"The Thief on the Cross" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

song but i know right now is the sabbath and we're going to be studying his word i invite you to turn in your bibles to the book of galatians in galatians chapter 2 verse 20. paul says i have been crucified with christ it is no longer i who live but christ who lives in me and the life which i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me now that is a powerful statement it's also a troubling statement he says i've been crucified i don't live anymore but someone else is living in me the life i now live i live by christ and i've always it's such a deep verse i've wondered lord what does that mean and one day on an elementary label a level i i thought he said well i've been crucified with christ and i began to think about the crucifixion i thought well who else was crucified with christ and naturally my mind went to the two thieves that were crucified with christ now you find the story in matthew mark luke and john where it talks about jesus being crucified in the midst of two thieves but it's only in the story that luke shares it tells about a dialogue that goes on between jesus and one of the thieves so turn please to the gospel of luke chapter 23 and we're going to begin with verse 32. this of course is at the scenes of the crucifixion luke 23 32 there were also two other criminals led with him to be put to death and when they had come to the place called calvary there they crucified him and the criminals one on the right and the other on the left you know it tells us in isaiah chapter 53 that he would be numbered with the transgressors he was not only numbered with them he was placed right in the midst of them as though he was chief among them and then jesus said father forgive them for they know not what they do and this is happening in the process of their crucifying him before they probably even raised the cross and then they divided his garments and they cast lots and the people stood looking on but even the rulers sneered and said he saved others let him save himself if he's the christ the chosen of god i've always thought boy if i saw a person dying even if i thought they were guilty i don't think i could mock a dying person you know you wouldn't you feel some sympathy for a person that had been beaten so terribly and they were dying you've got to be pretty cold-hearted to mock a dying person and they sneered and they mocked him the soldiers also mocked him coming and offering him sour wine and saying if you're the king of the jews save yourself now they had it all backwards he could have saved himself but if he had saved himself there would have been no hope for any of them so let's be thankful he didn't take their advice and an inscription was written over him in the letters of greek latin and hebrew this is the king of the jews now you may not have run into this conundrum before but when you read this in the other gospels the wording is all different and some have tried to use that to say oh you can't trust the bible because in one place it says jesus christ king of the jews jesus he said he was king of the jews or some derivative of that it's a little different the wording on the sign above his head and some have made a big deal out of that well the answer is really very simple one it's in three different languages and it just depends on which language you're reading they wrote it a little different in each one of the languages for the people that were passing by but anyway pilate wanted it to be above his head you know you're supposed to have the accusation matter of fact in it one version i think it says there's an inscription above his head it's actually the accusation of a criminal was placed above their head and his accusation he said he was the king of the jews now as far as the other two originally they had scheduled the crucifixion that day and there were three individuals to be crucified two thieves and the third ringleader that we know as barabbas we call them thieves but actually it says that they were thieves it also says that they were guilty of insurrection they were trying to overthrow the romans in some way and murder in one of their uprisings that they instigated somebody was killed and so they're guilty of murder and they're guilty of rebellion and they're guilty of robbery they were sort of the local robin hoods they would rob the romans and supposedly under the pretense of helping to further their zionism and wanting to see israel independent once again and then it tells about this discussion that happens in verse 39 then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him saying if you are the christ save yourself and us well he's actually improved on the statement of the soldiers the soldier said if you're the christ save yourself now this man the thief we're going to say he's on the left and i can't prove he's on the left but i just know that jesus talks about the goats on the left and the sheep on the right and i'm assuming that since this guy was a goat he's on the left i don't know that but you don't know otherwise so it works for the story right he at least says save yourself and us but i want you to notice he's thinking about his salvation then first of all he begins with the word if that's the wrong way to begin a prayer to jesus is to start out with an if you can read in mark chapter 9 that there's a father that has a boy who's struggling with a problem he has these seizures and he says the devil comes over him and tries to throw him in the fire or throw him in the water sometimes they'd be by a river and also and he'd have a seizure and he'd leap off into the water they'd have a fire and he'd fall off into the campfire and and several times they'd