7 Sayings Of The Cross – Part 7 - "Father, Into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit!"

Temple Baptist Church - 4-24-2011

Luke 23:46-24:12

Introduction:

A. Jesus Christ died “just right!”

1. Jesus Christ died when He planned to die. Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

2. He died where He planned to die. Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

2 Chronicles 3:2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

3. He died how He planned to die. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: (23) His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

4. He resurrected just right. Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

B. For the past 6 weeks, we have studied the first 6 sayings of our Lord from the cross. In them we find the blessedness of Calvary.

1. Calvary’s Pardon as Jesus Christ cried out for the forgiveness of Herod the king of Galilee, Pilate was the Roman governor in Judea, the Roman soldiers who drove the nails into His hands and feet carried out the brutal torture, to the Jews who planned it and for all the human race who are responsible for His crucifixion. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!”

2. Calvary’s Promise as Jesus Christ responded to the penitent cry of a dying thief. To the thief He promised, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” thus giving hope to all who put their faith in Him.

3. Calvary’s Provision as Jesus Christ placed His loving mother into the hands of John the beloved. “Woman, behold thy son…Behold thy mother.” Dying, our Lord entrusted His earthly family to His earthly church.

4. Calvary’s Price as our Lord became sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him! “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Because Jesus Christ literally became sin for us that we might one day live forever with Him.

5. Calvary’s Pain as, in the darkness of the noon day, Jesus Christ’s voice was heard once more. “I thirst.” He suffered as no man has ever suffered and His suffering was for our sins.

6. Calvary’s Purpose. “It is finished!” Our Lord finished the work that the Father had sent Him to do. Nothing can either be added to or taken away from Calvary. Calvary covers it all!

7. This Resurrection Sunday Morning, we come to Calvary’s Peace! The final saying of our Lord from the cross: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

C. I purposely left this 7th saying for this morning because the peace of the cross does not rest in the death and burial of Jesus Christ alone. Our peace is not the grave nor is the grave the resting place for our spirits. One man put it this way, “Our body is simply the husk while our spirit is the living kernel.”

D. Here, we find our Lord committing His body to the ground but His spirit to the Father. In the remainder of our verses, we find the glorious, bodily resurrection that soon followed. One of these days, I will die. One of these day, if the Lord has not come yet, you will die! “Life is short; death is sure; sin the cause; Christ the cure!”

E. I thank God that I can face death with confidence.

1. David said, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.” (Psalm 31:5)

2. Stephen said, “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59)

3. Paul said, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

4. Peter said, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” (1 Peter 4:19)

1. In These Words, We Find An Eternal Relationship – “Father”

a. Our Relationship is Birth Based – Ye must be Born Again.

b. Our Relationship is Unchanging – Nothing can separate us?

c. Our Relationship is a Personal Relationship –We are His children.

2. In These Words, We Find An Undying Confidence – “Into thy hands”

a. Confidence in God’s Presence – He will not leave nor forsake us.

b. Confidence In God’s Person – He is God in death as He is in life.

c. Confidence In God’s Promise – Let no your hearts be troubled.

3. In These Words, We Find A Blessed Assurance – “I commend my spirit”

a. Life’s Assurance – I am never out of His sight or care.

b. Death’s Assurance – absent from the body is present with Him.

c. Heaven’s Assurance – Our “long home” awaits.

Conclusion:

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.



One day, the Lord will say to me, “It is finished!” That day, death will call for me. In that day, with blessed assurance, I will say to Him, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!”