The Thief on the Cross - People Jesus Met Part 53

You know, as many of you are aware, I work out five days a week. And you say, Lon, it shows.

Well, God bless you and God bless you over there. But it's true. It does.

And it does kind of show a little, doesn't it? Yeah? All right.

Okay. Well, anyway, I was on the elliptical machine several weeks ago. And I was watching television. And just randomly, I happened to be watching the biography channel. And the biography of Rodney Dangerfield came on. And, you know, I remember as a kid, Rodney Dangerfield performing on television. And I remember him in the movie Caddyshack. But as I watched this, I didn't really realize what an amazing talent he was.

Maybe the greatest stand up comic of all time. However, the program also taught me something else about his life. And that is that off the stage, Rodney Dangerfield was a tortured person. He had been deserted by his dad at age two.

His mom had ignored and rejected him all of his life. And by his own confession, he was an unhappy person who struggled his entire life with drug abuse and alcohol abuse and severe clinical depression. And on top of all of that, he was deathly afraid of dying. Rodney said, and I quote, I can accept growing older. I can even accept getting old. But dying, man, that's a tough one.

End of quote. Finally, in 2004, at the age of 82, Rodney Dangerfield did die after being in a coma for 40 days following an open heart surgery that he was terrified about having. And, you know, when the program was over, I was in tears, literally, because my heart was so broken for this poor man. A man who died in fear. A man who died without hope. And the saddest part of all is that it didn't have to be this way for this man.

This man could have faced the grave in an entirely different way. Now, friends, the same can be said of us. That it doesn't have to be this way for us. That you and I don't need to be afraid of dying. That we can face the grave in an entirely different way than Rodney Dangerfield did. This is the good news of the Bible.

And this is what we want to talk about today. Remember, we're in a series entitled People Jesus Met. And today, we come to one of the most well-known encounters that Jesus has with anybody in the Bible. Namely, his meeting with the thief on the cross. We're going to go back 2,000 years and we're going to see what happened at this meeting. And then, we're going to bring all of that forward and we're going to talk about, well, what difference does that make for you and me today? So our passage is Luke chapter 23.

And just a little bit of background. Remember, as we pick up the story here, that Pontius Pilate has condemned Jesus to the cross. And so, after beating him and mocking him and abusing him, the Roman soldiers lead Jesus away to be crucified. That's where we pick up the story. Luke 23 verse 32.

Here we go. The Bible says two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Jesus to be crucified. We learn from Matthew chapter 27 exactly what these two other men had done wrong. It tells us there that they were thieves.

Verse 33. And when they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Jesus and the criminals, one of them on Jesus' right and the other on Jesus' left. Now, still today in Jerusalem, there's a hill called Skull Hill or Skull Rock. And many people think that this is exactly where Jesus was crucified.

And this very well may have been the hill where these events took place. Verse 34. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

Meanwhile, the soldiers divided up Jesus' clothing by casting lots, and the people stood by looking on. But the rulers sneered at him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself if he's the Messiah of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, offering him wine, vinegar, and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. And there was also a written notice above him which read, This is the king of the Jews. And one of the criminals who was hanging there with him hurled insults at him also, saying, Are you not the Messiah?

Save yourself and us. Now, we should stop here for a moment and ask the question, If indeed Jesus was the Messiah, and he was, then why didn't he come off the cross and save himself like all those people were challenging him to do? I mean, after healing lepers, and after walking on water, and after raising Lazarus from the dead, I mean, extracting yourself off the cross couldn't have possibly been that difficult.

And of course, he was able to do that. So why didn't he? Well, let's allow the Lord Jesus to answer that question for himself, shall we? In John chapter 12, verse 27, looking into the face of the cross, here's what Jesus said.

