Jesus And The Two Thieves - [Luke 23]

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Well, last week, as we were in the book of Hebrews, we were talking about how to die well, right?
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The life we live, we live by faith in Christ Jesus who loved us and gave his life for us.
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We wanna make sure we considered the idea of dying well last week, and making sure we were not just living by faith, but dying by faith.
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Began to think about that a little bit this week, and I thought it'd be good to be reminded about the one who died well, the
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Lord Jesus. I'd like you to take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter one this morning, as I think about the
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Lord Jesus and how he died well. What happened when Jesus was dying on the cross, and it'll be nothing less than a demonstration of his majesty, of his supremacy, of his sovereignty, and everlasting love.
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It is good to consider the Lord Jesus Christ from the passage we'll look at today. The passage, once we get past Luke one, we'll look at a passage that is a very famous passage and a passage
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I like to preach about every seven years. So I've been here almost 23 years, so I preach this, a different sermon from this passage a couple of different times.
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But as you know, Luke chapter one frames everything. What's Luke about? And you can imagine
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Luke being the physician, he's very meticulous, he's very thoughtful. It's just not kind of a ramshackle, throw together account of the
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Lord Jesus, but he's very logical, he's very systematic. He's like a physician, he is a physician.
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And it says in Luke chapter one, verses one through four, in as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us.
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It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, here we go, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent
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Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
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Isn't that good? I'd like to make a detailed chronology and biography and gospel account of the
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Lord Jesus for a purpose, not just to have the logic and the flow, but that you might have certainty of what happened.
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You might say to yourself, well, there'd be no certainty if everything was just kind of thrown together, but he wants to make sure in detailed fashion that everyone here, not just Theophilus, knows in fact the
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Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal son who cloaked himself with humanity, he added human nature to himself, lived a human life on earth while still divine, all the way to the cross as he set his face to Jerusalem to die not for his own sins, but others.
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Was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, and if you trust in this
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God -man, as crazy as it may seem, as weird as it might seem, as foolish, think 1
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Corinthians 1, as it might seem, this Jesus and his life and death and resurrection is the power of God for salvation for all who believe.
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So in light of this introduction, why don't you turn your Bibles to Luke 23, and I wanna talk about the thief on the cross today, but that would be a wrong way to phrase it because this has nothing to do with the thief on the cross, this has to do with everything, the man in the middle of the cross is the
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Lord Jesus, he is, yes, surrounded by the two thieves and things happen, particularly to one thief, but the spotlight is on Jesus, and so how do we die well, we die by faith, how did
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Jesus die well, we'll see that today. I love J .C. Ryle's comment about the thief on the cross passage with Jesus at the center, he said, whenever the gospel of Christ is preached, these verses will always be honored, loved, and had in remembrance.
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So I wanna make sure I do my part every seven to eight years to make sure you remember this passage. We'll get to Moses next week, and by faith, or maybe the week after, it's good to take a detour, isn't it?
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By the way, just as my father would say between us girls, as he would talk to all the young boys, when we finish
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Hebrews, which will be pretty soon, we're gonna kind of take a different approach, as you know, we go verse by verse through books of the
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Bible, we're gonna do chapter by chapter for a while, and we're gonna cover books like Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Jude, one chapter a week, so we get kind of an overview.
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I told this to one of my friends who gives me counsel over the years, he's about 80, he lives in California, and I told him of my strategy, and he said,
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Mike, after your five -year series in Hebrews, if you go chapter by chapter for a while, he said this, quote, your people will rise up and call you blessed.
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True, true from his perspective, and yours. So it'll be good, just kind of a sweeping overview of different epistles that exalt the
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Lord Jesus. But today we're not in the epistles, nor are we in Hebrews, we're in the gospel of Luke, and remember, when
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I say the gospel of Luke, it's really the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
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Everything in this book is about Jesus, and so if you ever said to yourself, well, I'd like to talk about giving thanks, let's go to the lepers who didn't give thanks and talk about thankfulness.
