Transcript for:
Insights on the Seven Last Sayings of Jesus

then our third word will be given by Dr Matthew Whatley the proud pastor of kingdom Fellowship AME Church following that I will come back and raise our offering and then introduce the final four prognosticators on this evening amen are y'all ready to hear word from the Lord come on let's celebrate and thank God for Dr Howard John Wesley [Applause] a reigning and our returning Redeemer to my good friend and beloved brother Pastor Hunter The First Family to my colleagues in Ministry i g my brothers and sisters in Christ and the first word that Jesus uttered father forgive them for they know not what they do me a favor if you don't mind looking at someone who doesn't mind like they're looking back at you and just tell the neighbor oh neighbor it ain't that easy [Music] Pastor Hunter this first utterance of Jesus that is recorded in Luke 23 is unique to the Gospel of Luke it shows up and knowing the Gospels and this first audience believe it or not is the cause of much controversy within academic circles this field of biblical studies called redaction criticism that studies the authorship the historical integrity and the dating not of the events but of the writings of the events of the life of Jesus and there are some redaction critics who debate the veracity of whether Jesus actually spoke these words or not Pastor Wally the source of their contention is that when they look at their earliest handwritten copies of the Gospel of Luke there are some copies that utter these words and there's some copies of the Gospel of Luke where verse 34 is missing just make sure you don't miss it in some copies this shows up and in others it does not and therefore redaction critics debate the veracity of whether Jesus spoke these words because it's missing in some copies those who study the history of Christianity though I have to develop that the question is not whether Jesus spoke them the issue was that they were deleted by the early Christian Church I'm going to teach Bible you will recall that after the death of Jesus there's a brewing tension between the Jews and early Christians and the early Christian Church wanted the Jews to be held responsible for their culpability and the crucifixion and execution of Jesus Christ when Rome lays Siege to Jerusalem in 70 A.D and destroys the temple the early Christian Church said see we told you God is holding you responsible for the death of Jesus Christ and therefore no forgiveness should be offered you all because you put our savior on a cross and therefore early Christian churches and the copying of the Gospel of Luke deleted these words from the mouth of Jesus because they understood back then what we understand right here and right now and that is that forgiving some folk is a lot harder than it looks letting some folk off the look for the evil they've done the nasty they did the worse they spoke that's a lot easier said than done I know you're not gonna invite me back because I'm supposed to come here and tell you that you're supposed to forgive your brother and your sister 70 times seven I'm supposed to tell you that if you don't forgive others that God won't forgive you that the same way God has released you you ought to release someone else because forgiving someone is at the core of Christian character and conduct matter of fact Jesus would tell us that you can't really claim to be my followers if you don't know how to forgive those who've done you wrong if somebody slapped you on your left you're supposed to forgive them and go ahead and turn your right there's some things you're supposed to let go of it is it is my favorite spiritual writer John bevere who put it like this that many a Christian Life are destroyed not by offense but rather by the inability to forgive he says that unforgiveness is a prison with no bars let me go and drop that again unforgiveness is a prison with no bars and maybe Mount Jezreel that's why every day Satan seeks to bring offense against the body of Christ in an attempt to incarcerate you in the here and now and pull you away from good Christian character every day Satan wakes somebody up to lie on you every day Satan puts it on someone's mind to just do you wrong every day somebody gets up with an anointing to say something about the side of their neck to get you to slap them on good Christian principle every day somebody's trying to bring an offense against you to keep you from growing in the things of God [Applause] and when you think for a moment of how difficult it is for Jesus to utter these words he's dying on the cross he's going into hypovolemic shock from blood loss kidney and liver failure is imminent dehydration has weakened his body he's nailed to a cross and in order to speak in order to expand the diaphragm and in order to breathe he's got to lift his bloody and beaten back up on a cross pulling himself up on the weight of nails that are holding him to the cross in his wrist and his feet it's not easy to breathe or to speak it's not easy for Jesus to say father forgive them somebody there you ought to be a thinking amen right there because you and I both know it ain't easy to forgive some folk it's not easy to forgive folk that broke your heart it ain't easy to forgive someone that hurt your child it's not easy to forgive someone that hurt you with intention and joy it's not easy to forget some folk that hurt you on Holy Ground it's not easy to get some folk that says some stuff with a Bible in their hand talking about they love Jesus Christ it ain't easy to forgive some folk that Did You Wrong smiled and they never thought to even think I'm sorry have you ever dealt with someone where remorse wasn't even in their Spirit how could you treat me like that and not even think to say I'm sorry [Applause] it ain't that easy and hang out right here because as he dies the one who told us to forgive is about to show us how watch the anatomy of forgiveness father forgive them for they know not what they do it it's interesting bastard that the Jesus told us to forgive tells Peter 70 times 7. Jesus even offered forgiveness when when those folk come to him in in Luke 5 and Luke 7 he says your sins are forgiven he offers forgiveness he told us to forgive but listen to what he says on the cross father forgive them okay you holy and went across your head uh he does not say I forgive you he says father forgive them because there's some stuff I ain't ready to do just yet there there's some stuff I'm still wrestling with there some stuff is too hard for me just to let go of by myself so before I can say I forgive you I got to have a talk with God and ask God to give me the strength to do what I really don't want to do [Applause] father forgive them your forgiveness can be so hard that sometimes you just gotta put it in God's hands and ask God to restricted me here's how I know I'm on the road to forgiveness I'm praying about it I ain't there just yet but I'm praying about it no no we can't kiss and make up just yet I'm still praying about it I I'm going to get there but I need you to give me a moment to talk to God and ask God to help me do what I really don't want to do [Applause] because whenever something is too hard for you you call on God to help you I remember my son was having a homework assignment he goes upstairs and I go upstairs to see how he's doing and to my surprise he's on his Xbox sister and I sent you upstairs with homework to do why are you on your Xbox this is what he said he said Dad the homework was too hard so I just gave up and get it on Xbox I said son if it's too hard you don't give up you call on your daddy to come upstairs and help you do what you cannot do by yourself you don't stop just because you can't do it you call on some help to help you get it done I need God to help me [Applause] to forgive can I push this thing and prayer takes time well I know I could get invited back when I came by to tell you this that that forgiveness is not always immediate forgiveness is not always instantaneous somebody you need to hear that because someone's made you feel bad about the fact that they did you wrong and here's what the devil will do the devil will offend you and then criticize you for how long it took you to forgive him for what he did to you so here you are doubting the sincerity of your religion with Jesus because you are wrestling with forgiveness but no one can make me forgive immediately and instantaneously ah Jesus says I ain't ready to talk to y'all but I will talk to God I ain't ready to let it go yet but I'm gonna get there just give me a moment to pray give me a moment to see my therapist give me a moment to take a vacation give me a moment to calm down give me a moment to process my emotions I'll get there but it may take some time [Applause] can I push it and this one's for free forgiveness does not mean reconciliation or I came to help somebody uh offense is inevitable forgiveness is mandatory but but reconciliation is optional I'm well within my god-given right to forgive you and not speak no more I'm I'm within my god-given right to say I let it go but we ain't going out no more I can tell you in the words of the Bible now may the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another [Applause] father forgive them you know what the word forgive means it means to release in real sense forgiveness Pastor Hunter will tell you when you do the etymological work is from a prefix and a root that literally means this watch this not sinned the forgiveness is when I haven't sent what I could have said uh Jesus put it like this I could call a legion of angels to deal with y'all but here's how you know I have forgiven you is that I ain't doing everything I could do in response to what you did uh I need someone who ain't too holy to admit I could have cussed you out but I held my tongue I could have called my cousins and them but we decided not to roll up on you I could have showed up at your job but I am too Sanctified for that is there anybody here that says I held back [Applause] all right I could have done this but I'm forgiven [Applause] father forgive them for they know not what they do yes they did [Music] you knew [Applause] you knew well what you were doing you knew I didn't deserve that you knew I treated you better than that you know that you shouldn't have said that you know you were acting ugly you know you were negro fired you knew what you were doing I got to go it's not that they didn't know what they were doing they didn't know who they were doing it too you don't realize you you killing the blessing God sent your way you're trying to crucify the answer to your prayers you're mistreating the one God was going to use to bless you so when you offend me I don't I don't feel bad about me I feel bad for you because if you would have known the blessing I could be to you if you would have known the miracle God was going to work through me if you could have seen what God was up to in my presence in your life you never would have done what you did goodbye Mount Jezreel may the Lord bless you real good but the next time somebody offends you this is what I want you to do I want you to go to CVS and I want you to find the Hallmark section that's where the greeting cards are and I want you to go to the bereavement