If you could stand please for the reading of God's Word this morning. Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. The kids are dismissed. Go with Mrs. Barbosa right there. There you go. We want to do something special with the kids on Easter Sunday. but please moms and dads you got to see my wife and say I will be here okay so we can do something special with the kids this morning not this morning Easter Sunday all right Luke chapter 23 if you go there is right there in the New Testament we're going to look at the promise of a Savior today we're looking at the last seven sayings of Jesus at Calvary's cross before he died And today we're going to look at another one. We started this last week and we're going to actually, because of time tonight, we're going to preach on that again. And then another sin of Jesus on the cross just because we start the way I started this we needed seven weeks I had to start this in February, which I did and started on the 1st of March. So anyway The month of March is only five weeks and we need seven so there is the easy math to do but look at here at Luke 23 36 and the soldiers also mocked him Mocked him coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors which hung railing at him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answer rebuked him, saying, Thus not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man had done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily or truly, I say unto thee, Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Shall we pray heavily, Father? Thank you, Lord, for those words that you spoke at the top of Calvary's cross. You were suffering, Lord. You were bleeding. You were dying. And it was the two men. One didn't see you as the Savior, but one did. Lord, today our world is the same. Many people see you as the Savior, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. but others put their fist at you and curse you and rebuke you, even say that you are a lie. Lord, may we consider your words that are coming from scripture. Lord, I pray today if there's someone here, someone online that never truly received Jesus as personal savior, may today they call upon you for salvation. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. You may be seated. so the promise of a Savior we're going to go and continue to look at this last statements of Jesus on the cross and tonight we're going to look at at one right here it says woman let me actually go to the now I don't want to give you the wrong title but tonight we're going to continue looking on this and we go back to our message tonight will be woman behold thy son another one of Jesus last sins on the cross of Calvary So we're going back to our message here. So that's I'm in the wrong message now. That's what happened when you have these electronic devices. Okay, there we go. The promise of a savior. So we're going to continue our statement, starting our last statements, our seven statements of Jesus upon Calvary's cross. So the first message I started last Sunday was about forgiveness, a prayer of forgiveness. And today we see a prayer of salvation here. He said, a promise of a savior. So Christ had suffered mockery, chastisement by the multitudes and the soldiers. He was challenged to prove that he was who he claimed to be. Let me put it this way. All right, did Jesus needed to claim anymore that he was the Messiah? He rose the dead. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He walked on water. He calmed the storms. He did everything. All the signs of the Old Testament that he would show the Jewish people, I am He, the promised one. There was no more signs. He didn't need to do anything else. But you know what? Like we are all humans, we have a tendency to close our eyes to things and put it behind us and say, oh, show me again. I want to see some more. Like in a sports world, it's not what you did for me yesterday, it's what you do today. well i was almost like the same way you know oh you know you probably did this but show us a sign show us that you are the son if you are the son of god if you are god almighty just leave that cross can you whisper satan using people just get off that cross because satan knew what jesus was doing he went there because of me and you and he was willing to suffer so you and i can experience freedom and liberty for my sin he went there with the mission and he press on like we're singing this morning so in this passage we discover a conversation between jesus and two thieves who were crucified by him by the way some denomination called a good thief and a bad thief here's my question to you do you ever met a good thief I never met one, they're all bad, right? A bad thief is a thief. I don't know how you could have a good thief. I understand the concept, why a good thief, but in a way of speaking, that's so bad. There's no such thing as a good thief. They're all bad. A thief is a bad thief. he did something that is bad you know you can't call him good but anyway so in this passage we see a conversation between ironically between two people they were being crucified they were they they they they were nailed to the cross like Jesus, Jesus was in the middle there on both sides there so I want to consider the promise revealed as we think on Jesus second saying today that shall be with me be be I'm sorry today that shall be with me in paradise So