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Mark 15. There are many sayings in the Holy 
Scriptures that are familiar to us. Many that are heavy, that 
are weighty, that can conjure up strong feelings, arouse our 
souls unto certain thoughts of our God and of His Christ. I 
would submit that there are few that are both as sweet and awful 
as the words that are brought forth in Mark 15 here, specifically 
verse 34. My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me? We want to examine this as we 
come in a special way to remember the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
It's a fitting text to consider as we seek to remember the death 
of our precious ones. So Mark 15, I'm going to read 
beginning in verse 22, finishing at verse 39. Once again, the 
word of the living and true God. Mark 15, 22. And they brought 
him to the place Golgotha, which is translated place of a skull. 
Then they gave him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but he did 
not take it. And when they crucified Him, 
they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what 
every man should take. Now it was the third hour, and 
they crucified Him, and the inscription of His accusation was written 
above, The King of the Jews. With Him they also crucified 
two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So 
the Scripture was fulfilled which says, And He was numbered with 
the transgressors. And those who passed by blasphemed 
Him, wagging their heads and saying, Aha! You who destroy 
the temple and build it in three days, save yourself and come 
down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests also, 
mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, He saved others. Himself He cannot save. Let the 
Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may 
see and believe. Even those who were crucified 
with Him reviled Him. Now when the sixth 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 sabachthani? 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 is calling for Elijah. Then 
someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on 
a reed, and offered it to him to drink, saying, let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come 
to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice 
and breathed his last. Then the veil of the temple was 
torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion who stood 
opposite him saw that, he cried out like this and breathed his 
last, and he said, truly, this man was the Son of God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank You for this Holy Scripture, these Holy Scriptures, 
this text that describes the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Might we come now with much sobriety and solemnity as we consider 
this text. the words of our Savior that 
he spoke from Calvary's tree. We pray that you would impress 
upon us the weight and even the glory of this event. Lord, we 
pray as we consider now the scriptures that you would help both preacher 
and hearer. And we pray that you would strengthen preacher 
and pulpit to proclaim rightly the things of your word. And 
we do pray that you would tend unto the hearer, that the spirit 
would be present, a strengthening saint and saving sinner. And 
might this be an exercise yet again for your glory's sake, 
and that the Lord Jesus Christ might again be exalted upon his 
gathered assembly. And we do pray in Christ's precious 
name. Amen. Perhaps some words from 
Spurgeon to introduce the topic. We are going to consider both 
verse 33 and verse 34 under the headings, the darkness and the 
derelict. Two simple headings as we examine 
this quite solemn text. Spurgeon, in introducing a sermon 
on this particular passage, preached, as you see this, that is, the 
words, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Say to yourselves, 
what manner of people ought we to be? What measure of love ought 
we to return to one who bore the utmost penalty, that we might 
be delivered from the wrath to come? I do not profess that I 
can dive into this deep. I will only venture to the edge 
of the precipice and bid you look down and pray, the Spirit 
of God, to concentrate your mind upon this lamentation of our 
dying Lord as it rises up through the thick darkness. My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me? I want to reread verses 33 and 
verse 34. These, again, the words of God. 
