to have that extra hour. And I think people took advantage of that extra hour and went somewhere. But amen. It's beautiful. The weather's been nice. I just want to thank you all for being here. But I want you. A couple of things we didn't mention is that Thanksgiving is coming up and we will have 10 whole turkey dinners for the turkey and everything to give out to people. So if you know somebody that could use a whole entire turkey dinner or maybe you could use one, please see me and I'll make sure you get one, amen? And it'd be nice if you knew somebody and you could go and give it to them and make sure if you do that you give them gospel track with it and let people, Come to know the Lord. That's what it's about. Thanksgiving is a strictly Christian holiday. It's just about thanking the Lord. Amen. You don't have to buy gifts and all that, except for, you know, cook and all that stuff. But this will be the first year in 20 years that we haven't had, we're not, well, we're not gonna have the, we won't be here, so we won't have Thanksgiving dinner here at the church on Thanksgiving. First time in 20 years, so I apologize for that. But if you need dinner or something like that, just let me know, please. Let me know if you know somebody who does. Get your Bibles out, please, and open them to Luke chapter 23. And I'm going to talk to you about something that's always on my mind, but when something won't come out of my mind, I have to talk about it some more. We're going to read quite a few verses here in Luke 23. It's a chapter I want you to go back and read the whole chapter yourself. We're going to read quite a few verses. But I want you to go back and read it yourself. But I want you to see some things here. There's a lot going on. And if you're there with me, we'll start in verse 14. If you're there. Are you there? In Luke 23 verse 14, it says, He said unto them, you've brought this man unto me as one that perverts the people. And behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof you accused him. No, nor yet Herod, for I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him and release him, for of necessity he must be released one unto them at the feast.' And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas. who, for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into the prison. Pilate, therefore, willing to release Jesus, spoke again to them, but they cried, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him! And he said unto them the third time, Why? What evil has he done? I found no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired. But he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they led him away, they laid a hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country. And on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. But Jesus turning, I'm sorry, verse 27. And there followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves. and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say, blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two other male factors led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. And the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left, then said, Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiments and cast lots. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, he saved others, let him save himself. May he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save yourself. And the superscription also was written over him in letters in Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the male factors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. God bless you. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice and said, father into thy hands, I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. I'm going to stop right there, but if you read on, you see about the centurions, you see about the women that followed him, you see a whole bunch of things. And what I want to talk to you today is about the people that were involved in this whole story that we just read. There's a lot of people involved. I mean, a lot. People are all over the people, but each and every one of them have a story. Each and every one of them are going through something. Each and every one of them could, you could write a book about what happened in their life to lead them up to this point, or what's going to happen in their life after this point. But each and every one has an amazing story, and we could literally write books about each one, have movies about each one. But I want you to think about the many people that were there. Here we have a few. We have the Jews were there, of course. We have the chief priests, and the scribes, and the Pharisees, of course. The Sadducees, all the rulers were there. All the people that mattered and meant something, but also all the common folks were there, all the regular people were there. And also you got the king, you got a King Herod, you got Pontius Pilate, you got Barabbas. What a story about Barabbas, my goodness, this guy's a murderer, thief, in prison, and he just gets let go. And he lets them go, and Jesus takes his place. Story after story. You have about Simon the Cyrenian. This story was amazing about him. You have the women that are walking behind him, crying, and you have the soldiers standing there. And you have these two guys, the two male factors, as they were called. And then we have Jesus. And there's still many more if you read the whole chapter. There's a lot going on in this chapter. A lot of people. But I want to talk to you about the three people that were carrying those crosses. What about