section that's where the funeral cards are and I want you to find a card that on the front says sorry for your loss and send it to everybody that ever lied on you that ever took advantage of you that ever manipulated you sorry [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you sorry for your loss [Applause] giving honor to God and to Dr Hunter lady Hunter the hunter family and my colleagues and to each of you my father's children I direct your attention for the second Echo from the cross to Luke's gospel and the 23rd chapter calls our attention beginning of verse number 32 Luke narrates that two other men both criminals were also let out with him to be executed when they came to the place called the skull They Crucified him there along with the criminals one on his right the other one is left one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him aren't you the Messiah save yourself and us but the other criminal rebuked him don't you fear God he said since you are also under the same sentence we were punished justly for we are getting what our Deeds deserve but this man has done nothing wrong then he said Jesus Remember Me when you come into your kingdom Jesus answered him truly I tell you today you will be with me Paradise I want to tag this text for your hearing seizing the moment seizing the moment Beloved the apocryphal writings of Nicodemus name them guests and dismas while Christian tradition puts guests the impenitent transgressor on the cross to Jesus's left side and dismiss the penitent transgressor on the cross to his right supposing such positioning artistic renderings depict the bowed head of our crucified savior nodding tipping or tilting to his right suggesting that if he is leaning in dismiss the the penitent transgressors Direction and that his favor is therefore falling in his Direction [Music] which make you the lens of Luke ah but through the synoptic lens of Matthew beloved perhaps it does not according to Matthew Matthew 27 beginning at verse number 38. Matthew says that two Rebels were indeed crucified with him one on his right one on his left and those who pass by hurled in insults at him shaking their heads a saying you are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days save yourself come down from the cross if you are the son of God and in the same way the chief priest teachers of the law the elders mocked him and they said he can't save himself and then it says in Matthew 27 44. that in the same way the rebels somebody say with an s who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him hence we have a problem we have a problem because you see the question here is is not which account to believe but the question is why did they canonize both accounts the question is not which account is correct but rather the question we might pose is what occurrence between Matthew 27 44 and Luke 23 42 caused brother dismiss here supposedly on the right to correct himself what did he witness on this cross that switched his perspective from Matthew to Luke what did he hear with hands stretched high that pierced his heart what did he see here at Calvary that made this man reconsider how did dismiss go from doubting Jesus to defending him how us the most agonizing moment in his life a turn into the most important moment in his life I want to know at what between Matthew 27 44 and Luke 23 42 at what point does does brother dismiss realize that the place of his greatest pain is actually the place of closest proximity to the solution to his problem for surely surely we may assume that that the left and right crosses are are probably about equidistant from the center cross we may surely uh presume Dr hunter that that brother guest is here a hangs as closely to Jesus on the left as brother dismiss hangs on the right thus we might assume that whatever the penitent brother dismisses and and hears on his side of Jesus uh surely it's also seen and heard by the impenitent brother guests on the other side of Jesus as your neighbor which side are you on which side are you on because both brothers have the same experience both brothers are in the same place of Agony both men are looking at the same ending both of them are suffering under the same weight of sin ask your neighbor which side are you on because somewhere between Matthew 27 42 44 and Luke 23 42 one man realizes that the place of his greatest pain is the place of best proximity to God somewhere between Matthew 27 44 and Luke 23 42 one brother recognizes that his moment of greatest Agony is also the time of his greatest opportunity somewhere between what Matthew saw and heard and what Luke's on heard one of them acknowledges of that the end of this life could be the beginning of eternal life with Jesus so so so what does he do when he sees it he seizes it I don't know I don't know what this dismiss saw that shifted him I don't know what this dismiss heard of that stirred him but I believe there might be a few other former dismisses in this house today who remember the day you saw a second chance through a man named Jesus and what did you do what somebody shot I seized it oh yes there's some former fellow dismisses right here whose testimony today is Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved the Rapture like me I oh I once was lost but now I'm found I was blind but now I see I need some for my dismisses who can help me testify right here that he changed my life complete and now I sit at his feet to do what what must be done now and so I'm gonna work until it comes we are my Witnesses who can testify from the right hand of Jesus that a wonderful change has come over me uh oh some form of dismisses throw your save shield and Sanctified head back right about here and holla it would have been made it should have been me it could have been me it it wasn't for the blood oh I wonder oh I wonder if maybe dismas looked out into that crowd and he's over there maybe maybe he saw a man uh whose hand I had once been withered but now that hand is lifted In Praise or maybe uh maybe he looked out over there and saw tears streaming from the eyes of a man named Bartimaeus who had once been blind but now he's looking up at Calvary and he can see oh I wonder I wonder if he looked down in the crowd and saw a woman from name now who's standing a wiping her eyes hand in hand with her resurrected son oh I don't know what he saw I have no idea what he heard but I know that whatever it was it was shown up it was enough oh it was enough to make him look at Jesus differently somebody say it was enough it was but it was enough to make him look at himself introspectively of somebody say it was enough oh I don't know what it was but it was enough to make him seize a sarithic opportunities tell your neighbor it was sure enough enough oh it was enough to transform him from my daughter to a shelter I oh it was shonoff enough it was enough to transform him from a loser to a lover of God oh it was shown up for enough it was enough to transform him from an offender to an overcomer oh it was so not for enough it was enough to transform him from my sinner to a winner saved by God's grace oh beloved he saw it he seized it and that's why somebody in the house is standing today because you saw the goodness of God and you seized it you saw the mercy of God and you seized it now you saw the unmerited favor of God and you seized it and so today [Applause] you will be with me in Paradise did he even know what opportunity he sees did he even know what Paradise was oh beloved did he understand what Jesus even said probably not but in his book Christian Theology and plain language I'm done Theologian Archibald McBride Hunter he Illustrated Paradise like this he says there was a dying man who was in the the room he's on his death bed and his doctor is sitting with him his doctor's a Christian so he says dot tell me something about the place where I'm going the doctor thought about a response and as he's thinking he he is a scratching and applying it at the door the door is closed but he now has his answer he says to the dying man he says you hear the scratching and the pawing over there at the door he says yes he says well that's scratching and pawing at the door is my dog I left my dog at the door so my dog is on the other side of the door somebody say the other side oh but understand he says he's scratching and and he's pawing on that side of the door because he hears my voice on this side of the door he said Now understand my dog does not really know what's on the other side of the door oh my dog knows is that his master is on the other side I wish you look at somebody right here and tell him I don't really know what lies on the other side of the door but they tell me on the other side the streets are paved with gold I'm really done what lies on the other side of the door but they tell me their Heavenly things on the other side of the door tell your neighbor I don't know what a lies on the other side of the door but they tell me my loved ones are waiting for me on the other side of the door tell your neighbor I don't know what's on the other side of the door but I believe my master is waiting on the other side of the door do I have a dismiss right here who will throw your head back and shot so take me to the king I don't have much to bring my heart is torn [Music] upon your Gloria somebody shot foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] away certainly do give honor to the spirit of Christ which is all the Resident and ruling in this place within him that we live and move and have our very being I thank God for Jesus and for what he means to me at this hour for his keeping power I'm glad to be in the service one more time how about you certainly want to thank God for pastor Hunter and his wife and family amen we thank God for a Shepherd who has a heart for the people of God loving God is easy God's people's a whole another situation the Bible says that a lot of days I will give you Shepherds after my own heart and I'm here to Bear witness that mount Jezreel is blessed because you have that kind of Shepherd Pastor Hunter yeah it's my esteemed colleagues and Ministry to people of God here assembled friends and enemies of the church I just believe every Christian Church ought to have some enemies if they're about our father's business so I knew you'd be here I didn't want to be rude and not speak to all y'all how you doing Holla At Your Boy amen God has a word for us today it's found the Gospel according to John the 19th Chapter beginning reading at the 25th verse reading out of the new King James version of the Bible these words are recorded now they're stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's Sister Mary the wife of clopas and Mary Magdalene when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by he said to his mother woman behold your son then he said to the disciple behold your mother and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home look at your neighbor helped me announce My Title Say neighbor get your priorities in order amen I can remember like yesterday although it was almost 40 years ago hanging out at my friend Jason's house Jason did not look like me but I was hanging out at Jason's house and at one particular time Jason's mother who was downstairs called up the