(Breath of Life Theme Music)
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Sermon #B642 - Jesus Saves
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Byrd: Luke chapter 23,
verse 39, the word says,
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and one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him,
saying, if thou be Christ, save
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thyself and us. But the other
answering rebuked him saying,
"Just not thou fear God."
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Seeing thou art in the same
condemnation, in other words,
you're saying what you're saying
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but you're in the same shape
as the one you're talking about.
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Verse 41, and we indeed justly,
for we receive the due reward of
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our deeds. But this man has
done nothing amiss. He said unto
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Jesus, "Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom."
Jesus said unto Him verily I say
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unto thee, "Today shalt thou be
with me in paradise, not to be
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long but just to challenge you
on this simple subject." Jesus
Saves, father in heaven bless us
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now. Put our minds, the
framework of cavalry. May we see
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cavalry today and may we never
be the same again, and forgive
us of our sins in Jesus name,
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Amen. Jesus response, today thou
shalt be with Me in Paradise is
the second of Jesus seven last
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sayings as he hung on Calvary's
cross, so they have after the
nails were driven in his hands,
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after the nails were driven in
his feet after the crown of
thorns is placed on his head.
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He now hangs on a cruel cross
and asks the Father to forgive
the hecklers, who have teased
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him, who have mocked him, who
have ridiculed score and stared
jeered spat and sputtered at
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him. But now, in the midst of
all of this there's a verbal
exchange between Jesus
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and these two modern-day menaces
to society, these were two men,
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young ladies that your
mother told you to avoid.
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These were two men who filled
our television screens on the
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five o'clock news, these two men
wore their pants sagging off
their waists, baseball caps
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turned backwards on their heads
looking for a handout, instead
of a help up. Considered by
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society to be nothing's,
going nowhere, no time fast.
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Now, before I continue, there
are some of us who would like to
think that these two thieves
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were victims good guys, they
just got a bad rap. But the text
clearly clarifies that this was
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not the case, in fact, the text
says that these two men were
malefactors, in other words,
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they were criminals but can you
hear them saying, "Some King of
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the Jews you are. Life is pretty
tough on messiahs these days."
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You'd expect this from
Pharisees, you'd expect this
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from the crowd, you'd even
expect this from soldiers but,
crucified men insulting a
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crucified man? Let me stop here
because many people also
believed that of the two
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criminals, that one of the
criminals was bad and the other
was good because one rebelled
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against Jesus and the other
repented if you read carefully
the gospel of Mark's account of
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this story, it suggests that
when the crucifixion began both
of these men were insulting
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Jesus. Mark 15:32 makes it
clear, he says, even those who
were crucified with him were
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taunting him. The word, "Those."
Implies not one person but the
word, "Those." implies more than
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one person and because there are
two people on a cross in
addition to Jesus, it had to be
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both of them.
They both mock Jesus.
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The man they mocked was half
dead, the man they mocked was
beaten, the man they mocked was
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in pain but the man they mocked
was at peace, "Father, forgive
them, for they know not what
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they do." Now, another thing in
reading this text this week,
it's interesting to note that
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after Jesus' first saying, his
first prayer to the Father,
"Father, forgive them, for they
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know not what they do. " Both of
these criminals, both of these
men, now ask Jesus to save them.
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But the condition of these two
men's hearts, the condition was
very different, the first man,
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the first criminal asks for
salvation from a rebellious
spirit, notice his words,
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"If you are the Christ,
save yourself and save us."
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Notice now, when I was reading
into this week, you read it all
the time but God always
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brings out certain things when
you read it again, if you are
the Christ notice this criminal
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sounds a lot like the
Devil. Congregation: Yes.
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Because the devil uses the
words, "If you are the Christ,
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then jump. If you are the Christ
command these stones be made
bread." So this man sounds just
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like the Devil but now with
that, we see no admission of
guilt, he's not sorry for what
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he did, he's sorry he got
caught. He doesn't want to make
a change in his life,
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he just wants to be free so he
can continue in his activity,
the next we see no humility in
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the man. He has no repentance
for his sins, he just sees Jesus
at somebody he can manipulate to
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get him off the cross, he
expects his words to be echoed
by the other criminal, the other
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thief but they're not, in fact,
his words are now challenged.