let's look at this from several points this morning as we look at the conversation between two thieves and the Savior. Number one, if you follow the outline, the voice of ignorance. Look at verse 39, and one of the malefactors which will hang a rail on him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. So on that top of that Mount Calvary there was three crosses like I said and it was standing there and on the cross there was three men that were being crucified. So number one, on one an innocent man named Jesus was nailed to. From a world's viewpoint the man Jesus was there as a victim or an innocent man or a victim of the force of the Roman Empire. The Romans did that to thousands of people. They were against the Roman government. They will put you on the road and strip you naked and nail you to a cross or a post or whatever. They set that as an example. You fight us, that's what we do to you. So the Roman government, the Roman Empire was brutal. They will use all kinds of force just to make people obey them. They conquer everything and they kept going. By the way, the Roman Empire didn't die, it still lives. that's a thing for prophecy but anyway okay for another time but anyway from a world's viewpoint he was he was victimized because of the wickedness of evil heart the evil hearts of mankind but from God's viewpoint Jesus was there not by mistake not as a victim but as prophesied in scripture his life was not taken from him by force he gave us life so that we could be free from our sin. So Jesus didn't came in like, you know, taken by force and was victimized, didn't happen. He gave his life voluntarily. He said, I give my life. He was there to pay the price for humanity's sin. He was there so that man may be free from their sin. And you see, people say, why should I be free from my sin? So when you die, Are you online? Pay attention. So when you die, you can go to heaven because you don't want to go to hell. You just don't want to go there. Number two, on another cross was nailed a man who was searching. This man knew that his time was short and there was no way he was going to be able to leave that cross. Think about it. He was nailed to the cross. How's he going to get out? Can you imagine to have a big nail right through your feet? That must hurt, right? I believe it does. I don't want to experience that. I don't want to experience that. But you know what? Folks, facing the unknown is always frightful. And this man was wicked. As wicked as he was at that very moment, he was gripped with fear. And he looked at another man and he put his faith on this man. We're going to look into that in a second. He began to search because his heart was full of hopelessness. And this searching, he looked at Jesus for the hope that he needed to face for eternity. Let me put it this way. At that moment there, he looked at Jesus and you can now recognize Jesus for who he was. And this man put his faith on Jesus. That's a lot of faith. You follow that? It's a lot of faith. This man is dying the way I'm dying. He's bleeding the way I'm bleeding. But I see him beyond that. I see him as my Savior. Wow. So on the other cross there was another man. Number three, the interesting thing about this man was that he was not quiet, but he was making quite a noise right there. The noise that he was making was full of profanity, mockery towards Jesus. This man was facing eternity like the other man, but with a hard wicked heart. We can't call such a man an ignorant person. Why, you may ask. He was facing certain death and ignorantly was too blind to see his condition. His heart was full of deadly poison. His heart was full of unbelief. And like today, he was taking, or he's blaming Jesus for his predicament. If you are the Son of God, you get out of that cross and take me with you. It's more like, you know, it's your fault I'm here. Oh, take me out of here. It's amazing our society is what our society does. We live in a society today, such a decay in our society that we blame others for our own predicament, our own problems. Oh, I'm like this because my mom and my dad was like that. I'm like this because the way they raised me up. You know what? Let me put it this way. Today is my dad's birthday and I need to be in heaven with the Lord. But let me tell you, my dad abused alcohol for many, many, many years. And I'm not going to stand here and say what kind of lifestyle was in our home. It was not the greatest one. My sisters and I didn't become drunkards. You know why? Because we made our choices. People say today the environment that you live in and the way you were raised, what caused you to do what you don't want to do. No, no, no. You are exposed to those things but you make your choices. Listen, you can make a choice to go out of college, you can make a choice not to go to college. You can make a choice to go work at McDonald's, you can make a choice to work at Burger King. You know, you make a choice. Nobody can make those choices. To blame our parents for our choices, it is very low. You know the sad thing? Some Christians blame God for their problems. It's God's fault. I'm not saying about the world because the world already does. Imagine Christians. If God loves me or loves me, he wouldn't let me go through this. Oh, God loves you no matter if you're going through or not. He loves you unconditionally. He went to Calvary's cross because he