stairs to Jason and Jason responded saying what do you want mom Jason didn't look like me therefore Jason had no idea what was happening emotionally psychologically spiritually at that time Jason could not see that I was having a stroke a heart attack and a Baptist fit all at the same time because the only thing I could think of was as if I ever thought [Applause] about about speaking to Muriel Annette Lewis Whatley in that tone of voice certainly with that phraseology that my time on this side of the joy would have been cut well short see from both a cultural and generational perspective I am different from the ones that are coming up now I was raised in the era of you don't call adults by the first name it was Mr or miss it was always yes sir yes ma'am that there was an instinctive way that we were to respond and it wasn't just the words that you spoke tonality body language all of that could get you slapped I'm not endorsing I'm just expressing my testimony and and and because of the way that I'd been reared when I read this particular pericope this passage it caused me to have an etymological bone to pick with Jesus and that is because when I read these words the Bible says that that Jesus after looking at his mother and then looking at John said woman behold your son and Son behold your mother struck a funny black nerve but because because it felt like Jesus has just teetered over the edge of disrespect but because when I hear him say to marry woman I get triggered all the way back to Jason's house and I told you Jason did not look like me so so what I had to do was do a little research to understand that when Jesus said woman to his mother Mary it did not sound the same in her ear as it does in my ear in 2023. you see when you do a little study you'll discover that this term woman in its age and context it is really more like an idiom you know idioms are are phrases that we use but don't portray what they actually mean so when we say heads up that does not mean to lift your head up it actually means to duck get out the way get ready trouble is coming in your direction like likewise brothers and sisters I I began to realize that what Jesus is actually doing is actually being respectful because the best translation of that word woman actually means something again to ma'am he's saying ma'am with with respect because he's trying to impart something to someone that he reveres and he loves now can I just be honest I I've been triggered by Jesus before on this because you do recall his inaugural miracle that that first time y'all do I got some alumni from Sunday school don't you you do remember that that when they were at uh the wedding the wedding was now over and then now uh getting ready to go from the electric slide to the Cha-Cha Shuffle and and the older sisters getting ready to do the wobble and and somebody looks over and says we in trouble because the open bar is running short Mary overhearing the conversation then pulls Jesus to the side having seen minor Miracles occur around the house as he came up says to him you need to fix this situation and keep the party going Jesus responds with this word woman what has this to do with me my time has not yet come what I love about it and I can almost prove with certainty that Mary is a sister is because her response to her son is not to respond to her son but rather to turn to the servants and say do whatever it is he tells you to do I wish I could get some black folks in this black church to understand what I'm trying to get at um if you were raised like me then you know that one of the worst things you have to do was go to one of your parents to ask for some money outside of your allowance certainly my father in particular that man could choke the head off a penny and so anytime I had to ask him for a dime I had to endure uh one of those speeches oh y'all just think that I'm negative money I owe you too that's right I I guess I'll just go out into the backyard and just shake the money tree that's right that's all you think but but what I learned a long time ago Pastor how it is is if I could just endure the speech if I could just hang out and listen long enough sooner or later while he was complaining he'd start reaching in his back pilot pocket to get his wallet and he reaching that wallet and give me what I needed what's your point here's my point that one of the reasons I love God is because God has a way of sometimes taking me through more than I desire but he always gives me what I need here it is the Bible says that that Jesus says to her woman Behold thy son and I like that watch this because what he is doing actually with this idiom is giving us an insight theologically as to how he always expands our understanding and refines that which was already conventionally known in other words when you look at the life the Legacy the ministry and mission of Jesus you will discover that time and time again he says things that don't make sense up front but they are a blessing after a while he says stuff like though those who seek to save their lives will lose them but but those who seek to lose their lives for my sake will fight he says stuff that's kind of strange at first like destroy this Temple and in three days I'll raise it up again he he takes a whole sermon on the mountain says you've heard it said but now I say he says crazy stuff at the time like those who eat of My Flesh and drink of my blood will have eternal life it sounds familiar now but it sounded strange then all I'm trying to get you to see is that being a person of faith means that you got to give God time to prove what he's dead in the moment every now and then he'll say crazy stuff like forgive like tithe like serve like praise when you still have a reason to cry and you got to learn how to take him at his word and trust that he'll pay you back on the back end all I'm trying to get to the Sea my brothers and sisters is that Jesus has a way of giving new meaning new understanding a new definition of previously established norms and that's why he does what he does here in this third word he he begins to expand our traditional nomenclature around family because what he does is he says from now on family can no longer merely be denied simply by uh DNA or by uh some kind of genetic continuity because you do understand sometimes you can be close to the People by Spirit than you are by Blood sometimes you have more things in common with folks based on how you are than where you come from so the first thing that Jesus does when he says this woman Behold thy son and son Behold thy mother is to give us a new understanding of relationship somebody say relationship isn't it interesting now and that Jesus says to John who he loves the disciple to take care of Mama Johnny can't like that yet yet he's giving him responsibility let me try it again the tradition was that the eldest son was to take care of Mama but in the absence of the eldest son it goes to the next son well apparently Jesus got some folk in the house but he does not trust them to Take Good Care of Mama and as a consequence he has to reach outside of the bounds of the traditional family to the spiritual family that God has established and inaugurated in this new era and Epoch that we call the kingdom y'all better hear what I'm saying because God is trying to get us to understand that's why church is not optional that God did not save you and redeem you and fill you with the Holy Ghost so you can sit quiet in the corner as a Christian and try to figure out the Kingdom on your own but the Bible says that you ought to forsake not the assembling of yourselves together and when you come here I don't call you doctor or judge because nobody care where you went to school or what you did I call you brother or sister because now we are the family of faith for now are we the Sons and Daughters of God and it does not yet appear I feel like preaching on a good Friday what we shall be but here's the good news when we get done we shall be like here all I'm trying to get you to see is I Rush on is that at some point my brothers and sisters you need to reevaluate the terms of relationship cause some of y'all too too excited about people's credentials and people's resume don't you ever get too excited about their resume that's part of the story they just put up the highlights but there's some low lights that go along there you need to stop being excited about how much somebody makes and what their vocation is you better realize that how can two walk together unless they agree I don't care how fine they are I don't care how big and bad they are if they ain't saved if they ain't filled then they're gonna bring some stuff with them in your life look at somebody and say neighbor it's time for a new relationship which means you can't be so thirsty that you just run after any and everybody that calls your name stop being so hungry for acceptance and Applause and approval that you ready to give your bed and your Social Security security number to the first negro that looks at you twice at some point you ought to look at yourself be satisfied with who God Made You and until God sends them you stay by your how do we get there all I'm trying to get you to see is that Jesus redefines relationship in this third word secondarily watch this none of this he refined relationship but he does it publicly Jesus knew what was coming he could have pulled John and Mary aside several days ago and tell them now y'all family but while he's suffering on calvary's Cross after in John's gospel he declares forgiveness for everybody the second thing he does is take care of home and he does so publicly that there ought to be some public recognition there ought to be something on the record about the way that y'all relate let me say it this way y'all I am suspicious of any relationship that cannot be publicly acknowledged y'all call me old school if you want to I don't believe in friends with benefits I don't believe in common law relationships I don't believe that that I gotta pay you in cash that means you ain't trying to pay Uncle Sam I believe that you ought to act knowledge the basis of the relationship if it's legitimate [Applause] I'm old school I'm from a different generation which which means I'm not like these young cats I don't refer to my wife as my partner and and my boo thing no no no she gets the one word that the other eight billion people on the Earth cannot claim she's my wife because I have gone on record to make covenant and commitment to this woman are you hearing what I'm saying that's what I'm trying to get you to see that until your relationship becomes public it's still suspect and that my brother that my sister is what praise is all about when I come to worship I open my mouth because I want to publicly affirm and acknowledge that I can get to where I am because of my last name I didn't get to where I am because I went to school I went where I am because of that a God on my side I wish you would nudge your neighbor real quick and say neighbor I want to go on the record about my relationship with God because if it had not been for the Lord on my side I would be a wretch undone right in fact I get a little nervous because some folks can't even acknowledge God in God's house now I've never understood why people come to church