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Resurrection Sunday - Gospels - The Conversion of the Criminal · Mount Eaton Church

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  I know that sometimes technology works, sometimes it doesn't. My voice is dying after waking
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  up at 430 in the morning. These sunrise services kill me. But it was such a blessing. We went
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  through each Gospel, the four counts of the resurrection, and the Gospels read one after
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  another. It was eye-opening. So consistent, but yet there's some slight truths in each
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  one that God gives. Just remarkable. So this message is specifically dealing with the crucifixion,
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  what the Gospel literally presented, and the impact it has on one particular man. So before
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  we get started there, I want to pray. And then we're going to go through a couple of
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  things that are very important for us to reflect on before we get into some of these things.
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  But I think there's some truths that need to be stated, especially during this time
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  of year. I always had the tendency to see all these ideas. There's so many professionals,
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  you know, professors to know things about the resurrection. Like, there's no way Jesus
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  was crucified on Friday. He had to be crucified on Thursday and rose from the dead on Saturday.
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  And that's so far from the truth. So I want to deal with some truths so that we are settled
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  in to the amazing timing of this great event in all of world history, the greatest event.
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  And then we're going to get into the impact of that event and the lives of the people
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  there. So let's pray. Father, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness and goodness.
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  Thank you for your word. Your word is true. Your word is consistent. It is unchangeable.
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  It is everlasting. Lord, your word has impacted so many hearts. It is living and active, sharper
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  than a double edged sword. Lord, your word is used for all things pertaining to life
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  and godliness. And most of all, your word is you presented for us written on pages so
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  that we may know you and know your character. You have stated, Lord, that my sheep know
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  my voice and we hear your voice through your word and we thank you that your word speaks
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  loudly for all of creation to hear and all to hear the truths of who you are. We thank
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  you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. So a couple of important important facts. The
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  Lord's Supper landed on Thursday, Nissan 14 that particular year. Why do I say that? Because
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  if you read the Old Testament and you do any research on the month of Nissan and the importance
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  of the 15th day of Nissan, because on the 15th day of Nissan, it was Passover. What
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  a lot of people have taught is that Passover is always on a Friday. That is not true. Passover
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  is always on Nissan 15 and Nissan 15 didn't always land on a Friday. That kind of messes
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  up some things for some people. They may not like that, but that's just a fact. I don't
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  know about you, but every five years my birthday lands on Thanksgiving. Does that mean every
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  Thanksgiving is my birthday? Hello? So that's one myth out the window. I like doing that
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  stuff. So remember, it's not the day of the week that we must remember, but the day of
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  the month that God commanded the Jews to follow. This was the meal of unleavened bread. The
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  full Passover meal has to be done on the 15th, which is Passover day, because they would
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  sacrifice the lamb and then they would partake of the lamb that day. That's why when you
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  read the scriptures, it's called preparation day. So when we sit down and do Passover or
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  the Lord's Supper, you notice there's something missing. There's no meat because Jesus is
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  the lamb of God. We partake in the same way almost to what Jesus would have partook in.
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  Nissan 15 was Passover. Happened to be that Nissan 15 was on Friday that year, which is
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  very interesting. So that's an amazing timing. It's important that we understand the timing
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  of this moment. There is no time in all of world history, and I'll show that in a minute.
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  Now, this is why Jesus had to be removed and placed in the tomb before sunset, because
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  the evening of Passover was about to begin. They had to get him down. He had to be sacrificed
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  on Passover day. If he's not sacrificed on Passover day and he's sacrificed on Thursday,
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  guess what? He's not the lamb of God. It's driving me nuts. You know, I watch YouTube.
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  It's like I don't watch CNN or anybody else. I watch YouTube. It's terrible. I know. I
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  should run. I should run. Number two, this fulfills the prophecy that he is the sacrificial
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  lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Here's the proof. John 1.29, the next day,
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  he saw John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the lamb of God
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  who takes away the sin of the world. In the same way that they would take their lamb to
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  be sacrificed to cover the sin of their family, this Jesus is the sacrifice to cover the sin
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  of his family. Isaiah 53.7, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
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  mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before it shears is
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  silent so he opened not his mouth. So again, a lot of teachers, quote unquote teachers
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  and scholars think they know, but they're so enraptured with their own ideology instead
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  of looking at the scripture and seeing the timing and the perfection of this day. And
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  the amazingness of our God and his sovereignty and control of all things all the way down
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  to his own crucifixion. It's quite remarkable. Every prophecy is fulfilled in him to the
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  T. Number three, his sacrifice and death were on the perfect day at the perfect time. There
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  would be no other time in history that it could have happened this way. No other time.
