Jesus Loves Criminals - Part B

Heaven isn't just a place where you live on and on and on with a nice mansion and gold streets. Heaven is more than that. It is unbroken, uninterrupted companionship with Christ. Notice Jesus said, you will be with me in paradise.

You get the answer here? Here's a criminal saying, I just want you to remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus is saying, remember you, I'm going to walk with you. We're going to be in my kingdom together in fellowship. On the cross, Jesus promised paradise to one of the thieves hanging beside him. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares how you can have that same hope no matter what your past looks like. At the end of the program, Skip and his wife Lenya equip you with some important insight about the gift of salvation. That simple act of faith is an act of humility. It's a strike against pride to just sit there and accept that you can't do anything.

Nobody likes that. Surely there's something I can do or at least a little bit I can add to it or make God love me just a little bit more, right? So good. Thank you, Skip and Lenya. Be sure to stay with us after today's message to hear the full discussion. Right now, we want to tell you about a special resource that reveals how Jesus' resurrection brings you hope even now. It's pretty obvious that this world is filled with imperfect people, and that's on purpose. God is into restoring human beings.

You know, he could make perfect people and then populate heaven with perfect people, but he doesn't do that. He takes people who are dinged up, who've been beat up, bruised by time, damaged by sin, and he does a full resto job on them. Complete restoration. Celebrate the joy and beauty of redemption with The Morning That Changed Everything with Skip Heitzig. This DVD collection of six hope-filled Easter weekend messages is our thanks to you when you give $35 or more today to help connect more people to God's Word and the redeeming love of Jesus Christ. Restoration is based on redemption, and redemption is tied to resurrection.

To give, call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now, we're in Luke chapter 23 as we get into the message with Skip Heitzig. There's two criminals, one of these two, who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, do you not even fear God, seeing that you are under the same condemnation?

And we, indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now, Luke tells us about one of the criminals hurling insults at Jesus, blaspheming him.

And then the other one saying, why are you doing this? This is where we need the testimony of the other gospel writers to get the full picture. Because as the crucifixion began and went on, everyone was hurling insults at Jesus. Priests, elders, rulers, soldiers, people in the crowd, and, and both, not one, both of the criminals, both of them. Both Matthew and Mark draw our attention to the fact that everybody's voices was against Jesus.

Listen to this. I'll just read one of the texts. This is Matthew 27, verse 44, where the crowd, the priests, the elders, the soldiers are mocking and jeering. And the text says, even the robbers, plural, even the robbers who were crucified with him, even the robbers who were crucified with him, reviled him with the same thing.

So here's the picture I want you to get. Everyone is piling insults and jeering upon Christ. Even two criminals who are dying. Now you got to be pretty low to be dying an excruciating death and muster up enough energy to mock somebody dying next to you. But that shows you the power of the moment.

Everybody is insulting Christ. And so they went along with it. But then something happened. And Luke highlights what happened. Suddenly, one of these criminals grows silent in his jeering. Suddenly his mind becomes very clear about what is happening with him and with that other man named Jesus who's dying. Suddenly in his mind, there's a clear thinking, a lucidity he has never experienced before. There's a sudden change of heart.

There's this massive transformation, a 180 degree turn internally. And instead of mocking, he stops. And he rebukes the other criminal who is mocking. And he reaches out to Jesus Christ. Verse 39, one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, do you not even fear God, seeing that you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we have received the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said, assuredly, I say to you, you will be with me in paradise.

What happened? What happened to this man? Was it that he heard what Jesus had just said, Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing? And that man who was dying, just dawned on him, thought, forgive them? Is that possible? Could I be forgiven?

Could I be forgiven? Or was it that he saw the sign over Jesus that said, this is the king of the Jews? And he thought, really? That's what they're saying about him? He's the king of the Jews? Could he be my king?

Could he rule and reign over my life, even at this late hour? Or maybe just picking up some of the thoughts of the crowd, they were jeering him and saying, he saved others himself he cannot save. Maybe the thief thought, he saved others? How did he save others? And is it possible that he could save me? Whatever it was, he had some realization, some epiphany that caused him to stop what he was doing, rebuke his friend and trust in Christ.

Before you get too suspect that such a thing is possible, let me give you a parallel account of somebody else who had this happen. Saul of Tarsus had this happen. He became Paul the apostle and it happened instantly. He had papers in hand, he's leaving Jerusalem, he's going out to incarcerate and eliminate people who call on Jesus Christ in Damascus. While he's on the road, he gets knocked off his horse by the Lord, thrown into the dirt, is blinded and is instantly transformed.

It's a miraculous occurrence of the extension of God's grace. So this is Jesus in the company of criminals. Now let's zero in on this conversation with this one criminal, Jesus and the converted criminal. Did you hear the promise that our Lord makes to him? He says, assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Question, why did he say assuredly?

