"Father, Forgive Them...", Part 2

For many weeks, I've been debating when I would take a short detour from the book of Genesis to deal with an issue. And so, we want to look at one verse with you this morning.

And in looking at that verse, I want you to examine your life to help you understand your responsibility to be a forgiver. How to extend forgiveness to those who have offended you. And so we're going to look at what the Word of the Lord says about forgiveness.

The first saying on the cross. Luke chapter 23, the 34th verse. Because that was Christ's prayer of forgiveness. The first thing I want you to notice is.

The attitude behind the prayer. It reads as follows: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. You must understand the attitude behind the prayer. To understand that, you need to understand the reason for a Savior. You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, he came. Perfectly sinless and lived a sinless life. That's important because if there was anybody, listen carefully, if there was anybody who didn't have to forgive anyone else, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he was sinless and everyone else was sinful.

We who are sinners need to be forgivers as well as Forgiven. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ submitted to the indignity and injustice of the crucifixion. In order that he might make an atonement for the sins of the people who put him there. He came to extend forgiveness. He came to redeem sinful man. Christ left us an example that we are to follow exactly in His steps. As He was forgiving, so too we need to be forgiving. And so when the Lord Jesus Christ says, I want you to be forgiving, he says that because he gave us the classic example of forgiveness.

The whole attitude behind the prayer was the very fact that he is a forgiving God, that he came to forgive man his sin. Because in Matthew 5, verse number 43, it says, You have heard that it was said that you are to love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I have said unto you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That's what he did. He prayed for his persecutors. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. That is a cardinal rule for the believer. Those who have been offended forgive because they are sons of their Father in heaven.

And they demonstrate the child-likeness of the believer. They demonstrate the Christ-likeness of the believer. Because they humble themselves and are obedient to their Father, as Jesus Christ Himself was. The second thing I want you to see in the prayer is not only the attitude behind the prayer, but the appeal in the prayer.

Notice what Christ says. Father, forgive them. Here was the Son of Man who said in Matthew chapter 9 to the man who was paralyzed, Your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. And the Pharisees and the religious leaders wondered in their minds, wait a minute, how can this man forgive sin? Who does he think he is? And Christ, knowing what they were thinking, said to them, Why do you think amongst yourselves? Why do you say amongst yourselves about whether or not I had the power to forgive sins?

What is it easy for me to do? To say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, take up your bed. And walk. Well, the easiest thing to do is to say, your sins are forgiven, right? Because who's going to know whether or not your sins are forgiven? But to prove the man's sins were forgiven, Christ said, Arise, take up your bed, and walk. And what happened? He did. The man arose. He'd been paralyzed his whole life. He arose, he took up his bed, and he walked out of there. His sins had been forgiven. His faith had made him whole.

The man had been saved. And yet on the cross, Christ didn't forgive sins, he appealed to his Father in heaven to forgive sins. You ever think about that? Why? Why could he easily forgive a man who was paralyzed of his sin? And throughout the whole New Testament, you read about his ability to forgive sin, but yet on the cross. He would appeal to his Father in heaven. Simply this: 2 Corinthians 5:2, He who knew no sin became sin for us. That we might be made the righteousness of God in H. You see, it was at that very moment that He was identifying with who?

Sinful humanity. It was at that very moment that he took upon him the sin of the world. And therefore, while identifying with the sinfulness of humanity, he did not. Become a sinner, he became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He took upon Himself your sin, my sin. He took the wrath of God upon Himself. During those six hours on the cross. And so, therefore, he would app to his Father who is in heaven. The attitude behind the prayer. The appeal in the prayer. And number three, I want you to notice the application of the prayer.

The application of the prayer. Father, forgive who? Them. Who's them? The Jews? Was it the Jews who conspired against him and who lied in their testimonies about him? Was it the Roman soldiers who took the nails and drove them into his hands and to his feet? Was it the religious leaders who lied about him and came against him? Who is the them? Father, forgive them. For they know not what they are doing. The them is all of them and more. Any sinful man who ever lived, before or after the cross or during.

The cross. It's all encompassing. Father, forgive them. The application of the prayer is to those who have sinned against Him. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. The prayer of forgiveness extends beyond those who were there at the cross. Those who lied about him, those who deceived, and those who ran away from him, and those who murdered him, extends to you and me as well, doesn't it? Why? Because it was for our sin he hung on the cross. It was for our sins that he died.

But note, the prayer, Father, forgive them, was not a prayer of immediate, uncond Indiscriminate forgiveness for everyone who partic in Christ's Crucifixion. It wasn't Father forgive them just with a carte blan forgiveness being handed out. It was forgiveness. For those who would come to recognize the enormity and the atrocity of their sin, and thus repent of their sin and ask forgiveness from God. That's who the prayer applies to. It doesn't apply to everyone across the board. Father, forgive them so they can all go to heaven.

