Latest / truthunedited / Can God Still Care About Me After Everything_(M4A_128K)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Is there a point where it's simply too late, too
- 0:03late to be forgiven, too late to change, too late
- 0:06to matter to God. Maybe you've asked in silence after
- 0:10the affair, after the abortion, after decades of living like
- 0:14God didn't exist. Maybe religion told you it's too late.
- 0:18Maybe your own shame did. But hanging beside Jesus was
- 0:22a man with nothing left, no legacy, no dignity, no future.
- 0:27He was nailed to a Roman cross, dying for crimes
- 0:30he admitted he committed. No lawyer, no rescue, no hope.
- 0:35He had no time left to fix his life, earn forgiveness,
- 0:38or prove his faith. And still Jesus said, to day
- 0:42you will be with me in paradise and Looke twenty
- 0:45three forty three. How he had no theology degree, no
- 0:50baptism certificate, no tithe record, no public ministry. He had
- 0:55a sentence and a single moment of surrender, no resumer,
- 1:00just the whisper Jesus remember me, And that was enough.
- 1:05Because the cross doesn't just save the good, it invites
- 1:08the guilty. It shatters every idea we have of earning
- 1:11grace and replaces it with a blood soaked mercy. Soak.
- 1:15Promise it's not too late. If Jesus can save a
- 1:19dying criminal with his last breath, he can save you too.
- 1:24If you're watching this because something inside you still hopes
- 1:27that grace is real, You're not alone. Here. On Deep
- 1:31Bible Stories, we dive into the hard questions and the
- 1:35holy mysteries. Like this one. We've explored the raw cries
- 1:39of Psalms forty six, the majestic call of Isaiah, the
- 1:43powerful wisdom of Proverbs, and the piercing truth of Romans
- 1:48and Ephesians. Every teaching is available ad free on our website,
- 1:53along with e books to help you go deeper in
- 1:56study and devotion. We're not just creating content, we're calling
- 2:00hearts back to God. If this speaks to you, like
- 2:04and share this video. It helps spread the word, and
- 2:07if you're ready to explore more, everything you need is
- 2:11in the description below. Crucifixion was not just execution, It
- 2:16was erasure. The Romans did not hang men on wood
- 2:19to milli end their lives. They did it to erase
- 2:21their names, humiliate their souls, and warn the world this
- 2:26is what happens to those who challenged Caesar. It was
- 2:30public brutal and shameful by design. Bodies stripped, skin shredded
- 2:37by whips, nerves lit with fire, as nails tore through
- 2:41wrists and ankles. The goal wasn't a quick death. It
- 2:44was maximum suffering, stretched out for hours, sometimes days. It
- 2:49was death by suffocation, exposure, and trauma. The Cross was
- 2:53Rome's theater of fear, and this was where the thief died.
- 2:58Luke doesn't name him, neither does Matthew or Mark, and
- 3:01that's intentional, because crucifixion stripped a man of his identity.
- 3:07To Rome. He wasn't a person. He was a warning, criminal, rebel, outlaw,
- 3:14one of the faceless many who had crossed the empire
- 3:17and lost. This man wasn't supposed to be remembered. He
- 3:21was supposed to disappear, buried in a common pit. No funeral,
- 3:25no stone, no legacy, just blood in the dust. He
- 3:29had wasted his life, wasted his choices, wasted every opportunity
- 3:34to change, and now, with arms stretched wide in judgment,
- 3:39he was receiving what he and everyone else believed he deserved,
- 3:43except he was crucified next to someone different. The man
- 3:49in the middle didn't scream, he didn't curse, and he prayed,
- 3:53And though the crowd jeered and mocked, something began to
- 3:56stir inside that unnamed thief, not all at once, but slowly, painfully,
- 4:02as blood spilled onto the ground and eternity drew near.
- 4:06Somehow this wasn't just the end. Somehow the man in
- 4:10the middle wasn't just a victim. He was a king.
