Praying & Forgiving
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
In August 1995 a scene occurred in Burma, now called Myanmar, that fifty years earlier no one could ever have imagined. It happened at the bridge over the Kwai River.
During World War-II the Japanese army had forced Allied prisoners of war from Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands to build a railroad.
The Japanese soldiers committed many atrocities, and some sixteen thousand Allied POWs died building what has been called Death Railway.
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But after the war, a former Japanese army officer named Nagase Takashi went on a personal campaign to urge his government to admit the atrocities committed.
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After many years of effort, the result of his crusade was a brief ceremony in 1995 at the infamous bridge.
On one side of the bridge were fifty Japanese, including five war veterans, and Mr. Takashi.
Eighteen schoolteachers from Japan carried two hundred letters written by children expressing sadness for what had happened during the war.
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At the other side of the bridge were representatives of Allied soldiers:
Two old soldiers from Britain who declared the business of fifty years ago finished at last.
A young woman from Australia who came to deliver, posthumously, her father’s forgiveness.
A son of a POW who came to do the same.
And there was 73-year-old Australian David Barrett, who said he made the pilgrimage because he felt that to continue hating would destroy him.
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The two groups began to walk the narrow planks of the black iron bridge toward one another.
When they met in the center, they shook hands, embraced, shed tears.
Yuko Ikebuchi, a schoolteacher, handed the letters from the Japanese children to the veterans, and in tears turned and ran without a word.
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Forgiveness can transform the very place where atrocities have occurred into something beautiful—a display of God’s mercy.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 11 and focus on verse 25.
Our message this morning is called, “Praying & Forgiving”
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As you are finding your place in God’s Word...
I would like to share that this message will focus on three main points:
In Every Prayer...
Forgive Everything...
And...
Forgiven by God.
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Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are the only one worthy of all praise and honor...
You are good...
And You are patient.
We look to You and seek You for direction.
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We need your help at all time, Father...
Our flesh is weak...
Our minds are limited in comparison to You who is all-knowing...
Our strength has limits while your power is limitless...
We have no one else to turn to but you.
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Help us to always forgive others just like you forgave us for all the sins we committed against You.
You forgave our mountain of debt...
We have no excuse to forgive even the worst crimes committed against us.
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Thank You for Your grace and mercy...
Thank you for not giving us what we deserve...
And thank you for giving us hope through your Son...
Jesus who is the Christ!
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And it is in His name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) In Every Prayer
1) In Every Prayer
Verse 25(a): And whenever you stand praying,
The phrase here in our passage that reads “stand praying” is the traditional Jewish prayer posture.
The praying position of kneeling or lying with one’s face on the ground was used during extraordinary circumstances and for extremely urgent requests.
So, Jesus is referring to every prayer you make.
Every-time we pray...
We must saturate our prayers in faith and forgiveness.
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In fact, Jesus gave us a model prayer...
A template for us to follow...
We often call it the Lord’s Prayer.
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Now, it can be read word for word...
That is fine and good...
But this is intended as a formula...
A guide and blueprint to God honoring prayer...
And in this model for our daily prayers we see that forgiveness is a major component of that.
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Beloved, look with me at Matthew 6:9–14 see what Jesus says when asked, “How should we pray?”:
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Note the details in what Jesus is saying...
We pray that God would forgive our sins in the same way we forgive others of what they did to us...
Jesus makes it clear that the behavior of the genuine true believer...
That is a person you truly surrenders their whole life to God...
That is the person who is not just Christian by name alone but who who dictates their who life based of God’s commands...
That is the person you in all actuality experienced God forgiving of a infatuate debt they accumulated against God.
So, that person that experienced that kind of forgiveness can only have a forgiving heart and attitude to those who sin against them.
How can any believer ever hold a grudge?
How can any believer complain?
How can any believer grow bitter to others?
For God has forgiven any true believer of far worse!