It's Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. But them is those who repent of their sins and turn from their wicked ways, those who live in rebellion against God. And those who live in their sin will die in their sin. U, unless they come to a place of repentance. The Bible says in the book of Ezekiel that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

He doesn't. God is not willing, 2 Peter 3:9, that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Acts 17:3 says that God is declaring everywhere that all men should rep. The application of the prayer is for those who repent of their sins, for forgiveness is freely offered. Revelation 22:1 says that the Spirit and the bride say, Come, let every who is thirsty come and drink of the water of life freely without cost. But unless there's a willingness to turn from their sin toward a Savior, there is no forgiveness.

And so Christ would extend. Forgiveness to all those who would come to a place of repentance that they might experience the forgiveness of God. Think about it. Maybe those people there that day would have thought that their sin would never be forgiven for what they did. And so Christ verbalized, Father, forgive them. For they know not what they are doing. The attitude behind the prayer, the appeal in the prayer, the application of the prayer. And fourthly, I want you to see the acknowledge in the prayer.

Father, forgive them, for they what? Know not. What they are doing. Christ acknowledges they don't know what they are doing. If they knew, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, verse number 8, if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord. Of gl. Obviously, these words don't mean that they were completely ignorant of what they were doing. They knew they were. They were murdering the king of kings and lord of lords. They knew that they put them on the tree, but they did not understand the enormity of their crime.

They did not understand because they had been blinded by Satan. They had been blinded to spiritual truth. And so they did not comprehend the magnitude of their sin. And he would say, Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing. They were without excuse. Every man, every woman ever born is without ex. That's what Romans 1 says. Without excuse, they supp the truth. They refuse to acknowledge the truth. And these people refuse to acknowledge that he was exactly who he said he was.

Was there an answer to the prayer? Sure, there was. That's the next thing I want to see: the answer to the prayer. And there was an immediate answer, and there is an ultimate answer. There was the answer to the prayer. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. It's a prayer by our Lord to his Father who is in heaven. He prayed to his Father who is in heaven from the cross. So amazing that the one who would suffer injustice, the one who would suffer such shame. Would think, first of all, for the very first words out of his mouth were Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

His very first thing to do was to pray to his Father in heaven. Sure, it fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53, where he would make intercession for his transgressors. He did that. And yet, there would be a dramatic answer to the prayer of Christ with one of the two thieves. One of the two criminals that hung not too far from him. In fact, over in Matthew's account, chapter 27, verse number 41. In the same way, the chief priests also, along with the scribes and the elders, were mocking him, saying, He saved others.

He cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel. Let him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in him. He trusts in God. Let him deliver him now, if he takes pleasure in him, for he said, I am the Son of God. And the robbers also, who had been crucified with him, were casting the same insult at him. So the two robbers that were crucified on either side of Christ would join in on the mock. And yet, in a dramatic way, one of their hearts would be changed. It says this, back to Luke chapter 23.

And one of the criminals, verse number 39, who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save your and us. But the other answered, and rebuking him, said, Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. You see, he recognized his sin. He recognized that he was a sinner. He recognized his guilt. He would even rebuke the other criminal.

And say, we are suffering justly because we are sinners. We have done wrong, but this man This man has done nothing wrong. This criminal would hang there and from an arm's distance observe the Son of Man. As he would say, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. And in a dramatic way, God would change the man's heart. In fact, he would change his heart in such a way that there would be a complete reversal of his former life. He changed his heart in such a way that what the man did in his unconverted state, he no longer would ever do.

Because if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. At one time, he would mock Christ. At one time, he would join in with his. Peers and degrade the Son of Man. But now there's a change in the man's heart, and now he is rebuking the one who comes against the Lord of glory. Why? Because that's the heart of a true conversion. It's changed and it's always, listen, it's always obviously recognized. Always, never is it not recognized. Why? Because it's God who does the changing. It's God who does the work, not the man.

The man couldn't merit salvation. There's nothing the criminal could do. And all the while, while he is paying for his deeds, Done against the Roman government, Christ is paying for his sin against God. Amazing. So, what does he say? Remember me when you come into your kingdom. He recognized that Christ was a king. He recognized that Christ was the Lord. He said, Remember me, when you go. Will you remember me? What did Christ say? Today. Today you will be with me in paradise. There is no more conversation between Christ and the criminal on the cross.

That's it. They don't converse anymore. He doesn't say, Hey, you know, what's it going to be like when I get there? What are we going to do when we get there, Lord? No more conversation. For the man's life was totally changed. Why? Because the trans work, the answer to his prayer, came as he hung on the cross, dying for the sins of the world. It's amazing. And not only do you see the answer to prayer in the criminal, but you also see the answer to the prayer with the centurion. It says in verse number 44.