- 4:14The cross had been designed to erase him, but instead
- 4:18it would immortalize him, not because of his crimes, but
- 4:21because of his cry. And Rome in all its might,
- 4:25could never have imagined that, on its own instrument of destruction,
- 4:30a dying man would become the first citizen of Paradise,
- 4:35not by merit, but by mercy. He wasn't alone. Jesus,
- 4:39the Son of God, was not crucified in isolation. He
- 4:42was nailed between two criminals, two thieves, two men equally condemned,
- 4:49and in the beginning both mocked him. Those who were
- 4:53crucified with him also reviled him. Mark fifteen thirty two.
- 4:59Not just the c CROs, not just the soldiers. The
- 5:02dying joined the chorus. It can you imagine, even as
- 5:05they suffocated, even as their bones burned with pain, they
- 5:09used their final breaths to mock the only one who
- 5:13could save them. That's the darkness of unbelief. It's not logical,
- 5:17it's desperate. It clings to pride even as the world ends.
- 5:22One thief echoed the crowd, Are you not the Christ?
- 5:25Save yourself and us? Luke twenty three thirty nine. It
- 5:29was sarcasm, not a cry for salvation, but a taunt
- 5:33rooted in bitterness and self preservation. Not repentance but rage.
- 5:38But the other thief, something happened. He was bleeding too,
- 5:42he was groaning too. He had minutes left to live,
- 5:46and yet he changed. What happened in that moment, what
- 5:50pierced through the agony and turned mockery into awe? Was
- 5:53it how Jesus suffered without complaint? Was it the prayer
- 5:57Father forgive them? Whispered the very ones, hammering his hands.
- 6:02Something shifted. Do you not fear God? He said to
- 6:06the other, since you are under the same sentence of
- 6:08condemnation Luke, twenty three forty. It was the fear of God,
- 6:14not just the fear of death, that he realized. They
- 6:16weren't just being executed by Rome. They were standing in
- 6:20the presence of Heaven's king. We are receiving the due
- 6:24reward for our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.
- 6:30And in that confession we hear repentance, no excuse, no deflection,
- 6:35no bargaining at just truth. We deserve this and he doesn't.
- 6:39He wasn't trying to escape justice. He was surrendering to
- 6:43it and then turning trembling. He looks to the man
- 6:47in the center. Jesus, remember me when you come into
- 6:51your kingdom Luke, twenty three, forty two. No resume, no
- 6:57list of good works, no demands, just a that was it.
- 7:01No formula, no altar call. Just a bleeding man looking
- 7:05at another bleeding man and calling him king, and Jesus, torn, mocked, suffocating,
- 7:12speaks the most undeserved promise ever spoken. Truly, I say
- 7:17to you today, you will be with me in paradise Luke,
- 7:22twenty three, forty three. One thief died hardened and the
- 7:26other reborn. And that should shake us because they both
- 7:30saw Jesus, they both heard the same words. They both
- 7:33had equal access to salvation, but only one said yes.
- 7:37This is the mystery of grace. The two men could
- 7:40hang inches from eternity and walk into two very different forevers,
- 7:45and the difference surrender, not knowledge, and not time, not performance,
- 7:50just a heartbroken enough to ask Jesus remember me. That's
- 7:54all it takes. And if God could reach a dying
- 7:57thief with his final breath, don't you think he can
- 7:59still reach you. It's not too late, not for you,
- 8:03not for anyone still breathing, because Jesus is still found
- 8:07on crosses, still heard in prisons, still answering sinners in
- 8:11their final hour, and even now he's listening. Repentance isn't
- 8:16when you say you're sorry. It's when you stop defending yourself.
- 8:20That's what makes the thief's confession on the cross so sacred,
- 8:25so jarring. It wasn't whispered in a quiet chapel. It
- 8:29wasn't polished by religious language or softened by distance from
- 8:33the crime. It was grown through blood and agony, in
- 8:37front of a mocking crowd, from a man hanging on wood.