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A mean comment or tiny lie in our world seems like a small offense.
But to a Holy God...
The penalty of any sin...
No matter how small...
Is death!
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You see, Church...
Believers and unbelievers share this in common...
We are all sinners...
When we sin against each other we are just criminals racking up more crimes against other criminals.
But when we sin against God...
And all sin we do is against God’s commands...
We are criminals who sin against a person who is totally good and perfect and innocent.
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Let me put it this way...
If you knock over and shattered a cheap glass vase at a local Walmart there may be little to no consequence.
If you knock over and shattered a one of a kind vase at a museum that was worth millions then you would be making some headlines...
You would go viral in a heartbeat...
And the consequences you would have to bear would be great.
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Same action...
You knocked down a vase and it shattered...
But the value of what you broke matters....
And it changes everything.
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Men and woman are made in the image of God...
To sin against another human being is no small thing...
But in comparison to the one true Holy God who created all of us and all of creation...
There is no possible comparisons that can be made to properly convey the great gap between humans and God.
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Remember this too...
We covered this in great detail in our study of 1 John but we need reminding...
1 John 1:9 says:
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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We can’t refuse to forgive others...
And we can’t refuse to confess our own sins.
Asking for forgiveness and giving forgiveness go hand in hand.
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The world will not understand this...
They want an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
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Take for example what happened without church building...
Our House of God was egged twice...
The first time on Father’s Day...
Additionally, it was broken into...
Vandalized...
Items were stolen and broken...
And explicit message was left...
And a mess was left.
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In God’s providence He revealed who did it...
But what should our response to these actions be...
Actions not just done to any building but the God’s House...
But not just that but actions done to His people...
And ultimately done to Him directly.
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By the worlds standards...
By the eye for an eye standards...
We could retaliate and do the same...
Break into ones house and make a mess.
We could respond with our own message and leave an unloving note.
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Or, as presented to us as an option, we could have the individuals responsible arrested.
There is nothing wrong to go that route...
And if the situation called for it then that is the route that must be done.
Just like a sinner who refuses to repent and believe.
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But as believers we would like to show mercy and grace...
And give an opportunity to those who sinned against God and us to repent and apologize.
(Those individuals are here with us today and will come up and apologize to the church after the communion portion of our service is complete.)
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And even before the individuals were confirmed who were responsible for this action against us...
We as a whole forgave them and were praying for them...
For we have, as His followers, experienced forgiveness and would like to share that with the world no matter how they feel about us...
And no matter what they did to us.
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We are called by Christ to forgive everything and anything...
And this takes us to our second point.
2) Forgive Everything
2) Forgive Everything
Verse 25(b): Forgive, if you have anything against anyone,
The word “Forgive” is “Aphiemi” in ancient Greek.
It means to leave, let go, let loose, send away, give up, cancel, remit, and pardon.
So, forgiveness has the meaning of letting something go...
Which mean unforgiveness mean you are holding onto something...
Like bitterness and resentfulness and hatred...
Those things will kill you.
In fact, unforgiveness is like holding onto something that is slowly poising you.
That is why Scripture demands that the followers of Christ...
And those who do not want their prayers hindered to just let it go.
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Next we see that what we are to forgive is “anything against anyone” and this phrase is an all-inclusive statement that includes both sins and simple dislikes, which cause the believer to hold something against another person.
The word “anyone” in our passage incorporates believers and unbelievers.
So, literally everyone.
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It doesn’t matter the sin that was caused to you...
It doesn’t matter who sinned against you...
We are commanded to forgive everything and everyone...
No exceptions!
Let me repeat just in case you missed that...
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We are commanded to forgive everything and everyone...
No exceptions!
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Just look at what it says in Luke 11:4:
4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
This is again Jesus showing us how to pray...
And He is clear...
When we ask God to forgive us...
It is with the understanding that we ourselves have already forgiven those who wronged us.
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So, if there is a person...
