 we're going to be looking at chapter 15 verses 33 through 36. So let me read to you and as I normally do I'll give you some reminders of what we've seen, a correction that I last week I I was using John's notes and I gave you the wrong information so actually I I spoke out of I spoke wrongly and you'll see why in just a moment but anyway let's begin at verse 33 and read to verse 36 we'll get into our study. Mark chapter 15 verses 33 through 36. Mark writes now when the six hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eloi Eloi Lama Sabahtani which is translated my God my God why have you forsaken me some of those who stood by when they heard that said look he's calling for Elijah then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine put it on a read and offered it to him to drink saying let him alone let us see if Elijah will come to take him down. Now Jesus has been crucified he's been on the cross at this point for three hours. Mark 15 25 tells us he was crucified at 9 a.m. it is now noon now last week I mistakenly stated that it was a Roman manner of keeping time I should have said it was the Jewish or the Hebrew manner of keeping time. F. C. Gilbert wrote in Messiah in his sanctuary the light part of the day began at 6 o'clock in the morning the third hour of the day would be 9 a.m. the third hour of the day would be three hours past 6 a.m. which was the beginning of the Jewish day making it 9 a.m. so last week I said off the hand and I should have I said Roman when in fact it's really the Jewish time and so with that correction Jesus has been crucified between two robbers as I've mentioned to you repeatedly these were violent men they were capable of murder that again fulfilled a messianic prophecy Isaiah 53 12 said therefore I will divide him a portion with the great he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death he was numbered with the transgressors he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors and so Luke had told us that in chapter 23 verse 34 that he had prayed father forgive them for they know not what they do that would have been in fulfillment Isaiah 53 12 at this point Jesus and the robbers have been on crosses for some time it's given them opportunity these men who were dying alongside of him it has given them opportunity to take notice of him now ordinarily the man next to them wouldn't draw any interest they were too busy hurting themselves they they would have been engulfed in their own torment and their own pain so at first they wouldn't necessarily have heard what Jesus was saying but eventually one of them did and we noticed this last time very little is known of these men outside of the fact that they are violent robbers are described that way as mentioned they were more than likely part of Barabbas's followers now sometime after being crucified Jesus had prayed and one of the robbers undoubtedly heard him pray it gripped his heart you see Jesus had a ministry that that reached and impacted many people Matthew tells us in chapter 4 verses 23 through 25 that Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people then his fame went throughout all Syria and they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments and those who were demon possessed epileptics and paralytics and he healed them great multitudes followed him from Galilee from Decapolis Jerusalem Judea and beyond the Jordan and so his fame had gone throughout Syria and various other places and so his name by this time was well known you see the verses I just quoted spoke of the beginning of his ministry it would have spread even further over three years these thieves would have been part of a group that were rebelling against Rome that would have been that would mean that they would have been aware of the things that Jesus had done because his reputation and his fame had preceded him the undoubtedly had heard of Jesus Christ the Bible tells us though at first the they began to revile him the word revile means to mock or to taunt the chief priests the scribes and the elders also taunted him Matthew 27 42 and 43 they said he saved others himself he cannot save if he's the king of Israel let him come let him now come down from the cross we will believe him he trusted in God let him deliver him now if he'll have him for he said I am the son of God and then Matthew went on to tell us in verse 44 even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing now as we've been watching this and going through the scriptures we've seen that Jesus didn't stop ministering even on his way to his death he was on the way to Calvary and Simon the siren was next to him and as he was walking there were women who were along the side of the road and they began to weep for him remember how he had said to them daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me weep for yourselves and your children so he is still warning them and calling them even as he was walking on his way to Calvary now on that way Simon of siren came to faith in him in him and so did his wife and so did his sons now he's on the cross and as he was on that cross he prayed he prayed for forgiveness for those who were killing him and when he prayed and said father forgive them they know not what they do that is what is called the first of the seven last saints of Christ on the cross now we've seen these saints already beginning to be fulfilled I'm going to point some things out as we go through the study it's been said that the first word was a word of forgiveness when he said father forgive them the second word that he gave has been referred to as a word of salvation because as he had prayed father forgive them the next thing we hear is in Luke 23 43 when the when the thief said remember me when you enter your kingdom Jesus said to him I say unto you today you shall be with me in paradise so chronologically