Famous Last Words

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. My name is Mike Avendroth. It's a Wednesday right now, and there's some kind of Kubota tractor, excavator, something out there.

So if you hear some clicking sounds, it's not Mario. It's not Mario listening to the whole book of Hebrews with blues music on AI.

That was pretty good though. If you type in Hebrews blues, that's a pretty good album. But anyway,

Mike Avendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry. You can always write us, info at nocompromiseradio .com

or mike at nocompromiseradio .com. The new book, The Chosen is out. Three chapters that are easy to read, helping people understand the difficult doctrine of unconditional election that God chooses, not based on foreseen faith or foreseen good works.

God chooses because He wants to choose. I will have mercy on those that I'll have mercy. Exodus chapter 33 and 34,

Romans chapter nine, The Chosen. And we picked that title just because we would play off of the

TV series about Jesus that we don't like called The Chosen. But This Chosen, we really like.

So today on the radio show, on the video, we're talking about famous last words, last words of famous people.

I found some. Nathan Hale, I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

He was hanged by the British, as you know, this American spy. Now it's more loud out there.

That's all right. I was like, okay. Beethoven, too bad, too bad, it's too late.

Those were his last words. How about Socrates? All of the wisdom of this world is but a tiny raft upon we must sail when we leave the earth.

If only there was a firmer foundation upon which to sail, perhaps some divine word.

If I only could hear from God before I go off on this journey. Sigmund Freud, the meager satisfaction that man can extract from reality leaves him starving.

H .G. Wells, go away, I'm all right. W .C.

Fields, I'm looking for a loophole. Lewis the 17th, I have something to tell you.

Are you sure this is okay? It's louder in the room, but it's not. It's not,

I can't even hear myself talking right now. Oh, you can't, all right. It's fake. So today, the seven words of Jesus on the cross, his last words.

And so we're going to look at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John putting together in what I think is chronological order.

There are some debates about which one came first, but we're gonna look at the seven last words from Jesus.

True man, true God on the cross, doing what the father sent him to do.

What does Jesus say on the cross? By the way, last words here are very difficult words because when you're impaled on a cross, it's hard to breathe.

So therefore it's hard to speak. It's difficult because he has not had anything in his mouth in terms of parched tongue.

And so seven statements from Jesus on the cross, dying words.

The first one, father, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing. This is Luke chapter 23, verse 34.

And then it says, and they cast lots to divide his garments. Arthur Pink is interesting, man.

He said, when Samson came to his dying hour, he used his body to destroy his foes.

And now we have the Lord Jesus on the cross and he's praying, I think directly for those

Roman soldiers who crucified him, for those Roman soldiers who cast lots for his clothes.

And he says, father, please forgive them. They don't know the extent of what they're doing.

Oh yes, they know they're crucifying someone, but they don't know the extent. In the midst of the shouting crowd, saying horrible things about the crucified people, in the midst of the thieves next to Jesus, one on his right and one on his left, who are also laughing and mocking.

And the soldiers saying awful things. Here Jesus says, please forgive them.

Did you know when people got crucified, often they would scream out horrible things to those crucifying them.

I mean, it was their last way to get back at the people, at the Roman soldiers for doing what they did to them.

And so they would scream and shout and yell. Is not the love of Jesus evident as you hear him say this first thing on the cross?

Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. Probably no clothes, they're dividing up his garments.

No wonder Ebenezer Erskine, the Scot said, I tell you good news, Christ is more willing to embrace you than you are willing to be embraced by him.

It's like they're on the cross, love incarnate, swearing, cursing, but not from Jesus.

Everyone else, that's true. Our attitudes, our thoughts go to Jesus and think, do you know what?

Have my sins been washed away by Jesus? Is he a loving savior? Is he a savior who forgives?

Is he a judge only? Is he a just righteous judge only? And here we see him say, father, forgive them.

The willing heart of Jesus to forgive sinners should encourage you. Well, what else did Jesus say on his deathbed?