He said, Now my heart is troubled, yet what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour from the cross? No, he said, It was for this very reason, that is the cross, that I came. Listen, friends, in his human nature, I'm sure that Jesus would have loved to come off the cross, huh? And vindicate his Messiah ship, validate his Messiah ship in front of all of those naysayers and all of those mockers. But Jesus knew that he had a higher purpose to fulfill, that he had a nobler purpose to fulfill, that he had a far more critical purpose to fulfill by staying on the cross, namely paying for our sins and purchasing our eternal redemption before a holy God. And so in his love and in his mercy for you and me, Jesus refused to take them up on their challenge. And instead, he stayed and died on the cross. Praise the Lord, huh? Praise the Lord. Verse 40, But the other thief rebuked the first one and said to him, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of death?

And we're being punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man, Jesus, has done nothing wrong. Then he, that is thief number two, said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus answered him and said, Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now friends, usually people on the cross lasted several days before they actually died. But you see, as God in the flesh, Jesus was able to look down the corridors of time.

He was able to see that by 3 p.m. that afternoon, he was going to be dead. He was able to see that a little while after that, the Roman soldiers were going to break the legs of the two thieves, and they were going to be a couple of hours behind him in dying. And that's why, to thief number two, Jesus promised that by the end of this very day, you will be with me in paradise. Now what does the Bible tell us about this place where Jesus promised to take thief number two, this place called paradise? Well, the word paradise is only used three times in the New Testament, here in Luke 23. The second place that it's used is in Revelation chapter 2 verse 7.

Here's what the Bible says. It says, To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise, there's our word, of God. Looking forward to Revelation chapter 22, we find that the tree of life is located square in the middle of heaven. And therefore, it's clear that here in Revelation 2 verse 7, the paradise of God is merely a synonym for heaven. And the third place where we find the word paradise is in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. The Apostle Paul says, verse 2, I know a man in Christ, meaning himself, who 14 years ago was caught up into the third heaven. This man was caught up into paradise, there's our word. And this man heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to tell. The point is that here in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 4, once again, the third heaven is also called paradise.

They're synonyms. You say la la la la, wait a minute. The third heaven, what is the third heaven? And what's in heaven number 1 and heaven number 2?

Well friends, how in the world am I supposed to know? I don't have the slightest idea what's in heaven 1, 2 or 3. I've never been there. But I will tell you this, in the third heaven, called paradise, the Apostle Paul says that things are so spectacular that he wasn't even allowed to come back and tell us about them. That's great news, huh?

Pretty cool. But the Bible does tell us a little bit about this place called paradise. In Luke chapter 16, we're told it's a place of comfort and reward.

In Revelation chapter 21, which is the fullest and the most detailed description of paradise anywhere in the Bible, we're told that God himself will be there with us. We're told that the water of life is dispensed freely there. We're told that the streets are made of gold and that there's no night there. That nothing impure will ever enter there. That there's no longer any curse there.

Not a curse over the physical world or a curse over the human race, Genesis 3.17, anymore. Nor is there any death or sorrow or pain or crying there for Revelation 21 for the old order has passed away. Friends, this is the place where Jesus promised that he was going to take thief number two that very same day, paradise. And this is the place Jesus promises you and me as followers of Christ that he is going to take us on the very day that we die here on this earth. But just before we move on, there's one other thing in our passage today that I want to make sure you see. And that is please notice exactly when Jesus said he was going to take thief number two to paradise. He said, Luke 23 verse 43, he said what? What's the word?

Say it again. Today, that's right. Immediately he said, I'm going to do this. Directly I'm going to do it. Instantly I'm going to do it.

Presto, I'm going to do it. Now some people would love to change what Jesus said to the thief on the cross. Some people wish Jesus had said, today you'll be in purgatory. And some people wish he'd have said, today you'll be in soul sleep. Some wish he had said, today you'll be reincarnated. Or today you'll be reabsorbed into the cosmic all.

Or today you'll be blown out like a candle. But Jesus didn't say any of those things, did he? He said today, immediately, instantly, you will be with me in paradise. The point is my friends, that for followers of Jesus Christ, leaving this world means going immediately and being with Jesus Christ.