not to have church you know what I'm talking about when you stand up they look at you when you say Amen they side are you well sucks if I can't recognize God in God's house where am I supposed to go if I shot on the job they'll send me the HR if I shout in school they'll send me to the principal and you think after all the devil's done over the last seven days when I get to God's house I'ma sit down and be quiet the devil is a liar I came to acknowledge Him that you are the source of my strength you are the strength of my life and in you I live and move and have everything foreign [Music] he establishes relationship he establishes recognition thoroughly and finally he lines up for his mama resources somebody shout resources see this is not just about her no longer having a physical son it's also about the fact that she now needs to have financial support so that that as a widow she will not be able to make ends meet on her own and because Jesus has his priorities in order he refuses to take care of the sins of humanity and still not watch out for Mama you're not happy can I testify uh when I was in seventh grade my grandfather at the age of 57 Reverend Matthew Allen Whatley from whom I received my first name died and left my grandmother a widow because she was the first lady at the reception I mean before she got back home some of the officers at the church approached my grandmother to ask her and now mother Marion we need to know since your husband is gone do you still expect us to pay for the utilities after parstage look like how much can she spend in lights then they said mother Marin we just need to know how long you expect to be in the parsonage because we got to get ready for our new pastor this is at the reception for my grandfather but my father was in hearing distance of the conversation and so he got involved even though body had asked him the question and he said listen it ain't gonna be but a week and a half and you don't have to worry about my mother anymore can I tell you that she is now 93 years old and has never wanted for a thing in fact now in Marietta Georgia my father's house is on this side of the corner my grandmother's house that he bought for her is on that side of the corner they back to the same lot because he understood he had a responsibility to take care of his family y'all this ain't gonna be no good clothes because I can't modulate on what I need to tell you here I come to tell you we got our priorities all messed up as the people of God we got our priorities all messed up as Black Folk that we're more interested in looking like we got money than actually having and Building Wealth y'all just keep quiet cause at a black funeral the first question when you hear somebody dies we want to know who's got the body who want somebody from another Community dies they don't want to know who's got the body they want to know who's got the will because they know that there's going to be some glory after this you don't hear me that when somebody black dies we trying to get to the house first so we can get our pick of the clothes and the jewelry they worried about clothes and jewelry they trying to figure out who's going to inherit the company who's going to have their name up next on the deed you better hear what I'm saying because if you say you love God if you say you've been born again that means you can't just shout on Sunday and leave your family in lack it means you need to take care of your house because you have an assignment to leave an inheritance to your children and your children's children I told you I'm gonna be no great clothes but before Jesus bowed his head and the locks of his shoulders and gave up the ghost he made sure he took care of Mama because he understood that family takes care of each other nut somebody real quick and say neighbor and that's why I'm glad I'm in the family of God because I was not born in I was not of the line of Judah I was not a descendant of the House of David but because he chose to die on Friday I was crafted in I was adopted into the family of God and I can't speak for you but I don't know why Jesus loves me I don't know why Jesus cares I don't know why he sacrificed his life but I'm glad I'm so glad he did would you look at your neighbor real quick and say neighbor I wasn't born in but I made it in by the blood of Jesus yeah yeah living he loved me dying he saved me a buried he carried my sins far away but Rising he justified me freed me forever and one day he's coming back up one day he's gonna practice God do you believe it to say yeah say yeah say yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] Hallelujah we come to praise the Lord hallelujah years [Music] Praise Him praise him [Music] praise him [Applause] praise him [Music] Jesus bless his savior he's ready to be praised Praise Him [Music] [Music] Praise Him Jesus [Music] [Music] to go [Applause] Jesus [Music] thank you Praise Him Praise Him [Music] please good morning attention crazy them call listen to me Jesus Jesus Christ foreign [Music] for he is worthy to be praised well Mount Jezreel and our friends and family it's giving time and God loves a God loves a cheerful Giver if if we went by paganism they have us believing that Jesus's birthday is in December that be the case and the Bible says that Jesus died at 33 and a half years old then that means December of 2022. December 2022 he was 33 years old and today he hangs on the cross at 33 and a half years old so I'm going to ask as I play with the number in my head if everyone will get as close to 33 dollars or more 33 dollars on this afternoon 33 dollars there are five ways to which one can give here at Mount Jesuit you can give by way of going to our Church's website mountjestro.com you can give by way of your banking institution through bill pay you can give by way of give life on your mobile device you can give by way of bringing your gifts as we are preparing to do and for those who are watching in the social Sanctuary you can give electronically or even mail your gifts to 420. University Boulevard East Silver Spring Maryland no s 20901 but once you've secured your gift and hand would you stand all over the sanctuary as we ask God's blessing on our giving officers are going to be coming and ushers are going to lead us and give us further instruction as we bring our gifts unto the Lord let's look to the Lord and pray our father and our God we thank you for this moment in giving we ask God that your blessing be upon us to give the 33 just as you gave 33 years of your life God we wouldn't be here had it not been for you and we recognize every good and perfect gift comes from you so we ask your blessings upon gift and Giver seed and sower offering an offerer in the name of Jesus Christ we pray and we ask it all those who love the Lord shouted amen amen our music Ministry is going to bless us our officers are coming our ushers are going to lead us as we bring our gifts to the Lord [Music] thank you and tragedies are commonplace all kinds of diseases people are slipping away in economies down people can get enough pain but as for me all I can say is oh no folks with our homes are in the streets the drug habits some say they just can't be mothers and Robbers no place seem to be saved would you be my protection every step away it could have been me or just another number I wanna say [Music] could it be me oh just another number [Music] thank you enough for me [Music] how we bless God for the first three who have shared their convictions on this seven last sayings of 2023 experience real quickly certainly we're not rude we want to take this time to ask any preachers or pastors with the exception of those who are slated for the seven last sayings if you would just stand wherever you are so that we can recognize your presence in this place God bless you God bless you all creatures all pastors God bless you I see channel is this you man come on up here come on man come on move with quickness God bless you God bless you thank you for each and every one of you thank you for each and every one of you and your presence I'm grateful that my spiritual nephew has driven all the way from the eastern shore of Maryland to come and be here on this day pastor of the African Baptist Church in cherrington Virginia amen let's thank God for him amen amen amen now we will hear the Final Four of our seven last sayings our first fourth word will be given to us by Bishop Dr Dante Hickman of the Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore Maryland then we will have our fifth word by Reverend Justin Rhodes of the Trinidad Baptist Church of Washington DC following him we will have Dr Marcus Jerkins our neighbor and here in Silver Spring from the resurrection Baptist Church right here in the best part of the country last but not least we will have Dr Wallace Baxter the proud pastor of Second Baptist Church of South East southwest DC Southwest I'm still learning it all Southwest D.C can we thank God for each and every one of them our choir is going to bless us and then we're here from Bishop Hickman he thought about you he thought about me and we're so grateful [Music] the lamb was love that this world has never known what it means I am free from the chains of slavery I'm of love that was shared won't let my sins remain [Music] thank you Jesus upon the cross my savior [Music] showed us love that this world has ever known foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] whenever foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] for me just for me across the way just for me look beyond my thoughts and foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh you thank you Lord because Jesus came and dead oh Jesus came and did it just for me [Music] foreign [Music] of the Sun to the going down of the same the lord's name is worthy to be praised and how we honor the spirit of Christ that so richly dwells in this place and certainly We Salute and thank God for your pastor one of my dearest friends the Reverend James and Hunter thank God for his leadership his friendship and his stewardship and certainly for his family and all of the Ministers of the Gospel who are here present in those who have preached officers members and guests it's mighty nice to be on the Lord's Side this please excuse the way I look I've been working and preaching two and three Good Friday services and because your pastor is my friend he told me come and be a slave one more time working me like an old Workhorse today but and then to come all this way but I thank God that I wouldn't come for anybody else but Jameson and the Jezreel Baptist Church thank God for you I want to invite our attention to Matthew chapter 27 and I'm going to read two verses in your hearing verse 46 and 51 which simply say and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli Eli La Masa bhaktani that is my God my God why have you forsaken me and then verse 51 then behold the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom and the earthquake and the Rocks were split look at somebody and just tell them he was there all the time and that's what I want to preach for a few moments he was there all the time by the time of our text my dear brothers and sisters Jesus has done all he could for everybody else he prayed for forgiveness for the mob