the third saying of Jesus on the cross is found in the Gospel of John and I want to read to you and develop this with you for a moment that's the third word it's called a word of relationship in John 19 25 through 27 it reads therefore the soldiers did these things but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Kloppas and Mary Magdalene when Jesus when Jesus then saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby 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 into his own household now there are four women at the cross there's Jesus's mother Mary there's her sister Salome who's the mother of James and John there's Mary the wife of Kloppas who is the mother of James the younger and Josie's and Mary Magdalene but there's another one who has spoken of who was there at the cross and that's the Apostle John now it says here when he's speaking about that that there's this other disciple there this other disciple being John is one who's referred to as the one whom Jesus loved five times in his gospel he referred to himself in that way I think it is safe to say that the love that he had for Christ was something that would draw him it drew him to the high priest house John 18 verses 15 through 18 tells us about that the Bible tells us that he and Peter went to the house of the high priest and John entered but Peter was outside the Bible tells us that John knew the high priest and he got permission for Peter to enter that took courage on the part of both of them but more so for John now John gives us firsthand knowledge of what happened in John 18 verse 15 he said Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple that other disciple is himself mark 14 verse 54 says Peter followed him at a distance and and I pointed out that the word distance there speaks of a long distance so there were a distance away they were following as as as Jesus was being taken and all but John had gone in and Peter stayed outside he stayed outside of the gate until he gained the entrance to John so it was love that drew these men to the high priest's house and I want to develop this with you for a moment because I think it's very practical Peter's love for Jesus drew him to the courtyard but that wasn't enough under pressure we know that when he finally entered in he denied Christ three times so his love for Christ wasn't enough for him to remain courageous and strong on the other hand John not only went to the courtyard but he also went to Calvary you see in the garden when Jesus was taken all of his men for sook him and fled according to mark 1450 and that would have included John but though he initially fled John had made his way to Cairophus's house it was the love Jesus had for him that drew him it was Jesus's love for him that drew him and gave him the strength to go all the way to Calvary one of the things that I think that we make a mistake and I've said this before but it bears repetition at this moment perhaps some of you haven't heard me say this kind of thing I've been around for a while I've been a Christian for for 5 7th of my life and I can tell you that there are times in my life when I've told had I've done this many times when I've said God I just really love you I really love you and I found myself to be like the Apostle Peter I have found myself to be telling him how much I love him and I haven't been basking in the love he has for me and the love I have for him will take me so far it took the Apostle Peter to the entrance of the courtyard it took him into the courtyard but the love that Peter had for Jesus wasn't enough the love he had for Jesus led him to deny him ultimately because he didn't have the courage strength or faith to understand it wasn't the amount of love Peter had for Christ and listen carefully I want to remind you it wasn't the love that he had for Christ it was the amount of love Christ had for him and that is very important for us to understand the Bible doesn't point me to to tell God how much I love him I worship him and I do that but the Bible teaches me to be compelled by his love for me the Apostle Paul said in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 14 and 15 he said Christ love compiles us because we're convinced that one died for all therefore all died and he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again Paul said I'm willing to go anywhere where the name of Christ is yet to be named to preach this and it's not because of my love for him it's because his love compiles me you can go to any class you want to you can get a degree in college on you know theological degree you can go to every Bible study that church has to offer you can get up early in the morning and pray you can stay up late at night and pray you can read you can go through the Bible but if you don't understand that it's not your love for him but it's his love for you you're going to be frustrated ultimately the one thing that compelled me and still does has been the love of Christ for me not the amount of love I have for him because my love for him is faulty it's incomplete but his love for us for me is not it's complete that's what Jesus is showing on the cross that his love for you is demonstrably above anything you could ever I could ever imagine Christianity isn't based on how much I love him Christianity has been based on how much he loved us it's based on the love of God for God so loved the world that he gave it's that kind of love and so the apostle Peter had a great love he said I'll even die for you though these people all the rest may may forsake you I never will when in fact his love could only take him so far but John learned something and it's what drove him and drew him to the cross of Christ with with Jesus his mother and these other women it was the love that Christ had for him it's that kind of love that draws us it's not my love for him