Number two, found in Luke 23, verse 43. Today you shall be with me in paradise. He says that to one of the thieves.

Both of the thieves were railing, hurling accusations. The idea is there's a

Red Sox pitcher on the mound. Maybe when the Red Sox were good, Pedro Martinez on the mound,

Kurt Schilling on the mound, throwing 100 mile per hour fastballs right down into the strike zone.

And now you have these two thieves hurling fastballs, fast pitches, railing, saying horrible things.

And now Jesus says to the one, what? Well, let's find out what the context says first.

One of the criminals who hanged railed at him saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself enough, us.

But the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

Hey, we deserve it. He didn't deserve it. We did justly, indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.

But this man talking about Jesus has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And now the second saying of Jesus on his death bed on the cross, truly

I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. I mean, it's been said of Jesus.

He is fully there for this man because he's come to seek and save sinners just like this thief.

He did not say to the thief, hey, by the way, I'm busy. I'm busy saving people, saving the world.

Don't bother me. Can't you see I'm getting crucified as well? No, no,

Jesus on the cross, still mighty to save. You have to be thinking about that.

He's on the cross and he's still mighty to save. And he says, today you'll be with me in paradise.

One writer said in the day when he seemed most weak, he showed himself a strong deliverer.

In the hour when his body was racked with pain, he showed he could feel tenderly for others.

At the time when he, Jesus himself was dying, he conferred on a sinner eternal life.

I love that. I've heard it before, I've read it before, but here Jesus, sacrificial, agape love, wanting what was best for this man.

Reminds me of the verse, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whoever should believe in him, even on his deathbed, thief on the cross, should not perish, but have eternal life.

I'm glad there's a deathbed conversion in the Bible because that gives us a lot of hope.

It helps us not to be presumptuous because there's only one deathbed conversion, but it does give us hope.

Today, he said, you'll be with me in purgatory. Oh, excuse me, in paradise.

I knew it started with a P. You'll be with me in paradise. Wow, Jesus, would you remember me?

Would you think of me? Would you bring me into heaven? Could I be with you? By the way, does

God want people to be assured of their salvation? Does he want you to be assured? Roman Catholic church says it's a sin to have assurance.

It's presumption to have assurance. When Jesus is on the cross and that man says, that thief, that rascal, that scoundrel, that scallywag, that maybe even murderer, says, could you remember me,

Jesus? Jesus, does he say, you know what? If you have enough works, maybe you'll make it.

If you deny yourself enough, maybe you'll make it. Does Jesus give assurance to that thief?

Could there be greater assurance ever given than to hear it from the mouth of Jesus? Today, you'll be with me in paradise.

I wonder if we could just pan back and watch the one thief that was unrepentant and this thief that was repented.

How they ended up dying, how their last moments were. One in angst and anger and swearing and cursing probably, and the other with rest and comfort.

Jesus on the cross, saving others. What's the third thing that Jesus said on the cross?

John chapter 19, verse 23. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, also his tunic.

But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.

This of course was to fulfill scripture. The text goes on. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved,

John, standing nearby, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. Then he said to his disciple, behold your mother.

And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. Jesus fulfilling the law, the fifth commandment, honor your father and mother.

Jesus still actively obeying, obeying the law saying, I want you to take care of my mother.

Joseph, his stepfather, Mary's husband is most likely deceased. And now Jesus making sure that he, in the midst of this crucifixion, even while dying is thinking of others.

As many have written, Jesus preoccupied with other people while he himself is dying.

Honor your father and mother is the fifth commandment. And here Jesus on the cross making arrangements that his mother would be taken care of when he is gone.

Exodus chapter 20, verse 12, honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land that your

God is giving you. Seven statements of Jesus on the cross, three down, four to go.

I don't think we can make it, but we give it a shot anyway. Number four, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Found in Mark chapter 15, verse 34. The sixth hour had come noon.

There was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 3 p .m. Why is it dark in the middle of the day?