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That's not what that passage is about. Jesus can heal lepers, and you should believe in him, it's about Jesus.
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Say, well, I can go to the temptation account in Luke 4, and how do we overcome temptation? That's not the point of the passage.
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The point of the passage is your salvation was riding on Jesus's ability to say no to temptation, he is the hero of the story.
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It's a book about Jesus to celebrate who Jesus is, and the one main point is he wants you to respond with,
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I believe, I say, amen. I say, I entrust my eternal soul to this risen savior.
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And so we'll pick up Luke 23 in verse 13, as we think about our Lord Jesus dying on the cross, and did he die well?
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What did he do? What was he thinking about? How did he coordinate things and sovereignly control things when he's nailed to a tree?
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And so for an introduction, let's read Luke 23, verse 13 and following, as we learn some lessons about this great savior from this passage.
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Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them, you brought me this man as one who was misleading the people.
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And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.
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Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.
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I will therefore punish and release him. Verse 18, but they all cried out together, away with this man and release to us
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Barabbas, a man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection started in the city and for murder.
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Pilate addressed them once more desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, crucify, crucify him.
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A third time he said to them, why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death.
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You see that refrain, do you not? I will therefore punish and release him. But they were urgent demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified.
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And their voices prevailed. Congratulations, by the way, is it Ella Grace? Ella Grace and Boaz Kinsman.
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Maybe they're destined to be married. You never know. Two new babies this week, congratulations.
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I wasn't bothered by that cry, were you? No way, I'll tell you when I am. Did you see, by the way, a couple of weeks ago, a pastor, when a baby was crying, blasted the mom.
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It was unbelievable. And I thought, dear sir, even if you think that, don't say that. I mean, we love families, we love kids.
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I mean, eventually parents will say, for the sake of everyone else, I'll take my little baby out or something. But I thought, boy, don't do that.
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All right. Ever if I think I'm a bad pastor, I just find a worse pastor. Then I feel good about myself after that.
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The writer is making sure you understand, Jesus is guiltless. Jesus is innocent.
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He's sinless, of course, in God the Father's eyes, but also in everybody else's eyes. This is a sham court.
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They're trying to frame him, of course. And when you take the murderer Barabbas over Jesus, there's a problem.
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Verse 23, to read again, but they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified and their voices prevailed.
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So Pilate decided that their demands should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and for murder, and for whom they asked, but he delivered
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Jesus over to their will. And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus.
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And there followed him a great multitude of people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
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But turning to them, Jesus said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. But weep for yourselves and for your children.
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For behold, the days are coming when they will say, blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.
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Then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us into the hills, cover us. For if they do these things, when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?
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Two others who were criminals, probably Barabbas's friends, cohorts, were led away to be put to death with him.
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That is Jesus. Two more thieves, two more robbers, probably two more murderers.
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And they were led away to put to death with him. Verse 33 of Luke 23. And when they came to the place that is called the skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one on the left.
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And so, as you know, this is a place called Golgotha, the place of the skull. Some people have said, well, it's called
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Golgotha because there are just skulls everywhere. So many people have been crucified and they just throw the skeletons down and the skulls are there.
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I don't think it had anything to do with that, although it could have been true. Probably the rock formation looked like a skull.
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And those who have been to Jerusalem have seen something similar. I don't think it's the exact one that we've seen today, but the place looked like a skull.
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And they crucified him there. And don't you find it very fascinating their congregation, they, there, crucified him?
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I mean, it's just so brief, just so pungent, just so matter -of -factly stated.
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And to make it worse for Jesus, on purpose to make him guilty by association, you have one thief on the right and one thief on the left.
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I don't think that was unintentional. I think that was purposeful to give him disgrace and to humiliate him all the more.