- 8:41He admitted he earned We are receiving the due reward
- 8:45for our deeds. Luke, twenty three forty one. Not a
- 8:49plea deal, not a sob story, no victim narrative at
- 8:53just truth. It's rare, so rare because real repentance doesn't
- 8:58negotiate it. It doesn't offer excume. It doesn't say I
- 9:01was young, or I didn't know any better, or they
- 9:05made me do it. It says I did this, and
- 9:07I deserve this. This thief who may have stolen, killed,
- 9:11led others astray. We don't know, because Luke doesn't tell
- 9:15us the crime, only the confession. And that silence is
- 9:19part of the power because it means it could be
- 9:22any sin, your sin. He doesn't try to lighten the
- 9:25weight of his guilt. He carries it owns, it bleeds
- 9:29under it, and in that moment, ironically, he becomes lighter
- 9:33than he's ever been. That's the mystery of repentance. The
- 9:37moment you stop trying to save face is the moment
- 9:40God starts saving your soul. You see, there's no room
- 9:44for mercy when you're still building a defense. But when
- 9:47the walls fall, when the pride breaks, mercy rushes in.
- 9:52The thief didn't say I had a hard life. He
- 9:55didn't ask Jesus to make it fair. He didn't pretend
- 9:58he didn't know better. He said said, we deserve this.
- 10:02But this man has done nothing wrong. And that's when
- 10:06repentance becomes worship. He sees Jesus not as a fellow victim,
- 10:11but as a faultless king. He acknowledges justice on his
- 10:15own head and holiness on the one beside him. And
- 10:19somewhere in that agony, something miraculous happens. The criminal stops
- 10:24pleading for relief and starts longing for relationship. Remember me
- 10:29when you come into your kingdom, Not get me down
- 10:33from here, not make it stop, but take me with you.
- 10:36If that's repentance, when the cry of your soul is
- 10:39no longer to escape the pain, but to be with
- 10:42the one who is holy, even if it means walking
- 10:46through the fire. This man wasn't bargaining for heaven. He
- 10:50was surrendering to the judge and daring to believe the
- 10:53judge could still love him. And Jesus responds not with rebuke,
- 10:58but with rescue. To day you will be with me,
- 11:02because God doesn't need your excuses, He needs your honesty.
- 11:06He doesn't respond to polished apologies, He responds to shattered confessions.
- 11:12So stop defending yourself. Lay it down. The worst thing
- 11:16you've done is not bigger than the cross. The guilt
- 11:19you carry is not too heavy for grace, the sentence
- 11:22you deserve has already been carried by the man in
- 11:27the middle. And if you're willing to say I deserve
- 11:30this but he doesn't, then you're closer to salvation than
- 11:34you realize, because that's the ground where mercy meets truth
- 11:39and when repentance stops defending, God starts redeeming. If grace
- 11:45had qualifications, the thief on the cross would have failed
- 11:49them all. He had no righteousness, no spiritual resume, no baptism,
- 11:54no tithe history, no church membership. He had no time
- 11:58to clean up, but no way to make as, no
- 12:01track record of change. What he had left was breath,
- 12:05and he used it to whisper the most desperate holy
- 12:07words a soul can speak, Jesus, Remember me, Luke twenty
- 12:12three forty two. There was no altar, no choir, no
- 12:17religious ritual, just one criminal bleeding beside the savior he
- 12:23once mocked, now broken enough to believe. Remember me. He
- 12:27didn't ask for a miracle, and he didn't beg for freedom.
- 12:31He didn't even say forgive me. He said remember, because
- 12:35sometimes that's all faith is, not fixing yourself, but flinging
- 12:40your soul toward the only one who can carry it.
- 12:43There's something radical about what the thief believed. That the
- 12:46dying man next to him was still a king, that
- 12:50the thorns didn't cancel the crown, that the blood didn't
- 12:53erase the kingdom. When you come into your kingdom. Who
- 12:57says that to a man gasping for air? Only some
- 13:00one who sees with eyes of faith. Not because of
- 13:04what Jesus looked like, but because of who he was.
- 13:07The thief saw glory hidden in grief. He saw the
- 13:11door to eternity cracked open beside him, and all he
- 13:14dared to ask was don't leave me behind. And Jesus didn't.
- 13:18Truly I say to you to day you will be
- 13:21with me in Paradise Luke twenty three forty three. No probation,
- 13:26no purgatory, no delay to day, because grace doesn't wait
- 13:31for you to earn it. It meets you where you are,
- 13:34on the cross, in the filth, in the very place
- 13:37your sin nailed you. And that's why the thief's story matters.
- 13:41He didn't add anything to the gospel. He simply believed it.
- 13:44He didn't live long enough to serve, but he worshiped.