Again, it doesn’t matter who they are or what they did...
If there is a person you have not forgiven in your heart...
You need to...
Right now!
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Don’t take my word for it...
Just look at what our Lord and Savior said in Matthew 18:21–35:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’
29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’
30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Let me put it bluntly...
Stop with the excuses...
Your unforgivness is killing you...
And if you do not repent of this...
It will damn you!
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As you can see Jesus spoke a lot about this...
And even makes it a point that should be included in our daily prayers.
Luke 17:3–4 is also pretty clear and serves as a bold warning:
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
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I want you to consider something else, Church...
The whole attitude that you must feel toward those who are your enemies.
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You see, Beloved...
It is not just a blind or cold forgiveness we are to grant our enemies...
We are called to love them.
Look with me at Proverbs 24:17 which says:
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
If you see your enemy suffering...
Don’t find joy in that...
Have you so quickly forgotten who you once were before you were saved?
Let me be clear with you...
I won’t sugarcoat it for you...
I was rotten to the core before the Lord saved me...
I lived the life of a wretch...
And I deserved Hellfire for my arrogance and sin against God.
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If you told me one day I would be a pastor preaching the Gospel I would have laughed at you...
But God saved me...
Not because I earned it...
Not because I deserved it.
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God saved me because He decided to have mercy on me for His own purpose.
So passages like Proverbs 25:21–22 should speak to all those who now what it is like to be forgiven:
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.
Your enemies will not initially understand your kindness to them...
It will be a burning coal on their heads...
And we should pray in is those burning coals that wake them up so they can see Christ’s love and abandon their wicked ways.
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But you may be wondering...
What about if my enemies are persecuting me?
What about is they are throwing Christians in jail?
What is they are killing my loved ones?
What are we to do with our enemies then?
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Love them!
As Jesus says in Matthew 5:44:
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
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Beloved, when they are trying to terrorize you and your family...
When they are torturing our brother and sisters in Christ from around the world...
When they mock us for standing on the truth of Scripture...
And even when they are pointing their guns at our heads...
Love then and forgive them!
This is a necessary aspect of your relationship with your Heavenly Father...
And this takes us to our third and final point.
3) Forgiven by God
3) Forgiven by God
Verse 25(c): So that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
The phrase “forgive you your trespasses” is an urgent reminder by Jesus that the true and genuine believer’s life is to reflect an ongoing duty to have a forgiving attitude.
So, successful prayer requires forgiveness as well as faith.
Or put anther way...
Faith and the willingness to forgive are the two main conditions of having an efficacious prayer life.
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So, keep the words of Luke 6:37 on your mind and heart:
37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
And just as that is true so is the same truth said i the negative.
Judge and you will be judged...
Condemn and you will be condemned...
Don’t forgive and you will not be forgiven.
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A true believer who experienced transformation and is a new creation no longer thinks like the world...
They have their minds renewed...
They start to think like Christ...
More so over time in the process called sanctification.
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However, if you refuse to forgive then you are making it clear you have not yet experienced a saving relationship with our Lord.
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As Ephesians 4:32 this is what a Christian looks like:
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
And Colossians 3:13 helps us to understand this better yet:
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
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Unforgiveness, bitterness, and hatred can’t be part of our lives if we claim to serve Him...
You can pray all day and all night...
But if you won’t forgive...
God’s not listening....
Just look at what Psalm 66:18 says if you doubt:
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
As Pastor John MacArthur says:
“The choice believers face is clear:
Hold a grudge or have their prayers heard.
To put it another way, one cannot accept the full, gracious forgiveness of God and then be unforgiving of someone else.”
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
As this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
It is one thing to say that Jesus Christ countered everything that Adam did.
It is quite another when we realize that Christ did all of this not for intimate friends but for His enemies. He did it for you.
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In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington.
In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor.
One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die.
Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor.
“No, Peter,” General Washington said, “I cannot grant you the life of your friend.”
