Second Cry from the Cross

Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise

32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvarya, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (1995). (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version., Lk 23:32–43). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

 
Introduction:  Last time we were together here, we discussed Jesus’ forgiveness for those who lacked the knowledge that they were sinners.  We are all sinners.  Every person who has come from this earth has fallen short of following God.  The only person who has lived this life here and has not fallen short was in heaven before He came here.  He is Jesus.  He is God’s Only Begotten Son whom God sacrificed that we could have eternal life.  It is not a question of whether we are sinners or not, we all need Jesus.  In Jesus’ first cry from the cross, He prayed for forgiveness for those who do not know their sins.

Today we will discuss people like me.  Maybe you fall into that category.  I’m pretty sure most of us do understand that we are sinners.  Some would like to have someone else to blame.  Some even blame God by saying God made me the way I am or God made a mistake making me the way I am.  I used to be like that.  The things I did before I reasoned that I was too weak to give those things up.  If God would only make me stronger!

It is those people who we will discuss today.  Me.  It is me that we will discuss today.  When God through The Holy Spirit convicts us that we are sinners, we have two choices; either we can accept and own the fact that my thoughts and actions are controlled by me and I need forgiveness or we can expect God and others to accept that which we do that we know is against His will.

There are some who believe that God engineers every aspect of our lives.  That is pretty handy because that takes away guilt.  If I have no choice, I am not responsible.  There are things that happen in this life that God is not responsible for.  He is sovereign and can stop a thing if He wants to but if He sees how we can be blessed by a thing, He will allow it even though it hurts you and your relationship with Him for a while.  He knows the past and the future therefore His decisions to allow things to cross the path of your life are not based on chance.  He knows the outcome.

There were two others beside Jesus on the cross that particular Friday.  They both heard Jesus ask His Heavenly Father to forgive.  The first one to speak decided to heckle Jesus.  Maybe he even believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  His demand was one of demanded acceptance. The American Standard Version translates Luke 23:39 this way.  “Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us.” [1]  There was no confession from that man that he was a sinner.  He demanded to be saved.

Would the second man have asked for forgiveness had the first not spoken first?  Did the second man have the gumption to ask Jesus for forgiveness because he was disgusted at what he heard?  Why did God allow that first man to speak to Jesus that way?

We watch the world as it continues to spin and wonder why!  Why is all this happening today?  When will it stop?  Why are my children and grandchildren hearing less about God and more about abomination?  Does it make you sick?  It is supposed to!  I will paraphrase what a very good brother of mine said about abomination. “Sin is anything that is against God’s will.  Abomination is a sin that is so sickening that it makes God regurgitate.”

Abomination is something that should make you sick and yet we are being told we must accept these things.  Has it gotten your attention?  What are you going to do about it?  The second man on the cross knew what to do.  He confessed his sin and asked Jesus to forgive him!

Scripture:  Luke 23:32-43

Prayer:  Please be seated

Body:  You will find some strange looking symbols on the handout you were given this morning.  If it looks Greek to you that’s good, it is Greek.  Sometimes it is good to go even further back than the KJV to the original language especially when the text has been examined and debated as this text today.  Many folks who are Christian don’t understand this particular text the way I do.  Some believe that God is somehow waiting to take us to heaven until this world is ending.

I can’t explain it nor would I attempt to debate it.  All I can do is accept it as the Bible says it is.  A comma in a different place can make a lot of difference.  If the comma were to be moved from after the word “thee” to after the word “today” this statement from Jesus might have a different meaning.  It would say this, Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise?  I personally believe that there are two realms.  We are now in the earthly realm where a day is understood as the amount of time the earth makes one revolution.  There is simultaneously a heavenly realm and until I am there, I will not understand what a day means there.  I do know that God is not depending on the creation that He created.  As Forrest Gump said,  “that’s all I have to say about that.”

Verily!  Amen!  I agree that what you just said is the truth.  You said it and now I own it.  The second man made the correct statement which Jesus accepted as a valid confession.  That was all it took.  That’s all it takes!  Why is that so hard?