- 13:48In his final hour, he didn't impress heaven, but Heaven
- 13:52opened anyway. And now his voice echoes through the centuries,
- 13:57silencing every lie that says you've gone too it's too late,
- 14:01you haven't done enough, because this man did nothing except believe,
- 14:06and that was enough. If this picture of grace has
- 14:09spoken to you, We've created a collection of resources that
- 14:13go deeper into this moment on the Cross. Our Luke
- 14:16twenty three e book explores every verse of the chapter
- 14:20where mercy broke through Rome's brutality. We also offer grace
- 14:25based study guides available on our website designed to help
- 14:29you reflect, journal and share the gospel with others, especially
- 14:34those who think it's too late. All of these are
- 14:37available ad free, distraction free to help you grow in
- 14:42your walk with Christ. If your longing to understand salvation
- 14:46more deeply, start with the Thief, because his story is
- 14:50your invitation, and his prayer remember Me, might be the
- 14:54most powerful prayer you'll ever pray. One sentence. That's all
- 14:57Jesus gave him. No a sermon, no follow up question,
- 15:02no theological checklist, just this, Truly, I say to you today,
- 15:07you will be with me in Paradise. Luke twenty three
- 15:12forty three, and with those eleven words, he shattered religion,
- 15:17He silenced shame, He unlocked heaven for the hopeless, the guilty,
- 15:21the too far gone. Because let's be clear, this wasn't
- 15:25a saint Jesus was talking to. But it wasn't a
- 15:28martyr or a prophet or even a half way decent person.
- 15:32It was a thief, a criminal, a man so guilty
- 15:35even Rome, who had mastered cruelty, decided he was unfit
- 15:39for life. And yet he became the first to receive
- 15:43the promise of paradise from the lips of the dying savior.
- 15:46Not some day, not after purging, not if he managed
- 15:50to die with more dignity. Today it's breath taking because
- 15:55this wasn't just forgiveness, It was belonging. You will be
- 15:59with me. That's the center of salvation, not heaven, but him.
- 16:04He didn't promise streets of gold or angel choirs or
- 16:07a throne. He promised presents it. You will be with me.
- 16:11That's what made paradise paradise. And that's what the thief
- 16:15longed for, Not a second chance at life, but a
- 16:18second chance at love, to be remembered, to be received,
- 16:22to not die alone, and Jesus met that cry with
- 16:26more than mercy, he met it with certainty. Truly, I
- 16:30say to you, it's his divine oath, in his amend,
- 16:34before the miracle, in a world of doubt, this is
- 16:37as sure as the resurrection. Not a guest, not a possibility,
- 16:41but a promise sealed in blood. And it still speaks
- 16:46because so many to day stand where that thief stood,
- 16:50nihiled to choices they can't undo, haunted by what they
- 16:53didn't become, afraid they waited too long. They think grace
- 16:57is for those who started young, stayed clean, and did
- 17:01it right. But the Cross says otherwise. The Cross is
- 17:04where dying men find life, where the last become first,
- 17:08and where the king reaches down not to punish, but
- 17:11to pull you in. Jesus didn't save the thief because
- 17:15of his record. He saved him because of his request,
- 17:20not because of what he'd done, but because of who
- 17:23he believed Jesus was. That's all it takes, not knowledge
- 17:27and not works, not fixing the past, just surrender, just belief,
- 17:32just the words, remember me, and Jesus still replies to
- 17:37day with me paradise. So if you've failed, if you've wondered,
- 17:42if you've waited until the edge of hope, there's still time.
- 17:47Not because you're worthy, but because he is. Not because
- 17:50you've earned it, but because he already paid for it.
- 17:53And if you'll come to the cross, even if it's
- 17:56at the last moment, his lancer, with the same mercy,
- 18:00the same presence, at the same paradise. Because the door
- 18:03to eternity was opened by a dying thief's whisper, and
- 18:08the invitation hasn't closed. Hell had every right to him.
- 18:12The thief wasn't misunderstood, he wasn't wrongly convicted. He was guilty,
- 18:17and he said it himself. No defense, no loophole, just guilt,
- 18:22blood soaked and undeniable to Hell. He was already claimed,
- 18:27his sins were written, his sentence was final, his soul doomed.