loved you before you were born. So, we are told that this man is a malefactor or a thief or evildoer. In other words, this man was a criminal and he was caught, convicted and condemned for his crime. This verse tells us that he was hanged, that after his trial he would have been beaten and then taken outside the city for a place of execution to be nailed to the cross. He is in agony and he was dying. It was a tragic moment even in the life of this man. Maybe his family was even there watching. What makes it more tragic is that this man is about to die like you're about to die without God and interesting thing in the God of salvation is right there a life let me put it this way folks a life lived without God is a tragic life it comes to a tragic end but to left that life that life end without God is very tragic people say I don't want God I can take care of myself when I die I have a person in my family that looked at me, and I could see the anger in his face. And he said, I can think of myself when I die. And I look at him, I said, and you cannot. You will regret those words, and I hope you change it. Letter A, we see his unbelief. We see a man's ignorance right here, the voice of ignorance. We see his unbelief. We are told that even though he was in pain, of his own pain, this dying man, instead of crying out for help, this man began to mock the Lord Jesus. You see many times people's unbelief is the fruit of their own ignorance. This man was ignorant to the core. This man's problem reflect the problems of many people in our day. Everything that happens God is always to blame. The word rail means that to speak evil or blasphemy. The Bible doesn't say about all the blasphemies that this man was spewing out of his mouth in his pain towards the Lord Jesus. It's your fault. I'm here because of you. He forgot to say I'm here because I'm a thief and I'm a murderer and a robber. He forgot what he did and he's blaming somebody else. So he began to rail and to rail and to rail. And somebody's calling me on the middle of the service. But anyway, this man is railing all kinds of nonsense like it's Jesus' fault. You know? Of course, there is somebody that we are to blame instead of us looking at ourselves. You know, it's interesting. I learned this concept. Somebody said, when you point the finger at somebody, be careful because you have three fingers pointing at you. Isn't that true? It is true. Somebody has to tell me that because I never, my own little mind right here never even thought of that. But that's true. You know, we point the finger at somebody, try to blame somebody, and ooh, three pointing at you. You are the guilty one. So this man write the Israeli as a friend that dying thief may have just made to see yourself. You need to know that if you are lost, you need to accept Jesus as your Savior. The dying thief made the wrong choice right before he died. Instead of believing in a testimony of Jesus and accept him as Savior, he made mockery of him and die in his own sin. Let me tell you, I believe this guy heard about Jesus. Jesus was very, very popular at the time. He was at the peak of his popularity. Everybody knew about him. Remember the road to Emmaus? when Jesus joined those two men after the resurrection and they began to talk and Jesus said, what are you guys talking about? They look at him like, where you come from? You never don't hear what happened? I mean, everybody knew it. Listen, there's a small town. Everybody talks about everything. I grew up in a small town. You know, you know everything. You know the news of the day in two seconds. It travels everywhere because you know, everybody know. Oh, did you hear? Oh, did you hear? It travels everywhere. what happened you know it was not that many people there so to speak it's small towns so this man more than likely heard about Jesus heard about his miracles but this man instead of accepting that as a fact and as true he blasphemed the name of God I tell you, make sure you choose well. Each one of us must make a choice about our eternity. Just think about you are born with no hope. That is blasphemy to a wonderful God. God, all of us have a choice to make. All of us have a choice to make. You know, you make a choice to get out of bed, you make a choice to stay in bed. You make a choice to drink coffee, you make a choice to drink tea. You make a choice to drink water, you make a choice to drink whatever you want to drink. You make a choice to believe in Jesus, you make a choice to reject him. This man on top of that cross rejected the one that could save his soul. So number one we see the voice of ignorance. Number two, we see the plea of a sinner. Look at verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. So the word malefactor here means evildoer. So these two men that were being crucified in the right hand and left hand of Jesus were guilty of murder and robbery. Those two guys were guilty. These men were being crucified because of the crimes that they have committed. Some denomination, like I said, they say that's a good thief and a bad thief. There's no such thing as a good thief and bad thief. A thief is a thief. Agree with me? Okay? So this man's actions describe all of us when we come to Christ for salvation. When a person comes to Jesus Christ for salvation, such a person understands and realizes how bad he or she has been and realizes that only Jesus