Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000642A
|
00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:03 Sermon #B642 - Jesus Saves 00:20 Byrd: Luke chapter 23, verse 39, the word says, 00:24 and one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save 00:38 thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him saying, "Just not thou fear God." 00:47 Seeing thou art in the same condemnation, in other words, you're saying what you're saying 00:58 but you're in the same shape as the one you're talking about. 01:04 Verse 41, and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of 01:10 our deeds. But this man has done nothing amiss. He said unto 01:18 Jesus, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Jesus said unto Him verily I say 01:28 unto thee, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise, not to be 01:36 long but just to challenge you on this simple subject." Jesus Saves, father in heaven bless us 01:48 now. Put our minds, the framework of cavalry. May we see 01:59 cavalry today and may we never be the same again, and forgive us of our sins in Jesus name, 02:11 Amen. Jesus response, today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise is the second of Jesus seven last 02:22 sayings as he hung on Calvary's cross, so they have after the nails were driven in his hands, 02:31 after the nails were driven in his feet after the crown of thorns is placed on his head. 02:36 He now hangs on a cruel cross and asks the Father to forgive the hecklers, who have teased 02:44 him, who have mocked him, who have ridiculed score and stared jeered spat and sputtered at 02:50 him. But now, in the midst of all of this there's a verbal exchange between Jesus 02:57 and these two modern-day menaces to society, these were two men, 03:03 young ladies that your mother told you to avoid. 03:08 These were two men who filled our television screens on the 03:15 five o'clock news, these two men wore their pants sagging off their waists, baseball caps 03:25 turned backwards on their heads looking for a handout, instead of a help up. Considered by 03:32 society to be nothing's, going nowhere, no time fast. 03:36 Now, before I continue, there are some of us who would like to think that these two thieves 03:44 were victims good guys, they just got a bad rap. But the text clearly clarifies that this was 03:53 not the case, in fact, the text says that these two men were malefactors, in other words, 04:02 they were criminals but can you hear them saying, "Some King of 04:07 the Jews you are. Life is pretty tough on messiahs these days." 04:13 You'd expect this from Pharisees, you'd expect this 04:19 from the crowd, you'd even expect this from soldiers but, crucified men insulting a 04:27 crucified man? Let me stop here because many people also believed that of the two 04:32 criminals, that one of the criminals was bad and the other was good because one rebelled 04:37 against Jesus and the other repented if you read carefully the gospel of Mark's account of 04:43 this story, it suggests that when the crucifixion began both of these men were insulting 04:49 Jesus. Mark 15:32 makes it clear, he says, even those who were crucified with him were 04:57 taunting him. The word, "Those." Implies not one person but the word, "Those." implies more than 05:04 one person and because there are two people on a cross in addition to Jesus, it had to be 05:10 both of them. They both mock Jesus. 05:13 The man they mocked was half dead, the man they mocked was beaten, the man they mocked was 05:22 in pain but the man they mocked was at peace, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what 05:30 they do." Now, another thing in reading this text this week, it's interesting to note that 05:35 after Jesus' first saying, his first prayer to the Father, "Father, forgive them, for they 05:42 know not what they do. " Both of these criminals, both of these men, now ask Jesus to save them. 05:48 But the condition of these two men's hearts, the condition was very different, the first man, 05:54 the first criminal asks for salvation from a rebellious spirit, notice his words, 06:02 "If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us." 06:09 Notice now, when I was reading into this week, you read it all the time but God always 06:13 brings out certain things when you read it again, if you are the Christ notice this criminal 06:19 sounds a lot like the Devil. Congregation: Yes. 06:22 Because the devil uses the words, "If you are the Christ, 06:29 then jump. If you are the Christ command these stones be made bread." So this man sounds just 06:37 like the Devil but now with that, we see no admission of guilt, he's not sorry for what 06:43 he did, he's sorry he got caught. He doesn't want to make a change in his life, 06:48 he just wants to be free so he can continue in his activity, the next we see no humility in 06:54 the man. He has no repentance for his sins, he just sees Jesus at somebody he can manipulate to 07:00 get him off the cross, he expects his words to be echoed by the other criminal, the other 07:07 thief but they're not, in fact, his words are now challenged. "You should fear God, 07:14 you're getting