- 18:32And then he spoke not with eloquence, not with confidence,
- 18:36not with religious words polish'd by years of training, just
- 18:40a gasp of faith. Jesus remember me, Luke twenty three
- 18:44forty two. That was all. No detailed confession, no lengthy prayer,
- 18:50no theologically precise formula, just one cry, honest, broken believing.
- 18:55And that's when something happened in the unseen realm. That
- 18:58scripture doesn't recur. But every demon knew. Hell's mouth was
- 19:04shut because Grace had entered the court room. And when
- 19:07Grace speaks, the accuser is silenced. Who shall bring any
- 19:11charge against God's elect Romans eight thirty three, Not Rome,
- 19:16not Satan, not even the thief himself. The moment that
- 19:20man cried out to Jesus, the verdict was overturned, not
- 19:24because he was innocent, but because Jesus had already decided
- 19:28to take his place, and Hell, whose gates had been
- 19:31yawning wide, had to release its grip. That's the power
- 19:35of repentance, not the strength of the words, but the
- 19:39direction of the heart. The thief didn't clean himself first.
- 19:43He didn't make promises to be better. He didn't even
- 19:46ask for paradise. He asked for remembrance, and Jesus gave
- 19:50him eternity. Why because God doesn't wait for perfect prayers,
- 19:55He responds to desperate faith. The thief's cry was a
- 20:00poetic line. It was a spiritual earthquake. It tore through
- 20:04layers of guilt, pierced the noise of mockery, and reached
- 20:08the heart of a savior moments from death, and in
- 20:11that divine instant, a soul crossed over from condemned to
- 20:16coverd from criminal to citizen of paradise, from the edge
- 20:20of hell to the arms of heaven. Because when Jesus
- 20:24answered him, he didn't just comfort him. He claimed him,
- 20:28you will be with me. Those words didn't just offer
- 20:31hope to the thief. They struck a blow against every
- 20:34lie that says you're too far gone. They remind us
- 20:38your past does not have the final word. Your failure
- 20:42is not your forever. One cry, one real cry, can
- 20:45silence every accusation the enemy has ever spoken over your life.
- 20:49So if Hell has been screaming at you, if shame
- 20:53has been rehearsing your regrets, if you feel like your
- 20:56mistakes are nailed up beside you for the world to see,
- 21:00take courage from the thief. You don't need a thousand words,
- 21:04You don't need the right moment. You just need to
- 21:06look at Jesus and cry out, He's closer than you think,
- 21:10closer than breath, closer than guilt, closer than death than
- 21:14When you speak, Hell cannot answer because mercy already has
- 21:19two men, two crosses, two criminals, equal in guilt, equal
- 21:23in pain, equal in proximity to the savior of the world,
- 21:28and yet only one believed. It's one of the most
- 21:31chilling moments in all of Scripture. Both men heard Jesus pray,
- 21:36Father forgive them, both saw his blood pour, both heard
- 21:40the same crowd shout the same soldier's mock, both were
- 21:44near enough to speak to him, both were dying, and
- 21:47still only one turned why. The answer isn't comfortable. It's
- 21:52not something you can measure or manufacture. It's something deeper,
- 21:56more unsettling, more sacred. Mercy unexplained, undeserved, unpredictable, and utterly
- 22:03gloriously real. Jesus told a story once about two men.
- 22:08One built his house on sand, one on rock. The
- 22:12same storm came, the same wind, the same flood, but
- 22:16only one house stood. And here at Golgatha, the parable
- 22:19becomes prophecy. The storm is judgment, the wind is suffering,
- 22:24the flood is death itself, and only one man is saved.
- 22:29Because mercy isn't about location, It's about response. The unrepentant
- 22:33thief had Jesus inches away, but he was too proud,
- 22:37too bitter, too hardened to see who was beside him.
- 22:41He mocked the king, He demanded escape, he wanted relief
- 22:45without repentance. And that's the dividing line. Both thieves were broken,
- 22:50only one surrendered. Both were dying. Only one feared God.
- 22:55Both could have spoken. Only one said we deserve this,
- 22:58but he has done nothing wrong. This is the great
- 23:01mystery of salvation that some in their last breath fall
- 23:05into grace and others, with the same opportunity, walk into judgment.