"You should fear God,
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you're getting the same
punishment this man is, we're
challenged, we're judge
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and we are punished justly,
beginning what we deserve for
what we did but his man has done
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no wrong. " What do we have here
now? What do we have with the
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second thief? The same mouth
that once denounced Christ now
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defends Christ, the same mouth
that once cursed Christ now
cheers Christ, the same mouth
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that ridiculed Christ, now
rejoices in Christ, the same
mouth that spoke against Christ
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now speaks for Christ and now he
does what the first criminal did
but he does it a different way.
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He now asks for salvation,
remember me, save me, but what
happened? What changed the man?
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What has he seen since he's been
on the cross? Did he witness a
miracle? Did he hear a sermon?
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What has changed? According to
the text, the man looks into the
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eyes of Jesus and for the first
time in his life, he realizes
he's in the presence of the Most
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High God. I don't know if you've
ever experienced it in your
life, maybe it was at your home,
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maybe it's been at church
but, when something happens?
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Something happens when you
realize you're in the presence
of God. When you're in the
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presence of God, you don't talk
the same, you don't walk the
same, you don't act the same.
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When the second thief came into
the presence of God, something
begins to happen to it, the man
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says, "I'm wrong." But this man
is right, "I have failed." But
Jesus has not, "I have cheated."
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But Jesus has not, "I have
murdered." But He has not, "I
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have fornicated." But he has
not, "I have lied." But he has
not, "I have stolen."
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But he has not, "I deserve
to die." But he does not.
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For the first time in his life,
he actually sees the love of God
and he turns to that center
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cross and he makes a simple
request, his request is not,
"Help me see my mother again."
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His request is not, "Help me see
my friends again." His request
is not, "Get me down from this
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cross." His request, "Lord when
you come in your kingdom
remember me, when you come in
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your kingdom " Which is now
an acknowledgment on his part of
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who Jesus is, "When you
come into your kingdom, save me"
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Now understand what's going on,
the heavy head of Jesus that was
lying there on the cross
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and hanging from the cross, he
lifts and he turns Jesus does,
he looks at that man
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and the eyes of these two men
meet. Jesus the one who came to
seek and save the lost,
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Jesus who turned water into
wine, Jesus He the one who fed
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5,000, Jesus the one who healed
the woman with the issue of
blood, locked the lions jaw,
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showed up in a fiery furnace,
Jesus the one who woke you up
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this morning, Jesus the one
heals you of your sickbed of
affliction, Jesus the one who
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put your cancer in remission,
the one who believes in the
immediacy of grace. Jesus the
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name above all other names,
Jesus sweetest name I know,
Jesus offers salvation to the
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thief and says, "Verily I say
unto you, to day thou shalt be
with me in paradise"
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Now we as Adventist, we know
theologians near and far have
debated on win this today in
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Paradise is. Now you know that
this today couldn't have been on
that day, it could not have been
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on that Good Friday, because
Jesus didn't return to heaven on
that Good Friday. His body was
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taken down from the cross, his
body lay resting in the grave on
Saturday, the seventh day,
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the Sabbath because even in
death Jesus was obedient to his
law. In early Sunday morning,
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on the third appointed day
he got up with all power in his
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name, which means then Jesus
couldn't have been speaking of
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Paradise today because on that
day Jesus didn't go to heaven.
Are y'all hearing what I'm
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saying? Congregation: Yes. Then
when does Paradise begin? 1
Thess. 4:16 and 17, make it
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clear that when we all get to
heaven in the earth made knew,
where there will be no more
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sinner because there will be no
more sin, there will be no more
death, that's when paradise
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begins, for the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the
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Archangel, the trump of God and
the dead in Christ arise first,
then we watch our live remains
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to be caught up together with
him in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air and so shall we
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ever be with the
Lord, don't get it twisted.
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The plea that this thief was
making on the cross was not when
he would reach paradise,
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but whether he would get there
at all. Jesus assures him that
when the roll is called up
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yonder, he would be there.
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Quickly, back to the Pharisees,
what has this thief done to
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deserve this gift? He mocked
Jesus, he ridiculed Jesus, he
disobeyed Jesus, who is he to
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ask for forgiveness for stealing
and for killing, for lying, for
fornicating? What right does he
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have to pray this prayer
to Jesus? Congregation: Preach
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He has the same right that you
and I have to pray ours. You
see, that's you and that's me on
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the cross. You're the thief, I'm
the thief, we're the thieves,
that's us asking Lord in spite
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of what I've done, in spite of
what you see, in spite of what
I've said, Lord is there anyway.
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You can remember me in your
kingdom, is there any way you
can save me in your kingdom?
