Cries from the cross

Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast.

You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX.

We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the

cross. Now let's join the service.

Me and Swayze was riding horses the other day and I heard a song

I just couldn't get over. You'll ever do that and sing it

for a few weeks, few days and it was a guy that's kind of had old

George Jones swing to it at the end says you're never really

alone. And boy, I was we was riding

horses, not singing. I said, Swayze, sing it with me.

She goes no, Paul. I said, come on, sing it with

me. She goes no.

I said why? She goes because it's terrible

child speak true. I thought I was doing pretty

good. She said it's terrible, Paul.

Little kids will burst your bubble sometimes, won't they?

I didn't care though. I was singing it to the Lord.

It's different. Amen.

Happy Bibles today we're going to be taking communion at the

end of service, but going to preach on some things here.

I just been on my heart to take communion and, and we do it

quite often on Wednesday nights, not a lot on Sunday mornings,

but we're going to do it this Sunday morning.

And you know, as we, as we look at the gospel that's being

preached today and the things that are going around through

the airwaves, on television and through the radio podcast,

however you want to get it, you can get it.

But sometimes I think we lose sight of it.

We lose sight of and focus so much on what we do or what we're

not doing. I learned a long time ago, God,

God's not as concerned. And and what I'm not doing is

what I am doing right. But we're good at saying what

we're not doing and get hung up. But I want to clear our minds

today and I want to focus on some things that's real.

I want to focus on 7 cries from the cross that Christ made

because it will change your life when you realize what he went

through for us. We must never lose.

We must never leave or lose the cross, say man.

If the cross is not the center, there's no hope for mankind.

If it, if there if there was no cross, there would be no reason

for us to live and believe in a life after this life, right?

Or to believe in a life on this earth that can be blessed and

that can have an abundance of supernatural power and strength

to make it through daily trials. But at the center of our faith

there, there are many religions that accept other things, that

accept what they call all other gods, which are not gods at all.

They're religions that accept other things than the cross that

mean absolutely nothing. Amen.

Because Jesus said this, there's no other way to the Father,

there's no other way to God without acknowledging Jesus

Christ and what he did at the cross of Calvary.

But I want to look at this today at Luke chapter 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

I want to, I want to read a little bit and I'm going to do a

little reading here on on some things, but we have to think

about this. Jesus was about to go to a

cross, and in Luke chapter 23 and verse 26, I'll leave you

Luke 23 · chapter mention

seated this morning and do a little reading.

But it says in Luke chapter 23 and verse 26, it says now as

Luke 23 · chapter mention

they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man named

Simon of Cyree, who was coming from the country.

And on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after

Jesus. Jesus was carrying His own cross

up Calvary's heel, but he had been beaten.

He had, He had been crowned with the thorns.

He had, He was, he was in such a bad shape that he could not

carry the cross anymore. He could not bear it, so they

laid it on Simon of Cyree and in verse 27 it says a great

multitude of the people followed him and women who also mourned

and lamented over him. But Jesus turning to them.

Can you imagine? Beaten beyond recognition?

The Bible says, and history says, that we couldn't even

imagine the beating and the bones that were sticking out and

being shown out off of the flesh because the flesh had been

ripped and torn so bad. But Jesus turned into them and

he said, daughters of Jerusalem, he says, do not weep for me, but

weep for yourselves. Weep for your children.

I believe through the portals of time in 2025, about to be 26,

that this is so true. For indeed the days are coming

in which they will say, blessed are the barren wounds that never

bore, and the breasts which never nursed.

They will get begin to say, Can you imagine that?

They'll begin to say to the mountains fall upon us and and

the hills cover us for if they do these things, you know, Jesus

had this awesome thought. I preached on this at Easter a

lot of times. But he said if they do this when

the wood is green, when they can see me toting the cross, when

the, when the old cross is a freshly cut thing on their minds

and they can vigil it and they can see it.

What will they do when it's dry in the portals of time?

What will they do when it's just a a dry old rugged cross and an

old story that we hear about up on the hill of Calvary.

What will they do then? We're seeing it.

We are that generation. We are that time that is seeing

what happens when the wood is no longer wet.

But it's an old rugged cross. It's an old dry place.

It's an old dry story for a lot of people that have only heard

about it. And in verse 32, it says there

was also two other criminals LED with him to be put to death.