Excuse me, verse number 47. Now, when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, Certainly, this man was innocent. In Mark's account and in Matthew's account, it says, Certainly, this man was a son of God. The centurion, the centurion who had witnessed. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of crucifixions witnessed one man hanging on a tree who was unlike Anybody else, and because he saw something he had never seen before, he recognized truly this man was the Son of God. And he praised God.

The man was converted. You don't praise God unless you have a new heart. You don't recognize Jesus as the Son of God unless He has changed your life. And this centurion observed the fact that through the conversation of one man hanging on a tree, That this man was different than everybody else. And thus, there was an answer again to the prayer. And there would be an answer. Some days afterwards, with many people in that crowd, who would one day give their lives to Christ. Who would one day in Acts chapter 3 repent of their sins?

There was an answer to that prayer. If you're here today and you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And ask forgiveness of your sins. Ask Him to be Lord of your life, to rule in your heart, to change your life. You're an answer to the prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. The next thing I want you to see is the appropriation from the prayer. And that's this. For the unbeliever, you need to experience forgiveness. For the believer, having experienced forgiveness, you need to extend forgiveness.

Notice what the text says in Luke chapter 23. Verse number 48 and all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle when they observed what had happened began returning beating their breasts They went away hopeless. They went away helpless. They went away in grief and despair, beating their breasts. And then one day Peter would preach a sermon over in Acts chapter 3, telling them about this one who was Hung on a tree according to the predetermined foreknowledge of God the Father. Everything was planned in eternity past, and they came to recognize that what they had done was They had put their messiah on a tree, and it says in verse number 37: Now, when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?

And Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. For the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as our Lord God shall call. To himself, and with many other words, he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. So then those who had received his word were baptized. And there were added that day about 3,000 souls, and they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to pray.

Wow. You see, what God did was answer that prayer. And the appropriation of that prayer is for all believers. Not only for you and for your children, Peter says, but for people who are far off from everyone who's ever going to live. You need to be saved from the perverse generation. You need to repent and believe the gospel. If you're an unbeliever today and never given your life to Christ, today's the day to do that. Because when we come together to partake this morning of the Lord's table, we come to praise him and thank him for what he did on the cross some 2,000 years ago.

And to give him all the glory. For he's the one who deserves it. But if you're a believer, if you've experienced forgiveness, guess what? You need to extend forgiveness. Christ said in Luke 6:3, Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. Paul said in Ephesians 4, verse number 32, that we are to be tender-hearted. And forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us. This is so important. So important. Remember Stephen in Acts 7 when he was being stoned after preaching the gospel?

He looked up into heaven and saw the Lord of glory. And he said, What? Father, hold not this ch against them. Ah, what a great prayer. And the Bible says that at that point he died.

He fell asleep. He was ushered into glory. He would extend forgiveness to his persecutors. How about you? How about you today? Do you have a forgiving heart? Are you willing to forgive those who have persecuted you, who have offended you, who have mocked you? who have abused you, who have mistreated you. No matter how badly you have been mistreated and abused, it doesn't come close to the abuse that Christ him faced. And yet he extended forgiveness. We need to follow his example because he left us an example.

Example that we commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously. We want vengeance, we want retribution, we want the upper hand. And y, we need to be like Christ and extend forgiveness. It 's God's job to bring about revenge. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. The after of the prayer. What was the aftermath? There was an earthquake. The whole planet became dark. The veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the Bible says in Matthew 27 that the dead were raised.

A great supernatural phenomenon occurred. Know what that tells me? That as a believer, if you extend forgiveness to those who have abused you, there will be a supernatural effect. Demonstrated through your life that only God Himself can do. And God wants to use you in a miraculous way because the Christian is most like Christ when? When forgiveness is at stake. And so if you want to demonstrate Christ to a lost world, you need to be a forgiver of man. If you're a believer today, this is an opportunity for you to get excited about what God has done in your life and to be excited about the opportunities He's going to place before you that you could model to the world His life.

Believe that what Jesus Christ did on the cross some 2,000 years ago, He did for you. That He might save you from your sin, that you might live His life. You've been called for that purpose. To demonstrate to the world a forgiving spirit. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word, the greatness that's there, and ask you, Lord, that you would do a work in all of our lives. This morning, as we have spent time in your word, I'm sure that there are images conjured up in the minds of many people concerning things that have happened in their past.

An individual, a group of individuals that have come against them, lied about them, cheated them, abused them, done all they could to destroy their reputation. And today, Lord, you're speaking to them, telling them that they need to extend forgiveness. Pray, Lord, that we would be able to look and praise you for who you are and thank you for your wonderful gift of salvation and forgiving us of all of our sins. We did not deserve it. We were unworthy. And yet, because of your marvelous love and mercy and grace, you extended forgiveness to us.

And for this, we are eternally thankful. In Jesus' name. Am.