he promised the future in Paradise to a mobster and he provided Fellowship to his mother and yet with all of his giving to others there was no one there to give anything to him in return he was an example that you can give everybody your everything and still be left without anybody giving you anything this is why we should never give with the motive of giving something uh to get something from others in return because it rarely will come back when and in the way in which you expect nevertheless in the moment it was not difficult for Jesus to expect that people would forsake Him than to accept that God may have forsaken him too he could deal with people abandoning him because people had already proven that they couldn't be counted on when things got rough but never could Jesus have imagined that he wouldn't feel the presence of God in the time of trouble after all God was there when he was born in a backyard Barn God was there when he was baptized in the River Jordan and God was there when he healed the sick raised the dead fed the hungry restored the sight of the blind unstopped deaf ears and casted out demons but now when he needed God the most it appeared that God was absent and had abandoned him so he asked my God my God why have you forsaken me and I think it's important my dear brothers and sisters no matter how spiritual you may think you are that when you feel a certain way that you ought to pray a certain way I'm not going to paint this thing with flowery words or beds of ease I'm I'm going to tell God what I'm feeling right now this is jacked up right now I don't like the situation that I'm in right now it feels like you have left me hanging and sometimes my dear brothers and sisters you and I have to stop over spiritualizing and under humanizing everything and embrace our Humanity for a minute we have to realize that it's okay to not be okay if we're not really okay and Jesus unlike many of us didn't fake the funk and he didn't fake what he was feeling somebody shout he kept it real and I know why you can't shout on that because keeping it real is a difficult idea for people who like to appear as something we are not we think that as Christians that we have to be Invincible to the realities that we experience all the time but the devil is a liar we all have a Kryptonite and the right situation will expose that ain't none of us all we appear to be shout in church but we know you're catching hell at home dressed up in church but we know you're exposed in your community and then to make matters worse when we try to embrace the lie and the false idea of our invincibility we will inevitably feel our invisibility to others and to ourselves and there's nothing worse than going through pain and feeling invisible there's nothing worse than helping everybody else and then when you are struggling you don't even feel like anybody sees or is trying to empathize with you that simply means church that you have done a good job of hiding your hurts but now if you're going to get the help you need and be healed you're going to have to come out come out from wherever you are you got to come from behind that mask you got to come from behind that title you have to come from behind that outfit you have to come from behind that self-righteousness and you have to come from behind that Superhero complex and be healed from your disillusionment subsequently for a moment Jesus transparently processes his physical mental and spiritual pain that clearly conveys what it's like to experience Detachment of your flesh from your spirit consider if you will that Jesus was slipping into death a reality that he could not control and it's one thing to be able to recover from sickness it's one thing to be able to rebound from a bad relationship it's one thing to be able to repair something that's broken or to replace what you lost but how do you deal with something where there's no way out there's no way back and there's no way through I'm trying to help us to understand that death then is about losing control and losing control will make you feel helpless and alone and I don't care who you are life will bring you to a point where all you where you will realize that you are not in control and you will wonder who is in control but your peace will prevail when you embrace the fact that my God has everything under control that that's why Paul helped us when he said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and if this Earthly Tabernacle would be dissolved we've got another building Eternal in the heavens not made by hand so then my Detachment is merely deliverance and delivery to the destiny that God has already predestined me for Jesus helps us to see his Detachment but he also helps us to see the dualism within himself remember he was fully God and he was fully man and through the cross his God's side was being separated from his man's side when he who knew no sin had become sin for us and now he has to deal with the dichotomy and duality of himself that obviously made him feel like he was disconnected from God translation there's two me's on the inside of me that there's a bee that's holy and then there's a me that's capable of being Unholy there's a me that comes to church on Sunday and there's a me that goes to the club on Friday there's a me that will bless you and then there is a me that will cuss you out with multi-salamic cuss words if you get me wrong there's a me that will forgive you and then there's a me that will stay up late to get your behind back but thank God for Jesus who prioritize his divinity over his humanity and while the split within me will make me think that God has split on me I choose to stay on the Lord's Side for he said if I abide in him and his word abides in me I can ask what I will of the father and he will do it for me so then sometimes the inside of me gets discouraged by the outside of me and it feels like God has gone out to lunch on me when I'm asking him questions that are not being answered but somebody here is a witness that if you listen long enough and if you look long enough you will discover that God always answers prayer I don't need all of y'all to shout I just need 30 of y'all that know the power of prayer to jump up and shout God answers prayer that that's why every now and then I pray hard prayers because I want to know where is God in my pain I want to know where is God when I'm perplexed I want to know where is God when I'm being persecuted where is God in the insanity and the inhumanity of this world but I got good news for you when I read this text I discovered that Jesus asked this question not because he didn't know where he was but because he wanted us to know that he was there all the time and if y'all gonna help me preach three more minutes high five your neighbor and say neighbor you may not see him you may not feel him you may not be able to trace him but the word of God says he is there all the time how do I know I'm a Bible preacher the Bible says that God is in our scriptural Foundation that that's Point number one somebody say learn the word because you gonna need the word when you feel like you're in this thing all by yourself that's what Jesus did he remembered and recited the word of God from Psalm 22 but where most of us stop reading is where Jesus was just getting started he didn't quote the wholesome but he knew and was forecasting the end of the psalm and when he quoted the beginning of the psalm the enemy thought that he had him and that's what God God wants the devil in your life to think he wants the devil to think that you think God has left you but the beginning of the psalm is an honest prayer of difficulty but the end of the song is a praise for deliverance Jesus was saying it's hard right through here but I know God's gonna bring me out I'm in a tough situation but I know God's gonna bring me through I I'm between the devil and the deep blue sea but if you can remember his word you will find that God is always there when your emotions aren't reliable you can rely on his word that says God is our refuge and our strength a very present help in the time of trouble and if I take the wings of a dove and fly to the utmost parts of the world he'll find me there and if I make my bed in hell behold he is there when you walk through the fire you will not be burned and when you go through the waters you will not be drowned for the Lord is with you can I preach like I feel it high five your neighbor and say neighbor I know where God is he's in my scriptural Foundation but then secondly God is in my strength to feel fish what I started I wonder if if there's anybody here that says I felt like quitting I felt like giving up I felt like throwing in the towel that's what Jesus felt he felt like God stopped dealing with him but here's the good news he did not stop Dying For Us preach Dante preach I'm doing the best I can because how many times have you felt like God has stopped on you but you kept going for him no your business was failing but you kept the faith the church stopped growing but you kept preaching the money stopped flowing but you kept giving the glory stopped glowing but you kept praising it wasn't because you were so strong but they that way upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall Mount up on wings like eagles they shall run and not getting weary they shall walk and not faint I dare you and say I'm only here by the grace of God because the joy of the Lord is my strength good evening church may the Lord bless all of your real real good but if you want me to shut it down just holler shut it down Dante shut it down he was there all the time he was in the scriptures he was in my strength to finish but finally he was in my surroundings with favor I I need 54 to look around where you are and shall God has been there all the time surrounding me with favor I'm a Bible preacher first 51 says then behold the Veil in the temple was torn into from the top to the bottom the earthquake The Rock split the graves will open and the Centurion says surely surely this must have been the Son of God so that while going through my worst God is working out my best Shake somebody's head like you're gonna shake it off and say stop crying stop complaining stop bickering stop looking at what you're going through and look at what the Lord all around you he's opening doors he's making waves he's building bridges he's granting access he's making a rough place play and the Crooked place is straight and I may not be able to see what the Lord is doing for me but the Lord is Blessing Me Right Now right now right now so I go wait till the battle is over I'm a shout right now right now right now shouty yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] to the spirit of God that rests in this place to my friend and your pastor Dr Jameson Hunter thank you for the opportunity come and to share in this significant moment to my co-laborers and to all of you the people of God we give God thanks and praise for your being here for our worshiping together the fifth utterance about Christ from the cross comes out of John's gospel the 19th Chapter I want to Simply lift that 28th verse into our hearing this afternoon the new revised standard version of scripture says after this when Jesus knew that all was now finished he said in order