can save them. Such a person understands that he or she is guilty of wrongdoing before God. How much we need is forgiveness. Let me put it this way. I was preaching at Providence Rescue Mission a few years back before we started our church. We had a ministry there for my church. We went there. There was a woman there. She called me aside. She couldn't walk that much. She was a heavy lady and she called me after I finished. She called me and she said I need to talk to you. Actually brother Kim is the one who Kim told me. so because we in the ministry together and they said that woman wants to talk to you so i went there and she said well i wanted to say something you said something that i don't agree with you i said okay refresh my mind because i don't know what i said just just just let me know and she said well first of all i never kill anybody i never murder never rob any banks and i've done all this but you said all liars i'm not a liar i said ma'am you are a liar And she said, no, I don't lie. I said, yes, you do. So we spent a good half an hour going back and forth. I'm a liar. She said, I'm not a liar. I said, yes, you are. You're not a liar. And finally, I just kept quoting scriptures and talking to her. And finally, she said, I think I am a liar. I said, ma'am, I don't think, no, no, isn't the thing is not I think you are, you are a liar. when she was you know first of all she got all offended with me she know she was you know event it came to a point she realized like yeah i said listen you mean that all your life you never lied oh no i never lied hey i said he's such a liar folks let me put it this way we all liars and god says all liars should have their place one in a lake of fire She got saved that day. I led her to Christ. But she needed to admit that she was a what? A liar. And when she would admit that, I said to her, did you want to accept Jesus as your savior today? And you know what she said? For my lies, yes. Ah, she came from not a liar to for all my lies, yes. You see, this man, on top of that cross, this man, service condition, later you will see his condition. It says, look what it says in verse 32, when they will come to the place which is called Calvary, they were crucified, they crucified him and their malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. He is described as a malefactor, literally an evildoer. So this man was there because crimes that he had committed, maybe a life, a criminal life that he had, who knows what this man did. But of course he got caught and he was Paying for his crimes. So this man has been has been tried declared guilty and sentenced to death by crucifixion It was literally in the grip of death that he hang up on that cross There was no hope for and pardon from this man. This man knew this man was going to die That was his last moment was no way out of there He would die hanging up on that cross. He was guilty of his crimes and he was receiving his due reward This man was reaping what he saw This man was paying for the crimes that he had committed. As we look at the Bible, we don't find this man in a good situation. Actually, this is the only time the Bible speaks of this man. We read of a criminal who was hanging on the cross for his crimes. And the only hope that this man have is another man called Jesus being crucified as well. Here's the difference here. Jesus You can even recognize him. So listen folks, let me put it this way. When you look at crucifix these days, that's not our Jesus. Okay? That's the Italian Renaissance. Okay? That's what you're looking at. First of all, Jesus didn't have no long hair. The Bible call it disgrace for a man to have long hair. That's first of all. Second of all, he would violate the high priest office. No way he could have that. He came to fulfill the law. He would break the law by doing that. So that Jesus you see in that cross, those crucifixes, that's not our Jesus. Not at all. Okay, so this man looked at Jesus and this man looked at Jesus as only hope. The other one looked at Jesus and what he did, he spewed all kinds of blasphemies. So one sees Jesus as the one to blame, the other one sees Jesus as a savior. you see the difference this is the way our world is folks I will see looks at Jesus and say that's my savior that's my lord that's my creator that's the one I put my trust and faith into but the other part of the world says oh he is a lie he's phony and they keep going and say all kind of blasphemies to him nothing differs today even stay the same way the way people view Jesus you know you see I have no doubt that this man heard of Jesus, heard of his miracles, heard of his kindness, heard of his love. I believe that this man heard of how Jesus raised people from the dead but now was different. Now is different because this time listen to this now is different because this time he is the man in the story. I heard Jesus doing that, I heard Jesus doing this, I heard Jesus doing those things, I heard that he walked on water, I heard that he raised the dead, I heard that he fed over 5,000 people but you know what here he is next to me but I'm in the story now because I'm about to die and he's here you see letter b we see his confession one of the malefaxers railed on Jesus saying if thou be the Christ save thyself and us the other thief realized that they were receiving what they deserve upon the cross he made a confession