alone it's learning to rest in the love he has for me that gives me peace and and gives me hope and and takes me through the tougher times of my life now as this is taking place I want to develop it a little bit further Mary was watching as her son was slowly dying and as a mother there's no doubt but her heart was broken as she's seeing this as she's watching her baby now she's there standing she hears the mocking of the priests she hears the crowd she hears the mocking from the pastors by she hears the things that are being said to Jesus by the thieves she sees the indifference of the soldiers as they're gambling gambling for his robe I would ask any parent mother and father to think about that for just a moment how you would have felt the pain that this devoted and virtuous woman endured would have been incredible it's very possible that as she was there watching her son that memories of this child began to crop up and his dedication at the temple she had been given a prophecy it's recorded in Luke 20 rather 2 verses 34 and 35 it said Simeon blessed them and and said to Mary his mother behold this child is destined for the fallen rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against yes a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed when Jesus was eight eight days old he's taken to the temple being dedicated as a firstborn who opened the womb according to the law demanded his prophet Simeon came and spoke to her in that way the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and that happened when the people's rejected Christ for a while Jesus was very popular there were multitudes following him the Bible speaks of these multitudes and yet at the end he was totally rejected there he is on a cross and so their thoughts are being revealed in the rejection of him the brutality that he endured the mocking revealed the hearts of these people and so the sign that was spoken of openly revealed his complete rejection but also a sword pierced her now from the very beginning Mary would have endured many things because of this child the angel had spoken to her and said that she was going to conceive a child by the Holy Spirit because she had said how is it that I a virgin am to have a child and he said that holy thing within you will be of the Holy Spirit and so the Lord had through her done a miracle for her to have a baby as a virgin and then Joseph the one she was betrothed to he had to be spoken to by the angel because he was minded to put her away privately why because he was a just and a righteous man but the angel had to say don't be afraid to take her as your wife because that which is within her is begotten of the Holy Spirit so a man and his betrothed wife have a baby they're to have a baby she's pregnant and she from the beginning in the small village of Nazareth would have endured a lot of taunts a lot of gossip a lot of backbiting because it was a small village there are those who say that the village of Nazareth during the time of Christ could have numbered as little as 60 people others say could have been as high as 200 but Nazareth isn't a big city it's a small village and so the people knew of this woman this woman is pregnant this woman had a baby she and Joseph had not consummated their marriage vows prior to her conception and therefore she was unfaithful and that's what she lived with from the beginning she said let it be done to me and according to thy word and she was willing to do it even though the pain of such a thing is going to continue and that's bad in and of itself but inwardly she always comforted herself at the truth and that would be something that one day she would be vindicated of as she watched him grow up as any mother watching a child grow up this child would have brought her great joy during that day when the Jewish mother would would have their baby the mama would nurse the baby and she nursed Jesus and she would speak to him she would pray over him she would sing to him and it was a tender thing for her as he started to grow a little bit older and he began to walk began to form words she would hear him speak she'd hear his little voice and many of us in our who are parents grandparents can remember in the back of our mind those little voices of our children when they were young and how we wish they'd shut up but we remember their voices you'd hear him outside do you think that Jesus played with the children I'm sure he did and the mama could look through a window and she could see her son playing they're enjoying himself and yet in the back for a mind she knows that this child is destined at the age of 12 they go to Jerusalem to celebrate another feast of Israel and they leave but they didn't notice that Christ hadn't come with them in their day's journey they have to come back they start searching for Jesus we all know the story they find him in the temple and he's speaking to the scholars asking them questions and answering theirs and he's already starting his ministry and she walks up and she says your father and I have searched frantically for you why'd you do this to us he says don't you know that I should be about my father's business and she she hears that and she ponders these things as he grows up into young manhood he's now 30 years old and it's time for him to minister and they're at a wedding in Cana of Galilee she walks up to her son and she says they have no wine and he says what do I have to do with that my time hasn't come mama I know my father's timing and you're not the one who tells me when he tells me you don't have that responsibility and yet there was something within Mary apparently that they made her aware because he went on and he began to multiply he turned that water into wine not so they could be drunk by the way but because it was a symbol of festivity and joy Jesus it's time for these people to have a joy