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What was Jesus doing as he was dying? Did he die well? Verse 34, and Jesus said, "'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
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"'And they cast lots to divide his garments.'" Reminds me of 1
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Corinthians 2, verse 8. "'For if they had understood it, they would have crucified, "'they would have not crucified the
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Lord of glory.'" And by the way, congregation, in the middle of all the screaming and the wailing and the crying and the loud voices, what does our
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Lord Jesus do? He prays. We're gonna learn that the thieves next to him were even scoffing and ridiculing and mocking him.
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And here we have the Lord Jesus praying to further insult him.
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They cast lots to divide his garments right in front of his face. And as you study this passage, you're gonna see different groups of people contributing to the cacophony of ridicule and derision.
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There's first the people, do you see it in verse 35? And the people stood by watching. I mean, this is the time of year where there's all kinds of people in the city and they're spectators.
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I mean, can you imagine, you're driving down the pike. I was gonna say driving down the 495, but driving down 495.
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And there's an accident. What does everybody on the other side do? They slow down, right?
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What do they call those people? Everybody has their own name. I was gonna say fools, but I couldn't say that.
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When I'd ride my bicycle and somebody cut out in front of me, I'd always say, you fool. And then I read in Matthew chapter five that if you say,
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Raca, you fool. So then I just go, what? But I think my heart is saying fool.
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They're just gawking. They're just gazing. They're just looking. Matthew 27 gives us an insight.
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And those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads. It's just a way to do it in the
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Middle East like you just make me sick. Hurling fastballs 95 miles an hour right to Jesus.
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Spurgeon said, quote, like hungry cannibals, they opened their blasphemous mouths as if they were about to swallow the man whom they abhorred.
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They could not vomit forth the anger fast enough through their mouths. And so the people are looking and the people are contributing to the foment of who is this man?
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Well, there's another group there that add to the disdain. Verse 35 says, not just the people stood by watching, but the rulers scoffed at him.
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They're gloating. And here's how you say it with derision and sneer. He saved others, let him save himself.
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If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. This means to turn up your nose at someone, to just say, you know what?
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You mean nothing to me. Hey, you saved others. You healed Peter's mom. You healed the leper.
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You cast demons out of people. You raised people from the dead. You saved others in a lot of ways, but you can't even save yourself.
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I think his knowledge had spread across the land to such a degree, even they knew. But as William Hendrickson said, quote, they thought it was weakness that kept him nailed to the cross.
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Actually, it was power, the power of his love, love for others that he might save them, sacrificing himself as their substitute, voluntarily surrendering himself to fathomless agonies in order that all who repose their trust in him might be saved.
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And by the way, isn't that why Jesus came anyway? Does not Luke 9 say, or 19 say?
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He came to seek and save those who were lost. He didn't come to save himself. That's not his purpose.
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And they're taunting and they're jeering. Save yourself, save yourself. And isn't this very ironic?
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The only way he can save others is by not saving himself. Look what they call him.
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If he's the Christ, the Messiah of God, his chosen one. Can you imagine the hand -picked son gets this kind of treatment, the chosen one?
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This is my beloved son in whom I'm well -pleased. Luke 9, the transfiguration, a voice came out of the clouds saying, this is the father to the son.
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This is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him. I've noticed something interesting.
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I don't think they're talking directly to Jesus. I think they're talking about him. He's there, but they're not saying anything to him.
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There's another group here, soldiers. Verse 36, the soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine saying, if you're the king of the
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Jews, save yourself. I mean, they had to get in on the action as well. Now, some people think this kind of wine vinegar, they were being nice.
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The soldiers were being sweet to him. You think that was the case? I mean, you just look at the passage. They're mocking him.
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They're coming up and offering him sour wine. Most think, you know what? Let's get him to suffer more.
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Let's give him a little bit of moisture and a little bit of liquid and a little bit of wine so he lasts longer.
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There's nothing in the text here that makes me think, you know what? They're being nice to him. Psalm 69 alludes to this.
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They gave me poison for food and for my thirst, they gave me some sour wine and they challenge him to save yourself.
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If you're the king of the Jews, save yourself. You couldn't do it, could you?