Now, when the sixth 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 sabachthani, 
which is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 
me? Solemn words spoken by our Savior 
here. And before the words, though, 
we have the darkness. And so we want to consider first 
the darkness. What does this mean when we read 
in verse 33, Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness 
over the whole land until the ninth hour. When we read these 
numbers, the sixth and the ninth, we are to see there from noon 
until 3 PM. It's what we have in the 6th 
hour and in the 9th hour. Noon had come. There was darkness 
over the whole land until 3 p.m. if you'll afford the liberty 
of translation there. We have this darkness, and so 
what does it mean on this occasion where the King of Kings, the 
King of the Jews, is put to death upon Calvary's tree in that place 
of the skull? What does it mean? Well, two 
things. The first is this. It is a portent 
of the doom that would come upon that rebellious generation. A 
portent is simply something that foretells or something that foresignifies 
or represents a more momentous event that is to come. Not that 
there's something more momentous than the crucifixion, but the 
darkness here is just a small speck of the darkness that would 
come upon this adulterous and rebellious generation. Remember 
what's going on here. Remember, these are the ones 
who chose darkness rather than light. They did not choose, but 
rather rejected the Savior, the One who is light Himself, the 
One who created light, the One who is the light of the world, 
the One who gives light to men. These rejected Him, and so this 
is a portent of the darkness, of the gloom, of divine judgment 
and retribution that would come upon them by the brightness of 
His glory and the brightness of His coming. This is something 
that does foresignify that great and momentous day where they 
would be judged for putting to death the Lord of glory. In fact, 
many a commenter will connect Amos 8 and verse 9 to this particular 
portent of the darkness of divine judgment. Notice what we have 
in Amos 8, beginning in verse 9, And it shall come to pass 
in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down 
at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. I will 
turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will bring sackcloth on every 
waist and baldness on every head. I will make it like mourning 
for an only son, and its end like a bitter day." We have this 
darkness coming upon the land from from the sixth hour, noon, 
until the ninth hour, three. And it is something that foresignifies 
the doom of that generation. Remember, if we recall the preaching 
of Pastor Butler on Matthew 21, I wonder if these men, if any 
of their hearts sank when this darkness loomed across the land 
while they were putting to death the Lord of Glory. Remember the 
parable that Jesus delivered to these. Men. He gave them that 
parable of the landowner and the vinedressers. And the landowner 
sends workers to bring the fruits in, in their seasons. And the 
vinedressers who have leased from the landowner kill all of 
those, or they beat some and they kill others. And finally, 
he sends the son. Finally, He sends His Son, and 
they seize Him, and they kill Him. They bring Him outside of 
the vineyard. They seize His inheritance, and they kill Him. 
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, in fact, 
the words of their own lips when they say, surely He will kill 
those wicked men miserably, those men who put to death the Lord 
of glory, the only Son of the landowner. And here we have the 
darkness looming when these vinedressers who have leased the land from 
the landowner are putting to death, seeking to seize the inheritance 
of the son of the landowner. The sun looms across the land, 
or the darkness looms across the land, blocking the sun. We 
suspect or we think with speculation, did any of these have their hearts 
within them sink, remembering the words of the Savior? Is this 
what's going on? Is this what's going on? It is 
a portent of the doom that would come upon that rebellious generation 
when the darkness of the Shekinah glory would be removed from the 
temple, and no longer would God's glory be there, but rather, and 
of course, His glory is in the very one who they are putting 
to death upon Calvary's tree. Secondly, it is a sign of the 
terrible deprivation of the suffering servant. This darkness that looms 
over the land is the sign of the terrible deprivation of the 
suffering servant. That simply means the abandonment 
of Christ upon the cross. This darkness symbolizes, signifies 
that very thing. Matthew Henry writes, the darkness 
signified the present cloud which the human soul of Christ was 
under when He was making it an offering for sin. I repeat that 
to press the severity of the darkness in its signifying. He says, the darkness signified 
the present cloud which the human soul of Christ was under when 
He was making it an offering for sin. Christ was silent and 
alone upon the cross. He'd been rejected by His countrymen. He'd been rejected. He'd been 
betrayed by a friend. He'd been denied by another. 