Because in the middle of the day, darkness happens when God is judging. If you look at Amos, if you look at Joel, you'll see this theme in the

Old Testament, darkness, judgment, judgment, darkness. And here God the

Father is judging the sins on Jesus the Son. Now I wanna be very careful here because I don't wanna talk about Trinitarian errors and heresies and somehow splitting up the

Godhead and everything else. I just want you to be reminded that Jesus says, my

God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Right from Psalm 22. And by the way, the

Father was well -pleased with the Son even here. This is why

Jesus was sent by the Father to obey. This is why Jesus came to do this very thing.

How could the Father not be happy with the Son and his obedience? How could the Father somehow in the

Trinity become on Trinitarian? So we wanna be very careful and it's very mysterious, but it is true.

Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And so we know

Jesus paying the penalty for our sin. James Dozol said, at the moment he is crying out, why have you forsaken me?

The very person who suffers is a temporally, eternally, simply, omnipotently upholding the world by the word of his power and dwelling in mutual and perfect love with the

Father and with the Spirit. I mean, how can all these things be? This is amazing. Jesus dying on the cross on behalf of sinners, in the place of sinners, on the behest of sinners.

This is called the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. First Peter chapter three, the just dies for the unjust.

First Peter chapter two, he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.

Galatians three, he becomes a curse for us and he takes away the sin of the world.

That's Jesus saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Number five, the fifth saying of Jesus on the cross, what do people say on their deathbed?

Jesus is very unique. And he says here in John 19, 28, after this

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill scripture, I thirst.

As S. Lewis Johnson says, Jesus in his early ministry, thirsting in the desert for 40 days.

And now he ends by thirsting. He just said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And now he thirsts. It was a word of suffering. It was a word of physical pain.

S. Lewis says, I think it's not simply physical. Here's the one who said,

I thirst. Anyone who has ever been under conviction of sin understands what

I'm talking about, Johnson said. And listen to what he says, for day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me.

My moisture is turned into drought of summer. In other words, Johnson says there is a connection between physical sin and the mental and spiritual effects of it.

I thirst is not simply physical, but expresses the feeling that he had as he had just gone through the bearing of eternal judgment for human sins.

Jesus, of course, is truly human. We ought to get that from this passage that he cries when

Lazarus died, he also thirst. This is evidence of Jesus's humanity.

Well, we go on to number six. I didn't think I could get this done, Mario. And I think we're gonna get it done. Father, forgive them is number one.

Number two, today you'll be with me in paradise. Number three, behold your son. Number four, my

God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Number five, I'm thirsty. Number six, we should probably do a whole show on this.

Te telestai, it is finished. All right, let's close in prayer. That's all we need to do. Boy, that time is going so slow.

It goes slow when they're doing septic issues. When it comes to giving, it should be 100%.

That's how you give. When it comes to calling people to salvation, it should be, your response is faith alone.

It seems like all these days are going into each other. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished and bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Now we've talked about this a couple of weeks ago. Te telestai, it is finished, paid in full.

We look at Jesus's life, no spot. Te telestai, we examine it, paid in full.

No more creditors. Everything's taken care of. I've done what you've told me to do as a servant and as a son, te telestai.

And to remind you once again, it's good to hear it over and over again. Since the gospel is done, done, done, and not do, do, do, we can just rest, rest, rest.

Jesus paid it all, right? Even our future sins. By the way, that's one of the reasons why we celebrate the

Lord's Supper is because left to Mario's self, left to myself, we think our standing before God is not based on Jesus's work, but our holy living this week.

And I didn't read my Bible as much as I should have. And I said something to my wife I shouldn't have. And I didn't have a good attitude at work.

And I worried about where my income is gonna come. And everything else was like, how can I call myself a Christian and worry like this?

Well, Christians sin too. You must not sin. You ought not to sin, but you will sin.

So repent, go straight to the Lord. And remember, you know what? It's Jesus's work. I'm trusting in the risen savior.

The tomb is empty. He said, it is finished. The father said, amen to that by raising him from the dead. And I can rest.