had to rescue him and they're just heartbroken and the man comes to jesus and he brought them to the disciples and they couldn't do anything they tried to cast the devil out and they couldn't that's one of the stories where they they failed and he came to jesus he said if you can do anything and jesus the word if is like a four-letter word for jesus even though it's a two-letter word for us he said if do you come to god with an if if you can do anything he said if you believe all things are possible and that man realized that that was his problem he said lord i believe little that's why i'm here help my unbelief it's good to know that you can come to jesus season with even with doubts and you confess them and say lord i'm struggling in my faith help my unbelief he said you can even pray that prayer and he can help you but this thief he said if you're the son of god that's what the devil said to jesus at the temptation right if and that's how christ spotted him right away if you are the christ save yourself and it's not the holy spirit speaking through this man it's a devil speaking through a desperate dying man save yourself you see he said you normally want to save yourself first then us see jesus didn't do it that way he put us first jesus didn't answer him he can't answer a prayer of if but the other one answering rebuked him he's talking to his former comrade he's saying do you not even fear god seeing you are under the same condemnation and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward for our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong and he said to jesus lord remember me when you come into your kingdom and jesus said to him assuredly i say to you today you will be with me in paradise now it was about the sixth hour and darkness is over the earth until the ninth hour our message today is dealing with the thief on the cross we've just sort of read the foundational verses we're going to be considering but i want you to i want you to notice that these two thieves really represent everybody here first of all they were both under a death sentence and in case you didn't know it you have sinned and the penalty for sin is death and we are all under a death sentence they were guilty of robbery you're guilty of robbery most of us have stolen something that belongs to god time means the bible says if you don't pay tithe you're robbing god he was guilty of murder well at the very least we're all guilty of the murder of god's son because he died for our sins the bible says if you are angry with your brother without a cause you're guilty of murder have you ever been in that category where you're just kind of seeding mad at somebody else kind of wish something bad would happen to him and you'd only pretend to be sorry that something bad happened to him had a little homicide in your heart before and rebellion well we're all rebels we all have like sheep gone our own way so these two thieves really represent the two potential destinies of all humanity we were all we're all going to fit into one of these two categories and the other thing you notice about them they're both helpless to save themselves they're naked hanging dying condemned all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do they're suspended between heaven and earth they have their hands spiked to the cross they can't save themselves they both pray but their prayers are very different the prayer of one is wanting salvation from his circumstances so he could go on and live his life of rebellion and robbery the prayer of the other he's not asking for a change in this life he's asking for mercy in the life to come so they're very very different kinds of prayers now i want you to notice that there's six things that happened here and i've kind of titled them where they all begin with the letter b the thief who is saved is the one we're especially interested in he was crucified with christ yet he's going to live right he beheld he believed he broadcast he beseeched he became and he was blessed now let's start out with the first part he beheld he beheld the evidence that he saw what led to his salvation it's something he saw you've heard me say this before but you know salvation if you look at the steps of salvation i believe that it begins with seeing something now that's scriptural zacchaeus is saved he wanted to see jesus paul is converted on the road to damascus he saw the lord isaiah goes through a conversion in the year that king isaiah died i saw the lord and then this thief is crucified by jesus he sees christ lifted up jesus said if i am lifted up i will draw all men you need to see something first and before you can see your badness and repent you must see his goodness the bible tells us it is the goodness of god that leads us to repentance not only did he see that i think he saw a lot of evidence now to be fair they were on the cross six hours approximately do you know jesus was on the cross a total of seven hours six hours alive one hour dead six hours suffering one hour resting isn't that interesting even in death he kept the sabbath it tells us the hours they were crucified it tells us what hour day it was when he was finally buried so you can do the math initially both thieves were also engaging in the taunting of jesus you'll read in matthew you'll read in mark that they both were saying if you're the christ save us but something happens to the second faith on the right we don't know when it happened along the way but we can speculate that he saw some things that got him to think you know when you're dying and your heart is racing and your adrenaline is rushing through your mind goes in kind of hyper mode you think very quickly ever you ever been like you know in a crazy situation where your