Truth Archive

Hymn 391: “Calvary”

The hymn we have sung is one of the most often sung hymns in our book. Two weeks ago at a convention on a Sunday morning, we sang this hymn, like other times, and I am ashamed to tell you. But I know that hymn off by heart like most of you do. We sang that hymn through. I wasn’t thinking very much about what we were singing. I do not know if you have ever done that. It reminded me of the terrible threat to our faith, sincerity and fellowship. It is this thing of familiarity. We get so familiar with some things that we lose their value. Lose the real respect and reverence that we once had. And this would be a sad thing for us. I purposed that day: if we sang that or other hymns, I would do my best to sing it from my heart, or I would rather not sing at all.

We sang:
“Lord we gather round Thy footstool,
Bowed in deep humility,
As we look upon the emblems,
We remember Calvary”.

I asked myself, “What do you remember when you remember Calvary?” What is it that you remember when you remember Calvary?

This is a memorial service this morning. Every first day of the week, when you gather to break bread with your brethren, it is a memorial service. Just because we break bread at the end of the meeting does not mean it is any less important.

We pray to God in the audience of our brothers and sisters. When we give our testimony we are speaking to each other before God. “Every idle word that men will speak, they will give account thereof in the day of judgment”. An idle word is something we would dare to speak before God and never fulfil. It is a serious thought.

As we sing, pray and testify together, it is so that the Spirit of God can work and soften our hearts. And give us fresh gratitude and purpose. Despite what the past has been, again we re-consecrate our lives to God. And as much as is possible for us, we are willing for all the will of God. Do you know that makes you worthy to take the bread and wine?

If you have been professing for one year or 60 years, you will never feel worthy to partake of the bread and wine. You will be afraid of the day when you feel worthy. I hope we understand that Christ has made us worthy. Remind ourselves about the time that Jesus introduced this. This helps us to understand what it means to partake unworthily and worthily.

You remember that in that meeting, Judas was there. Judas never left until they had broken bread. But already he had the money in his bag where he had made a covenant with the chief priests and elders to sell his Master. He broke bread that morning without any intention of doing the will of God, and he drank damnation to his soul.

There was another one in that meeting, his name was Peter. He told Jesus before that meeting “I am ready to go to prison or death with you”. He said, “I would rather die than betray you”. The very purpose of his heart was that he would go out from that meeting and would rather die than betray his Master. With fresh gratitude in his heart for all the cup and bread represented. And with the purpose in his heart that he would do better than ever before. He went out from that meeting and denied that he ever knew Jesus. But he partook worthily. Because in his heart was the purpose that he would rather die than betray his Master.

Jesus reminded them that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Don’t ever let Satan convince you that you are not to partake of the bread and wine because you feel you are not worthy. We can partake worthily even if we feel unworthy. In eternity we are not going to feel worthy. If we are on the right side of Jesus when He says “Come ye blessed of my Father”, we will not feel worthy. Those people did not feel worthy. It is the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary’s cross that these emblems represent that makes us worthy. It is the only sacrifice that God can accept.

After you have committed your life to God, and then you sin, there remains no more sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26). It doesn’t say there is no more forgiveness. It says there is no more sacrifice because there is only one sacrifice! It doesn’t depend on us improving our human nature and getting better as we walk with God. If it depended on that, you and I would never partake of the emblems of the shed blood of Jesus and His spent body. He paid the price that we never would pay. He has made us worthy. For all eternity we will gather around the throne and sing that song “Thou art worthy”.

I hope this morning there will be fresh gratitude in our hearts. True gratitude for all He has done for us. That when we leave this place – from today we will be true. May God help us to be true. He can make us worthy even though we will never feel worthy.