but the other and the other was only rebuking Jesus on the cross. He knew that he was a sinner. He knew that he deserved to die for his crimes he had committed. He knew that he had no hope for himself. He confessed his guilt before the Lord. So there is a profound truth revealing the words of this thief. We must come to the place that we realize that we are sinful and undone before the Lord. We must admit that we are guilty and in need of salvation. We must confess that are sins before Holy God. Many are aware of their deeds, folks, but few are willing to confess their sins unto God. Many people are aware of their wrongdoing, but many are not willing to confess their sins before God. That's why people reject Jesus. It amazes me for one thing. We all face eternity, all of us. We can depart of any given moment. We don't have assurance of another minute. And people reject the one who can give them the, you know, like I'm passing to the other side. I have no idea what I'm gonna face. And Jesus said, I can take you. And they reject that. It's an amazing thing. The human mind is an amazing thing. People are afraid of the unknown. And Jesus said, in the other side, there is a heaven. I will take you there. Actually, I'm the bridge that take you there. And you know what they say? I'll take care of myself. You know what? That's pridefulness at a high price right there. Pridefulness. I can take care of myself. No, you cannot. You cannot. Many are aware of their wrongdoings, but few are willing to confess their sin unto the Lord. Confession, listen to this, is essential for salvation. Simply knowing our need isn't enough. We must pour our hearts and with our mouths confess to the Lord that we are sinners. This man made an honest confession. Let us see, we see his petition. Look at verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, oh, what a sweet word. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. This thief saw Jesus for forgiveness. Do you know why? Because Jesus is the only hope of heaven. It was Jesus who spoke these words, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man come unto the Father but by He saw reconciliation with God. He knew that he cannot leave that place. He knew he was about to go to eternity and he didn't know what to expect. So you know what? He put his faith and trust in the one that could help him. He saw beyond the bloody Jesus. He saw beyond that mess of humanity that was there, all broken and stripped and blood running for us. He saw beyond that. He saw a Savior. he says today you know what remember you remember me when you get into thy kingdom so he believed that he was king He begged Jesus for mercy so that he might be present with the Lord when he came into his kingdom. We too must seek the Lord's forgiveness and reconciliation. Apart from salvation, we, we means all of us, all humanity have no hope of eternal life. Apart from cleansing, from the cleansing blood of Christ, man are condemned to eternal separation and torment in hell. Listen, no religion can save you. No denomination can save you. You say, well, I'm going to that church to preach the Bible. I'm going to heaven. No, you're not. You must confess your sin before God. You must admit that you are a sinner. That's what this guy did. He admitted he was a sinner. He called upon Jesus to save him. You know what? Without that, there's no heaven. Folks, read your Bible. It's right there. And people think that hell is just a make-believe thing. No, it's a real place. Jesus spoke of hell and even spoke of people that are there right now and by the way the person that he spoke of hell is still there. You know folks hell is full of people with good intentions. We think the hell is only for the wicked. No the hell is for people for every person that reject the gift of life. People who are good citizens, people who did so much good for humanity. And you say, oh, these people went to hell. If they reject Jesus, exactly where they are. Oh, it's hard for me to grasp. I cannot accept that. Well, you know what? That's the words of God. Letter to you we see is recognition. This thief. in his dying condition look at Jesus and saw more than a bloody man receiving the same treatment that he was receiving. He looked beyond the physical to the spiritual. He recognized some divine attributes of Jesus. He saw him for who he was. He recognized him. Number one, we see the Lord's purity. You see look in verse 41 it says and we indeed Indeed justly for we received the due reward of our deeds, but this man had done nothing amiss You see you recognize his condition and he saw Jesus condition said I'm guilty But he's not is innocent you see he saw his own condition see he's not confirmed whether this man was present during the the trial of Jesus we really don't know how much he knew of Jesus until this point in his life but something revealed revealed to him that Jesus was no ordinary man here He was aware that Jesus was innocent of the charges that were brought against him. He saw the Lord for who he was, sinless, holy and undefiled. This is too essential for element of salvation. You know, we just don't believe in a Jesus. No, we believe that Jesus is our Emmanuel God with us. That's who he is. Some people believe that Jesus was a good teacher. Yeah, he was. Some people believe that, oh, he was a prophet. Oh, okay. No, Jesus was almighty God. That's where