their story? And we all kind of know the story of Jesus, don't we? But what about the male factor? You know what a male factor means? It means a person who's broken the law. Sounds like us, doesn't it? I think about, it says, give us this day our daily bread, but no one ever prays, give us this day our daily cross to carry. But I think about these men that carried the cross, and I think about the three crosses, and I think about a lot of things about this. And I personally love the three crosses. If you look, you see one cross on the rug, one cross there, one cross here. You see one cross here, one cross here, one cross here. I personally really get inspired by the crosses. I get really inspired by the men in the middle cross. There's a song that says it, and of course I'm not going to sing it, but it does say this. It says, I heard the preacher talking about three wooden crosses upon a hill for everyone to see. Two sinners on the outside couldn't save themselves if they tried. All I could think is, man, that sounds like me. I've been the one on the left full of guilt and regret, long gone on the wrong side of living. I've been the one on the right always looking for a fight, thinking I could never be forgiven. I'm standing here today overwhelmed by grace because I know who paid my cost. Thank God for the man on the middle cross. He didn't have to do it, but for me, he went through it. A love like that I'll never understand. Lord knows I don't deserve it and I know I couldn't earn it. Let mercy rain down on this desperate man. I've been the one on the left full of guilt and regret, long gone on the wrong side of living. I've been the one on the right full of, I messed it up. I've been the one on the right looking for a fight thinking I could never be forgiven. But I'm standing here today overwhelmed by grace, because I know who paid my cost. Thank God for that man on the middle cross. That's a song I just kind of got new to, and I really like the words, and it really inspired me. And it just makes me think about the song. I wake up with that song on my mind. I wake up with it all the time. And I can't help but thinking about, thank God for the man on the middle cross. And I've been that one on the left, full of guilt and regret, long gone on the wrong side of living. But I've also been that one on the right, always looking for a fight, thinking I could never be forgiven. And I think about these two men, and I want to talk about them briefly if I can. But today you have three crosses, three men on this cross, and each man represents three groups of people. Because everyone's got a story, and you're either one on the left, one on the right, or you're the one in the middle. But each one of us represents a story. The judgment in the Bible says that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So we know we're all gonna be, the judgment, they had their judgment there, the one on the left, he was full of guilt and regret, and he was long gone on the wrong side of living. That means I think about his cross, and I think about the cross, I think, oh, I'm sorry, I'm thinking about the other one on the right, who was always looking for a fight, and thinking he could never be forgiven. There's people out there today that are like that, they just don't think that, The mercies of God are for them. They don't think the love of God's for them. They just get involved in sin and they stay in it. They get angry, they get mean, they get nasty. There's people out there, if you give them a gospel tract, they'll spit on you. There's people out there, if you talk about Jesus, they'll hate you. There's people out there that are railing on Jesus Christ. And I think about that in the first cross that I think of, and I mentioned this before a couple of other times, is a cross of consequences. Every single one of us have consequences in our lives. That's a cross that we're going to have to carry. See, we all bear our own consequences. You make the wrong decisions and you do the wrong things. Those wrong decisions and things are nailed to your cross with you. I'm here to tell you right now, when you think about the ramifications of your own choices, your own daily, daily choices that result in your actions. And as God said, you will reap what you sow. Be not mocked. God's not mocked. Be not deceived. God's not mocked. You shall, every man shall reap what he sows. And that's what I think about this guy. He's getting what he deserves. His decisions in his life, his choices that he made, choices each day that he must bear. The decisions we make every day, the things that we've done, choices that we made and we must bear them. These are our cross to carry and each person has consequences in their life. Maybe you got divorced and now your life is the way it is. Maybe somebody left you. Maybe you quit a job. and now your life is the way it is. Maybe you decided to smoke, drink, do drugs, and gamble, and your life is what it is. Maybe you decided to eat too much and not care about your health. Those consequences all are there, and they're your cross, no one else's, your choices, and you gotta bear that cross. I'm here to tell you right now, in Luke 9, 23, Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Brian, don't you have that verse up there? Steve, keep him going. There's a result of your actions. There's a result of missing church. There's a result of not praying. There's a result of not caring about your children. There's a result about not caring about your marriage. There's a result of not voting this Tuesday. There's a great result. The consequence, do not sit there and complain