“We remember Calvary”. I tried to think of what I remember when I remember Calvary. I have broken bread and have never even given a thought to the message that Jesus spoke on Calvary. Have you ever noticed that the message Jesus spoke from the cross is meant for you and me? Jesus didn’t speak those seven or more utterances for His own sake.” Never. It was for the sake of those within hearing of His voice and for the sake of you and I that will follow. Have you ever sat down and read what Jesus spoke on Calvary? This morning we will spend the next few minutes to help you remember what Jesus said on Calvary. I hope every time we break bread, we remember part of the message is for us. One week it might be one of those things that He said, another week it could be another. I am sure that the message that Jesus spoke from Calvary is a message for you and me. I have prayed that I wouldn’t break bread without remembering the message from Calvary.

The first thing He ever spoke was to His Heavenly Father. Those Roman soldiers had laid Him down on the cross. Spiked His hands and feet to that cross, and raised it until the weight of His body was hanging on those nails. And as His life’s blood trickled from those wounds, Jesus lifted His voice to His Heavenly Father. He prayed “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. I cannot fully grasp that kind of love.

Everything Jesus spoke from the cross confirmed what He taught during His lifetime. This is the thing that made the message of Christ living and real. We could learn to say some words. Some people have learned to speak eloquently about the Scriptures, and are as dead as dead can be. Because they have never made them living in their daily lives. His living word only becomes living when we practice it in our daily lives. Every word Jesus spoke that day was a confirmation of what He taught. He taught them to love their enemies. Pray for them that despitefully use them and persecute them. To do good to those who hate us ensures that we are the children of our Father in heaven. This assurance comes when our hearts are filled with the strength and love only God can give. Enabling us to love even those who hate us.

One day Peter asked, “How often do we have to forgive our brother? 7 times?” Jesus said “Not 7 times, but 70 times 7”. 490 times. If your brother comes and asks for forgiveness, we must forgive him. I heard one friend say “I can forgive those times, but it is asking too much for me to forgive so-and-so again”. Do you know what was happening? That person was cutting himself off from the forgiveness of God. If you ever think that it is asking too much to forgive a brother or sister, remember Calvary. Remember Jesus prayed on the cross: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. Do you know that those cruel men were the instigators of Jesus’ crucifixion? Of all the sins they may have to give account for someday, amongst them will never be that they put Him on the cross. Because Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive them. And the Father never denied Jesus anything that He asked of Him.

Some of us are plagued not so much by the sins of our past before we met the Truth, but after we committed our lives to God. After we began to walk in this way of God. After we tried our best, we failed again, even repeating it. In repentance, regret and real grief we prayed that God would forgive and forgive again. I don’t know if you are like me. I have prayed “If you can only forgive me this one more time, I will never do it again.” Only to find that I did it again. And then was plagued with this terrible plague. That Satan would try to convince us “How can you expect that God would forgive you again?” And he would like you to think you have gone too far, you have sinned too much. Friends, if you are ever tempted to think that, remember that prayer on Calvary.

Do you think that God could forgive those who put Jesus on the cross? If you could find in your heart again the spirit of true repentance. “I am going to rise again and be true again this time to the vow and every vow I have made to Him.” As we remember Calvary, it will help us to have fresh gratitude and purpose to rise and try again. And we will not be satisfied with anything less than our best.

There is another reason that Jesus prayed that prayer: on either side of Him was a thief. You know that one of them reviled Him, and said “If you are the Son of God, why can’t you deliver yourself and us? Show us you are the Son of God”. The other man, on the other side, was shocked, and said “Do you not fear God? We are here because of wrongdoing, the just reward for what we have done. This man Jesus has done nothing wrong”. That man somewhere in the past knew Jesus or someone who was following Jesus, we do not know. But hope had sprung up in his heart when he turned and talked to Jesus. Because he heard that prayer, “Father forgive them”. If God can forgive them..! He said “Lord”. Where did he learn that? Somewhere in the past.

The second thing Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”. Oh, we can’t understand the emotions in the heart of that one criminal as he heard that prayer! “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” But in his heart, new hope sprung up. And he dared to beg for mercy, when he knew that in minutes, in an hour, that he would be in eternity. He begged, “Lord remember me”. I hope we remember those wonderful words “Today you will be with me in Paradise”.