the problem comes about. These people of those religions just say, who's Jesus to you? Wait for the answer. They're going to give it to you. see number two you see the Lord's sovereignty and he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom this thief recognized that Jesus was the Messiah and addressed him as Lord This refers to he to whom a person or thing belongs. One who has the power to decide, master. The malefactor recognized that his life literally lay on the Lord's hands. He saw Jesus as his Lord and his master. He called him Lord here. He said, look what it says in verse 42. And he said unto him, Lord, remember me. Powerful words. He saw Jesus more than just a mere person that was dying. He calls him Lord. He was submitting himself to the Lordship and authority of Jesus Christ. He knew that Jesus was his only hope. Salvation is impossible, folks, if one doesn't recognize the sovereignty of Christ. We must submit to Him as Lord in your life. He purchased you, redeemed you. He shed His blood for you and me. Let me put it this way. Listen, when we serve the Lord, I said serve is not work because a servant serves. You follow that? Listen, if we are the servants of the Lord, we serve the Lord. We don't work for the Lord. And when we serve the Lord, it's a different way than work for the Lord. You follow that? You see, we serve the Lord together because He's our Lord and Master and King. And we should rejoice with that and say Lord what you have done for me I can do nothing compared to what you have done for me. You shed your blood, you went to Calvary's cross, you were separated from the father just for me Lord. Nothing that I can do is enough to ever even compare to what you have done. So people say pastor you never stop. No I don't. I'll probably preach until I'm 105. You know why? Because I love the Word of God. I love my Savior. I love my God, the one who saved me. You see, the Lord's ability. Number three. Verse 42, And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Keep in mind that this man is dying. He is bent, placed on a cross, lifted in the air, and was hopeless, hanging on that cross. Apart from a miracle, he will surely die a slow death or a painful death. He realized that he could not do anything in his present situation to save himself. He was going to die. He trusted in Jesus' ability to provide eternal life beyond the grave. He was seeking immediate restoration. He was content to be with Jesus at that moment when he returned to establish his kingdom. He wanted to assure that he would be in the presence of the Lord when he left this physical life. You may not realize it or want to embrace the idea, but Jesus is your only hope for today. Jesus is the hope for humanity. You follow that? God then left humanity to himself. God said, I will send you a messiah. I will send you a savior. You know what? And God never fails on his promises. In the fullness of time, Jesus came. And Jesus opened the doors for man to reconcile himself to God. There's Jesus. You know what? Thousands will reject him and continue to reject him. But a few bunch would say, yes, I believe that. A few bunch would say that. So number one, we see the voice of ignorance. We see the plea of a sinner. And number three, we see the promise of the Savior. Look at verse 43. And Jesus said unto him, unto whom? The one who said, take me to your kingdom. Not the other one that was, you know, kind of blasphemies. You know, he said verily, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. So the thief had submitted to Christ as Lord, seeking salvation, and Jesus revealed his precious promise to him, as well to all who seek him. He gave him assurance, letter A, the assurance. Jesus didn't hesitate or tell the man that he would consider his request. He verily said, truly I say unto you. These words must have been brought comfort to the heart of a person that was dying. Verily simply the word means amen. It is firm. It is confirmed. Truly I tell you, in this very moment you will be with me. You know what? It's not a person that comes to God for salvation that God says, I'm going to consider your case. You've been really, really evil. I'm going to consider you. You know what? When we come to the Lord with a genuine heart asking forgiveness, he forgives. That's what God does. Now, on the other hand, we humans, we say, well, you did this to me and that to me and that to me. I consider that. Let me, let me pray about it. We Christians, that's what we say. Let me pray about it. Really? God, on the other hand, said to this thief, this murderer, He said, today, means today, you and I are going to be in paradise. What a statement. The world makes many promises that it doesn't have the ability or the authority to keep. Many today are looking for the ways of the world for peace and security, but in Jesus, the only real assurance of peace. In Jesus we can experience peace that the world does not understand. None of us had the promise of tomorrow folks but we have today, we have this moment. That's what we have. This is the moment we have. Let it be we see the acceptance. He said and I verily I say unto thee this was no blanket statement or to impress the other one or to make him feel good. Jesus meant what he said. You see, Jesus didn't condemn or judge this man. Jesus could say, you know what? You've been a criminal, you've been a murderer, you've been