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Taunting, ridiculing like school kids. You can't do it. Verse 38, now there was a description over him.
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This is the king of the Jews. It's derogatory in the original language.
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The king of the Jews, this one. This pathetic one.
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And what they would do is if you committed a crime back in those days, they would put that little placard above the cross, at the top of the cross and it would say murder or insurrection or whatever.
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What's Jesus' crime? He calls himself the king of the Jews. If you put all of the accounts together,
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Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, what was written above the cross would be this. This is
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Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. I think this was
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Pilate's dig, don't you? Here's your king. You want a king, here's your king. Which brings us to our focus today.
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There's the people, there's the leaders, there's others. And now we come to the robbers. Verse 39, one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying,
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I mean, he might as well get into the action too. And the refrain is the same, save yourself. Are you not the
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Christ? You're not the Messiah, the anointed one, the greater David, save yourself and us.
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These lawless criminals, most likely murderers if they were in cahoots with Barabbas.
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Mark 15 says of these men, they stated, let this Christ, this king of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.
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Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. Matthew says in the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
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The word is to blaspheme. They could not say enough bad things about Jesus. Hey, by the way,
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Jesus, not just save yourself, but would you get me down too? Deliver us from the cross. Save yourself, save.
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What happens here in verse 40? In the midst of all the shouting and jeering and barking and blaspheming and all the yelling and dividing the garments and everything else and the wailing of his loved ones, something happens.
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Something changes. But the other, remember he had been rebuking, I mean, he had been saying bad things about Jesus.
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The text says they both had in other gospels, but the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear
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God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.
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But this man, he agrees with Pilate and God the Father, this man has done nothing wrong.
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And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, truly,
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I say to you, today you will be with me in Paris. I'd like to ask you a few questions as we think about did
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Jesus die well? Or maybe I'll just make them statements. If I take a look at the passage and I think, what can
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I learn about Jesus from this passage and how he died well? What was he doing on the cross? The first thing
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I'd draw your attention to is on the cross dying, Jesus is still the sovereign savior.
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Number one, he's still the sovereign savior. Sovereign in two aspects. Aspect number one, he's not a victim.
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This just didn't come upon Jesus. Things got out of control. The messianic thing went too far. Listen to what
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John 10 says, Jesus quoting, I'm the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
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Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
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He says earlier, for this reason, the father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
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I have the authority to lay it down. I have the authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my father.
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I have the authority to die. I have the authority to be raised from the dead. I received that from the father.
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Don't for a minute think Jesus is a victim and he just got caught up in all this stuff. But secondly, when
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I think about the sovereignty of God, he's sovereign over the salvation of those two thieves.
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Have you ever asked yourself the question, why was one thief saved and the other one was not saved?
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Ask yourself this, did either thief deserve salvation? Well, that would be easy to answer, right?
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Does anybody deserve salvation, right? Sin holds us from the kingdom. We are slaves to sin.
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Now we're blinded by sin and slaves to Satan. The fall is real and we have been credited with Adam's sin and consequently we're sinful people.
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Neither of these men deserved anything. They deserved justice. I also look at these two thieves, both had the same opportunities.
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They both had seen Jesus right there crucified next to him in the same position, heard the same things, oversaw the same things, and yet only one is saved.
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You ought to look at this passage with Jesus on the cross and say, Jesus saves the one because he's a sovereign savior.
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I see the sovereignty of God and salvation, even on the cross. Even on the cross, Jesus still in control of not just the rain and the wind and the seas, but he's sovereign over who goes to heaven.
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That's amazing to me. On the cross, still subject to none, as Pink says, influenced by none, absolutely independent.
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He does as he pleases, only as he pleases, and always as he pleases.
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And guess what? It pleased Jesus to save that one thief. He didn't have to save either.
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He could have saved both, but he saved the one as the only sovereign. Jesus on the cross is in control of everything, including the destiny of not every person only, but especially that man.
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Can you attribute the thief's salvation to chance, to education, to luck, to serendipity, to kismet, to,
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I don't know, what are other words that go with that, other synonyms? Fortune, chance, luck.
