The Seven Sayings From The Cross | David Hullet

Well, good morning. My name is David Hollett and I'm

thankful to be able to be here today to speak for you, Terry

Osborne. We've back in Oklahoma City.

We were visiting with him while he was out there and, and tell

him we were coming to the Labor Day meeting and he said, well,

you need to speak for us. It's like, OK, let's do it.

So we're we're thankful to be here to worship with you today.

This morning's song service was, was focused a lot on Jesus and

it focused on glorifying him and it focused on laying down and

bowing down to him. And it, it focused on Jesus and

what he has done for us. And if, if, if, if he's by our

side, then nothing can stop us, right?

And, and it's, it's so true. The prayer because of Jesus,

we're able to shine his light in this World of Darkness.

And that's what we're going to be talking about today.

You know, Chris and I were married 25 years ago and

whenever we whenever we first got married, we were coming out

to California quite a bit and staying up in Northern Northern

California area. And on on one of those trips

about 20 years ago, we were with Fred and Donna Gamble and she

took us up to these, these biblical gardens.

I believe it's what they're called.

It's, it's between Auburn and Grass Valley and, and as you

walk through these gardens, you, you see the seven sayings that

Jesus said while he was on the cross.

And it's, it's powerful to, to just go to this next stop in

this garden and just think about what he said.

And, and this morning we are going to be looking at those

seven things that Jesus said while he was up on the cross.

Jesus death, burial and resurrection is the key to the

New Testament. It's because of his death and

the shedding of his blood that made it possible for us to have

forgiveness of sins. And we can see this from Hebrews

Hebrews 9:15

Chapter 9 verse 15 where it says, and for this reason he is

the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the

redemption of transgressions under the first covenant, that

those who were called may receive the promise of eternal

inheritance. Where there is a testament,

there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

For a testament is enforced after men are dead since it has

no power at all while the testator lives.

So if Jesus had decided not to give his life up on the cross

and, and he had not been raised from the dead, then all of us

today would have no hope. Paul said in first Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15:12

15 verse 12. Now if Christ is preached that

he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say

that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not

risen. And if Christ is not risen, then

our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have

testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise

up. If in fact the dead do not rise.

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still

in your sins. Then also those who have fallen

asleep asleep in Christ have perished.

If in this life only we have hope, in Christ we are all men,

the most pitiable. When Jesus was on the earth, He

was human and He was also deity. He experienced the same

sufferings, He had the same emotions.

He had to go through temptations just like we do.

That's why when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, his

emotions were overwhelming him and causing him to sweat like

great drops of blood. Jesus knew that he was going to

have to experience this agonizing pain so that we could

live. This was a great burden for one

person to bear, but Jesus loves us enough that he was willing to

die for us. Paul said in Romans 5 verse 7.

Romans 5:7

For scarcely for a righteous man one will die, Yet perhaps for a

good man someone would even dare die.

But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while

we were still sinners, Christ died for us, much more than

having now been justified by his blood.

We shall be saved from the wrath through Him.

For if we were enemies, for when?

For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through

the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall

be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also

rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we

now have received the reconciliation.

So when we think about the suffering that Jesus endured for

us, it makes it makes it worse. Knowing that He didn't deserve

any of it. He lived a perfect life.

He had no sin, but this was God's plan all along.

He did it for us even though we didn't deserve it.

After Jesus was arrested, he was falsely accused and he went

through an unlawful trial by the Jews.

And then they dragged him to Pilot and then he was sent Herod

and the back to Pilot and Pilot couldn't find anything wrong

with him and anything worthy of death.

So he, he, he pilot washes his hands of the matter and he

allows the Jews to make the decision.

Jesus was scourged, which has a brutal practice and itself in

scourging, sometimes the victim ends up dying.

That's how, that's how difficult those are.

Jesus was beaten. He was mocked, he had a thorny

crown shoved onto his head, beaten onto his head, and and

not only was he bleeding from the scourging and and a head

wound, you think about how much a head wound bleeds and all the

thorns that are going into his head and how much blood was just

coming down from him. He was in pain when all this was

happening. He was He was then taken to

Golgotha where his hands and his feet were nailed to the cross,

and he was raised up just like He said he would be in John

John 3:14

chapter 3, verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the

serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted

up. So Jesus was there on the cross

for six painful hours from 9:00 in the morning until 3:00 in the

afternoon and he was put there between two thieves and they

were mocking him along with what the others that were there

watching this crucifixion. And this brings us to Jesus

first saying in Luke 23 verse 33 it says and when they had come

Luke 23:33

to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him and the

criminals, one on the right and the other one on the other, the

other on the left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive

them, for they do not know what they do, and they divided his

garments and cast lots. When you think about this first

saying of Jesus, you, you see that Jesus is praying for these

people that they might be forgiven for what they are doing

to him right now. Even though Jesus had gone

through more suffering and more pain, most people couldn't

endure the kind of things that he was dealing with.