Zacchaeus was so anxious to see Jesus when He was passing by. He found that Jesus even knew his name. Jericho was no small town, a city of not less than 600,000 people. But there was not one man who cared except Zacchaeus. That tax collector that everyone called a sinner. He had a reputation for being rich because of fraud. He waited in the tree. He saw Jesus look up. Jesus called him by name – wonderful when we can be conscious of God speaking to us and speaking by name. Jesus said, “Today I must abide at thy house”. As he continued to listen to those wonderful words, there was a tremendous change in his heart. He didn’t care who was listening. He confessed his faults, and he wanted to make things right, not only with Jesus but with others. Jesus saw that repentant spirit. He said “Today is salvation come to thy house”, the same as He spoke to that thief on the cross at Calvary.

In John’s gospel, we find the 3rd time He spoke. It was not to His Father in heaven, nor the thief. It was to His mother. I have always been glad that on the cross before Jesus died, He remembered His mother. She wasn’t much for talking. Her lips were silenced that day at the wedding. She came to Jesus, her little boy. She nurtured him and watched him grow up at the carpenter’s bench. She saw Him leave all that and go out into this ministry. I don’t know the circumstances on that wedding day. The mother of Jesus, when she found out there was no wine, didn’t go to the governor of the feast, nor the landlord. She came to Jesus and said, “They have no wine”. Jesus said “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” As far as I know, after Mary said “You do what Jesus says”, there are no recorded words that she ever spoke to her Son again. From that day there was a complete full surrender and resignation. That little boy was not hers any more. He was her Saviour, the Son of God, to take away the sins of the world. She had heard Simeon when he picked Him up and embraced Him, that little child. She heard those wonderful words “Yes, a sword will pierce your soul also”. She didn’t know what he meant. Jesus had taught “Who is my mother? Those who do the will of my Father in Heaven are my brother and sister and mother”. Some of you parents of workers might understand the heart of Mary better than I do. I am glad Jesus called those fishermen to leave their families and occupations. He never meant that they should be forsaken. And on Calvary’s cross, He looked down and saw His mother. Do you know how many friends were there? Four of the friends and John, one of the disciples: only five. Another little group was standing afar off, too far away to hear Him. We don’t know the encouragement it was to Him that these five souls dared to follow Him right to the foot of the cross. Right at the foot of the cross where He could converse with them. He looked at His mother and said to John “Behold your mother”, and to His mother, “Behold your son”. This family fellowship the Gospel calls us into does not stop at the grave. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Family ties, no matter how precious, end at the grave. But this wonderful family that the Gospel has called us into goes on and on. And in all eternity we will be brothers and sisters to Him who gave His life’s blood on Calvary’s cross that we might be worthy.

The next thing that Jesus said was not to His Father nor His mother, nor the thief. He was looking down. He looked down and saw that angry mob. They didn’t know, they were doing it in ignorance. He wondered if there was one of them who would still respond to an invitation. Do you know what He said? “I thirst”. Anyone around the cross who heard could have lifted a cup of cold water to those parched lips. Had they been willing, their reward would never have been lost. He was hoping that there would be one more. There wasn’t one.

Maybe you are feeling “If I were there”. Would we be willing to be identified with Him then? Would we have dared to take a cup of cold water and lift it to Him?

When He met that Samaritan woman she indignantly said “Would you dare to ask of me, a Samaritan, a drink of water?” (John 4). He said, “Woman, if you knew the gift of God, you would ask and receive”. That is the gospel invitation. The Gospel that goes out into the world. If we only knew, we would ask and we would receive. He said, “The water I give you will be a well springing up unto eternal life”. We find that Samaritan woman now asking Jesus for this water. “Give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw”. Do you know what that woman found in that simple gospel story that day? Salvation.