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Friends, sovereignty mean God's plans cannot be thwarted. And in eternity past, God the
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Father gave that thief to the son and the thief is going to be redeemed by the son sovereignly.
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God is sovereign in salvation. Not one person that God has ordained to eternal life will ever not believe.
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Did you know that? Acts 13, 48, as many as have been appointed to eternal life, what?
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Believed, including the thief on the deathbed, no hope, except with Jesus there, every hope.
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Dear Christian, you ought to never take your salvation lightly because you might not have been a thief on the cross but we're all thieves and robbers and murderers, are we not?
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When God says you're mine, you're mine, whether it's on the cross and he has somebody next to you or it's in eternity past.
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It's amazing when I think of Ephesians chapter one, we're memorizing it with the men. Blessed be the God and Father of our
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Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And how does the next part of the verse go?
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Even as he, I don't do that translation, I do NAS. No ASV, just as he or even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
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You see Jesus on the cross, you see him sovereign over everything, including those men. That is amazing.
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Choosing, you say, well, I don't mind if God chooses Israel and not Philistines. I don't mind that some angels are chosen and other angels aren't.
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I don't mind it that the Levitical priest are the only ones who could be the priest and not everyone else. I don't mind it that Jeremiah prophet was an elect prophet and some others weren't, but it really rubs me the wrong way when
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God chooses some and not others. Well, then I would direct you back to the cross because he did choose that thief and he gave him eternal life, not based on anything in the thief.
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See, is there anything based in that one thief who believed and the other thief who didn't?
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What's the difference between the two? Is the difference found in them? No, the difference is found next to them, outside of them, the
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Lord Jesus. If you have a problem with election, A, you have a problem with some of the things in scripture, but if I was kinder,
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I would try to tell you, dear friend, you've got a problem with the sinfulness of man because nobody can save themselves and everybody's dead in sins and they need a savior.
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Save others. No, they said save yourself and he was gonna save others and it starts with a thief on the cross.
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Here's what Jesus said in Matthew. It's a good question. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?
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Or is your eye envious because I'm generous? The thief that was not chosen, was he harmed in any way, shape or form?
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No, he got justice. Did he love Jesus? Did he wanna worship him? Did he wanna be in heaven? No, he got exactly what he wanted and that is rejecting
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Jesus. Romans 9 .14, what should we say then when
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God chooses Jacob and not Esau? Is there injustice with God? Is there injustice with God because he picks the one thief and saves and he just does pass over the other?
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Of course not, may it never be. Actually, election produces worship and in awe.
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When's the last time you sat at night thinking, God chose me, he knew everything about me and he chose me anyway.
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He knew every sin I would ever commit. I think this man responds with worship and praise and awe.
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Number two, if I looked at Jesus and thought, how does he die well? What can I learn from Jesus as he's on the cross?
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Not just he's the sovereign savior, but number two, he grants eternal life and forgiveness graciously.
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Look at the Lord Jesus. How does he save and what does he say? Verse 43, do you notice? Look at the divine initiative.
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"'Truly I say to you today, "'you shall be with me in paradise.'" I mean, Jesus comes to save sinners because he loves them.
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I can just imagine that some writers would deal with Jesus here. Hey, hey, bub, can you leave me alone, please?
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Can't you see I'm here dying for sinners? Don't bother me. Of course he doesn't say that.
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He doesn't say, do you know what, by the way, thief? You can be saved if you're baptized, catechized, consecrated, irrigated, confiscated,
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I mean, whatever it is. You do something first, he can't do anything. He's on a cross. He, the criminal, asks for salvation and Jesus, like he does, gives exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we could ask or think.
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This mocker, this sneer, this ridiculer, now has eternal life.
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No wonder Hebrews 7 says he's able to save forever those who draw near to God. This man said, could you bless me someday?
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Yes, today. Could you remember me? I'll remember you, but I'll be with you.