about the country if you're not going to go vote. And God forbid you vote for the least qualified person. Yeah, we know. But the thing is, we need to do what we're supposed to do, amen? But when we don't, and we all mess up, we have consequences to bear. I want you to think about that, and I think about this man, the Bible says, we read, it said he railed on him. If you're the Christ, save yourself. He mocked him, Tony. He railed on him. Jesus is being crucified, so is he, and they're on the same boat. And he still railed on him. Think about people like that. No matter what happens to them, no matter what takes place, no matter what judgment, no matter where you bring them, they always complain it's someone else's fault. I'm here to tell you right now that's the worst kind of people in the world are people will not take their own responsibility. People that will not pick up their own responsibility and carry it because they blame other people for it. And that to me is the most dangerous of all, Anton, because they can never, like it says, never be forgiven. because they never come to the realization, I deserve this. I did this to myself. And therefore, God is trying to teach us that that's your cross you got to carry. And each and every one of us have crosses to carry. Jesus said that, he said, verily, I'm telling you, if you do not deny yourself and pick up your cross daily, you do not, you do not deserve me, nor are you worthy of me. I'm here to tell you each and every one of us, and I'm not talking about a physical cross to go and be nailed to, I'm talking about just your consequences. The consequences of your actions, you need to carry them. You need to carry them, you need to own them, you need to work through them, you need to do your job through them, amen? But we also have another guy, like the first man at the cross of consequences. He made his choices. He lived his life his way. He did what he wanted to do. He hardened his heart. He didn't want to hear. He didn't want to believe. He didn't want to follow. He wanted to do what he wanted to do. He rejected God's grace, and this man did it his way, and now he's in hell right now. That man that we read about is in hell right now, screaming in torments forever and ever. That's his consequences. And then you have the other man. It says, the man on the left full of guilt and regret, long gone on the wrong side of living. This wasn't a terrible man. This wasn't a bad person. This was a person that had his cross. It was the cross of consequences. just the consequences of maybe where he grew up on the wrong side of town, the consequences of his parents maybe separating and he grew up without a father. I'm here to tell you that whatever this guy did, I'm sorry, I had it wrong, the circumstances of his life. Yeah, I messed up, but at least you got the gist of it. Circumstances, the one guy, it was his own consequences, but there's so many millions and millions of people out there that just circumstances led him there. Circumstances of life led him to prison. Circumstances of life led him to hang out with the wrong crowd. Circumstances of life made him poor. Circumstances of life made them get hooked on drugs. Circumstances of life got them addicted to alcohol. Circumstances of life, just circumstances, things that happened to them. You know how many bad things happen to good people? Come on. You know how many bad things happen to people that you're like, I didn't deserve this. Why is this happening to me? And I'm here to tell you that's a cross that we all have to bear. Because His cross, He was also a thief. You've got to remember, it says He was a thief. But there was something notably different about Him. There was something different about this man. Was he suffering? Did he belong there? Yes. He's a thief? Yes. He was judged the same way as the other man? Yes. But this difference about his cross is a common among men. It's a cross of circumstances that he just got himself tangled up with the wrong people. And I'm here to tell you that. How do I know that? Because this This fact shows that at the end of his life, when he was on the cross dying, first thing he thought of was when somebody railed at Jesus, he told him, shut up. How dare you talk bad about him? We deserve what we got. That's what he said. We deserve this. We did what we wanted to do. We partied it up. We didn't want to listen. We didn't want to really believe. We just did what we thought. I know a whole time, how many times, I got saved at 31. And since 15, I was doing drugs and drinking and everything bad. So I had 15, 16 years of smoking, drinking, hanging out with the wrong people. That's a long time, 15, 16 years. Some people have it 20, 30, 40 years before they get saved. But as I was hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing the wrong things, I knew it was wrong. I knew it was wrong. I knew it would hurt my mom. I made sure my mom didn't find out anything. I didn't want her to be worried about me. I never called her in the middle of the night, mom, I need your help. Don't do that. I know I'm talking to older people, but don't call your mother at three o'clock in the morning and say, I'm in trouble. That's the worst thing you could ever do to her. Get it out of your trouble yourself. You got yourself into it. Get yourself out of it. So the thing is, is when you care, Listen to me. When you care, it doesn't mean you're not going to do bad things. It doesn't mean that you're going to not fall into trouble. It doesn't mean that. But you know inside you care. And I believe this man, this thief, his whole life, he got wrapped