He asked her to go and call her husband. You know the story. She went and told her neighbours and friends. “Come and see this man that has told me everything I ever did”. And they came and heard and saw for themselves. When she invited them to a gospel meeting, they came to listen. They said, “Now we believe because we have heard Him ourselves”. It resulted in those people asking Jesus to stop with them for a while. He said “I will” and stayed with them for a few days. In Samaria, He left a little group, a little church worshipping Him in spirit and truth. Soon after, every first day of the week they would be taking a little sip of wine as they remembered Calvary. And remembered when they first began to drink that water. Think of all the blessings brought into their lives as a result of Jesus saying “Give me to drink”. Think of all those other people gathered at the cross. They would have the same privilege of being brought into that family of God. Meeting with others who had also embraced the same message. There wasn’t one! You remember those soldiers mocking Him, they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on a stick. He refused. I hope we remember the wonderful gospel story that brought us into this wonderful family. It will enlarge our hearts. Fresh gratitude and purpose will fill our hearts to be true to Him who loved and gave Himself for us.

The next thing He said was not to the mob, His Father, His mother, or His disciples. He said only three words and I believe He said it to Himself – when there wasn’t one left that would give Him a drink. He said, “It is finished”. There is nothing more that I can do. I have done everything. I never appreciated the significance of those three words until one day when I was reading John 17. He was praying to the Father. In that prayer, He said, “I have finished the work thou gavest me to do”. It was the night before the work that the Father gave Him to do was finished. We could say everything after that until He hung on the cross and His spirit went back to God, it was voluntary. Even beyond what the Father had asked Him to do. Now when there wasn’t even one left that would do something as little as give Him a cup of cold water, He said “It is finished”. I cannot do anything more.

You know this wonderful Spirit of service, it is like a hallmark of this fellowship. It is like a stake holding this tabernacle. We can remember those wonderful words and what they mean. There is nothing more that I can do. “It is finished”. It was in His life and in those who embraced Him too.

In Genesis 24, when the servant of Abraham went to seek a bride for his master’s son, he came to a well. There he prayed and said “Let it be the one I ask for a drink of water, and she will say ‘Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also”‘. I don’t know if he knew what he was saying. But he hadn’t finished speaking before Rebekah ran out and drew that water up and filled that pitcher. She met that total stranger and he said “Can you give me a drink?” and she said, “I will draw water for you and your 10 camels”.

Do you know how much water camels can drink? I asked a man in Pakistan who knew about camels. He said, “You see that container there, a camel can almost any time drink what it holds, 30 gallons”. There were 10 camels – 300 gallons. Suppose they drank 20 gallons. But they had just come across that desert. After 6 days without water, they drink 50 gallons. It is like a picture of the six days between our fellowship meetings.

Let us suppose they drank 20 gallons. That man stood there in awe and watched her fill that little pitcher and run up and down, 200 times until she stopped. He stood amazed that there were still people in the world with this kind of spirit of service. He was very convinced that this one was worthy to be the bride for my master’s son.

As the family and fellowship grow, remember our privilege in the spirit of service, like we see at this convention. Jesus said when we have done all that we are commanded to do, you say in your hearts we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. The Kingdom of God was never preserved by people doing their duty and that is all. The Kingdom of God is maintained and extended by those who do more than their duty. May this spirit that filled Rebekah that day be among us.

The next thing Jesus said was after those terrible three hours of darkness. For three hours the sun was dark. There was never a darker time than that time after the world had put the Son of God on the cross. After those 3 hours, He cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus could stand any amount of physical suffering. He never cried out when they spat in His face, when they smote Him or when they put that crown of thorns on His head. If you have never been able to appreciate the horrors of a lost eternity, remember the cry on the cross of Jesus. “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He couldn’t stand even a minute outside of the presence of God, away from God.

The last thing He said as He looked up into the face of His Father: “Into thy hands, I commend my spirit”. Would you remember Calvary? Remember the spirit that Jesus returned to His Father. That spirit of forgiveness. That spirit of compassion, service, love, triumph. We could go on and on, and you remember that it is only your spirit that would ever go back to God when you die. The spirit that we manifest in our service, the spirit that we have will go back to God. There is no chance to change it. May we have a spirit that dares to pray as Jesus prayed at the end. “Father into thy hand I commend my spirit.” Because all His lifetime He had committed His life into His Father’s hands. In the end, He knew there was no safer place than in the hands of His Father. When you remember Calvary remember the message that Jesus spoke to you from Calvary.