to fulfill the scripture I am thirsty I want to preach thought or a subject suffering while serving suffering wow serving Jesus has been on the cross he has been there and he arrives there after of having been mishandled by corrupt systems he's there having been sentenced to death though pilot rightly acknowledges that he never did anything wrong Jesus is there he's on this cross he is dealing with everybody else's stuff Jesus has dealt with uh the issue and the need for forgiveness he says father forgive them they don't know what they do Jesus has been taking care of everybody else he he he he has dealt with the thief who accompanies him on the cross the thief rightly him wrongly he deals with the thief's situation by saying that today you'll be with me in Paradise even the care of his mother takes care of his mother and entrusts her to the care of someone whom he loved then we find Jesus in our fourth utterance as Bishop Hickman has so rightly preached in this place we find Jesus prioritizing his divinity my God my God why have you forsaken me but it's not until this fifth of that Jesus now comes to the place where his Humanity comes on the stage it's not until this fifth utterance that Jesus really Taps into that other side of the hypostasis yeah yeah Jesus yes to you and I uh no yes is fully God but he's also fully human we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities Jesus is human and in this utterance Jesus deals with the fact that he is thirsty I want to suggest uh today my brothers and sisters that that that this utterance uh is a word for us as uh Believers it's a word for us who have experience going through this life serving other people and having to subordinate our own needs sometimes am I talking to anybody am I talking to a mother or a father that has the experience of having to make sure that your family is taken care of before you deal with your own need am I talking to some preacher some Pastor who knows what it feels like to go to the hospital who knows what it is to go and to look after other people's families and friends and loved ones while your own family is reaching out for you is there anybody in the room that understands what I'm talking about today there are times in our lives Pastor Hunter where our own needs find their way on the back burner and yet it is amazing because what I find interesting is that this utterance is only recorded by John oh let me park here for a moment because what I want us to understand is that all of the gospels we have been to Sunday school y'all have been in Bible study you know Matthew marker and Luke are the synoptic gospels they are similar and because they are similar many of the stories and things that happen in those gospels are are are reiterated in other uh transl in other versions in in those other accounts from differing perspectives but John is the only one Who records this phrase and utterance of humanity may I suggest to you my brothers and sisters that though those gospels these gospels come from different perspectives John's uh inclusion of this utterance is an indication to me that everybody is not going to acknowledge your needs everybody's not going to see where you're coming from and be able to for that to resonate with them everybody is not going to be able to appreciate that after all that you've given after all that you poured out after the times that you've been there for them after the times that you took their calls late at night after the times that you Stood Beside them in their greatest point and places of Despair that they are going to see your needs and some of them will not even look in your direction I I thirst Jesus says I thirst I thirst because of my Humanity needs to be dealt with you I I I thirst I know some people what might suggest that this is uh something more deep and spiritual than simply his Humanity speaking but I want to suggest today my brothers are and my sisters that God uh can yes deal with when we cry out in our own Humanity that it's not it's not foreign it's not wrong it's not uh any less part of God's Divine and unique plan for our lives that our Humanity be honored this might not be what you thought you were going to hear on our thirst today but I want to suggest to you my brothers and my sisters that God cares enough about you and me to not allow our true human needs our true Human Condition to be ignored and cast aside that God cares enough about us in the totality of our composition that God would allow Jesus's Humanity to find its place on the pages of holy writ so that you and I can understand that even in the midst of our serving that our suffering does not go unacknowledged I I want to preach to some some person that feels like they're invisible I want to preach to some person that feels like everybody else gets everything and for whatever reason I I feel like I just disappear into the background I want you to know today that this utterance of I thirst is God's way of telling you that you matter this is God's way of telling you that you don't have to always subordinate your needs that after you deal with this issue end that problem and this concern and this relationship that at the end of the day the full expression of God in you requires that your Humanity be honored I'm in my seat when I tell you this that that that it had to happen I see when I tell you this because the text says that it was after this after what after Jesus deals with everybody else's stuff when he knew that all was now finished we're going to hear it in just a moment but it's the same word even here right now that this accomplishment that Jesus has now accomplished Everything Jesus deals with everybody else and it is not until after everyone else is dealt with that it is accomplished that it's finished but he says it in order the scripture says to fulfill the scriptures he said I'm thirsty Psalm 69 and 21 says that they what they did and they gave me uh this wine for my thirst this cheap yes and sour wine y'all know what it is to drink cheap wine I'll have to reiterate that for us but he said they gave me poison for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink that they gave me this this thing uh that this Roman soldiers would normally drink but what I want to suggest as I hasten to my seat is that this had to happen because Jesus's Humanity had to be honored as part of the narrative of human history that Jesus did what he did that he suffered but that he suffered while he served because he knew how to complete his assignment [Applause] amen all honor and Glory go to God Our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ by his spirit we thank God for this wonderful opportunity to come and to share we thank God for Mount Jezreel your pastor the Reverend Dr James and Hunter amen friend and brethren for his family we praise God for you and we honor all of our colleagues who are preaching and those who have gathered to share with us and all of you our father's children turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of John Chapter 19 Verse number 30. reading to you from the King James translation of the holy writ it reads when therefore Jesus had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost for the few moments that we have together to share I want to talk to you from the subject faithful until the end bloodied bruised battered the runner crawled to the finish line trying his utmost to reach the conclusion of the race hurting in pain he was intent not to let anything stop him from reaching the end of the race already 18 of the 75 runners had pulled out of the race and by the time a quarry reached the Finish Line the medals had already been handed out at the 1968 Olympics but acquire was certain within himself that he was going to cross that finish line and upon reaching the Finish Line the Press was in an uproar they were puzzled as to why a quarry would fight this hard after having fallen down and hurt himself to reach the finish line Tanzanian Runner didn't hold back he looked at the Press as they looked at him with puzzlement and said my country did not send me 5 000 miles to start the race they sent me all this way to finish the race we find here Jesus uttering this famous phrase it is finished and he does so at the end of his Earthly Ministry because not the United States not the United Kingdom not Tanzania but the kingdom of God did not send him to start something he was not going to finish Scholars brothers and sisters are puzzled about the it that Jesus was declaring is finished it's raised last year by a dear colleague what is the antecedent what is the it that Jesus was saying is finished and I want to argue that among the many options I don't have time to labor in them I believe that Jesus was talking about the work the assignment the the task that was given to him his prophetic task to come in this space to declare the gospel to the poor and to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds in this time that our had now come that moment had now been attained now was the time for Jesus to take on the completion of this task of ministry indeed brothers and sisters Jesus did this Faithfully from the beginning to the end and I want to argue brothers and sisters that we must look at Jesus and honor him and take on what he did because Jesus shows us in his faithfulness from the beginning of his ministry to the completion of it that Jesus was showing us how God Reigns you you may not remember but from the very beginning of Jesus Ministry Jesus showed the reign of God he was pulled aside by his mother in Cana of Galilee because at the wedding party there was no more Ciroc the Bible says that that Jesus said my hour has not come but his mama said whatever he tells you do it and at that wedding Jesus turned water into wine he was working and after that the Bible says that Jesus kept on working a noble men's son was sick at home and he came and requested Jesus to do something about it the Bible says that Jesus looked on the situation and told the normal man you can go home now your son is healed Jesus was working and in his work he also brothers and sisters looked at a man who was laid down at the pool of Bethesda for 38 long years and he in his work on the Sabbath told him to take up your bed and walk Jesus was working and not only there brothers and sisters but Jesus was working again because we find him also taking two fish and five loaves of bread breaking them up and allowing what was a snack to become a buffet Jesus was working Jesus didn't stop there because after he had fed the multitudes Jesus took it upon himself to walk on the water Jesus was working and then he stopped by in Jerusalem where there was a man who was born blind and the Bible says he saw that man born blind his disciples were asking the wrong questions but Jesus had the right answers and the Bible says that he told that man after he turned put some spit in some mud and entered it into some clay and put it on his face to wash in a pool of Siloam and he came back seeing Jesus what's working y'all but after all of that Jesus worked again there was a man whom he loved who died the Bible says that he had been dead so long that he was stinking but Jesus still said roll the stone away and on that day he declared Lazarus come forth Jesus was working on but don't