“My friend!” exclaimed the old preacher.
“He’s the bitterest enemy I have.”
“What?” cried Washington.
“You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I’ll grant your pardon.”
And he did.
Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata—no longer an enemy, but a friend.
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Jesus Christ did the very same thing.
The lives of His enemies were pardoned by His Father through the sacrificial death of Christ Himself.
One day, He will take all believers home—no longer as enemies but as friends.
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
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As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these please raise your hand and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider what Jesus said while on the cross as recorded in Luke 23:34:
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
In order to understand the weight of what is being said by Jesus...
We need to really understand what the religious elite did we they called or Christ to be crucified...
We need to really understand what the Roman soldiers did when they scourged and crucified our Savior...
We need to understand the weigh of our sin and what Jesus had to endure for those who put their trust in Him.
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So, let me share this...
The following is from Volume 8 of The Expositors Bible Commentary:
The Romans first stripped the victim and tied his hands to a post above his head.
The whip (flagellum) was made of several pieces of leather with pieces of bone and lead embedded near the ends.
Two men, one on each side of the victim, usually did the flogging.
The Jews mercifully limited flogging to a maximum of forty stripes; the Romans had no such limitation.
The following is a medical doctor’s description of the physical effects of flogging.
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The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs.
At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only.
Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper in the subcutaneous tissues, producing first and oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles…
Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue.
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It is not surprising that victims of Roman floggings seldom survived.
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The crown was made of some kind of prickly plant such as abounds in Palestine.
This they pressed into his scalp.
Again there must have been copious bleeding because the scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the body.
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The mocking was followed by further physical violence.
The blows hitting his head from the staff drove the thorns more deeply into Jesus’ scalp and caused even more profuse bleeding.
They also kept spitting on him…
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At last tiring of their sadism, the soldiers tore the robe from Jesus’ back.
The fabric had probably stuck to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds.
Thus when it was callously ripped off him, it caused excruciating pain, just as when a bandage is carelessly removed.
Jesus’ own clothes were now put back on him.
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Men condemned to die by crucifixion were customarily required to carry the heavy wooden crosspiece (patibulum) on which they were to be nailed, to the place of execution.
Jesus started out carrying his cross, but it proved to be too much for him.
The patibulum usually weighed thirty or forty pounds and was usually strapped across the shoulders.
One can hardly imagine the pain caused by the rough heavy beam pressing into the lacerated skin and muscles of Jesus’ shoulders.
The scourging of blood so weakened him that he could not go on carrying the heavy crossbeam.
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Mark simply says, “And they crucified him.”
What incredible restraint!
Especially when one considers that crucifixion was, as Cicero said, “the cruelest and most hideous punishment possible.”
What took place physically is described by Davis.
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Simon is ordered to place the patibulum on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the wood.
The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist.
He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood.
Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement.
The cross is then lifted into place.
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The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed.
The victim is now crucified.
As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in brainthe nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves.
As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet.
Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.
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At this point, another phenomenon occurs.
As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain.
With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. . . .
Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled.
Jesus fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath.
Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside.
Spasmodically he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.
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Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber.
Then another agony begins a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.
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It is now almost over the loss of tissue fluids reached a critical level the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air.
The body of Jesus is now in extremis, and He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues.
His mission of atonement has been completed.
Finally he can allow His body to die.
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All this, the Bible records with the simple words, “And they crucified him.”
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This is what our Lord endured...
It was for us He volunteered to go through this...
And in the midst of that horrific act...
He forgave those who had no idea of the gravity of the sin they committed.
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What greater sin exists that being personally responsible for crucifying our sinless God.
So, if your going to follow Him...
If you are going to call Him your Master...
Be like Him and forgive your enemies.
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that we conclude the communion portion of our service.
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Before our Praise Band plays the closing song I would like to now call up Chris and Carter who have something they want to share with the church...
Come on up to the stage guys.