- 23:10It's not about who sinned more. Both were thieves. It's
- 23:14not about who suffered more. Both were nailed to wood.
- 23:17It's about what you do with Jesus when there's nothing
- 23:20left but Jesus. The unrepentant thief proves you can be
- 23:25close to the truth and still reject it. You can
- 23:29witness mercy and still choose mockery. You can be a
- 23:33footstep from heaven and still say no. That should make
- 23:37us tremble, because salvation is not automatic, It is not inherited,
- 23:42it is not forced, It is offered. And this is
- 23:45what the Cross confronts us with that will you believe
- 23:48or will you mock? Will you repent or resist? Will
- 23:52you ask to be remembered or demand to be rescued.
- 23:55Because one thief received mercy, the other didn't, and Jesus
- 23:59did didn't move an inch between them. He didn't love
- 24:02one more than the other. He didn't shine brighter on
- 24:05one side. He was the same. But only one heart softened.
- 24:09And this is the mystery of mercy, That grace was
- 24:12close enough for both to touch. And still to day,
- 24:15Jesus hangs in the middle, still willing, still saving, still listening.
- 24:21The question is no longer why did only one thief turn?
- 24:26The real question is which one are you becoming? What
- 24:30if he hadn't spoken? What if the thief had stayed
- 24:33silent just sixty seconds longer? What if shame had choked
- 24:37the words before they left his mouth. What if pride
- 24:40whispered it's too late and he believed it. What if
- 24:45he'd waited just one more minute, would Jesus have still
- 24:49been breathing? Would the door of mercy still have been open?
- 24:53We'll never know. Because the thief didn't wait. He didn't
- 24:57gamble with time he didn't have He didn't post spone
- 25:00the one decision that mattered most. He cried out when
- 25:03he could because he knew he was running out of time,
- 25:08and so are we see. The enemy has a tactic
- 25:11far more effective than denying God exists. He simply says later,
- 25:16later when life calms down, Later when you've cleaned yourself up,
- 25:21later when you're ready to get serious. But later is
- 25:24a lie dressed as wisdom, and every heart beat is
- 25:28a borrowed mercy. The thief had no later. His breath
- 25:32was already shallow, his vision already dim, his body already breaking.
- 25:37And yet, in that fragile moment, with just enough air
- 25:40to speak, he chose surrender. That's the urgency of repentance.
- 25:45You don't wait for a perfect setting. You don't delay
- 25:48for better words. You speak while you can because eternity
- 25:52isn't waiting for you to get comfortable to day. Jesus said,
- 25:58not some day when you've proven your and not if
- 26:01you can climb down and fix things today, because grace
- 26:05doesn't operate on your schedule. It's a divine interruption, a
- 26:09holy invasion, a doorway that doesn't stay open forever. This
- 26:14is what makes the Thief's story more than a comfort.
- 26:17It's a warning. He barely made it, not because Jesus
- 26:21was reluctant, but because death waits for no man and
- 26:25for every person still clinging to the idea that there
- 26:28will be a better time to surrender. You're playing with
- 26:32something eternal. What if your one more day never comes?
- 26:36What if your one more minute slips through your hands
- 26:39like sand? This isn't about fear. This is about truth.
- 26:43The only guarantee you have is now, if you can
- 26:47hear his voice, If your heart is stirred, if mercy
- 26:50feels near, that's not your conscience, that's God calling. Don't wait,
- 26:55not until you've read more, not until you've fixed yourself,
- 26:58not until you've convinced yourself you're serious this time. The
- 27:02thief wasn't ready. He was repentant. The thief wasn't qualified,
- 27:07He was desperate. And Jesus didn't need more than that.
- 27:10So ask yourself, what if you wait one more minute?
- 27:13What could be lost? What mercy could pass by? What
- 27:17answer might go unspoken? But then ask the better question,
- 27:21What if you speak now? What if your whisper becomes worship?
- 27:26What if your cry becomes conversion? What if your breath,
- 27:30this breath becomes the moment Jesus says, to day you
- 27:34will be with me. That's the power of surrenders. It
- 27:37doesn't need time, just faith. And if you have one
- 27:41breath left, one moment left, one chance left, this is it.