let us Brothers and sisters look at all of those works and forget that on today with Nails in his hands [Applause] with a crowd of thorns on his head with nail in his feet that he has stopped working it is finished meant that the reign of God that was shown when he was multiplying fish and Five Loaves the reign of God that was shown that when he was healing blinded eyes the reign of God that was shown when he was lifting up laying for that rain was still operating with his hands on a cross and a feet and his feet in a crown of fours on his hand he was still King in this moment [Music] Jesus was still working can I talk to some preachers for a moment don't think that you ain't working because ain't nobody happy with the work that you're doing but don't think that's your work is something to be neglected because they crucify you forward when you work for the Lord sometimes you're gonna have to get on a cross sometimes they'll say hail King of the Jews and sometimes they'll say crucify him crucify him but the work of God is still the work of God no matter what anybody says about it when you walk for the law [Applause] I got a haste and I got a hasten it is finished was still Jesus proving that he was the king that he was but see here's here's the point now and I'm and I'm done the reign of God was visible throughout his ministry but it looked like he failed Kings don't end up on crosses you see so I want to argue that even though he was reigning what we see on the cross was no rules this was not a lie this was not a falsehood this was not a farce what we see on the cross is the King sitting on his throne this wasn't no high back chair with gold on the top this was a cross and Jesus was showing himself to be our King on this cross it didn't look like a throne but that's exactly what it was you see they tried to make him King in chapter six but Jesus refused he left he said because my my Throne ain't gonna be the throne that you can make my Throne will be uh the cross that rescues you from sin and death and Jesus was on that cross saints of God because he wanted to show every child of God sometimes Victory will often look like defeat sometimes success will often look like failure sometimes strength will often look like a look like weakness when we see Jesus on the cross we start to understand that God was up to something because Jesus was our representative he was our King hold on let me find my way he was our King he was the one who would represent us wherever the king of England goes England goes with him and when Jesus was on the cross he became our replacement he became the one who was sufficient to be our ruler because he represented us on that cross he was the one who was able to take on death itself and we find brothers and sisters that when Jesus was on the cross that he had to take in sin and death it is finished means that the worker of completing the old way the way of Darkness the way of sin the way of Destruction now that time is over and a new time has begun and the only way it could be done was Jesus himself had to be the one to do it I I gotta get out of here y'all may the Lord bless you real good but this thing began to bless me because I began to remember there was a time where I took on a job I took on a job when I was with my little sister and we began to go around the neighborhood and cut grass and while we were cutting grass in the neighborhood I found myself in danger I found myself in trouble because I came up on a Beat I came up on a beach and that bee was mean my little sister started running around that bee was really mean and I began to panic and I began to flail my arms in the air trying to get that bee away from me but I discovered something when you flare your arms at a bee it's likely that that bee will stink you and that be while I was on my job but stung me right between my eyes and stung me right between my eyes and it was painful it was really painful I I was in a lot of pain y'all y'all y'all May laugh at me but I was hurting that day I was really hurting but I came to the conclusion I came to this conclusion and that's where I got excited because that bee's life was now over because after that bee stung me it could no longer sting my sister and I wish I had a witness around here that could come back to church with me for a moment because Jesus was on that cross because what he wanted to show us that when he declares it is finished every time we look at the cross we'll remind that poverty is finished every time we look at that cross we look at that cross we see sex trafficking is finished every time we look at the cross we see yeah that sin is now finished and is there anybody that came to have a little church with me not right now who can celebrate the fact that when Jesus said it's finished that did not mean that Jesus was finished but it meant that death was finished it meant that sin was finished it meant that the power of Darkness was finished it but his ancestors I'm leaving you now my time is up but the king said is finished because he had to stand in my place Alas and Did My Savior plea and did my sovereign die was it for such a worm as I had the cross at the cross where my savior died and the burdens of my heart rolled away it was there by faith I received my sight and now and now and now I'm happy all the day is there anybody here who could lift your hands to God and tell the Lord I'm a happy Lord because Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved arrest like me I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see you through many dangers through many dangers of toils and snares I have already come but Grace but Grace has brought me save this heart and grace shall lead me on is there anybody here who can thank our God for his grace can't you say yes say yes say yes [Music] won't he make a way won't he do it won't he do it say yeah yeah yeah [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] God said amen amen and amen I'm grateful to God for this opportunity I'm grateful to God to be here I'm grateful to God to be anywhere [Applause] grateful God to be anywhere in this season so thankful for my friend and brother Dr Jameson Hunter God bless you sir thank you for the invitation to you your family and to my Mount Jezreel family amen I I consider y'all family I'm grateful to God grateful to God to be here on this day you know past the Hunter is my friend but every now and then I kind of wonder if he really loves me this is one of those days where I am questioning the nature of our bond no I'm grateful to God for him grateful in God for this opportunity won't you pray with me God we thank you for another time to come together God we thank you for the words that you have spoken here today we thank you God for this opportunity to worship you now God we need a word not just a good word but one that will do us all some good God hide me behind your empty cross so these your people see and hear all of you and none of me open my ears and I might hear regulate my mind that I might discern open my mouth that you might speak Holy Spirit keep on keeping on we'll be careful to give your name all the praise all the honor in all the glory it's in the matchless and marvelous name of Jesus who is still the Christ that we do pray and ask it all and every heart said amen amen I I want to call your attention to the gospel bearing the name Luke for this seventh and final utterance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ while he is there and after he has said all of these other things that have been so masterfully and sagaciously navigated this day he comes to this place in Luke the 23rd chapter around the 46th verse and in the new revised Standard Version he says something to this effect then Jesus crying out with a loud voice said father into thy hands I commit or commend my spirit having said this he breathed his last or talk for a few moments that are ours together from this sin I mean a few moments from this simple subject from this simple subject into in two father in two thy hands I commend my spirit I just want to deal with that word into is that all right that word into is word of positionality it is what you might call a preposition of sorts that into now in two differs from the word in the end and in two are not the same thing see in is used to denote a state of being enclosed by something else but in two is used to express motion wherein something comes inside from outside with the expectation of being enclosed different thing when you say I am in the house versus I'm going into the house saying I'm in the house is the a declarative statement of location but saying I'm going into the house is a statement of expectation and anticipate you intend to be enclosed in the house at some point but you're not there just yet so so so so as I look at this text and I hear Jesus say father into your hands I commend my spirit I commit my spirit it is a statement of anticipation it's a statement saying that I know that my spirit's not quite there yet but I am on my way somewhere I'm on my way somewhere into into into I I looked into that I looked at why Jesus would say father into thy hands I commend my spirit and I realize three things there are always three things I realize three things about this word into that first of all nurse Hattie in two is a test into is a test you want to know why it's a test if you come with me to the fourth uh chapter of Luke you see that Jesus before he starts his Earthly Ministry according to the Lucan account is sent into the Wilderness by the the holy spirit for 40 days and 40 nights we just finished this Lenten season some of us know a little something about those 40 days and 40 nights and how long and arduous those 40 days and 40 nights can be and how difficult it can be to go without for 40 days and 40 nights whatever it is if it's food if it's some other substance whatever it is that you're going without for 40 days and 40 nights it gets hard round about day 39 and 40. it gets hard right around there and and that's when the devil decides to show up to Jesus in the wilderness so you know the story that they're there in the wilderness and the Bible says that the Devil comes to him and says look if you're the Son of God command these stones to be made read in other words uh uh Satan is trying to to check uh Jesus's material Compass to see if Jesus is going to rely on his divinity to provide his material needs in his time of suffering and pain and in that testing moment that's when Jesus looks at Satan and says very Simply It is written men shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God in other words he's saying look I don't need any food right now I got what I need from my God because God Will Supply my every need not only that but Satan even gives a moral Authority check to Jesus because right there in the text it says very simply that Satan says look to you I'll give all of this that you see you'll be large and in charge I'll give it all to you all you have to do Bow Down and Worship me and it's yours Jesus said uh well it's written that you shall Worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve and then in the final instance Jesus does another check he gives a a pastor Justin a mental health check he gives Jesus mental health check it's right there in Luke