapture day
But that’s not how it will happen
We wont see it coming
Those of us who know Jesus as our Savior will be jerked out of this world in a sudden burst of spiritual energy
In an instant, a flash
We will be changed, as quickly as the blinking of an eye
Kind of like this
“Wanna see how fast I can run around this sanctuary?”
“Wanna see it again?”
It is a return that is going to be sudden
And this will cause there to be scoffers as well
Nine-year-old Danny came bursting out of Sunday school like a wild stallion.
His eyes were darting in every direction as he tried to locate either mom or dad.
Finally, after a quick search, he grabbed his Daddy by the leg and yelled,
"Man, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!"
His father looked down, smiled, and asked the boy to tell him about it.
"Well, the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them.
So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea.
The Egyptian Army was gettin’ closer and closer.
So Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians.
While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over.
They made it!
Dad was shocked.
"Is THAT the way they taught you the story?"
Well, no, not exactly," Danny admitted,
"but if I told you the way they told it to us, you’d never believe it, Dad."
With childlike innocence the little guy put his finger on the pulse of our sophisticated adult world where skepticism reigns supreme.
It’s becoming increasing more popular to operate in the black-and-white world of facts. . .and, of course, to leave no space for the miraculous.
There will be scoffers
But this sudden miraculous event will be real
It will also be a return that is rewarding
B. Rewarding Return
Back in verse 12 Jesus said “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with Me”
That is something else to look forward to
Some defer from mentioning rewards because they think it is a poor motive
Which is true in a sense
Reward shouldn’t be the only motive
Our love for Christ is our greatest motive
But God does want us to be aware and realize His promise of reward
We read back in Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven”
We read about crowns that we will receive in heaven
The crown of life
Crown of righteousness
Crown of rejoicing
Crown of glory
All these rewards and others will be showered on us at His return
His return will be in and off itself rewarding
For upon His return we “which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
That is the ultimate reward
To be with our Lord forever
This is also a return that we must be prepared for
C. Prepared for Return
Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. [15] For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
You want to be in that city
Not outside among those vile people listed
That he comes quickly is good news to those who trust Him
But a terrible message for those who have rejected Him and stand under judgment
Quickly means any moment
And we must be ready for Him
Always prepared for His return
We heard a story earlier about someone back in the 1800’s that was trying to be prepared in their own way
But those type things happen even more recently
Do you remember a man by the name of Edgar Whisenant?
He was a NASA engineer who used his mathematical skills to set a date for the return of Jesus.
He wrote a book called, "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Take Place in 1988"
The book caused a real buzz in the Christian community.
He was so certain that Jesus would return on Sept 10 that he said, "If I’m wrong then the scripture is mistaken."
He knew for certain that Jesus would be here that day.
This is amazing.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The angels didn’t know, and Jesus didn’t know, but amazingly enough, Edgar did.
But the day came and passed and Edgar didn’t know half as much as he thought he did.
The old saying held true, "If first you don’t succeed, fail and fail again."
Edgar wrote a second book the next year claiming that he forgot that the calendar didn’t start with 1 but year 0, so he said he was a year off.
Failed again.
That is not how we prepare for His return
Trying to predict when it will occur
Will Jesus’ sudden appearance catch you off guard?
The last words of Jesus in this book bring hope
Remember hope in the Bible means to desire something with confident expectation of its fulfillment
Knowing it will take place
Those words give us hope
That as we go through this life full of pain
Troubles and disappointments
There is going to be a day when it will all go away
Jesus is coming soon
“Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king”
There is the hope
But these words also may make us a little nervous
Have you fulfilled your purpose?
Have you completed the work He has for you?
Will His return find you ready?
Are you watching?
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching
Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Do you worry that He will return whilst you are in the midst of sin?
I do
What a deterrent to sin that thought should be if we really took it seriously
His last words also bring us joy
Because with His coming the battle will be over
Satan will soon be defeated forever
As it says in 1 Peter 1:8
We will experience joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Maybe these words fill you with fear
You know you are lost and would be in serious trouble if the Lord comes with you in that condition
This should cause you to fear
It should fill your heart with dread and worry
Because He is coming soon
And you need to going with Him
You do not want to be left behind
I share that burden today. I suspect that you do as well!
In know that if Jesus were to come today to get His church, some people in this room would not get to go with us.
There are some here who have never been saved and you would be left behind.
I know that if you are left behind, you would have to go through the Tribulation Period.
It will be the most horrible period of time that you can imagine.
The world will be plagued by disease, war and a rise in evil.
Over one-half the world’s population will die as God pours out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world.
If you are left here, you will suffer in ways that you cannot begin to imagine!
I do not want that to happen!
I know if Jesus were to come today, I would have relatives, friends and acquaintances who would be left behind.
That would be a terrible tragedy.
I do not want that to happen, and neither do you!
And if you do not know if you are going with Him when He comes
You need to get that settled today
You can know for a fact that He will take you with Him
He is the only way
It is kind of like I was told on my morning bus route
If you see kids, pick them up
You’re the only bus coming by
Jesus is the only bus coming by
And I think I hear Him coming around the corner
I honestly believe Jesus will return during my lifetime
John puts it this way
AMEN! Even so (which means YES!)
Even so, come Lord Jesus
John is looking and longing for Jesus to return
So am I!
If you are saved, I’m sure you are too
But if you are not saved those words are dreadfully frightening
Some of the last words of Jesus on the cross were full of pain
Dripping with agony
Portraying the ultimate experience of separation from God
And anguish our Savior ever faced
He screamed out as He took my sin, your sin, all sin upon Himself
And God had to turn away
His last words epitomized the most horrible event that ever took place on this planet
But Jesus’ last words spoken in the Bible are full of:
Hope
Love
Encouragement
Joy and
Anticipation
They usher in the beginning of the end
Which is a good thing
Those words He spoke on the cross
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Make it possible for us to take part in the event that His last words in the Bible points to
Because He was forsaken and separated from the Father
We can never be forsaken and separated from Him
If we have come to Him and taken part in that atonement Jesus provided on that cross
Are you ready for His return?