up on the wrong side of living. He was with the wrong people, the wrong crowd. Things happened to him, and he ended up being a thief, and he ended up in court, and he ended up death sentenced. And there he is on the cross with Jesus in the middle, and that other guy on the other side, and the other guy still being the same man. Angry at the world, angry at God. And then the other guy, but he cared and he said, we deserve what we got. So it's important because I don't think people can get saved until they come to be that way. I deserve hell. I deserve it. It's hard to get a righteous man who thinks he's righteous to get all the way down humbled and realize I've sinned against God. Yeah, but I'm a nice guy. Yeah, but I'm a good person. I never murdered or killed or raped or destroyed. So you don't know what Jesus said. Jesus said, if you ever had hatred in your heart, you're a murderer. If you ever lusted after someone in your mind, you've already committed adultery. We're all guilty of sin. All of us, even if you said one lie. My point is, it's so hard to get somebody where this guy is right now. And what he says is, he looks over to Jesus, he said, Lord, Remember me. What do you mean by that? Remember my life. Remember how I was born with no parents. Remember how I didn't have any money. Remember how I didn't live on the streets. Remember how I had to steal just to eat. Remember those that were mean to me. Remember Lord, remember I didn't want to do it Lord. I wouldn't want to do it but I did and I ended up here and I know I deserve it. Man, you see. Circumstances of life will get you on that cross. Each and every one of us have circumstances in our life that we wish we didn't have. Each and every one. Some people are born without limbs. Some people are born without parents. You know what I mean. They gotta have a parent to be born, but. Some people are born without money. Some people are born without intelligence. Some people are born into bad parents. Some people are born just without no fault of their own. Everything bad happens to them. And I just want you to realize that that might be you today, and maybe you can't help it, and your life, when you look back, you can feel sad and sorry for yourself, and this happened to me, and this happened to me, and this happened to me. Just remember, that's your cross. That's someone else's cross, it's your cross. And it is a cross of circumstances. And Jesus, when he said, Lord, remember, remember me. How many times do you think that man cried at night? How many times does a drug addict cry out at night when they're on drugs and they don't want to be? Lord, help me. How many times is an alcoholic, a gambler, someone that's stuck in a vice they just can't get out of, cried and said, Lord, help. But there's no help there. Lord remembers all that. He remembers all that. You know what only matters? It only matters if you put your faith and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when He called upon His name, I want you to think about your responsibility, whatever your circumstances are, whatever your consequences are, whatever happened to you, that is yours and you're alone, your cross to carry, and you need to pick it up and take the responsibility, it's in your life. I married the wrong woman. That's your cross. I took the wrong job. I drank the wrong drink. I hung with the wrong person. That's your cross. Pick it up and carry it because that's what God commands. So there are three crosses. You have the circumstances, you have consequences. And I just want you to think about the third cross is the man in the middle. Thank God for that man on the middle cross. Thank God for that man. What did he do wrong? What did he do wrong? The Bible says he was sinless. He did no wrong. He was so sinless that the people that wanted to kill him couldn't find anything wrong. Then they sent him to the Romans. The Romans would kill him and the Romans couldn't find anything wrong. So they sent him to Herod the king. The king will definitely kill him. They couldn't find, nobody could find anything wrong with him. And I want you to think about that. Can you find one thing wrong with Jesus? Can you think of one thing, one thing wrong with Jesus Christ? No, but yet people will reject Him and not trust Him and not believe in Him and not put their faith in Him. See, He was sinless, He was perfect, He was amazing, but He had something. You ready? He was a human. You know what He had? He had a conscience. And there's a cross of conscience. Yeah, there's a cross of consequences and there's a cross of circumstances, but there's a cross of conscience. And that's the hardest of all causes. Because that's things you have to carry and bear that, I know it's what I should have done. I know what was the right thing to do, but I didn't do it. Your conscience is just something, man. When I was lost, before I got born again, my conscience was, it wasn't seared hot like many people are, but it was pretty dull. I could do a lot of things and not feel guilty. The only things I felt guilty for is when I got caught. The only things I felt guilty for is when I woke up in the morning from a hangover and had to go to work. I didn't ever feel guilty for the things I did, unless I like stole something and hurt somebody and I'm sneaky about it. Then my conscience was like, you should not have done that. But my conscience was kind of almost dead, Tony. But then Jesus came to me and he said, Michael, look at you. In the spirit, 1991, I'll never forget it. Never forget it like it happened yesterday. Fresh in my mind, Bob. I was sitting on the couch watching the