There is no intermediary steps. There is no being in limbo somewhere. There is no holy hibernation of any kind going on. The Bible says, 2 Corinthians 5-8, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In other words, the moment we close our eyes in death here on earth, we immediately open them in paradise. In the presence of the living, risen Christ, there is nothing in between.

Nothing. You know, I go to New York occasionally, not too often, but occasionally. And when I do, I like to ride the subway. Now if you've ever ridden the subway in New York, you know there are two kinds of subway trains. There are the local trains that stop at every single little station. And then there are the express trains that go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, right by all the stations and take you right to your destination. I've got to tell you, I love the express train.

Yeah, I love it. I'll let a local train go by to wait for the express train because I love standing there at the window and come. I love flying through those stations and seeing all those people standing there on the platform watching. And I wave to them as we just go right on by.

We don't stop. Just whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. There's something twisted inside of me that just likes that. I don't know what it is. It's my sin nature. I'm sorry. I apologize. Forgive me, Lord.

But I love it. Now friends, you know what the Bible is telling us? The Bible is telling us that when you and I die here on earth, if we're true followers of the Lord Jesus, we are going to get on board a spiritual express train that makes one stop and one stop only.

And that is on the shores of paradise. That's it. Friends, this is what the Bible teaches.

This is the way it is. Period. Period. Exclamation point. Praise the Lord.

Huh? Praise the Lord. Now that brings us to the end of our passage. But it raises our most important question of the morning. And you know what that question is.

And we haven't asked it for a couple of weeks. So I know you're a little rusty. So can we all get limbered up here?

Yeah? All right. Let's go. Come on now. Get loose. Here we go.

All of you on the internet. Let's get loose. And when I say three, give me a little welcome home present. You ready? Nice and loud. One, two, three. Yeah. How sweet is that? Huh? You say, Lon, so what? Express train.

No express train. What difference does any of this make to my life today? Well, let's talk about it. We mentioned earlier Rodney Dangerfield and how terrified he was of dying. Folks, just think how these spiritual truths that we've just learned from the Bible. Just think how they could have changed Rodney Dangerfield's life radically if he had only known about them. And if he had only activated these truths for his own life. You say, well, now wait a minute, Lon. I understand the first part of what you said.

If he'd have only known about them. But what do you mean when you say the second part, if he'd have only activated them for his life? Well, friends, the Bible teaches that Jesus, what he did for us on the cross, paying for our sins before a holy God, purchasing our eternal redemption, making paradise available to us. The Bible teaches that in order for this to become ours personally, we must activate it. It's kind of like those credit cards that arrive in the mail.

You know, the credit limit on the card is real. But before we can actually make it ours, there are certain steps we have to take to activate the card. Well, in the same way, because of what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross, the plan of salvation that God offers us is real. But just like a new credit card, before we can actually make it ours, there are certain steps we have to take to activate it. And the thief on the cross did it all right.

He took every step exactly right. And that's why Jesus said to him, today you're going to be with me in paradise because you have just activated the plan of salvation right here on the cross. So does it make sense that if you and I want to activate the plan of God for salvation, that if we can figure out what the thief on the cross did to activate it, and we do the same thing, it'll work for us. Does that make sense to you? Yes.

Okay. So what did the thief on the cross do? What did he do to activate the plan of salvation of God?

What did he do? So we can copy it. Two things. And they're simple. That's it. God's not trying to make this hard.

It's simple. Two things the thief on the cross did. Number one, step number one is that he repented. He owned up to his sin. He admitted that he was guilty before God.

And most important of all, he accepted full responsibility for his actions and for the mess that he had gotten himself in. Look at verse 40 when he talks to the other thief. He says, Do you not fear God since you're under the same sentence of death? Watch now.