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You'll be with me. And not just in some kind of floating around spatial area, but you'll be with me in paradise, before the setting of the sun, dear criminal.
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I look at the cross and I think, you know what, nothing else shouts louder that Jesus Christ loves sinners.
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He came to seek and save the lost. John 15, greater love has none than this, that one lay down his life for what?
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His friend. First John 4, in this is love, not that we love
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God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. He didn't have to save the thief, he didn't have to save me, but he wanted to.
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Can you imagine the wonderful love of God? Just think about what you've seen in your life. Seen babies born, maybe you've been to Petra, maybe you've been to Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, watched
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TV with a man on the moon, you watch things under microscopes. These shrink in comparison, as Spurgeon said, we are sinners, offenders, rebels who have revolted and continually gone farther and farther away from God.
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But here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be an atonement for our sins.
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Willing and able savior. Look at verse 42, and he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.
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I cast myself on your grace. I don't need a place of honor, I don't have to sit at your right hand.
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Just would you please remember me, not for ill, not for punishment, but for good. You're the author, you're the perfecter of faith.
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This reminds me of Luke 18 earlier in this gospel account, but the tax gatherer standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast saying what?
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Sounds just like the thief. God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
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No self -righteousness, nothing to bring to God. No self -esteem, I'm not better than anybody else.
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I'm ashamed of my sin, I'm aware of my sin, and God, would you save me? Well, number three, here's another lesson.
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Jesus gives new life and changes people. Salvation, of course, has you right in God's eyes, but also there's another benefit of salvation, and that is holiness, new creations in Christ.
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This guy used to be the ridiculer, and is he different now? People say, well, you know what? I kind of like the thief on the cross because it shows that you can believe and you don't really have to have any fruit.
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Well, you only need to believe to go to heaven, so Lafitte is true. But when God changes somebody, their status, he also changes their nature, does he not?
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Justification and regeneration. And you might not be a mature person when you're first saved but you're a new creature in Christ Jesus, and he is completely different.
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He's done a 180. There's all kinds of fruit in the life of this thief. This fruit doesn't save him, but this fruit is a result of salvation.
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Look at what he does right away. And by the way, we don't know this guy's name, but of course, in the apocryphal literature, they gave him a name.
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Anybody know his name? No, but that was pretty close.
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D -Y -S -M -A -S, Dismas. Maybe that'll be the next kid named at Bethlehem Bible Church.
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We've got Boaz and Torah and Trinity and Menorah and everybody else.
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I like it. It's easy for me to remember. I mean, think if we had just like a bunch of, I don't know, Paul. Who, is there anybody here
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I just offended? Is there a Paul here? A congregation of 300 people and we only have one Paul?
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Well, you're just a visitor, so that's all right. Just kidding, just kidding. We don't need to know his name because the focus isn't on him.
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But he received, God knows his name, that's for certain. And I just want you to see that right away, he's different.
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It's not perfection, of course, but it's the direction. And what's the first thing we notice? Salvation teaches you to stand up for Jesus, to hate sin.
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Hey, don't talk about my Savior like that. Do you notice what he said? Hey, we are indeed justly suffering.
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We're receiving the due rewards of our deeds. This man has done nothing wrong. I mean, maybe you first get saved and you're thinking, you know what,
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I used to think Jesus was a good teacher. He was this, he was that, but now I think he's the sinless one. I think salvation teaches you to fear
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God. You can see it in this thief, can you not? Verse 40, do you not even fear God since you're under the same sentence of condemnation?
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That's the attitude toward God when you're an unbeliever. It shouldn't be, yes, but when you're a Christian, that's how you respond.
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When you are changed, you admit your guilt. We indeed justly, verse 41, we deserve it.
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That's exactly what we sang today in Psalm 51 in that second hymn. You're justified when you do speak and blameless when you judge,
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Psalm 51. You realize the justice you deserve. I mean, would it be fair to say before you were a
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Christian, you thought you were good? And after you're a Christian, you know you're bad? Pretty good thought.