the same punishment this man is, we're challenged, we're judge 07:19 and we are punished justly, beginning what we deserve for what we did but his man has done 07:27 no wrong. " What do we have here now? What do we have with the 07:33 second thief? The same mouth that once denounced Christ now 07:41 defends Christ, the same mouth that once cursed Christ now cheers Christ, the same mouth 07:52 that ridiculed Christ, now rejoices in Christ, the same mouth that spoke against Christ 08:01 now speaks for Christ and now he does what the first criminal did but he does it a different way. 08:05 He now asks for salvation, remember me, save me, but what happened? What changed the man? 08:17 What has he seen since he's been on the cross? Did he witness a miracle? Did he hear a sermon? 08:23 What has changed? According to the text, the man looks into the 08:29 eyes of Jesus and for the first time in his life, he realizes he's in the presence of the Most 08:36 High God. I don't know if you've ever experienced it in your life, maybe it was at your home, 08:41 maybe it's been at church but, when something happens? 08:45 Something happens when you realize you're in the presence of God. When you're in the 08:52 presence of God, you don't talk the same, you don't walk the same, you don't act the same. 08:57 When the second thief came into the presence of God, something begins to happen to it, the man 09:04 says, "I'm wrong." But this man is right, "I have failed." But Jesus has not, "I have cheated." 09:10 But Jesus has not, "I have murdered." But He has not, "I 09:15 have fornicated." But he has not, "I have lied." But he has not, "I have stolen." 09:20 But he has not, "I deserve to die." But he does not. 09:24 For the first time in his life, he actually sees the love of God and he turns to that center 09:34 cross and he makes a simple request, his request is not, "Help me see my mother again." 09:46 His request is not, "Help me see my friends again." His request is not, "Get me down from this 09:55 cross." His request, "Lord when you come in your kingdom remember me, when you come in 10:05 your kingdom " Which is now an acknowledgment on his part of 10:10 who Jesus is, "When you come into your kingdom, save me" 10:15 Now understand what's going on, the heavy head of Jesus that was lying there on the cross 10:23 and hanging from the cross, he lifts and he turns Jesus does, he looks at that man 10:31 and the eyes of these two men meet. Jesus the one who came to seek and save the lost, 10:39 Jesus who turned water into wine, Jesus He the one who fed 10:46 5,000, Jesus the one who healed the woman with the issue of blood, locked the lions jaw, 10:52 showed up in a fiery furnace, Jesus the one who woke you up 10:57 this morning, Jesus the one heals you of your sickbed of affliction, Jesus the one who 11:10 put your cancer in remission, the one who believes in the immediacy of grace. Jesus the 11:21 name above all other names, Jesus sweetest name I know, Jesus offers salvation to the 11:31 thief and says, "Verily I say unto you, to day thou shalt be with me in paradise" 11:41 Now we as Adventist, we know theologians near and far have debated on win this today in 11:49 Paradise is. Now you know that this today couldn't have been on that day, it could not have been 11:57 on that Good Friday, because Jesus didn't return to heaven on that Good Friday. His body was 12:04 taken down from the cross, his body lay resting in the grave on Saturday, the seventh day, 12:07 the Sabbath because even in death Jesus was obedient to his law. In early Sunday morning, 12:15 on the third appointed day he got up with all power in his 12:21 name, which means then Jesus couldn't have been speaking of 12:26 Paradise today because on that day Jesus didn't go to heaven. Are y'all hearing what I'm 12:31 saying? Congregation: Yes. Then when does Paradise begin? 1 Thess. 4:16 and 17, make it 12:42 clear that when we all get to heaven in the earth made knew, where there will be no more 12:47 sinner because there will be no more sin, there will be no more death, that's when paradise 12:54 begins, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 12:58 Archangel, the trump of God and the dead in Christ arise first, then we watch our live remains 13:02 to be caught up together with him in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we 13:06 ever be with the Lord, don't get it twisted. 13:08 The plea that this thief was making on the cross was not when he would reach paradise, 13:17 but whether he would get there at all. Jesus assures him that when the roll is called up 13:25 yonder, he would be there. 13:30 Quickly, back to the Pharisees, what has this thief done to 13:36 deserve this gift? He mocked Jesus, he ridiculed Jesus, he disobeyed Jesus, who is he to 13:44 ask for forgiveness for stealing and for killing, for lying, for fornicating? What right does he 13:50 have to pray this prayer to Jesus? Congregation: Preach 13:53 He has the same right that you and I have to pray ours. You see, that's you and that's me on 14:10 the cross. You're the thief, I'm the thief, we're the thieves, that's us asking Lord in spite 14:24 of what I've done, in spite of what you see, in spite of what I've said, Lord is there anyway. 