a thief. You want forgiveness? I'm not going to forgive you. He didn't do that to me. No, Jesus said, I, today, you will be with me in paradise. I say to this, what a Savior. What a Savior. Let me put it this way. I live a life, I'm 50, I'm 35, no. I'm going to be 58. I did I commit so many sins that a lot of them I don't even remember like you but when he said I forgive you he forgave me my racket has been washed clean so is yours because you know what we have a forgiving God that's the God that we serve and this man no exceptions was a criminal and God says to him today you will be with me in paradise Wow what a forgiving Savior We see the arrival. Let us see. Remember that this man requested to be remembered when the Lord came into his kingdom. That is yet to happen. But had the Lord granted that request to this thief? Yes he did. But let me put it this way. let's go to the association letter D Jesus will reveal another precious promise here as far as we know this man had not met the Lord until that day he was not a disciple he had not walked with the Lord he was a thief he was a murderer but in fact he probably never never even heard the Lord preach or teach the word he You probably heard of his fame. It didn't matter to Jesus. This man was promised to have the glorious privilege of being with the Lord in paradise that very day. We all have our own ideas what happened, what heaven would look like. Often those ideas and desires are revealed in songs that men have written. Many songs speak of loved ones who have gone before us, of mansions on hillsides, the street of gold and so on and so on. But all of that will certainly be wonderful. I believe heaven is a wonderful place, a beautiful place. But the real beauty and blessing of heaven Listen to this, will be when we see the Lord face to face. When we walk through that pearly gates and we see the one we've been praying, we've been worshiping, we've been singing, we've been living for, for the first time face to face. That's what matters. What a meeting. face to face with Christ my Savior face to face what will it be what a wonderful day when we see Jesus face to face now all the beauty of heaven won't matter that moon what matters is when we walk and look at that throne and see the one who died for us Letter E we see the abundance. Jesus promised that he would be given him the very day, that very day paradise. There is much debate and discussion concerning the bold reference to it as paradise. Paradise, listen to this, was Abraham's bosom. Paradise was the place where all the saved went on credit to wait on the promised Messiah to come and pay the price for their sin. So the Gospel of Luke, we learn something about this. Go to Luke chapter 16 verse 22. all right we've almost done but look chapter 22 verse uh 20 60 verse 22 it says and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels unto the abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lift his eyes lift up his eyes being in torment and seeing abraham afar off and lazarus in his bosom So we're from this pass right here. We're not going to read the whole passage. We see that this paradise was abraham bosom So people died the ones that were saved die on credit when there now according to ephesians chapter 4 Paradise no longer exists because jesus went there to empty paradise Jesus took all the saints from from paradise and took them into heaven Actually go to ephesians chapter 4 verse 8 You see that Just give you a little object lesson this morning so you can understand something here. Paradise no longer exists. All right, look what it says. Ephesians chapter four verse eight, wherefore he said, when he ascended up on high, he let the captive captive, the captivity captive, and give gifts unto them. Now that he ascended, what he, it is, I'm sorry, what is it, but that he also descended first unto the lower part of the earth. He that descended, the same also that ascended up above all heavens, that he might fill all things. Jesus went to paradise. Some people believe that Jesus went to hell. Jesus didn't go to hell. Jesus went to paradise, an empty paradise. Paradise no longer exists because hell extended itself. Now when we die, us, we go into the presence of the Lord. paradise no longer exists so regardless of where of what actually was this point is that this man would be with christ enjoying the presence and a balance of the lord himself he would experience the atmosphere of praise and worship of the lord whenever christ made this abort this malfactor this thief which we enjoy him why because he put his faith and trust in the lord jesus christ Listen folks, when Jesus comes into a sinner's heart, Jesus comes in, cleans that, all that garbage that is there, gives that person a new heart, is an inner joy that the world does not understand. You can have bad days, you can have good days in your physical life, but I tell you what, but you have a peace that the world does not understand. That's why in the middle of nowhere you might be crying and singing at the same time. You ever been there? tears are flowing down and your heart is singing and people go what's wrong with you i don't understand you cry and sing at the same time because it's the peace of god in our hearts they don't understand that we can be hurting and singing in the same time i don't think i'm the only one and it's before you know you have a song