It means truly or verily if you like the old King James. Why did he just say you'll be with me in paradise? No, he said assuredly I say to you, you will be with me in paradise. You know why he said that? Because it's so hard to believe. Because this is unthinkable, this is unimaginable. No one in the scripture is given more explicit assurance of forgiveness and heaven from Jesus Christ as this man.

And yet no one ever seemed more outwardly undeserving than this man. Now how could Jesus promise a guy like that? Instant heaven.

How is that possible? How can you say today you will be with me in paradise? That thief didn't get baptized yet. Jesus didn't say, well you know what, if you can get off the cross, get baptized, I'll think about it. He had never gone to church. He never did a good work. But Jesus said, assuredly I say, in fact his prayer wasn't even that great.

It was very self-centered. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. It's all it takes. There's a realization of your heart that leads me to say today you will be with me in paradise. Folks, this is one of the greatest demonstrations of salvation by grace through faith, not works.

It's one of the greatest demonstrations of what it says in Titus chapter 3, not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us. A few years ago I was given a call by a mother from out of state. I knew this woman and she lived in the United States but she had lived in Cuba with her husband who was on the staff, the administrative staff of Fidel Castro. Her son lived here, was in the hospital dying of stomach cancer. At that time just had contracted the disease. It had been revealed to the doctors. She wanted me to visit him. I found out from her and from friends of his in the past that this man now in the hospital was an assassin. He wanted to, in fact, he had a plan hatched with his buddies to assassinate Fidel Castro.

It was his lifelong dream. He did not like the gospel. He did not like Christians and his mom said, just warn me, just say he's not going to be favorable.

I said I'm used to it. So I went in the hospital and I shared with him. He didn't want to hear it, didn't want to see me but I visited him a few times. The last time I saw him on this earth was a couple days before he died. Cancer had advanced, the treatments weren't working and he turned to me, he looked at me, he goes, look, you don't know me.

You don't know what I've done. Well I had a hint, I was told but I didn't want to tell him how I knew but I said let me just tell you the story about a man who died next to Jesus, a criminal. He had done time. He was a known criminal but in his last dying breath he turned to Jesus and just said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus turned to him and granted him heaven and as I told the story I noticed that he grew silent and I noticed the tears welled up in his eyes. He began to drop down his cheeks and he just said, oh, such love. I said on that love can be yours and I told him how, told him what to do and I left the room.

He had fallen asleep. A couple days later I got a phone call from his mother who told me that he had died but that before he died he asked Jesus to be merciful to him. I wasn't there, I couldn't attest to it but her words, he prayed that prayer.

He gave his life to Christ and that brought this story to such life for me because it happened again. Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Now that's a very interesting term for heaven. By the way, it's a synonym for heaven. Paul said, I was caught up into the third heaven.

Right afterwards he said, I was caught up into paradise but it's a very unique word. It's a Persian word that means a walled garden and Persian kings had beautiful gardens that were walled and watered and if the king wanted to honor someone he made that someone what was called a companion of the garden. In other words, I'm inviting you to walk with me in my own private garden and I will share a level of companionship with you that nobody else has.

You're a companion of the garden. So that's what I want you to think about heaven. Heaven isn't just a place where you live on and on and on with a nice mansion and gold streets. Heaven is more than that, it is unbroken, uninterrupted companionship with Christ. Notice Jesus said, you will be with me in paradise.

You get the answer here? Here's a criminal saying, I just want you to remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus is saying, remember you, I'm going to walk with you. We're going to be in my kingdom together in fellowship. By the way, notice the word today. Today you'll be with me. Boy, when I first read that, it was liberating. Jesus didn't say, well, you know, we're going to get you there, but you're going to sort of be out of town a little bit and after we burn off some of your sins for a few thousand years, I'll move you closer to town.

Now you'll be with me today in paradise. Here's a criminal on his deathbed who's rebelled against authority, who has stolen and pillaged and he's promised heaven. And boy, does this irk religious people who believe in a works-based righteousness, just given heaven to him. The Barna group did a research document called what Americans think it means to be a Christian. 10% of Americans think it means to be a good person. 11% think it means to go to church and be religious.

14% thinks it means to love and help others. Let me ask you something. Did this thief on the cross do any of those things?

He did none of those things. And Jesus said, I'll see you soon. You'll be with me in paradise. Now there's more than meets the eye to this. Let me quickly as we close, unpack the journey, the path, the process that this criminal, this really bad guy, this pilferer made with Jesus. First of all, he confessed his guilt.

Verse 40, the other answered rebuked him saying, do you not even fear God? Boy, that must have come as a shock to the other criminal, don't you think? Because they've been both doing it. Then this guy stops and rebukes the other guy for doing what he's been doing.

And the other guy must thought, what, what happened to you? He got rebuked. Saying, do you not even fear God seeing that you are under the same condemnation and we including himself indeed justly for we received the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. In an instant, he goes from blaspheming to stopping being crystal clear about the fact that he is guilty and deserves what is going on.

And he has this enormous fear of God so much so that he rebukes the other guy saying, wait a minute, you don't even fear God? In other words, look at us. We're dying on a cross.