car starts sliding on the road and all these other cars are around you and also your something kicks in it's almost like lightning and your mind starts working very quickly oh this man was hours on the cross and all kinds of things were going through his mind he's dying and suddenly he realized he hears jesus pray father forgive them i didn't feel like praying for the soldiers the thief is thinking to himself what kind of man is this and he was there when pilate brought barabbas out you know they had their two crosses already on their back and they brought out barabbas and they take the cross from barabbas and they give it to jesus jesus is dying on barabbas cross and by the way you and i are kind of like barabbas jesus took our place barabbas went free and jesus died in his place though he was innocent he was there at the trial where he heard pilate say i find no fault in him he saw the dark sky it was supernatural and all these things began to add up maybe then he also he remembered the scripture in psalm 22 where jesus said my god my god why have you forsaken me you saw jesus declare that would you go with me to psalm 22 people have wondered why did jesus get discouraged on the cross and say that jesus didn't get discouraged on the cross it is true christ declared he proclaimed my god my god why have you forsaken me not because jesus felt he had been forsaken jesus was quoting scripture from the cross look in psalm chapter 22 verse 1 my god my god why have you forsaken me why would jesus quote this scripture from that psalm well you know the high priest during the passover and this was the passover would quote from the messianic psalms this was a messianic psalm but what does this psalm talk about go in that psalm psalm chapter 22 to verse 16. for dogs have surrounded me the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me this is what was happening that day they pierced my hands and my feet i can count all of my bones they look and they stare at me they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots you know probably these two thieves were jews more than probably they were rebels or jewish rebels against the romans so i'm quite certain they were jewish maybe as boys they went to sabbath school and they had learned some of the psalms and there's a chance that this thief he knew the rest of psalm 22 and jesus starts it out my god my god why have you forsaken me and he sees the darkness and he says this is a messianic psalm is this messiah he looks at the sign above the head this is the king of the jews you know you think that would make it clear then he sees them gambling for his clothing he sees them piercing his hands and his feet he sees the congregation around him gaping and mocking and this is what it says happens not only do you see it there in verse 16 psalm 22 go to verse 7. all those who see me ridicule me they shoot out the lip they shake the head saying he trusted in the lord let him rescue him let him deliver him since he delights in him these are the very things that are being said you can read matthew 27 from the cross the crowd is mocking him so jesus is directing the attention of the people to the fulfillment of this prophecy he hadn't become discouraged because the last statement of christ is one of faith father into your hands i commend my spirit something's happening now the thief's mind is racing he's thinking this is the messiah his mind is illuminated by the holy spirit and then everybody is shocked by what he says it's not only because he saw the evidence he beheld the evidence he believed what he heard he probably heard pilate say what do i do with jesus which is called king of the jews i find no fault in him he heard jesus forgive his enemies he heard the others in the crowd on the way to the cross they're reciting his miracles and even some around the cross speaking of his great deeds maybe he was there when they marched into jerusalem you know before they said crucify him crucify him a few days earlier they said hosanna to the son of david and he'd heard about everyone in jerusalem heard about that this man was on death row that day they were in town when that happened so one praise the faithless prayer if you're the christ but this man then he broadcasts this is the third thing he speaks up in favor of christ you know the bible says we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony if you're a christian at some point you've got to speak up for jesus he speaks up for jesus when it is not popular the crowd is all mocking him the religious leaders are there the government is there you get the religion the church and the state they're all there mocking them his own followers it says are standing up far off at first and this man speaks up for christ what has he got to lose you know if you are taking up your cross and you're crucified with christ then you are not ashamed of jesus because you have nothing to lose the bible tells us if you are ashamed of me and my words in this evil and adulterous generation i will be ashamed of you when the son of man comes but if you proclaim me if you announce me in this evil and adulterous generation i will announce you and this man he stood up for christ from the cross he broadcasts his convictions he says to his friend do you not even fear god you're dying and here you're mocking the savior seeing you're under the same condemnation he said you're condemned just like this man why would you give him a hard time you're being crucified with him it's a good question fear god what's part of the three angels message fear god and give glory to him this thief was god fearing he said look i'm about to face god i'm about to meet my maker because his next conscious thought when you die is the resurrection