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  There's no time in all of world history from the time it began to the time of this crucifixion
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  that had to be the day. All the players were present. All the things were in place for
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  the sacrifice and the exact hour and location was set. Look at that. Look at that intentionality
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  of God in the amazingness of the sacrifice of himself. Jesus knew. Example, Romans 5
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  says for while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. John 17
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  one, when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father,
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  the hour has come. Glorify your son that the sun may glorify you. It's interesting that
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  this word hours is literally the very minute. So let's deal with everyone present. Everyone
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  represented there is everyone guilty. The arrest and sentencing of the holy God. I want
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  you to get that the holy God is arrested and sentenced by guilty men. The Jews guilty.
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  Matthew 26, 66 through 68 says this. What is your judgment? They answered. He deserves
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  death and they spit in his face and he struck him and some slapped him saying, prophesy
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  to us, you Christ, who is that? Who is it that struck you? And Mark 14, 64 and 65 says
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  this. You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all condemned him
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  as deserving death and some began to spit on him and to cover his face and strike him
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  and say to him, prophesy. And the guards received him with blows. Everyone is guilty.
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  Luke 22, 63 to 64. Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they
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  beat him and they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, prophesy, who is it that
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  struck you? And they said, and they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.
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  In John 18, 22 to 23. And when he had said these things, one of the officers standing
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  by struck Jesus with his hand saying, is this how you answer the high priest? And Jesus
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  answered him, if what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong. But if what I said
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  is right, why do you strike me? This is the God man. This is the God who has created every
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  single one of you and me. And they knew it. The Gentiles are guilty. So now we see the
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  Jews are guilty. So any preachers or pastors, past, present, or future that blame it on
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  the Jews? It's not just the Jews. It's the Gentiles too. See, they want to say the Jews
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  crucified Jesus. Yeah, but the Gentiles did the work. All four gospels mention Pilate's
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  dealings with Christ. In Mark 27, verse 26, I mean, sorry, Matthew 27, 26, Mark 15, 15,
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  23, 25, and John 19, 15, and 16. And this is a summary. Pilate had released Barabbas
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  and scourged Jesus and had him crucified. Even the authorities partook. Everyone's guilty.
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  And Matthew 27, 27 through 31 and 33 through 37 says this, then the soldiers of the governor
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  took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and he gathered the whole battalion. You know
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  how much a battalion is? A thousand men. They gathered the whole battalion before Jesus
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  and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and they twisted together a crown of
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  thorns. They put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before
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  him they mocked him saying, hell, King of the Jews. And they spit on him and took the
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  reed and struck him with it in the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him
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  of the robe and put his clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. And when they
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  came to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull, they offered him wine
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  to drink mixed with Gol, drugs. And when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when
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  they had crucified him, they divided his garments among themselves by casting lots. And then
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  they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put a charge against
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  him which reads, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. I want you to notice something about
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  this charge. It's actually not really a charge, is it? It's actually true. In Mark 15, 19-20,
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  22-26 and Luke 23-33 and John 19-7, I'm going to give you the Mark's statement but they
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  all state pretty much the same thing, almost word for word. And they were striking his
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  head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked
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  him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and led him
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  away out to crucify him. And they brought him into the place called Golgotha, which
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  means the place of the skull, and they offered him wine mixed with myrrh. But he did not
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  take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for
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  them to decide what each should take. You see, the soldiers then would take prizes to
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  say, we did that work. And it was the third hour when they crucified him and the inspiration
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  of the charge against him read, King of the Jews. Interesting, even the Gentiles are guilty.