He'd been abandoned by the rest, save John. You see, that wasn't 
what moved him at this particular point to, in a moment, cry out, 
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It was the deprivation 
of the suffering servant when his God abandoned him for the 
salvation of his people. When God left him in straits 
as he bore his wrath. for the sins of all those who 
had been given to Him. It is a sign of the terrible 
deprivation of the suffering servant. Fitting it is to turn 
to Isaiah 53. So, do that with me, because 
that is no doubt in view. We have this occasion, this solemn 
occasion, with regards to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and this language the deprivation of the suffering 
servant. Notice what we have in Isaiah 
53. No doubt all of the language, 
but let's go to verse 10 and read these words. Yet it pleased 
the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering 
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and 
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. No doubt 
you have considered those words before, but consider them afresh, 
yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to crush him. He has put 
him to grief. No doubt Henry is right when 
he says the darkness signified the present cloud which the human 
soul of Christ was under when he was making it an offering 
for sin. It's an amazing occasion here, 
and it's not simply, again, the portent of the doom of that rebellious 
generation, but signifying the deprivation of the suffering 
servant, the one who created light, the light of the world, 
the light of men, the one whose gospel is light. This one is 
cast in darkness for the sins of his people. Brethren, we observe 
the Lord's Supper tonight. and that is a remembrance of 
this dark day and yet this glorious day. You see, I think it's only 
in Christianity we have Solemnity and joy mingled together in both 
bitterness and sweetness when we come to the occasion, to the 
accounts, to the narratives of this one, the King of Kings and 
Lord of Lords, giving himself for guilty sinners upon Calvary's 
tree. What a blessed thing. He's put 
to death upon this place of the skull, and yet he is the hero 
born of woman who would crush the skull of the serpent. This 
darkness looms. The One who created light, who 
is light Himself, is cast in darkness, giving Himself for 
the sins of His people. Well, we have next, then, the 
derelict. The darkness, and now the derelict. In verse 34, and at the ninth 
hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, My God, My God, 
Why have you forsaken Me? There's two ways that we can 
define the word derelict in its noun form. You're probably used 
to the negative one. Someone who has neglected their 
duty. Their derelict of duty. They 
had a task, and they did not do that which they were tasked 
to do. When we call Christ here the 
derelict, that is, of course, not what we mean. The other meaning 
of derelict is the one abandoned. The one left. The one left in 
straits. And here we have the derelict 
Christ as that one who is left. And that cries out here, My God, 
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He is made derelict so that 
we, The true derelicts might never be left derelict by our 
God. He is abandoned by God so that 
we who have abandoned God might never be abandoned by God. He cries out, My God, My God, 
why hast thou forsaken Me? So that His people, saved by 
His grace and for His glory, might never cry out those selfsame 
words. Spurgeon, on these particular 
words, again, uses this language in order to describe the event. 
I do not think that the records of time or even of eternity contain 
a sentence more full of anguish. Here the wormwood and the gall 
and all the other bitternesses are outdone. Here you may look 
as into a vast abyss, and though you strain your eyes and gaze 
till sight fails you, yet you perceive no bottom. It is measureless, 
unfathomable, inconceivable. The anguish of the Savior on 
your behalf and mine is no more to be measured and weighed than 
the sin which needed it or the love which endured it. We will 
adore where we cannot comprehend. And so to seek to adore, if only 
a little bit, as we have a little bit of time to look at this, 
under the derelict, we want to answer four questions. We want 
to ask and answer four questions. And those questions are these. 
Who is this? Why is he crying out? What has 
he done? And who did he do it for? So 
the first question, who is this? We know the answer, hopefully 
all of us in this room know the answer, and yet an exploration 
and a fresh discovery of who it is ought to warm our hearts 
and lift our spirits, and yet at the same time cast us to a 
place of solemn humility before this One, before this One who 
cried out these words, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken 
Me? Who is this? It is the God-Man, it is Jesus 
the Christ, Son of God and Son of Man. If you want to look for 
a non-inspired answer to the question, who is this? I would commend you to look no 
further than Melito of Sardis in the 2nd century. It's a long 
quote, but I impress upon you the identification of the One. 
We all know this is the Christ. We all know this is the King, 
our Lord and Savior. And yet consider this language 
of this bishop of old, the second century. And so he was lifted 
up upon a tree, and an inscription was attached indicating who was 
being killed, the king of the Jews. Who was it? It is a grievous thing to tell, 
but a most fearful thing to refrain from telling. But listen as you 
tremble before Him on whose account the earth trembled. He who hung 
the earth is in place, hanged. He who fixed the heavens in place 
is fixed in place. He who made all things fast is 
made fast on a tree. The sovereign is insulted. God 
is murdered. The King of Israel is destroyed 
by an Israelite hand. This is the One who made the 
heavens and the earth, and formed mankind in the beginning. The 
One proclaimed by the Law and the Prophets. The One enfleshed 
in a virgin. The One hanged on a tree. The 
One buried in the earth. The One raised from the dead, 
who went up into the heights of heaven, which exist from the 
beginning of time. the one sitting at the right 
hand of the Father, the one having all authority to judge and save, 
through whom the Father made the things which exist, this 
one is the Alpha and the Omega, this one is the beginning and 
the end, the beginning indescribable and the end incomprehensible, 
this one is the Christ, this one is the King, this one is 
Jesus, This One is the Leader. This One is the Lord. This One 
is the One who rose from the dead. This One is the One sitting 
on the right hand of the Father. He bears the Father and is born 
by the Father. To Him be glory and the power 
forever. Amen. Who is this crying out, 
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? This is God of God. Light of light. True God from 
true God. Begotten, not made. One in being 
with the Father. By Him, all things were made. 