And we are being punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve. Look at this. This man made no excuses. He gave no rationalizations.

He made no alibis. It wasn't his mama's fault. And it wasn't his daddy's fault. And it wasn't society's fault.

And it wasn't the fault of his socioeconomic condition. Instead, he said, I deserve what I'm getting. My punishment is just. And my punishment is fair. I really did it.

And it's my fault. Friends, this is the heart of true godly repentance. Admitting our sin before God and admitting our sin to ourselves honestly, courageously and openly. And this is step number one in activating God's plan of salvation for our lives. This makes me think, the thief of the cross does, of the story Jesus told in Luke chapter 18. The parable about the rabbi and the tax collector went to the temple to pray.

Here's how the story goes. Verse 11. Jesus said, The rabbi stood up and prayed, O God, he prayed, I thank you that I am not like other men, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector over here. I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of all I get. Does this guy sound like he's owning his stuff, his sin before God?

No. All he's doing is trying to brag to God about all the great stuff that he's done, all the great religious activity that he's got. Here comes the tax collector, verse 13. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven.

Why not? Because he was so gripped by his own sinfulness. He was so gripped by his own guilt before God and he beat on his breast and he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Hey, this tax collector didn't offer any excuses to God, nor did he offer him any religious activity, nor did he offer him any good works. He simply humbled himself, owned up to his sinfulness and begged God for mercy. In other words, he repented. He did exactly what the thief on the cross did.

Now listen to the end of the story. Jesus said, verse 14, I tell you the truth, it was the tax collector who went home justified. This word means acquitted.

This word means pronounced not guilty. It was the tax collector who went home acquitted before God. Friends, you want to activate God's plan of salvation for yourself? Then we have to do what the thief on the cross did.

We have to do what the tax collector did. We must repent from the heart. And we must confess to God that God, if I do end up experiencing your judgment for sin, it's fair, it's right, and I deserve it. That's repentance. Now I might add before we go on that repentance is not just for non-believers, friends. Once we come to faith in Jesus Christ, the need for repentance doesn't stop.

It's just starting. If we want to unlock God's everyday mercy and God's everyday forgiveness for the things we do wrong every single day, even as followers of Christ, we've got to come to God as believers and repent and admit our sin and ask for forgiveness. My point is that repentance is the basis upon which God deals with sinners. Whether you're saved sinners or whether you're unsaved sinners, it doesn't make a bit of difference. Repentance needs to become a way of life 24-7, 365 for anybody who plans and wants to walk close to God. Alright, so the thief on the cross repented.

You say, Lon, that's wonderful. That got him to paradise, right? No, not yet, not yet. No, there's still another step he had to take.

And that is number two. He not only repented, but he placed his total trust for eternity in the hands of Jesus alone plus nothing. Look, he said, verse 42, then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Hanging there on the cross, the thief was prepared to place his entire eternal destiny in Jesus' hands plus nothing. He couldn't be baptized. He couldn't be confirmed. He couldn't be bar mitzvahed. He couldn't sing in the choir. He couldn't teach a Sunday school class. He couldn't lead a small group. He couldn't join a Bible study. And he couldn't recycle. He was nailed to a cross, for goodness sake. Friends, if faith in Jesus alone, apart from human works, wasn't sufficient, if faith in Jesus alone, apart from religious activity, wasn't sufficient, if faith in Jesus alone, apart from human effort of any kind, wasn't sufficient to get this thief into paradise, he didn't have plan B. There is no other plan for him.

But would you notice? He didn't need plan B. Why? Because faith in Jesus plus nothing is sufficient. And it was sufficient. And it always will be sufficient.

It works. And you know what's interesting? Is that Jesus didn't have a word to say to all those mockers down there and all of those naysayers and all of those people standing around the cross. He didn't answer them a word. But he sure had something to say to the thief on the cross, didn't he? What did he say? He said, today you will be with me in paradise.