chapter four read it when you get home it says that he took him out to Jerusalem and set him on the Pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the Son of God throw yourself down for it is written he'll command his angels concerning you to guard you and on their hands they'll bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone and Jesus said to him it is said You shall not put the Lord your God to the test in other words in the moment when Satan is trying to get Jesus outside of himself Jesus says no I'm going to stay right here with the one that brung me I'm gonna ride the horse that brought me these 39 days and I'm gonna stay right here on day 40 and keep trusting in the one who sent me in the wilderness in the first place into is a test not not only is into a test but in two is a teaching and two is a teaching teaching uh chapter six you see that in two is a teaching teaching or in Matthew chapter five it's what we call the Beatitudes it's it's Jesus's Sermon on the Mount it's it's Jesus moment of teaching uh uh uh this this this exhaustive and expansive narrative particularly in the Matthew and the count that says basically that look this is how you gonna get in says bless Ed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God now there's a reason that that that's the only beatitude that is found both in Luke and in Matthew I think there's a reason for this and I think the reason is simple that Jesus said blessed is the poor in spirit for yours is the kingdom of God uh and the fact that he teaches it means that it's worth observing and that's the awareness of the state of being that is not always fully grasped or acknowledged he's basically saying in essence that you and I need to understand that we've got to be poor in spirit in order to inherit the Kingdom you cannot rise if you don't know that you're down you want to know the reason you haven't gotten your comeuppance yet probably because you're walking around acting like you're all that in a bag of chips plus the red Kool-Aid and that everybody owes you something instead of realizing and recognizing that I too have fallen short and missed the mark that I too have not crossed every T and dotted every eye that I too am in this same Cloud that says Lord help me [Applause] I don't have it all together I have not figured it all out I don't have it all worked out into is a teaching to remind us that it's not perfect with us sometimes we go through the motions of church going going to work and going to school and doing all these other things and we forget [Music] that we really ain't all that he says it's the one who humbles her or himself that will be exalted father into thy hands I commend my spirit into is a test into is a teaching but as we look at this 23rd chapter of Luke into becomes a task in chapter 4 God is testing his son and and and the Lord passed the test and gets to a place where he's able to teach what he's learned and he teaches what he's learned and then he gets to a place where in his Darkest Hour in his darkest time he has to live into what he talked because while he was Healing The Sick wow he was raising the Dead and while he was unstopping deaf ears in the while he was opening blinded eyes wow he was Raising dead Folk wow he was falling on children that needed to be revived while he was encouraging those that needed encouragement while he was going around feeding those who were hungry while he was providing shelter for those who would needed shelter he was not poor in spirit because he could not afford to be poor in spirit in those moments he had to be rich in spirit because as he was running through the crowd walking through the crowd that's why he could tell that some virtue had left him because he was filled up with the spirit and so when virtue left him he knew that he had to address the need of somebody and that's why he said who touched me because he understood that at some point in this journey I have to get to the place where I empty myself fully he could not do it while he was walking Among Us he could not do it while he was doing all those things I mentioned before but in this moment in Luke 23 we see a moment a Nexus if would when pedagogy becomes Praxis and when pedagogy becomes Praxis that means that you no longer just talk about it but it's a shame to be about it and I wonder if there's anybody in the room today that knows a little something about not just talking about it but shifting or turning the corner to being about it see some of the best teachings of those that are actively performed in your midst some of my best teachers never read a book for themselves but they told me some wisdom and I got to watch them work and I got to learn from them and In This Moment Jesus is saying look I'm done talking to y'all I'm done showing y'all how to do what I do but now I'm going to activate what I've told you to do now I'm going to say father into thy hands I commend my spirit it is the reflexive nature of the word into that's so powerful for us for he ends on the cross where he began in the wilderness he was led into the Wilderness by the Holy Spirit he was tested while in the wilderness he came out of the Wilderness went into his Earthly Ministry LED and guided by the spirit he the Lord the spirit kept him all those years and then now on the cross it only makes sense for him to remain with an into kind of Praise where he says father into thy hands I commend my spirit don't let the Wilderness moments in life psych you out to keep pressing yeah because none of us just wake up pour in spirit it is a choice and I wonder if there's anybody here that chooses to be poor in spirit that chooses to debase yourself to the base your spirit in this moment Jesus is diminishing his Spirit In This Moment Jesus is divesting his Spirit In This Moment Jesus is dislodging his Spirit In This Moment Jesus is displacing his Spirit In This Moment Jesus is moving his Spirit out of the way by placing his Spirit into the hands of the one who is able is there anybody here is there anybody here that knows Jesus showed us the way he stopped talking about it decided to be about it said father into thy hands I commend my spirit and I wonder if there's anybody in the room today that knows something about God's ability to take whatever you have and hold on to it for you into is a word of movement it's moving out of something into something else you might be in pain right now I dare you to move out of pain into your healing you might be suffering right now I dare you to move out of something bring into your season you might be in a hardship right now I say move out of that into wholeness father into thy hands I commend my spirit everything that I am I give to you everything that I have I give to you I turn it over I give it to the Lord because God is able to keep me from falling is there is there is there anybody in here that knows God is able to do anything but fail you might not feel you can make it right now but keep on trusting Keep On Believing it keep on serving in the god God will God will God will meet you at your point of need say yes [Applause] say yes say yes say yes my God shall supply all my needs [Music] according to his riches in glory say it yes yes [Music] he may not come when you want him but he's always right on time yes yes yes [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] we're standing all over the sanctuary as we've heard seven prolific foreign [Applause] sayings and utterances of Christ I'm not under any optical illusion that everyone has trusted God with their soul and I want to offer Christ to you my brother my sister to give you an opportunity to join Jesus Christ the one who hung bled and died for your sin the reality is you and I really should have been on that cross but Jesus stepped in and said I'll go in their place [Applause] because he went in our place accepting him gives us life and life more abundantly so if you're here my brother my sister let me tell you you don't have to join Mount Jezreel we're not tripping on that we want to make sure you connected with Christ if you're watching virtually all you got to do is admit that you're a sinner believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins and confess it openly and commit to him and the Bible says you're saved there are seven pastors here who we can connect you with some had to leave but we can still connect you with them whether it be Mount Israel whether it be Trinidad whether it be Resurrection whether it be second it that's not the common denominator common denominators that you join Christ so if you're here and you don't have a relationship with Christ we offer Christ to you my brother my sister it's our music Ministry blesses us with this Invitational song as God pulls on the resources of your heart today is the day of salvation seek the Lord while he may be found he says I knock I could open it but I'm not I want you to open it and when you open it I'll come in and sup with you here we go there's nothing better than knowing Jesus [Music] he'll pick you up and turn your life around you [Music] ought to know him get to know him get to know him [Music] he's available for you right now right now come on there's nothing better than knowing Jesus that knowing Jesus [Music] he gets sweeter as the days go by you ought to know him you ought to know him get to know him he's available right now just come today just come on come on come on come on come on come on come on come on right now today come on right now today and the people of God said amen can you help me celebrate the words of God that have come forth and help me celebrate the men and women of God who have been used by God to bring the message of God I feel like the disciples did not our hearts burn within God has shared with us on this night through seven utterances and looks at the word of God and how we thank God for each and every one of them and there being a blessing to us here at Mount Israel Mount jezrael Come On Let's thank God for them again [Applause] amen amen make sure Mount jezrael you get your rest on tomorrow as we come Sunday to worship Christ for Rising from the grave he has risen just like he said he would and I look forward for this Resurrection experience on 4 9 at 9. look at your neighbor and say we're starting at nine at nine eight nah walk into this building by 8 30. amen because we're starting at 9-1 service our music Ministry our dance ministry as well as our drama Ministry have been working hard to present our Resurrection cantata and I look forward to you being here a part of what the Lord is going to do amen tell your neighbor one last time it's good to see you tell them get home safely may God be with you threefold our men as we leave from this place but never from his presence foreign [Applause] May the grace of our Lord and the sweet communion of his holy spirit rest Rule and abide with each and every one of us until we see Jesus Christ face to face in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit we say our man Mountain jezra I love you and it's nothing you can do about it [Music] [Music] [Music] walking around these walls [Music] I thought by now they [Music] are never failed me [Music] waiting for change to come [Music] back for you have never fail me foreign [Music] [Music] thank you foreign