Why Have You Forsaken Me? - Albert Martin

Sermon text: Mark 15:34
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"These verses bring us into the heart of those events surrounding the absolutely cruel, unjust, unrighteous, brutalizing of Jesus of Nazareth, culminating in His being impaled upon an instrument of Roman execution-a cruel form of execution borrowed from the Syrians-not used with any decent Roman citizen, but only with slaves and outcasts, and yet the form of execution chosen for Jesus of Nazareth." - Albert Martin (0:38)
I. The historical setting (6:00)
II. The significance of these words for Jesus (14:04)
III. The significance of these words for you (42:55)
1. This cry of Jesus is a mirror in which you must behold what your sins look like in the sight of God. (43:25)
2. This cry of Jesus is a prophecy of what God will do if you appear in the day of judgment with your sins still charged to you. (48:10)
3. This cry of Jesus is a strong refuge if you are desirous of having the forgiveness of sins. (50:08)
"The Scripture says the blood of goats and lambs can never take away sin, and why? Because there is no real, bonafide transferral of the guilt of sin! The sin is committed by conscious image-bearers of God-men and women, boys and girls-and the wrath that that sin provokes in the face of a holy God must be vented upon those who have committed the sin or, if a substitute can be found that is acceptable to God, who can truly and really absorb the wrath of God due to that sin, then the sin can be transferred in its guilt and wrath-deservingness. And that is precisely what Jesus did!" - Albert Martin (29:50)
"The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden was an awful thing. The deluge at the flood was an awful thing. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was an awful thing. The events of the last day will be awful. Hell is very awful. There is something more awful still-it is the cross of the Lord Jesus." (39:07)
"The cry of Jesus is a mirror in which you must behold what your sins look like in the sight of God. And, child of God, your sins and mine are no less ugly because they are the sins of someone who is a Christian and saved. Would you make a pet of a snake that bit your wife or darling child and killed them? You say, 'No, I'd cut its head off and I'd throw it to the dogs!' Your sins and mine, believer, are the snakes that killed the Son of God! Don't make them your pets, but go after their heads with all of the gospel knives that God has given!" - Albert Martin (47:10)
"Do you want to know what God is going to do in the day of judgment? Here is a record of what happened when God had a day of judgment at Golgotha: upon the cross was His innocent Son-charged with the sins of others. What did God do to Him when He bore sin-not in the way of defilement or personally committing the sins, but by imputation-they were placed upon Him, He took their guilt and wrath-deservingness, and what does God do? If ever God was going to be lenient in the face of sin, it would be when His sinless, well-beloved Son had that sin charged to Him-not His by defilement or commission but by imputation. But what does God do? He spares Him not! And you think He is going to spare you? What la-la land are you living in, my unconverted friend? What madness has the devil put into your mind that you entertain the slightest secret hope that God will somehow make it all turn out alright whether or not you deal honestly with your sin and with God's only provision for sin? O my friend, I plead with you! Hear in the cry of Jesus, 'My God, My God, why did You abandon Me?' a prophecy of what God will do with you if you appear in the day of judgment with your own sins unforgiven and uncleansed!" - Albert Martin (48:20)