14:33 You can remember me in your kingdom, is there any way you can save me in your kingdom? 14:42 You see friends of mine, I know we come to church and you know I got a nice robe on, come on and 14:47 say amen, and we have nice dresses, deaconesses, and the elders in deacons nice suits, 14:51 but let me remind you of something today while we're that thief,you see, we're just as 15:00 lost as that prostitute, we're just as lost as the alcoholic, we are just as lost as that dope 15:09 dealer, just as lost as that inmate at the county jail, just as lost as that individual on 15:18 that death row. If it had not been for the Lord on our side. Where would we be? The church 15:27 member needs cleansing from sin just like the dope dealer, the educated needs cleansing from 15:35 sin just like the uneducated. Sin is sin, there is no degree to sin, all have sinned and come 15:42 short of the glory of God, all of us are dirty, all of us are filthy, all of our righteousness 15:48 is as filthy rags. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the 15:57 blood of Jesus. The dying thief tells my story, "Lord when thou comest in thy kingdom, remember 16:13 me, save me" You know what? If Jesus can save that thief, if Jesus can save that crook, 16:23 if Jesus can save that menace to society then I'm so glad today to be able to pronounce 16:33 that Jesus can save me, [Congregation: Cheering] 16:37 To the utmost Jesus saves, to the gutter most Jesus saves. Somebody knows he'll pick you 16:46 up, turn you around, hallelujah. Jesus, I'm closing but my soul 16:53 is getting happy but I got to stay on schedule. 16:55 The greatest picture of love ever displayed was when Jesus 17:03 died on the cross. Let me say that one more time, let that sink in, the greatest picture of 17:10 love ever displayed was when Jesus died on the cross. It wasn't feeding 5,000, it wasn't 17:18 showing up in a fiery furnace, it wasn't spitting on the ground making mud, putting mud packs on 17:25 a blind man's eyes and he could see, it was not healing the woman with the issue of blood, 17:28 but the greatest display of love was when Jesus died on the cross. It wasn't the hammer, 17:35 it wasn't the nails, it wasn't the crown of thorns, it was his 17:42 love. It was his love that he had for you and me, but friends of mine, I'm about to take my 17:46 seat but don't miss the critical part, Jesus didn't just die there on the cross for us, 17:55 Jesus died as though he was us. 18:01 Jesus literally died in our place for our sins, that should make somebody shout right there, 18:10 that means the nails, the pain, the shame, that should have been 18:18 all of ours. Sin had to be paid for but Jesus did it when he had no sin of his own, so then Jesus 18:29 died for us and Jesus died as us. Jesus got what we didn't deserve so we wouldn't get what 18:41 we did deserve. Somebody's not getting, it let me try this way. I'm almost done, get ready to 18:46 plate this stuff. When I preach, sure y'all say preach more and I preach, long and say, "Hurry up 18:51 " Congregation:[Laughing] Congregation: Preach 18:56 He didn't just die for us, he died as us. There's a grandfather, he goes into a room 19:12 in the house and he finds his grandson jumping up and down, crying in his playpen, crying at 19:25 the top of his lungs. The little boy sees his grandfather with his little chubby hands and 19:35 chubby cheeks, he reaches up and he says, "Out, grandpa, out." Now, it's only natural 19:42 because there's something about grandparents with their 19:46 grandchildren, it's only natural for the grandfather to reach down to lift his little grandson 19:55 out of his predicament, but just as granddaddy's about to do that, the mother of the little 20:03 boy walks up and says, "No, no, grandpa. Little Johnny is being punished. Johnny, you must stay 20:13 in the crib, the play pen, " so the grandfather is at a loss on what to do. He sees his grandson 20:20 and the child's tears are falling down his face, 20:23 his little chubby hands are reaching up to his grandpa 20:26 and it's reaching deep into his grandfather's heart, but the 20:31 mother's firmness, because she's standing right there, in correcting her son for 20:39 misbehaving can't be taken lightly. Here was a problem of love versus law, but love found 20:51 a way. The grandfather couldn't take his grandson out of that playpen, so what did he do? 21:04 He got in. 21:06 Congregation: [cheering, clapping] 21:08 And he crawled in that playpen with his grandson. God didn't spare Paul and Silas the 21:21 suffering and imprisonment of the Philippian jail, but he came down and he got in that jail 21:30 with them. God didn't keep the three Hebrew boys out of the fiery furnace, but he came down 21:38 and he got in that fiery furnace with them. Congregation: 21:43 [cheering] God didn't release you, God didn't release me, God didn't release us from the pain, 21:50 the perplexities, and the problems of this world. But God, he came down Smith and he came 22:04 down in this world because He loves us, and He died to save 22:15 us. Jesus died for us and Jesus died as us. Jesus saves. |
Revised 2019-06-18