evening 11 o'clock news, drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. Wasn't thinking about the Lord at all, but the Lord was thinking about me. just like he was thinking about that man on the cross. And he came to me, the Holy Ghost, and said, look at you. And the finger of God pointed right at me and said, look at you. And he showed me every single thing that I do wrong. And for the first time in my life, first time I knew it, I am guilty, I'm going to hell. And I knew it. And I fell on my knees and I said the Our Father twice. I didn't even know what that meant. So I just, with tears running down my face, I cried Jesus. Saved me a sinner. And he saved me. He literally saved me. He put His blood upon me, Anton. And His blood forgave me. And because now I was forgiven, now He sent forth the Spirit. Because the Spirit can't dwell inside you if you have sin in you. So the blood comes and cleanses you. The Spirit comes and puts an operation on you and seals you, property of. Now He quickened me, the Bible calls it quickened. And my conscience now was, bam, wide awake. My conscience was brand new and it's alive. It's called being born again. And all of a sudden, my conscience now is talking to me again, like it did when you were little. Remember that little kid, you know? Listen, I don't want to get off on a rabbit trail, but my dogs have a conscience. Because whenever they do something wrong, you can tell them. You can tell they're so guilty. Little kids, little kids when they do something wrong, I didn't do it, he did it, he did it, he did it. You can see the guilt all over them. But then you get older and you sin a lot and your conscience, you don't hear it no more. But when you get born again, oh, that conscience says, awake. Hello, hey Mike, how you doing? Who are you? I'm your conscience. Good to talk, how you been? I haven't heard from you. Who are you? Me and the Lord, we're talking to you. Wow, I never heard that before. I'll never forget, man. I woke up next morning, went for my cigarettes like I always do, and the conscious went. You don't want that. You're like, I don't. That's weird. How come I don't want a cigarette? I always want a cigarette. And then my conscience said, last night, Jesus Christ. Whoa. So then I went to work, did roofing, came home, roofing, went into the bar like I always do. Sat in the bar. All of a sudden, my conscience is wide awake saying, look at that guy's face. Look at that person. Same guys in the same bar stools all the time. They're there 24 hours a day. That's their life. Look at their teeth missing. Listen to grizzledness. Look at their faces, which I never noticed before. My conscience is saying, man, what a life they have. Yeah, it's weird. How come I'm noticing all this now? And all of a sudden, he gives me a beer, Budweiser and Chevus Regal Scotch. I drank good stuff. And I went up there, I looked at it, and all of a sudden, I had like butterflies in my stomach. And I'm like, I don't want it. And I'm like, what's wrong with me? And inside, I'm talking to myself, what's wrong with me? And my conscience goes, last night, Jesus Christ. I'm going, oh. And I pushed her away. I said, no, thank you, Joe. And I walked out of the bar totally scared. What in the world is happening to me? And I walked across the street and I'm like, what's happening to me? And my conscience said, last night, welcome to Jesus. Welcome to being born again. Welcome to the new spirit, the new life, new conscience. And I'm like, man, this is all real. And I never drank again, never smoked again. And when I thought of drugs getting high, I thought of vomit and puke, disgusting vials. Like, oh, I couldn't even imagine it. My conscience was telling me. But the problem with that is your conscience doesn't go to sleep. Your conscience doesn't just say, okay, now you're good. I'll see you next week. So every single thing I did, everything I watched, the music I listened to, the books I read, the magazines I looked at, the stuff that my friends said, every single little thing that bothered Jesus is now bothering me. I'm like, you got to be kidding me. Listen, one of my best favorite things to do is hunting. Since I was 10 years old, we always went away for a week, camping up in the top of a mountain with no self-service, nobody around, and you're camping in the woods and you deer hunt for a week. I hardly ever, ever get anything, but that was our thing. And I always did it with my best friends, grew up with them my whole life. And I still to this day love them so much. None of them are saved. But anyway, so it came to a point where now I'm saved. I got a conscience and we have a cabin and we're staying in the cabin and they let this new guy come in named Joe and he starts smoking pot. Now, I don't drink anymore and I don't do that. So I would just go up in my bed and I would read my Bible while they're down there partying. Go ahead, have fun. But I'd smell pot. Did you ever smell that disgusting stink smell? Like a skunk sprayed up your nose. It's gross. It's grotesque. It's disgusting. And I'm sitting there trying to enjoy myself and I'm smelling it and I'm smelling it. Now I'm getting grieved and grieved. So I leave. I go downstairs. I walk out under the stars in the mountains and I start talking to God. God, why am I so unhappy? What do you want me to do? And he says, you got to leave. You can't hang with these guys no more. So I made a decision, I can't hunt with them no more. My best friends. Guys I always hunted with. Never had more fun in my life than up at Deer King. all involved drinking, but I never had more fun. But the conscience