hopefully you're in the first resurrection he said we are under the same condemnation and we indeed justly he stares in the eyes of his friends they're bleeding they're dying but they make eye contact and he says you know and i know we're getting what we deserve we've been thieves don't you think it's interesting you know what they said when they came to arrest jesus jesus said to them do you come out against me as a thief isn't that something something else i think is interesting is a few minutes before the crucifixion someone who claimed to be a follower of christ finally is revealed as a thief and he kills himself and here is a thief who comes to christ and he saves himself judas who was a thief pretending to be a follower hangs himself has a false repentance this thief has a genuine repentance and confession he confesses publicly and he finds life the contrasts are amazing because they all happen within just a few minutes of each other christ is arrested he's accused of being a thief so you've got fifty thief in the story and he said we indeed just leave for we receive the due reward for our deeds so here he is publicly going through the steps of salvation but this man has done nothing wrong he believed that jesus was innocent and you know that's part of salvation we need to believe that christ didn't die for his sin but he's dying for our sin you know it's somewhat a mystery i'm looking forward to talking to that man when i get to heaven to say what exactly triggered the inspiration that helped you realize was it the dark day was it someone in the crowd was it the the declaration of christ was it just all of the those things coming together that helped you realize that he is the savior and then it says he beseeched the lord after he confesses and he repents he says lord remember me when you come into your kingdom now he's not saying lord i'm really hurt right now save me from my sickness he's not saying you know lord i'm embarrassed right now save me from my embarrassment. he's not saying lord i'd like to change my ways if you get me down off this cross i promise i'll never go back again he is not asking for a change in his circumstances he is now thinking about his soul that's what it means to be crucified with christ you don't think about temporary benefits i scan through the different christian channels and i listen sometimes you hear some good things to other preachers and churches and and sometimes as i've said you've got to eat the melon and spit out the seeds and sometimes it's all seeds you hear these pastors saying you follow jesus and you're going to get your new pickup truck and you're going to get your that beautiful boyfriend that you want and you follow jesus and you're gonna get the promotion and you're gonna get then you're gonna and it's all about save me now i want my circumstances better but they're not thinking about the eternal i mean which is more important you being cozy on your way to destruction or the eternal salvation yes i remember a pastor talking one time about this man that was in prison he's praying and he says lord could i please have a better mattress in this prison this bed is so hard i just can't sleep lord can i please have a softer pillow lord can you please help me get some reading material lord the food in this prison is awful and finally the lord spoke to him and he said you keep praying that i'll make you more comfortable in prison why don't you pray i get you out you know most of our prayers are that way we're praying lord make me more comfortable in this prison i want to be lost but i want to be comfortable while i'm lost you sometimes pray that way for lost loved ones you say lord watch over my kids and watch over my family bless them and keep and provide do all these good things keep them healthy keep them safe but you really ought to say lord save them whatever it means if they must be crucified with christ and you just save them isn't that the most important thing to pray so he prays the right kind of prayer he's thinking about eternity he beseech the lord he prays a prayer he says lord now this is an amazing thing who around the cross that day was calling jesus lord not the scribes they didn't quit enough they called it blasphemy when jesus said he was a lord his own disciples after the resurrection they still didn't believe they said we thought he was the one but i guess we were wrong the uh the government the soldiers they're all mocking them the only one who seems to recognize he's the lord is the one who was crucified with him until you really take up your cross and you say i am not going to live for myself but i'm going to live for christ then you can call him lord a lot of people are calling jesus lord but he's not really their lord because they're running the show you want jesus in your car but you don't want him at the wheel because you're afraid which road he's going to take you down right lord remember me he's not saying give me the highest reward he's just saying please don't forget me. you know there's one of the ten commandments where god says remember me and a lot of the world's forgetting that he says lord remember me when you come in to your kingdom now that's such a short prayer but that prayer is the difference between eternal life and eternal death it's like when peter's drowning he said lord save me that's about the shortest prayer in the bible i think there might be one other place where just as lord help but this is a short prayer lord remember me when you come into your kingdom he's not only saying you're a lord he's saying he's a king now here's a question how much faith did it take to look at jesus hanging there jesus was beaten more than the thieves jesus had been abused and whipped more than the thieves