don't move me into the direction my father needs to move me in but she's aware that prophecy must have stayed within her heart all those years his child this child is destined for the rising up in opposition and a sword will pierce your soul and so there they are and I can't help but wonder if perhaps that she's looking at her son and she's hearing she's hearing what's being said the taunts she hears the moans that are coming from him this is the one that when he smiled the sun would seem to shine even brighter when he left the joy her joy would would leap that's her baby and they're just standing there imagine that for a moment just watching and as he's there she's hearing him speak and then he looks at her and in John 1926 Jesus is not thinking of himself he's thinking of her he says woman behold your son now Jesus honored his mother making provision for her care you see he was the firstborn and that was his responsibility in the book of Exodus 20 verse 12 it says honor your father and your mother in that verse to honor speaks of giving respect it speaks of highly prizing caring for it's been said that honor is the internal attitude the outward evidence of honor is showing care and Jesus is there providing for her future care you see at that time according to John 7 verse 5 his brothers did not believe in him and because of that he would not entrust her into the care of these unbelieving brothers when my mother was about to go home to be with the Lord we would not have wanted to entrust her into the care of those who could not feed her soul who could not give her fellowship who could not pray with her or pray for her who couldn't provide those things for her when my mother was about to die my mom was ill all of her life but her in her last year she had fallen she had broken her back she was bedridden her last year when my father had passed on when my dad went to heaven my my mom went to live with my sister Rebecca and for 12 years my sister Rebecca took care of her and she did it out of love for my mom Rebecca told me over and over again she said this is not really a sacrifice for me David it's my honor to do this to care for mama we didn't want my mother in the care of those who didn't know Jesus my mom was someone who liked to talk about the Lord who liked to pray who liked to have fellowship that was my mom so she was entrusted into the care of someone who loved Jesus and Jesus entrusted his mom into the care of somebody who lived him also because when he says women behold your son he's not speaking of himself he's not saying look at me with pity or look with me with sorrow he's speaking of John because he went on to speak to John and he said behold your mother in John 19 27 it says to John the one whom he loved he said behold your mother and what he did is he entrusted her into the care of one who loved him and who would love her and in doing so he honored his mother even while he was dying and that is taking place and that brings us to this verse verse 33 it says now when the sixth hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour from noon until three there's darkness over the land on the night that Jesus was born the sky was filled with supernatural light he was the light of the world and it was fitting that his birth would be accompanied by light in Luke 2 8 9 it says there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night and behold an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid so when he was born his birth was accompanied by light but on the day he died when the sun is at its brightest the sky became dark from noon it says until three in the afternoon darkness filled the land now why was it dark well in scripture darkness is often used as a symbol of judgment you see that both in the old and the new testaments in exodus chapter 10 verses 21 and 22 it speaks of the judgments of of Egypt and and one of the judgments one of the plagues was three days of darkness in the old testament book of Amos chapter 5 verse 18 it says woe to you who long for the day of the Lord why do you long for the day of the Lord that day will be darkness not light when Jesus was speaking of judgment in Matthew 25 30 he said throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where they'll be weeping in a nation of teeth so the cross was a place of divine judgment the sins of the world were being poured out vicariously on the Son of God and supernatural darkness expressed God's response to sin in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk 1 verse 13 it says to God you are a purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness you cannot look on evil and wickedness with any pleasure or any permission one commentator wrote a veil hides from us the incidents of these three hours and all the details of what our Lord shrouded in the supernatural gloom under went for us men and for our salvation someone said the light returning after three hours may foreshadow the resurrection well as this is taking place verse 34 in the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying all the way all the way llamas bhaktani which is translated my God my God why have you forsaken me that's Aramaic Matthew records Eli Eli which was Hebrew now why did he cry that out you see this is the fourth saying of Jesus on the cross it is the saying of abandonment why would you cry out why have you forsaken me he cried out in anguish because of the separation that he's experiencing you see he's in anguish because of the separation he felt for the only time he ever felt any separation in eternity and taken upon himself all the sin of the world he felt the isolation that sin produces Isaiah 59 to says it like this your iniquities have separated you from your God your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear and today there's an awful lot of of chatter going on that there's