Yet these Jews were were shouting crucify him, crucify

him and he stopped to pray for them.

Matthew 543 says, You have heard that it was said, You shall love

your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse

you, it do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who

spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of

your Father in heaven. For he makes his sunrise on the

evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the

unjust. Jesus practiced what he

preached. Isaiah prophesied that he would

pray for these people. And Isaiah 53 verse 12 it says,

Isaiah 53:12

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he

shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out

his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors,

and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the

transgressors. This prayer that Jesus prays

here teaches us how much He wants us to be forgiven of our

sins. When Jesus prayed for these

people's forgiveness, do you think that their sins were

forgiven right then or was repentance necessary?

You know well in whenever we read about the birth of the

church in Acts chapter 2, the apostles were filled with the

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Holy Spirit and they began to speak to the people in their own

languages and they began to teach them about Jesus death,

burial and resurrection. And they taught how how many of

them had a hand in crucifying their own Messiah.

And in Acts chapter 2 verse 36, it says, therefore let all the

Acts 2:36

House of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus

whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

When they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to

Peter and the rest of the apostles.

Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Peter said to them, Repent and let everyone of you be baptized

in the name of Jesus Christ for the permission of your sins, and

you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So notice they were still on their sins because they had not

been forgiven, but they found out what they must do to take

care of their sins. They were told to repent and be

baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.

Peter tells us in Second Peter chapter 3, verse 9.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count

slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any

should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God wants everyone in the whole world for all time to be saved,

but in order to have our sins forgiven, we must obey the

gospel plan of salvation. God provided that salvation

through Jesus. This is God's part.

By providing the way, our part is obeying the gospel and living

faithful lives according to God's word.

We can also learn from from the saying, this first saying about

how Jesus had a forgiving spirit.

These people were putting him to death and he shows us how we

should have a forgiving spirit toward those who sin against us.

If they repent, we must be strong enough to forgive them

and we must try to forget that sin so we can be reconciled with

them and with God. Hebrews 8 verse 12 says, For I

Hebrews 8:12

will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins

and their lawless deeds. I will remember no more.

We can see that this is exactly what God does when we repent and

confess our sins to him and we must do that for others as well.

The second thing Jesus said while he was on the cross is

found in Luke chapter 23 verse 39 where it says that that one

Luke 23:39

of the criminals who were hanged blaspheming him saying if you

are the Christ, save yourself and us.

But the other answering rebuked him, saying, do you not even

fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?

And we indeed justify justly, for we receive the due reward of

our deeds. But this man, this man has done

nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord,

Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.

And Jesus said to him, assuredly I say to you today you will be

with me in paradise again. This, this, this is a

fulfillment of prophecy from the same passage that we looked at

earlier, Isaiah 53 verse 12. And, and at first both of these

Isaiah 53:12

thieves were mocking Jesus, but this thief had a change of heart

and now he's defending Jesus because of his change of heart.

Jesus assured him that he would be with him in paradise that

day. Jesus had the authority to do

this. This saying teaches us that when

we die, we do not just cease to exist.

That's it, That's it. They're finished, They're over.

There's no more. Our life on earth is finished,

but we begin a new life waiting for the judgement.

Those who obey God will go to paradise, and those who do not

obey God will go to a terrible place of torment.

And this is exactly what the parable of the rich man and

Lazarus teach us. And this this area is called

Hades, the Hadean realm, and this is the the realm of the

dead. This is where All Souls who have

died wait until the day of judgment.

We learned this story with the rich man and Lazarus and other

scriptures that our souls do not, do not cease to exist.

They are sleeping because we will be aware of our

surroundings. We we we might be in comfort or

we might be in torment and that's up to each of us because

we get to decide if we're going to serve God or if we're not

going to serve him. This saying that Jesus says here

should bring us great comfort. In Philippians chapter one verse

21 Paul said for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my

labor. Yet what I shall choose I cannot

tell for I am hard pressed between the two having a desire

to depart be with Christ, which is far better.

Well, the next thing Jesus said comes from John chapter 19 verse

John 19:26

26, where it says, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and his

disciple whom he loves standing by, he said to his mother,

woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple,

behold your mother. And from that hour that disciple

took her to be his own to his own home.