And He comes in time and in history to take upon Himself man's nature 
with all of our essential properties and common infirmities, yet without 
sin. And bears this cross and cries 
out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? What an amazing 
thing. The question has often been asked, 
if Jesus is God, how can Jesus cry out, My God, My God, why 
have You forsaken Me? Going even further, how can God 
be forsaken of God? Are we somehow to understand 
some sort of unraveling of the Trinity here? That the Son of 
God is abandoned and made derelict by His Father. Well, we need 
to understand, and in fact, Henry helps us here, Matthew Henry, 
when he says, the darkness signified the present cloud which the human 
soul of Christ was under when he was making it an offering 
for sin. You see, we cannot properly say, 
God is murdered, the sovereign is insulted, the king of Israel 
is put to death and murdered. in the sense of His deity, because 
God is immutable, eternal, and He's infinite, eternal, and unchangeable 
in all of His holy perfections. He is immutable, impassable. God truly cannot suffer, but 
it is Christ, the Son of God, who took to Himself man's nature, 
crying out in accordance with His humanity, as touching His 
humanity, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The human 
soul of Christ under the present cloud of this darkness and the 
wrath of God. Who is this that's crying out, 
my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You see, Christians, 
in these sorts of moments, we need to, in a sense, rally in 
all of our troops of joy and happiness, and, you know, fond 
thoughts of mirth and whatever else, and call them to cease 
and desist for a moment, and bring ourselves to a humble solemnity 
before such a momentous thing. The Son of God, the second of 
the blessed triune, the brightness of the Father's glory and the 
express image of His person is on Calvary's tree, His human 
soul under the wrath and the power and the almighty judgment 
of God, and he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 
me? And again, as we'll get to in 
a moment, this is for one who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, 
never committed a sin, never committed a transgression, guile 
never proceeding from his lips, Nevertheless, He bears the sins 
of His people upon Calvary's tree. This is the promised one 
of the Old Testament. As we're reading through the 
passage in its entirety this evening, hopefully you notice 
the language in verse 28. So the Scripture was fulfilled 
which says, and He was numbered with the transgressors. When 
we come to the death of Christ, upon Calvary's tree. We're not 
coming to some haphazard and random event that beset the Christ 
in time and in history. We're coming to an event foreordained 
by God for the salvation of sinners. We're coming to an event promised 
in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 is in view 
there, and he was numbered with the transgressors. In fact, even 
a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ is brought to view here 
from John 2. Aha! You who destroy the temple, 
verse 29, and build it in three days, save yourself and come 
down from the cross. Psalm 22 is as well in view, 
of course, when we read verses 31 through 34, culminating in 
these words of the cry from the lips of our Savior, my God, my 
God, why have you forsaken me? The Promised One of the Old Testament 
has come to render that which was promised, and these people, 
these wicked ones, reject Him, and they despise Him, and they 
put Him to death. Why is he crying out? It's a 
question we ask. Secondly, why is he crying out? He's crying out because of the 
travail of his soul, the anguish of his soul. You know, yes, we 
do not ever want to minimize the physical sufferings of our 
Christ upon Calvary's tree. He truly did take to himself 
man's nature. And so, upon Calvary's tree, 
he's taking into his truly human hands the nails, those Roman 
nails. He's taking into his truly human 
feet those Roman nails. He's enduring the heat of the 
sun, the spittings, the bruising, the mocking. He's enduring all 
of these things. He is crying out, and no doubt, 
we have the reality that our Lord Jesus Christ is suffering 
the physical pains of the crucifixion. But you see, when He cries out 
these words, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? It 
is the travail, the anguish of His soul forbearing the wrath 
of the sins of His people. Calvin, writing on that very 
thing, speaks these words or writes these words, those interpreters 
are widely mistaken, laying aside this part of redemption attended 
solely to the outward punishment of the flesh. For in order that 
Christ might satisfy for us, it was necessary that He should 
be placed as a guilty person at the judgment seat of God. 
