Into Thy Hands

Welcome .......

As Christ our Lord hung there on the cross of Calvary, nails in his hands,

nails in his feet, blood gushing from his side, his body in agonzing pain, he

took those dying moments to speak with his Father. Four of our Lord’s seven

sayings was directed to his Father. Father forgive them, for they know not

what they do.........My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me.....It is

fnished. With a voice of triumph, with a voice of victory, the bible says with

a loud voice, Jesus once again spoke to his Father, Father, or we might say

Daddy, into thy hands, (not in John’s hands, not in Peter’s hands) but

into thy hands I commend, I commit, I entrust my spirit. Father in the

garden I was asking you if it was possible to remove this cup from me, but

today, I am placing my spirit into your hands. The cry with a loud voice is a

solemn dis-missal of his spirit when he com-men-ded it to his Father. This

commending his spirit to his Father has been accurately termed his entrance

greeting to heaven. This was our Lord’s farewell to earth.

I believe as Christ was leaving this earth to go to be with His Father in

heaven, to go back to enjoy the glory he had with the Father before the world

was. I believe as he was making his transition from earth to heaven, I

believe the angels were standing at attention to welcome home the King of

kings. I can hear an angel of God shouting out, "Lift up your heads, O ye

gates; and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall

come in." An angel must have asked the question, by the way, "Who is this

king of glory?" The answer came back loud and clear, "He is the Lord

strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." Once again the call went

out, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye ever-lasting

doors; and the king of glory shall come in." Once again the question was

asked, "Who is this king of glory?" and the answer came back, "The Lord of

hosts, he is the king of glory." Je-sus Christ is indeed King of kings and Lord

of lords.

This verse talks about the dying of our Lord, and we distinguish between

death and dying. "All men die, but all men have not a dying experience. Those

who are killed in war or by accident, those who are brutally murdered, those

who are attacked by some dreadful disease that might render them helpless

does not have a dying experience." I believe it’s a wonderful thing to see a

saint leaving this world of trouble and sorrow and going to be with the Lord.

In Foxe’s Book of Martyr’s we read of the dying experience of Ridley and

Latimer while being burnt to the stake. As Ridley and Latimer were being

burnt at the stake because of their faith in God, Latimer said to Ridley, "Be

of good courage, brother Ridley, and play the man: for we shall this day

light such a candle by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be

put out." When Ridley saw the fire flaming up towards him, he cried with a

loud voice, "Lord, into thy hands I com-mend my spirit; Lord receive my

spirit!" Latimer prayed as earnestly on the other side, saying, "O Father of

heaven, receive my soul!" These two men Latimer and Ridley had a dying

experience..............elaborate...

The words our Lord uttered just as his end drew near, indicate a deep serenity of spirit. They show nothing of agitation or anxiety, but of peace and

tranquility. He started off by saying Father. The name Father all along had

been a name of strength and peace, and Jesus was resting on the assurance of

parental love. The words that follow shows entire spiritual composure. The

only begotten Son of God was resigning his spirit to God’s gracious charge,

"knowing that in his holy and mighty keeping it would be safe and

blessed."

In the hands of God we are safe, we are protected, we are secure. Jesus was

resigning his spirit into the hands of God. Jesus had done the will of the

Father; he had done everything the Father had asked him to do, and now he

is finally yielding himself to God, he bowed his head in

death........elaborate... he died that we might live.....

The death of Jesus Christ is the ground "for our pardon, our peace, our life

before God." We might never face a cruel cross and be crucified, but we can

have a dying experience. We don’t have to be terrified, alarmed, agitated,

but "our spirit will look calmly forward to the moment of departure from this