I often put myself in the shoes of those criminal.

Can you imagine being there watching Jesus and, and, and

knowing that you've heard about this man from Galilee and that

was raised in Nazareth, the carpenter's son.

But you had heard these things about how he healed the sick and

how he raised the dead and all the miraculous things he had

done and who he professed to be. But now he couldn't save

himself, it seemed. But there was these two

criminals. They were led with him to be put

to death. And in verse 33 it says, and

they had come to the place called Calvary.

There they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and

the other on the left, and the first crowd from the cross.

Think about all that Jesus went through.

He said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

See today we look around and and it's hard, you know, we want

justice for those that are blaspheming the Holy Spirit and

blaspheming the name of Jesus. But yet while they were doing

this to him, he said, Father, forgive them.

We need a little forgiveness in our life.

Amen. We need to forgive so that we

can be forgiven. They divided his garments and

they cast thoughts and the people stood looking on, but

even the rulers with them snared.

He saved others, let him save himself.

If he is the Christ, the chosen one of God.

We see this today when tragedy strikes, people say, well, if

he's really God, why do these things happen?

We see these same things today. And the soldiers mocked him,

coming and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the

king of the Jews, save yourself. And it.

And an inscription also was written over him in the letters

of the Greek and the Latin and the Hebrew that is the king of

the Jews. But get this one, one of the

criminals in 39 who were hanged blasphemy him saying if you are

the Christ, save yourself. What a horrible thing to say,

but yet people do it today all the time.

If you really are God, bless me. And how arrogant is that?

If you really are God, why am I going through this trial?

We all been guilty. If you really are God, why am I

facing these issues in there in my life?

See, Jesus said that as he was being LED up the hill.

Father, forgive them. Still pleading, still trying to

convince people and warn them of a day that was coming.

But we look at these whenever Jesus was pleading like this, it

should tell us of something that's bad, that's coming.

It should tell us of these things.

They knew not that Jesus was the Son of God.

They knew not by crucifying Jesus that they were for

fulfilling the plan of God unto salvation.

Had Satan have known this, that by crucifying Jesus it would

bring eternal life, I think his plan would have been acted out

much differently because now he's got to deal with the Holy

Spirit. Now he's got to deal with those

that are blood bought, that are born again, that have a reason

to live. Satan never looks ahead.

He never read or believed what Jesus had had wrote at this

place in time. And Isaiah 53, one and 10 and

I'm going to read this because Isaiah, it was a great prophecy

that he was prophesying here. And Isaiah 53, think about this

years before the event that I just read you on Galgotha, it

says who has believed our report in Isaiah 53 and one, And to

whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He shall grow up before him as a tender plan and as a root out of

dry ground. He has no form or comeliness,

and when we see Him there is no beauty that we should desire

Him. Talking about the Cross, what I

just read you, He is despised and rejected by man, a man of

sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we and we hid, as it

were, our faces from Him. He was despised, and we did not

steam Him. Surely He has bore our griefs

and carried our sorrows. Isn't that a great verse?

Yeah. We esteem him stricken and

smitten by God. I like, I want to come back to

that in a minute. We esteem him smitten and

stricken. Isaiah said by God and

afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him and, and, and first

Peter 224 declares the same verse.

Peter quoted it. And by his stripes we are

healed. Verse 6 it kind of changes.

It says all we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid

on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was

afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.

He was led as a slam to as a lamb to slaughter, as a sheep

before its shears in silent. So he opened not his mouth.

That had to be hard. It had to be hard not to call

10,000 angels. He was taken from prison and

from judgment. And who will declare his

generation? For he was cut off from the land

of the living for the transgressions of my people.

He was stricken, and they made his grave with the wicked, but

with but with the rich, and his death, because he had done no

violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Christ went through a lot of junk for us, for you and I, and

yet many times we get burdened down with living right.

We get burdened down with serving God, we get burdened

down. Think about what he did Amen.

And yet he said nothing but for Father forgive them for they

know not what they do. But as I as I said back there in

that other verse of what ago it says that he was smitten and

stricken by God and afflicted and in verse 10 it says yet it

please the Lord and you think about that your only son, your

only begotten son that God had given it and they said get it

please the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief.