before their execution it was often common for the romans to whip and scourge those that they then executed but crisis scourged twice by pilate and by herod and then he's beat up by the soldiers remember they put a bag over his head and they punched him and spit on him and he's terribly abused he couldn't even carry his own cross these thieves probably carried their own cross so you're looking at jesus he's up there they've stripped him of his clothes we'd like to believe that he's got at least some you know yeah some kind of hebrew underwear he's beaten he's bleeding he's dying the cross was not a pretty scene you know uh we talked about it in church but it was there was soldiers gambling and cursing there was spit there were flies there were vultures circling overhead it didn't look good it didn't smell good and for that thief to look at jesus and say lord he did not look like a lord that day and then say when you come into your kingdom did he look like he had a throne or royal robes that day the incredible faith of this thief to look at jesus and see what he was the disciples didn't recognize jesus who he was when he was not suffering when he was clothed and and they didn't really appreciate it this thief somehow he sees it all he sees that he's there dying for me and he says lord remember me and god hears his prayer it says he became a new creature he goes through all the steps of salvation notice what you have to do to be saved well you see the lord you see the goodness of god you see christ lifted up he saw that he repented publicly and he confessed his sin he said we are getting what we deserve he then calls out and he asks he believes he publicly testified in witness for jesus in the midst of ridicule he wasn't afraid to be a witness for christ you know it's really easy for me to witness to you here in church because you all believe i said i love jesus he said i love jesus you see i testified no you didn't you're not really testifying until you're in the pagan office place and then you speak up for jesus this man spoke up for christ when it was not going to be well received he's being executed so he testifies he believes the promise of jesus what does jesus say verily i say to you today you will be with me in paradise now there's no other comment from the thief and we take that to mean he accepted what christ said he believed the word of god and the word of god is going to come true that that thief will be with christ in paradise now i've got a pause here and just explain something that's often misunderstood as people say jesus right away went to paradise with that thief or even that day that's not correct that's not accurate people misunderstand go for instance if you look in the gospel of john chapter 20 were they together in paradise that day not yet because if you read sunday morning in john chapter 20 verse 17 jesus appears first to mary magdalene you know i can't i can't uh neglect the irony the paradox that at his death the one who reaches out for salvation is a thief and at his resurrection the one who's given the message is a former prostitute the lord has a strange way of doing things doesn't he you know could it be he's saying that he came to save sinners and he wants to emphasize that that whosoever believes in him it doesn't matter if you're a thief a rebel a murderer or a prostitute whoever comes to christ he can save that should give us all courage right so he says to mary and this is again john 20 17 do not cling to me for i have not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say to them i am ascending to my father and to your father my god and your god he did ascend sunday morning he came back by sunday night and then he said all hail you can worship me now my sacrifice has been declared accepted and i we've activated the heavenly temple i am now your high priest and a whole lot of things happen then but he did not jesus did not go that day to paradise the thief could not have gone to paradise with jesus that day because jesus said the resurrection is the last day john chapter 6 when the lord himself descends from heaven with a shout then the dead in christ rise and he said well pastor jack it says right there verily i say to you today you'll be with me in paradise that's not really what it says now i believe every word of god is inspired but the original greek has no punctuation translators use their own discretion to put in the punctuation where they think it ought to be do you know if you put a comma in a wrong place it means an entirely different thing i always like to tell the story about years ago when they were still using western union that a very wealthy man his wife was insisting she'd go on this trip with her girlfriends to europe and so he let her go and she takes the boat across the ocean and they go and she visits england and paris and prague and all these places and she sends a telegram from paris back to her husband she says i found beautiful fox coat would like to buy two thousand dollars he then telegraphs back you used to pay per letter when it's kind of like tweeting you know you get so many letters when you used to do western union you paid for every letter and so you were very economical of your letters and he wrote back no price too high so she was very happy to hear that and she bought the fox coat well after the vacation was over she comes off the boat she meets her husband she's sporting this very beautiful ostentatious white fox coat that she bought and after he hugs her he says what are you doing with the coat he said i told you not to buy the coat she said no you told me no price too high he said no he said i said no comma price too high two completely opposite meanings so what did jesus say and some bible translations