We deserve this. If this is what happens when you break human law, imagine what's going to happen for us in a few hours when we see God, we've broken his law. He is not really concerned about the pain he's experiencing on earth, but what he's going to experience as he stands before an almighty righteous judge. That's the fear of God. By the way, the fear of God is always the first step in true conversion.

Person has to have a fear of the Lord. And whenever you share the gospel with somebody, you better include this. Yes, Jesus loves you. Yes, Jesus loves people.

Yes, yes, yes. But unless you repent, you will likewise perish. Remember what Jesus said?

Now this is red letter. For some of you, that's more important. Jesus said this, don't fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. That is what this criminal is experiencing. A fear of God, an acknowledgement of I'm sinful and this man is sinless and rebuking the other sinner. He confessed his guilt. Second, he trusted Christ. Look at his words. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

There's a lot there. First of all, he recognizes Jesus as Lord. He didn't say, hey, you.

Hey, buddy. He says, Lord. He also recognizes him as king because only kings have kingdoms. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. And also he recognizes that though this other man, Jesus is about to die because he knew that nobody survives Roman crucifixion.

This isn't the end of you. After this, you're going to live again in a kingdom. So he must have believed in a resurrection. So he believes that Jesus is Lord, that he is king, that he's going to live after this in a kingdom. And he also recognizes that Jesus is sinless and he is not.

We deserve this. This man has done nothing wrong. That's a pretty clear Christology for a criminal on his deathbed.

All in an instant. This is in his heart, in his mind. Third thing you should notice is he made it personal. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. You have to make it personal. Do not think salvation is a package deal.

There are no two for one specials. Well, my grandma was a Christian or my parents drug me to church. No, you personally must turn to Christ. The Bible says, as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become children of God. He confessed his guilt. He trusted Christ. He made it personal.

Let me tell you a fourth thing he did. He made it public. He did it publicly. He had to say it loud enough so that Jesus could hear him. And if Jesus could hear him, presumably those right there at the cross could also hear him say, because it's recorded, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Now that's significant. That's significant because everybody else is mocking, jeering, laughing, scorning, blaspheming as he was. Suddenly he stops and has enough courage to say something against the flow of all that haranguing. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Be much easier to follow the crowd and hurl more insults.

But he didn't. He made it public that he was going to trust Christ and recognize himself as a sinner. Sometimes people will say, well, if I gave my life to Jesus, I just don't know what my friends would say. If they're your friends, really your friends, they'll be happy that you're not going to hell.

If they're not, get new friends. But friends don't let friends go to hell. He made it public.

Several years ago, it was printed. And it is still believed by a majority of people that the answer to crime is education. In part, I think that's true. In part, education is important. But the idea was this, I kid you not, if we can educate people, that will end wars and crime. And yet I got to be honest, when I look at American universities, they're not like the paragons of virtue. And in a report that I read this week, crimes committed by highly educated people are now on the rise.

You just learn how to do it smarter. The answer to crime is not education. The answer to crime is transformation. Christ is the answer for the criminal. Jesus loves them.

What happened that day happens every day, every day. People confronted with one choice or the other choice, for Christ or against Christ. Both had the same opportunity, both were equally as closed. One died lost, one died saved. That's your opportunity.

That's your opportunity. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series, Jesus Loves People. Now, here's Skip and Lenya to reveal important insight about the gift of salvation.

In today's message, we saw one of the greatest demonstrations of salvation by grace through faith, when Jesus promised the criminal on the cross that he would be in heaven. For many, it's hard to believe that salvation is simply given rather than earned. Why do you think this is true?

And why is it so hard to grasp? I think that the basic problem is human pride. Human pride wants to earn something, and if something is earned, then I deserve it, and I'm entitled to it. And so, if you think about it, all human religion is built on this. It's rituals that you go through, or good works that you perform, or a pilgrimage you undertake, or certain prayers that you recite. So there's really only two ways to get to God, and only one is the right way. The first route is human achievement, the second is divine accomplishment. Religion is all about human achievement, but the only way God will accept you is through divine accomplishment, what he does for you. Well, that simple act of faith is an act of humility.

It's a strike against pride. To just sit there and accept that you can't do anything, nobody likes that. Surely there's something I can do, or at least a little bit I can add to it, or make God love me just a little bit more, right?

So good. When we first married, I really struggled with this concept of grace, and you had me read several things. I mean, because that was one of my hang-ups. I felt I just, well, maybe it's still my hang-up.

I always feel like I need to work harder, you know, be better. And so, it is amazing grace, right? How sweet and sound. Thank you, Skip and Lenya. We hope this conversation nourished you in your faith and want to ask you to help keep this faith-building content on the air so you and others can stay connected to God's Word. Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate.

Thank you. Come back tomorrow as Skip Heitzke explains how you can share God's love with anyone, even those you might never have considered. You don't want to miss this message. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His Word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzke is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.