- 27:45Say yes before the clock strikes eternity. He had nothing
- 27:49to offer, no legacy, no ministry, no time to repent
- 27:54with actions. He didn't get baptized, he didn't tithe, he
- 27:58didn't serve the poor or make restitution. He died moments
- 28:03after believing. And yet Jesus said, to day you will
- 28:06be with me in Paradise Luke twenty three forty three.
- 28:10How because he believed, and that alone that was enough.
- 28:15This thief, guilty, condemned dying became the clearest example in
- 28:19all of scripture that salvation is by faith, not works.
- 28:23It silences every argument that says you must do more.
- 28:28It confronts every doctrine that sneaks performance into the gospel.
- 28:32It tears down every system that says you must earn
- 28:35your way into God's presence. The cross is the great
- 28:39equalizer because on the cross there's no ladder to climb,
- 28:44no steps left to take, no good deeds left to perform,
- 28:48just blood, just breathe, just belief. The thief's salvation wasn't
- 28:53a loophole. It was the blueprint. Paul would later write,
- 28:57for by grace, you have been saved through faith, and
- 29:00this is not your own doing. It is the gift
- 29:03of God, not a result of works. So that no
- 29:06one may boast Ephesians two eight nine. The thief had
- 29:10no boast, only a broken cry. Remember me. That's the
- 29:15scandal of grace. It rescues sinners who can't fix anything.
- 29:19It justifies the ungodly. It saves by faith, or it
- 29:23doesn't save at all. This doesn't mean works don't matter.
- 29:26They do. They are the fruit of salvation, not the root.
- 29:30They are the evidence, not the entrance. But for the
- 29:33dying thief, there was no time for fruit, only for faith,
- 29:38and that was enough. This should unsettle the legalist, it
- 29:41should humble the religious, because we love to add conditions, don't.
- 29:46We believe in Jesus and behave believe in Jesus and
- 29:51be consistent, believe in Jesus and prove it over time.
- 29:55But the cross interrupts all that. Because the man who
- 29:58had no and no time, no transformation, no testimony, was
- 30:03still saved. This is why it's called grace, because it
- 30:07reaches lower than we expect, because it saves faster than
- 30:11we believe, because it leaves no room for pride the thief,
- 30:15and no achievements to his name. Peter, not John, not
- 30:19a disciple, not a rabbi, not a prophet, a criminal
- 30:22dying beside him, and in that divine moment, a prophetic
- 30:26mystery unfolded. Jesus didn't wait to save until after his victory.
- 30:32He saved in the middle of his suffering, while the
- 30:35nails were still in his hands, while the crown of
- 30:38thorns still pierced his skull, while blood dripped from his
- 30:42side and mockery filled the air. He reached across eternity
- 30:46and pulled a soul into paradise. Why because this is
- 30:52the mission of the cross, not just to defeat death,
- 30:55but to redeem in death, not just to reign after
- 30:58the grave, but to rescue while bleeding. This was never
- 31:02just about what happened after the resurrection. It was always
- 31:06about what Jesus was doing during the agony. He came
- 31:11to seek and save the lost, and in his final
- 31:14moments he did exactly that. With no strength left, with
- 31:18lungs collapsing, with pains surging through every nerve, he saved.
- 31:23He still saved, and the one who received it, the
- 31:26man who had no time to make up for his sins,
- 31:29no chance to preach, or serve, or even tell his story.
- 31:32He became the last convert under the Old Covenant, the
- 31:36final soul saved by the dying Messiah before the tomb
- 31:40was sealed and the world held its breath. This moment
- 31:44wasn't an accident. It was a prophecy, fulfilled that the
- 31:48Cross wouldn't wait, that salvation wouldn't be postponed, that even
- 31:52in death, Jesus would not stop rescuing the thief. Salvation
- 31:57wasn't just personal, It was symbolic. It told us the
- 32:00Gospel would reach the lowest, that mercy would triumph over time,
- 32:05that no one is too late, not while the Cross
- 32:08is speaking. Even as Jesus hung in agony, he was
- 32:12doing what he came to do, bringing sons and daughters home.
- 32:17And this last minute redemption was a sign that the
- 32:20Blood was working, that Heaven's door was cracking open, that
- 32:24Satan had already lost. Because if Jesus could save the
- 32:28dying before the resurrection, imagine what he would do after it.