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It teaches you to confess Jesus as the Messiah, to please the Father. He committed no crime.
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He's innocent, just like what Pilate said. I love to watch this thief because he, the thief, think about it, this is amazing.
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He wasn't there when Jesus walked on the water. He wasn't there when the child was raised from the dead by Jesus.
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He wasn't there at Lazarus' tomb. He sees Jesus naked on a cross, lifted up, dying a criminal's death, and he says, that's the
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Messiah. How does that happen? The only way it can happen is when God opens your mind.
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J .C. Rowell said he saw no scepter, no royal crown, no outward dominion, no glory, no majesty, no power, no signs of might, and yet the dying thief believed, and he looked forward to Christ's kingdom.
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Jesus said, you know what? You see me raise people from the dead, you still won't believe. That's how hard -hearted sin is, until God turns the light switch on, and then you do believe.
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What's another lesson we could learn? Number four, Jesus promises heaven to all believers. He promises heaven to all believers.
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I'm watching Jesus die well. He wasn't a victim, he was sovereign over everything. And now what does he do?
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Verse 43, truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise. Not just in my company, but with me, sharing with me, along with me.
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He doesn't say, after you suffer in purgatory for a while, you'll be fine. He says, today.
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I love Psalm 116, don't you? Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his godly one.
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Today you're going to be with me in paradise. By the way, that word paradise is where we get the word...
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Paradise. That's true, but it's got the idea of garden. You're in the
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Middle East, hot, dusty, sweaty. First thing you do when you go to Israel with us, is, you know, you walk on the bus, they give you a thing of water, make sure you stay hydrated.
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You're out in the middle of this arid place, and you want to stay hydrated. And of course, how can you talk about heaven when it's so great, words can't describe it.
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You use other words that are wonderful, like garden, paradise. That's what he's saying here.
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The garden of the Lord, pleasant, rich, park.
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No wonder when Paul got caught up into paradise, he heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
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Today you'll be with me. Today salvation has come to Zacchaeus' house.
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Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Luke 19, Luke 4. And today you're going to be with me in paradise.
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Nothing out there eventually, one day. You're going to be with me. By the way, that's what heaven is, being with the
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Lord Jesus. You say, well, all these clouds and gold streets and everything else, you need to be thinking about who
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Jesus is. For me to live is Christ and to die is what? You know what the word gain means?
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Profit. It's profit. It's good. Why did
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Paul say that? Verse 22 of Philippians 1. For me to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, but I do not know what should choose.
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But I am hard pressed for both directions, having a desire to part and be with Christ, for that is very much better.
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Absent from the body, present with the Lord. And then maybe lastly, let me address this issue.
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Jesus freely bestows assurance to the thief. He gives assurance to the thief.
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Now, there are people running around that say assurance is bad. Why would they say assurance is bad?
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That if you know that you know that you know, if you die, you're going to go straight to heaven. Why would that be bad?
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Why is assurance bad? Why maybe clergy would say, we don't want our congregation to have assurance.
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Well, because if you have assurance, you might what? You might sin. You might not work as hard.
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Did you know the Council of Trent said, if anyone says that he will search for certain of an absolute and infallible certainty, have the great gift of perseverance unto the end, unless he has learned this by special revelation, let him be anathema.
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And they would say, you know what? It's okay for Jesus to grant assurance by saying to the thief, you're going to be with me in paradise.
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But unless Jesus says to you, you're going to be with me in paradise. It's anathema. It's dangerous.
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It's a sin of presumption. But I'm telling you, dear friends, Christian friend, Jesus has told you today, you will be with me in paradise because whosoever believes in him has what?
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Eternal life until you don't do enough. Then it's back to square one. Is that what the text says? If it was,
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I mean, what would we be doing? We wouldn't be working. We'd be despairing. We'd try for a while, but we couldn't do it.
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The thief was granted assurance by special revelation. And I submit to you that you are granted special revelation from the word of God.