But when something strange right here happens when you make his

soul an offering for sin. That's what happened.

Jesus made his soul an offering for the sin that you and I

commit. It says he shall see his seed.

Man, when I read that I had a runaway when Jesus was on the

cross, God wasn't seeing the sin, Amen.

How did he cause him to be smitten?

Smitten. How did he cause him to be

stricken? Because Isaiah said he was

looking through the portals of time, Amen.

It says that he shall see his seed, He shall prolong his days,

and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Can I tell you we're the seed of salvation that he was talking

about right there. We're the seed.

When God looked at the cross, He seen the seed.

He seen what would happen when you you're going through hell on

earth, when you're fighting all the battles and the things that

you have to face. See, the seed that's being

planted, Amen. Know that it will grow.

See, See, Satan never thought he would have to deal with the

seed. He never thought he would have

to deal with the third member of the Godhead called the Holy

Ghost. He never thought that, but see,

he could see the seed. What is the seed?

This is why you know. But why does a preacher always

preach righteousness? Because your righteousness is

the seed that was planted on Calvary.

Amen. When the blood flowed, it made

us right standing under salvation.

Somebody ought to praise the Lord, and we're his seed because

we're bought by the blood of Jesus.

They know not what they do. See, it was a big, big plan

that's still working today. It's a seed that just keeps

growing if you keep planting it. It's a seed that Satan can't

destroy and he can't handle it because it keeps multiplying

over and over over as we keep serving and we keep fighting for

the faith. Give the Lord a praise.

I need to take a breath. But as Jesus was on the cross,

something that makes our salvation so real.

In Luke chapter 23 and verse 39 as we were talking about the two

Luke 23 · chapter mention

thieves that were beside Jesus. In Luke 23 and 39 it says one of

the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him saying if you are

the Christ, save yourself. There were two thieves, one got

justified, one didn't. There's two kinds of Christians

today. The one that says, if you're

really God bless me, if never realizing what he's already

done, never realizing the plan that's already in place.

If you just line up and begin to walk in it.

But always wanting more, always wanting God to do something.

And God, if you can do it on my time frame and do it the way

that I come on somebody, the way that I think it ought to be

done, then I might believe that you're the Christ, like so many

today, just looking for a quick fix, just questioning.

God, if you're Christ, save yourself and save us.

You do something for me. And I might believe so prevalent

today. But see, this thief #2 there was

something there. The thief that was on the other

side, What did he do? It says the other one,

answering. He rebuked him.

Man, you don't know what you're talking about.

You don't know who we're hanging beside.

Do you not even fear God seeing you or under the same

condemnation and we indeed justly, for we received the due

reward for our deeds. We've done some wrong, but this

man's done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord

shows great faith. Not only did he just say Lord,

but he said, Lord, I know where you're going.

They may kill this flesh that I'm looking at, but there's

something on the inside of you that's going to override this

flesh of the law of sin and death.

I don't heard you preach about it.

I've done heard what you did in Galilee.

I don't heard what you did in Samaria.

And now I believe that you're able.

He said, just Remember Me. I'm not worthy, but just

Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.

Just a little bit of faith. He said, if Jesus once told him,

if you'll just have a little bit of faith as a mustard seed, you

can say to this mountain be moved and cast into the sea and

it shall be done. Jesus said unto him, assuredly I

say to you the second cry from the cross, and thank God it was

today. What a hope, what a promise.

Today you will be with me in paradise.

See, all the other thief had to do was just believe a little

bit. It wasn't by his works and he

was saved. All he had to do is just

recognize who he was and what he was sent to this earth for.

And today he could have been in paradise, but yet he wasn't the

thief on the right. He was a little different.

A great example for us to follow today if we want to be in

paradise. Do you not know this man in the

middle? We're guilty, but yet he accepts

us because that's what he's here for.

He's a we're sinners in need of a savior.

Come on. He was on a cross with no hope

about to die. Mama, if the people could see

today, if you're walking through life and you have no hope and

you're about to die, guess what? Your future with Christ is alive

and well because he says today you can be with me in paradise.

This thief looks at him. He says Remember Me when you

come into your Kingdom. And he says today you will be

with me in paradise. What a hope, what a promise,

what a future, what a provision. Today you will be with me in

paradise. This world may take my money,

this world may take my health. This world may even try to

crucify me as they're doing all over the world right now.