now said, you can't hang with them. You're not the same anymore. So what I'm saying is, it sounds good, the cross of conscience, but it's really tough. And then when you're walking with the Lord and your conscience is talking to you and you're obeying it, the conscience gets stronger and bigger. Next thing you know, you go to tell a lie. I'm not kidding you. I'm talking about, man, I caught this fish and it was this big and the conscience goes, liar. Oh man, all right, it was this big, liar. It was this big, all right? You know, you say something about somebody and say, you say, oh, man, it's great to see you. I love you, man. And the counselor goes, didn't you just talk bad about him last night? Oh, man. Hypocrite. Your conscience is a real thing. It's the Holy Ghost and God living inside of you, talking to you through your conscience. And it's like, it's a real deal. I'm telling you, I get out of the truck, I was a roofer, get out of the truck, I'm busy, you know how busy you get, right? And I walk on the wall, I told you this story, a little tiny receipt, a little piece of paper just falls on the ground. I shut the door, I'm ready to go in the wall, and the spirit, the conscience say, you're gonna leave that trash there? What are you, a trash, what are you, a litterer? Come on, it's just a piece of paper. Go pick it up. I'd go all the way back, pick it up, go all the way in, put it in the trash, go in to get my coffee and the Wawa, grab three straws, start stirring, and the conscience says, why are you wasting Wawa straws? You don't need three. I'm like, are you serious? Are you serious? He's like, yeah, I'm serious. And I'm thinking, man, God's really holy. God's perfect. That's who that man was on the cross. He was perfect. And in his conscience, he knew that you guys need saving. In his conscience, he knew when I was born, I didn't have a dad. I didn't have money that I hung with the wrong guys. He knew that when they went to steal a car, I couldn't do it because I would drive in the stolen car, but I couldn't steal the car. I was different than them. God knows you and you're a little kid too. God sees everything you, how you lived, and He knows you and He remembers you. And that's why He brought you to faith in Christ, because He saw in your heart that you didn't really want to be that person. You really didn't want to. Now, if you're the kind of person that doesn't care and wants to be that person, you won't get saved. But if you want to be that one man on the cross, and have some type of empathy, and you look at the Jesus and say, Jesus, remember me. I had a rough life. I believe every single person like that gets saved before they die. I believe every person in the hospital bed. I believe every person on death row. I believe every person that's there for the wrong reasons, but that's not who they are. I believe the Holy Spirit comes knocking on their door, and I believe that they say sometime, Jesus, remember me. and that man on the middle cross and his conscience. I want you to think about the conscience and Jesus in his conscience, how perfect is he? He thought of us fallen man. Was it your fault that Adam and Eve sinned? Was it your fault that your parents sinned? No, he knows that. And so therefore he said, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna die for all of them. I'm gonna die and give my life because that's what's required. Jesus carried his cross and his cross on it was every single sin of the world. Everything that you've done wrong, everything that you need to be judged for, he took it on himself. How heavy of a cross that is. Not only did Jesus carry the cross of consequences, but he carried the cross of circumstances and he carried the biggest cross and heaviest cross is the cross of conscience. He thought of us and He knew He had to die for us. What a great, wonderful Lord God we have. In James 4.17, it says, therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. For him to know to do good, how many times have we known we should have done something and we didn't do it? That's what revival is, a revival of your conscience again for God. When you think about, when I think about revival, Tony, I think about me and God. Me and God. Me and God. I don't think about me and you. I don't think about me and my wife. I think about me and Him. And I think about all the times that I spent not listening to Him. And I think of all the times I've been drifting away from Him. And I think of all the times I haven't really read my Bible every day. And I think of all the times I haven't really studied. And I haven't really prayed. And when I did, it was half-heartedly. And I think about that and I think about how did I get here? How did I get so far from him? My conscience tells me because you've been following your heart and not following the word of God. The number one commandment is the love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and love one another as yourself. I want you to think of what it says in Romans 2.15 and other places. It says that your witness, your conscience will bear witness, either excusing you or accusing you. We all must bear the weight of our crosses. The Bible tells us Jesus said, Pick up your cross and follow me. There's one more cross I want to talk to you about. It's the unexpected cross. The cross where we have this man, Simon. Simon. And he comes onto the field. He comes into the scene. He's just coming with his children. It says in Luke 23, verse 26, if you're there, It says, and they led him away, and they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country. He was a country man, lived a