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  The condemnation, the condemned are guilty. The men who deserved their punishment. Jesus,
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  holy God, executed with the guilty. The innocent with the guilty. All four gospels mention
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  the criminals' dealings with Christ. All four of them. It's interesting. In Matthew 27,
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  38 through 40, and Mark 15, 27, 32, and John 19, 18, the two robbers were crucified with
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  him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him. The word
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  derided here is the word blasphemo. Blasphemy. To speak evil of or revile. Wagging their
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  heads. So imagine they're walking by, making fun of him, calling him names, and they're
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  just, you're pitiful. You're just so pitiful. After he went and healed them and healed their
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  diseases and fed them when they were hungry and preached to them for three years and cared
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  for them and took care of their families. Once they get, once you get what you want
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  from Jesus, you just throw him away. It's the same today, isn't it? This is what they
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  said to him. You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself
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  if you are the son of God. Come down off the cross. So also the chief priests with the
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  scribes and the elders mocked him saying, he saved others but he cannot save himself.
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  He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross and we'll believe in him. He
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  trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, I am the son
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  of God. Here's the sad part. It didn't matter if he came down from the cross. They wouldn't
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  have believed in him anyway. They would have still killed him. Of course, if I came down,
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  if he came down off a cross, I don't know about you, but I'd be terrified. That's kind
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  of like, all right, we're in trouble. And this is what it says in verse 44, and the
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  robbers who were crucified with him also reviled. On i dedzo or didzo. On i dedzo is the word
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  here. And this word means undeserved reproach. Define guilty with, revile or to speak through
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  one's teeth. See, they know he was not guilty. And they were just both of them talking nonsense
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  to be part of the crowd thinking, I'm thinking that they did it because they wanted to get
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  down. Like if we, if we're against them, maybe they might take us down. No, bro, you're nailed
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  too. Then Luke says it this way. It's very interesting. Out of all the gospels that give
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  this account, Luke gives two very important facts here. So I want you to get this picture.
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  They are brought with Jesus crucified. They're brought up. They're set up. In the same way
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  the serpent was lifted up, so shall the son of man be lifted up. And so Jesus is there
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  and everybody is making fun of him, a fun of him. And even the two robbers, the two guilty,
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  the two condemned, the two that deserved it. Then all of a sudden this happens. This is
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  what it says in Luke 23, the two robbers who were criminals were led away to be put to
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  death with him. And when they came to the place that is called the skull, they were
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  crucified. They, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one
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  on his left. And at this point is when everybody starts making fun of him. Everybody's blaspheming.
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  Everybody's saying things about Jesus, including the criminals. Then all of a sudden Jesus
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  says, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. That was a scud missile in the
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  middle of a very evil moment. So much so there are two statements that impact one, LOI LOI
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  MA SABATINI and this statement. The scripture says, and they cast lots and divided his garments
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  and the people stood by watching. But the rulers scoffed at him saying he saved others.
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  Let him save himself. He is the Christ of God, his chosen one. And the soldiers also
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  mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the
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  Jews, save yourself. You notice both the Jews and the Gentiles are mocking him. And there
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  was also an inscription over him. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the criminals
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  who were hanging, railed at him saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.
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  Why is this there? Why does he say one, not two? Because the two had already made fun
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  of him. And this one just had a little bit more gusto, I think. Why does Luke record
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  this slightly different than the other gospels? Is Luke wrong or was there something that
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  happened that was worth mentioning? One of the criminals was changed. Luke is the only
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  gospel that records and Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
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  And that's Luke 23, 34. And is the only gospel that records the repentant criminal. This
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  statement changes everything. Not only for the guilty criminal, but for all who are guilty.
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  His forgiveness is real and it's genuine and it's true. You are truly and really in every
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  sense forgiven in Christ. You are forgiven. That's the point of the cross. The criminal
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  has received what only those who are chosen and changed can receive, true freedom in Christ.
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  Repentance and believing in the son equals eternal life. Mark 1, 15 says this and saying,
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  the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.