Wow. And so this is step number two, my friends. If you and I want to activate God's plan of salvation, we have to place our trust for our eternal destiny fully in the hands of Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross, plus nothing, no good works, no human effort, no religious activity, just Christ and what he did for us on the cross.

So let's summarize. How do we activate God's plan of salvation? Two things. Number one, with true godly repentance from the heart. And number two, with absolute reliance on Christ and what he did for us on the cross as our exclusive plan for getting into heaven.

One final thing. Would you notice, please, that it's never too late to do this? Would you notice that the thief on the cross was down to his last couple of hours of life and yet it wasn't too late for him? I mean, God's plan of salvation was open to him.

He accessed it within two hours of leaving this world. Friends, as long as there is breath in somebody's body, it's never too late to take advantage of God's plan of salvation. As long as there's breath in your body, it's never too late. And as long as there's breath in the body of somebody you love and care about, it's never too late. Don't you dare give up on anybody down to their last breath.

The offer is still open for them. Praise the Lord. Now, let's summarize. There you go.

Let's summarize. You know, it may come as a big shock to most of us to learn that God sees every one of us here just like he saw the thief on the cross. How did he see the thief on the cross? Well, the thief on the cross was utterly helpless to redeem himself hanging there on the cross.

He couldn't do anything to help himself. And the thief on the cross was utterly powerless to get himself into heaven. Friends, that's how God sees us, which means that for every one of us here, the only hope we have of ever getting into paradise is to get in the same way the thief on the cross got in.

That's it. And how did he get in? Just to conclude, number one, he got in by truly repenting of sin before God.

And number two, by casting himself on Jesus and what he did on the cross as his exclusive hope and plan for getting into heaven. Now if you're here today and you've never done this, we're going to give you a chance to do it right now. So let's bow our heads together. And with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to lead us in a short prayer that's simply going to allow us to repent and to transfer our trust for heaven off of anything else we've ever trusted and on to Christ and what he did for us on the cross plus nothing. And I'm going to pray out loud one phrase at a time. I want you to pray silently right behind me one phrase at a time. And if this is something you want to do, this is your moment.

Here we go. You pray silently. I'm going to pray out loud. Lord Jesus, I come to you today because I want eternal life.

I want to know for certain that when I leave this earth, I'm on that express train directly to paradise. And so today I confess my sin to you and I accept full responsibility for the things I've done and said and for the messes I've gotten myself in. And I also confess that if I were to experience your judgment for sin, you would be right and fair and just. But today, Lord Jesus, I cast myself on your mercy like the thief on the cross did, like the tax collector did, and I transfer my trust today off of everything else I've ever trusted to get me into heaven, my religious activity, my good works, and instead I embrace Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross as my exclusive plan for getting into paradise, plus nothing. Lord Jesus, come into my heart today, forgive my sins, grant me eternal life, and become my personal Lord and Savior beginning today. In Jesus' name I pray. And Father, I want to pray for the folks that prayed that prayer, that you would assure them that if it was prayed sincerely from the heart, that if you were hanging on the cross next to them, you could say to them today, you will be with me in paradise. Lord, give them that assurance that they're going to heaven and it can never, ever change.

And if they can face the grave different than Rodney Dangerfield did because they have your promise, today I'm taking you to paradise. And Lord, for those of us here who have already prayed this prayer, thanks for reminding us that you stayed on that cross so that we could have this confidence as we look into eternity, so that we could have the assurance of eternal life. And Lord Jesus, may our hearts rise up in gratitude and thanksgiving to you for doing this, even though we didn't deserve it. And finally, Lord, remind us that there are lots of Rodney Dangerfields right here in Washington, people who are terrified of death, but they don't know what the Bible says and they've never been able to activate it. And so, Lord, make us missionaries every day to our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones, our co-workers, so that they can face death with confidence and not like Rodney Dangerfield did. Lord, thanks again for all that you did for us on the cross. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.