have this accurate he said to the thief verily i say to you today comma you will be with me in paradise the emphasis was i am telling you today when i do not look like a lord and i do not look like a king because you are calling me lord and king today in the presence of all these people who do not recognize who i am i'm making a promise today you're going to be with me in paradise he didn't say you'll be with me in paradise that day because jesus was not in paradise that day is that clear and yet i've heard so many pastors say oh yeah yeah he he had breakfast with the devil and he had supper with the king in heaven and they always make this big deal that jesus and then there's a whole lot of confusion they say jesus went down to hell well the word hell there just means grave the bible says christ who was dead and rose again he was dead he wasn't out in another dimension visiting people so this thief goes through all the steps of salvation he repents he confesses he believes and because he believes he is then blessed he gets the promise of god he believes the promise of god and i expect to see him in paradise don't you friends now what the thief did then can we do today absolutely we can but we must be crucified with christ also that part of the story is a tough part jesus said in luke 9 same book luke 9 23 if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily you know it's a daily process of denying yourself being crucified with christ and follow me for whoever desires to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it and what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and if he loses his soul now some people will say well pastor doug how can that thief be in paradise with jesus he wasn't baptized i've heard that i mean doesn't jesus say whoever believes and is baptized will be saved and so you know there are churches typically uh some of the the more fundamental baptist churches say everyone's got to be baptized well why was jesus baptized for his sin for one thing he was baptized as an example for us why did jesus die did he die as an example or did he die in our place do we get credit for his death through faith i think jesus not only was baptized as an example for us but i think christ is baptized in behalf of those who for some reason cannot be they would be but they can't be pastor goes to a hospital someone's hooked up to life support they're dying they turn to christ in the 11th hour of their life can jesus save a person in the 11th hour of their life did he with this thief but for some reason they they can't you know get out of the hospital and get baptized i know one lady i went to visit she was dying of cancer and she smoked for years matter of fact the first time she came to me she asked about baptism i said sister i said how's it going she said oh pastor doug the lord knows i love him i just can't quit smoking i said it just doesn't look right sister for you to be blowing smoke in people's face say praise the lord i just got baptized i said you're still kind of chained to something god wants to set you free and then she came to me one day and i remember she was drinking a big bottle of cactus juice she thought that was going to help her cancer and she said pastor doug i need to ask you to do me a favor she said i want you to baptize me and i want you to do my funeral she said i don't have very long and so i remembered her and from earlier studies and i said i'm i said let's talk about the second request first tell me what's going on she said the cancer spread i haven't got very long i said i want to baptize you i said did you ever get that cigarette business behind you because you know there's a direct connection between you're having lung cancer and the smoking says no i don't smoke anymore and i went to see her at home and the only thing we could do is we lifted her up and put her in the bathtub she's i said you know god will understand she's no no i want to be baptized it was so important to her i remember her son picked her up and brought her into the bat she only weighed like 90 pounds at that point a young lady and i put my hand on her and baptized her she came out of the water she was beaming she was so happy but what if you couldn't be because you're too sick or you're a prisoner in the prison will not accommodate a baptism you're on death row and i say tough does that mean the lord's going to say sorry i know you you followed all the other steps but i can't save you because you weren't baptized no i think then jesus gives them credit for his baptism by faith i do think if that thief just suppose after jesus said you're forgiven you'll be with me in paradise if through some quirk of fate uh parole came from pilot said you know those thieves i'm gonna let them go and they pulled the nails out with a big crowbar and they bound up their wounds they said you're free to go would that thief have lived a different life i think he would have probably would have gone and got baptized by one of the apostles but he couldn't be and that leads us to the final point coming to jesus will not always change the circumstances brought on by the choices in your life will you decide to follow jesus even if your earthly life does not get better so often we think all i'll come to jesus if he'll heal me one man came to christ he said i'll i'll follow jesus if he heals my son and jesus said to him except you see signs and wonders you won't believe this man came to jesus accepted jesus proclaimed jesus repented of his sins without expecting any earthly benefit that's the way it ought to be we should say lord i'm going to follow you no matter what happens to me because i love you and because you're my lord and you're my king now god is good and often when we do