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  Jesus stated. A changed heart to a changed mind, the repentant criminal. And Luke 23,
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  40 through 43 says this, but the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God since you
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  are under the same sentence of condemnation? One criminal says, hey, save us. The other
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  one says, are you nuts? Don't you fear God? You're under the same sentence and condemnation
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  as this man who just said that we're forgiven. If he had just said that, I think it's safe
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  to assume that's what he means. Verse 41, it says, and we indeed justly, for we are
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  receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. What changed
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  this criminal's mind? What changed his mind from both of them condemning and blaspheming
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  Christ to the one going, I can't believe I'm up here. Lord, I deserve this. Will you forgive
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  me? If Christ can forgive the man on the cross without a baptism or a prayer, he can forgive
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  you. The prayer of salvation is nonsense when it comes to the reality of the conversion
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  of the heart. There is no prayer that saves you. It's the loving power of the cross and
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  Christ dying on it at which he gave his blood for you and wassas away your sin. It's not
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  the prayer that saves you. It's the crucified Christ, the risen Lord who saves you. And
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  the criminal knew this. And look what he says. And the criminal said, Jesus, remember me
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  when you go into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you today, you will
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  be with me in paradise. Wow. If God can forgive the criminal at the moment of the cross, watching
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  the gospel being truly lived out before his eyes and seeing the God, the holy God of all
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  creation saying, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. How much more
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  will he do it for you? All are guilty. The Jew is guilty. The Gentiles guilty. The government
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  is guilty. The criminals are guilty. Every human being on the planet is guilty. But God
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  forgives in spite of our evil and our brokenness. Isaiah says this. The spirit of the Lord is
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  upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has set me
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  to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captive and the opening of the prison
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  to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Every single one of us
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  are prisoners. Guilty. Deserve death. We are just like the criminal on the cross. Father,
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  forgive me. Will you remember me when you go into your kingdom? Isn't that what Jesus
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  says? Where I go, you will be also. I go to prepare a place for you. If it were not so,
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  I would not have told you. Because in my father's house there are many rooms. And Luke, Jesus
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  states this very scripture. He says the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed
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  me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captive
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  and recovering sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed, a physis.
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  The word here is imprisonment, bondage, or forgiveness. Do you see the criminal on the
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  cross was imprisoned and in bondage and in need of forgiveness. And Jesus gave him a
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  thesis. He set him free. We all need to be set free from our bondage. And the reality
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  of the criminals short but so important story is the repentant and believing sinner is
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  a sinner set free. Whom the son sets free will be free indeed. We the condemned are
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  guilty and are freed. Romans 8, 1 through 3 says this. Through the work of the cross
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  of Christ he set the condemned free. There is therefore no condemnation for those who
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  are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from
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  the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not
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  do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin
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  in the flesh. He tore the bars off and has set you free. My last statement is this. If
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  you do not know this and if the Holy Spirit is convicting your heart right now please
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  know you will come. You will come. Love is as strong as death. You will come. My hope
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  in prayer is that moment is today. That moment is the day when you say Jesus is Lord and
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  have been justified by the power of the Holy Spirit by believing in the gospel. This is
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  the gospel that Christ died according to the scriptures. Was buried and rose again on the
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  third day according to the scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. There is no other
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  gospel. There is no other way. It does not matter what others say or what others think.
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  Jesus says I am the only way. There is no other way. Your good works will not save you.
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  Only the power of God through the work of the Holy Spirit and through the amazing gospel
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  will he implant in you the gift of faith to believe. So if you hear his voice do not harden
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  it. Run to the arms of the Savior. As the prodigal son was coming the father ran to
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  him and brought him home. Come home. Come home. Father I want to thank you for this
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  amazing moment. This amazing event in all of world history of the conversion of the
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  criminal as the gospel is literally opened wide for him to see and he is a participant
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  in what is happening. You draw the broken one. You draw the evil and guilty and even
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  among those who were not crucified with you you have shown the reality that you are forgiving
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  in spite of their disbelief. Lord we praise you. We thank you that you are good, faithful
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  and you are the only way. Thank you for the reality that this criminal was with you in
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  paradise because you resurrected as you said on the third day. Tear down this temple and
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  in three days you would raise it up and you did. They are looking at a temple made by
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  the hands of man when they miss the very temple of God the holy one. The holy of holies standing
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  before them. I pray that no one walks away and rejects the reality of the truth of who
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  you are. And bless those who have not seen but yet believe. To you be honor and glory
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  in Jesus name. Amen.