I can't get to heaven by myself. I can't get to heaven by cooperating. I can only get to heaven by what

Jesus did. And I'm gonna just trust that he's true and right because he's powerful even over death.

And so Jesus says today, it is finished. Everything that has to do with the old

Testament, types and shadows and pictures and sacrifices, it's done. By the way, what happened regarding the it is finished statement?

The temple curtain that was really thick and tall, maybe 80 feet tall, ripped from top to bottom.

What was the significance of that? Well, you know, but I'll just say it over and over again. If it was ripped from the bottom up, maybe humans did it.

But divine ripping from the top to the bottom, you don't need the Holy of Holies anymore. This is over.

No more sacrifices for animals needed. And while some still did, it wasn't needed. It is finished.

What Jesus was sent to do was done. And now we have one more statement. What do you say on your deathbed?

Well, Jesus said, it is finished. And now he says in Luke 23, 46, father into your hands,

I commend my spirit. Father, forgive them. Today will be with me in paradise.

Behold your mother, my God, my God, I'm thirsty. It is finished. And now father into your hands,

I commend my spirit. Now Psalm 22 is quoted by Jesus earlier.

You know where this comes from? This is a wonderful Psalm. It's not 22, although Psalm 22 is wonderful.

This is Psalm 31. Psalm 31, man's got troubles.

Sounds like a blues song. It's like Johnny Cash, man's got troubles. And how do you respond when you have troubles?

Psalm 31, in you, oh Lord, do I take refuge. Incline your ear to me, rescue me speedily.

Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. This is what we should be doing when we're in trouble.

For you're my rock and my fortress. And for your namesake, you lead me and guide me. You take me out of the net they've hidden from me.

You are my refuge. Into your hand, I commit my spirit. For you redeem me, oh

Lord, faithful God. Be gracious to me, oh Lord, for I'm in distress.

My eye is wasted from grief, my soul, my body also. Because of all my adversaries,

I become a reproach, especially to my neighbors. I've been forgotten like one who is dead.

I become like a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many terror on every side as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

But I say in you, oh Lord, you are my God. I trust in you.

My times are in your hand. Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors. Make your face shine upon your servant.

Save me in your steadfast love. This is what the Lord Jesus is thinking about when he pulls the one verse out of Psalm 31 to say, but the whole thing is in his mind.

When one verse in the Bible, we have one verse from the Old Testament. It's there to make you think about the whole section, the whole context.

Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. Oh, how abundant is your goodness.

Psalm 31 goes on to say, you've stored up for those who fear you. Blessed be the Lord. He's wonderfully shown his steadfast love to me.

So this last saying, Jesus says, I commend myself to you.

I commit myself to your spirit. By the way, I'm going to die and whatever kind of language of forsakenness is there in scripture, there's going to be a reunion.

There's going to be a communion. There's going to be me coming back to use that language loosely. And what does

Jesus do? He bows his head and gives up his spirit. He knows he's going to die and he does that.

Augustine said, who can thus sleep when he pleases, that is die, as Jesus died when he pleased.

Who is there that puts off his garment when he pleases, as he put off his flesh at his own pleasure.

Of course, the word of God, Jesus incarnate was in control.

He wasn't killed necessarily. He gave up his own life voluntarily. So what do we say to that?

Probably we should say with a centurion right there in Luke 23, he's praising God saying, certainly this man was innocent, right?

He's confessing that he is the true God and the true man. So today on the radio show, we're talking about last words.

I started off with last words from unbelievers with a lot of sound out there from these stupid working people.

Did I just say stupid? I didn't mean that. I'll beep. That's right.

I've got that sensor button over there that you just push, beep, beep. It sounds like people are saying things they ought not to.

What about your last words? What would you like your last words to be? Let me have some last words from Christians who died.

Jonathan Edwards, trust in God and you shall have nothing to fear. John Owen, I'm going to him who my soul loveth or rather who has loved me with an everlasting love, which is the sole ground of all my consolation.