turn to jesus he does change things he will improve things there's so many blessings that he gives but you shouldn't do it you shouldn't come to jesus because you're wanting him to fix everything in your life because you know we're saying what's in it for me it is okay to say lord remember me in your kingdom i'm praying for forgiveness i'm praying for everlasting life because that's the most important thing you can pray for amen can god save a person in the 11th hour of their life yeah but you need to take up your cross and be willing to follow him remember hearing about two pastors that were in a church one was showing his fellow pastor a remodel they just done they put up this beautiful lit cross in the front of the church and they had the lights on it was carved and he said yeah he elbows his friend to the other pastor he says that cross cost us ten thousand dollars and his friend responded you know there was a day when christians used to get them for free when they are crucified with christ a.w tozer said a man with a cross no longer controls his destiny he has lost control when he picked up his cross that cross immediately became to him an all-absorbing interest an overwhelming interference no matter what he might desire to do there's but one thing he can do and that is to move onward to the place of crucifixion you take your cross and you say i am crucified with christ you know there were three crosses on the hill that day one died in sin one died two sin and one died for sin isn't that right it wasn't long after jesus said to that man you'll be with me in paradise he also heard jesus say father into your hands i commend my spirit and he breathed his last now the man has to hang his faith on the word of jesus because jesus is dead and he still believed eventually they came because they didn't want the bodies in the cross and they broke their legs and they probably died of affixiation shortly after that but i expect to see that man in the kingdom he was saved in the 11th hour of his life now some might be thinking you know because jesus saves people on their deathbed or in the 11th hour at the last minute i'm to wait until the last minute of my life and then i'm going to pray that prayer and i'm going to live for the devil i've got a theory that anyone who thinks that in the back of their mind it's not going to work out that way because you're presuming upon god's grace i think it was matthew henry that said there's only one example of a deathbed conversion in the bible so nobody will lose hope but there's only one example so nobody will dare to presume it's it's encouraging to know that god can save a person i remember being by the bed of a man dying of aids it lived his whole life a very immoral life and i came to him and i prayed with him and he accepted the lord there and i believe he'll be in the kingdom he had never planned on doing it that way but god worked on his heart but we can come to the cross it's so encouraging to know that jesus will accept us that way you know there's a a statement i think i've got a moment to read this to you from the book of desire of ages there's a beautiful statement of what happens here to jesus and this is from the book of desire of ages page 479 to jesus in his agony on the cross there came one gleam of comfort it was the prayer of the penitent thief both the men who were crucified with jesus at first had railed upon him and one under suffering only became more desperate and defiant but not so with his companion this man was not a hardened criminal he had been led astray by evil associations but he was less guilty than many of those who stood beside the cross reviling the savior he had seen and heard jesus he had been convicted by his teachings but he had been turned away from him by the priests and the rulers seeking to stifle the conviction he had plunged deeper and deeper into sin until he was arrested and tried as a criminal and condemned to die on the cross in the judgment hall and on the way to calvary he had been in the company with jesus he had heard pilate declare i find no fault in him he had marked his god-like bearing his pitying forgiveness to his tormentors on the cross he sees the many great religionists shoot out the tongue with scorn and ridicule the lord jesus sees the way against the lord jesus he sees the wagging heads he hears the uprated speeches taken by his companion and guilt if thou be the christ save thyself and us among the pastors by he hears the many defending jesus he hears them repeat his words and tell of his works conviction comes back to him that this is the christ turning to his fellow criminal he says do you not fear god seeing you are in the same condemnation the dying thieves have no longer anything to fear from man but upon them presses the conviction that there is a god to fear a future to cause them to tremble and now all sin polluted as his life history is about to close we indeed justly he moans for we receive the due reward for our deeds but this man has done nothing to miss there's no question now there are no doubts no reproaches when condemned for his crime the thief has become hopeless and despairing i'm sorry when condemned for his crime the thief had become hopeless and despairing but strange tender thoughts now spring up he calls to mind all that he has heard of jesus how he has healed the sick and pardoned sin he's heard the words of those who believed in christ and followed him weeping he's seen and read above the title of the savior's head he has heard the passerby repeat it some with grieve quivering lips others with jesting and mockery the holy spirit illuminates his mind and little by little the chain of evidence is joined together in jesus bruised mocked and hanging upon the cross