Now nothing is more dreadful than to feel that God whose wrath 
is worse than all deaths, is the judge. When this temptation 
was presented to Christ as if, having God opposed to Him, He 
were already devoted to destruction, He was seized with horror, which 
would have been sufficient to swallow up a hundred times all 
the men in the world. But by the amazing power of the 
Spirit, He achieved the victory. Christ is enduring this anguish 
of soul, this anguish and travail of his soul being crushed under 
the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable justice of God. Brethren, hopefully 
when we come to a remembrance of the Lord's Supper, and we'll 
back up for a moment, hopefully whenever we come to a remembrance 
of our Christ, we land upon that amazing and sobering truth. That Christ bore the wrath of 
God. in our stead. When we take that 
bread and when we take that wine, let it never be an empty ordinance. It's never to be that. God help 
us if it ever becomes that. By that ordinance, we're reflecting 
upon an event of events. The most momentous event in history. When this one cried out, my God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me and gave up? the ghost, for 
the good of His people, for the sins of His people. This is to 
quiet us, to calm us, for a moment, jettisoning joy and happiness 
in a sense that we might all the more focus more on the solemnity 
of the thing. And then, as we will in a moment, 
come back to the joy of the thing. But it is momentous. It is monumental. When this one cried out, my God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why is he crying out? Because of the travail of his 
soul and taking upon himself the wrath of God. The third question 
that we want to ask and answer is, what has he done? What has 
he done? Hopefully all of us here can 
answer that question, but we can answer it in two ways. The 
first answer is, from one vantage point, He has done nothing. What 
has He done? He's done nothing. He is holy, 
harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners. He is the unblemished, 
a perfect Lamb of God. He is the perfect sacrifice who 
never Himself sinned. His disciples, His most intimate 
of companions can say most assuredly, this one is perfect. So what has He done? He has done 
nothing. He is without blemish and without 
spot. Yet from another vantage point, 
at the point of this crying out, He has done everything. That 
is, He has completed the work of salvation. Now that is, when 
he gives up the ghost, when he does truly die, as he cries out, 
it is finished, and then dies upon Calvary's tree. But we must 
see here that Christ does everything in his life, culminating in his 
death. Grand Carmen Christi in Philippians 
2, 5-11, as it transitions to the doxological part, or the 
glory of Christ in His exaltation, it says, He was obedient to the 
point of death, even the cross death. A beautiful thing that 
we have here. He has done nothing from one 
vantage point in that He is Holy, harmless, and undefiled, the 
sinless King of Kings, and yet, with respect to salvation, He 
upon the cross has done everything. That later cry proves it. It 
is finished. The blessed words from our Savior, 
a study and a fresh discovery of all of those sayings of our 
Lord from the cross, stirs our heart and warms our Christian 
hearts. What has He done? He has done 
everything. He's been obedient to the point 
of death, even the cross death. There is nothing to be added 
to the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's done everything. Righteousness comes from the 
law and Christ died in vain. You see, we take anyone to this 
scene. Take anyone to this scene who, 
whether in the smallest degree or to the greatest degree, seeks 
to heap anyone's righteousness and anyone's works upon that 
of Christ's. We take them by the hand firmly 
and we say, cast your eyes upon this scene. And then tell me 
if you still want to perpetuate your blasphemies. We can add 
to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ alone our hope is found. And here we see the weight of 
that coming in this occasion when he cries out, My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Who did he do it for then is 
our last question, our fourth question. Who did he do it for? First off, he did it for the 
Father, that cry, is a cry to the Father, isn't it? My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Cries out to his Father, 
the derelict. Again, in the sense of being 
abandoned upon the cross, the wrath of God is poured out upon 
him. Pleased the Lord to bruise him, 
to crush him. He is put into grief. And this 
cry is to and for the Father in the first place. My God, my 
God, why have you forsaken me? Secondly, though, He did it for 
all who believe in Him. We've said it again, and you've 
heard it time and again. Christ our King cries out these 
words, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So that we 
never have to cry that cry. We come A few moments to remember 
our Lord and remember that blessed truth. Remember this cry of dereliction 
from the cross. Do you understand that this cry 
of dereliction is a cry of substitution? This cry of abandonment is a 
cry of atonement. He cries out this cry so that 
we never will. He did it for all who believe 
in Him. This is what He has done, and 
this is who He did it for. All those who had been given 
to Him by the Father. That hymn that I believe we just 
