20. Following TLJC Means Bearing Your Cross, Mat 16:13-27.
The Cross Throughout the Scriptures - Part 20
28. The Sayings of TLJC while on the Cross.
Neither the weakness of the past, nor the pain of the present, could prevent Him from continuing in prayer.
In the midst of unjust treatment and unfairness, He still continues in prayer as long as His heart beats.
To cease from prayer in time of suffering is to abandon the comfort which our circumstance requires.
Never, under any circumstances, no matter how severe the trial, or depressing the difficulty, cease from prayer.
In His prayer, our Lord remains in the position of His Sonship.
Mat 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
Our Lord’s prayer to His Father was not for Himself.
Mat 27:46 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
Isa 53:12 Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Joh 5:23 in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Phi 2:4 do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others.
Phi 2:5 “Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus,”
The prayer wasn’t just for others, but it was for His cruelest enemies.
On the cross in the character of His intercession is graciousness.
They were undeserving individuals who had conspired to put Him to death.
He knows our precise condition and exact state of our heart with regard to the suffering and temptation we may be facing.
He foresees the trials and temptations awaiting us.
On the Cross, He still cared for those who were rejecting Him.
TLJC seeks what is important for those around the cross.
Act 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Act 6:7 And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Mar 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
We should be unselfish and concerned with the spiritual in an unlimited way.
We must not live for ourselves.
Forgiveness = to give up resentment, excuse a guilty party, release from payment, forget an offense, never bringing it up again - not even to discuss it.
Luk 17:4 “If someone sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries 2002