You know, most of the time mothers stand by their

children's side. And Mary had been given one of

the greatest honors of, of, of being the mother to the Son of

God. She knew who Jesus was and, and

she loved him dearly. She was not there at the cross

to mock him. She was, she was not ashamed of

him. She was there to be by his side.

And I can't even imagine how difficult it was for her to see

her Son up on that cross. When Jesus was a baby.

Mary was told that that that her child was different.

And Luke chapter 2 verse 34, it says, then Simeon blessed them

Luke 2:34

and said to Mary his mother, behold, this child is destined

for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign which will

be spoken against. Yes, a sword will Pierce through

your own soul. Also that the thoughts of many

hearts may be revealed. Mary's soul had definitely been

pierced as she tried to take in all that was going on with Jesus

on that day. Even though Jesus was in severe

pain, he wanted his mom to be taken care of.

He asked John to do that for him.

And again, this just shows just how Jesus is always thinking of

others and and he's the one in this pain and agony on the cross

and he's not thinking about that.

He's thinking about his mom at this point.

This is how we should live too. We are to love one another and

care for one another because we are all brothers and sisters

inside the family of God. The next thing comes from

Matthew chapter 27 verse 45 where it says now from the 6th

Matthew 27:45

hour until the 9th hour there was darkness over all the land

and about the 9th hour and about the 9th hour Jesus cried out

with a loud voice saying Eli, Eli llama Sabachthani, that is

my God. My God, why have you forsaken

me? So from about noon to about

3:00, there was darkness over all the land.

You know, we had a lunar eclipse or solar eclipse not too long

ago. And, and there's darkness in

the, in the, in the line of, of the eclipse and it gets pretty

dark. Crickets start chirping and

everything else. It's kind of crazy.

That's not what this is. 3 hours, darkness is over the all

the land. This is something different, but

we can see that it's about the 9th hour, about about 3:00 that

Jesus makes this fourth statement from the cross and

it's directed to God the Father. And even in this saying, Jesus

is quoting Scripture from Psalm 22 verse 1.

Psalms 22:1

He says my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my

groaning? Out of everything that Jesus was

enduring on this day, this might have been the hardest.

This is the first time that Jesus had been separated from

His Father. We know that the nails hurt and

caused him pain, but being separated from the Father is so

much worse. God hadn't forsaken his Son, but

he did turn away because of our sin that Jesus was being

crucified for. I don't know when this

separation began, What hour, what minute.

It may have been began whenever the darkness fell across the

land. This started at noon, or it

could have happened at the very last hour.

Doesn't really matter when it happened or how long it

happened. The fact is it happened.

Even if it was just one minute separation, that would have been

difficult for Jesus. This shows us just how ugly sin

really is and how Jesus had to endure this separation from God

because of us. It also teaches us how important

it is to keep sin out of our life because sin separates us

from God as well when we choose to sin willfully after we are

already Christians. Hebrews 6 verses 4 through 6

Hebrews 6:4–6

describes this as crucifying the Lord all over again.

Hebrews 6 verse 4 says For it is impossible for those who were

Hebrews 6:4

once enlightened and having and have tasted the heavenly gift,

and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the

good word of God and the powers of the age to come.

If they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they

crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an

open shame. Since Jesus was willing to go

through this separation for us, it should encourage us to stay

away from shit sin. It should should motivate us to

respect and honor what he did for us on the cross and remove

ourselves from taking part of sin.

The 5th saying comes from John chapter 19 verse 28.

John 19:28

It says after this Jesus knowing that all things were now

accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled, said I

thirst now a vessel full of sour sour wine was sitting there and

they filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on his sip and

put it to his mouth. This isn't also a fulfillment of

Scripture. Psalm 69 verse 21 says they also

Psalms 69:21

gave me gall for my food and for my thirst.

They gave me vinegar to drink. At this point, Jesus has been

through a lot. Now he's thirsty.

Jesus is way up on the cross. They can't just hand him a cup

of water. They can't just pour it in his

mouth. They filled this sponge with a

mixture of vinegar and and they put it on a stick and send it up

to Jesus on the stick. This little bit of moisture that

he received was able to help him say the next two sayings.

This sixth statement comes from John chapter 19 verse 30 says so

John 19:30

when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said it is finished and

bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

So from the time that Jesus was born until this very moment,

Jesus had been fulfilling hundreds of prophecies

throughout his life. And now he has done everything

he can do to bring salvation. Jesus has finished his work upon

this earth. Later, after he died and rose

again, he told his disciples in Luke chapter 24, verse 44.