sang by Isaac Watts, Was it for crimes that I had done, He groaned 
upon the tree. What verse do you think was in 
the mind of Watts when he penned that? Was it for crimes that 
I had done, He groaned upon the tree. My God, My God, why hast 
Thou forsaken Me? Blessed truth. The Scriptures 
are replete with this blessed truth. 1 Corinthians 15, that 
Gospel message contains what at the beginning? He died for 
our sins according to the Scriptures. I think very often when we read 
through such a text, we can skip past the four hour. and just 
not dive deep into the reality that that is substitutionary 
language. He died in our room instead for 
our sins. He died in our place upon that 
tree. Galatians 3.13. We're only going 
to rehearse three of these texts. There's so many, but Galatians 
3.13. The beautiful language of substitutionary 
atonement. Christ has redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, 
cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Having become a curse 
for us. Christian, if you're here tonight, 
Christ became a curse for you. We were, we should have endured 
the curse of the law. Not that the law in and of itself 
is a curse, but it brings a curse because it brings death, because 
we can never obey it. We can never fulfill it. We break 
it time and again. Breach upon breach of the law 
is our character in this lower world. All have sinned and have 
fallen short of the glory of God. We should have borne the 
curse. And yet Christ bears the curse 
for all who believe. What a blessed text. Christ has 
become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is 
everyone who hangs on a tree. That text in 2 Peter 2. is a 
text as well that has Isaiah 53 in the fore when Peter is 
rehearsing this blessed reality, the saving work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ and its substitutionary character. 1 Peter 2, verse 24. Notice the language that we have 
in that particular text, speaking of Christ, "...who Himself bore 
our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to 
sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." 
Who Himself bore our sins. in His own body on the tree. 
Believer, if you're here tonight, Christ bore your sins in His 
own body on the tree. Remember what we talked about 
this morning. We can peruse, seriously peruse, the diary of 
our memories and find the witnesses of our guilt, having there faithfully 
recorded their names. You see, that guilt is removed. 
That guilt is taken away. The wrath of God for those sins 
is taken away by this One who bore in His own body our sins 
upon that tree. What a blessed truth. What a 
sweet and awful thing it is to rehearse, my God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me? Well, just a few observations 
in closing before we move on to prayer and the Lord's Supper. 
The first thing we want to observe is, for the unbeliever, you are 
to fear your lot if you reject the Savior. Remember what our 
first point was with regards to the darkness. It is a portent 
of doom that would come upon that rebellious generation. It's 
also a portent of the doom, the darkness, the gloom of your own 
judgment and condemnation if you do not believe in the King 
of Kings and the Lord of Lords who gave himself upon Calvary's 
tree for the sins of his people. See, we want to have this one 
who cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me as our 
Savior and redeeming King? You do not want to have him as 
judge. You do not want to have him as 
the one who will say to you, depart from me into the lake 
of fire reserved for the devil and his angels. This one who 
here for a time was at a position, if you'll allow, of disadvantage, 
being put to death by lawless hands upon Calvary's tree, crying 
out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But remember, 
by the Spirit he gained the victory, Calvin says. We come to the Scriptures and 
we know that is the case because he rose the third day. He ascended. He was given dominion and glory 
and a kingdom. He rides His valiant white steed 
according to Revelation 19. And He puts to death with the 
sword of His mouth those who would reject. Such a glorious 
one. If you're here tonight, fear 
your lot if you reject the Savior, because if you die outside of 
Christ, if your life ends outside of Christ, it is an eternity, 
a Christless, a godless eternity. With a qualification, it isn't 
a godless eternity, because He is there present with the hotness 
of His unchanging justice. So you reflect for eternity upon 
your rejection of so glorious a Savior. Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. And these words will be 
words that were cried out for you, so that you would never 
have to cry them out. For the believer, we need to, 
by this verse, understand that our God will never leave us or 
forsake us. See, that's one of the many blessings 
that we have in this passage, is that Christ cried these words 
out, and it really is true that because of that, all who believe 
in Him never will have to. There's a hymn that we're going 
to sing in a moment for the Lord's Supper, and I would submit that 
this is one of the best poems of the death of the Lord ever 
written. John Ellerton writes, Lord, should 
fear and anguish roll, darkly o'er my sinful soul. Thou who 
once was thus bereft that Thine own might ne'er be left, teach 
me by that bitter cry in the gloom to know Thee nigh. You see, this one Christ was 
bereft. He was left. He was abandoned. 