- 32:32The Thief became a forerunner of all of us, undeserving
- 32:36out of time, brought in by grace. He stands now
- 32:41as the first testimony that the Cross didn't need help,
- 32:44that the power to save wasn't in the grave, it
- 32:47was in the lamb who was slain. So remember this.
- 32:51The mission of the Cross wasn't to start saving later.
- 32:55It was to save immediately, violently, completely, And even while
- 33:01Jesus finished what he started, he didn't wait to save.
- 33:05So don't wait to believe. Because if a thief could
- 33:08be the last to enter the kingdom before the resurrection,
- 33:12you can still be next. We say it often, it's
- 33:16never too late, and when it comes to grace, it's true.
- 33:20The thief on the cross proves it. But there's a
- 33:22sobering undertone to that truth, one that echoes through the
- 33:26final breaths of Golgotha. It's never too late until it is.
- 33:31Two men hung beside Jesus that day, both heard his words,
- 33:35both saw his suffering. Both were close enough to be saved,
- 33:39but only one cried out, only one believed. Only one
- 33:43stepped through the narrow door before it closed. That's the
- 33:47tension we live in. Grace is wide, mercy is strong,
- 33:51forgiveness is free, but time is not endless. You don't
- 33:55get to choose how long the offer lasts. You only
- 33:58get to choose what you do with it while it's
- 34:00still offered. The thief didn't delay, He didn't wait to
- 34:04feel something. He didn't wait until he had the words
- 34:08just right. He simply believed while he still could, And
- 34:12Jesus received him immediately, no hesitation, no test, no terms,
- 34:17just to day, you will be with me. It was
- 34:21over that fast, his past washed, his soul saved, his
- 34:25eternity sealed, and the other thief, still silent and still angry,
- 34:30still lost, not because he was worse, but because he
- 34:34refused the same mercy that could have saved him. This
- 34:38is the warning written in blood on the beams of
- 34:41the cross. Heaven is real, Hell is real, and your
- 34:45soul is moving toward one or the other even now,
- 34:49But grace is still reaching. The same voice that answered
- 34:53the thief is whispering to you. Can you hear it?
- 34:56Remember me? It's all It takes a cry of surren
- 35:00a turning of the heart. Not religion, not ritual, just Jesus.
- 35:05So what about you? Will you ask before it's too late?
- 35:08Will you let pride keep you from paradise? Will you
- 35:11wait for a better moment, or will you recognize that
- 35:14this is the moment, Because if the Cross proves anything,
- 35:18it's this. It's never too late to be forgiven, It's
- 35:22never too late to be remembered. It's never too late
- 35:26until it is. So don't wait. Let's pray. Father, you
- 35:30are the God who saves even in the final hour,
- 35:33the king who heard the thief, the savior who speaks
- 35:36paradise to the guilty. We confess we have no righteousness
- 35:40of our own. We have failed you in thoughts, in actions,
- 35:44in silence. But to day we say what that dying
- 35:47man said, Remember me, not because we deserve it, but
- 35:50because your mercy is greater than our sin. Lord Jesus,
- 35:54we believe you are the son of God. We believe
- 35:57you bore our punishment. We believe that even now you
- 36:01are ready to save, forgive us, receive us, hold us
- 36:05the Holy Spirit, break the hardness in us, a shatter delay,
- 36:09crush the lie that says we have more time. Let
- 36:12to day be the day of salvation. Let this moment
- 36:15be the one we remember forever. And when we see
- 36:18you face to face, may it be not in fear
- 36:21but in joy, Because we know the promise with me
- 36:24in Paradise. Amen. If you made it to the end
- 36:28of this teaching on the thief on the Cross, thank you.
- 36:32It means you're not just curious, you're hungry for the truth,
- 36:36and that's rare. Our hope is that this didn't just
- 36:39inform you, but awaken something inside you, a reminder, a warning,
- 36:44an invitation back to God. If this blessed you know,
- 36:48there's more waiting add free distraction, free on our website.
- 36:53Every book of the Bible, every prophecy, every teaching organize
- 36:58to walk you through the word heard and if you
- 37:01prefer to