no such thing as sin we're all designed this way we all have been created to do the things that we do and there's no real talk about about the the sinful nature of man olive sin and fall short of the glory of God every one of us has been born totally and utterly in sin because that's our nature that's why we need Jesus Christ and sometimes people will say I feel that I'm distant from God well if they're not saved there's a good reason to say that sometimes people if they're not saved say well my my prayers seem to just go as far as my voice carries and then fall to the ground useless and it may be because your sin had made separation between you and your God what's the problem with man today is we don't understand the fact of sin we are unwilling as a nation and as a world to recognize our own sinfulness and that's the problem I remember my mom was speaking to a woman and sharing with the woman the gospel mama used to like to evangelize and she was sharing with this woman and she said would you like to receive Christ the Savior and the woman sees it I would and so my mom said repeat after me father forgive me a sinner and the woman looked at my mom and said I'm not a sinner and I told my wife Marie honey that wasn't the right thing to say no I'm just kidding but she did she said that I'm not a sinner yes you are we all are all have sin and fall short of the glory of God there's none righteous no not one we were completely and utterly born with the Adamic nature is prone to sin because it's sinful we don't become sinners when we sin we sin because we're we're sinners and you don't even have to realize that when you're a kid you don't realize there's a sin nature so if you see something you want you just take it I'm five years old I go into a supermarket we don't have a parakeet but I still remember my first knowledgeable sin because I stole some bird seed we didn't even have a bird but I remember taking it it was green it was a parakeet with a yellow you know it just was a good-looking bird and I wanted it I took it home I put it in my pocket my mom was doing the wash and she sticks her hand in my pocket to pull out whatever is in it and there's a bird seed can I still remember her marching me to the supermarket I had to take the can and hand it to one of the people who worked there and I had to tell him I stole this I didn't realize I was stealing I thought it was free here you go into a supermarket it says take one so you do right when you first began to lie you weren't very good if you lie enough you get good you can practice something till you become good it doesn't really matter what it is but you can that's what happens it's a natural thing for us to do that and Jesus on the cross was given to us opportunity to realize who we are and there he has taken upon himself the sin of the whole world he's becoming the sin offering all of the sins not only prior to him but the future ones too all included are falling down on one person as the lamb of God who takes away that sin and second Corinthians 521 he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him he took our sin so that we might have his righteousness what a deal why don't we want that why don't we want a righteous life why don't we want the joy and the love and the peace the goodness and the kindness and the patience and all those things that come along with being with Christ well there he is on the cross experiencing our separation now the question has been asked what kind of separation did he experience while on the cross my God my God why has thou forsaken me it wasn't a separation of his nature it wasn't a separation of essence it wasn't a separation of substance it was a separation of fellowship someone said that Jesus had a taste of such broken communion the first and last he ever experienced in those desolate hours when darkness lay upon the earth and upon his soul Jesus was our forerunner in every kind of experience even to the feeling of God's frown of disapproval on sin that he might become our high priest understanding all our infirmities and being tempted in all points like as we apart from sin he felt the way a lost sinner feels without himself having sinned someone said he did not cry out when accused he did not cry out when crucified but he did cry out when he was separated so he's there and he's speaking Eloi Eloi Lamas Bhaktani my God my God why have you forsaken me verse 35 some of those who stood by when they heard that said look he's calling for Elijah and someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine put it on a read and offered it to him to drink saying let him alone let us see if Elijah will come to take him down now this was mockery it wasn't out of curiosity it wasn't out of religious fear what they're doing is they're twisting his words into a cry for Elijah and not for God my God my God is what he was saying but they they said always call him for Elijah you see there was an Old Testament prophecy that Elijah would introduce Messiah to Israel in the Old Testament book of Malachi 3 verse 1 behold I send my messenger he will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight behold he is coming says the Lord of hosts and so verse 36 someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine put it on and read and gave him to drink now that brings us to the fifth saying of Jesus on the cross it was a response to what Jesus has said recorded by John in John 1928 it says after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the Scripture might be fulfilled said I thirst now by saying this he fulfilled a prophecy given by King David in Psalm 22 in Psalm 22 verses 15 through 17 my strength is dried up like a potsard my tongue clings to my jaws you have brought me to the dust of death dogs have surrounded me the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet I can count all my