Forgiveness costs! It cost God His Son. It cost JESUS His Life. Forgive- ness is more than a few uttered words quickly flung into the air. FORGIVE- NESS is a POWER, a FORCE, a SPIR- IT, a HEARTTHROB—an emotion. Forgiveness costs. Jesus had to liter- ally go through the pains of HELL to be able to utter those forgiving words on Calvary: Father . . . Forgive Them. Those words echoed against the walls of hell when all of its fury was poured on Him on the cross. Those words, like the wind, swept through every human pit of darkness upon the face of the earth. Father...Forgive Them. ike the sweet balm of Gilead those words traveled back to the begin- ning of time to two broken people in a garden and then raced through all hu- manity to the final hour, to the LAST SOUL born on planet earth. Father... Forgive Them—words uttered from a rugged Cross but transcending earth and heaven until they reached the L Winston Churchill surveying destruction at Coventry Throne of God. Forgiveness Costs!! There is no one who does not need the forgiveness—Forgive Us. Churches are sending thousands of missionaries to reach a world that needs forgiveness. Thousands of messengers are sent to a world of SIX BILLION PEOPLE. Father...Forgive Them. When a missionary goes to the field, he or she is carrying a pardon from God. The world at this hour stands GUILTY before a Holy God. That pardon of FORGIVENESS must be received. BUT IT IS TOO LATE when the opportunity is past and when life has ended! It is too late when the clock is silent and you find yourself in a timeless eternity. From the Cross— Two words fell from the Lips of God, Forgive Them. Think of the MILLIONS on earth who live under Guilt. Think of all the darkness that engulfs the hearts of men. Think of all the tragedies and tears that SIN has loosed upon us. FORGIVE THEM. But the pendulum swings to the other side of the clock and man must counter God’s offer with Forgive US—Forgive ME! It is a plea that God cannot deny, a prayer that He cannot refuse—but a word that the GRAVE cannot utter. he world needs forgiveness. In Japan I sat in a service and heard the testimony of a Japanese Christian man. He use to be a worshipper of idols and his ancestors. I could never forget his words: “Before the mission- aries came, I never knew there was a world like this.” He meant a world of mercy and grace and of forgiveness… and most of the world still does not know. We Christians carry a message of forgiveness, a pardon from God, but how will they ever know if we do not tell them…tell them that they too can be… T Forgiven!