he sees the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world hope is mingled with anguish in his voice as the helpless dying soul casts himself upon a dying savior lord remember me he cries when you come into your kingdom quickly came the answer soft and melodious the tone full of love and compassion and power with the words verily i say to you today comma you will be with me in paradise for long hours of agony the reviling and mocking have fallen upon the ears of jesus as he hangs upon the cross there floats up to him still the sound of the deers and the curses with a longing heart he has listened for some expression of faith from his disciples he's heard only the mournful words we trusted that it would have been him who would have redeemed israel how grateful then to the savior was the utterance of faith and love from the dying thief while the leading jews deny him even the disciples doubt his divinity the poor thief upon the brink of eternity calls jesus lord many were ready to call him lord when he wrought miracles and after he had risen from the grave but none acknowledged him as he hung upon the cross saved the penitent thief who was saved in the eleventh hour such a beautiful statement you know what's amazing to me the devil nailed jesus hands to the cross but he could not keep the savior from saving that dying thief's prayer was answered by jesus when jesus looked the most helpless how much more able is jesus to answer your prayers now when he's at the right hand of the father jesus was hoping that maybe somebody would recognize him he came unto his own and his own received him not his own people didn't know him the priest didn't know the romans didn't know him his own disciples had doubts but this thief called him lord he prayed and even though jesus was being crucified jesus was he forgot all of his own sufferings he immediately responded to give that man hope isn't that encouraging to know how desperately jesus wants to save us he longs to hear us pray that prayer and say lord i am willing to take up my cross and follow you will you remember me when you come into your kingdom immediately the lord says you will be with him in his kingdom would you like to have that assurance years ago in england uh on officer o'hanlon was on duty and late one night it was dark and he heard the whimpering of a child he used to have hundreds of orphans in england back then and he came over to the child he said what's the problem and the child says no i'm not an orphan i'm lost and i don't know how to get home so the policeman said well name some streets and he was pretty young he said i don't know the names of the streets i can't read and he said well do you know where the courthouse is he said no and he was trying to name these different landmarks and parks and the boy just looked so bewildered he cried and the policeman looked up and he could see that the town church had a large cross on it and they kept it illuminated at night and he got an idea he said boy he said do you live anywhere near that and the kid's face lit up and he said oh yes yes sir if you can take me to the cross i can find my way home and you know that's still true today it's at the cross we find our way home amen each of us should realize that we're in this story somewhere there are two thieves two crosses beside jesus two destinies one died in sin one died two sin and one died for sin you and i must decide which side we want to be on will we reach out in faith and say you are now my lord and you are now my king is that your desire and let's stand together we're going to sing we'll close with prayer there is a fountain filled with blood i want you to especially notice some verses in here about the thief [Music] is [Music] he says [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] she was looking at the next verse before we sing verse 5 and 6 i thought it'd be important to give you an opportunity now this is a message about the cross and it'd be a shame for me to share this with you and and some of you may have not made a decision yet we always have visitors here and some may be children of members some have been members but you have not really taken up your cross to follow jesus you've not really made your decision to say you're going to be my lord and my king and before we sing verse 5 i want to give you an opportunity to respond publicly you know that thief was willing to broadcast his faith in christ and we call people to come publicly because jesus always called them publicly if maybe there's some here then you've not made that decision you want to make that today and you'd like to ask for special prayer i invite you to come to the front as we sing verses 5 and 6. thank you [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is loving lord we believe we've heard the simple gospel today that you so loved the world you gave your only son that whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life lord i pray that everybody hearing my voice right now and some who may be watching or listening that they'll make that decision to say lord i want to reach out i'm going to call out and simply ask you to forgive us that will repent and confess our sins and then believe that we can be with you in paradise because jesus is dying for our sins bless each person that we might have that experience lord help us to really know what it means to be crucified with you to take up our cross and daily follow you we thank you and pray this in christ's name amen god bless happy sabbath you may be seated while the elders get to the door so we can greet you you

Channel: Daily Hymns

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Length: 58min 43sec (3523 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 27 2021