bones they look and stare at me now this Psalm prophesies Messiah and that Messiah is going to be crucified and it includes the picture of dehydration my strength is dried up my tongue clings to my jaws it also speaks of the piercing they pierced me it speaks of the mocking dogs have surrounded me the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me it's a picture of Christ on the cross and David had written this psalm is a messianic psalm and he had written this psalm a thousand years before Christ again it's a picture of crucifixion a thousand years before Christ the Romans had introduced crucifixion they had they had taken it from other peoples including the Assyrians but the Romans didn't start crucifying till 300 years before Christ this is the thousand years before Christ and it's picturing the way Messiah is going to die on the cross you can see his rib cage as he's pulled up and he's trying to breathe it's a picture of crucifixion well as this is taking place again in verse 36 someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine put it on a reed offered it to him to drink and so the sour wine that he was offered was going to give to him the ability with this dried out mouth to speak it was high in water and low in alcohol it was used to quench quench people's thurs again that fulfilled scripture Psalm 69 21 they also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink here's going to moisten his mouth so he could speak his final words but the responses this is taking place is even more mocking let's see if Elijah will come let's see if you'll formally introduce us to this man who refers to himself as our Messiah let's see if Elijah will come they they didn't realize that John the Baptist preaching in the spirit of Elijah had already come it was John the Baptist who came to prepare the world for the Lamb of God it was John the Baptist who pointed Jesus out and said behold the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world it was Eli it was John the Baptist preaching in the spirit of Elijah and they didn't hear it they didn't see it they didn't recognize that he had already come he had already prepared the way for him he already had called people to repentance he already had come but they didn't see him they didn't recognize him and so what did they do with John the Baptist they killed him they they cut his head off because he spoke concerning the moral lapse of that nation and spoke to Herod and told him and it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife and for that he was beheaded they killed John the one who proclaimed prepare the way for the Lord make his path straight they killed John the one who prepared and then they killed the one he prepared the way for they killed Jesus they killed him and now they're killing their own Messiah if anything shows the depravity of the human soul even anything reveals our own nature to us it's the fact that mankind is willing to kill their own God mankind was willing to kill a man who only did good and by the way we're seeing that attitude even today in the society that we live in because anybody who speaks forth things of Christ with faith in him is looked at as being a lunatic today we're looked at as being off scouring but that's what we always have been we're looked at as being bumpkins and ignorant we're looking at those we're being looked at as those who are who are blocking progress you know what we are and what we ought to be is a voice crying out in the wilderness make make the path straight for Jesus that's what we are that's what we're called to do and even though the world does not want us even though the world really doesn't care for us that doesn't stop us from talking because we know our Savior we know our Redeemer lives and we know that one day we will be with him and until that moment we preach the cross Jesus crucified so that people might have a relationship with him that's what the church is doing and I'll close it with one last thought when I got saved so long ago in a movement I've mentioned so many times but some are not familiar with that term the Jesus movement that's what we were told I'm 20 years old and I'm being told this Jesus Christ he's the only remedy for what you're going through he's the only one who can set you free for me the alcohol the drugs the relationships everything else it was all hollow because once you drink of this you're going to drink of something else once you've done this you want something else everything progresses down not up so the first time I smoke a cigarette the next thing I'm smoking is pot the next thing I'm doing is dropping drugs the next thing I'm doing is getting drunk and alcoholic those things all follow and then you hear you can be set free your sin has made a separation between you and your God but God loved you so much he sent his son Christ to die in a cross so he could set you free and even on that cross he said father forgive them and he wants you to have a relationship with him and when I heard that I said why me because God so loved the world that includes you he loves you too so it's not the amount of love I've had for Jesus these 52 years it's the amount of love he's had for me that has kept me going and gives me the ability as a man to say turn from your wicked ways follow Jesus Christ because he loves you and he gave his life up for you even on that cross he was still crying out for us father forgive them they know not what they do may God help us to come to faith in him because he's the only way he's the only way that this nation will ever change it's by person by person it's not voting another sinner into office it's by receiving Jesus Christ who transforms sinners into righteous people who affect their nation for God's sake that's what God is calling us to today is a follow here and that's what Jesus came to do and father we