They're killing Christians. But Jesus said, I got your soul

because to be absent from the body, to be present with the

Lord. We look at the third cry from

the cross in John 19 and 25. I'm going to move along here.

Jesus looked at his mother and he said, woman, behold your son.

This word behold is used 12198 times in the King James Version

of the Bible. It's derived from the Greek word

Edo, which is be sure to see. Jesus said, behold your son,

behold what's going on here. Behold the cross.

Be sure and see. You need to be sure and see if

you don't see anything else. If you can't keep up with the

religious freaks at the local church, if you can't dress like

them, if you can't attend their functions because you feel an

outcast. If if you get offended when you

go to the church because someone looked at you wrong or you

dressed different or you smell different or whatever it could

be, you need to get this right here.

You need to behold the sun that hung on the cross say man,

because it's used in the Bible so many times.

And then Jesus looks at his mother and as he looks as at the

disciple in which he loves, he said you behold my mother, she's

yours now I'm not here. You take care of her.

Jesus family was important as he left this earth.

He said, mother, behold your son.

That was an important cry. The 4th cry, Matthew 27 and

4346, Jesus said, Eli, Eli Lama Sebastianoni, which is my God,

my God, why have you forsaken me?

You ever felt like God has forsaken you?

Jesus did too. When you're down to nothing.

I said God's up to something. See the question Jesus asked to

why God had forsaken him was was really not ask.

I don't believe in the sense of of not knowing because Jesus was

God in the flesh. He knew very well what was

happening, but I believe for a short moment there in time as

Jesus asked this question, not acknowledging the fact that God

did not deliver him as he always had, but he said, Son, you have

to go through with this because to do so would have forfeited

the plan of redemption for all mankind for all eternity.

The little problems in your life that we go through many times,

we don't realize the bigger picture.

That may be the only trial that God can use to get to somebody

else. If you're where you need to be

with God, maybe your trial is not even for you this morning.

Maybe the hard times not even for you, but it's for someone

looking on that you might be the only Bible that they ever read.

You might be the only faith that they reach out and grasp.

Jesus spoke this in Aramaic, which was commonly used by the

Lord. Some teachings say that Jesus

felt forsaken because God had allowed him to become sin.

Some people, some scholars say that God had to turn his back

because the sin debt was being paid.

And God cannot. He's holy.

He cannot have nothing to do with sin.

He cannot look up on what was about to happen.

God had to look away for a short time.

We can only speculate, but God knows.

But yet it was a cry from the cross.

Why have you forsaken me? Anybody ever felt that way?

Maybe it was for a short time because God was trying to

accomplish a bigger purpose in your life.

Because there's nothing like feeling like God has left us,

like the Holy Spirit has withdrawn from us.

There's nothing like that. Can I get a witness?

And you've been there before, many of you.

You'd never want to go again. And Luke 19 and 28, we read of

the 5th cry from the cross. Jesus said I thirst, I thirst.

This statement was fulfilled in Psalm 69 and 21.

It says for my thirst, they gave me vinegar.

So many times in our spiritual life we thirst as well.

But I can't help but think that sometimes today Jesus still

thirst for the his prep for for the presence of his children

that he died for. Can I get a witness?

Sometimes he's thirst for that prayer that you refuse to stop

and pray that day just to say, Lord, I love you, I need your

presence in my life. Maybe he thirst for that

Scripture that we haven't read in so long and opened up the

Bible. Maybe he thirst because he

inhabits the presence and the praise of his people.

He longs to come down and spend time with us.

He said I thirst, but we shouldn't stay thirsty long and

John chapter 4 we read of a great story and four and 14.

John 4 · chapter mention

It declares that the Samaritan woman at the well see if Jesus

told her what He said. If you drink of this water in

this life, you were a mainstay. But the water that I give you,

you shall never thirst again, but it shall become a spring of

living water in the everlasting life.

He called her to be set apart. He called her to worship that

she would never thirst again. And in John chapter 19 and verse

John 19 · chapter mention

30, we would read of one of the greatest cries from the cross

when Jesus said this, He said it's finished, it's finished.

I see so many Christians today that have not realized that it's

finished. We walk through life struggling.