Luke 24:44

These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still

with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written

in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms

concerning me. And he opened their

understanding that they might, might comprehend the Scriptures.

Then he said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was

necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead

the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins

should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at

Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these

things. The fact that Jesus finished His

work shows us how obedient He was to the Father.

He accomplished everything He was supposed to do and because

of that you and I get to benefit.

We should use this again to motivate us to do the best we

can to follow in His footsteps each and every day.

In Luke chapter 23 verse 46 we find the last words that Jesus

Luke 23:46

said while He was on the cross. It says and when Jesus had cried

out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit

my spirit. Having said this, he breathed

his last. After this last breath that he

took, Matthew chapter 27 verse 51 through 54 goes on to say,

Matthew 27:51–54

Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn, and two from

top to bottom, and the earthquake and the rocks were

split, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the

Saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of

the graves. After his resurrection, they

went to the holy city and appeared to the many.

So when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus

saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they

feared greatly, saying truly this was the Son of God.

In this final statement that Jesus makes, we can see that He

was in control of His life. Jesus told us in John chapter 10

John 10:17

verse 17. Therefore my Father loves me

because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down, lay it, lay it down

my lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down

and I have the power to take it again.

This command I have received from my Father.

You know Jesus didn't want to die.

He didn't want to go through all of that agony and pain.

He could have called angels from heaven to come and save Him from

the cross, but he didn't do that.

As soon as he made this last statement, his spirit left his

body and he put his faith in the Father to take care of the

Spirit again. This teaches us that whenever we

die, our spirit leaves our body and we become physically dead

and our spirit returns back to God.

As Jesus is giving up his spirit to God.

Matthew tells us that this this veil on the temple, it's torn

from top to bottom, this great earthquake.

The rocks are split, the dead are raised, the earth is crying

out in response to the death of Jesus.

It caused those soldiers who were there guarding Jesus to

believe they understood that now after seeing all of this, he

really is the Son of God. Well, if our story just stopped

there, then Jesus would have just died on the cross and his

death would just be another death of many that were

crucified on the cross. But we know on the third day

after his death, on a Sunday, he rose from the dead.

Not only did he die for us, but he also showed us he has power

over death. And because of this, we have

confidence that there is coming today of a more general

resurrection, a broader resurrection where we will all

be raised and transformed into a different body, a glorious body.

If we follow God's word and live faithfully, then at the judgment

day we will be taken to heaven itself and spend eternity.

Jesus said in John 14 verse one, let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions or many dwelling

places. If it were not so, I would have

told you, I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and

receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be

also. You know, as we think about the

love that Jesus has for us and his sacrifice that he went

through for us, we should let the cross serve as a reminder of

his love for us. We should see from these seven

sayings of the cross that they reveal not only his suffering,

but they also reveal his compassion, his forgiveness, his

unwavering commitment to God's plan of salvation.

We must understand and recognize and see the need for the

salvation. You know that all begins with

faith and, and this faith that we that we have in, in, in God.

This faith causes us to repent. It causes us to make a change in

our lives. Jesus warned us in Luke 13.

Three, I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all

likewise perish. These words show us how

important it is for us to respond to to what God has done

for us. We must turn away from our sins.

We must turn toward God and live for Him.

This is a fundamental change of our heart and a fundamental

change of our mind that aligns our life with what God wants us

to do. We must also confess our faith

in Christ, Jesus said in Matthew 1032.

Whoever confesses me before men, I will also confess before my

Father in heaven, confessing Christ, the Son of the living

God. It's an important step in this

spiritual journey of becoming a child of his.

We must also be baptized as we noticed in Acts chapter 2 verse

Acts 2:38

38. Peter told them after he

informed them that they were the ones that crucified Jesus.

He told them, repent, be baptized everyone of you in the

name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and

you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism is that point where we are united and his death and his

burial and in his resurrection, and that's whenever we receive

the forgiveness of sins. You know, if you've already

taken these steps and maybe you have fallen away from living a

faithful life toward God today, today you can return to him.

You can put Him first in your life again, as as we think about

His sacrifice and about the cross, let it motivate you to

renew your commitment to living a life that pleases Him.

We're not promised tomorrow. We don't know what will happen.

We don't know if we're going to live another moment.

The time to act is now. So whether you need to begin

your walk with Christ, become a child of his, become a child of

God, or maybe you need to return to him or maybe you have another

spiritual need that that the brother and can pray with you

and for you. We invite you to come while we

stand and sing the song selected.