peaceful life. And on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. Mark 15.21 says this. Brian, do you have that? Mark 15.21 says, and they compelled one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by. coming out of the country, the father of Alex and Rufus, to bear his cross. Not his cross. Not my cross. Jesus' cross. He was an innocent bystander. He was being a good man coming out of the country with his children. He was carrying his cross as a responsibility as a father. If you have children, you have a responsibility. Pick up that cross and do what you're supposed to do for your children. If you're a wife, you have a responsibility. Pick up your cross, do what you're supposed to do. The Bible says, husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. It says, wives, reverence your husbands. It says, children, obey your parents. Each and every one of us have a responsibility. We have a cross to carry. This man, he comes out of the country, he leaves his wife or had her with her, but he took his children with him to the temple to offer sacrifices to God. And he comes across, it's Passover, and he comes across and he just happens to be by and they grab him and they compel him. They make him pick up Jesus' cross. He's got his own responsibilities. He's got his own things he's gotta do. He's got his own life. He's got his own bills. He's got so much going on in his life, but he's picking up his cross. He's carrying his cross. But now, unexpectedly, he's gotta carry Jesus' cross too. And that applies to all of us. Because Jesus, he died for us. And he, I want you to think about this, is how the unexpected cross is unexpected out of the blue, things just happen to you. Do you ever have something just forced on you? When, you know, you already have, you're carrying your consequences, your circumstances and your conscience, you're doing the right thing. But all of a sudden they all come at once and put you in a position. Maybe it's death, maybe it's loss of a job, loss of income. The unexpected cross, the burden that put on you may seem unfair and it may seem too heavy to carry. But Simon was a husband, he was a father, he was a believer, he was compelled to carry the cross of Christ. It says in Luke 23, verse 26, that he might bear it after Jesus. The cross of Christ is the cause of Christ. Jesus Christ came to bear our sins, to bear our sorrows, to carry our griefs, to help us to do something we couldn't do. And now he's telling us, I believe every one of us that's carrying our cross, It seems to get heavy. Burdens of life get tough. Things you gotta do in life get hard. And sometimes you're carrying a cross and people are putting on that cross their problems. People are putting on that cross their responsibilities and it's not fair. They should be carrying their own cross. but you're carrying it anyway. And you're carrying a heavy burden, a heavy load, and all of a sudden, you come across an unexpected cross where something happens and now you have got to pick up another cross. And that cross happens to be the cross of Christ. the cause of Christ. The cause of Christ was other people. The cause of Christ was sacrifice, a sacrificial life. What are you willing to sacrifice your anything for someone else? I'm here to tell you this cross is a very hard cross, but it happens. When he says that he might bear it after Christ. The cross of Christ is the cause and it's a burden to carry. But just think about this and we'll finish. In Luke 14, 27, the Bible says, whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. And then he said in Matthew 10, 38, he that takes not his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me. So each and every one of us, you have a responsibility to do. I'm going to tell you right now, the Lord will never lay on you the cross. cross of Christ until you're carrying your own cross. And you might say, good, I don't want that cross. Well, that's your whole purpose of being a Christian. Co-labor with Christ. See, my conscience didn't care about others. Now my conscience cares about others. See, my conscience cares about my wife and my family and my church and my friends, but my conscience didn't care much about people I don't know. But all of a sudden, now that I got saved, I have the conscience of Christ in me. And now he's saying, now go, Mike. Go and tell someone. He wants me to pick up his cross. I'll think of Simon. And I just picture this. He's coming. There's crowds of people all coming to see what's happening with Jesus carrying his cross down the cobblestone road. He's bloodied. He's beaten. He's tore apart. And all of a sudden, he comes and just takes a look. And at that moment, and at that time, a Roman soldier grabs him and says, you! Come here! No, no, I'm just here, but get over here now!" With a sword spoke. What? What? Help him! Pick up his cross! Simon, not knowing anything, picks up the cross. He starts to carry it, bloodied, blood all over it. He's carrying it. He looks over. He sees Jesus on the other side. And when I can imagine the eyes of my Savior looking over him, Saying, thank you. Thank you for helping me because this cross is heavy. It's heavy and I'm weak. I'm beaten. I'm almost dying. Will you help me carry the cross to Calvary? Will you help me bring salvation to others? I can just imagine the feeling that Simon must have had. I don't want any part of this. And then when he looked into the Savior's eyes and saw the blood and saw the crown and saw the torture, I guarantee something lifted up inside of him and said, I will help. I will carry your cross with you. I'm telling you right