in your heart you sing all day you know the song i sing this morning i sing it yesterday most of the day i don't know why but i kept singing And before I find myself singing this song, I say, well, I guess the Lord wants me to sing this song, so I'm going to be a blessing to someone. But that's what happened when we received Jesus as Savior, and this man at the top of that cross, he found forgiveness. I conclude with this. I stand amazed that the Lord would even come at all, much less die for our sins and prepare a place for us. I'm standing amazed. die for a sinner like me think about it because when we look at calvary's cross we can say oh jesus died for the sins of the world well you know just think about it look at calvary's cross and say jesus died for me if you're the only human being on the face of the earth jesus will still do that for you because he doesn't want anyone to go to the fires of hell You've got to read the book of 1 Peter or 2 Peter around those books right there. Jesus doesn't want a soul to go to hell. That goes against Calvinism. Right. Because what they teach is some people are born with no hope. They were born to go to hell. That's not true. That's wrong teaching. That's heresy. That's wrong teaching. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever is the word again believe it on him should not perish but have everlasting life that whosoever is whosoever and all means all follow that everyone is welcome at God's table everyone is welcome and can receive a salvation if we repent with the genuine heart of our wrongdoings and call upon him for salvation. There's two men here in the top of Calvary. One, ignorantly, almost blamed Jesus or blaming Jesus for his predicament. And the other one, saw Jesus differently, call upon him to save him. Folks, our world is the same way. Today, people are still blaspheming God, calling him bad names and everything under the sun. And others are saying, Lord, forgive me. I know that you are the Lord of life. I want your forgiveness. You see, it happens and it will continue to happen. May we, may you online, may anybody here that never received Jesus say, realize and take Jesus for who he is. and ask him to forgive them of their sin. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord. What a picture that we see this morning at Calvary. Lord, two thieves. They both deserve what they were getting for their crimes. One saw you, Lord, as the Lord of life, and the other saw you as someone to blame. Lord, may we, as your people, May we look at you as our Lord, our Savior, our King. And may I pray this morning that if someone here that never received Jesus as Savior, Lord, may they call upon you for salvation because they see you as the King, as the Lord of life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may, if you could stand please. Let's sing a song of invitation this morning as we march on towards Easter Sunday. Tonight we are going to look at Woman Behold Thy Son. We will continue with this series on the last seven sayings of Jesus at Calvary. What song are we singing Chrissy? The name of the song? The number? 131. Thank you. I lost my order of service right here. Jesus paid it all. 131. I heard the Savior say Thy strength indeed is small Child of weakness, watch and pray Find in me thine all and all Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Sin had left a cleansing stain. He washed his white as snow. May we understand this morning who Jesus is. The Savior went to Calvary's cross. He was nailed to that cross. He shed his blood because of you and me. He came to give the human race the opportunity to reconcile Himself to God. Listen, it was not God that turned His back on mankind. It was mankind that turned their back on God. And God promised, I will send you the Savior. I will send Him to you. And the Bible says in the fullness of time Jesus came. He came to Bethlehem of Judea. He grew up amongst His people and they didn't even recognize Him. They nailed Him to a cross. He shed His blood for me and you. Folks, He came as a servant the first time. He's coming as the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's coming again. The same Jesus that went up is coming down again to get His people. Are you looking for Him? Our blessed hope is coming. Don't lose hope. Keep pressing on. Press on because our King is coming. We say, but we've been waiting for 2024 years. He might come today. He might come tomorrow. Let's press on and tell, may He find us as faithful servants. Let's work for the Lord until He comes. And if we die doing, then we die doing. And we go to His presence. Follow that? Let's be good soldiers of the cross. Let's sing verse number two as our last verse. indeed I found thy power when thine alone can change the leprous spot and melt the heart of stone Jesus paid it all all to him I owe Sin had left a cleansing stain. He washed his white as snow. Amen. Let's pray heavily, Father. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of being in your house today. And thank you, Lord. We see a picture of salvation. We see a picture of those who reject you. Lord, this happens in our very day. Thousands are rejecting you. A few are receiving you as Lord and Savior. Help us, Lord, to live for you, to be good servants of the cross. Help us to go and tell the world that Jesus saves. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.