It’s hard because we like to feel we are not responsible for our faults yet we feel responsible for our destiny.  First guy had it wrong like I once did.  Second guy got it right as I now do.  If God allows me to see something that I know is wrong and it brings me to my knees, God has prevailed.  Romans 8:28 has become true again.  Amen!  I am and always will be a sinner saved by God’s mercy and Jesus’ grace.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:2, “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” [2]  When we are forced to see a thing in someone else, it causes us to see ourselves in other circumstances.  Now I see my sin Jesus.  Jesus says verily, amen!

Jesus followed the verily with a promise.  “I say unto you.”  Admitting to Jesus what the second man was, opened the door for Jesus to enter.  He will not acknowledge unless you are ready to own the fact that you have something that you own and have not yet given that thing up.  When you accept your guilt, then He will decree.  “I say unto thee.”

You must take the first step.  The Holy Spirit will use whatever He can to convict you but you must be willing to admit your own guilt.  Before you can accept Jesus as He is you must first accept yourself as you are.

If you have a way to search the gospel accounts, search for lord, lord.  It may trouble you.  “Matthew 27:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.[3]

The key here in Matthew is the truth that they who were calling lord, lord were workers of iniquity as I am, as we are, as that second man on the cross was.  Why did Jesus say unto him?  Because that man first acknowledged the fact that He was a worker of iniquity, then he asked Jesus to forgive him.  You can walk this walk and tell me that you accept Jesus and we can take you from here to be baptized and you can live a life of service doing all sorts of wonderful works in Jesus’ name.  If you don’t admit your guilt before the Lord and accept the truth that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, you are not and will not be saved.

The man admitted and Jesus committed.  Today with Me!  God’s today is a new start.  Jesus went on to say, “you will be.”  Jesus says I am.  He doesn’t have a start time and He doesn’t have an end time.  We do have a start time.  He created us.  He accepts us.  When He does it starts today and it will be!  Unlike Jesus, we have a beginning but like Jesus, we have no end.  We are promised an eternity somewhere.

Jesus said “today with me.”  That man’s yesterday was not with Jesus.  Today that man is with Jesus.  What did it take?  Admit guilt and accept Jesus’ relationship.  That man had what we might call a death-bed conversion.  We know other stories.  I don’t know anything about that particular man before his transformation.  Everybody who has ever read the Bible knows him now because he is in paradise.

It doesn’t matter whether he was a better man than the first one who spoke or if he was a worse scoundrel.  It only matters that he owned who he was before he had no choice left.

Prayer: 

Invitation:  Should it make me sick that there are people doing things that make me sick while I am being told to accept those things?  Yes, it should cause me to look closely at myself to see if there is anything that I am doing which is unacceptable to Jesus.

We are approaching Easter.  We are in that period of time that signifies the 40 day period of Jesus’ fast following His baptism.  It is that period of time when Jesus was about to meet the devil where He would be tempted in ways we cannot imagine.

We are in this world now and the tempter is among us.  How do we meet the temptations that are in our path in this generation?  Jesus met His with scripture.  When tempted by the devil, Jesus did not lash out by telling the devil how bad he was, Jesus simply responded with the truth of how He should act.

Are you looking at others today thinking that there is nothing that you are doing that begins to be as bad as what they are doing?  I have to admit, I am there.  Telling them their sins might be a good thing if they ask and you have the opportunity to tell them.  That’s the first thing the second guy on the cross did.  After he was confronted with the sin of another, he reflected on the similarity of his situation and knew he must admit his own guilt.

Are you falling short of looking within yourself?  All the work in the world that you do to help others will not help you get into paradise.  Only accepting the thing wrong with you will allow Jesus to give you the gift He died to give you.

Please remember the sacrifice Jesus made for you as we begin to see the flowers bloom.  There is a new life waiting to begin with Jesus if you will only accept the truth of the life you have made for yourself.

If you have not given your life over to Him, today may be the only day.  Please do not leave here without owning who you are so that you can give yourself to Jesus.  He gave Himself for you.  Think about it as we stand to sing…

[1] American Standard Version. (1995). (Lk 23:39). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (1995). (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version., Mt 7:2). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[3] ibid., Mt 7:22–23).