now, it's the hardest cross in the world, but it's the most rewarding. when you can lead someone to Christ, when you can help someone who without their own fault have fallen and they're in sin. They just need Jesus. They just need the blood of Christ upon them. They need to hear the gospel. They need to know about Christ. And I'm here to tell you right now, we have the greatest cause in the world. People are dying every day and going right to a devil's hell because no one will pick up this cross. And Jesus said, if you won't carry your cross, you're not worthy. Right now, we have crosses. We have families, survivors ready to have a baby, sleepless nights, lots of poop, crying. Guess what? It's not fun, but it's your cross you gotta bear. People have jobs, they have bills, they gotta pay them. Guess what? That's your cross. Stop complaining. Pick up your cross and do what you're supposed to do. Stop being a wimp, stop blaming other people for your problems. You made this, you did this, do it. That's what makes a man a man, a woman a woman, and makes a human being a human being. Because Cain, remember Cain? What am I, my brother's keeper? So we don't care about others. As long as I have what I want, I don't care what you need, I'm not gonna help, I'm not around. I'll tell you, it's all of us all the time. I'm finished with the message, but I'm not finished with the message that God has spoken to me about. And I'm here to tell you, I hope and pray he speaks to you about it. Because right now there's people that won't pick up their cross. And that's why the church is empty. That's why the banks are empty, bank accounts empty. That's why people are empty. Because people won't do what they're supposed to do. Your family needs you. Your husbands need you, your wives need you, your friends need you, everybody needs you. Do you understand that? If you have any conscience at all, you know your conscience is telling you right now it's true. And you know what you need to do. You need to get involved in what Jesus is involved in, in bringing the cross to people, or bringing the people to the cross. Either way, you have a co-laborer. Because when it gets heavy, and it will, You look over and Jesus is there right with you. He's right there with you. He's carrying it with you. And He's smiling. He's smiling because He knows He has a friend. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Kira, could you come up, please? Please stand to your feet. His altar is open. Will you carry your responsibility to the altar? Will you come and pray and seek his face and tell him, I'm ready to carry my own burdens, carry my own cross. These consequences are mine and mine alone. I shall carry them. The circumstances of my life are mine and mine alone. I shall carry them. And my conscience bears witness with me, Lord, that I need to get involved with what you're involved with. Your cause is my cause. Love your neighbor as yourself. You care about you going to hell. Why don't you care about your neighbor going to hell? Whosoever does not take this cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Will you pick up your cross today? Whatever that may be, it's your cross. Will you carry it? You say, I can't. I say you can, because you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you. You say, I don't know how. God says, pick up your responsibility and carry it, and I'll be right there to show you the way. Jesus is the way, isn't he? Father, I pray that you'll hear the prayers of your people. I pray, Lord Jesus, that you will forgive us for being that man on the cross, full of anger, sin, resentment, blaming others. God help us. And I pray that we can be like that other man on the cross, full of shame, guilt, wishing that we didn't do what we did, but calling upon your name and saying, Lord Jesus, remember me. Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom. I'm a sinner. I deserve hell and judgment. I'm turning and looking to you, Jesus. Forgive me, Lord. And for those who carry that cross, those that have carried it for years and are doing right, I pray your conscience would be alive. I pray you can even hear the voice of God right now telling you what's the right thing to do, what you need to do. Get involved in the church. Get involved in soul winning. Get involved in witnessing. You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. The salt has lost its savor. What good is it? If the light goes out, what good is it? Light the fire right now. Ask Jesus Christ to save you. Ask him to ignite a fire inside of you and let it burn deep within you. Lord Jesus, forgive us. Forgive me for not carrying my cross. Forgive me for the times I've complained. Forgive me for the times I blamed you and said, why? Forgive me, Lord. I am willing and I am able to pick up my responsibilities, whatever that is, and to do what is right. I shall follow you. I shall serve you. I shall obey you. I just ask for your help. And I will tell others about you. I will carry your cross, Lord, for the world, for the people. And I'll thank you for it. the precious and holy name of Jesus. Can we say his name, everybody? Say Jesus. Jesus. There's a song. It says, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. His greatest name I know. Wonderful, counsel, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. Call upon his name and trust him. He'll save you today. He'll lead you. He's the way. He's the truth. He's the life. Father, thank you for Jesus Christ. Thank you for the salvation that is in Him and Him alone. Please pour out your spirit upon us today. We'll thank you for it in Jesus' precious name.