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I don't care what you've done, Christian. I know something about you. There's no condemnation for those who...
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Is that good news? I think that's good news. Assurance of salvation is needed.
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Can I really be sure I'm going to heaven? And Jesus gives the thief that. But is there any difference between Jesus' words to the thief and Jesus' words through his apostles and the apostolic writings and every other part of Scripture?
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You probably know this song. You've sung this song. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought.
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My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
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And what's the response? So therefore, I'm not going to do anything, not going to do anything, not going to do anything.
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I'm not a good lyrical person. And I bear it no more. Yeah, you're like, tell me something
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I don't know. And I bear it no more. Praise the Lord.
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Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. When your focus is primarily on the
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Lord Jesus, your assurance is going to go up. It says in 2
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Timothy chapter 1, which is why I suffer as I do, Paul said, but I'm not ashamed for I know whom
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I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
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Have we not learned from Martin Luther? When I look to my own sins, I don't know how I could be saved.
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But when I look to the Lord Jesus, I don't know how I can be what? Lost. Thomas, hey,
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Jesus, I don't know if I can know the way. Do I know the way to heaven? John 14. I am the way, the truth and the life.
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No wonder Jesus said in John 6, all the father gives will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will what?
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Never cast out. And Jesus says to this man, you're going to be with me today in paradise.
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Notice what he says, verse 43. Don't miss it. Truly, I say to you, emphatically, importantly.
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He could have said what 1 John 5 says. He who has the son has life. That's the one thief.
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The unrepentant thief, he who does not have the son does not have life. These things I've written to you that you may believe in the son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life.
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And I'd just like to talk to you if you're not a Christian. Maybe you've been playing games. Maybe you just grew up in this place.
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And maybe you're just having your parents faith. Maybe you're a visitor. Maybe you're a member, but it's all kind of a sham faith.
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I want you to know this. It's not too late. The thief on the cross is a good illustration of it's never too late.
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The thief on the cross is a good illustration of I don't care how sinful you have been. Don't ever say, you know what?
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I've sinned too much. God could never forgive me because the focus shouldn't be on you. Here's what the Lord did.
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He forgave these murderers. He forgave these revilers. As long as you're alive, you say, you know what?
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I have an opportunity and today's your opportunity to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
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I mentioned it last week. People say, well, you know what? I'm going to put it off because there's the thief on the cross.
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I won't believe right now. Friends, there's another thief that didn't believe.
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Spurgeon, deathbed repentances are hard to estimate. We must leave them with God. But it is a sorrowful fact that those who seem to be deathbed repentances have seldom turned out to be worth anything when men have recovered.
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In fact, I do not remember a case in which the person who recovered has been at all what he said he would be when he thought he was on his grave's border.
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My own conviction is that when there have been very, very, very, very, very few deathbed conversions, we read in scripture of only one who was saved at the last, the dying thief on the cross.
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And it might be well said there was one that none despair, but only one that none might presume.
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The mercies of God found in scripture, as Lightfoot said, aren't for you to wait till later to live your life.
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They're for you to say, God's merciful today. I should believe. How awful it would be to say,
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I learned a lesson about a savior who dies for sinners just like me. And he's got a love for sinners just like me.
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His grace is enough for sinners just like me. But I will ungratefully and unthankfully reject that off.
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Because dear friend, you think your salvation's in your own power and you'll wait to the end and then you'll get right with God.
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But that's not what happens. How did Jesus live?
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The answer is, well. How did Jesus die? The answer is, well.
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Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for our time in your word. There's nobody like Jesus. And I praise you that we have a congregation that understands the preaching of the
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Lord Jesus must be preeminent. Thank you for that. And of course, it stirs our hearts as we learn about Jesus to be thankful, to be quick to forgive, to be quick to forgive others.
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When we watch the Lord Jesus, so many lessons. To evangelize.
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What a great evangelist, the Lord Jesus. I pray for those that are here that are not born again. Would you do for them what you've done for the majority of us today?