DL Moody said, I see earth receding, heaven opening. God is calling me.

Luther, huh, I think he's onto something. Into your hands, I commend my spirit.

I was in the hospital in 2021, October for 16 days with leukemia underneath as a underlying condition thinking

I'm going to die from COVID. They were trying to get me to go on, getting close to going on a ventilator.

I knew if I did, I wouldn't make it most likely. Start off with oxygen, two liters, three liters, 10 liters, 15 liters.

Now they got to put this thing on my face called high flow, 60 liters, then putting a mask on my nose as well.

So 60 liters plus the 15 on my nose. And I'm just thinking, this is bad. Every day they'd come in.

We think maybe you have to have your lung tapped What about this? What about that? I can have no visitors. I can have no friends.

I can have no family. Luke is thinking about, my son is thinking about how to break in, say hi to me.

I mean, it was, I mean, prostate cancer was bad. Leukemia was bad, but put those two together, nothing compared to how bad this was.

Can't think, no oxygen hardly. And so I just thought, what am

I going to do? And so these words came into my mind from Psalm 31. I couldn't read my

Bible, but I would listen to it on the ESV app. And I just said, Lord, into your hands, I commend my spirit.

Like if this is going to be it. I mean, I wouldn't have thought, I thought I was healthy, a lot of more years to live and everything else.

But those are good words. And I think it's okay if you were to say on your deathbed with Psalm 31, you've redeemed me,

O God of truth, I commend myself to you. I commend my soul to you. Luther went on to say, our

God is the God with whom come a salvation. God is the Lord by whom we escape death.

Can you imagine? I think about this with my mother on morphine, dying of cancer, non -smoking lung cancer, sweaty.

Her hair was always so beautiful, and here it's just kind of matted down with sweat, just deathbed stuff.

Can't open your eyes, hazy morphine. And then finally, that last breath.

You've probably seen it before. If you're around somebody who's dying, the way they breathe, they'll take a breath in and then they exhale.

Then there's this long, long, long, long, long pause. You're like, that's the last breath.

And then, and it just repeats over and over and over.

And then finally, that last breath, they exhale. You're waiting. No more in breath.

It's over. And can you imagine from pain to morphine, to sweat, to everything else on your deathbed, you've never felt worse, by the way.

And then within a split second, glory. It's like, wait a second.

It's like, whoa, from the worst ever death, cessation of everything, to glory.

And just go, what in the world? That must be amazing. I've heard it said that how many times do we have awe in our life?

Oh, what do you think? Okay, wow. Niagara Falls. Wow. Grand Island.

I mean, the Grand Island, that's a city in Nebraska. The Grand Canyon. Nobody's ever been in awe of Grand Island.

Grand Canyon, whoa. You're like honeymoon night with your wife.

What in the world? Watching a baby be born.

Your baby. You're in there. I can't believe it. But there's nothing like the awe.

You're on your deathbed. You're dying. Even if you're alive and the Lord Jesus comes back and you just think, wow.

No wonder heaven in Revelation 4, Revelation chapter 5, worthy as a lamb that was slain.

It just like, I don't know what else to say, except this is amazing. This is wonderful. This is awesome. John Knox, live in Christ, die in Christ, and the flesh need not fear.

Isaac Watts, it's a great mercy that I have no manner of fear or dread of death. I could, if God please, lay my head back and die without terror this afternoon.

Just the difference between unbelievers who die and what they say on their deathbed, and believers who die and what they say on their deathbed, all because of what

Jesus said when He died on no bed but the cross.

I think we have good news. My name's Mike Havenroth, this is No Compromise Radio Ministry. We tried our hardest to get through some of that noise.

If you say, Mike, why is there so much background noise? I tell you, they just finished the job.

They tell us die. You can write me,

Mike, at nocompromiseradio .com. And if you wanna read more about the seven words on the cross, I think if you type in Simon Kistemacher, seven words on the cross, there's a free article that you could pull up and take it and read it, print it out.

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