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You see friends of mine, I know
we come to church and you know I
got a nice robe on, come on and
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say amen, and we have nice
dresses, deaconesses, and the
elders in deacons nice suits,
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but let me remind you of
something today while we're that
thief,you see, we're just as
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lost as that prostitute, we're
just as lost as the alcoholic,
we are just as lost as that dope
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dealer, just as lost as that
inmate at the county jail, just
as lost as that individual on
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that death row. If it had not
been for the Lord on our side.
Where would we be? The church
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member needs cleansing from sin
just like the dope dealer, the
educated needs cleansing from
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sin just like the uneducated.
Sin is sin, there is no degree
to sin, all have sinned and come
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short of the glory of God, all
of us are dirty, all of us are
filthy, all of our righteousness
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is as filthy rags. What can wash
away my sins? Nothing but the
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blood of Jesus. The dying thief
tells my story, "Lord when thou
comest in thy kingdom, remember
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me, save me" You know what? If
Jesus can save that thief, if
Jesus can save that crook,
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if Jesus can save that menace to
society then I'm so glad today
to be able to pronounce
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that Jesus can save me,
[Congregation: Cheering]
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To the utmost Jesus saves, to
the gutter most Jesus saves.
Somebody knows he'll pick you
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up, turn you around, hallelujah.
Jesus, I'm closing but my soul
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is getting happy but I
got to stay on schedule.
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The greatest picture of love
ever displayed was when Jesus
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died on the cross. Let me say
that one more time, let that
sink in, the greatest picture of
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love ever displayed was when
Jesus died on the cross. It
wasn't feeding 5,000, it wasn't
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showing up in a fiery furnace,
it wasn't spitting on the ground
making mud, putting mud packs on
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a blind man's eyes and he could
see, it was not healing the
woman with the issue of blood,
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but the greatest display of love
was when Jesus died on the
cross. It wasn't the hammer,
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it wasn't the nails, it wasn't
the crown of thorns, it was his
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love. It was his love that he
had for you and me, but friends
of mine, I'm about to take my
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seat but don't miss the critical
part, Jesus didn't just die
there on the cross for us,
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Jesus died as though he was us.
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Jesus literally died in our
place for our sins, that should
make somebody shout right there,
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that means the nails, the pain,
the shame, that should have been
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all of ours. Sin had to be paid
for but Jesus did it when he had
no sin of his own, so then Jesus
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died for us and Jesus died as
us. Jesus got what we didn't
deserve so we wouldn't get what
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we did deserve. Somebody's not
getting, it let me try this way.
I'm almost done, get ready to
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plate this stuff. When I preach,
sure y'all say preach more and I
preach, long and say, "Hurry up
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" Congregation:[Laughing]
Congregation: Preach
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He didn't just die for us, he
died as us. There's a
grandfather, he goes into a room
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in the house and he finds his
grandson jumping up and down,
crying in his playpen, crying at
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the top of his lungs. The little
boy sees his grandfather with
his little chubby hands and
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chubby cheeks, he reaches up and
he says, "Out, grandpa, out."
Now, it's only natural
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because there's something
about grandparents with their
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grandchildren, it's only natural
for the grandfather to reach
down to lift his little grandson
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out of his predicament, but just
as granddaddy's about to do
that, the mother of the little
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boy walks up and says, "No, no,
grandpa. Little Johnny is being
punished. Johnny, you must stay
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in the crib, the play pen, " so
the grandfather is at a loss on
what to do. He sees his grandson
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and the child's tears
are falling down his face,
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his little chubby hands
are reaching up to his grandpa
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and it's reaching deep into
his grandfather's heart, but the
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mother's firmness, because she's
standing right there, in
correcting her son for
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misbehaving can't be taken
lightly. Here was a problem of
love versus law, but love found
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a way. The grandfather couldn't
take his grandson out of that
playpen, so what did he do?
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He got in.
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Congregation:
[cheering, clapping]
00:21:06.43\00:21:08.26
And he crawled in that playpen
with his grandson. God didn't
spare Paul and Silas the
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suffering and imprisonment of
the Philippian jail, but he came
down and he got in that jail
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with them. God didn't keep the
three Hebrew boys out of the
fiery furnace, but he came down
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and he got in that fiery
furnace with them. Congregation:
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[cheering] God didn't release
you, God didn't release me, God
didn't release us from the pain,
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the perplexities, and the
problems of this world. But God,
he came down Smith and he came
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down in this world because
He loves us, and He died to save
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us. Jesus died for us and
Jesus died as us. Jesus saves.
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