We walk through life battling addictions.

We walk through life toting a filthy mouth.

The list goes on. We walk through life talking

negative. We walk through life.

We pray countless hours for something that he said is

finished. I'm going to give it to God.

God don't want that nasty stuff. He said It's finished.

When them nails drove through his hand, guess what addiction

was finished when the stripes were on his back.

He said it's by my stripes that you're healed.

Well, I didn't get healed, Pastor.

No, but you died and you went on to be with the Lord forever.

What a great healing. We have it backwards.

He said it's finished. The debt has been been paid.

What are you battling with today?

What are you fighting for? We got to get in the mindset.

It's finished. When them old things come up on

your mind, they try to overtake the flesh.

Just stop and tell the devil it was finished.

I'm not going to argue with you about it.

It's finished. We have to grasp that.

But that's hard for our mind to grasp because we want to put our

butts and our thoughts on it. No, it's finished.

The sin debt has been paid. We have to learn to accept the

gift of salvation and accept that gift of grace.

The debt has been paid. The 7th cry from the cross is so

encouraging. In Luke chapter 23 and verse 44

Luke 23 · chapter mention

it says now it was about the 6th hour and there was darkness over

all the earth until the 9th hour.

Then the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent.

It was torn into because the old covenant was being broken and

the new covenant of grace was coming in.

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said,

Think about this Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

No one takes my life, but I lay it down, He said into your

hands. See, I see a lot of Christians,

they, they want to pray the sinner's prayer.

They want to get baptized, but they want things to be finished

in their life. They want the sin debt paid

right. But they never really commit

their spirit into the Lord's hands.

They never really trust him. They never really, you know,

we're good at trusting God with an eternal destiny that's way

out there somewhere. But we have a hard time with the

10th. We trust God that He's going to

take care of my soul eternally, but yet we want to keep this

little thing in our self because Sunday morning I got something

more important to do than go feed my faith.

It's Lordship making Him Lord of all, or He's not Lord at all.

I'll never forget when I begin to walk in that it changed my

life when I begin to commit my spirit unto Him.

Because see, there's something that's going to happen to all of

us. It's called death.

It's knocking. It's knocking daily.

And at the moment of death, guess what?

The control that you've held on to, you have no longer, because

it says to be absent from this body that the soul will go one

or two places. It's at that point you must have

already committed your spirit into His hands.

No one takes my life. Jesus said I lay it down.

I asked you the question today, Have you committed your spirit

into his hands? Have you committed your spirit

into his hands? What are some awesome cries that

Christ made? He said, Father, forgive them

for they know not what they do. You know when as I get older, I

do that a lot when people wrong me, when people wrong me.

There was a lie I heard about me the other day and I used to want

to bow up and go fix it. But you know what I said?

I said they don't know me very well.

I don't find my identity in who you think I am.

The second cry was assuredly I say today you will be with me in

paradise. Isn't that awesome to know?

To be absent from this body is to rest assuredly that your soul

will be in the hands of an almighty God.

The third cry was 1. Behold thy Son, He was on the

cross when he cried this. The 4th cry, he said, my God, my

God, why have thou, why have thou forsaken me?

It's OK to feel forsaken. We're going to feel that way,

but it's just a feeling because you're never alone.

He said I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.

The 5th cry he said, I thirst, I thirst.

What are you thirsting for this morning?

What are you thirsting for? The sixth thing he said somebody

needs a grass that it's finished.

Whatever you're battling, it's finished.

It may not be going like you think it should, but it's

finished. The seventh thing he said,

Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.

Cries from the cross. You know, people describe the

cross as so many things and the Lord give me this a while back

because I battle against people that think they're once saved,

always saved, and there was never a change in their life.

But I got news for you, the cross is way more complex than

once saved, always saved. And it's so much more, get this

than living in fear of the sin you just committed because we

have forgiveness. I challenge you.

Tell the enemy it's finished this morning.

Tell the enemy it's finished as the song plays.

We're going to take communion this morning.

We're going to read a little more scripture, but let's say

it. Let's stay in.

Thanks for listening to the Cross Powered Church podcast.

May you know that true hope, peace, and salvation can only be

found in Jesus. If you're near Campbell, TX, we

would love for you to join us in person.

You can find service times at crosspoweredchurch.com.