He was derelict that His own might never be left, might never 
be derelict, might never be abandoned. Teach me by that bitter cry, 
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So that in the gloom 
we'll know that you're near. We have in this cry the testimony, 
the certainty that God will never leave us nor forsake us when 
we're found safely in Christ. And lastly, in light of this 
text, in light of this verse, my God, my God, why have you 
forsaken me? Don't forsake Him by neglecting 
the means of your nearness to God. The point I'm trying to 
make is we ought never to forsake the Lord's Supper. We ought never 
to forsake the gathering of ourselves together, the death of Christ. 
The death of Christ, wherein He cried this cry, is the weight 
of the argument that Paul brings in the book of Hebrews that we're 
not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. deliberately avoiding and not 
engaging in the gathering together of the saints of Christ with 
sinful and neglectful intentions, we are forsaking the one who 
cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, so that 
we might never be forsaken. Don't forsake the one who cried 
out these words. Don't neglect the Lord's Supper. 
Brethren, I fear that it has been brought to the point where 
it is some sort of appendix to worship, where it is some sort 
of optional thing tacked on to the worship service. It's not 
optional. It's an ordinance of positive 
and sovereign institution ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ to be 
observed in His churches until the end of the world. Oh, the 
weightiness and the burden of the Lord's Supper. No. In solemn 
reflection, it is still and nevertheless a joy to gather together and 
to think upon and reflect upon this King of the Jews, this King 
of Kings and Lord of Lords who cried out, My God, My God, why 
hast Thou forsaken Me so that all who believe might never have 
to? Why would we ever entertain the forsaking of such a blessed 
ordinance of our Lord? whereby we cast away the demons 
of a base ingratitude, replace it with solemn and holy reflections, 
burning remembrance of our Savior, the King of Kings. Brethren, 
we are to think often on our Christ, reflect often upon His 
perfect and saving work, His person and His work, and we are 
never to neglect the means of our preservation, the means of 
our nearness to God. worship of God on the Lord's 
Day, the preaching of the Word, prayer, baptism, the Lord's Supper, 
and other means ordained by Him that we might grow in the grace 
of faith. As we now close in prayer and look forward to the 
Lord's Supper, believer, rejoice in this One who cried out for 
you. Unbeliever, come to this One who cried, My God, My God, 
why hast Thou forsaken Me? And find in Him your all in all. 
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for this time together. We rejoice in the truths that 
we read from Mark and from the rest of the scriptures. We rejoice 
in the truth that our Savior bore our penalty, bore the wrath 
that was due us upon Calvary's tree. We thank you that he bore 
in his own body the sins of his people upon that tree that we, 
having died to sin, might live for righteousness. And we thank 
you that he became a curse for us, for all those who believe. 
And we pray that as we now reflect upon his death in this ordinance 
of the Lord's Supper, We pray that you would help us to do 
so with that proper solemnity and that proper joy that you 
might receive all honor and praise and that yet again our Savior, 
the Lord Jesus, would be thought upon highly by the gathered assembly 
and that he would be exalted upon our praises. So be with 
us now as we engage in this act for your glory and for our good. 
And we pray in Christ's name. Amen.